Comments on: GloDoodle

By: K. Suarez

K. Suarez — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 01:26:07 +0000

When I recieved the glodoodle in the mail, my kids were very exited. Unfortunatly, It only took about two hours for the thing to break. the erase button at the top of the glodoodle broke off. It is only held by a very thin piece of cheap plastic. Now its a lot of work for the kids to erase the pictures, and they don’t play with it much. Kind of a waste of money. It would be great if it wasn’t so cheaply made. Getting people to spend money over and over on the same products is the real point, isn’t it? That, and creating as much garbage as we possibly can.
Rating: 2 / 5

By: Maria S. "Maria S."

Maria S. "Maria S." — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 01:13:46 +0000

My son got this toy for his third birthday. Not only were he and his 18 month old sister fighting over who got to play with it next, my husband and I wanted turns, too. Besides drawing on it, which looks amazing, we write words on the board for my son to practice reading on, which is more motivating for him than, say, flash cards. It’s a little tricky to erase the bottom of the board – you need to push the erase button on top and press on the screen at te bottom at the same time, but once we figured this out, no problem. The whole family really loves this toy.
Rating: 5 / 5

By: Gater "Gater"

Gater "Gater" — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:48:46 +0000

My daughter got this as a gift for her 4th birthday a few weeks ago. She loves to draw so she automatically started going crazy with this thing. Our 2 yr old boy dropped it on the tile floor and it appears to still be OK. He’s tough on toys and he hasn’t broken it yet. They love drawing with it with the lights off and underneath their blanket “fort”. It reminds me alot of Light Bright when I was a kid.
Pros: Both Kids love that they can draw with light in the dark. It’s unique and re-useable and they like that. They trace photos and pictures from books. It appears to be durable too. Auto-off feature saves on batteries.
Cons: Not many light-up colours. The drawings can’t by saved or stored for later. Not enough drawing space for 2 kids. So I had to buy another one for our boy. With express shipping I’ll soon have two happy kids, who will no longer be fighting over the first one.
Rating: 4 / 5

By: Kellie Pease

Kellie Pease — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:12:15 +0000

We got this for our son for a trip we went on. We would be driving in the dark, so his MagnaDoodle would be useless. It turned out to be a great toy for him, though I did think it would not be long lasting. It reminded me of the neon sketch toys from when I was a kid where you would draw on it and the plastic stuck to the backing, showing your image brighter. It works in a similiar way, but much better.

You turn the light on, draw on the screen, and it shows up very easily, even in daylight (indoors). You press the button in on top to erase. The button pushes the hard plastic away from the plastic film, erasing the image. While my son (nearly four) had no problem erasing, often the images on the bottom of the screen (closest to the backing) were difficult to erase. He would give it to me and I would have to hold the button it until it erased. After only a week of occasional use, the hard plastic backing (connected to the erase button) cracked while erasing. I can’t say I was shocked but I certainly expected this to last more than a week!

This is a fun toy that everybody – even the adults – found to be compelling to pick up if it is sitting there, but one week is a very short time for a toy to last. One other thing…The light stays on until you turn it off. I wish it had an auto-off feature. If they fix the breaking problem, I would highly recommend it!

Update: I e-mailed the company concerning my problem. They called me on the phone within ten minutes. This is the second time I have had to contact Spinmaster’s customer service and they are friendly, understanding, and will most definitely find a way to make the situation right. They had FedEx pick up the broken one and are sending a brand new one. This company is great!
Rating: 3 / 5

By: Becki Robins "Mother of Three"

Becki Robins "Mother of Three" — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 20:13:57 +0000

My three year old chose this as her reward for earning stars a couple of weeks ago. At first I was reluctant to indulge her because my experience with these kinds of toys is that they’re never as cool as they seem and they don’t last very long. But she was taking forever to make up her mind, so I caved since she finally seemed so sure of her choice. I’m glad I did!

She really loves this toy, and it really is as cool as it looks on the package. The colored lines are bright and look great even in daylight. It’s easy for her to switch the colors and to erase the board and it keeps her occupied for long periods of time. Even my husband and I enjoy drawing pictures for her using this toy, and she’s always asking us to draw things for her so she can change the colors and add little “details.”

Some of the reviews have mentioned that the erase mechanism doesn’t stand up–we haven’t had any issues with ours but our daughter doesn’t have a very heavy hand. I can see where someone might have problems, though–the mechanism definitely isn’t very sophisticated and probably isn’t particularly durable. If your child has a tendency to be rough on toys this might not stand up for long, so keep that in mind before deciding whether or not to buy.

As for us, we are pleased because this is a good way for our daughter to indulge her drawing obsession without using up all the printer paper or writing all over the backs of envelopes. Her drawings are mess-free and waste-free.
Rating: 4 / 5