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

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.

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.

My kids have tons of toys! But even me and my husband were really impressed with this toy set (we bought farm, jungle and forest). My son loves any animal from these set, but rooster is his favorite. I think because it is the most bright from all animals. These animals are huge, durable and catch the eye! Even my dog seemed to be interested (in horse). They are really huge! And this is great!!! Our friend has set of small animals which are really boring and these are HUGE HUGE HUGE!!! And they are so realistic! All tiny details, eyes are perfectly developed. Regarding the "sew line" that the author from most critical review mentioned... Have you ever saw a plastic item without sew lane? It doesn't matter at all. Kids love this set! Great! This makes a great educational time as my son brings an animal to me and wants me to name it. He is interested finaly in animals! We have books, puzzles but they were not so interesting to study the names of animals. Besides these set are not too big, you don't have 30 farm or 25 jungle animals. It will be too hard for young kid to remember who is who anyway. You get just a right amount of animals, the main ones. I would suggest to add wolf to a forest set. And instead of gorilla put another monkey, more friendly and brightly type. I am scared of gorillas in general, but this one looks friendly.

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.

My toddler loves these large animal sets. I am pleased with the more-realistic looking animals, especially the more-realistic relative sizes. Though more realistic replicas exit, these are among the best I've seen for toys. The small fact sheet that came with the set will be lost before my toddler can read it; however, I did learn a few facts that I've been sharing with him while we play. The construction seems sturdy. Between the sets that we own, we haven't lost any animals to rough play. A final word of warning, these animals are large. Do not underestimate the size. I was surprised at the height of the giraffe, even though I should have realized based on the size of the other animals we have from Learning Resources. Luckily we built our toy shelf with a 15in gap, which means the 13in giraffe can stand with the other animals. Edit/Update: We packed these animals away for a couple months. There were tossed loosely into the box. The elephant happened to be trunk down when the box was stored. Sadly, the trunk bent and eventually broke. I thought the animals were well-made. Though, honestly my toddler was not rough with them. It's a shame too because my son really did love these animals, especially the elephant. I will try to contact Learning Resources and update the review. Edit/Update 2: Learning Resources promptly responded to my complaint in a very satisfactory way. The representative claimed to be forwarding it along to product development and testing, and sent me a replacement. All animals were replaced, not just the elephant. When they arrived, I saw (and remembered) that the legs were supported by a black plastic sheet. The elephant trunk is comparable in size to the legs of the other animals and is in a more vulnerable position because of the bend. Also the giraffe was a little squished and twisted when it arrived; if this were a new purchase I'd be upset by it. The plastic definitely deforms over time. My toddler absolutely loves the animals... again. But we need to be careful about long-term storage and with animals this size it's not as easily done.

Bought these for my 23 month old grandson and not sure who loved them more, my grandson or his mother! These are large toys and easy for a toddler to grip and play with. Also dishwasher safe and my daughter appreciated the fact this set is not one of those toys filled with little bitty pieces. These are substantial and easy for a toddler to play with on their own and to pick up and put away easily. She has come to hate toys with lots of small pieces she has to deal with. Very high quality.

**UPDATE** 1/16/13 I had to reorder a set because we lost her beloved giraffe (see below). I was very disappointed with the current quality of the product and I ordered 3 different sets from 2 different vendors on Amazon and even called Learning Resources themselves. The older set I ordered had animals that were strong structurally and did not leak air (or take in water). The new ones are deflated in appearance and have some serious defects that seem to vary from set to set (obvious quality control issues). I have provided pictures to illustrate the difference. I have decided to lower my rating to 3 stars, however, I'd like to point out that Learning Resources did listen to my complaints and their customer service was top notch. They even sent me a new set, unfortunately, that set also had the same problems. I'm glad I still have the other 4 animals from my original set, and my daughter doesn't really care that her new giraffe is bow-legged and has paint marks all over it anyway... **Older Review** For the price, this is an excellent set for any child who loves animals. My daughter is obsessed with giraffes and so it's obviously her favorite piece. She abuses these toys daily (2yrs old) and finally one of the giraffe's ears broke off, but like I said, she plays pretty hard with them. Yes, you can see the seams where the animals were put together, and some of the painting is "off" - that does not concern me, like I said, for the money, this set is great. If you want exact replicas and all the animals to be to scale, then look elsewhere (I mean, do kids really care about that so much?). These are pretty realistic looking, which I like, plus my child doesn't seem to enjoy "cartoonish" depictions of animals. I also like that these are jumbo, she can easily grasp them (I got them when she was about 18m) and the fact that they are rigid enough to stand on their feet are a plus. Some paint is wearing off the giraffe from multiple blunt force injuries to the horns and feet, but it's understandable. I would *NOT* recommend these for young children who chew on things, there are small pieces that can break off, plus I suspect these aren't BPA free... Overall, a great purchase, might have to get another one since the giraffe is my daughter's security toy (apparently a soft, plush giraffe is no substitute)! I would like to add that the ear was glued back on using Sticky Ass Glue SJSG10G Super Stubbornly Strong Glue, 10-Gram and it has held through multiple bashings. Also, the company informed me that the "Jumbo Jungle Animals are made up of non-toxic phthalate free material. All animals will have non-toxic paint for detailing."

These are enormous! They are dense and durable. A bit heavy for tiny fingers...the elephant is the heavviest and it could hurt if dropped on a small foot or hand. (Under 3 ish depending on the child) My 2 & 4 year old think these are the best animals and play with the safari and jungle set daily. These are excellent for out door and all types of pretend play (not the bathtub! read the care sheet.) I think they would be great for a classroom or daycare. We are so happy with these and highly recommend them as gifts for any kiddo into animals. The dinosaurs are next on our list!