This is a lovely little drum, as pleasing to the eye as it is to the ear. It's something your kids can bang on all day without giving you a headache, because its sounds are melodic, pretty even. We own a First Act drum that while very authentically drum-like in its sound, makes you want to clap your hands over your ears once the kids really get going on it. Not this drum. The rubber-headed mallet, when struck against the drum produces about three different lovely tones. Its appeal to the kids is equal to that of us noise-weary adults. Which is why I won't hesitate to buy one for our kids when the opportunity arises.
That's right, I don't own it. My best friend does; she bought it for her son this Christmas. I felt compelled to write a review about it because of her story of how incredibly durable this drum is, especially since she almost didn't buy this drum after reading the top-rated negative review on Amazon.
On Christmas morning, packing up to go to the grandparents house, my best friend's husband (whoops) left the drum sitting atop her car. Predictably, when she pulled onto the highway she heard it skitter across the roof, and then a chorus of angry horns blaring as it almost caused a pile-up as cars braked and swerved to avoid it. Sadly the drum not only was dropped at a high rate of speed from the roof of her car, but it was also run over - as the tire track on the underside of the drum attests. There were parts of the drum that looked like a puppy had gotten a hold of them and chewed them to bits. This should have been the end of the story for this little drum, particularly if the aforementioned design flaw was inherent to the toy. However, the drum itself endured this unusual level of abuse beautifully. It did not break, and a little sanding is all it took to return it to right, the tire track being the only real evidence of its big exciting adventure down a four-lane on Christmas Day.
A couple of months later this drum is still entertaining my best friend's son - and his playmates - like it did first thing Christmas morning. It sounds just as lovely, and it's solid as ever.
I don't doubt that there could be an occasional 'dud' or a drum that had an unusually brittle top, but this incident suggests the design is quite hardy. And the drum itself is a lovely little instrument.