Hasbro Elefun
by Hasbro
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Our Price: $34.98 Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $7.00 (click here) Category: Toy See more product details |
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Toys and Games Reviews of Hasbro Elefun
Customer Review: Fun for everyone (but watch those batteries!)
Summary: 4 Stars
My three year old son saw this advertised and asked for it as a present - the only time he has ever done this for any game or toy. The game comes with:
* Large blue elephant fan base and translucent plastic trunk
* Thirty rip-stop nylon butterflies
* Several butterfly markers for keeping score
* Four mesh nets for catching butterflies
The unit requires 4 "C" batteries (not included.)
When powered on, a quiet fan in the elephant base pushes air up the elephant's trunk forcing the butterflies out. Players try to catch the butterflies in their nets. Our family has played this game and enjoyed it. Catching the randomly fluttering butterflies is an excellent eye-hand coordination activity. And even though the game is geared for younger kids, there is enough of a challenge that all ages can play and enjoy it. (One of the nicest things about the game is that it really does not matter who wins, the game play is fun enough in itself. We don't even keep score and no one minds.)
Elefun is not without its issues, though:
1. Plays quickly, but then it takes considerably more time to get it ready for the next round of play than it takes to actually play.
2. The trunk has to be extended manually even with the fan on at the beginning of play. Once fully extended, it will stay up.
3. Eats batteries like mad. The fan works best with fresh batteries and the quality of play goes down quickly (not all the butterflies will come out) if the batteries are not 100%. A DC adapter option would have been nice.
4. While the entire set is durable, the trunk is a bit suspect. Made out of a plastic a bit thicker than a plastic garbage bag, it is subject to holes as it gets repeatedly crinkled during normal play. Our son inexplicably took a scissors to it, but fortunately it was repairable (though we lost a bit of length.)
All things considered, the game is fun and a good activity for young children. What kind of value it is for the money is debatable - a friend gave us this game, so it's a win-win for us. Batteries are an issue, however, and I would seriously recommend purchasing a big set of rechargeables anyway for any parent who buys battery-reliant toys. Considering how fast you'll use up batteries with Elefun, you'll save money in the long run if you do so.
Customer Review: Perfection, thy name is Elefun
Summary: 5 Stars
Okay, so let's cut to the chase. Elefun (hereby refered to in this review as Hellafun (cuz it is(i played it a lot so i know what i'm talking about))). Anyway, I will be rating this game on a 5 category system:
Story:
The story is that Elefun is an elephant living in the fields who has a problem: all the butterflies are escaping from the butterfly museum! It is up to you and your parents to rescue the butterflies in your net before Elefun expires. Overall a fantastic story rife with peril, adventure, and social satire.
Visuals:
Graphics are amazing. Hellafun sports state of the art 3D design, none of these 2D games popping up now a days. The elephant is a realistic shade of blue, and the butterflies come in vibrant and exquisite colors. I thought they were real at first!!! A beautiful game, but does the gameplay stack up to the graphics?
Gameplay:
Oh my god, there are no words to describe the immaculate experience this game provides. Butterflies fly out of the trunk of the elephant so quickly it is hard to keep up. I've had competitions that have lasted over 2 hours, one time we stayed up all night! Set-up is not as hard as everyone seems to think, it's definitely worth it to taste the glory of Hellafun once again. An absolute blast, something that I think our current government should look into.
Sound:
Good sound
Educational Value:
Here's the only caveat I have with this prestigous achievement in gaming; it is NOT for kids. There are adult themes throughout this game, and although it is oodles of fun, it is certainly not for minors. The gore content is only matched by the almost blatant sexual innuendo and downright brutal violence exhibited by this masterwork. Buyer beware: your children may be scarred for life. But I mean it is really fun so it's still worth it actually.
OVERALL:
This is the best game I have ever played. I threw away all of my things because who needs them when you have Hellafun! I played a lot of video games before, and none of them even compare (BioShock developers take note!) A+!!!
