I ended up deciding on this one, and here’s a few reasons why:

-I love the green hard plastic relief on the three sides and drawer. It really is exquisitely designed, and is stylized in a unique way compared to other modern plastic toys. It reminds me of toys in the days of my childhood in a most pleasing, nostalgic way.

-I like that the number keys, which make the little animals pop up briefly on the cards in the window and occasionally ring the (mechanical) bell, are also used in conjunction with the solar-powered calculator function. That makes this an enduring toy in terms of value. Not only will a toddler or young preschooler love plunking the keys down and getting instant feedback from the animals in the window, but an older child could actually use this as a real cash register. I’ve even read of another reviewer whose daughter used this in a crafts fair as a real cash register!

-I like that, aside from the solar-powered calculator, there are no electronic functions to this toy. The bell that rings is actually a bell. The noise of the toy, is only the mechanical functions, and while it isn’t the quietest toy in the world, it’s not crazy-making non-stop kiddie voices singing bad songs or shrill electronic “bells.”

-Lastly, I like that Parent’s toy company hasn’t abandoned this classic, and far, far more interesting design for a cash register in favor of the scanners and credit cards and so forth. I mean, weren’t cash registers just prettier, more fascinating objects in this era, than the computerized junk that you can get in a variety of formats these days? I mean, computers certainly have their place, but when everything is basically a computer… well, the landscape is a little bland. This style of cash register is the same one my grandmother played with at her grandmother’s house as a child. We have an old metal one that has been through a whopping 5 generations and still gets played with occasionally… when its drawer doesn’t get stuck

Which brings me to my one gripe. Like the cash registers kids played with back in 1920, the Parent’s cash register has one major design flaw. The drawer. It does get stuck. Sometimes you have to push the button multiple times to get it to eject, and then it does so rather lazily, and it’s not always a matter of the money actually getting stuck, though it doesn’t seem to appreciate any amount of money in the drawer. It seems funny to me that in nearly a century this problem hasn’t been addressed. Is it just an inherent design flaw that can’t be avoided? I have a hard time believing that, and fully intend (when I find the time) to get into the guts of the thing and fix it so it won’t do this. Hopefully. I like a challenge.

And there is actually one other small matter. I don’t trust that silver paint. We bought a used register (in fantastic condition) and the paint seems to be intact, but we have owned countless other Parent’s toys over the past few years, and that silver paint has always been the first thing to go. Chipping paint always makes me a little antsy, especially these days, and most especially on toys made in China. So, it’s something to watch out for.

Those small issues aside, I think this is a wonderfully designed toy that hearkens back to a better time and is the perfect companion for store play from a young age to later childhood.