Rides: Road Rippers Piston Thumper Ford F-150 SVT Raptor (Toy Review)

Sunday, March 15 2015 09:17

Rides: Road Rippers Piston Thumper Ford F-150 SVT Raptor (Toy Review)

Written by James Zahn

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Rides: Road Rippers Piston Thumper Ford F-150 SVT Raptor (Toy Review)

Right now, we have two Ford F-150 SVT Raptors in our garage. They're both toys, of course, the first being the Step2 ride-on we got last Fall, and now something a little bit smaller - the Road Rippers Piston Thumper Ford F-150 SVT Raptor by Toy State. This is the latest addition to a growing fleet of vehicles from Toy State that we've either purchased or received over the past few years, and this one is a new spin on their lights/sounds/motorized offerings. As the name would indicate, there's some genuine "piston thumping" going on. Check out the "In-Action" Video below, featuring THE ROCK DAUGHTERS (Adalyn and Finley) giving the truck a test drive...

While it's not the speediest vehicle in our fleet, our Piston Thumper is a solid ride with some unique action. Pressing a piston-shaped button in the middle of its roof will activate engine sounds and lights, and when the blue Ford speeds ahead, the clear engine compartment roars to life with it's toy-sized V-8 thumping away with visible pistons illuminated by red LED lights. The motion effect is great at any time, but the lighting looks particularly cool at night. Additional buttons trigger addition sounds.

Road Rippers Piston Thumpers Review

Having seen this one played with both indoors and out (the weather just started to break for us), I've seen it work great on tile and laminate floors, short carpet and concrete. Conditions may affect performance, but our Piston Thumper seems to do just fine no matter where the adventures might take it.

Right now, the folks at Toy State have two editions available in their Piston Thumpers line, with a Dodge RAM 1500 available in addition to the Ford F-150 SVT Raptor.

Rock Father-approved, and available at Amazon and other retailers Nationwide, including Toys "R" Us, Target and K-mart.

Published in Rock Father Rides

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James Zahn

James Zahn is best-known as The Rock Father™, a media personality, commentator, adventurer and raconteur. He is the Owner, Publisher, and Editor-in-Chief of THE ROCK FATHER™ Magazine. In January, 2019, after nearly a decade of publishing The Rock Father™ Magazine, he joined Adventure Media and Events as Senior Editor of The Toy Book—the leading trade publication for the toy industry since 1984, as well as The Pop Insider — a destination for all things pop culture, and The Toy Insider — the leading consumer guide for toys and games. He is also editor of The Toy Report, a weekly newsletter published by The Toy Book each Thursday. Zahn has over 27 years of experience in the entertainment, retail and publishing industries.

He regularly serves as a Brand Ambassador and spokesperson for several Globally-recognized pop culture and lifestyle brands in addition to consulting for a number of toy manufacturers.

Creatively, James has directed/edited music videos, lyric videos, and album trailers for bands such as FEAR FACTORY, has appeared as an actor in feature films and commercials, written comic books, and performed in bands. He currently serves as an artist manager and video director for PRODUCT OF HATE, whose debut album was released by Napalm Records in 2016, distributed by ADA/Warner Music in the U.S. with Universal Music handling global. A new album has been completed and is set for release this year.

Zahn and/or his work have been featured in/on CNN, NBC, ABC, WGN, CBS, GCTN, G4, The Chicago Tribune, Forbes, MarketWatch, Reuters, BusinessWire, Fangoria, Starlog and more. He's appeared as a music expert on CNN's AC360 alongside Anderson Cooper, and has been interviewed by Larry King. In the past he served as a writer for the Netflix Stream Team, Fandango Family and PBS KIDS, penned articles for Sprout and PopSugar, and was a contributor to Chicago Parent.

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