Holiday Gift Guide 2009: Fisher Price Shake ’n Go!® XTREME™ Speedway

When I was a little girl, I had a little yellow lunchbox I took to school.  For some reason, it’s one of the few “things” my mom kept (don’t ask me why).  These days, it houses more than 20 of my son’s cars.  It stays at grandma and grandpa’s house and every time we go over there my son tells me how he wants to see grandma, grandpa, Niko (their dog), and his cars.  He has cars here too, but not as many as at their house.  Needless to say, he’s a true “boy” and just loves playing with cars.

Imagine his excitement when we received Fisher Price’s Shake ’n Go!® XTREME™ Speedway.  We actually had to hide it until we were ready to bring it out (mean mommy and daddy).  From the look of the box he KNEW what was in it…and he wanted it!  Before I share my review, I wanted to tell you a bit more about this toy:

The Shake ‘n Go! XTREME Speedway is just that: EXTREME! It features Xtreme speed – with cars that are faster and more powerful than any other Shake ‘n Go car! Xtreme action – with exciting stunts like loops, jumps, and smash-through barrels! Xtreme size – the largest Shake ‘n Go track ever – PLUS it’s reconfigurable, so boys will love creating any kind of track they want. Our revolutionary track easily snaps together and stays together for tons of play! Xtreme fun – whether it’s crazy eights, head to head racing, or stunts, there’s something for everyone!

First of all, this is so easy to set up.  The track pieces snap together easily and the instruction booklet details various ways for setting it up.  I’m so proud of the fact that I *mostly* put it together myself.  I don’t do well with anything requiring tools and the car charger requires a screwdriver to get the batteries in, so hubby did this for me.

Second, it’s durable.  We have had so many toys with tracks or similar set-ups that don’t stay together easily and it’s frustrating.  This is not the case with this toy.  In fact, it takes a bit of effort (not much) to get the track pieces apart.  You definitely don’t want the pieces coming apart while racing.

Third, it’s fun.  I mean REALLY fun!  The cars go FAST and once they’re charged, you just shake them to race.  It only takes about 45 minutes for the car to charge and they hold their charge for a good amount of time (although I don’t know how long since I haven’t had to charge them yet!).  Just charge them when they slow down or stop.  My son squeals when the cars go, especially when they go through the loop.  It’s definitely something he’ll play with for a long time.  And as he gets older, he’ll be able to use his creativity to reconfigure the tracks himself.

The set comes with 2 cars (which include rechargeable batteries), a loop, two jumps, four flats, five crash through barrels, a car charger, and enough track for 20 feet of fun.  I should note that the charger requires 4 D batteries which are not included.

The Fisher Price’s Shake ’n Go!® XTREME™ Speedway retails for $65 and is available online or at retailers nationwide.

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