Tonka toys review (& news of ASDA promo)

OK, I don't want to annoy you, but ... (whispers) ... did you know there are only eleven weeks until Christmas ?! Aaaaggghhhh ! 82 days in fact, and I'll be honest, I haven't even thought about it yet ! Well, if you're looking for some gifts for little boys and girls, or maybe some stocking stuffers, you may like to know that Tonka is now on sale in selected ASDA stores and, until 7th October, selected stores have a 25% Rollback promotion. (This is an instore promotion only, although some Tonka toys are also online to order.)

We received  a selection of toys from the range to review and they're great fun. In the top picture, you have the Car Crush Escape Playset on the left, which retails at £9.99, and allows you to play at crushing waste and tossing it in the (scaled down) industrial sized dustbins. The working crane is great fun for picking up the car and flinging it in the red crusher, but Pierre has been having more fun with the catapult, if I'm honest !

Also in the top picture, the First Responders, which includes a police car, an ambulance and a fire truck, along with a couple of traffic cones, for acting out your favourite emergencies. We love the attention to detail on these ones - the realistic paintwork on the various doors and the middle section of the fire truck, covered in knobs and buttons to make it look ultra-realistic, get a special mention.

Next, the Tonka Tinys three pack (RRP £4.99) comes with two on-display vehicles and a third mystery vehicle which is a complete surprise. Pierre always gets extra excited when he doesn't know what he'll be receiving ! These mini-vehicles are also available in Tonka Tinys blind garages for just £1.99, making them the ideal pocket money purchase. 

The Tonka Diecast Monster Truck (RRP £6.99) was built for the extreme ! Your favorite urban, construction and emergency vehicles now sit atop massive Monster wheels, perfect for crushing anything in their paths ! I'm not quite sure what the backstory for this range is, but it's an interesting concept and we love the incredible attention to detail. We got the detention bus, which comes with a fully working stop sign on the side.

Finally, the Tonka Diecast Big Rigs (also £6.99) are another interesting addition to the range. The rig is built to last, with realistic detailing that looks just like an actual big rig. We got the Big Rig Side Arm Garbage Truck, which comes with a side arm for emptying the bin inside the truck and a fully working back door.

I couldn't help but notice the "Tonka : Built to Last !" slogan on the tops of the boxes. Did you know that Tonka, which means "great" or "big" in Dakota Sioux, stand by the notion that “a toy shouldn’t break just because a child plays with it”? That means that they pride themselves on being strong, sturdy and long lasting (woohoo !), and back in the '70s, Tonka even had an elephant stand on one of their toys, just to prove their point. I'd have loved to have seen that !

For more information, check out the online store here but please note, the 25% Rollback promotion is only available instore.

Disclosure : We received the products in order to write an honest review.