Amazing Amanda
by Toys
|
List Price: Category: Toy See more product details |
|---|
(Click here)
Toys and Games Reviews of Amazing Amanda
Customer Review: A doll that lives up to her name
Summary: 5 Stars
In short, this is an amazing doll. In many ways she is like a little person for my daughter to care of. She has a distinct personality and a lot of fun play. My daughter has played with her for hours and she still says new things!
I think the previous bad review may have been related to the age of the child, which was four. The box says five and up. As far as the reliability of the speech recognition, my own daughter can get the doll to work almost all the time. Granted my daughter is seven and has a clear voice. I would NOT recommend this toy to anyone whose daughter has a speech impediment or is a soft talker. (Of course the doll might teach your daughter how to speak louder, which may be a plus.)
Also it states clearly in the instructions that you need to be in a QUIET room, which really is a no-brainer for a product like this. Anyone who has used cell phones or other speech-recognition products knows the drill. Kids however (especially very young ones) dont. So you do have to teach them a bit.
So how does she play? Well the setup is a bit of a pain. You have to set her time and date, and then she asks for your daughter to say her name a few times so she can learn her voice. Then she teaches your daughter how to play with her.
Here are some of the things I've seen her do:
- ask for and go potty. (This is funny and a bit gross. As a man I don't get it but my daughter loves it.)
- eat. (You feed her all kinds of food, which she knows when you put it in her mouth. Feed her the wrong thing and she knows and comments about it.)
- play games. (She sings and plays some animal sounds game. Pretty cute.)
- get sick. (you hug her to make her feel better)
... plus a bunch of other stuff.
She also knows the general time of day, and the holidays, and has things to say about that, too. Another thing is her face is pretty expressive. She will actually pout and put on a sad face in some situations. Her eyebrows move too.
What I can't get over is all you get for the price. For basically the cost of two high-end dolls that do nothing, you get a doll that is almost alive. This is soooo much more interactive.
We also got a batteries low warning but the doll kept running for quite some time after so I just waited for her to stop. That took maybe five hours? Which seems ok to me... Well that's all I can think of. Amazing Amanda is a doll that lives up to her name.
Customer Review: alot of flaws
Summary: 3 Stars
Santa brought Amazing Amanda to my soon to be 6 year old for christmas. The setup wasn't to bad. It took about 5-10 minutes. She is cute, and says the things she was supposed to. Why the mid-grade view? I will tell you why. We put energizer alkaline batteries in Amanda on Christmas Day, and it is true, the batteries were dead by the next morning. (I even read all the instructions clearly.) In the instructions it says in order for Amanda to conserve battery power, you need to hold her hand for seven seconds. She will ask you if you want her to go to sleep. After saying yes, this is when she is supposed to conserve. This is problem number one. Number two, Amanda kept repeating, "you look funny upside down mommy." We never even tipped her upside down when she said this. Number three-her voice sounded muffled like she was under water all the time, or as if a scratched cd was playing. Number four-we programmed Amanda to wake up at 8:00 am(while my daughter is on christmas break.)The days that we owned her, she repeatedly woke up in the wee hours in the morning. My half asleep daughter would have to tell her to go to sleep. She would say "you don't sound like mommy. Will mommy be back soon? Let's play until mommy comes home." Basically, she didn't respond to the commands very well. Number five-there were many times that Amanda did not recognize my daughters voice, and then one day my husband decided to try her out for size, and the doll called my husband mommy. My husbands voice was not programmed-it was my daughters. Number 6-about 5 or 6 occassions, Amanda repeatedly opened and closed her eyes and mouth,(about 5 minutes at a time) and the only way for her to stop this was to turn her back off and on, and repeating the set up process. After this, my daughter out of frustration(after 4 days)decided that it was best to take Amanda back to the elves at walmart so she could be worked on and be ready for next Christmas. Maybe the Amanda we ended up with could have been a dud, but with all the other negative reviews I highly doubt it. I have just recently convinced my little girl to put baby annabelle full funtion doll on her wishlist for her birthday. All the reviews for this doll are wonderful. All of the future buyers of Amazing Amanda doll-be cautious as 100.00 for a doll that malfunctions is a waste. Thanks for reading.Customer Review: Amazing Amanda
Summary: 3 Stars
Amazing Amanda was opened Christmas morning. The initial setup is a bit painstaking. One major reason is that you have to put the date and time in, which is done by Amanda saying every number until she says the right one, then the child must say "YES". Being as it was December we had to be very patient to get to the correct month, she starts with January. The same goes for the correct time.
