Friday 6 October 2017

Mayka Toy Block Tape Review (age 3+) for Rainbow Toy Awards

This year among the Rainbow Toy Awards entries is Mayka Tape - the original toy block tape. Made by a company called Zuru, Mayka Tape is available in 9 different colours, 2 stud wide or 4 stud wide rolls and 1 metre or 2 metre lengths. We've been sent a selection of different colours and sizes to review.


The first thing you notice about Mayka Tape is the packaging. Snap shut hard plastic cases protect the tape and make it look really attractive, so it's perfect for giving as a gift.


Actually the case serves another purpose, as the tape is spooled inside and held at both ends. That makes it easier for children to control and harder for them to 'accidentally' leave it somewhere it'll be ruined or trodden on.


We were sent a 1m roll and a 2m roll which are 2 studs wide and a larger 2m roll that is 4 studs wide. The variety is good and the choice of 9 popular colours is excellent - there are a million different projects available to you.


The tape is rubber with a sticky pad backing and it's very easy to trim to length, with marked lines to show where to cut. You can stick it to walls and any other hard surfaces - although you should always do a hidden test patch on painted, varnished or other surfaces that might flake, and avoid your best polished furniture.


The clutch or grip is actually a little looser than I'd like and we found that was the weak point. The tape itself sticks incredibly securely to your surfaces and walls, yet, as promised, comes off to reposition or remove without leaving a mess.


My partner tried attaching some heavier constructions and it was all going swimmingly for about 20 minutes before it fell off. These were pre-built models and naturally have only very small areas of contact. With a bit of reconstruction, or by making your own models from scratch, you'd choose to have far more attachment points.


The tape is very flexible and can bend around corners and over edges neatly, but because grip isn't incredibly tight, you can only really keep minifigures attached when it's flat - but then you'd usually only use it stuck to a flat surface anyway.


Needless to say the LEGO Ninjago Movie dragon was a bit heavy and didn't last long up there! It looks fantastic though, so it's definitely something we'll work on.


I've tried a couple of brick tapes now and Mayka Tape is definitely the best suited for a gift. It's beautifully presented and ideal for younger children because of the spooling system. It's surface-sticking power is second to none, yet it does remove neatly. Where other tapes fail due to the stickiness, Mayka fails in clutch power - but again, that makes it easier to use for younger children. One for the young or more small scale builder, rather than the expert who wants to test limits.

Mayka Tape is available to buy now from toyshops instore and online, including Toys R Us and Amazon. 1 metre 2 stud wide roll around £14.99, 2 metre 2 stud around £24.99, 2 metre 4 stud around £34.99.

The Rainbow Toy Awards is an annual event and the winners for 2017 will be announced on October 27th.



No comments:

Post a Comment

Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment. I read every one and try my best to reply!