|
Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway - Cranky the Crane | 
 enlarge | Brand: Learning Curve
Category: Toy
List Price: $44.99
Buy New: $29.93
You Save: $15.06 (33%)
New (21) from $29.93
Avg. Customer Rating:  32 reviews
Sales Rank: 2086
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Fragile: No
Batteries Included: No
Age: 3 - 5 years
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.3
Dimensions (in): 12 x 6.8 x 6.7
Legal Disclaimer: Not for children under the age of 3
MPN: LC99327
Model: LC99327
UPC: 796714993270
EAN: 0796714993270
ASIN: B00000JICT
Release Date: June 12, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Features:
| • | One crank turns Cranky's head left and right, the other raises and lowers the crane | | • | Magnetic crane raises and lifts magnetic cargo | | • | Realistic details | | • | Durable paint job | | • | Recommended Age Range 3 to 5 Years |
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
On the docks of Sodor Bay, Cranky keeps the ships and engines productive. Cranky the Crane unloads cargo from ships and loads it onto the train cars. Hello! he bellows, as his head turns left and right, waiting to unload the next engine or ship. One crank turns Crankys head, the other raises and lowers magnetic cargo. Includes cargo piece. Contains Cranky the Crane, cargo car, and 1 cargo piece. Other items sold separately. Colors may vary. Made of real wood.
Editorial Review
Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends is an ensemble of lovable railroad characters that includes Cranky the Crane. Cranky is one of the add-ons to the award-winning Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway System. Straight out of the books by W. Awdry that made Thomas famous, Cranky has a fascinating history and a captivating personality. This crane comes with experience, a slightly testy temperament, and two large red handles for easy operation. Cranky's body attaches lickety-split to the crane tower. One handle pivots Cranky around; the other raises and lowers cargo for loading and unloading cars by magnetic power. Cranky the Crane comes with one piece of cargo, also durably built of wood. --Lynne Sampson
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 27 more reviews...
 Very pleased. May 7, 2008
After reading some questionable reviews on this product I was trepidious about purchasing it. But gosh, what's the point of having a Thomas the train set if you can't have the island of sodor staples like cranky?! So I took the $50 plunge. I waited a bit before posting my own review to see if I'd have any of the problems previously mentioned. We've had none.
I must say I'm thirlled to have cranky as he's too cute and his design encourages unique motor skills by forcing my son to "work" at lifting cargo as opposed to pressing a button. Both important factors in my book.
cranky the crane January 7, 2008
My 3 yr old grandson loves cranky. He understood the wind up and wind down handle right away. Great gift to go with his train set. I love the extra pieces that completed this crane. I would purchase again in a minute.
 Bad Design / Great Idea January 6, 2008
I'm no engineer, but I know I could've designed a toy that works better than Headless Cranky. Yes, the head falls off ALL the time. I'm talking once every 5 minutes, and the more it happens, the looser the connection gets. What's worse is that no glue I've found seems to hold it on, super-glue or no. However, glue does a great job of gooping up the string if you're not careful.
Also disappointing is the way it works when it's head IS attached. It doesn't spin all the way around if you keep cranking, but why not? It's not rocket science to have a hand crank that spins a toy around continuously.
The crank that operates the string should work the same way. Once the string is wound up, continuing to crank should let the string out again, then wind it up again. Maybe I'm nit-picking, but a $[...] toy should function way better than this. If the head stayed on, I could be more objective.
My son doesn't play much with Cranky because of this defect. Too bad. It was a great idea for a toy.
 Cranky lost his head November 17, 2007
Mom of 2 boys here. I'd say we could have put a down payment on a nice little bungalow for them in exchange for what we have spent on Thomas products, but hey....we need to relive our childhood.
The concept of Cranky is good. Design is bad
2 cranks, 1 for up, 1 for rotation
magnet will lift train cars & hotwheels cars if you kids are into that
Boys like it. Good for fine motor. Amuses them for a few minutes.
The problem is Cranky's head falls of if it is knocked over. I have glued his head back on 3 times with super glue (each time scrapping off the old glue to get the best hold) Head still falls off
My 3 year old calls the toy "headless cranky" because I have said he can't play with him until his head dries, that he is headless
I am not sure why they designed it for his head to break off. It could be made differently without effecting use.
 Not tough enough November 9, 2006
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
I know, I know... the Thomas stuff is listed for ages 3+. I'll let those of you who didn't buy a single solitary Thomas thing until your kids turned 3 cast the stones and... I'll bet I won't see a whole lot of stones.
We got this for my son when he was 2 1/2ish. My son is about to turn 3 in a week and Cranky is kind of in need of replacement. Not that I will be replacing him, since that is a lot of money to put out for one toy of such limited use and value to begin with. But at the time I bought it, Cranky was ten bucks off at TRU and seemed like a good toilet training incentive. (It was!)
Well, my son has had a lot of fun with Cranky. I don't know why he likes him so much, but he does. The problem is... Cranky's head comes off. Just like everyone is saying. It's not a huge deal, as it is easy enough for mom or dad to pop back on, but the neck and neck hole of the head are kind of D shaped, so the head has to be lined up just so, which makes it more of a challenge (and frustration) for a child. And it comes off ALL THE TIME, more and more easily as time goes by. That's the first problem... and maybe it's really not a HUGE problem, for all I know, if Cranky's head wasn't made to pop off, maybe it would have been BROKEN off by now. Who knows?
The other problem is, Cranky no longer cranks quite right. If you turn the knob... the magnet will lower about an inch and a half, two inches... then nothing will happen for a bit... then it will just drop down to the bottom. Then you can wind it up and it repeats.
I have taken Cranky apart and I can't seem to fix this.
Now, fortunately, my son doesn't seem to mind a whole lot, as he is content to carry Cranky around by his [severed] head while chanting "Cranky the CRANE. Cranky the CRANE." over and over. Then he will just sort of manually use the head/magnet to pick stuff up. So the fun is still there but... for the money, this toy really ought to hold up a little better. And for what it's worth, I have absolutely no reason whatsoever to think that, had I waited until November 16 to give Cranky to my son, there would be any possibility that Cranky would not be decapitated and poorly cranking 6 months later. This is just not a durable toy.
My son has fun with it, but it's just not all it's cracked (cranked?) up to be.
FWIW, though, you can get this great little tow truck with wooden shapes at IKEA - it's a great companion to Cranky. Cranky and the tow truck can both pick up the shapes. I think my son has had more fun playing with those items together, than just setting Cranky next to the track and using him as intended.
Also - if you have nothing Thomas related yet, consider going the "take along" route instead. The cars are more detailed and cost less. Cranky costs less in this line. Of course they made it so you can't use take-along Cranky with the wooden sets by affixing TA Cranky to a piece of TA track. Maybe you can just turn him around, I don't know. Just something to look into.
|
|
|
Copyright 2008 - RailroadBookstore.com | |
