Home > Categories > Toys > General > Tomy Mega Sketcher review
The Tomy Megasketcher is a sketching unit with touch-sensitive drawing board. The screen clears with the downward push of a switch. This set includes 4 stamps; circle, star, heart and car, plus a double-ended pen that draws thick and thin lines.
Product reviews...
When my daughter was 1 I purchased her a cheap little Peppa Pig Magna Doodle type drawing pad as she was getting into exploring drawing and I thought this would be a great mess free way of allowing her to do this, this provided her with many hours of fun and was a hit with her for a year, unfortunately just before Christmas last year it's life sadly came to an end so I made it my mission to find her another one for Christmas. Hunting the toy shops high and low for another was proving rather difficult until I came across the Tomy Mega Sketcher at Farmers and being on special it was a great buy, it came in either baby blue or light pink, I went with pink as it is Miss now 3's favourite colour.
Miss 2 was very excited to see this on Christmas day excitedly calling out to everyone that she had got "a new special drawing thing". After all the craziness of present opening was over we opened up the box and Miss 3 began to explore, as she drew with the special pen I could see that the marks on the screen were very, very light, almost invisible thinking it was just Miss 2 not drawing hard enough perhaps I opted to have a go myself only to find the same thing, I tested out the magnetic shapes that came with the Mega Sketcher thinking they may make a difference but sadly they did not.
The next day we returned the Mega Sketcher to the store and swapped it for another, thinking perhaps our one was faulty sadly this was not the case and we had the same problems over so we went back for a refund which Miss 2 was sadly disappointed about. The concept of the Mega Sketcher is great and I loved that it came with a double sided pen for different thicknesses and shaped magnetic stamps for adding extra creativity to a child's pictures. The slider which allows you to erase the picture drawn and start over was easy to slide across and didn't have any issues with getting stuck, a bonus as some similar products aren't the easiest to slide back and forwards.
All in all this should have been a great product but sadly it turned out to be a big disappointment I have yet to find a replacement to this but hope I do come across one soon.
These sketcher pads are a great invention!! I know when my niece was younger I bought one for her and it used to keep her occupied for hours, which was a blessing when I had her and an assignment due at the same time. My niece has always loved drawing, colouring and writing and this toy was perfect for her because if she made a mistake with the pull of a switch the mistake was erased and she could start again.
The double ended pen was fun to use because she could draw a shape with the skinny end and then quickly colour the shape in using the thicker end. The shapes were a hit as well because being a typical girl she loved love hearts so would stamp the love heart and then use the pen to draw around the love heart and basically this is how she learnt how to draw a love heart.
The carry handle is a great addition to the sketcher pad because that meant it could be easily carried from the house to the car for all the long trips back to her home from my home etc. and was the perfect size for her little hand to hold onto it securely....because all young children get to that independent stage where they most do anything for themselves!
The bright colours of blue, red and yellow are visually appealing to young children and adults alike, we all like things to look nice and the bright colours help support children emerging learning about colours.
Not only did my niece enjoy playing with the sketch pad I also had fun every now and again....we would play games of hangman, which was great because when we finished the game was easily erased and another one was started, noughts and crosses was another favourite. Another game of sorts we would play was I would stamp out any number of say a heart shape and my niece would count the shapes and write the number 5 if there was 5 heart or it would be teh other way round I would write the number and she would stamp the right amount of shapes.
The possibilities are endless really and the easier is only limited by their imaginations. I am sad to say the sketch pad didn't last long after my nephews got hold of it, the shape stamps went missing and someone was too heavy handed with the pen and dented the writing/drawing surface so it didn't erase very well after that :( But all in all a great educational tool or fun activity for all ages. I would definately buy another that is for sure!
We have had our mega-sketcher for roughly 5 years. My Miss would have been 2 1/2 when she got it and it is still going strong. If I could tell all parents to get one toy for 3+ yrs, this would be it. It is durable and lasting fun.
Ours has withstood being thrown a few times, stood on and I may have even vacuumed it. It does have a small mark on it where one of the first user was rather heavy-handed. It often disappears under the bed and then reappears a few weeks later with 'I love you mum and daddy' written on it .
Miss has drawn some wonderful pictures and with the age of the digital camera, all is not lost with a slide of the push switch. When she started school she practised her handwriting and number forming. It is also great for playing hangman and noughts and crosses. In fact she used it just yesterday to write -who? when i was speaking on the phone.
The only negative I can think of is the push slide being rather noisy, other than that it is a definite, go for it.
These are great! we purchased one recently for my son to entertain him on a long road trip and it was a big hit!! He drew on it for hours and loved the little switch that clears the screen for you.
my only complaint is that maybe the little shapes should be attached as they were misplaced about an hour after purchase.
otherwise a great product!!
Very cool! Bought it for Christmas for my son. Had to unpack it and have a look, and was a little disappointed at how simple it appeared. Then I had a play. The double-ended pen is cool, and you can have a lot of fun with the supplied stampers, or just go butcher up a couple of fridge magnets and you can make anything you want! (I cut a few old magets up, and used an old wooden roller to make a repeating stamp of a roadway with the white lines down the middle... very much fun!)
It's simplicity is both accurate and an illusion. It's simple design makes it ideal for kids, and should anything break, really easy to repair. Not that I have had to yet.
Lots of fun, and around half the price of the other majorly known magnetic drawing board.
Overall, brilliant!
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