What Do You Make Of This? There's A Sale of Quinny's! {At Sears]

We were in Sears in downtown Vancouver today... they had the Buzz in the store for the same price, so presumably, it's a cross-country sale. You might want to extend your run-for-the-border advice to people living in Bellingham and Seattle as well...

My wife was looking at it and she said "Hmmm... let's sell the Perego" (we love the light weight of the Peg Perego Aria, but still... damn that Quinny's a cool stroller...)

So what is that...like a 7 hour drive from NYC? And I can make a pitstop for a ride on the "Maid of the Mist"? I'm gone!!

Actually...the Buzz is on the Sears.ca website under "Specialty strollers" for $449.99. Do you think they'd discount it if you called in your order today?

Japan? Me, too! Of course I live here, though.

Dig the blog and wish we could get the stuff you feature over here!

Hmmm, anyone living in Canada want to pick up a Zapp for me? I'd be willing to pay someone!

Just received our orange Zapp last night! I couldn't wait to get it out of the box (along with our other goodies: Cameleon, Cabrio, and Cabrio footmuff). I never though baby gear would be so cool! The Zapp is definitely THE stroller! I'm sure we'll get a bunch of questions about it when we take our son in it (7 more weeks!). I will spend this evening taking the seat material off so we can attach the Cabrio to it. The Cabrio already looks awesome connected to the Cameleon chassis. BTW, our Cameleon is red/orange and the Cabrio is the orange flash model. Like I said, I never thought baby gear would be so cool!

One more thing to add about the Zapp. It is the smallest folded stroller I've seen but it's surprisingly big when it's unfolded. Also it's pretty heavy. It's small folded footprint really disguises its weight. It is the coolest stroller I've ever seen though!

Why, oh why must we have such a crappy Sears? No Buzz, no Zapp. I need a Zapp. Er, the Monster needs a Zapp. I need a stroller I could fit in my hiking pack. Looks like I will actually have to wait until we are expecting another babe or something....

And here is the drirect link to the Buzz online: http://www.searsbaby.ca/e/products/productdetail.cfm?&ProdId=2297&ProductCatId=41&PageNumber=1&MaxRecordsToDisplay=7&MinimumPrice=0&MaximumPrice=0&ProductTypeId=0&BrandID=0&ColourFamilyID=0&SizeValue=

renefjr,

sorry to dissapoint you, but... We got our Zap back in May and it hasn't gotten a lot of looks nor comments on the streets. I'm sure the Zapp/Cabrio combo will get more leers. We have a Mutsy stroller, not common at all, when we used the base with the Combi we got a lot of questions and some envious looks from the bugaboo crowd. Now that we put it's regular seat on, the comments have dropped off completely. So enjoy the glory of having a unique stroller while you have that Combi on it..

renefjr,

sorry to dissapoint you, but... We got our Zap back in May and it hasn't gotten a lot of looks nor comments on the streets. I'm sure the Zapp/Cabrio combo will get more leers. We have a Mutsy stroller, not common at all, when we used the base with the Combi we got a lot of questions and some envious looks from the bugaboo crowd. Now that we put it's regular seat on, the comments have dropped off completely. So enjoy the glory of having a unique stroller while you have that Combi on it..

Could't agree more on the disguised weight. Also good to know, some former classmates work in the Quinny design and quality department. So far very few problems with the zapp, and apparently it did very well in the crash tests (who knew strollers got crash tested)

Casper...

Where are you from? In the DC area I've never seen anything like the Zapp. Of course, I've only been stroller watching for 7 months. But it sure does look unique compared to the fugly gracos/evenflos/jeeps/etc...

We've used the Zapp maxi-cosi combo for the past three months now and Its been really great. Plans to buy a Gecko have gone out the window and we'll wait for the next kid to upgrade to another stroller, I'm sure there will be some new crazy design by then. About getting comments on the street, be careful what you ask for...I can't wait till I can put the normal seat on the Zapp again because Im hoping it will stop drawing attention. Sometimes you just want to buy some groceries or take a walk and not be noticed. Its a really cool stroller for the price.

Proof once again that Daddytypes really is a stroller mecha (mecca?) Anything about strollers just brings the comments rollllllling in. :)

We just ordered our Buzz. It just worked out that we have a family friend coming to the states in a couple of days and they are going to pick it up for us. They only have Navy, but they said the price will go down another $20 Canadian on the 31st sale...and they might be getting the Maxi Cosi line as well in the future.

