May I just say that the Paper Jamz Guitar is a toy of great genius. A 2-D toy guitar (it really is surprisingly thin) which has 3 pre recorded songs loaded onto it which you can strum along to over the (virtual) strings. It requires no formal guitar knowledge to get a cracking rocking song going but different modes mean that more knowledgeable people can freestyle to their hearts content. I'm not really surprised to discover it won the Innovation Toy of the Year at Nuremberg Toy Fair in 2010.
Obviously my boys love it, any opportunity to strut around the stage (our front room), bare chested, rocking the afternoon away with every lead guitar pose known to a rock band was always going to go down well. Have they used the more advanced settings? Well no, but then they are only 6 and 4, they might have a go when they get older.
I had always expected my boys to love it. What I didn't expect was the extent to which any male that ventures into our front room is drawn to it before rocking the evening away with every lead guitar pose known to a rock ban. Something to be said about boys never growing up? Probably although quite a lot of my Mummy friends have had a good go as well.
I guess having 3 modes is helpful. So my little lads can have it on the most basic function where all they need to do is wave their little hands over the string to create a cracking rocking moment. The older males venture onto the more sophisticated modes, where they can play the rhythm or go completely freestyle. People seem to find the mode they like and stick with it. Everyone seems to have an inner rock god and we've seen quite a few unexpectedly appear in conjunction with the guitar.
Niggles? Well, I'd have liked a strap to be included with the guitar. And ideally I'd prefer to have had more songs on the guitar, or the ability to load more onto it. And that is genuinely it. It takes up almost no room in storage. The batteries have lasted pretty well. And as I've taken so long to write this review I can confirm that 2 months on the boys are still playing with it quite a bit. Love it.
This is a review post for which I received a WowWee Paper Jamz Guitar (RRP £19.99) to review and keep free of charge.