Hot Wheels Toy Story 3 Sparks Turbo Launcher

by Mattel

Product Features

• Based on Disney / Pixar's new film Toy Story 3
• 10" tall rolling robot from the movie
• This is the ultimate Hot Wheels launcher
• Raise and lower powerful arms to launch two Hot Wheels cars simultaneously
• Comes with 1 Hot Wheels Toy Story 3 Car

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 6 x 9.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00314SEKU
• Item model number: P4836
• Manufacturer recommended age: 36 months - 13 years
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #86,890 in Toys & Games (See Top 100 in Toys & Games)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Hot Wheels Toy Story 3 Sparks Turbo Launcher: This nearly 10-inch tall rolling robot from the Disney/Pixar film, is the ultimate Hot Wheels launcher. Raise and lower powerful arms to launch two Hot Wheels cars simultaneously, racing side-by-side until one takes the lead. Comes with 1 Hot Wheels Toy Story car. Not for use with some Hot Wheels vehicles.

Product Description

This nearly 10-inch tall rolling robot from the Disney/Pixar film, is the ultimate Hot Wheels® launcher. Raise and lower powerful arms to launch two Hot Wheels® cars simultaneously -- racing side-by-side until one takes the lead!

• Comes with 1 Hot Wheels® Toy Story car
• Not for use with some Hot Wheels® vehicles
• Recommended Ages: 3 years & up

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Is that all it does?, August 30, 2010

By 

sdspearsjd "sds" (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews

= Durability:3.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:2.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:3.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Hot Wheels Toy Story 3 Sparks Turbo Launcher (Toy)

The Hot Wheels Toy Story 3 Sparks Turbo Launcher is the latest disappointment in my son's collection of Toy Story 3 branded merchandise. I don't understand why the overpriced merchandise for Toy Story 3 can't be equal to the quality of the movie. It isn't like this stuff is cheap.

We can usually rely on Hot Wheels branded merchandise to be well made and provide for hours of fun. Before buying the Hot Wheels Toy Story 3 Sparks Turbo Launcher, the "usually" in the preceding sentence was "always."

To the manufacturer's credit, the Hot Wheels Toy Story 3 Sparks Turbo Launcher comes out of the box fully assembled. It comes with one car, but has two launching slots. I'm sure some bean counter somewhere had a spreadsheet to justify that decision. So you get the Hot Wheels Toy Story 3 Sparks Turbo Launcher out and you set it on the ground. You push the little arms back, put the included car in one slot, and one of your own cars in the other (yes, I know, what respectable family doesn't have at least five Hot Wheels cars in the sofa cushions?), and you press the buttons on the back. The little robot arms go forward, the cars shoot out of its feet, race across the floor, and crash into your newly refinished wood work.

Whoopee.

Note that the car does not lock into the slot. If you tip the Hot Wheels Toy Story 3 Sparks Turbo Launcher forward, one or both of your cars will roll out and have to be penalized for a false start. To me, the most fascinating part of the Hot Wheels Toy Story 3 Sparks Turbo Launcher is that you can't seem to launch the cars unless the Hot Wheels Toy Story 3 Sparks Turbo Launcher is on the ground. I haven't figured out how the Hot Wheels Toy Story 3 Sparks Turbo Launcher stops the launch yet, but clearly the wizards at the Hot Wheels Corporation put more thought into this feature than how children will have any real fun with the Hot Wheels Toy Story 3 Sparks Turbo Launcher.

It certainly works as designed. While the cover art seems to imply that the Hot Wheels Toy Story 3 Sparks Turbo Launcher will roll after the cars after it launches them, even my finely-tuned legal brain could find nothing further to back that assumption. I demonstrated the proper and safe operation of the Hot Wheels Toy Story 3 Sparks Turbo Launcher to my five year old son. We watched the cars roll across his bedroom floor and then under an 800 lb antique dresser. He then looked at me and asked, "Is that all it does? I thought it rolled after the cars too." Well son, it doesn't have wheels so it can't roll. But look - the arms move!

He then got his beloved Toy Story 2 Buzz Light Year robot down and stood it next to the Hot Wheels Toy Story 3 Sparks Turbo Launcher. Buzz towered above the Hot Wheels Toy Story 3 Sparks Turbo Launcher. He looked up at me with a puzzled expression and said, "That isn't right." How do you explain differences in scale to a five year old who is coming off a sugar high and up past his bed time? I gave him a hug and told him I love him.

The Hot Wheels Toy Story 3 Sparks Turbo Launcher earned an educational value of three stars because it teaches a valuable lesson: sometimes life can be pretty disappointing. It is too bad the boy is learning this at such an early age.

We agreed that we will be returning the Hot Wheels Toy Story 3 Sparks Turbo Launcher once I get the dresser moved and we recover the car with which it came.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars My son never plays with it, pretty lame indeed, December 12, 2010

By 

Falco - See all my reviews

= Durability:3.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:2.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:1.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Hot Wheels Toy Story 3 Sparks Turbo Launcher (Toy)

This toy is not worth the money all it does is take up room and shoots two cars out in random directions by pushing a difficult arm. Terrible product and idea. The car that comes with it is worth about two bucks because its cooler than a avg hot wheel but still save your money!

2.0 out of 5 stars Not worth the money, July 19, 2011

By 

Minde - See all my reviews

= Durability:3.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:2.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:1.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Hot Wheels Toy Story 3 Sparks Turbo Launcher (Toy)

My son received this toy for his 4th birthday. He played with it exactly twice before it lost it's appeal. It's an extremely simple toy. You put the car in, push a button and it shoots the car out. Not very exciting and certainly not worth $15.