Manhattan Toy Mind-Shapes Review

My 8-month old son really likes his Mind Shapes and has ever since he got them last Christmas which was six months ago. Each one has different images, colors, textures, and sounds. The pyramid jingles, the ball krinkles, and the cube rattles. He likes the shapes and sounds the best. I don't think he cares about the images very much. His favorite shape is the ball. We can always get him to smile by krinkling the ball as we move it back and forth in front of his face. Each shape also has a small ribbon loop attached to it. I have used this with some of his other toys that have hooks (such as the white hooks on his Freddie the Firefly by Lamaze and his PeekaBoo Clutch Cube also by Lamaze). That allows me to create a new way for him to play with these toys.

Unfortunately, both the ball and the cube have begun to come apart at the seams. (The pyramid is still intact.) I believe this started about a month or so ago which was only five months after he got them. The ball coming apart is not as bad as the cube because the cube is coming apart between one of the picture sides and the orange carpet-like side. Therefore, it leaves little pieces of orange fuzz in my son's crib.  I took it away before he could eat any of the orange fuzzy stuff. (At least I hope he hasn't eaten any.) This is very disappointing because my son really likes playing with these toys and can now only play with the pyramid.

So overall, I think these would be great toys if only they would last a bit longer.  They are colorful and interesting, they have different textures, and they make different noises.  It is just so disappointing that I had to start taking them away from my son after five or six months (before he even had a chance to grow out of them). Because they are not durable, I don't feel I can give them a rating any higher than three stars.  I thought about buying him another set so he can keep playing with them, but I don't know if it's worth it if they only last five months.  And the only way I could in good conscience recommend them to anyone would be as an occasional toy that you leave at someone else's house (someone whom you do not see very often) or in a diaper bag to be played with once in a while.  I think that is the only way they would last.  So it's a great toy, but it cannot hold up to a teething child.

I hope this has been helpful.