The Hess Truck is a holiday tradition in our home. It all started many years ago with the birth of my now 16 year old nephew. My dad purchased a Hess Truck for him for Christmas for his very first Christmas. Each and every year after that my dad would continue to purchase the Hess Truck for him every Christmas. When my daughter was born two years later my dad also purchased the Hess Truck for her too. That tradition made its way all the way down to my son and my soon to be 12 year old niece. The Hess Truck is a special gift that Grandad gives all the kids in the family each and every year.
Sadly this year it doens’t look like my dad will be able to continue. He’s not well these days and his has a lot goin on (medically) that I’m afraid the Hess Truck tradition either has to come to an end or someone else in the family will have to start purchasing the trucks for the kids. Mostly just my nephew, son and cousin. The girls are not interested in them anymore.
We were fortunate to get one of the 2011 Hess Trucks. Although my son is sad it didn’t come from Grandad he’s still happy to add it to his collection. He doesn’t actually collect them. My son loves to play with them.
Here is a photo I found (taken a long time ago) of my son opening up a Hess Truck from Grandad for Christmas. As you can see by the look on his face he’s truly very excited about it. I’m sorry for the poor quality of the photo. That was taken with a very old, low quality camera.
Did you know that the Hess Trucks have been a holiday tradition since 1964? It’s also one of the longest running toy brands on the market.
This year’s Hess Truck is the first time in the Hess Truck’s 47 year history that includes TWO vehicles that have lights and sounds.
The 2011 Hess Truck features a tow truck and a stock car.
The tow truck features a pull out ramp with a really cool hydraulic sound (sounds like the real thing!). There are also three additional buttons you can press for other sounds (horn, ignition and the beeping back up sound). There are also plenty of lights that flash on and off to add to the overall realistic look of this truck. I love the chrome detailing too.
The stock car also has a realistic engine sound and plenty of lights that either flash or remain stationary. It also features the nice chrome detailing that the truck has.
The stock car is a “pull back” car, meaning when you pull it back wards it makes it race forward when you let go of it. Sometimes they are known as friction cars too.
Both the truck and the car come complete with the Energizer batteries too. That means you can play with the truck as soon as you open the box. You just have to pop in the batteries and then let the fun begin.
I think this is one of my most favorite Hess Trucks in recent years. When I asked my son what he thought he said “It’s really cool”. In ‘tween speak I think that means he likes it. :-). He won’t admit that he got all excited when I gave him the truck. After all he’s grown up now and doesn’t like toys (yeah…ok…whatever). I know he DOES play with it because I’ve walked past the room and seen him rolling it around the floor. It’s hard not to play with it with all the lights and realistic sounds.
Did you know that the Hess Truck also has it’s own game application? The application is currently free for iPhones and iPads and will officially launch on December 2, 2011.
The game application gives players the option of playing quick, short games or longer games that earn more rewards. There is also an enhanced social media sharing feature too.
According to the game’s description “Players can choose from two vehicles in the Hess Racer Game: the Hess Race Truck, which offers brute strength and great handling, and the Hess Race Car, which offers speed and agility. Players have the choice of three courses – city, mountains or interstate – and can earn coins to unlock additional features for their vehicles. In addition, players can collect and give trading cards to one another that serve as an invite to play the game. An enhanced multiplayer function on Facebook allows friends to challenge other friends to beat their high score. Players can also play the Hess Toy Truck Game directly on the Hess Express Facebook page, www.Facebook.com/HessExpress.”
I haven’t had a chance to check out the game yet but I’m going to. I know my son is going to love to play it. He has a few games on my iPad that he enjoys playing (racing games). The Hess Truck game application sounds like something he’d truly enjoy.
The Hess Truck can be purchased at any Hess retail location in 16 East Coast states. They are only available while supplies last so don’t want too long to make a purchase if you are interested in this year’s truck.
For more information you can visit www.HessToyTruck.com.
Kimberly
*I received a free product sample in order to do this review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own.
momznite says
The tow truck looks like it would be fun to play with when my nephews visit!
anna pry says
Is this truck made of plastic or metal? I can’t tell from the photos. My daughter would say this is a ‘boy toy’ but she’d probably play with it too. She’d likely use it to haul her dolls around out in the yard.