Bruder Cat 02445 / 02446 reviewed: Best toy excavator
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Is your little one crazy about excavators? The brother Cat is guaranteed to like it!
It's super sturdy excavator which you can also control well to dig up sand or stones.
It gets a whopping 4.7 out of 5 stars from more than 30 reviews and everyone is talking about its sturdiness, and it makes a nice gift, as one of the customers says:
Bought for a friend's 4th birthday. Never seen a child so happy with one toys. Went straight to the park. The thing is incredibly strong. Everything works, the complete sandbox has just about been moved.
- Sturdy construction of the machine
- Very realistic digging system
- Driving really well is quite difficult
- Fragile parts on the excavator arm
Let's take a quick look at the specs:
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Specifications
- Color: Yellow with black
- Material: Plastic
- Age: 3 to 8 years
- Scale: 1: 16
- 4 wheels
- mechanical excavator arm
What is the Bruder Cat Excavator?
Bruder is a German company and are actually known for such realistic excavators, construction machines and... tractors like this and they have licensed all major brands.
In this case Caterpillar, but I believe they also have John Deere, a well-known tractor company and they have a lot of nice sets for your child to play with bulldozers or dump trucks and in this case a excavator.
It is a 4 wheel excavator and the arm can bend in 4 places.
The excavator's crane can rotate 360º and you can even lock the crane arm so that it stays in one position.
You also have a handy slide at the bottom of the tube with which you can secure part of the arm.
It can still move back and forth and dig but it does not go all the way up with the arm.
As soon as you click it open again, you can also move the lower part of the arm again, so that gives you more freedom of movement because you can fasten or release it.
The machine is made of plastic but looks very sturdy. The top part can rotate 360 degrees and it clicks into place in the center.
To make that easier, there are two legs on either side that snap down and lock it in place, along with the slider on the front that can also be secured.
What makes the Bruder Cat excavator fun?
It is quite a large excavator, this one from Bruder.
This is the caterpillar model “CAT” and it is quite a bit bigger than I expected when I got it and that is also nice for my son to play with.
It is really very extensive and there is quite a strong arm. My son is still young but can now operate it by hand just by grabbing the arm and moving and digging.
Fortunately, he can understand that quite well, because I saw a few videos on the internet of someone who very deftly made him dig with the lever on top by manipulating him in a certain way.
That looked a bit too difficult for him, so I was a bit worried about whether he would like this.
But he really loves all excavators (2 years old) so he has a big excavator for outside and he really likes to drive it.
Something like this Bruder is of course much easier to handle and also nice to play with indoors from time to time, although it can also be used outside.
It has very sturdy wheels with which it can drive through the sand and the nice thing about the device are all these pneumatic tubes for the arm.
It's a pretty sturdy construction and each part of the arm moves separately, so it can go very high, it can also be lowered and you can click the arm into place for easy driving.
I know that they are always well made, are sturdy, can take a beating, and are really very lifelike.
Digging in mud or sand is not an issue, this Bruder machine is specially made for that.
Your child will have a great time with it and this vehicle made of high-quality plastic can take a beating.
Bruder has been a household name in the field of excavating and construction machines for decades, this machine is suitable for children from 8 to 14 years old, according to the manufacturer, but my son loved them with 2.
If you give one to younger children I would always stick with it, it's just the safest (is your child a much bigger tomboy than mine?)
I think there is something magical about being able to drive a lifelike excavator, especially because they literally drove down the street in our (new-build) neighborhood.
The concept of the control lever on top of the digging arm also really gives you the feeling that you are operating a powerful machine.
A child of 2 cannot control it as it is intended with that lever, of course, but that does not stop them from just grabbing the shovel at the end and plodding in the sand.
They are also made tough enough (with plastics from the German automotive industry) to take the bumps of a younger child, and there are no small parts to come off easily.
My son has not been able to demolish it, although the rod that holds the slide in place and can lower it has broken.
But, in all fairness ...
I broke it myself when I wanted to lower the slide. And the second Cat in the picture I had second-hand from someone who had happened to the same thing, so it's really a thing :)
Bruder toys, if you're reading this, fix that bar and you really have THE WORLD'S BEST lifelike excavator toys!
Hey, wonder if that rod also goes first with the real CATs ...
Fortunately, the slide can still go down so I forgive them for this small detail, do you?
For this price?
I find these a bit more practical than those of approximately the same version (also a CAT) with caterpillar tracks, especially because we also regularly use the excavator indoors (also check this out nice building material as an alternative to sand).
Wheels are then a lot more fun to drive than tracks, which may be more suitable for outside in the mud or in the grass.
But I thought the CAT with wheels was fine in the sandbox and could drive in the grass of the backyard. A perfect playmate for indoors and outdoors!
Conclusion
The Bruder Cat excavator is great for older kids to really dig with. Difficult for small children to use as intended, but who cares?
Always something to do for the holidays or rainy day?
Play Choice now has the ultimate activity book collection, with over 60 pages of fun coloring pages and educational puzzles.
Joost Nusselder, the founder of Speelkeuze.nl is a content marketer, father and loves trying out new toys. As a child he came into contact with everything related to games when his mother started the Tinnen Soldaat in Ede. Now he and his team create helpful blog articles to help loyal readers with fun play ideas.