Melissa & Doug Deluxe Standing Easel
by Melissa & Doug
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List Price: Our Price: $33.49 You Save: $46.50 (58%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $32.95 (click here) Category: Toy See more product details |
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Toys and Games Reviews of Melissa & Doug Deluxe Standing Easel
Customer Review: High quality, lots of fun for litte ones!
Summary: 5 Stars
We purchased this easel on Amazon for our 2 1/2 year old daughter for Christmas. To be honest, I had been considering a more expensive easel, based on the feedback about the chalkboard on the M + D easel. However, a $100+ easel wasn't in the budget, so I went ahead and took a risk. When we opened the box and assembled this easel, I was impressed with its overall quality, as well as the ease of assembling the product. (It took a little over 30 minutes, but even with two 'assembly-challenged' people, the whole process went very smoothly.)
There was nothing in the instructions about seasoning the chalkboard, but based on earlier reviews, I opted to go ahead and do it. The chalkboard didn't look all that different when I completed the process, and I wondered if it had made any difference at all. However, when my daughter wrote on it with chalk this morning (and another 50 times today), it erased just fine. (However, my daughter is only using the M + D chalk with it -- see paragraph below.)
I went ahead and purchased the M + D easel accessory kit as well. I would absolutely recommend it as a companion set to this easel! The paint cups are easy to use, just about spill proof, and fit nicely in the area provided in the paint tray area. The brushes match the tops of the paint cups, so it is very easy for little ones to keep track of which brush should go in which cup. The chalk in the accessory kit is durable, but gentler on the board than regular chalkboard chalk. (I bought some Crayola chalkboard chalk for my daughter's stocking, but I tried it and it started to "scratch" the easel chalkboard, so I opted not to give it to her and instead just let her use the M + D chalk. I will be paying the extra few bucks to replace it with the more M + D chalk when the time comes.
The only negative was that the dowel rod that the paper roll sits on was splintered and crooked. However, I called Melissa and Doug's customer service center and was greeted by a pleasant customer service representative who processed my request and assured me a new piece would be on its way in a few days. The one in the box was functional for the time being, so it didn't impede my daughter's enjoyment of her Christmas present.
In summary, we are thrilled to have found a quality easel for such a bargain! (It was listed for around $35 when I purchased it.)
Customer Review: Deluxe should mean complete and ready to go
Summary: 4 Stars
The overall concept of product is very good,but how do you teach a child which side is only for chalk and not dry erase and vise versa? I can see these getting mixed up and potential ruined if not completely supervised at all times. I thought upon ordering this product that it came with a small amount of product for children to play with e.g. chalk,paint, marker,etc. since it said "DELUXE" Standing Easel. It never was clear at any point that had to purchase paper,chalk, paint, etc. seperately !! I was lucky I had the forsight to order just 1 kit of chalk, etc. that I thought would be EXTRA items for the grandchildren to share with the other grandchildren out of state who were visiting for Christmas. Otherwise we would have had the 5 grandchildren who were so excited about their standing easels and all they could do and NOTHING to do on it. We ordered 2 of these one for each family and neither time was it apparent that nothing came with the easels. I hope you will correct this and include a small amount of product with the "DELUXE Easel so it is ALL INCLUSIVE and ready for eager little hands and excited parents and grandparents to play together right away!!! Now I have to reorder or go to the stores and buy the products seperately and cost more.. It is not easy to find rolls of paper and yet sure would have been nice to have had so we could thoroughly enjoy the product.
On a brighter note since I bought a small amount of product to share anyway with all the grandchildren they ALL had a GREAT time and parents alike helping their kids. It will be a product that continues to be helpful and grow with the grandchildren imaginations.
I hope you will take this review VERY seriously and reconsider how it is packaged and presented so others will not be disappointed. Also please include instructions how to put together,my husband is very handy with putting things together so not much of hiccup for him,but I'm not so sure others would be able to put together before giving up because of so many pieces.
Thanks for the opportunity for me to let you know about the products misinformation and less than ideal packaged as it is!! I would like to order other items but I'm leery now as to what I would get and really hate to be disappointed again.
Customer Review: Good, cute, but room for improvement
Summary: 4 Stars
My little one loves to draw and paint so we decided this would be an ideal birthday gift for her third birthday!
We opened the box with good expectations as we have generally had success with Melissa and Doug products. We found there was slightly more assembly required than we had assumed, but still not bad -it took about 20 minutes. The instructions were a little poor and you have to rely on the box for the odd clarification, but still this was a relatively easy build. There are no tools required, besides the included Allen Wrench. Our only concern was the wood was a tad bit rough and little hands could easily get a splinter - so a little more finishing would have been a big asset!
