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Are you dying to learn the secrets of Elmo Live, one of the most popular toys of this season?
Let me end the suspense here by saying that Elmo Live is a fantastic toy, and I don’t get to say that very often about the dozens of toys I handle every week.
I’m a seasonal toy seller (for the 6th year in a row!) who spends an awful lot of time explaining popular toys to customers. I also work in customer service, so I also hear about returns from customers.
Over the years, I’ve become something of a toy information broker. I receive unrestricted product reviews from kids and customers, and pass them on to consumers who are about to open their wallets.
First of all, Elmo Live is a super fun interactive toy designed for toddlers 18 months and older, although I’ve seen even younger kids light up, smile, laugh and point their fingers as soon as they see Elmo Live on the shelf. That’s the power of the Sesame Street brand.
Here’s my list of Elmo Live features I’ve personally tried (well, I played around with them). These comments also take into account customer feedback, which we receive in abundance at the store. Let these real-world comments and observations guide your buying decision.
- Great quality. One of the criteria used by the toy industry to assess the success of the product is the number of returns, which for Elmo Live has been surprisingly low. I say that because new toys that go beyond technology and, here, interactivity, are often returned en masse. Usually my best play time with a toy is when I’m repackaging a return (sorry boss). Not this season. I had to get all of my play time from the Elmo Live demo model during coffee breaks.
- perfect choice. Elmo is the main character of the Sesame Street brand. Parents and children trust him and love him. Like I said, even small children recognize it right away. Elmo Live is flying off the shelves as much for reasons of trust and recognition as it is because of the advanced animatronics of him. So if he needs a quick gift for a little boy, Elmo Live is the perfect choice.
- Total fun! Elmo Live talks, sings, laughs, jokes, tells stories and dances. Squeezing one of his pressure/tickle points like his nose, foot, tummy or back will cause different reactions, all of them very entertaining. He comes with a little blue plastic chair. When he sits down, he crosses his legs and tells a story. He waves his arms, tilts his head back, opens his mouth (in sync with speech), leans, and turns. He is the complete entertainment package.
- Elmo Live is the mirror image of his television personality. Fisher-Price really captured the essence of Elmo’s personality on camera. He is just as goofy, funny, loving, spontaneous and crazy as he is on Sesame Street. I don’t often find this kind of perfect match in other toys/dolls/action figures trying to spin-off the TV/movie onto the toy store shelf. So the good news with Elmo Live is that you get exactly what you expect.
- Educational, too! Elmo Live’s expressions, speech, gestures and personality are so realistic that kids see him as a human too. You should see how engaged children become when playing Elmo Live. It’s like they’re interacting with a real family member who, in this case, turns out to be a furry red baby monster. I bring this up because of the real education and socializing features that Elmo Live offers. He is very educated, and he will teach that to your son, nephew, niece or godson.
- Batteries included! Yes, you read that right! Elmo Live comes with 6 AA batteries. Fisher-Price has also wisely designed a sleep feature into the toy. If Elmo Live is unattended for a few minutes. It will politely turn off to save battery.
The store where I work has a limit on Elmo Live purchases. You cannot buy more than two. This is to discourage the kind of hoarding and subsequent eBay reselling that occurred with Tickle Me Elmo and other in-demand toys. With that being said, we do have to restock Elmo Live continuously throughout the day. Some days we don’t have stock at all. This is a very, very popular toy for the Christmas season. My strong suggestion is not to wait, especially as we get closer to December.
Best of luck and keep an eye out for my other toy article reviews. Thank you!