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Member since:12.11.2000
Reviews:17
Members who trust:63
The product does what it says, produces reams of different things on the printer, so quickly using up expensive (£25 or more) colour ink cartridges.
It comprises the following 7 functions.
Create your own greetings cards Growth charts Posters Jigsaws Big maps Cut out and build Colouring
In all the functions, a signal arm at top left can be clicked on to reveal the save, import, and print options. There is also the top right hand engine shed symbol to leave the function you are in and return to the main menu based on a turntable used to select the engine, and hence function, of your choice. Each engine/function is described out loud by Michael Angelis (Ringo Starr sound-alike).
Create your own greetings cards was good, and I enjoyed showing my 3 year old how to make a Birthday Card for him and his brother using their favourite engines and other festive decorations such as balloons and cakes and presents. There are plenty of things to choose for the design, too numerous to mention here. The
card is constructed by folding the A4 sheet into half then half again, and the parts of the print come out suitably orientated to take this into account. The spoken commentary suggests alternatively cutting out and sticking onto card.
Growth Charts is just a 6-sheet (and therefore approximately 5 foot) height chart against which you can plot your child’s height each birthday, or whatever period you decide to mark against the chart. The idea is to stick the sheets together on the wall of the child’s bedroom, or possibly on a door if you are prone to changing wallpaper every year or so! There are about 8 or 10 (from memory, will update later when I can get out of this submission) background designs. The most effective to my mind are the pure yellow background with the simple picture of Thomas at the bottom, and the more complicated collage effect of the Fat Controller and Thomas, and various other characters like Harold the Helicopter. The “ruler” in all of these charts is the track itself! A very clever idea, and the significant decades are marked by a slightly longer and darker sleeper. The unfortunate thing as far as us oldies are concerned, is that the scale is only METRIC. The maximum height is 1.6 meters (very roughly 5 feet).
Posters were OK and like designing the parts of the greetings card, various engines and animals and backgrounds etc, can be combined and printed out. Not much more to say about this, well enough executed function.
I liked the jigsaw function. At its lowest difficulty level an A4 sheet of the children's favourite picture (from the CD, not your own) can be cut into 4 quarters for the very youngest child. It can go up to 16 standard shaped pieces for a design. Obviously use a card backing for the printed sheet, or use very thick paper. The shape of the jigsaw piece is not just fixed at the standard interlock, but shapes such as balloons or even tessellation with geometric shapes such as stars and triangles. There are even outlines of engines to use as jigsaw piece shapes, but at that level they are more just shape filling a cut out, rather than a proper jig-saw. This is not to criticise, however, as this is just the sort of level needed by the very young. I was quite happy with the variety of choices.
Big maps is used to construct large floor mats by joining 12 sheets together, but how long they would last without laminating in plastic is anybody’s guess. That is not the point, however, as large wall maps can also be created of various scenes, all of which are based on track designs. There must be more than a dozen designs, but I noticed that some of the choices were merely a repeat of a previous design of track layout, rotated 180 degrees! I am not sure if the designer meant to mirror image the design or not, but instead they merely turned the design round, a thing you could do by hand just as well. The basic track layout can be used to play with various train sets as it is, but far better to use the option of embellishment with bushes, grass, ponds and other water features, etc. Add the 3D models of tunnels and bridges and trees mentioned above, and a wonderland can be created for the child’s imagination to transport him/her to a different world.
Cut out and Build was another function I liked, as there was the ability to change the colour of parts of the models before printing out and cutting out and sticking together. Just some of the designs include, for example, railway stations, houses, signal boxes, signals, tunnels, churches, barns cottages and so on. Other items include 3 dimensional (cartoon-istic or partly stylised) trees and bushes. There are at least 8 or 10 different types of tree to make, each standing on its own circular base. This is not an exhaustive list, as there are 3 main categories, buildings, people (and animals) and abstract, each with lots of choice. At first sight this activity would not seem all that enjoyable, but having printed out the signal box and cottage, and having constructed them with the help of my 5 year old son, it must be said that the models are very nice. My son was enthused at having made a 3D model out of 2D paper! Using thick paper makes for a very satisfying sturdy-enough result when stuck with Pritt-Stick, or something similar.
The only function that can be done without needing a printout is the colouring part in “Cut out and build with Lady” as well as “Colouring with Dodge”. The colouring in is simple flood fill from 40 colours, no chance of mixing to a different hue. The novelty therefore wears off quickly, especially if the youngster has just been using one of the painting packages such as in Cocktel’s “Adiboo” or Disney’s “Magic Artist Studio”, or the superb Davidson’s “The Third Dimension” beforehand.
Ultimately however, I would be unhappy to pay the asking price of £19.99, so I only got this software as part of an inducement to join a book club (BFC, and see karenuk’s opinion on debt before deciding to join them or not).
At around £5 it is very acceptable. At £10 it is still quite acceptable. Otherwise at full price of £20 it is a bit too limited in only 7 different functions, and no decent games to play while on the computerin addition to the print function. I am recommending it on the grounds that you can get it discounted at £10 or less. It helps to have a decent printer, one with separate colour cartridges for all 3 or 4 primitive colours would be better than a composite 3 or 4 in one, as one of the colours will die well before the other 2 do. Green is a predominant theme on a lot of the prints, so is blue.
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I'm writing these toys down as I'm reading your great reviews..LL
wiggglypufff 11.04.2001 03:01
[off topic] Just playing proud mum, reading through the comments on Philip (my son)'s op. He will be so chuffed when he reads the one you left. He's a bright kid, off to grammar school in September. I thought introducing him to Ciao wouldn't do any harm and it's something for him to do in the school holidays. Entirely his own work, I just rang it through the spell checker for him. He loves writing (usually creative fantasy stories) I'm having to hold him back from becoming a churner.. Anyway, thanks again for your support, Karen :o)
KarenUK 26.03.2001 23:23
Gosh, fame, I'm mentioned in your op!! Thanks!! A very good op, it was too, my youngest daughter would love this, but as you state, it would go through printer cartridges too much :-(
Advantages: practically unbreakable, great for developing story-telling skills Disadvantages: it''s v. painful if you are hit over the head with one!! Quite pricey.
Advantages: hours of fun and entertainment for adults and children. Disadvantages: watch out for the points, they are hell on the feet when trodden on.
Advantages: practically unbreakable, great for developing story-telling skills Disadvantages: it''s v. painful if you are hit over the head with one!! Quite pricey.
Mar 26th, 2001
(Feb 16th, 2002)
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