Customer Review: Great game IF......
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a great game that my 2 1/2 year old son loves. The 1st night we brought it home, I would have agreed with the other "bad" reviews. It took FOREVER for the butterflies to come out, one at a time, and there were a lot that never came out. After reading some old reviews here, and taking others' advice, it now works great. Although I would still say this is more entertaining for very little ones (like my son's age) as older kids will get bored with it very easily. Here is what I did to make it work good.
1. This is THE most important thing to do - I took each butterfly and sort of bent it's wings 'backwards' or 'inside out' to make them spread out so that they will catch the air. They will not fly properly the way they come out of the bag, all crunched up.
2. We were using it on a carpeted floor. We now put it on a hard surface (book, board, etc). There is a button on the bottom that has to stay pressed in for it to work (we actually just taped ours so it is always in). This also allows for better air flow around the fan (more power), and I would think this would also extend the life of the motor.
3. I put in good "name-brand" batteries instead of the generics I originally had. Most times I never notice a difference in toys, but this time I did. Maybe the ones I originally had were just "bad" though too.
4. Not enough butterflies? (...)
5. For good measures, I also rubbed the inside of the trunk with a dryer sheet to get rid of any static build-up that may cause the butterflies to get hung up in the trunk.
Hope this helps some people enjoy this toy a little more. Now my son really loves this game. I was very ready to return it until I read through all the old reviews and tried these suggestions. Now we will keep it!
Customer Review: Excellent!
Summary: 5 Stars
It's fun! Yeah ... you have to load the butterflies often, but for $15 don't expect a huge generator shooting out 100s of butterflies. I have my daughters help me load up the elephant and they get excited again anticipating the butterflies coming out. Sometimes you can see them starting to come up (shadowy fluttering up the trunk) and they giggle and wait with their nets. My only concern with this game was that the butterflies were small enough where I was worried with our younger daughter that she'd try to swallow them/or have them get stuck in her throat. When giving this as a gift, I also make sure to tell friends to watch younger children around the butterflies and to count the number of butterflies you have so that you can make sure they are all there when you are done playing. We keep the butterflies in a ziploc bag between playing. Great to practice colors (I ask what colors the butterflies they caught are, how many butterflies, who has more, who has less ... great for early math ... greater and lesser ...). We have given this gift several times and it's a huge hit when our friends come over. I have read reviews and will try to cut the trunk down. It seems a little to long for it to stay up effective for that sized fan. Good suggestion ... will have to try the cut down. Anyway, enjoy and remember that kids can learn to clean up the butterflies which will lead to them playing another session. It doesn't have to be all about mom. We sing the Barney song while gathering butterflies and start again. It's only a few seconds of inconvenience.Customer Review: A blast for 45 seconds
Summary: 4 Stars
This game has such potential, but has several downfalls. First, my kids love it, but play requires my constant intervention. I kind of cringe when they want to play it cause it is so high maintenance for me. They (4 1/2 & 3 1/2) can't extend the trunk up by themselves-they're too short, and the fan does not blow hard enough to fully extend/inflate the trunk, so I need to adjust it each time. If the kids bump the trunk it easily collapses and I have to upright it again. The butterflies take no more than about 45 seconds to come flying out. I do think the brief game play is fun and it is great practice for hand-eye coordination. Some butterflies always remain in the trunk-seems like the blower isn't strong enough to propel them out when only a few are left. I guess there is a fine line re: blower strength--doesn't inflate trunk, but will keep it up once inflated, the butterflies fly out quickly, yet some will always remain in the base spinning in circles. The constant need to upright the trunk, and remove and replace the trunk between brief game play can wreak havoc on the plastic sleeve of the trunk. Even with gentle handling (I try to only grab the hard plastic base of the trunk), ours has quickly developed many additional creases which make it more likely to fall over and need extra careful handling to upright and keep open. It's a good game and kids can't help but enjoy playing, but be prepared for needing to be a very active participant throughout game play. It's a lot of work for very little actual play time.