Tonka Reviews

Our son loves this Tow Truck! He is always towing his cars around his room. Great gift.

St. Louis, MO.

Last Christmas I brought this toy for my 2 year old son and he LOVES it! The lights and sounds give him the real feeling of being the driver of the truck. He's had this toy for 11 months now and so far nothing has broken and the paint has not chipped. It still looks like new. I am so impressed that I am also going to buy him the lights and sound fire engine. This toy was well worth the money!

While my almost-3-year-old grandson and I were opening the box, Jacob was already looking for the buttons to press on this tow truck. He loves the sounds! Then I explained to him the tow truck's job -- to help cars that can't "go" anymore. This truck will take the broken-down car to a garage to get fixed. So, we found a little car he hooked onto the tow truck. Right now, he's learning how to work the winch. And, the lights on this toy are VERY impressive! I told him this truck is not afraid of the dark. It has to help people all day and all night long. Last, but not least, we put M&M candy in the "secret compartment" in case SOMEONE got hungry while on the job. Great toy! Loads of fun! Well made, very colorful, not too heavy.

My son loved this toy. I, on the other hand, did not. The batteries wore down way to quick, the plastic hydrolic on the shovel was contantly coming off & needed keeping track of, and lastly, after about a month the shovel broke right off. My son was heartbroken. He want's another funrise tonka but I really don't want to take a chance.

Our two-year old received this when he was 18 months old and he is now just starting to enjoy it. It is durable, but sometimes the rubber track comes off, but it is easily replaced. He spends lots of time putting it on various surfaces - indoors and out. This is a winner.

Bought this toy for my son's first birthday. He is a little young for it but bought so that he could grow into it. At one, he generally is more interested in getting into things around the house than toys that we have bought. We have had this for a week now and he goes right to it every day. He has trouble getting on and off as he is still unsteady on his feet...but loves to use the back handle as a push toy. It rolls very easily on carpet and rugs. I think that this will be a toy that he will be able to play with for a long time.

I am 14 years old and just got it for Christmas. This toy is awesome. Houres of fun. I will get this for my 17 year old brother. I have 5 of them. This was my favorite gift ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My son who is 12 months old has this truck at my mom's house. It is made of plastic, but yet strong to hold up to a rowdy little 12 month old boy. It is small and light enough that he can push it across the floor, yet big enought that grownups don't step on it. Once again this is a great toy!!

What do you get a little boy for his Birthday I thought. Here is the answer. I got this for my nephew for his 3rd birthday and he loves it! He pretends to park it at night. Wonderful toy for a small boy. He has been playing with it every day!

My Friend's son has this toy and it's the most fought over toy in the house. Young children are extremely fascinated by garbage trucks and there is a huge toy void in this area...it's very difficult to find these anywhere! My son wants one so bad. It's nice and big and functions like a real one. You can dump "garbage" in the top with the fork lift and removable dumpster and dump it out the back. It's set up like the real thing!(That's what makes it so cool). It's strong enough to support them if they want to sit on it and ride it all around. It even lasts through the fighting, tugging and pulling. Until this toy is available, we'll just have to keep watching the real thing outside and sharing this cool toy.

I bought the backhoe, dump truck and the back loader and recently purchase the crane for him. He takes them everywhere he goes. His father takes him to see the real ones at work and he know what each one is called.

They are very durable. Great trucks.

I got this backhoe for my 3 year old last year and it has put up with more abuse than any toy should have to face -yet it still works well & looks fine. My son has had an enormous amount of fun playing with it, riding on it, attacking his sister with it, etc. and it keeps coming back for more. Don't bother with motorized plastic, this is the real thig!

My 3 yr old counts 2 of these (don't ask) amongst his collection of 17 (don't ask) Tonkas. These are, by far, his favorites. Crack of dawn finds him out in the sandbox digging away. The ability of these toys to take abuse is consistent with that of all Tonkas. It's very high. They get crashed, bashed, and knocked around; left out in the rain; left out in the sun; and live in the very abrasive conditions of our wet Seattle sandbox. The sole evidence these have of the rough life they lead is the fading of the stickers. The paint colors have held up great, but in one season of use the sticker colors have faded almost completely away. One other issue: largely for the better these toys haven't been dumbed down or made "safer" over the last few years. This means that the corners are somewhat sharp- fine for our 3 yrd old to handle, but our 18 month old daughter has more fun with the (equally durable) processed plastic Tonka Backhoe ... . It doesn't seem to hurt her hands a bit when she holds it hard against the attempts of her brother to add a third backhoe to his side of the sandbox.

My son rec'd this for his 4th birthday and can't put it down. He's having a blast with it and I recommend it to all !

Tonka never ceases to amaze me with the quality of their toys. I bought this for my son last year (he was 3) and it's consistently been one of his favorites. It doesn't even go in the toy box. It has a special place on his bookshelf next to his Matchbox helicopter. The features are cool. He loves the fact that he can make the blades spin with just the push of a button. He doesn't play with it constantly (anymore) but anyone who has a child in this age range knows that kids go in cycles. Unlike some other toys that have been long forgotten over the ages, this toy still gets regular abuse. And toughs it out, just like most of Tonka's toys. Nothing has ever broken. Even the winch rope is durable. I love Tonka toys.

I bought one of these 2 years ago when my son turned 2, and it has consistently been one of his favorites. He has never used the winch very much; he just flies it around the house, especially with the lights out so he could use the search light to see. My parents bought him another one last year, not knowing that he already had one. This one differed only it that it is now festooned with American flags (post 9/11 version, apparently). Now these helicopters are my 1 year old son's favorite toys; he likes to push the buttons as well as push it around the house after his brother. The toy is really tough, and I assume the 4-7 age range is out of concern about strangulation on the winch cord more than durability or age suitability. Bearing this in mind, the toy can probably handle kids at any age.

This is such a great idea and wonderful addition to our Tonka collection. It is so cute and sparks such imagination for our toddler. You really cannot destroy these toys either - we've tried!

Ya know, it's nice to see some things have hardly changed at all since my childhood days. Take this big guy for example: this classic Tonka dump truck still has the same look it did when I was zoomin' one through my sandbox almost two decades ago! I am a bit bummed that the undercarriage is now made of plastic-- a pretty tough plastic, fortunately-- but otherwise things have pretty much stayed the same over the years design-wise. Most of the cab and the dumper bed are still made of steel, and the exhaust stack is still rubberized for your young'un's safety. Then there's the thing that REALLY hasn't changed after all this time: the difficulty I have holding back snickers whenever I see or hear the words "mighty dump". And judging from the previous sentence, my filthy-minded reaction to certain out-of-context phrases hasn't changed all that much, either...

'Late

When my oldest daughter was two, we bought her a Tonka dump truck. She is a junior in high school now, and the truck has endured heavy play from two more of our children, not to mention those of neighbors and visiting relatives. It's moved hundreds if not thousands of loads of sand around the sandbox, not to mention carrying sticks, dolls and even kids up and down the driveway, across the basement and through the kitchen.

I am planning to buy one for my nieces for Christmas.