Customer Reviews

Creepy Crawler Oven

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

We bought this at least 10 years ago for our third child. When his younger brother discovered it about 3 years ago, we have been inundated with bugs and such. He has made at least 100-200 bugs, etc. The biggest problem has been finding the goop to make more. He is constantly asking us to call the company to "order more goop!" Now that I have discovered that you sell it, he will be one happy and prolific bug maker. (He is 5 years old and has been making bugs since he was 2 years old). Thank you for having the goop, now if you could just make more colors available.

A great toy! Everyone will love this toy. I have a 3 1/2 year old daughter who loves to fill the trays with goop. My 7 year old son loves playing with the bugs, and my 8 1/2 year old daughter loves baking them. The 2 bottles of goop included make a surprisingly large number of bugs. It has a nice safety feature that doesn't let the oven door open until it is mostly cool. It takes 14 minutes of baking time and 10 minutes of cool down time before the bugs are ready, but my kids don't seem to mind.

Mattel's Creepy Crawlers was a favorite childhood toy, so I was overjoyed to see that it was resurrected, and improved upon, by Toymax.

This latest incarnation of the oven is very safe, as it won't allow access to the mold until it cools enough that it won't burn your skin. The door lock CAN be overpowered and damaged, but I feel completely comfortable letting my 3 1/2 year old make bugs, with supervision.

The instructions recommend a 60 watt bulb, but I found that this burned the bugs too easily. I use a 40 watt bulb, and cook for 13 to 30 minutes, depending upon the mold being used. Try 14 minutes for a single sided mold, and 30 minutes for one of the double "3-D" molds (not include with this set). Get a kitchen timer for the kids to use -- they get distracted easily.

The thick "FX" goop is hard to come by, so don't squander it on legs and such, per the directions. Save it for bug details like eyes, stripes, and spots. The regular goop works just fine for the legs. The goop will stain clothing, so keep an eye on sloppy kids. The "detail tips" included with the set really help, so don't lose them.

You can get more molds and FX goop on ebay. Search for "Creepy Crawler", "Creepy Crawlers", "Thingmaker", and "Thing Maker".

The old Mattel Molds work great in the new oven if you create an adapter plate for them out of sheet metal. You need a hole in the adapter plate to let the light strike the mold bottom.

Wow, a few weeks ago I went into a local store and I happened to see this Creepy Crawler Machine. Than the flash Backs came and I remember the fun time's I used to have with this machine. When I saw it again it was just somthing I had to buy. I enjoyed this toy so much that it is the only toy I remember having fun with as a little child. This toy is a must for all you parents, your kids will just love this item.

My son LOVES this toy as well. And, I've had the same problem as others here... can't find the plasti-goop anywhere. Finally, I called Toymax directly - it turns out that they have all kinds of molds available that aren't being actively marketed, including a Spiderman set that my kid adores. Inside the Spiderman set, there was a brochure that listed a giant size oven, dozens of molds, different plasti-goop options including a 5oz bottle and a glow-in-the-dark color (how cool would THAT be??)

Anyway, this toy has helped him improve his hand-eye coordination... the scarcity of PG has given him an incentive to practice filling the molds just to the rim, instead of slopping it everywhere. (btw.. if you get PG on your clothes, wash several times with detergent in COLD water before using the dryer... PG isn't water soluble and the dryer heat "sets" the stain)

The funny thing is, I could have bought him a bucket of plastic bugs for about the same money... but he plays with THESE bugs over and over, where (if they were store bought) he'd look at them maybe twice.

The Original Creepy Crawlers oven never seems to lose it's intrigue with children of all ages. How much more fun can creating a toy spider, or bug be, than playing with your special creation. The only drawback to the toy itself, is not with the product, but the lack of finding the product. I have yet to find enough plasti-goop. If anyone knows where it canbe found please let me know! (anywhere but Toys R us) They always say they have it, but they never do!!

I bought this toy for my 7 yr old daughter for Christmas this past year and it was her favorite toy. I had one when I was a child 30 years ago and it was also my favorite. When my daughter had 3 friends over for play time, they spent hours making bugs until they ran out of goop. That's why I bought 3 more to give as gifts to each girl. It was a big hit!

I bought this product for my nephew, who's nine, and for my son who's six. They both were thrilled until we figured out that the machine doesn't come with the 60 W candle-style bulb required to make it work! The disclaimer on the box is hard to find, and hard to read. I looked to see if batteries are needed (they're not), but never saw about the light bulb. Anyway, we baked our bugs in the oven at 250 for 10 mins. The directions say the bugs require 15-18 mins of baking time, plus an additional 30 minutes to cool - way too long for children to remain engaged, in my opinion. All the same Creepy Crawlers are still (after 25 years) great fun, but don't bother with the machine. Just by the custom mold packs.

The original Thingmaker had a real burner. Children poured the plastic goop into moulds, and placed them on the hot surface. They had to observe them and make sure they were cooked through, and then lift them out of the Thingmaker with tongs and move them to a bath of cold water to cool off.

This was educational on multiple levels. It taught all sorts of lessons, from patience, to basic industrial processes, to proper respect for the stove and the kitchen.

This Thingmaker runs with a light bulb. Far fewer moulds come with it than I remember. Worse, the edifying process of cooking the Plastigoop, lifting it out of the burner, and cooling it, has been "automated" by a process that locks in the mold until the machine decides it's ready to spit it out. The lesson in patience and observation provided by the original machine is now lost.

It definitely seems to have been redesigned by lawyers.

I gave this 5 stars because the kids LOVE it. I have some minor problems with it, but the way the kids feel about it discounts them.
First, a 60 watt bulb over cooked them. The bugs all came out brown. So I switched to 40W (at 14 mins). You only get one little vial of the decorating goop that will stay in place. The other stuff runs so it will mix if you use two colors. But you ~can~ mix them and we got some cool bugs after switching to the cooler bulb. The goop bottles are messy. Don't cut the tips like the instruction say. Just pierce them with a tack. That way you don't have to use the special caps that they supply (too few). We haven't yet used up the goop that came in the kit and we have lots of bugs. Still I'm glad we got the extra goop as the kids are making tons of bugs. I wish we could buy more molds for different bugs. The caterpillar is dull. Despite these annoyances for Dad, this is a great toy that the kids just love. (Son is 5, daughter is 9.)

The durability rating is just a guess; nothings broken on it, it's just very light, all-plastic construction. It could be more or less durable, time will tell.