Customer Reviews

Vtech - Discovery Nursery Farm

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

My 11 moth old son has gotten his fingers stuck twice in the swinging pig. This toy is a real danger to infants. Please DO NOT take it upon yourself to determine whether this toy is dangerous. Believe these reviews! This really happens. My son's fingers were wedged under the pig and it took myself and my husband to free his fingers without inflicting more pain. This toy belongs in the trash and deserves no stars.

Before I start my review, I noticed that the latest version of this toy apparently differs slightly visually than the one pictured here on Amazon. My guess is that there may be two versions of this toy out, or that the one I purchased is the most recent incarnation. My review is for this current version as of March 2006. In short, this is an EXCELLENT toy for a developing infant, because it provides a good panoply of learning sound effects and songs to go along with blinking lights, and a functional keyboard to learn new music skills on. As the advertising for this toy states, the 'Discovery Nursery Farm' has many developmental benefit functions, such as developing motor skills, visual awareness, language development, and imaginative play thru realistic animal sounds and nursery rhymes that infants love to hear. And even though our infant is only 7 months old (the box it came in says it is for infants "9+ months"), she LOVES this toy, as is evidenced by her many smiles, giggles, 'razzing', and overall attention she pays to it. And we have thankfully had no issues with fingers getting stuck, or other safety issues. Perhaps the newer version has effectively addressed this previous safety issue that some reviewers brought up here. In addition, ergonomically, this is a GREAT toy for an infant who loves to spend a lot of time on his/her tummy. The toy is on their level physically, and they can play with it easily while lying down as well as sitting up, with all the buttons and keys well within their reach. And on the lighter subject of the singer being a wee bit 'off key', and having a strange voice (as some reviewers have mentioned), this is really a 'non-issue'. In fact, his interesting voice sounds kind of appropriately goofy and perfectly fit for a fun child's toy. Then again, compared to hearing the English language butchered and 'raped' so many times ever since moving to the state of Ohio 10 years ago, his voice is excellent! GREAT JOB 'VTech'!!!

My 10 month old son got his finger caught in the swinging pig door on 3 occasions. The final straw was when it took two of us to free his finger from the toy and left him with a black and blue finger the next day. This toy is dangerous. I called the VTECH 800 number to complain/warn them about the poor design of the toy. I dealt with a slow, inept customer service person who told me he would file my complaint and asked ME to call back in a few days to see if any managers replied to my complaint!!! He never even asked me what or how it happened!! Poor customer service, dangerous toys, and a high price for a toy that will hopefully end up in the trash before it breaks some poor kids finger. My rating for this toy and VTECH customer service is 0 stars.

This is one of the best toys I have bought for my daughter. We bought it 6 months ago and she is still interested in it. It has so many things to keep a babys interest.

I bought this toy because my then 12-month old son got very interested in it in the store. I kept it in its box (you can use it while it's still in the box), so that I could return it if he lost his interest within a couple of days. That never happened. In fact, it remained in its box in my car for several months, and I would prop it up on something next to my son's carseat, and it kept him entertained for long stretches of time. When he started losing interest, I put the toy away, but now it's back, this time in our living room, and my now 19-month old son loves playing with it. Sometimes when I'm busy in the kitchen and he feels that he needs to be there as well, I just tell him to go press the piggy's nose, which he happily does and starts dancing to the music. His fingers never got stuck in the toy. The toy has been dropped and thrown many times, including once onto a concrete floor, and it still works. In all this time I only had to change batteries twice. I can see how it can annoy an adult, but a toddler can usually find lots of other ways to make annoying noises, and you just learn to filter them out and not pay much attention to them.

My 11 and 23 month old kept getting thier fingers stuck under the swinging pig door. The space is large enough to fit a small finger under and it's not easy to get out! I let it slide the first time it happened to my 11 month old, but when it happened to my 23 month old and continued happening, I put it away. Each of them would panic and scream bloody murder because they couldn't remove their fingers! How much fun is that?? Also, the person who sings is REALLY annoying and off key. Not a very good design.

My 18 month son absolutely loves this toy, but it is the most annoying thing I've ever heard. The guy who sings "Old Mac Donald" is terrible and off key. If you don't mind annoying toys then this is the one for you. Also it's one of those toys that when your child is finished playing with it, it attempts to lour them back to play with it some more!

I do agree that parents should watch that fingers and hands don't get stuck above or below the pig - we never had a problem, but the issue is real. This toy is great. The sound quality is excellent, the voices are clear. The audio is bright and cheerful: "Rise and shine, it's a sunny day." Keys and animals (except cow) are easy to press from the earliest age. Colors are vibrant primary and secondary colors. The child learns two popular children's songs, 5 colors, 5 numbers, 5 farm animals. It's also a complicated toy in that pressing the keys or pushing the critters can alter the melodies enough to make an adult have to think what causes what. Various inputs can speed melodies up, play the melodies using animal sounds, change the order of verses, and more. It's amazing what they can do with a little flash memory, a chip, and inexpensive speakers nowadays.

We got this toy for my son when he was 5 months old. He loved it! Now that he is mobile, his attention with it does not last as long, but it was a life-saver for a good three months. We have not had the problem with his finger getting stuck in the pig, but I have noticed that my toy differs a little from the one shown in the picture and it makes me wonder if I have a newer version that might have been altered.

The music and the guys voice are a little annoying, but he can't be singing anymore off key than me or my husband. My son doesn't know the difference and the toy keeps him busy for long periods of time, so what do I care. Besides, what kids toy does not get annoying after hearing it more than a few times.

My son loves to flip the page in the book back and forth and roll the duck roller. He also loves the swinging pig.

This toy is one of the few toys I've seen with so many features. I like the design and my baby loves to play with it. Animals and buttons are easy to be pushed and moved back and forth, it makes something different every time and baby doesn't get bored. Even the sun is really easy for him to be turned right an left. No sharp edges or parts that might be a concerns for my baby security. As far as it has been at home (3 days), no accidents have happended. But I'll keep an eye on the "orange" pig just in case.

THE ONLY COMPLAINT: and the most important is that the voice is the most intolerable, awful, unbearable thing I've ever heard on a baby toy. It's beyond annoying for me. I agree with other reviews; If you are going to mass produce an "educational" toy and you are supposed to be a serious company and (I suppose too) you have the money to do so, then WHY ON THE EARTH V-TECH WOULD WANT A GUY THAT CANNOT SING, RECORDING HIS VOICE ON A TOY THAT WILL HAVE THEIR BRAND????? I think I'll give the toy four more days until sunday, if it continues driving me nuts, altough my son really likes it, it will go back to babies r us. The manufacturers should SERIOUSLY consider to change the voice of the guy ASAP. That voice is off key not only when singing but also when talking! and my baby is still not aware of the colors, but "orange, orange like the pig"???