POPLAY Twisty Pull String Flying Saucers/Helicopters,40 PCS

I am an elementary school teacher. I let kids buy prizes with school currency that they have earned. I have gone through a number of different kinds of party toys. Some are winners. Some are duds. This one is a winner at about 40 cents a unit. My second graders (@7yrs.) can easily manipulate them with a minimum of instruction. Kids can break them easily if they use their full force and push on the helicopter spinner. But it really does not take much force to get them flying good. And if you explain and demonstrate that kids will have many enjoyable flights justifying 40 cents. They are even more fun with a group and flying everywhere. They fly well indoors and outdoors. They are a hit in my class and a bargain. The more expensive pull string copters are also popular. They cost about $1 or more. They don’t really fly any better. The copter spinners are a little more sturdy. But I think the launcher is more prone to break than this low tech device. Since it is really only a toy of the moment, I would go with this cheaper version. The fun is the same.

Bought these to stuff the party favor bags for my 8yr old's birthday party which will be at a park. I was worried that the kids would find it boring since they are getting older and normally love digital toys but this was a pure, simple delight. Both my 8yr old and 10 yr old have played with them in the house, multiple times since we opened the box. The 10yr old took it outside the next day to see how much air he could get. The party has not happened yet, so I am not sure how durable they will be. But now I am confident that it will be one of the popular things in the party favor bags. So far, great value for the price and easy to use.

I only needed a few of these for my grandkids (not 40!), but since this package was only a couple dollars more I figured I could save most of them for birthday parties or when the kids have friends over to ply. However I was really surprised to see how flimsy and thin the plastic is. It still works, but the disc doesn't seem to go as far as ones made of heavier plastic. I probably should have just purchased a smaller package with better quality.

My 4 year old grandson thought this was the neated toy! He couldn't get it to fly as high as an adult can but he can work on that. He LOVED seeing it fly and chasing it to try to catch it. This one lasts the test of time for all generations! Inexpensive and great fun for everyone.

The only thing to keep in mind is to make sure you order more than you will need with the expectation that some will be unusable because of malformed plastic due to the cheap quality. In my package about 10 % were put into the trash. So why the 5 stars?? I had to provide a fun activity for all ages, and these were a HUGE hit! Everyone from pre-schoolers through teens to grandparents had a blast with them, and they were inexpensive enough to lose some and still be worth it. So yes, they are cheap-o, but I will definitely be ordering again for next year's picnic. One more note: I don't know why they say "pull,-string" in the description; no strings are involved. UPDATE: Ordered again a few months later and none were broken this time! UPDATE, 2021: None broken, but strangely they didn't fly very high this time. Also the colors were pastel instead of bright primary colors. Disappointing. I might try again another time.