This is a large Easel, maybe a little big for a three year old but room to grow as they do which is great and it can be adjusted! It comes with large and deep trays for holding paints and accessories. These screw in which mean you will have to unscrew in order to remove for a thorough cleaning which is a little inconvenient but I guess it helps add to the sturdiness.
This is a pretty sturdy item and well thought out - we purchased the additional paper rolls which are a good price and the paper feeds easily to the easel, giving kids lots of opportunities to create their masterpiece then start another without additional set up. This is a great feature!
One thing you might want to bear in mind as this is a large item, is that is states it folds down for ease of storage; however, in order to fold flat you do have to remove hardware in order to remove the trays - so you will need to keep them safe somewhere. This might be important to bear in mind if your space is limited as this function could have been thought out a little better! Its not that ideal having to store screws someplace safe in order to fold up a toy.
All in all, we do like it, its looks great, has great opportunities for hours of fun but a little more thinking on the oart of Melissa and Doug R&D could have made this a 5 star product...for me, unfinished wood on an item designed for young kids is not ideal and ease of storage could have been improved.
Customer Review: Very Favorable Art Easel
Summary: 5 Stars
We had gotten this for our 3 yr old for Christmas and had read quite a number of reviews on this AND other brands of easels. Melissa and Doug, we found, had the most favorable reviews out of all easels AND websites we checked out so we decided to go for this one. Let me tell you, we have NOT been let down! Fairly easy to put together (my husband did it and he said once he sorted all the parts it was easy to put together-no issues with holes off or any problems with pieces fitting) and once together, it isn't rickety (which being an art major myself, would've drove me crazy if it was). The double sides plus place for paper makes it very nice to keep her busy for hours! There are spots where you can adjust the "boards" to make it taller as they grow, which I love that she won't outgrow just because she's getting taller. Right now we even have a chair set up so she can sit and paint/draw. As far as all the comments I saw about the chalkboard side not letting you write, I don't know if it's because those comments are a little on the old side and the company has improved on it, but we had ABSOLUTELY no problem with the chalkboard! Wrote fine on the first try! And as far as the wipeoff board, I did see one or two comments about it leaving the blue behind after wiping off. We did have that happen, but after the child writes and wipes after that, I didn't even see where the blue was before! So I consider that no issue at all! Out of all the presents she got, this is the one my child keeps going back to and bugging us to use. Also-we had gotten the accessory kit to go with it. If you already have paints and chalk, really no reason to get the whole thing. The best part about it is the paint cups. Keeps the paints in the cup AND they have airtight covers so you don't need to worry about dumping the paint back when the child is done. She hasn't used the paint in over 12hrs and when I opened them up the paint was still wet! So overall-great product for the money we paid! Well worth it!Customer Review: My Toddler Son Loves This
Summary: 5 Stars
Not only is this easel high-quality affordably priced, it is made with real wood and uses sturdy plastic trays that are easy to clean. It's also colorful and nice enough to leave open all the time. It has two sides, so two children can use it at the same time, and the chalkboard works great (meaning it doesn't have a waxy feel and the chalk actually sticks to the board). Sometimes toys are so ugly that you want to get them out of the way as quickly as possible, but we are proud to display this in our home, and our son loves having easy access to it. He's only two, so I would add that if your children is under three and can draw, they will love this.
A few suggestions: you can buy the smock, but if you are comfortable letting your child paint in his diaper (if he's that young), then cleaning up might simply mean a bath. You'll need to put something down under the easel if your child uses the paints. The paint containers (sold separately) are spill resistant, so if they tip over and are only a little full, paint won't go flying everywhere. It's almost a no-brainer to buy this with the deluxe easel companion set, which is designed to work with the easel (paint containers the same size as the holders in the tray, etc.)
ALSO: there are clips included, and it is possible to use the back of previously-used paper (we use large 11X17 paper in our printer at home) instead of, or in addition to the paper roll.
A few minor criticisms: from a design standpoint, the hinges could be a little stronger, but as long as you don't throw this down a flight of stairs, it should be fine. Also, you'll have to put this together, but it's not too difficult, but if you are the type who doesn't like handy work, you might want someone to give you a hand. It's a little bit of a chore to do yourself, but not impossible at all.
All in all, a wonderful product. I would purchase this again in a heartbeat.