*** We received a product sample for the purposes of this feature. No further compensation was provided. All photos contained below are copyright Momma Told Me Blog 2013.
Momma Told Me: Your toys are getting too complicated for me!
As a little girl, hopelessly addicted to
My Little Pony, I could often be caught imagining far out tales for my stuffed animals and action figures, into the wee hours of the morning. No matter how many 'bed checks' Momma would do throughout the night, I'd always awaken with a figure or two clutched tightly in my hands.My favorite heroines as a little girl? Princess Jasmine,
Aladdin, and the high spirited sprite, Tinkerbell. Both characters hailed from a far away, magical, land, in my mind. How wonderful it would be to ride on a magic carpet beneath fireworks, and into a mystical cave of treasure and gems- Or to live in a miniature, unseen, world where I could ride sparrows and use my fairy magic to blossom flowers! I recall, I once got a very sophisticated toy, for it's time; a fairy that would 'launch' itself off a platform, propelled by a winding mechanism.
When I began to hear all the holiday buzz about Spin Master's latest interactive creation, the Flutterbye fairy, I was immediately taken back to the memories from my childhood. Naturally, as most modernized toys tend to, the Flutterbye requires batteries, and a considerable more amount of patience than the fairy projectile device of my kinder-years. With an unsuspectingly simple design, at face, the Flutterbye promises to 'fly' (hover, really) just a foot above your child's outstretched hand, for several minutes on a single charge. The toy is intended to be used indoors (no, really, you may only use it indoors or else wind and a lack of ceiling may see your Flutterbye drift into the sunset). It also requires about 20 minutes of charge time for 7 minutes of flying play.
Out of the box the Flutterbye seems simple. There is a base with an on/off switch, a tandem cable to charge the fairy when docked, and a secondary on/off button on the fairy itself (under her skirt). I mention this secondary switch because we, despite reading the instructions multiple times, missed that this secondary operational switch was there. For a good hour we tried to launch our charged fairy with no results- duh, the fairy itself has to be turned on! Once the fairy is charged, and the cable is disconnected, simply turn the skirt switch on, and press the large launch button on the front of the dock. The light indicator will blink, then turn green, as the petal/skirt begins to rotate. This is a little loud, and does sound like a whirring/churning sound, some young kids may not care for.
Once the
Flutterbye leaves the charger base it is important the operator/child reaches out their hand, about a foot below the flying fairy, to maintain communication contact with the sensors on the bottom of her skirt. This will enable the 'guided' flight that makes this particular toy so high tech and appealing for it's $35 asking price. I won't lie, there was a lot of frustration on Sabrina's (11) part when trying to learn the operation of this toy. She'd forget to flip the switches when charging, or was initially shy about approaching the fairy once launched. We learned some basic troubleshooting tips, provided with the instructions, and quickly picked up that we could 'reset' the fairy by flipping the switch on it's skirt. This was particularly helpful if the fairy began to launch itself too high too control. Unfortunately, part of playing with this toy means it will have it's spills from time to time, as it crashes into things. Thankfully, the toy is very durable, and the moving parts are made of bendable plastic that shouldn't harm indoor furniture or surfaces.
Once we figured out the Flutterbye control techniques, it was rather addictive to fly the fairy around the house. The guided movement wasn't always as precise as we would have liked, but the technology certainly is unique. I think the Flutterbye would be great amongst a group of girls who could better corral the flying and control with multiple eyes and hands. I think this technology is very exciting, and I can't wait to see how it develops with children's toys over the next few years. Buy the Flutterbye at a Toys R' Us near you, or online at Amazon.com- but hurry and grab it now, this will be a popular item this holiday season!
What Daughter Says: The technology of tomorrow is present in the toys of today, as seen in the Flutterbye fairy.
