Leapster by Leapfrog? Good or no?

[BWVDenise]

I was reading the reviews on amazon.com and although parents seem to love this as a learning tool, there were a lot of complaints about the quality of it. Any comments here?
Also, I was looking at it for my 6 yr old for Christmas (he'll be 6 1/2 then) and I was wondering if he is too old for it. He has a game boy but he rarely uses it and he could really use all the help he can get with reading and writing. What do you think?

 

[Disneyland_emily]

Although I havent personally played with it out of demo mode from what I can tell its pretty neat (I'm a Walmart Toy Associate- 3rd christmas in toys yes I'm nuts..) It sold pretty well last year and I havent gotten any back (to my knowledge) for being defective or stupid (yes we usually get a few like that back..)

Its not on the 12 toys of christmas (as far as I remember- Ill relook tomorrow) so I dont think they'll be that hard to get this year but who knows...

-em

 

[maci]

We have the pixter which is basically the same toy by a different maker, and my kids love it!
It was a life saver on our driving trips this summer!

 

[kidzmom3]

My 6 year old daughter loves her Leapster. She has spongebob and Dora and the kindergarten cartridge.

I think the quality is very good, and she has been able to play just those 3 games since Christmas without getting bored. She does not play with it every day, but when she does she really enjoys it.

 

[jel0511]

We have both a Pixter and Leapster, and the Leapster is the better toy IMO. Now, that I have both, do you think DD plays with any of them (we also have a Gameboy)? Absolutely not!!! She played with it for about 2 weeks after last Christmas, and then it laid in the basement until I packed it for our drive to WDW in July. She played with it for maybe an hour in the car, and then it was bye bye. She's much more into arts and crafts and her stuffed animals anyway, and I won't be buying any more cartridges. She got 3 additional ones from Santa. If your little one is into video games, it might be a good learning tool, but if you're really looking for help with reading/math, I'd get the Leap Pad instead. It is MUCH better for that type of learning game, and DD does play with that one from time to time.

 

[DrCavin]

We bought my son one last year at Christmas, he was 4 then. He does play it more than any other toy. I don't know what ages the games go up to, we only have a couple for it.

If he doesn't play the gameboy, then I don't think he would play with the leapster either, but you never know with kids.. Buy my kids a $50 toy & they spend hours playing with the box it came in & none with the toy

OH, I almost forgot the Leapster goes through lots of batteries, but the color Pixter is even worse!!!

 

[dvcfamily41801]

Our son has the Leapster and LOVES it! We got it last year for Christmas, he had just turned 4. He loves to play it in the car. Can plug his earphones into it and it is wonderful!!

 

[aprilgail2]

My daughter happens to be sitting right next ot me playing it!! the only thing I felt was not great about it is the kindergarten cartridge and first grade one...she was only 4 and could do the 1st grade on no trouble so they are really geared a bit young in their "grading" of the games....but otherwise its a great thing, she loves it!

 

[hentob]

Love it! I have yet to meet a child or parent that doesn't think this is awesome!

 

[jrydberg]

My daughter has a Leapster and has absolutely worn it out. Literally! She loves playing with it so much that the screen has become less sensitive to the "pen" and sometimes doesn't work quite so well. But then again, she has been a bit rough on it, so I'm not really complaining. I'd gladly pay the money to get her another one. She uses it all the time. It's great for trips

 

[Bob Slydell]

DS got a Leapster for his 4th birthday and he LOVES it -- it's his favorite toy right now. We have to limit how much time he plays with it or else he'd do nothing else.

 

[dbal]

We also have one & love it. Our 6 year old plays with it often and our 2yr is starting to get into it too!

Jrydberg- Ours wore out too! The stylus pen was not working with the screen. I went on line and emailed Leapfrog about the problem and they emailed me back stating to send the defective product back and they would fix or replace the pen.

Less than 2 wks. later..... A brand new Leapfrog was delivered to my doorstep.

I would definitely recommend the Leapster and Leapfrog's customer service!

 

[EsmeraldaX]

I used to work in an educational toy store and we sold a lot of these and never got any back. In fact, we probably sold more of this companies products than any other during the last two years we were open.

I can also say having been a retailer dealing with them, they are a really great company to deal with. I always found the folks who worked there to be friendly and helpful when I had questions about stock for our store.

 

[jrydberg]

dbal -- Appreciate the info! I'll have to talk to them and see if I can get the same