Fisher Price Rainforest Color Changing Sun Shades

Customer Reviews

Concept: A+ Execution: F-

2008-04-17
My little girl was being blinded by the sun so I bought these, mistakenly thinking they'd do the trick. I liked the fact that they were very large (they actually hang over the door panel in my car by about 3-4") and relatively unobtrusive, insofar as I didn't have to concern myself about rolling them up or down depending on the time of day.

Unlike others who have reviewed this product, I had no problem with getting the shade to stick to my window. I used my steam cleaner to first make sure the window was completely clean before sticking the shade on. It works like the old "Colorforms" toy; it doesn't use an adhesive, just static. Because the plastic was folded up in the box there were several large creases that refused to go away. I warmed the plastic with a hair dryer to soften it up a bit and the creases went away during installation. And...that just about sums it up for the "pros" of this product.

Bad things... With the shade in place you must not roll down your windows. The box doesn't make this very clear but the instruction sheet inside the box claims that "serious damage" could result to the car's window mechanism if you do this.

The tinting power of this shade is nominal at best. When new, the shade went from clear to blue but the strength of the blue was about half what is shown in the product pictures above. As another reviewer stated, even at full darkness it doesn't seem to make a difference in how much sun got through. A clear and sunny day would still result in a face full of sunlight for my little girl. Even though the sunlight was now tinted blue, it was still overpowering enough to wake her from sleep. Not fun.

The worst part, however, is the longevity of the product. I installed the brand new shade in my car right around the beginning to middle of February. By the end of March the tinting had completely disappeared. Even in the brightest, clearest day, the shade remained steadfastly clear/untinted. It was just clear plastic.

If you check various review-type places on the net you'll find an overwhelming number of people writing much the same thing I'm writing. As of this writing, the Babies-R-Us page for this item has 22 reviews of which 20 are one-star, 1 is two-star, and 1 is (inexplicably) a 5-star review, which also happens to be the ONLY positive review of this item I've found.

When I discovered how God-awful this product is I called Fisher-Price, explained my problems with it and asked for a refund. They refused to refund my purchase price but instead redirected me to the company that makes this product which is Blue Ridge International Products Company (850-835-0100, x250 for customer service). I left my information with them so time will tell if I ever get a refund. I'm not expecting one, so I'm probably going to chalk this up to a ~$20 learning experience. (UPDATE: I have, in fact, received a refund check from Blue Ridge for the full amount, including sales tax! If you were the unfortunate buyer of this product I strongly suggest you call Blue Ridge for a refund.) I have since thrown this product away and have purchased a roll-up shade from someone other than Fisher-Price.

Terrible Product- Does not work at all!

2008-04-12
This product is completely useless- I agree with what each of the reviewers have written. Wouldn't stick to the window (yes it was cleaned) and DID NOT change color at all- I also do not have tinted windows in my car- so basically paid $14 for nothing. I am returning this tomorrow. My 9 month old screamed the whole way home because the sun was shining right thru the shade onto his face!

Does not change color...

2008-03-27
On the packaging it shows the shade turning blue in the sun, but it does not do this.

does not work

2008-01-22
This sun shade did stick on my windows, but started to peel off after a few weeks. It also "melted" in the hot Texas sun and became warped.
Like the previous reviewer said, this sun shade does not change colors when in the sun.

I am not sure how much protection it provided from the sun. When I sat in the back seat with my baby, this sun shade did not seem to make a difference in how much sun got through.

I now use Cool Shade by Sunshine Kids instead.

Utter waste of money - false advertising

2008-01-18
This sunshade does NOT work. It does nothing it promises to do. It does not cling to the window of the car. It does not turn dark in the sun - no matter how long it is exposed to direct sun. I found out that it does slowly turn somewhat darker when it is being hit by sun when it is outside of the car when I stuck part of it out the window and rolled the window up in an effort to get it to stay on the window. Completely useless! Oh, and no, my windows are not tinted. And it didn't work for any of the other reviewers on the babiesrus website.