I agree w/ PP... we live in NYC, and I've had the Quinny Buzz, the Zapp AND the Cameleon, and have gotten almost NO comments from passersby. Perhaps NYers are more jaded? Takes a lot more than a funky new stroller to impress them.

Just my .02 cents, but IMHO, I think the Cameleon is 10x better. We actually sold our Buzz after a couple of months because it was just too heavy, too bulky, too tough to adjust and collapse and not particularly comfortable for DB (who used it from 2 mo to 4 mo). We recently got the cameleon and WOW, the difference is amazing. Well worth the hype and popularity, esp.

Anyway, hope I haven't offended anyone in the Buzz camp.

ps- haven't used the Zapp yet as DB isn't old enough. But it is damn cool to look at here in the apt!

I spoke with the folks at sears yesterday and they only had the Buzz in Blue and the Zapp in Red.

I asked them to check with other stores for colors but no luck.

bummer I really liked the Buzz in red.

We're still going to check it out tomorrow though.
:-D

Hi there -

I saw there Sears ad today and will forego a different colour in favour of the $80 off. For those who ordered the Maxi Cosi car seat, which online retailer did you use, or is there any issue with snapping any of them into the Buzz available at Sears? I've looked on e-bay, Mothercare.co.uk and babytrader. Can I get away with using the car seat for a couple months till the baby is fine to use in the stroller, or is this considered inhumane?

Renefjr,

We live in the Bay Area, just south of SF.
Haven't seen a single Zapp besides ours. However without the carseat it looks too much like a regular stroller to really attract the attention of soon-to-be-parents. And the parents with a Bugaboo are too envious because they weren't able to find a more obscure, rare stroller. Bugaboos aplenty over here.

Haven't seen any of the new Bugaboo models yet.

Kara,

It's no problem to use the car seat for a while. We used our maxi Cosi on the stroller untill the baby was 6 months old. We have since switched to the regular stroller seats. But the kid just drowns in the big seats, even with the harness as tight as it will go. We use the Zapp for short trips because he tends to sag in it. (The seat is not very deep) The Mutsy is better because the leg support flips up to create a bigger platform for him to sit on.

The kid is almost 11 months now and we still use the Maxi Cosi in the car. I expect we can squeeze anothe 3-4 months out of it before we have to switch to a bigger seat. Definitely worth the money.

Casper,

Just a quick note to find out what car you install the cabrio in. I just tried installing it this morning in both an X5 and RX330. I get too much side to side movement when it's in the middle position. Also, in the outside positions, the shoulder belt bunches up in the back slot. Do you use a seat positioner to keep the seat at the "right" angle? Thanks!

The Newmarket sears has the ZAPP @ $199CAD regular.

Starting tomorrow they have a "baby days" event and it'll be $179CAD

hmmm... i never liked the peg perego car seat fit in my RX330, even having had it installed by a trained fireman. Installed the britax myself and got wiggling too. Have now installed it into explorer and minivan (yes Toyota Sierra minivan, sold the RX) and "perfect". Its the RX's backseat design that doesn't work. Also, check out the Mighty-Tite The Ultimate Car Seat Tightener - cranks the seat dooooown, baby. Impressed a crowd at the airport installing the car seat into the rental.

We just got back from good old Canada. We're instant gratification kind of people so we bought it in red. Hubby is very very happy.

I bought a Buzz this weekend at Sears in Toronto.

For Henri:

1. Did you get your Maxi-Cosi from babytrader? Was there any other piece of equipment you ordered to use the car seat here?

2. Was your Buzz a model purchased in North America or also from overseas?

3. Does anyone know about the Isofix base or when it might be released?

If anyone has purchased the Buzz here and ordered the Maxi-Cosi from either the Netherlands or picked it up (at Mothercare) in England, I'd love to know it worked.

And, Sam, thanks for your advice.

