For Christmas I decided to purchase my son the Singing Pizza Elmo from Fisher Price because he loves Elmo. I actually bought two of these toys, and both my son and his friend were very happy with them. As a parent, I can see its flaws though. This toy is very basic, and probably will not interest kids who have more advanced Elmo toys such as Tickle Me Elmo Extreme, and even the orginally Tickle Me Elmo. You might be wondering why that is, and the simple answer is because the Singing Pizza Elmo just doesn’t do quite enough to be a toy that will entertaain children for a long period of time.
The Singing Pizza Elmo is just over 12 inches tall so it is a toy that your child can take anywhere. He is very lightweight. The character himself looks like most Elmo toys, but of course he is dressed up to fit the “pizza”/italian theme. Elmo is wearing a checkered apron with a picture of a slice of pizza in the middle of it. He also is wearing a chef’s hat.
If you squeeze Singing Pizza Elmo’s left hand, he will sing to your child. It’s a short little song with a bit of an italian theme to it. During the song, the plastic pizza in his right hand will start singing as well, and the pizza’s eyes will open. This is enough to entertain children for a while, but I strongly suspect my son will become bored with it within a month or two, and my son is one that loves any singing/talking toy. The issue is that all Singing Pizza Elmo Has is one song, and he tells one tired joke over and over, that is all that is on the audio chip. It would have been better if there was a second song, or maybe a solo by the pizza or additional jokes. Another idea would have been to have Singing Pizza Elmo play additional audio files after the original ones were played a certain number of times, sort of like a “hidden music file”.
That being said, I did get this toy for a true bargain price on Amazon in early December for $7.50. This was much cheaper than the retail price of $25 you see at most toy stores. For the $7.50 it was worth every penny, but for the $25 I would have to pass on this one. One final tip though if you do decide to purchase Singing Pizza Elmo, make sure you remove both plastic strips on his feet, otherwise he will only play the shortened audio file he plays at the store.
If your child is a big Elmo fan, and you can find this on Amazon or Ebay for a price close to what I paid for it, then it’s a great gift option. Just don’t pay the retail price, the month or two that this toy will entertain your child isn’t worth that cost.
