While I respect Kayouker's loyalty and devotion to Schoenhut (I myself am fiercely loyal to The Magic Fluke and Martin Guitar companies), the imitation Fleas in question here are clearly meant to be considered as toy ukuleles meant for children to play with. The fact that they can be made "playable" doesn't change that in any way.
As evidence to my conclusions, I offer these exhibits:
Amazon, apparently the venue of choice for purchasing the afore mentioned toys, lists them mostly in the toy categories.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_s...s=schoenhut+ukulele&sprefix=schoenhut,aps,155
The Magic Fluke Company has them listed in the gallery on their new web site with the following description:
"Schoenhut Flea lookalike toy ukes. These are imported and distributed by Schoenhut to the toy market under license from The Magic Fluke Co. LLC. Because of the toy safety certifications, they are not to be compared with our USA made instruments however they are playable and very competitive in their price range. "
So, they are only licensed to be sold as... toys.
http://www.magicfluke.com/category-s/1880.htm
And finally, Schoenhut themselves make no attempt whatsoever to suggest that they are anything other than a toy company. In fact, they consider themselves the world leader in toy pianos and their web address literally starts with "toy".
http://www.toypiano.com/product_list.asp?html_category=string instruments
Playable? Technically... yes, if you have the experience and skills to identify and repair the out-of-the-box issues with tuners, strings, bridges etc. I've actually managed to do set-ups on and play several toy guitars and ukes over the years, my wife is a teacher, but I wouldn't be inclined to keep any around for myself.
I've always found it interesting on musical instrument forums that folks have a tendency to only view the world as seen through the eyes of the knowledgeable "geeks" that we are. We here can go on for hours about details and minutia about our beloved instruments, but the reality for the rest of the world is very different. The vast majority of uke purchasers for instance, know nothing about things like action, intonation or the profound effect of different strings. Details we tend to take for granted.
In the end, to each their own. As I tell friends looking for instruments, find the one that feels right to you and makes you happy and you'll probably do all right.
Kayouker seems to have found something in these toy ukes that speaks to him and brings him joy. That's great, but it doesn't make them right for everybody.
For myself, I would never bother with them, in part because before they licensed them from Magic Fluke they blatantly stole the design. Besides, I already have a real Flea that is so well built it pretty much eliminates the need for a "beater".
I do look forward to Barry's review however. He is, IMO, always thorough, impartial and honest and I have the utmost respect for his opinions. I've spent hours on his site absorbing information and his reviews certainly helped shape my loyalty and devotion to The Magic Fluke Co. (I own a Fluke, a Flea, a Firefly and bought my wife a Flea at Uke New Jersey! last year as well.)
Although... they all have rosewood fretboards... maybe a soprano with a poly fretboard would be better for camping... hmmm. Excuse me, I've gotta go check my finances.
Scooter