Thanks,

Kara

Kara,

We ordered the Quinny Zapp and Maxi-cosi from www.Babycare.nl. I'm not sure if any Quinny Buzz or Zapps are available yet in the US, we had ours imported. The exchange rate killed us then but is much better now. SO far the maxi-cosi has been great, however, we have some really tight fits with a few cars namely my 98 jeep grand cherokee (until I realized I could lower the seatbelt height position to gain more slack) and some lexus models. Its just been a case where the seatbelt seemed too short and it was a real strain to get it locked down. With longer seatbelts we've usually been able to get the maxi pretty snug by tightening the seatbelt with a little bit of lift off of the front of the maxi. Overall its been great moving from car to car and we dont see any need to order the isofix base. The maxi snaps into the zapp easier as the kid gets heavier. One important thing about the zapp is that it is not a super light stroller, its tiny folded up but not lightweight. I believe it is as heavy as a bugaboo. We also live in Northern California and until we run into Casper, we also have not seen any Zapps around here. Bugaboos are everywhere though and it does seem that most bugaboo owners here have been surprised to see other European strollers.

Henri

Kara:

I live in Toronto as well and am having stroller/car seat dilemmas! My wife and I need to decide between the Bugaboo (Cameleon or Frog with Graco car seat) or the Quinny Buzz (with Max Cosi car seat and Dreami cot). You said you bought the Buzz from Sears, did it come with the Maxi Cosi and Dreami cot adapters? The reason I ask is that the Quinny web site states that the Buzz includes these adapters. However, I wonder if this is true of the Buzz version in North America, since both the Maxi Cosi and Dreami cot products are not available in Canada. If your answer is no, then you may want to rethink ordering the Maxi Cosi car seat from Europe since you don't have the adaptor for it.

Mike R:
Facing the same dilemma as you. Have you heard anything more on the adapter/Maxi Cosi issue for the Buzz, would be nice to pull the trigger at $369 versus the alternative.

Thanks

Steve:

Unfortunately not. I've heard various stories from the Maxi Cosi car seat imminently being CSA approved for Canada, to rumours that it will never come to North America at all. The strange thing is that Maxi Cosi is owned by Dorel - a company based in Montreal that trades on the TSX....yet they have products that are strictly for outside North America (ie. Maxi Cosi).

The longest we can wait for the Maxi Cosi car seat to be made available is November, at which point we then have to hope that Quinny makes the Buzz package available with the adapters.

Based on all of this, it appears that we're likely going with a Bugaboo Frog...or Cameleon if it every truly makes its North American debut.

And there's another freaky dilemma. If we decide on the Bugaboo, it's choosing between the Frog or the Cameleon. It's a $200 CDN price difference but the Cameleon appears to be worth the increased costs due to the new features (I was fortunate to see and play with a Cameleon a few weeks ago).

If any of you decide on the Cameleon....bear in mind that a few days ago it was delayed again for its North American debut to...get this....December or January!! There must be a ton of Frog's still in inventory that they want to get rid of!!

Wow, I wish I had seen this post last week. I just received the Buzz yesterday and it is great, but I too could not find the adapters for the Cabrio (which should arrive any time). Does anyone know of a way to get the adapters in North America (U.S.)?

Hi all:

I hope we figure out a way to solve this or there will be some sad Canadian Buzz owners for the first six or so months of strolling!

I purchased the Buzz, and finally got the car seat. I presumed that the adapters weren't an issue (OOPS) since the illustrations in the Canadian model showed both the maxi-cosi and the dreami cot. I gave babytrader the serial number from the box, to make sure there was no compatibility issue. They probably also assumed the Canadian model would not have removed these pieces.

So, I have emailed Dorel as a first try, to ask whether I can get the adapters from them. I've also emailed babytrader in the netherlands (where I bought the car seat) and asked them whether they can sell them to me.

It's a bizarre situation, and I really hope to be able to find these two elusive pieces of hardware...

Kara

Babytrader does have them available for sale. The good news is that they are reasonable (20 euros); the not-so-great news is that the shipping is more (22.5 euros). Should have sent it with the car seat...when I hear whether Dorel in Canada can supply them, I'll let you know.

Well, I spoke to Dorel, and they don't seem to think there is a way of adapting this. They think it should be an adapter bar, not two pieces.

Regardless, I'm going to order from the Netherlands, and see whether it works.

