Learning Resources Jumbo Jungle Animals, Animal Toys for Kids, Safari Animals, 5 Pieces, Ages 18 months+

I'm a little surprised at the wide variety of reviews for these. Perhaps the sets are not consistent? All I can review are the ones we received and we are very happy with them. These figures are larger than I had expected. The Giraffe is 13" high and the elephant is 12" long. The colors are bright and vibrant and reasonably realistic. My little one is hard on her toys and so far these are holding up very well. I'll update this review if she starts to wear them out! These are not cheap but I found them to be a good value. As with many items on Amazon it pays to watch pricing on items like these. This set and the farm animal set both ran as recent lighting deals at almost 50% off. Score!Note: I see a lot of people trying to compare these to the Schleich animals. The prices are roughly similar with Schleich being slightly higher per figure. I ordered three Schleich animals that I think will be good to match with this set. I'll report back on how they compare!Update: I purchases three Schleich animals. I was curious as to how they would compare to the Learning Resources sets and I figured a few more animals in our collection couldn't hurt! Here is my overall comparison:Price - Learning Resources seem to average out as less per animal.Quality - Schleich animals are much more sturdy. Apparently they are solid while the Learning Resources animals are hollow. Honestly there are advantages to both here. My daughter is 3 years old and I prefer the softer Learning Resources animals. They are soft to the touch and fairly flexible. I feel they are safer for toddler play both on your child and on your furniture! The soft Learning Resources animals are not going to damage small hands or your coffee table. The Schleich animals are hard enough to do some damage if smacked against your furniture or you child!Size - Learning Resources animals are larger. Once again I find this better especially for younger children.Realism - Schleich wins this hands down. The detail of each animal is better with Schleich and the colors seems to be much more realistic. If these are for education purposes especially with school age children Schleich may be the way to go. On the other hand the brighter colors of the Learning Resources animals may be better for preschoolers.Now that I have had the change to compare both brands I still prefer the Learning Resources animals for preschoolers. This seems to be the target audience for these sets. For older kids you may want to look more seriously at Scheich.

When deciding whether to purchase this set of Jumbo Jungle Animals, I had some reservations based on reading over the vastly mixed/contrasting reviews on Amazon. However, given Amazon's easy returns, I figured why not. Having received them, I have to say I am delighted with the animals, for several reasons. First, the size. They are truly a wonderful, oversized size -- much larger than those you usually see. I think this makes them much more attractive and interesting to babies and toddlers - and easier for them to see and grasp. They have no small parts or small detachable bits to them, which also makes them safe choices. Given their size and overall shapes, they have no sharp edges or seams or pointy bits on them - also all very helpful for little ones playing. They are colorful and I thought my set had a very nice paint job on them. Maybe one of the great renaissance masters could do a better job but come on, folks. They certainly capture more than just the essence of the appearance of each animal included, and look wonderful. My set is on display lining the window ledge in my infant son's nursery, and when I hold them up for him he is completely fascinated and reaches out to touch them. However, I will wait until he is past the stage of putting everything in his mouth for him to play with them because I have my concerns about paint being non-toxic, along with the plastic they are made from (however, the box indicates they are intended for children who are past the age of such behavior, too). Lastly, I want to add that they are very lightweight, which is also a wonderful quality, in conjunction with the size. Overall, I am completely delighted with them and they look wonderful. Time will tell how they hold up when truly played with but I can't imagine any problems based on my own familiarity with their construction at this point. Given the extremely reasonable price, I think I more than got my money's worth.

We ordered these to take with us for my 21 month olds first trip to the zoo. As soon as I got them I gave them to her to see what she thought, she was crazy about them right from the start, especially the elephant and giraffe. She even tried to sit on them and ride them (which surprisingly they withstood). I loved that they are large enough I don't have to worry about her choking on them. They are made out of soft plastic which is (so far) very durable, so I don't have any concern about pieces breaking off, etc. They were still small enough that they easily fit into the cargo area of her stroller with the diaper bag, camera, my purse, etc. We showed her each toy animal as we came to the real one. When we got home she has remembered the names of all the animals we saw (the ones we didn't see, she is having trouble remembering). Her zoo experience has definitely strengthened her love for the toys. The only negative thing I can say about them so far is that, while they seem to be very durable, some of the craftsmanship is not the best quality (it is definitely not the worst either, though). The seams where the plastic was welded together are pretty visible, and the paint job could be better, but of course my daughter doesn't care a bit about that. Before I purchased them I saw that some of the reviews mentioned this as wellI, and you can actually see this in some of the online pictures. When looking at them from a distance, it is not noticable unless you are really looking hard for it. Either way, I feel like the online images gave me a fair representation of the product, and I feel like it was a great deal for the money, either way. I would definitely recommend this item, and intend to purchase the other jumbo animals sets in the future.