pitfaltina's Full Review: Hasbro Littlest Pet Shop Biggest Littlest Pet Shop...
...The Biggest Littlest Pet Shop, that's who!
Sorry, that jingle always gets stuck in my head!
My daughter always asks for a "big" toy every year for Christmas, and last year, the "big" toy was the Biggest Littlest Pet Shop. When they say "biggest", they mean it. This behemoth measures about 40 inches when completely opened and is 16 inches tall. Thankfully, it's only 17 inches long when closed, or we wouldn't be able to fit it in the cram-jammed closet.
The Biggest Littlest Pet Shop gives you something to do with all those adorable but otherwise useless Littlest Pet Shop figures your children are always throwing around on the floor and leaving in the pockets of their jeans for you to discover when you're sorting the laundry. The Biggest Littlest Pet Shop has parts that spin, parts that swing, parts that slide open, and parts that are a pain to close. In all, it will provide many hours of fun for your little ones and many hours of frustration for you, making it a nearly ideal toy.
First, a note on liberating this toy from the packaging. After wielding an eyeglass screwdriver, a wrench, a blow torch, the cast of American Chopper, a can opener, and a 50-gallon drum of elbow grease, we managed to get this thing the heck out of all the packaging. You will have to get through cellophane tape, those highly annoying metal twist ties (and I wish terrible itchy hemorrhoids on whoever invented those things!), those really, really highly annoying tiny clear rubber bands (TWO cases of terrible itchy hemorrhoids for THAT guy!), pounds of cardboard, and clear plastic bags taped with miles of cellophane tape. Once you've managed all that, assembly is minimal. Just a couple of things to pop on the pet shop, and you're ready for play!
The Biggest Littlest Pet Shop has four main sections, as follows:
The Left Side
The left side has three stories. The top story hold a hammock that is very easy to slip in place and holds two pets comfortably, four if they're very good friends. There is also a tiny platform with tiny stairs leading to an even tinier balcony on the roof. There is a "window" in the wall right next to the hammock. The hammock is light pink and swings back and forth with ease.
The second story has a display nook that can spin around courtesy of a light green base that spins easily with one hand. You can stick some pets in there and spin them, or you can do what my daughter does...make that the "clothing boutique" and put all those tiny little scarves and shoes and sunglasses there for the pets to purchase. The second story also has a narrow floor and two "windows".
The bottom story has two shelves for displaying tiny little things, a swing for Littlest Pet Shop birds that have small talons, and a door that really opens and closes. It's been our experience that the door will fall off the hinges if the wind blows too hard, so be prepared to stick that sucker back on there at least three times a day. It does pop in easily, and maybe that's the problem! There is a large opening next to the door so if your child pushes the swing too hard, the bird won't be smacked into the wall and be as stunned as a, well, as a bird flown into a wall.
The Tower
In between the left side and right side is the most fun part of this toy, the tower. The tower has three stories. The top story is molded to look like the ocean floor and features a pink crab and a strand of green seaweed. There is a pink platform with a magnetic paw print, and more on that in a bit.
The second story is molded to look like a bathroom and features a pink bathtub with a little plastic ducky and a bathmat. Inside the tub is a yellow platform with a magnetic paw print.
The bottom story features a tiny little molded plastic mouse and it has a magnetic paw print. All the paw prints on all three stories are meant to hold pets in place, because when you wind up the heart on the roof of the tower and push in the paw print button, the floors of the tower revolve in a circle and the platforms in the top two stories rise up and down. Too fun!
The Right Side
The right side of the toy has three stories. The top story features a molded plastic bedroom and molded plastic stairs that lead to another tiny little balcony. There is a window with a tiny shelf above the bed.
The second story features a molded rug and a trap door. The trap door swings downward when you turn a little flower handle. There is a window above the rug and a set of stairs on the left of the rug.
The bottom story is very basic and the only feature is two windows. This is the section into which much of the toy gets folded, which is why it's so basic.
The Display Counter
The final section of this toy is a little fold-out display counter. There is a window in the wall and a big pink display counter with a drawer that swings open. The drawer is a great place to store all the tiny accessories that come with this set until your child inevitably neglects to put them all in there when picking up and they get sucked up by the vacuum cleaner.
The Pets
This set only comes with two pets. One is an adorable little guinea pig with a bobblehead, a magnet in his left paw, and the cutest shaggy beige fur. The second pet is a little Siamese cat. The cat has a magnet in his left paw. When you push down on the kitty's head, its right front paw raises up to its mouth and the kitty's tongue pops out to wash it. Too cute!
The Accessories
This set comes packed with accessories, which is great, but they're all tiny, which is not so great. They're very easy to lose and remarkably easy to suck up in my bagless vacuum cleaner. They also blend in well with all the things I vacuum up, making them hard to pick out of the vacuum canister. Oh well, we can't win them all!
With this set, you get:
A plastic cash register
Two plastic shopping bags with handles
A food and water dish
A collar and a leash
A bag of dog food
A can of sardines
A fish food container
A stack of three cans of cat food
A brush
A water bottle
A "Treat Center" with three levers (when you push down on a lever, a treat is dispensed)
2 dog bones, 2 carrots, and 2 cookies to put in the treat dispenser
A rope toy
A teddy bear
A mouse toy
A display bin (one pet fits comfortably)
My daughter has played with this every day since she's gotten it, so it's obviously a big hit. My biggest quibble with the Biggest Littlest Pet Shop is closing it. The left side folds toward the right side, and there are two pegs on the left side that are supposed to slide into holes on the right side to hold it closed, one at the roof and one on the edge. Getting the pegs to line up right is a bit tricky and we've bent the pegs when we've closed up the shop too hastily. Once you've lined up those pegs, the Display Counter section is supposed to fold into the opening on the left side. There is a latch on the top of the Display Counter that is supposed to snap into the opening of the left side, and it's a real pain to snap that shut. It's an even bigger pain to get it open again, so most of the time, we don't bother to push it all the way closed.
What I like about this toy:
~Great quality
~Lots of accessories
~Lots of play value
~Easy assembly
~Great price
What I HATE about this toy
~GETTING THE DARN THING OUT OF THE BOX!
~Closing the toy
~The door that won't stay on the hinges
~All those tiny accessories are so hard to keep track of
~It's so, well, BIG
Price paid: Man, I really got a deal here! This toy normally retails for $45 at Toys 'R' Us. I bought mine at Walmart for $35 AND it was bundled with a free Littlest Pet Shop game (a $13 game by itself!)
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 35 Type of Toy: Playscene
Age Range of Child: 3 to 5 Years
The Biggest Littlest Pet Shop playset offers the ultimate playing and shopping experience. Kids can turn a wheel to walk their pets or ride them throu...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
It's ginormous! Welcome to the fun-filled, tri-level pet shop where your pets live and shop together. After a day of shopping for treats and toys, the...More at Amazon Marketplace
Deluxe pet-house designed for the popular Littlest Pet Shop collectible animals The first floor is a pet store that kids can outfit with included acce...More at Amazon Marketplace
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.