Customer Reviews

Melissa & Doug Deluxe Pound and Roll Tower

5 star:		(75)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I bought this for my son who is five and has Down syndrome, so I'm not always sure which developmental age is best for him. He likes to name the colors and has figured out how to best attack the balls to get them through the openings. The openings are narrow enough to require a little work, but are not so narrow as to be frustrating. The balls make a clicking sound that seem to be pleasing to a little boy. There isn't anything to contain the balls once they roll out so I usually put it in a shallow container or box lid so that the balls don't all end up under the furniture.

I bought this toy for her 18 month old friend because it seemed right up his alley, I took it out of the box to wrap it and my daughter saw it and went crazy. She would sneak into the room and play with the toy. I finally had to buy her her own. They love this toy. The only problem, I would not recommend having this toy out when having playdates, not just for the wood hammer that one kid could swing at the other but the balls can be thrown at other children too and they are wood......
Buy this toy it is fun and a good height, and for some reason, they love it.

I bought this for my 22 month old grand daughter for Christmas and she loves it. This is one of the old-time kid powered toys that hasn't lost it's charm. She names the colors of each ball as she pounds it down then watches it roll through the maze. She also quickly figured out the balls travel well on a wood floor and giggles as they make they way down the hall and hit the wall. Now that's entertainment!

When I bought this toy, I was unsure if it would be a hit, but to my surprise my 18-month old daughter loved it. It is fun her to place the balls in the openings, use the hammer, and watch the balls go down. The balls make a nice sound too as they roll through the maze. She also likes to play with balls separately - putting them into boxes and baskets, etc since they are a nice weight and size for play, unlike plastic and fabric balls. The finish on the balls is of good quality since the brightly colored finish doesn't rub off when the balls occasionally go banging into my nice white baseboards! The only downside to this toy - since the balls are wood we had to teach my daughter to just roll them, not to throw them since they are heavy! She has been good with that rule, so overall we would recommend this toy.

My son got this toy for Christmas. From day 1, my son couldn't manipulate the toy. The balls were too big for the holes (or the holes too small...whichever), making it near impossible to hammer through. Even my husband and I had to use what I would consider excessive force to hammer the balls down. Finally, after months, my son was able to get the through, having to hammer very hard. Then 5 months after receiving the toy, the hammer split in half.

I would expect this toy to have been much better quality. Don't bother with this toy.

I was so excited to receive this toy. Unfortunately, as soon as I opened the shipping box there was a terrible smell. I sniffed the box and packaging material hoping that it was simply one of those things. Then I sniffed the toy and it took my breath away. I looked it over and found a tiny sticker stating "formaldehyde complaint". I'm not one of those super green organic everything moms, so normally I probably would have thought "crazy californians" and given the toy to my child anyway. But this smell is terrible! I even put it outside in the garage for a few days before deciding to return it, hoping the smell would eventually dissipate and I could go ahead and give it to my child. No luck. One week later the smell is still horrid. Off to the post office to return it. This experience has changed my feelings toward Melissa And Doug toys, which I used to trust without question, even though they are made in China.

I bought this for my 18 month old nephew for Christmas not really knowing what to expect. He loved it! Even the battery operated train he got didn't distract him from this for more than a minute. He kept going back & stopped opening presents all together. He got the hang of it within minutes & had no problem chasing the balls around the room & he would load them up & bang them through in a matter of seconds. Four balls is the perfect number, he can't really count but definately knew when he was missing one. This was a good 45 minutes before he even acknowledged anything else. He played with it a few times a day the whole weekend they were there.
After he was done, my 9 yr old nephew & 7 yr old niece both spent 10 minutes playing with this.
I don't know why or what it is, but this little wooden toy was a huge hit.

This is by far the "BEST" toy by Melissa and Doug. I love kid driven toys and this one is perfect for little hands developing their dexterity. My two year old granddaughter knew what to do right away. It was too cute to watch her pound each ball, then watch it come back to her. This toy taught her where to hold the mallet in order to get the most power! The pound and roll tower is a "must have" for young toddlers.

My son has gotten many hours of fun out of this toy. He started playing with it at 9 months and quickly learned to place the balls in the tower from the side, since he wasnt strong enough to push them through the top.
He still plays with it daily 6 months later.


Only complaint is that a few of the wooden ramps have fallen out on occasion. But, they are easily glued back into place.

After reading all of the other reviews, I am begining to think the one I received is defective! I have been happy with every other Melissa & Dough product I have received. The balls are very large considering the size of the openings. There is no way my 13 month old son has the strength to hammer those balls through the holes on top. It takes ME about eight or nine whacks to get each ball throw - and I mean WHACKS. And its noisy as well.I am wondering if either the openings are too small, or the balls are too large. Or both. But overall, this toy didn't work for us.