Baby Grand Piano (2011-2014)
Dec 25, 2011 5:31:08 GMT -5
Post by Dragonslovedolls on Dec 25, 2011 5:31:08 GMT -5
I am SO thrilled to have this piano for my dolls. I love it! It's a great display piece and I think it has great play value as well, since as was mentioned upthread, each piano key plays and the piano is in tune. That was the first thing I checked after putting the batteries in.
I was quite impressed with the sound and had fun picking out melodies remembered from my own sheet music. Yes, the sound is 'electronic,' but quite a decent quality especially for the small size of the toy. I do think there is scope for it to sound off key and cheap as the batteries run down, as many (most?) musical toys do when their batteries are going flat! As I plan to replace mine often if the piano is being played with and to take them out between times, I don't think this is going to be a problem.
I have to say that the three pre-recorded pieces of music didn't impress me at all: they reminded me of 'music' played on door bells, or on the phone while waiting on hold, uniformly played, totally unappealing and uninspiring.
Yes, the piano is plastic. You can tell when you touch or lift it of course, but visually the finish is not really different from the glossy black found on real instruments. I cannot imagine how fiddly and therefore probably expensive it would have been for AG to put real, if 'dummy' piano wire strings, pegs and hammers under the lid. Remembering that this is a toy marketed to children I think the frame and printed decal are a fair compromise.
The stool IS rather thin plastic, it's my least favourite part and I wish the stool lid hinged rather than lifting off but that's just a little thing. Everything else seemed pretty substantial: I didn't feel afraid something was going to break as I clicked the legs and pedal arrangement into place, and these required a rather firm push into the body of the piano.
Alex had no trouble sitting on the piano stool to play.
Apologies for the cruddy lighting. Any appearance of marks or scuffs on the piano is probably due to my fingerprints, reflection and/or aforementioned cruddy lighting.
The pedals:
Side view:
I'd give this an A for Awesome. Did I mention how much I love this piece?
I was quite impressed with the sound and had fun picking out melodies remembered from my own sheet music. Yes, the sound is 'electronic,' but quite a decent quality especially for the small size of the toy. I do think there is scope for it to sound off key and cheap as the batteries run down, as many (most?) musical toys do when their batteries are going flat! As I plan to replace mine often if the piano is being played with and to take them out between times, I don't think this is going to be a problem.
I have to say that the three pre-recorded pieces of music didn't impress me at all: they reminded me of 'music' played on door bells, or on the phone while waiting on hold, uniformly played, totally unappealing and uninspiring.
Yes, the piano is plastic. You can tell when you touch or lift it of course, but visually the finish is not really different from the glossy black found on real instruments. I cannot imagine how fiddly and therefore probably expensive it would have been for AG to put real, if 'dummy' piano wire strings, pegs and hammers under the lid. Remembering that this is a toy marketed to children I think the frame and printed decal are a fair compromise.
The stool IS rather thin plastic, it's my least favourite part and I wish the stool lid hinged rather than lifting off but that's just a little thing. Everything else seemed pretty substantial: I didn't feel afraid something was going to break as I clicked the legs and pedal arrangement into place, and these required a rather firm push into the body of the piano.
Alex had no trouble sitting on the piano stool to play.
Apologies for the cruddy lighting. Any appearance of marks or scuffs on the piano is probably due to my fingerprints, reflection and/or aforementioned cruddy lighting.
The pedals:
Side view:
I'd give this an A for Awesome. Did I mention how much I love this piece?
