Review: Power Rippers Racing & Battle Set [AD]

I have another toy review to share with you today – the Power Rippers 2-in-1 Competition Set – and I have to honestly say, this is the most excited I have been about any of the toys we have reviewed so far. I mean, the kids have been loving them all, but with this one, I actually found myself sitting in their empty playroom, getting some practice shots in so that I might stand a chance of beating my 7 year old!

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Disclosure: We received a free Power Rippers 2-in-1 Competition set, and a twin pack of Power Rippers, from  Norton PR, in return for an honest review. All images, words and opinions are our own.

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What’s in the box?

The Power Rippers 2-in-1 Competition Set includes a double racing track with a loop (consisting of several pieces), a battle arena, and an exclusive Power Ripper plus ripcord. The box – which folds out into the arena and the base of the racing track – also doubles up as a carrying case. You can also but the Power Rippers separately, which you will need to if you want to race, since the set only comes with one. They come both in single and twin packs, and there are loads of different ones to collect. My husband said he felt like the three we have were weighted differently, and he was right – they are all differently weighted for the categories ‘speed’, ‘stunts’ and ‘battle’, and they have cool battle names such as Black Widow, Tiger Shark, or Rapid Fire. The exclusive Power Ripper that came with the set is called ‘Speed Lightning’, and the double pack we received included ‘Power Claw’ and ‘Liquid Metal’. They each come with a collector’s card, to remind you of their name and how good they are in each category.

How does it work?

So, “What is a Power Ripper?”, I hear you say. I’m really not sure how to describe it, so the best thing is to show you a picture (we have also made a video or you of them in action – see below):

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On the left, is the Power Ripper in race mode, with its flaps out, and on the right in battle mode, with the flaps folded in to make a ball. You insert the ripcord on the side, and use it to rev up the Power Ripper, then let it go either on the race track, where it will whizz along the loop and jump off the end, or in the arena, where it will spin around. If you have two Power Rippers, you can pitch them against each other, and the fun part is to see who wins. On the race track, it’s a matter of who gets to the end first, but there is also a crash zone just before the final jump, where you can knock each other off the track. In the battle arena, each player drops their revved up Power Ripper on to one of the drop-in ramps, and then it’s a fight to see which one is the last one spinning. Again, you can also knock each other out of the arena. And the best things is, it does not require any batteries!

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Oskar first practiced on his own, to get the hang of revving up the Power Rippers and letting them go. This can be a bit fiddly at first, but don’t give up! After a few practice rounds, he is now quote the pro, and as mentioned at the beginning, he always wins. Then it was time to get down to some racing and battling against Dad. I was doing the filming, but had my turn up against Oskar later. We have, literally, had hours of fun with this. Here’s our little video, of the Power Rippers in action:

Note: You can also connect the two race track lanes together, to make one extra long track, though we haven’t tried that yet (mostly because I’ve only just noticed this suggestion on the back of the packaging, as I am writing this up, d’oh…) And apparently the track connectors also work with other “leading 1:64th scale vehicle track systems” too, i.e. with Hot Wheels tracks, but we don’t have any of those to try it out.

What did we think? 

Since this is an honest review, I will admit that my first thought was “We already have endless boxes and baskets full of Hot Wheels cars and Transformers and Lego and Playmobil and, and, and…We don’t need yet another toy with so many parts, and one that looks so bulky too.” And I almost didn’t accept the assignment, since we live in a fairly small tenement apartment, with not that much space. But then I remembered Oskar showing me the Power Rippers in a catalogue, when I asked him what he would like for his birthday, so I said to myself “Hey, at least it tidies away in to a carrying case” and decided to go for it. I’m really glad I did, because this toy has been such a big hit. It is super fun (for the grown ups too!) and I am not just saying this because we were given a set for free, it really is. I can see it being a great boredom buster on dark and dreary winter days to come, when a trip to the park is off the record.

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Plus points: Great fun, can be played together, does not require batteries, tidies away in to a case.

Downsides: I can’t really think of any downsides, other than it would have been great to have a few spare connectors included, because I can just see some of them going missing.

The Power Rippers 2-in-1 Competition Set is produced by Jakks Pacific, and is available through various toy retailers. Recommended retail price is £34.99, but I have seen it on offer on sites such as Amazon, Argos and Very at massive discounts, so it’s worth shopping around to try and grab yourself a bargain. We received a free Power Rippers set in return for an honest review, and all opinions here are our own.

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Comments: 11

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    16 November 2017

    Wow, that is a big toy but it does look pretty amazing. Nice that it comes in a carry case too.

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    16 November 2017

    This looks so much fun and would make such a great Christmas gift. I love toys that I can play with the boys.

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    16 November 2017

    Wow what a super cool toy – loads of kids will want this for Christmas for sure! ;) x

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    16 November 2017

    Ooh that looks like fun! I think I saw this at BlogOn in September, they are fab to play with! it’s a huge toy but great you can pack it away! xx

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    17 November 2017

    Oh this looks like great fun, I think my son would enjoy this. I like the fact that it packs away too as like you I find bulky toys quite tricky to store. Great review.

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    17 November 2017

    I know what you mean sometimes you have so much stuff you think – really another toy? But it’s great to hear this was such a great hit!

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    17 November 2017

    That sounds great, especially since it doesn’t need batteries and can connect to Hot Wheels tracks. My hubby and son would play with this for hours!

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    19 November 2017

    I think I would be tempted to play on it myself as it looks incredible though a bit too big for my nephew.

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    19 November 2017

    I like the fact that it doesn’t need batteries. My son would adore it.

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    Melanie

    16 April 2021

    I’m curious if you had any trouble closing the green case? When I try to shut it, it sounds like I’m breaking it.

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