Growing up with two sisters and all female cousins, I was around a lot of dolls. I did have my action figures to play with, but when we would go over to my cousin’s house it was nothing but dolls. I remember the days I did not bring any of my figures with me, I would try to find something to play with in their rooms. Usually it would end up being some doll house or toy phone.
As we got older, I started seeing the toys my sisters played with change. It went from Barbie dolls to Cabbage Patch Kids and then they would stop playing with toys completely. I was still playing with my toys, but I always wanted the next big thing in toys.
There was always that one toy that I wanted but never got and that toy was Teddy Ruxpin. I thought that was the coolest toy. I mean he would read to you, sing to you and it was just so interactive for that time. Who would not want such a cool bear?
Fast forward to last year when my family attended the Chicago Toy and Game Fair. We came across a doll, Chatsters Gabby, that was pretty cool. This doll laughed with you, told you jokes and even played games with you. My little girl was so captured by this doll that we had to know more about it.
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| SpinMasters Chatsters: Gabby |
This doll, in a way, was my Teddy Ruxpin. I mean there was no hole in her stomach to put a cassette tape in, but she was exactly what I pictured playing with Teddy would have been like. Now where Teddy just came with a cassette and a book Gabby comes with a few accessories that can be used to make her act in different ways.
I watched my little girl play with Gabby and saw that she really enjoyed talking to her and answering her questions, but there were a few glitches here and there. The doll didn’t react right away to some of the prompts from my daughter or would freeze up when playing a game.
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| My Little Helper talking about Chatsters: Gabby. |
Here is a video with my little girl demonstrating Gabby for you. As you can see, sometimes she works smoothly and other times she doesn’t. I have also taken it into consideration that my daughter may not be using the accessories correctly, but reading
online it seems that others are having the same problem too.
Just like Teddy Ruxpin had its flaws, Chatsters: Gabby has a little more work to do to improve. I think this doll could have been amazing, but there are a little tweaks that need to be worked out here and there. I do feel that this doll can improve greatly in future versions.
Where I see the things that are wrong with the doll, my little girl still has fun playing with her. I think that the more she plays with her, the better she will become with correcting the mistakes. I mean, kids love their toys no matter what parents think of them. Am I right?
(Disclaimer: SpinMasters provided us with the items reviewed in this post but all opinions are our own.)
