PlaySkool Busy Ball Popper

When my son was younger we bought him a Busy Ball Popperfrom Playskool. Apparently Hasbro bought Playskool, as Amazon.com calls it a "Hasbro Playskool Busy Ball Popper." He was about 9 months old when we bought it, and was not very mobile. We thought this could entertain him while he was sitting around.

The ball popper is a pretty basic toy. There is a fan that circulates air through a tube and shoots balls up through the top, where they go down a spiral slide and start the process all over again. When my wife first described the toy to me before we bought it, I thought it sounded dangerous. "Just what our boy needs", I thought. "Something that can shoot him in the eye." She assured me that it was perfectly safe, and it turns out she was right. There is not a lot of force behind the balls as they launch, and he never stuck his face in the path.

Our initial reaction when we installed the batteries and turned it on was of disappointment. The balls didn't seem to have enough oomph to make it out of the tube. I could create a vacuum with my hand that would launch the balls, but it seemed to us that something was wrong. We returned it to Target and replaced it.

The second one worked much better. It turned out the first one was a fluke. This one had plenty of power to get the balls launched. My son was too young to understand how to push the lever to get the thing going, so he would make us do it. Over and over. As he began walking he would sometimes try to carry it to us so we would push it. Not only was my son fascinated with the whirring of the fan, there are a number of different songs it plays while the balls are in motion. Among them are "Rockin' Robin" and "Flight of the Bumblebees", both classics from their respective eras.

The only thing really wrong with the product is that sometimes the balls shoot too high and miss the slide. If you are monitoring your child's use of this product (as I highly recommend you do if your child is under two years old), you can stick your hand a few inches above the tube to knock the balls back down onto the slide. I don't think this glitch is too big a deal.

Here is what the manufacturer has to say about the product:

Get silly with poppin', droppin' colored balls! Pump the plunger and drop the balls onto the spiral track. When they reach the bottom, look out - the balls pop out the top! Giggles are guaranteed with wacky sound effects and 8 lively songs to help keep the fun rolling along. The Playskool Busy Ball Popper has won numerous toy awards, including American Baby's Best Toy, Child Magazine's Best Toy, and the NAPPA Gold Award. Requires 4 "D" Batteries.

Tonight my 2 year old son was playing with his Busy Ball Popper,having long since mastered it. He learned early on how to get the vacuum going with his hand when he loses a ball now and then. Tonight he had a lot of fun with it. He has had it about a year and a half now, and it has been a great product.

I highly recommend this product for your child's enjoyment.

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