I wonder if it actually came with the Cabrio carseat? It is definitely two pieces. I have a picture of it up on my site. Yes, now that I think about it, it was most definitely with the stroller. Mine were inside the "Buzz Box", which looks small, but somehow holds 6x its visible volume. See photos at: http://www.neosophic.com

Hey everyone. I picked up a Buzz and Cabrio in Amsterdam before they were available at Sears. The Zapp is on sale today for $169 and I'm really tempted. I know the Canadian Quinnies don't come with adapters for the Cabrio, but my question to those parents with both the (European model) Zapp and the Buzz is whether the adapters for the Cabrio are the same. It would make sense because they are a huge hassle to get off and if you have both strollers, you could just throw the car seat onto whichever stroller you are using.

Thanks in advance!
Ken

am surprised ot hear that no one in Canada got the car seat adapters. When I was looking at a Buzz at Sears in North Van, it had adapters in the diaper bag.

I spoke to the owner of Kids Furniture Gallery in Edmonton yesterday, she had just returned from a Baby Expo in Vegas last week. She spoke to the Canadian rep from Dorel and was told that the Maxi Cosi had not been CSA approved this time around. They are not expecting it to be available in Canada until 2006. Sad news! On a brighter side...Sears is now selling the Dreami for those Buzz owners that can't wait to use their strollers until the baby is 6 months. It is $199.99 regular price and comes in blue. It comes with many pieces...adaptors? and a really nice bllue fleece blanket/sleeping bag to keep the baby warm.

We have our Buzz from Sears Canada and our Carricot came from Down Under, but we don't have the adaptors to attach the two. We are checking with Babytrader to see if we can order the adaptors (as stated by Kara above). Has anyone else had luck finding the adaptors at other stores? I'm assuming if they ever broke, we should have a way to replace them...

Any idea of where I can get an adapter for my Maxi Cosi Cabrio to click onto either my Bugaboo Frog or my Quinny Zapp?? I ordered the Cabrio over Ebay and it didn't come with the adapter. I bought my Zapp last time I was in Winnipeg. I live in NYC and can't find the Cabrio, the Bugaboo adaptor (just the Graco one) or the Quinny Zapp anywhere. Help??

[you have to order the cabrio adapter for each stroller separately from Europe (we got ours in the UK). -ed.]

I just bought the quinny zapp from sears on the weekend and love it! It is my third stroller and I now have to promise my husband not to buy any more unless I sell one! Does anybody know where to find the footmuff for the zapp? I can only find it on UK sites. :(
Jen

We have the Bugaboo Frog with the Graco car seat and are very interested in the Quinny Zapp. Unfortunately, we are unable to find any info on whether or not the Zapp will take the Graco Car seat. Does it need special adapters? The Zapp website states that it does come with "...adapters..." But will these adapters allow me to fit my Graco car seat onto the Zapp. Any info would be appreciated.

Can the Quinny zap be used with any other car seat other than the maxi-cosi? and is the Maxi-cosi better than the Graco snug ride?
I"m annoyed that the zap doesn't have any storage...

We just had our baby boy and FINALLY had the opportunity to use our Quinny Buzz with the Carri Cot and......love it!!! Just want to thank everyone on Daddytypes for their help in researching strollers and getting parts (especially since we got our Stroller from Canada, Carri Cot from Australia, and adaptors from the Netherlands).

Thank you,
Vik

Hello,

I would love some help from anyone that has a Mutsy urban rider stroller for some info re: compatible car seats. I have a combi infant car seat and had seen a previous blog from someone that had used the combination. I have called the UK stores and they all tell me that I can't purchase a separate base unit for the car that would fit the Mutsy car seat. Then I read that the Maxi Cosi car seat is compatible with the stroller but I can't purchase a base unit for my car. Does anyone know some information re: my dilemma?

Thanks!
JB

JB,
Maxi Cosi does fit Mutsy frame - buy the adapters here for example: http://www.buggyland.co.uk/pushchairs//900/4/

As for the base in the car, I love my Maxi Cosi CabrioFix - was super easy to install the base and easy in and out with a carseat. Though, it is a bit pricey: you can buy the CabrioFix and the Base at babycare.nl

Natasha.

Can anyone tell me what the weight ranges are for both Zapp and Buzz? How tall a child has anyone put into the Zapp suceesfully? I have a super tall 3 year old daughter whose feet drag in the Maclaren's and Combi's.

Thanks!
Iza

Hello,

I wondered if someone can tell me if there is a car seat base unit that is compatible with my Mutsy travellor car seat that I purchased.
Thanks!!
JB

can any one tell me where to find a quinny travel system less than $497?