Which Scooter?

Journey Girls Scooter vs Our Generation Scooter

I have had my eye on the Our Generation scooter for awhile.  But I always had some qualms about it.  First off it looks cheap.  It looks like those cheap plastic toys you get at the grocery store.  Second, I hate the big huge wheel in the back.  Ick!  So when Journey Girls came out with their own scooter I thought, "Yeah…here is an awesome scooter!"  Well…it's kind of awesome.

The Our Generation Scooter has a more vintage look to it than the Journey Girls scooter.

Let's look at the Our Generation scooter first, because even though I don't like some of the things about it, other design elements are amazing.  The look of this scooter is great.  From the side and front the scooter looks like a real vintage scooter.  The big head light is awesome.  The seat cushion is really nice. I really like the over all lines of the scooter, the design is beautiful.  I also really like all of the different colors that the scooters come in.  The one I bought is not my favorite color scheme, but it was what was available for the review.  I like the scooters with muted color schemes, like the pink and tan one.

I love the big headlight and the screws on the front of the scooter.

The Our Generation scooter is bigger then the Journey Girl scooter.  It has wider handlebars, a longer seat, and wider tires.  The Our Generation scooter also has a rack on the back…which is really cool.



Now the bad.  The Our Generation  scooter is made out a pressed plastic.  On the front of the scooter this looks really neat.  There are two different color pieces that are screwed together to make the front.  This makes the scooter look more realistic.  In other places the pressed plastic looks cheap…like in the foot wells and at the back of the scooter.  The seams are bigger in these areas and you can see through the scooter.  Plus it feels cheap…especially compared to the Journey Girls scooter.

The goofy looking big wheel makes this scooter look like a monster truck.

I love the functionality of the big fat wheel in the back.  The scooter can stand on it's own, with a doll sitting on it with no concern of tipping over.  I hate the look of that big fat wheel!  It makes the scooter look like a monster truck!  I think that the scooter would balance okay if the back wheel was the same width as the front wheel.  I think it looks goofy.

Chavonne's feet can't quite reach the foot wells on the Our Generation scooter.

The dolls don't fit very well on the Our Generation scooter.  It's a little too big for them and the seat is too wide to have their legs straddle it.  Chavonne sits okay on the seat, but not great.  The handle bars are wide enough that Chavonne can hold onto them, but with no straps, her hands just fall off.

Rating

All ratings are out of 10

Playability 7 - No fun sounds.  No cool lights.  It does have a rack and it stands up on it's own.  It's a fun little scooter.  The Our Generation jeep is probably a better form of transportation

Value 7 - The scooter is a fair price at $30.  I found it for sale for $28…which is a little better.  This scooter seems like it should be about $20.  It's still a good buy at this price though.

Quality 5 - I don't like the plastic of this scooter…it feels cheap.  Some of the colors make the scooter look cheaper also.  And what is up with the sticker for the gauges?  I do like the look of the light on the front and the back rack.

Overall 6 - It's not horrible…it's just not awesome.  I have the bike that Our Generation makes.  The bike is an amazing toy!  Lots of little details…very cool.  I was hoping that the scooter would have some of these same types of cool features.  But it does not.  Some cool things…but lots of not so great things.  If you can find it for cheap I'd say buy it.  If it's more than $20 I would look for something else.

Journey Girls Scooter

The first thing I noticed with the Journey Girls scooter is how heavy it is.  This is partially because of the plastic it is made out of and partly because of the batteries that are housed in the foot well of the scooter.  The Journey Girl scooter makes noises and has lights…which is pretty neat.  I could do without the sounds, but they aren't overly loud and all of them make sense.  There is an engine sound, a start-up sound, a horn sound, and a blinker sound that corresponds to the blinkers turning off and on.  The lights turn on and off with the sounds also.  I can't figure out why the main headlight would blink when you are driving it…but okay.  I wish that you could turn the headlight on without the sound.

The Journey Girls scooter is smaller than the Our Generation scooter.  It is also made out of a thicker plastic.

The Journey Girl scooter is smaller than the Our Generation scooter.  It is not as long, or as high.  That's good and bad.  The seat of the Journey Girl scooter is a perfect height from the foot wells for Chavonne to sit correctly.  Unfortunately the handle bars are also lower, which makes it so that Chavonne has a difficult time getting her hands to them without bending way over.  If the handlebars were about an inch higher they would be in the perfect place…plus I think this would make it so that the windshield would be in the correct position.

On the left is the actual Journey Girls scooter.  On the right is my rendering of what the scooter might look like with a taller front end and a wider front light.

The back wheels looks too small in circumference.  I would have liked to see it a half an inch bigger or so.  Where the Our Generation wheel is huge and wide…the Journey Girls scooter wheels are skinny.  They look more realistic, but it they were just a little wider, the scooter could probably stand up on it's own.

I like that the scooter has a bumper on the back.  I like that it has "shocks"(they don't actually move, but they look good), a "motor" in front of the back wheel, the molded gages on the handlebars, the brake handles, and the side view mirrors.

It is nice that it comes with the clear plastic holder to help hold the doll on the scooter.  I was able to get Chavonne to stay on the scooter without help from the plastic, but she will fall off if she is pushed on the scooter.  Some of that is the boots I have her in.  Shoes wedge into the foot wells and help hold the doll on the scooter.

The little wheels don't stay locked in a position.  There is more resistance at this position, but they can still move out of place.

The little wheels that swing down are dumb!  Or the design is dumb is probably more of an accurate statement.  There is no notch for them to sit in, so they can move freely from the back position to the forward position.  They stay in the down position, but there is nothing to hold them down in that position.  As I positioned Chavonne on the scooter, the wheels folded up, and the scooter fell over…several times (then I finally learned my lesson).  The wheels do do help stabilize the scooter so that it doesn't tip…but they don't do a great job.

Chavonne riding the Journey Girls scooter

Rating

All ratings are out of 10

Playability 8 - This scooter has all the cool features that you are looking for (well a lot of the cool features).  The lights are really neat as well as the sound.  I love that there are working turn signals on the front and back of the scooter.  I wish the headlight was clear/white rather than blue…but okay.  The scooter is neat.  I wish that it was more stable to increase the playability.

Value 8 - I found the scooter for $23!  I noticed since Christmas it jumped up to $34.  At $23 it is a great value.  It is built well, has the sounds and lights, and has some neat design features.  At $34…the value goes down a little.  But it's still worth the purchase.

Quality 9 - The feel of this scooter is really good.  It does not feel cheap.  I think it looks a little cheap because it only has two colors.  I wish Toys R Us had the scooter in a few different colors. I would have loved to see a rack on the back of the scooter also.  Where is Chavonne supposed to carry her grocery bags?

Overall 8 - This is a nice scooter.  It's not American Girl quality, but it is nice.  There are some things that are a bit annoying (like the goofy little wheels and low handlebars), but overall it's a nice little machine.  I would choose this scooter over the Our Generation scooter any day.  It's not my dream scooter…but for under $40 this is a great scooter (as is the Our Generation scooter…just not as good).

The Our Generation scooter vs the Journey Girls scooter