Pacon Inflatable 16" Diameter EarthBall Globe

I'm a science buff and want my grandchildren to be at least interested in science if not more deeply involved. So whenever I see a toy that might help ignite or sustain this interest, I'm curious and sometimes yield to the impulse to buy.EarthBall is a wonderful toy for kids and educational too. Orbis has done a marvelous job of converting a photomosaic of the planet to printed vinyl. The alignment between the printed sections.The photo detail is surprisngly good. It's far from what you would expect in the pages of National Geographic, but major terrestrial features like deserts, mountains and cultivated areas are visible. You can pick out the Hawaian Islands. Both polar regions are shown. Cleverly they've used luminous ink to print the locations of densely populated areas. It's not super-bright, but it is visible and adds a little something for young minds to absorb.The EarthBall is durable. My young grandson immediately decided to turn it into an impromptu chair and much to my surprised, it survived.Overall, it's a fun, worthwhile toy with high play and educational value.Jerry

I purchased this as I am a public speaker and wanted to use it on stage. It deflated immediately and was much smaller than pictured. It should cost $4.99 by the look of it. I would love a refund as I need to order another one now.

My son has been asking about locations on the Earth...where we live, where grandma lives, where elephants live, etc. Maps work okay, but we were looking into buying a globe because he is also interested in the N & S poles and the northern lights we see in winter; concepts that are much more easily explained with a 3-d model. While looking for globes on Amazon I ran across this product. After reading the reviews I went for it, choosing this over the cheaper inflatable versions. So glad I spent the extra money! First, it's super durable for an inflatable toy. Second, calling it a toy would be an insult if it wasn't so dang fun! The satellite imagery is beautiful and accurate, and for my son's interests the lack of political borders is a non-issue. Third, my son slept with it in his bed the first night he had it. Fourth, he hasn't stopped talking about it, bouncing it, asking questions about places, identifying features since he received it a week ago (for a 3 year old, that is an eternity!). We love it!!

Love having it hanging from the ceiling. Looks good and holds air well.

These earth balls are so cool! I work with exchange students, and use these to help decorate my tables/booths at festivals and events when I am spreading the word about hosting. They totally give a global theme to any setup. They are sturdy. I love that they are made with real satellite images, and it's also very cool that the cities glow in the dark. The balls seem to be high quality, and of the five I bought, none have popped after several uses. I like that the valve has a loop to tie a string on if you want to hang it up.

I don't want to give this 1 star, because its super cool and I know it would have been awesome to have at my sons space themed bday party. Problem is that when I went to open the package, the staple used on the cardboard was also through the seam on earth! At first I was hopeful, but after carefully removing the staple and inflating it, it quickly deflated. My husband then spent the next 20 min carefully patching the seam and it still didn't hold air. So bummed out that I got a dud! Pic included.

Between you and me, I bought this ball because (1) it's a good (big) size for a toddler and (2) it's more fun than a mounted globe. I am really hoping to get some educational value from it, since my son is showing some interest in maps. In fact, as my wife was inflating it, our son excitedly arrived at her feet and began yelling "Earth! Earth!" That was great.But immediately, the horseplay ensued. I hope this ball is up to the abuse, because it's not what I intended. But... oh well. After a session of kicking, rolling, throwing and carrying "Earth!" around the house, the ball seemed no worse for wear, so we sat down for a few minutes of education.The valve stem is at the North Pole, which our boy hasn't quite figured out how to open. Yet. Despite the cloud coverage, the continents are fairly easily discernible. He wanted to know about San Francisco Bay, which is home to us, but it's not really visible on this scale, PLUS is covered in green glow-in-the-dark splotches (the splotches don't really stick out unless I know what *should* be there). Nevertheless, we're on track to learning the continents and the oceans. If he can peg the bay area or even California at some point, that would just be bonus.Meanwhile, I think this ball is going to get a lot more kicking than studying. Its construction isn't heavy duty, but also isn't overly thin like other beach balls I've encountered. And the seams seem sturdy enough to endure indoor play, as long as it isn't being used as an airbag or bouncy horse.Perhaps my one disappointment is the valve isn't the "self sealing" type found on some inflatables -- the kind that won't let air escape and require a pinch to deflate.In a nutshell, here's a dual-purpose toy I'm pretty happy with, and something I'll buy again when this one succumbs to toddler mayhem.(Update 8/25/11) -- Call me impressed. Despite the cloud coverage and lack of any borders or labels, our 2 year old has no problem identifying San Francisco, Hawaii, Kenya of all places (a neighbor was traveling there), Australia, Antarctica, and naturally, the north pole. We've even talked extensively about earth rotating and sunsets / sunrises, easy to replicate in a dark room with a flashlight. This globe has transitioned from a play thing to a real educational experience!)