We had the privilege this year of reviewing a couple of toys from Mattel.  One of the two was the Fijit Friends toy known as “Logan”  (the blue one).  The two big selling points for Fijit Friends are the squishy silicone body and the fact that they are interactive.

My opinion of Logan is somewhat mixed.  The silicone body does feel rather interesting, but it’s not that big a deal.  Others have noted major issues keeping their Fijit Friends clean; this has not been a big issue for us, despite the fact that my children are really, really bad at taking care of their stuff.  The interactive nature of the toy is the bigger selling point – and bigger letdown, as well.

Logan is designed to respond to several specific voice commands (“chat with me,”  “dance with me,” “tell me a joke,” “good night”) with various styles of interaction.  The advertisements say that she has “over 150 built-in responses.”  I can only assume this must include all of the parts and pieces of her knock-knock jokes, etc., because it surely seems like closer to 2 dozen than 12 dozen.  In a noisy room, or with mumbly children (my 5-year-old doesn’t enunciate very well), it can be hard for her to understand the instructions she’s given.  But in a reasonably calm room, Logan typically understands clear instructions (not overly enunciated; just not mumbled or slurred) pretty well, and responds appropriately.

Sophia’s (the 5-year-old’s) favorite mode is the jokes.  The toddler loves to watch Logan dance, because it gives her a dance “partner.”  (She can’t control her, herself, because she can’t talk yet, but she still enjoys watching when her sisters are playing with the toy.)  I have actually been quite pleased with how well Logan functions.  Some of the features are even quite cute – for instance the musical way she snores as she’s “going to sleep.”

The problem is the limited scope of her programmed responses.  (Well, that and the fact that she’s loud.  A volume control would be good.)  She only asks a few questions when you “chat with”  her, and only recognizes a few different answers in response.  She tells a few specific jokes.  This means that, although the kids love it, it gets pretty old for mama pretty quickly.  My 10-year-old likes her okay, but the repetitiveness of the toy makes it more appealing to my younger children, both of whom are younger than the recommended age range.

We haven’t had any trouble with malfunctions, or even had the batteries run out yet, so the functionality seems to be solid.  We just wish that her scope of recognition and response were larger.  I don’t think I’d pay full price for this, but on sale it might be a fun option.

$49.99

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Disclosure: Our Logan toy was provided by Mattel to facilitate this review.  As always, all opinions expressed here are entirely my own (and those of my family).