About the Apex 65 or a harnessed booster past 40 pounds..

[american_mama]

Based on a recommendation from Deborah, I found the new Safety 1st Apex 65 at my Toys R Us listed in their computer as the Safety 1st Lancer, price $129. It keeps kids in a 5 pount harness until 65 pounds. It was not on the showroom floor, but I asked TRU to look in their computer under the Lancer, and lo and behold, they had one in the back. The box clearly says Apex 65, so there must have been a name change somewhere along the line.

Anyway, two days before this, I had spent about two hours calling a zillion TRU looking for the Apex and getting nowhere. But calling it the Lancer led me to the jackpot.

TRU also has a special until Christmas, I think, for a $10 gift card when you purhcase over $75 of stuff. The next day, I got a flyer in my newspaper saying I could get a $20 gift card if I spent over $150. So ask about those specials.

I called Cosco/Safety 1st directly, and they would sell it to me for $130 plus $21 shipping to Virginia. This is considerably more than what another poster paid ($100 even). They also said that Walmart should be carrying this seat, plus some Kmarts.

Happy hunting!

[Joolsplus2]

Cool beans :). Just making sure this stays bumped for our Apex-hunting friends (I think the cover is Lancer, and someone entered it in the computer wrong...no wonder there's so much confusion about finding the silly thing!)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[uccomama]

I am so happy you found one. TRU sure doesn't make life easy when they don't have the seat listed under the correct name.

Deborah

[Momof3Labs]

Ah, TRU! I'll have to try it. Our BRU claimed that they were not getting in any such seat at least through Feb 2006, and DS definitely does NOT have that much time in grandma's RA.

[tjham]

I was just in the Mesa TRU and didn't see an Apex (I didn't think to ask them to check in the back :( ) I did look at almost every seat so if there was one out, I would have seen it. Hope they have them soon. I like the all blue one, the blue and red - not so much!

[Momof3Labs]

Karen, have you tried this yet? Could you tell me how high the top harness slot is? Still trying to decide between the Regent and Apex...

[Joolsplus2]

Not sure if you've seen this, but it should keep us all busy till Karen gets back to us... http://photobucket.com/albums/y247/cpsnisi/Cosco%20Safety%201st%20Apex/
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[Joolsplus2]

And:
Limits listed in manual

Harness

22-65lbs

34-52in

Over 1 year old



BPB

40-100lbs

43-57in

Over 1 year old


Measurements:
All without the optional "Body Pillow"

Harness slot heights

9.5"

12"

14.5"

17.25"
The bottom slots are useless. J would already need the 2nd slots and she's nowhere near the 34" minimum height.


Crotch buckle depths

4"

5.5"

7"



Seat depth is 12.5" from seat back to where it starts to curve downward.



Belt guide at the highest setting is 22.5" from seat. It is just below my shoulder and I'm 5'2".



Back height is 30.5" but that might not matter much. According to the manual the midpoint of the child's head must not be above the top of the vehicle seat back. At first I thought that was a copy & paste error from a backless booster manual, but there is a diagram in one spot that makes it clear.



Hip room is kind of hard to measure because the shell curves up, but I got at least 13-14".

Buckle release button is very hard. "A" (4 yo) is able to unbuckle every other seat she's tried lately but she isn't strong enough to undo this one. I guess that's a good thing if you're trying to prevent escapes.



Adjuster strap is kind of short. I only had 6" of strap left after tightening the harness on A. When I let her out I did the usual flip the lever and tell her to lean and she leaned far enough to get the strap wedged in the A-lock mechanism. It was very difficult to get it out.


Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[Momof3Labs]

Thank you, Julie!!

Well, that solves that problem for me. My mom has arthritis in her hands and even the RA button can be hard for her. And, that top harness slot is lower than the MA, isn't it? DS is about an inch away from the top MA slots. We'd get a lot more time out of the Regent, I think. DS is currently 37lbs and 42" tall, with long legs.

So I guess we wait for Britax to get around to releasing the Regent (or settle for an even more boring Husky cover, lol)...

[Joolsplus2]

Yeah, definitely a lot more growing room in the Husky, harnessed, anyway. That's a bummer about your mom, but I'm glad Nisi posted that detail!
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[american_mama]

It looks like Jules has provided all the measurements. I haven't actually installed my seat yet since that's DH's purview, so I can't say how I like it yet.

[andersons54321]

I have spent all weekend trying to find the Apex 65. It seems no one knows what I am talking about. I have tried giving TRU and BRU the SKU number and tried asking for the Lancer. One person said they would receive a shipment on the 25th and I called on the 26th and spoke to someone else who said they don't carry it. We will be moving in 3 weeks and I am afraid to order directly from the company. Does anyone know where I can find this carseat?

[uccomama]

Here's the blue one:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0009N1KB6/qid=1133005923/br=1-8/ref=br_lf_ba_8/104-2730456-4627961?v=glance&s=baby&n=542452

and this one is red:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0007XIEPI/ref=pd_sxp_elt_l1/104-2730456-4627961

Deborah

[Joolsplus2]

Oh my god...the red picture is from none other than Carseatguru...that's hilarious!!!
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[tjham]

Where did "Alpha Elite" come from? Aren't all the names confusing enough?

I figured out that shipping would be about $11.00.

[uccomama]

It is?! That is so funny!

Deborah

[andersons54321]

Another name? Deborah, Thank you for the information. I am going to order one right now.

[andersons54321]

I received my Alpha Elite/Apex 65 last week. IMy son seems to fit in it nicely. He seems to fit in it nicely. He still tries to unsnap his chest strap. He drives me crazy. Any suggestions?