When I was asked if maybe L would like to review the Schleich Wild Life 4 x 4 Vehicle I took one look at the picture and agreed, he loves anything with wheels and this certainly has wheels.
I’m going to be upfront with you I was initially a bit off put by the price, I felt the £34.99 price tag was a bit steep for a toy car. I’m not sure it’s something I would have spent on L if I were just out shopping for a gift for him.
Now, however, Schleich is on our list of toys to collect for him. I am incredibly impressed with what you get, the quality, the thought. So much has gone into this toy, it is far more than just another car.
The Schleich Wild Life 4 x 4 Vehicle comes with the main body pre-assembled, you just need to add on the exhaust, lights, a few stickers and the winch. The instructions are excellent and I had it ready to go in a matter of minutes.
You get a lot of accessories with the 4 x 4. You get a ranger who has jointed arms and legs, so fits into the car seat and can be posed. A monkey. An axe, a dagger, spade and tyre iron. A tool box for keeping them in. Petrol cans. A first aid box with a stethoscope, bandage, syringe and a tube of medicine. Some of these are teeny, tiny. I’m sure they will get lost eventually, which is a shame but it’s life with a kid.
So not only is it easy to build and comes with a lot of accessories it is filled with thoughtful little touches I would have never expected on a kids toy, the level of details is closer to that which you get on adult collectible cars!
The front doors and boot of the pick up all open. As does the glove box area of the centre console. There is a spot on the bonnet that you can clip the spade to, very true to life. In the glove box area I mention there is a spot for the axe to be stored. The petrol cans both fit into special areas on the back of the truck. The petrol filler cap opens and the cans are the perfect size to actually ‘fill up’ the vehicle. The first aid box has a double hinge on the top to open up fully and the bandage is actually designed to fit on the monkey of the vet. The stethoscope can be worn by the ranger and the monkey, much to L’s amusement. The ranger’s hands are shaped to perfectly grip the steering wheel, handles and petrol cans. The monkey can perfectly grip the roll bars of the 4 x 4.
It seems that every aspect of play with the vehicle and characters, as well as their accessories has been thoroughly thought through. It’s actually quite incredible. I was impressed enough that the vet sat in the car perfectly, but it seemed every few minutes L was discovering something new.
Yes some of the accessories are very small, you really couldn’t let young children play with those parts and it goes a long way to explaining the 5-8 years suggested age range. But the vehicle itself is very solid and extremely well built. So if you took away the small parts you could happily let younger children play. I wouldn’t hesitate to get him more Schleich toys based on this. In fact I’ve been asking family who enquire about birthday presents for him to get some of the other toys from the Wild Life range by Schleich.
The Wild Life range has all kinds of things you can add to the set, like a trailer for the 4 x 4, a jungle camp, more animals, even a speed boat. It looks amazing. I love that his 4 x 4 is a toy in its own right, but we could add to the set and it’s the kind of toy that he will enjoy playing with for years to come. It’s great to watch him play and chat to him about all the wild animals. Most excitingly I have seen on the website they will be releasing an advent calendar next month, eeek!
Schleich also make other ranges of toys like dinosaurs, farm animals, fairies and more. All of which look amazing.
L loves his new 4 x 4 and has played with it non-stop, it encourages all kinds of little storylines from him and can currently been found next to his bed as he sleeps.
To find out more please head to schleich-s.co.uk
Disclosure – we were gifted our Schleich Wild Life 4 x 4 Vehicle for the purpose of this review. All thoughts, opinions and images are my own.