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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Swiss Family Robinson & Magic Treehouse books Play: Excellent quality, Great price, B-I-G Toy, August 23, 2008
Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars
This is the fourth Maxim toy I've purchased through Amazon and each time the quality is outstanding. The treehouse is very sturdy and the price on Amazon, plus Amazon Prime free shipping, made it an affordable yet big-toy purchase. The main difference between this toy and competing treehouses (besides price -- I bought this on Amazon for $63 + free shipping) is the doors on the bottom level. They are very sturdy and give the toy an overall solid, anchored look, whereas the others available (the Maxim Basic Treehouse and the Melissa & Doug) don't have this type of sturdy, solid base.
It was put together very easily, with the help of the birthday boy. That was the most fun, actually, it was like putting together a very cool puzzzle and then, the icing on top was putting on the fun accessories. The two winches latch on very sturdily with thumb screws and the ladders attach with hooks and solid little wood pins that detach for "pull up the ladder" play. The bucket is big enough to fit one of the dolls that come with it inside. I was surprised at how big the whole treehouse is: each cloud-shaped wood piece of the base is 19" across and a half-inch thick - both the top and bottom pieces. The heavy wood doors just slide into place AFTER the floor and roof are already in place. Be sure to position the doors behind the screws so that there is almost an inch of the base showing in front of the doors all the way around. The doors can slide out during play to open up the room, but I found that most of the doors/walls are a very tight fit so leaving them in place is probably best.
I bought this for my 6-yr old's bday along with the "Swiss Family Robinson" book and dvd (note: the dvd, while excellent family fun, was made in 1960, so we had to explain to our children about the attitudes toward women at that time. For example we were asked why the male characters were so patronizing to the women/girls, such as when the boys say to a girl character: "if we had known you were a girl we would have made it easy for you!" blech! Both of my children - a boy and girl - also found it very annoying that the woman and girl characters do nothing but shriek helplessly and cover their mouths with the back of their hands when they see really cool animals like monitor lizards and snakes. It has become a great joke in our house.) along with Schleich and Wild Safari animals that appear in the story (the hyena, ostrich, donkey, tiger, baby elephant, monkey and various farm animals). He loved it and the storyline tied in with his Maxim Venture Ship (also an awesome toy, well-made and huge). We also have a number of The Magic Treehouse books (see my somewhat mixed review on those) and this item ties into those storylines as well, and help incorporate other play scenarios that mix the treehouse with knights and dinosaurs, among others, so he can use his other toys with the treehouse to play out scenes from his favorite Magic Treehouse books.
This is a very nice-looking toy. The fabric leaves at the top make it very attractive. Since our playroom is overflowing, I have no qualms about keeping it in my livingroom. Not only does it look like a big plant, the natural wood and solid look of the piece just looks kind of cool. Oh yeah, and it is fun, too!
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