Price Tag: $24.99
Official URL: http://www.hesstoytruck.com/
Rating:

Every year Hess comes out with a new collectible toy vehicle for the holiday season. This year’s toy is the 2009 Hess Race Car and Racer. A large shoebox-sized car whose hood opens up to reveal a smaller car.

FEATURES

The large car features 29 lights that can switch from “on” to “flashing” to “off” using a three-position switch at the bottom of the car. Three sound effects: “ignition”, “acceleration”, and “horn”.

The small car has a pull-back motor and 15 lights.

QUALITY & CONSTRUCTION

The quality of these toy cars is VERY nice. They have a good “heft” to them and are very obviously better made than similar larger-sized toy cars. The lights and sounds are less agitating than I was expecting them to be, and FAR more tolerable than other toy cars in this price/size category. Both of the cars are durable enough to hold up to rough play with younger children, and to the inevitable drops. We were very impressed by the quality of this toy.

TOY & COLLECTIBLE

All of the Hess trucks and cars are collectible, but they’re not the type of collectible that needs to be kept away from children. These toys are functional as toys as well as collectibles. At the price point I’d consider buying two- one for the collectibles shelf (your child will LOVE this when they’re older), and one for playing with. Just remember that this toy ships with a battery so you might want to take the battery out for longer term storage.

BOTTOM LINE

As with all the Hess trucks and cars, these are great toys. They’re the only “larger” sized cars that I like.