Fab Effex blog review

out of the box

I was one of the fortunate people to get a fab effex set sent out to review, and so got Fifi who is nearly 9, to try this out whilst she was here tonight. I have seen other reviews going up for this but have deliberately not read any as I did not want to be influenced by others opinions at this stage.

Now just to put you in the picture Fifi has the attention span about as long as a gnat sits on a pile of  hots bricks if she is not interested in something so I was a little concerned that this would get as far as out of the box and scattered across the table and then left, but no she surprised shocked me she sat at it for 2 hrs, about 45 mins before tea and back to it afterwards, until they were all finished.

Right then- my first impression on removing stuff from box - there was approx 150 pieces of small sticky backed material, the small pieces were totally random, apart from a few hearts and triangles the rest looked just like off cuts from "here's something we made earlier", there was no real sense to them. They were  all pieces of fabric with sticky backs you simple peel and stick. The box says is aimed at ages 6+. You also had 2 sheets approx 3 inches square as well, for designing something yourself.

The 3 dolls were fairly sturdy and stand 5 inches tall, with painted on footwear, faces, hair and underwear and the idea is you dress them as you see fit with the bits and add hair and accessories to suit.

They came with a sheet of instructions on how to make bags, curly hair etc and these instructions even highlighted which pieces they recommended you used with each doll. But Fifi decided to mix and match and go her own way, and I just left her too it while I made the tea at the other end of the kitchen and kept firing random times table questions at her!!

concentration

It does warn you in the instructions not to use on carpets, material or anything else that cannot be wiped with a damp cloth and instructs to wash hands thoroughly afterwards. It left a gluey residue on the plastic table covering we have and I wondered what its original use had been if something designed for children is that child unfriendly.

the finished dolls looking fab with their accesories

My opinion - probably worth a sale value of £5, would make a nice birthday present for a party and Fifi says she would happily use another one. There were approx half of the little pieces left over that Fifi is going to take home and put in her craft box to use on other projects. Fifi tells me arts and crafts is her favourite thing to do right now and she doesn't get bored with it.


I asked Fifi for her opinions on this item, and in her own words. (I corrected the few spelling errors)

it was fun and enjoyable. It was enjoyable because I liked being imaginative. I didn't get bored as I had lots of fun. I quite enjoyed making the dolls up and only quite as it was hard peeling off the backing and it was hard making bags. You should get a box.

So its an 8 out of 10 from us I think, and her mummy now wants some as she reckons all the kids do these days is fight and if I managed to keep them separated and not fighting for 2 hrs then it was well worth it.

the bits left over

I was sent this product free to review and keep but the report is mine and Fifis honest thoughts on our findings