We decided to buy this for our 4 year old's birthday last July, as she is trampolining mad! We wanted to encourage her to exercise as much as we could, as too many kids don't get enough these days!
I researched this like mad, on the internet as usual, asking friends which one they'd bought, as it just seemed that summer EVERYONE had one, EVERYONE wanted one, and EVERYONE sold them - all differing prices and qualities - it was a minefield!
Eventually after much deliberation and shopping around, I decided on a TP brand of trampoline. Without actually being able to walk around a trampoline shop and look/feel the quality of each one, the next best thing was to go with a well known reputable manufacturer, although slightly more expensive than others, I felt that it looked well made. Also, having a second younger child, we wanted one that would last for the foreseeable future.
We shopped around for the best price (and of course availability, as no-one seemed to have anything in stock until August, which was too late!) and eventually found, apparently the last one in stock, on John Lewis' website (www.johnlewis.com), for £150.
We purchased a cover for this also, at £25 (although not a TP one, they don't appear to make one for that size trampoline?). A cover is not generally required, as the trampolines are made to withstand all weather conditions, but we have woodland around us constantly bombarding us with leaves and debris, also too a fair amount of pigeon poo that could discolour and damage the trampoline base, so a cover was decided upon!
We ordered it and it arrived within a few days in a surprisingly small box - panicking slightly, thinking they'd sent us the wrong thing, I opened it, in the privacy of the garage so 'birthday girl' didn't see it - and found that yes, it was all there! I guess I, rather stupidly perhaps, expected a huge round box!!!
The day before her birthday, when the kids had gone to bed, we decided that we should assemble the thing. We were dreading it, because the instructions looked fairly daunting, as they generally do, and we had many nightmare stories relayed to us about all the problems people had. After all, we were trying to get this done in a couple of hours before it got dark and it was her birthday in the morning - how disappointing to wake up and seeing a discarded pile of tubes, springs and foam having been thrown all over the garden in temper - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
Anyway, basically we found a flat piece of the garden, and assembled the outer frame, only 6 curved pieces of heavy galvanised steel tube slotted together to form the outer circle (ensuring the holes for the springs were inside the circle!), then three parts to each of the three legs (two vertical pipes and one bottom one to form a 'U' shape - again all slotted together, no need for tools. The 8' trampoline only has three legs, 10' and over have 4. These legs then slot up into the circular frame. You now have your framework!
The slightly tricky part was putting all of the springs in, you have to put the first one in, remembering from one story told to me, to hook one end of the spring to the black trampoline bed (the part you bounce on!) and pull it to the frame, to hook in the other end. If you hook it to the frame first, these springs being so tight are difficult to pull to the bed, especially once you get more and more springs attached, it becomes more difficult. If you pull the bed towards the frame, you not only have the stretch in the spring, but also the bed stretch too. (Hopefully you can imagine what I mean?!!)
You then put spring no. 2 in, on the opposite side of the frame. You need to count the holes along the frame to work out where the exact opposite spring should go in. Then put third spring in; imagine a clock face, 1st spring at 12 o'clock, 2nd at 6 o'clock - the 3rd should be 3 o'clock and 4th at 9 o'clock, and then fill in the increments between. Halfway will be a bit of a struggle, as the trampoline bed is fairly stretched to capacity but by using the method stated in the manual of using a spring as a tool for putting in the other springs, it became a straight forward and fairly easy way of putting them in.
You basically hook the desired 'being installed' spring on to the trampoline bed, and using your 'spring tool' spring, hook it over the other end of the 'being installed' spring, pulling it towards the frame. Hook the end of the 'being installed' spring into the frame, and remove the 'spring tool' spring!!!! (Hopefully too, that wasn't garbled!! Well... it's difficult to explain!!!) Ok, I hear you say 'what about installing the last spring? eh? Well, by this time all the other springs are in, and the bed is stretched fully, it's as easy as pie to put the last spring in on it's own! (There, smarty pants!)
Anyway, once the springs and bed are in place, you just need to attach the foam padding around the edge. This came in three large pieces that just needed sitting around the edge of the bed, covering the springs around the frame, and tieing around the frame and legs in a couple of places to secure. That's it! Within half an hour we'd managed to get it done - you can't imagine how pleased we were!!! Also too, because it has a maximum weight of 14 stones (or 89 Kg if you're all 'metric'!) we had a bounce on it too!!! (Not together obviously!).
