4.0 out of 5 stars Great replica, poor durability, June 12, 2008

By K. Cromwell (St. Charles, IL)

Durability: 2.0 out of 5 stars Fun :4.0 out of 5 stars Educational: 3.0 out of 5 stars

Let me start off by saying that my 2 1/2 year old son is completely in love with Toy Story and Toy Story 2. He would watch these movies several times per day if I allowed him to do so. His favorite characters are Woody and Buzz and I could not wait to order this item for him. This item was not ordered from AMAZON.com but I did purchase this new in the box from another retailer and wanted to offer my review.

After doing some research on what version of the Woody doll I should purchase I decided on this one. When he arrived at our house I allowed my son to open the packaging. He was absolutely FLOORED that Woody was now in the house! Woody looks almost identical to his Disney Pixar counterpart. He is 16″ tall, has all the correct clothing, and is constructed to move and bend in the same places as you would expect after watching the movie. Woody does come with a hard plastic hat that does not stay on his head very well unless we place it on backwards and press it firmly to his dome. Not a big deal.

After getting Woody out of the box my son immediately turned him around to pull his string. Once the string was pulled and Woody spoke for the first time my son looked extremely puzzled. I’m sure he was expecting Tom Hanks to be speaking from this Woody doll and he was suprised to hear a voice that sounds NOTHING like Tom Hanks (I have heard that it is the voice of Tom Hanks brother). I was aware that Tom Hanks’ voice was not present in this doll but I was hoping that they could have hired a person to record a voice that would sound somewhat similar. I was also surpirsed that my 2 1/2 year old would be able to identify the difference of the voices with all of his excitement.

Here comes THE BIG WARNING…Woody’s pull-string was not very durable on this particular doll. After my son pulled it for the third time the plastic ring separated from the string upon the retraction into the doll. This means that the string was pulled to activate the voice sequence and was then released from his hand so that it could snap back into place flush with Woody’s back. When the ring snapped back into place the string separated from the ring after connecting with Woody’s back and disapeared into the little black hole of no return! I could not believe it! I would highly recommend finding a method to stabalize the pull-cord to the ring either by cutting it and re-knotting it or by another method before your little one starts playing with it. This will save you much time and disapointment. I even went as far as digging into the back of Woody (days after my son continued to play with Woody) to find the string and reconnect it to the ring. I was successful with the reconnection (not the easiest thing to do by the way) but his voice no longer activates when the string is pulled. So everytime my son pulls this cord I have to do my best Tom Hanks/Woody impression of saying “You’re my favorite deputy,” “Reach for the sky,” or “Someone poisoned the water-hole.” I think he enjoys it because I can make myself sound more like Woody than Woody did for the three times his string was pulled and he actually spoke.

I would have rated this toy a 5/5 if it weren’t for the flimsy pull-string and ring that broke on the third pull. Although his hat does not stay on and he doesn’t speak on his own, Woody is still a great toy for your little one if they are really into the Toy Story movies. My son loves him and his Buzz and continues to play with them every day.

Toy Story on eBay