Review: Alphie The Learning Toy Robot by Hasbro

If you grew up in the 1980’s, then you most likely remember Alphie. He was a fun robot who taught you all about letters, numbers, shapes, colors, math and much more. Well, guess what? Alphie is back and better than ever. He still teaches the subjects that will enhance your child’s learning, except this time around, he is modernized and has much more animated features.

Alphie will introduce your child to fundamental learning concepts, including patterns, letter sounds, shape sorting, vocabulary development, cause and effect and more. He comes with a variety of double-sided cards that can be inserted into Alphie's chest panel and contain quizzes, games and other activities your child can learn from. All of the cards can be easily stored in the back of Alphie. Also, along with an animated face and buttons that light up, Alphie also sings and plays music. He is also portable, thanks to handle on top of his head.

While the recommended age for Alphie (via Hasbro) is 3 years and up, I think the toy can be engaging for children ages 18 months and up, but useful for ages 2 years to 6 years.

The great thing about Alphie is that he is educational, interactive and fun. His exterior is durable. I've read many reviews that say the cards in the learning packs are flimsy and easy to bend. My two-year old son has thrown the cards everywhere, played with them and my dogs have even trampled over them when they were scattered all over the floor and all of the cards are in tact.

Aside from that, I have not experienced any problems with Alphie. Others have experienced (with their own Alphie) that there seems to be a trouble with memory cards and the learning cards not being read correctly.