My brother just moved into an apartment. When his three year old son visits him he doesn’t have the same luxury of having all of the toys at the apartment that he could have in a house. I had been looking for something that would be perfect for my nephew and that my brother would be able to keep in a smaller location. The more compact Lil B’s toys are the better. Still, with a three year old you really can’t have small toys, so I was looking for a creative storage method so Lil B would have something to play with at his dad’s apartment yet wouldn’t be cramped with very little room to actually play.
The perfect solution arrived on my doorstep in the form of ZipBins. These are toys that actually unfold and offer storage space when they are folded up for all of the toys that accompany the bins. Each bin takes up very little space, so they are perfect for those with limited space such as a small house, small bedroom or an apartment. The bins aren’t just great for storage space. They are also quite adorable. There was a lot of attention that was paid to the detail of each ZipBin. The Racer has little additions to each side of the bin with one side folding into the image of a car and the other folding out into a race track play mat whenever my nephew wants to play.
Positives & Negatives:
Postives:
-Compact – space saving toy
-Adorable with plenty of attention to detail
-No extras needed to play with the toy
-Affordable
-Easy to Clean
-Initiates Creativity
-Excellent toy for solo play
-Durable
Negatives:
-None that we’ve found
Pricing & Availability:
The ZipBin®Softie™ Racer is available for $19.99 USD. It comes with toys so you don’t have to buy anything though you could certainly add in some matchbox cars if you wanted to, since there will be extra room to store additional toys.
ZipBin also offers a ZipBin®Softie™ Wheelie, which is similar to the Racer though it has a different kind of track. It costs the same price as the Racer so you could look into purchasing both of these toys and mixing and matching playtime with them depending on your child’s specific racing mood.
I’ve never been able to find the ZipBin when shopping at the stores in my area, but if you put in your address at the ZipBin website you can search for a local retailer selling these toys in your area. Besides the racer, there are a wide variety of ZipBin toys including a Farm, a Castle, and an Express Train play set. If you look up ZipBin on Google, you can purchase these toys at a variety of places selling them online or you can purchase the ZipBin through the ZipBin website.
Requirements & Instructions:
Everything your child needs to play with the ZipBin®Softie™ Racer is included whenever he or she wants to play with it. You will just need to remove the cars from the cardboard and plastic they come in and unzip the play mat. Since this is one of the bigger playmats available there are backpack straps so your child can wear the toy like a backpack. It also has a carrying handle. The Racer is fairly light so a child is going to be able to easily carry this toy.
The ZipBin®Softie™ Racer is recommended for children who are three and up. There really aren’t any small parts except the cars and they’re your standard toy car size. To play with this toy, the play mat zips all the way around and the cars can be stored within a special, plastic compartment in the side of the play mat. You can also store extra cars within the playmat when it is zipped up. To play with, simply unzip the playmat, remove the toys from their storage spot and play. It really can’t get any easier!
Durability:
The ZipBin®Softie™ Racer is pretty durable. It would take some serious work to mess it up. You would have to use something with a sharp edge or some sort of natural disaster would have to occur to rip this toy apart. Hitting, dropping, bumping, yanking, tugging, pulling, and twisting really wouldn’t do anything to the toy. Banging it into a wall, toybox, on the floor or elsewhere wouldn’t maim it either. We tried to rip it and it just wouldn’t rip! It’s just that durable.
The ZipBin®Softie™ Racer is also incredibly easy to clean. It is made of the kind of plastic that allows you to wipe it off with a cloth dipped in soap and water. You don’t have to worry about messing up this toy because it is strong, durable and kid friendly in all the right ways.
Ease of Use:
If you child can use a zipper then they can play with the ZipBin®Softie™ Racer. This toy will help a younger child with their fine motor skills as they learn to use a zipper. While some three year olds can zip on their own, it is great practice for others who are struggling to learn to zip and unzip. Once your child knows how to use a zipper simply unzip the play mat, take out the cars and play. It’s simple, easy to use, and fun for your child.
Fun Factor & Overall Appeal:
Kids love to play with toy cars. Race tracks can be messy toys. You have all kinds of different parts to put together. Sometimes they don’t even fit together right. Cleanup is a hassle for both parents and kids. The ZipBin®Softie™ Racer alleviates all of those problems. The track is on the incredibly detailed play mat. Your child just has to unfold the mat and playtime can begin. This kind of fun is long lasting.
Parents will love the ease of use factor. This is a space saving toy. It can be hung up by its carrying strap, stacked together with other playmats or other toys, stored in small places and just about everywhere. My nephew Lil B loves this toy. He can play with it in his room, in front of the television in the living room or just about anywhere in my brother’s apartment. My brother loves the fact that the toy takes up such little room when Lil B is done playing with it and he likes the fact that the cars have a place to be stored without having them lying around. Toys get lost that way, but with the ZipBin®Softie™ Racer Lil B will never have to worry about losing his cars.
Bottom Line:
If you have a young race fan buy the ZipBin®Softie™ Racer. It’s affordable, kid friendly, fun to play with and easy to store and clean up. This toy is a parent and child’s dream. There really isn’t any other type of toy out there like the ZipBin® toys by Neat Oh! All of the males in my family loved playing with this set with Lil B, from the grownups to the teenager. Car fanatics will love this. If I could do more than highly recommend the ZipBin®Softie™ Racer I would! – This is on my list of the top toys to buy in 2008.
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Technorati Tags: ZipBin, Softie Racer, Neat Oh, toy, playmat, fun, cars, racing, race track, storage toys, kids
Written by Ashtyn Evans – Visit Website
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Ashtyn is in her early 30s. She is a mother, writer, college student, and music lover. Ashtyn has had a successful career as a writer since 2003. She turned to blogging in 2005. Ashtyn attends Wright State where she is getting a degree in Psychology. She has extensive knowledge in SEO and Social Media Development.