Needless to say she was chuffed to bits the following morning and we couldn't get her off of it! It has been invaluable. It's not just something that can be played with in the summer, she's jumped on it all year around, in between rain storms of course! Obviously they shouldn't be jumping on it when it's wet, and even with the cover on it, rain soaks through and 'wets the bed' (with our naff cover), so it should be as dry as a bone before you let them play on it.
It's also been great when her friends/cousins have been around, keeps them all entertained for hours, then they're all knackered and go to bed early!!! Always good!
We love it too, apart from the 'wetting myself' incident (those of you who have read my 'embarrassing moments' review will know!) it's great exercise, and because of the heavy weight limit, makes it good fun for most adults too (who have done their pelvic floor exercises first though!).
The quality of this trampoline is much better than some I've seen since. You really do pay for what you get sometimes. This is the smallest of their range, bought mainly because we have a fairly small garden - my sister in law has the 14' version! Now THAT is fab!!!
They have also recently bought out a cheaper 'lightweight' version, 40Kg weight limit, still 8' in size, but it comes with a 'safety surround' included to stop the kids from falling off the trampoline. This is around £179 (from www.outdoortoysdirect.co.uk) - I say cheaper, because the safety surround is usually £100+ on it's own! The surround is generally constructed of 6 - 8 upright poles (depending on the diameter of the trampoline) with netting stretched between them, forming a high 'wall' around the trampoline. We personally didn't get one of these, mainly because we always supervise the children when they're bouncing on it, also the budget didn't allow at the time!
You can also buy a ladder that stands against it and hooks over the frame, for around £20 - £25 so they can climb up onto it.
The TP Trampoline range is as follows:-
8' diameter ('Vienna' cost £150, surround costs £120, non-TP brand cover £25 - TP don't seem to do an 8' cover)
(Current prices from Early Learning Centre, worth shopping around for possibly cheaper prices).
A note about the 'cover could be better' remark at the beginning of this review, we bought a 'Plum Products' 8' trampoline cover, which is basically made of like a 'plastic sacking' type material, which lets water through. I haven't had personal experience of a TP one, although from pictures it looks much more rubberised and waterproof, but ours lets water through, and because the trampoline isn't on a 100% level surface, not all water resting on top drains away through the central drain hole in the cover.
This means it sits on there until it dries up, or you tip up the trampoline to tip the water off! Because the water just sits there, it doesn't then allow the trampoline bed to dry out underneath the cover, as the cover itself gets waterlogged and damp right through, and green mould has appeared on the bed because it was 'kept damp'! (hopefully you know what I mean!). I would recommend spending more on a better cover. I don't know why TP don't seem to do an 8' cover, I've tried everywhere on the internet! (If anyone knows where I can get one, please please let me know!!! Thank you!)
TP also recommend that you use rope and stakes (or their 'anchor' or 'tie-down' kit (bought extra for around £28) consisting of four straps that wrap around the top of the frame, and four stakes that go straight into the ground. Recommended and invaluable if you have an open exposed garden in high winds, especially with the larger trampolines.
They also recommend the trampoline isn't used on a hard surface, grass is usually best - or, if you're feeling flush in the 'budget' stakes, rubber play surfacing is best. We have grass!!!!
Spare parts are available from 'tptoys.co.uk' should anything untoward happen to springs, trampoline bed etc. The trampoline itself comes with a five year guarantee against rust causing failure on the galvanised steel frame. In order to activate this guarantee you must complete the guarantee card that is packaged with the trampoline and send it off to TP Toys.
Keep the manual somewhere safe too, because there's a number printed on the back, that corresponds to the number printed on the guarantee form, which is your 'product guarantee number' you would need to quote, should you ever need to contact them.
The manual provided is good and informative, does 'what it says on the tin' really. As well as instructions on how to put the trampoline together, it also gives you tips on how to bounce and land properly etc. Also on different jump styles, 'standing bounce', 'tuck jump', 'pike jump' and 'straddle jump' and various other 'drops' and 'bounces'!!! Hours of fun!
To summarise, this brand of trampoline is of extremely good quality, very hard wearing, and I think - value for money. We've had hours of fun on it and shall hope to carry on doing so!!!
Check out 'www.tptoys.co.uk' for more information on their products, and also for information of stockists.
As previously mentioned, we got ours from 'www.johnlewis.com'.
This product has not yet been reviewed. 
