The Chronic Consumer

I bought one of those View-Master 3D Slide Viewers for my son a few months ago, and in my November 11 review of the product, I told you that he didn’t much care for the toy. He was amused by it for a few wekks, but after that, it was relegated to the bottom of his toy chest, and he hasn’t really touched it since.

Apparently, my mom missed that review, since she bought my son a similar toy for his birthday last month. She went with a slightly different version, though: the Super Sounds model that has the ability to play sound effects, music, and character voices.

The Super Sounds viewer comes with a demo reel with a few different pictures to give you a taste of what kind of other slides are available. For example, it had a dinosaur, Sponge Bob Squarepants, and a couple of other characters. This demo reel had a soundtrack as well, so it was possible to hear a few different sound effects along the way.

The Super Sounds viewer is supposed to play special reels that come with their own audio cartridges, but I guess my mom didn’t read the packaging too closely because she ended up buying extra reels that were intended for the regular 3D viewer. So while it’s still possible to see the pictures on the reels, it’s not as much fun without a soundtrack. Worse yet, the demo reel soundtrack plays while viewing standard reels, which is very jarring and discordant. (That’s obviously not the fault of the manufacturer; I’m just telling you of our own experiences.)

Anyway, I haven’t bothered to buy any actual Super Sounds reels and audio cartridges yet (mostly because my son hasn’t even asked), but I will likely do so soon. I just checked on Amazon.com and it looks like these are available for between $8-$9 each, and come with 3 picture reels (21 images in all) plus the soundtrack. That’s not a bad deal.

Overall, I think the Super Sounds 3D Viewer is a cute toy, and the soundtrack certainly spices up the viewing. Nevertheless, I still feel that this kind of thing is a bit simplistic for kids these days. I wish that wasn’t the case, but unfortunately, it is.