Hot Wheels Shark Park

Not as advertised!

I first saw the Hot Wheels Shark Park play set on a cool little YouTube channel called Racegrooves, A big collector in all kinds of miniature cars and kits. My daughter loved the playset with a shark attacking small cars and she quickly learned all of the sharks 18 phrases and sounds it would make when it caught a car or let it go.

Whilst walking through Toys R Us my daughter suddenly went crazy when she saw the play set in the Hot Wheels section. Only £24.99, it comes with its own car and there's not a spot of pink anywhere to be seen. 

All seemed perfect until we had set everything up and switch the set on. Silence. No shark voice trying to intimidate the would be dare devil car driver, nothing. After running the car through the track and getting nothing but chomping noises and the odd burp from the shark I realised the problem. Europe.

Rather than releasing a different version for each language in Europe Mattel decided instead to just remove all voices from the set. Try explaining that to a very disappointed 3 year old. I found out that this set was released as a UK set complete with all 18 phrases and it can still be purchased for an extortionate amount. As imagination is free, compared to the 3 times I would have to pay for a full set, my daughters shark can say anything she likes it to.

Toys R Us still have the old advertising speil on their website claiming this version has the original phrases. I guess they are teaching children what disappointment is before they grow and experience it on a daily basis.

Despite the lack of voice the play set is great fun. It is set up as a seaside resort with arcade machines, fast food shacks, a roller coaster leading out into the surf. Obviously set on the coast of Amity Island where Jaws likes to chill out. He has got bored of humans and has turned his attention to chrome and carbon fiber.

The cars are pushed to the top of the roller coaster with a lift up mechanism before being launched down and through the jaws of....er.... Jaws?! Will the shark catch the car or will the car slip by with just a whiff of shark breath. Only the bravest downhill racer will find out.

A nice set that has kept my daughter ( Ok! me.) happy for hours. Very well built and sturdy so should last a long time. I just wish the ramp up to the top of the coaster was connected to the floor better. Despite the disappointment over the missing phrases this set is worthy to be in anyones collection.