Amanda is actually a very pretty doll, I was worried with some reviews I had read while doing research. She comes with a nightgown which brings in the fun changing clothes factor, also food, drink, etc.
She sings cute little songs. The " I love you more than bunnies " phrase after a game about 'do you love me more then ____ mommy?' is appropriate and sweet.
My daughter is 4.5 and played with Amanda for the first 3 days quite a bit, since then I haven't heard much yelling down stairs but she also plays in her room. I would say she goes days without being played with, but is fun to go back to, just not all the time.
My daughter yells her answers and suggestions to Amanda, because more times than not, Amanda would not to respond to a normal tone. Since the yelling works she has stuck with that method.
The reason I think she is not played with more is that she always needs to be told what to play/do or is suggesting something to play/do, but she is fun over short periods of time.
Also it has been over 2 weeks and no replacement of batteries needed as of yet.
Overall I think she is enjoyable, interactive, easy to learn commands,
fun in short bursts of time, pretty, comes with fun accessories, possible painful set-up depending on month and time, has to be yelled at by the age group intended to play with this doll.
Customer Review: What a waste of money; and it almost started a fire!
Summary: 1 Stars
I bought Amazing Amanda for my daughter's 6th birthday. She opened her and played with her for 15 minutes on 10/22. After letting the doll sit for two hours, we smelled something "funny" and Amanda's back was too hot to even touch. I immediately turned her off. After waiting a while, I removed the batteries, which were burning hot. I contacted the number on the instructions that came with the doll. I was quickly shipped a new doll (sent with batteries in her already). The person I talked to on the phone stated that they have had "a few" instances when the batteries weren't lining up with the coils, and were overheating.
My daughter played with doll #2 for about 10 minutes when she got her. She then spent about a week on her dresser. She took her out and played with her again for maybe 1/2 hour tops, and Amanda kept saying her batteries were low.
I replaced the batteries, and she played with her for a little while. My daughter cannot stand that every 5 minutes Amanda is asking her to "say my name mommy" and "was that a yes, or a no" and the doll very rarely "hears" her, and we speak into her microphone in her chest. My daughter wants me to put her away. So, back to the dresser. I took her out yesterday for a friend, and after 3 days of new batteries, Amanda wants new batteries.
I have to say, my daughter is annoyed with this toy, I am sick of putting batteries in it. I spent $100 on it, and wish I hadn't. My friend's daughter wanted Amanda for Christmas...until I told her about the batteries and the first doll burning up. She changed her mind.
I just wanted somebody to be aware that this doll is horrible. Also, the coloring on her lips in flaking off everywhere from sticking the food into her mouth.
Customer Review: Possible reasons for bad reviews....
Summary: 4 Stars
I too, was hesitant to buy this doll because of the poor reviews.But since it was only thing my little girl (whose name is Amanda also!) wanted so badly, decided it HAD to be under the tree. Well, we've had her for 1 day and so far we LOVE her! After reading the bad reviews and then trying the doll out for ourselves, I think the problem may lie in that some people are not reading ALL of the directions thoroughly before activating Amanda. Also, one must remember this IS a doll. For example, I showed my daughter how to speak close to her face and to try to be clear although it hasn't been a problem even once. After reading the directions, putting in batteries and squeezing her hand for 7 seconds, she immediately begins the start up process which took no more than 10 minutes. She asks you simple questions such as the time, the day..etc..and just like setting a digital clock by your bed, you must stop squeezing her hand at the appropriate answers. If you accidently get the wrong time, the doll even verbally confirms if it is right or not and you can say "NO" to go back/do again! Amanda responds to me AND my daughter, no problem. Although we have had NO speaking issues, I must say we speak loud and clear. This is a DOLL, an interactive device--not a human!! My daughter (3 yrs) doesn't even pronounce everything correctly and Amanda responds just fine. She is easy to set to sleep mode and has not so far woken up when not wanted to. she is easy to wake up and play with and so far we have found her charming! My daughter has diabetes and must take mulitple insulin shots a day to stay alive. It thrills me to see her enjoying this little doll so much and to see how happy it makes her!