Fisher Price Grow-to-Pro Basketball Hoop: Thumbs Up/Down?

[Melonious]

I would like to get my 17 month old son an adjustable basketball hoop to outdoors, and have been reading reviews of the FP Grow-to-Pro. Some reviews on amazon and eopinions say it is very hard to assemble and adjust, some say it's not a problem.

Anyone here have any experience with this? I was also looking into the Little Tykes version (and I usually love all their products), but the reviews said it was flimsy and fell over all the time.

Any help is much appreciated.

[raynjen]

We like ours, I didn't have any problems assembling it on my own. The adjustment is not something that your son will be able to do, but you should be able to do it without any problems what-so-ever. For us it didn't work out because DD isn't interested in throwing a ball into a hoop (throwing a ball, yes, just not interested in the hoop part). So, nothing to do with the actual toy, just kid preference.

The only thing I would note about it (and this isn't a downside, just a note) is that the whole thing sticks out about 18" - 24" from a wall. If you are using this where you have plenty of room then that shouldn't be an issue, when we first bought it I had some idea of using it in her room - no way - took up too much space for that.

Oh, and ours is an earlier model without the nifty wheels that help you move it from place to place.

HTH!

Jen in Okinawa
Mom to a wonderful preschooler,
who just turned three, Noelle!

[August Mom]

We have the LT one. It has served us well so far. You are supposed to fill the bottom with sand or water to weight it down. We haven't and therefore it can tip over. However, it generally does this only if DS is pulling on it. The FP model adjusts to a foot higher. I believe that the LT model can start out 6 inches lower. The box for the FP hoop is substantially larger. Because of car space issues I actually went to the store to get the FP hoop but brought the LT one home.

[mnosky1]

I got the FP one at a garge sale for $5 and since have seen a ton of both LT and FP at garage sales and want ads - usually around $15. I'd suggest looking at used ones, they all have looked like they were in good shape.
My DD is alomost 2 and it is way to big for her but it was such a good deal, I couldn't pass it up.
Michelle

[hellokitty1]

We were at a friend's house and played with the FP one. If you have both "poles" stacked up, it isn't hard to adjust. But to go from taking one pole out of its socket to stack in the other was a PIA. One person had to hold the base while the other person pulled side-to-side on the pole until is came out. I thought they were going to break it.

Anyways, even thougth that part of adjusting was a pain, I wouldn't imagine that adjusting it is something you do often enough to not buy it.

Vivian
Mom to Sydney (4/24/03)
www.sydneylin.cjb.net (updated 5/21/04 but major overhaul coming soon!)