Review: WowWee Alive Baby Animals (Leopard Cub)

Written on Oct 6, 2009 by RuthJS and filed under News, Reviews, WowWee

Out of the Box

First things first, this toy is adorable! The fur is soft, the eyes are big and round and the animal practically begs to be squeezed. Add in the cute purring, cooing, and soft growel sounds, and the leopard cub stole the heart of all of the testers (mom’s included).

When you pick the cub up, it is soft and cuddly, which was somewhat surprising based on the amount of electronics needed for the interaction (more on this later). The toy is well made, standing up to a generous amount of pulling, tugging, and dropping by our testers and showing no wear at all. Seems stayed intact and the fur did not mat.

The only thing I would change would be to make the legs more sturdy. As it is, the legs are soft and they do not support the weight of the body with the electronics, so the animal tends to slump more than sit. But, this is not a problem when the cub is carried around. In fact, the soft legs allow the cub to “hug” well when it’s held closely.

Another thing to note is that each cub comes with an adoption certificate, family photo featuring all the WowWee Alive cubs, and a well-written and informative instruction manual.

Interactive Electronics

When the cub arrives, it is set to “Try Me” mode.  A gentle squeeze to the cubs right ear will start a sample loop showing eye blinks, cooing sounds, and mouth movement. Some might say this mode is to show you what cool actions the toy is capable of. I say it’s to highlight the cuteness and sucker you in.  In either case, it works!

After extracting the Leopard Cub from the packaging, I easily found the Try Me/Normal mode switch and battery compartment on the belly, thanks to a helpful diagram on the bottom of the box. (Incidentally, there are also complete and well-written instructions in the manual that accompanies the cub.) After switching the cub to Normal mode, I discovered that the animal had come with the four AA batteries required for operation — a huge plus in this mom’s book! And, it’s worth noting that these batteries never wore out during our testing.

Once the cub is in Normal mode, the right ear acts as the power button (squeeze it and hold for three seconds) and the volume control (squeeze quickly to toggle between high and low volume settings). After five minutes of inactivity, the cub automatically goes to sleep; the eyes close, and it purrs periodically. If left alone, the cub will turn itself off and conserve battery power.

Once powered on, the cub will go through a start-up routine which includes opening it’s eyes and mouth and making waking noises. Children can make the cub meow, purr, growl softly, blink and open it’s mouth by petting the cub’s head or back or by tilting it. The reactions seem random, which did not detract from the cuteness, but this fact is worth noting.

The cub sounds are fun and somewhat soothing, so Leopard Cub can work well as both a daytime and nighttime friend. The only issue with the electronics is that the motor is a bit noisy, reaffirming the robotic nature of the toy.  Still, the kids who tested the toy didn’t seem to be bothered by the motor noise, and I suspect this is something that WowWee will address in later models.

In a Nutshell

Overall, the WowWee Leopard Cub is a really cute and fun toy. Soft toy loving kids will especially appreciate the cuddle factor and the fun interactive qualities.  While the legs don’t hold the weight of the body, and the motor is noisy, the cub was a hit among testers from three to thirty-three years.

4 out of 5 stars

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