Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Electronic toys annoy every nerve in my body. My poor neglected children are usually stuck with wooden toys or other non-noise making toys. In general, I believe electronics take away from the play value of the toy and make a lot of noise. After seeing this recommended in several parenting magazines that aren't huge brand promoters, I took a closer look at this toy. I was skeptical it could be all that the recommendations and the few reviews claimed it to be and prepared myself to be disappointed. That said, this toy is awesome. It is really more of a sound mixing board than a keyboard. The niftiest part for me is the wheel that allows you to pick a style. For instance rock, dance, etc. If you turn it to rock and press "Old McDonald's Farm" it plays a guitar driven head-bangeresque version of the song. If you turn it to dance it switches the song style to a techno version. What is really nice is that it doesn't just play the song the same way but with "guitar sounds", but it actually plays a completely restyled song for each genre. Also, all of the buttons, the scratching disk, and mixing options change to fit that genre. This is on a different plane than the usual noisemaker keyboard toy. There are a seemingly infinite number of ways to groove with neat options yet no learning curve! The whole system draws you in and you can't help but be inspired to create and make new things. After being grossly disappointed in the horrible Vtech camera I bought them last year, I am relieved to see a quality product for childrens' electronics. I can tell someone put a lot of thought into this toy.