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As above any one with experience are they worth the extra 45 quid over a spesh hotrock in the 12" variety... Islabikes are out due to no delivery available before Xmas.
The Speccy has a coaster rear brake, which all my lot found easier to stop than rear brakes (little hands really aren't very strong) - plus they gained valuable broadie experience as they figured out how well they could lock the wheel! No trouble adapting to normal brakes either.
We didn't buy a 12" (we had what was christened the 'leggy bike', balance bike version) but have 16 and 20" Speccy's - no complaints at all with any of them, the balance bike has had 3 generations through it with only punctures and paint loss to show it. You wouldn't go wrong with either though.