F-18 Hornet Blue Angel - 9 Inch

With two little ones we've bought a lot of toys, but out of all of them, this is probably one of the very best toy purchases we've made. The plane is solidly built and about 10 inches long. My son loves running around the house flying his jet, has taken it to multiple "show and tells" at school and often tries to take it to bed. (Not a good idea because it's not exactly soft)Part of his fascination is probably because right before bed, after we've read stories and turned off the lights and tucked him under the covers, we'll often play a single YouTube video for him on either our iPad or iPhone. The video? -> The Blue Angels. If you search for "Blue Angels" on You Tube, it's the first video that comes up and it's amazing. Show that video to your kids and then give them this toy and you'll be a rock star.I've actually bought a couple of these because if dropped multiple times onto a hard floor, the tail fins can break off. It didn't happen for 6 months or so, and the toy was well played with by that time, but given how much he enjoyed this toy over others that cost significantly more, it was an easy decision to buy a replacement.

I ordered this product yesterday after reviewing the bi-polar reviews... many of them quite old. The Blue Angel I received comes with the proper paint and is 9" long. It does have plastic struts at the wheels but it looks sturdy enough for a "die cast". This is not to say that my five-year-old won't eventually break it but the product seems reasonably built and I will be giving it with some confidence... it certainly passes the "Blue Angel" test.Part of the disconnect with people's experience might be that whoever plays with the toy will need to be old enough to heed the advice: "don't press down on it with all of your weight."

The Blue Angels replicas I ordered for each of my three grandsons are sturdy, metal toy jets, exactly like the real thing! They are a great learning tool as the Blue Angels are with the Navy and that isn't something everyone knows. Many Americans associate military flight only with Air Force. A mini history lesson could be built around this gift. Seeing the Blue Angels perform is Out of This World! I was lucky enough to see them three times here in Maine. Thrilling! My two youngest grandsons went to bed with their new planes in their arms....

This was bought for our four old for Christmas 2010 as a stocking-stuffer. He was pretty happy to see it as he vividly remembers seeing the Blue Angels perform over San Francisco Bay during 2009 and 2010's Fleet Week. He immediately began showing me some of their more advanced aerial maneuvers and I must admit that I was sad that I didn't get one too... I'd totally be his wing man! Every time that I see the iconic paint job of the Blue Angels it takes me back to watching them perform in the Summer of 1987 while listing to VH's song Dreams blasted at 10 on my yellow Sony Walkman... goosebump stuff right there. Anyway, like most four year old boys, he is pretty hard on his toys and leaves them out all over the place. One night while walking down the hall to go to bed, I stepped square on it and two things happened. The first thing is that the front landing gear broke off (not necessarily unexpected since I do outweigh it by a few pounds!) The second thing that happened was that I was immediately overcome with the most incredible pain I have experienced in the past five years or so. Everything on the top of the plane is die cast metal and there are no lack of pointy wings, missles, etc which will seriously put a major hurting on whoever is unfortunate enough to step on it. As a side note, although it didn't survive my foot, it did survive a throw across the room by our two year old that ricocheted off of my head (also hurt a lot, but not as much as stepping on it.)Pros: Price, well made, Iconic... the Blue Angels!Cons: May break when stepped on. Hurts when stepped on or when it hits you in the head.

Product is not the same as pictured here.One of the vertical stabilizer was totally tore off.The other vertical stabilizer was broken from the tip of it.The rubber piece for the landing gear was out the wheel.It came inside a big box, with bubble bags so I'm thinking that someone played with before sending it to me orthe carrier was shaking the box to hear what it was inside. What a waste of money. I don't give them zero stars is becauseI can't.

My grandsons have been playing with them non-stop since they arrived.

I bought this gift for my 4 1/2 year old son for Christmas and he has not stopped carrying it around with him. He absolutely loves it as he uses his imagination to fly the jet all around the house. It is a great size - not small like other toy planes but not too big to be useless or hard to play with - and so far has been durable. Shipped fine and packaging was good to keep it intact. Will be looking to buy another type of plane from this seller for his birthday. Highly reccomend!

The metal parts of the plane are nice, but the plastic tail parts arrived broken off. They were shipped in a sheet of bubble wrap, and in a bubble wrap envelope, but that wasn't enough to protect the tail fins which were snapped off. Fortunately the package arrived in time for the birthday party. Unfortunately it was broken and there wasn't time to get a replacement. Fortunately, the mom professed that the 6 year-old would be happy to fix it, so I didn't pursue a refund which I would have been inclined to do if I had more time....