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Tre’s Thursday Toy Review 1-12-12
Hot Wheels Criss Cross Crash Speed Track

Name:Hot Wheels Criss Cross Crash Track Set

Manufacturer: Mattel

Price:  $39.99

Length of Ownership: 3 weeks

Rating: 4 stars

Toy Review: Okay, here we go again, another Hot Wheels review.  Well let’s face it people, when it comes to little boys, Hot Wheels is the epitome of toy greatness.  So yes, this is another Hot Wheels Toy Review, but gosh darn it, its a really good one.

Tre has loved all of his older brothers Hot Wheels race tracks, so recently we’ve been branching out and buying him some of his own, at 4 years old, we weren’t quite sure how well the new tracks would go over, but we were pleasantly surprised at how quickly he took the it and mastered the technique required to operate his new Criss Cross Crash Speed Track, which is one of the more complex tracks that Hot Wheels offers.

The basic premise of the toy is four separate loops that all come to a 4way intersection in the middle of the track.  This is a motorized track so the action is pretty much guaranteed to be nonstop.  I’ve dealt with my fair share of race car tracks in the past and the biggest complaint with motorized ones, is that the tracks wobble and its impossible to keep the cars going for more than a few sections.  I’m hear to tell you first hand that when it comes to the Criss Cross Speed track, that is definitely not the case.  Once the cars get going, the keep moving until a crash occurs, for the most part.  It is quite refreshing to have a toy that allows a 4 year old to operate it flawlessly while keeping a 7 year old entertained as well.

So now that we know you can actually get a car on the track and keep it there, I know you’re wondering about the crashes?  That’s where things get just a tad bit tricky.  The cars are moving at such high speeds on the track that it can be a little difficult to add subsequent cars to the race.  This was a huge concern for me when Tre first started playing with this toy.  However, after a few short play sessions, he has actually mastered the timing to add cars, and has successfully added up to 4 at a time in some instances.  This is an added bonus in my book because it further develops his fine motor skills and timing recognition.  Something I’m quite sure Mattel wasn’t aiming for, but kudos to them for the success.

Now for the bad, as you can see, this toy didn’t get a 5 star rating.  That’s because as much as Tre (and I) love this toy, I do have a few concerns.  As with most Hot Wheels tracks, this one doesn’t work well with all cars, some perform better than others, while some cars don’t perform at all.  They lack the structure and weight to handle the curves.  It’s not a big deal if you have a wide variety of cars to chose from, but for those who do not, I can see it being a problem.  In addition, the nature of the crashes sometimes cause the cars to fly off of the track at an alarming speed and for a curious pre-schooler who likes to get in close to monitor the action, I can foresee a potentially serious injury occurring.  Lastly, this thing is a beast on batteries, 4 D batteries are required and you’ll definitely know when they start to lose juice.  We’re on our second set in 3 weeks, but hey, Tre loves this thing and plays with it constantly, so maybe it’s the user and not the product in this case.

The Verdict: This toy is Tre tested and Daddy approved.  But it now!!!