Bambino Classico Review (Updated Fall 2016)

Fruitkitty

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The Bambino Classico is perhaps the most storied of printed ABDL disposable diapers available today. Its original release dates back to 2007, and was one of the first widely-available ABDL disposable diapers. Since then it has gone through several revisions and given rise to versions of the same physical diaper but with different prints, the Bambino Bianco and the Bambino Teddy.

In parallel to the release of the Bambino Magnifico in fall 2016, a number of ABDLs reported that changes reducing thickness and capacity had been made to both the Bambino Classico/Teddy/Bianco line and the Bambino Bellissimo line.

I am reviewing the medium size Bambino Classico as shipped in November 2016. The medium size is listed as fitting waists of 32"-40", the large size is listed as fitting 38"-50", and the extra-large size is listed as fitting 47"-57". These stated size ranges are slightly smaller than the stated ranges when I previously reviewed this diaper two years ago.



Appearance, Size, and Features


Bambino products are sold in white semi-translucent packaging with a label on the side. The prints are visible through the white plastic packaging.

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The Bambino Classico has a printed front landing zone with a baby block pattern that repeatedly spells the word "BABY", and is otherwise solid white. The pattern is made of 4 pastel colors. I've found that depending on the version over the years, the flatness or brightness of the colors used in Bambino prints has varied quite a bit. In this version, the color is very bright.

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Front and Back of Folded Diaper, Respectively


The Classico is the essentially the same diaper as the Bambino Bianco and Teddy, but with a different print. The Bianco is an all-white version with no print, and the Teddy has a repeated Teddy Bear print.

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Bambino Teddy, Classico, and Bianco Prints (Previous Versions of Diapers Shown)


To test their dry thickness, I stacked three diapers on top of each other and placed a heavy book on top of them, and measured their height. Together, the 3 diapers had a height of approximately 9.4 cm (3.7 in). Thus, the dry thickness of a single folded diaper is 3.1 cm (1.2 in). This is consistent with claims of a slight decrease in the thickness from the previous version.

I measured the dry mass of 3 diapers using a kitchen scale, and measured them at 489 g (1.07 lb), for a mass of 163 g (0.36 lb) per diaper. The Classico feels notably light when compared to most “premium” diapers.

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3 Diapers Stacked


I stacked 3 diapers each of the Bambino Magnifico, Bellissimo, and Classico next to each other to visualize relative thickness amongst the three products. The Magnifico is notably thicker than the Bellissimo and Classico. The Bellissimo and Classico appear roughly the same in thickness to the naked eye.

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Thickness Comparison Between Bambino Magnifico, Bellissimo, and Classico


The Bambino Classico uses the conventional double tape design seen on most adult diapers. The tapes have a blue tip without adhesive to pull on. Bambino advertises their tapes as being refastenable; in the past, I haven’t had good luck getting them to refasten, though they did seem to stick quite well during my tests of this version. The tapes measure 4.0 cm (1.5 in).

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The Tapes


The plastic backing seems thick and rigid. It feels very smooth with an oily-like texture. It crinkles a bit, but is not notably crinkly.

The inside of the diaper is all white, and the padding is arranged in an hourglass shape that is wider in the back than the front. The padding is soft, somewhat fluffy and not particularly dense. The diaper has standing leak guards and an elastic waistband in the front and back.

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Front and Back of Unfolded Diaper


With the diaper outstretched, it measures 74.7 cm (29.4 in) in length, 64.8 cm (25.5 in) in width at the wings, 32.5 cm (12.8 in) in width at the center, and 22.5 cm (8.9 in) in width between the leak guards. This is a longer diaper by about 5 cm (2 in) than my previous measurements, but is otherwise similar.

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Performance and Fit


To test the capacity of this diaper quantitatively, I ran a test to simulate use. I put a diaper on and then repeatedly poured water into the front of it in 100 mL increments and sitting down in a chair for 30 seconds each time to give the diaper a chance to absorb the liquid, pace the process, and see if it would leak when sitting. After 400 mL of water, I was noticing water running far down into the diaper as I poured increments. At 600 mL, I noticed wetness around the leg cuffs. At 800 mL, I felt like water was sitting at the leg cuffs. At 900 mL, the front of the diaper felt continuously wet. At 1000 mL, it took effort to close my legs. At 1100 mL I felt like I was sitting in a puddle. At 1200 mL of water, the diaper began to leak on my chair, and I ended the test.

This is a significant drop in capacity from the previous version of the Classico/Teddy/Bianco. The diaper weighs less, doesn’t feel all that dense, and in practice no longer seems to have the capacity of a typical “premium diaper”.

After the test, I measured it and it had expanded to roughly 7.4 cm (2.9 in), about 2.3x its original size. This is noticeably less than the previous version.

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Dry Diaper Next to Full Diaper After Quantitative Test


To gather qualitative data for this review, I put on a fresh diaper and wore it while going about ordinary activities. The diaper lasted a total of 3 hours, during which time I had several large wettings and some minor wettings, but did not flood it.

I have a 36" waist which puts me squarely within the size range for the medium, and there is no question that this is the right size for me. Whereas I’ve noted in past reviews that Bambino diapers have always fit a bit shorter on me than other brands, these versions measured 5 cm longer and sure enough, they seemed to fit more typically as compared to other brands.

The tapes stuck well. I’ve had difficulties with Bambino tapes over the years, but have not had any issues with them on the current versions of the Classico/Teddy/Bianco and Bellissimo.



Price and Final Thoughts


I purchased these diapers from bambinodiapers.com. They are available at 76.01 USD for a case of 48, $37.05 for 16, or $8.40 for a sample pack of 2, including shipping to the US. At the case price, this comes to $1.58/diaper.

This price is in line with high-end, "premium" adult diapers and lower capacity ABDL diapers. The Bambino Classico for its entire existence, really, had been a benchmark diaper, offering “premium” capacity with an ABDL print at one of the lowest price points among ABDL diapers, but this is no longer true. This version of the Classico doesn’t stand up to “premium” adult diapers in capacity.

The Bambino Classico/Teddy/Bianco now ranks among the lower capacity offerings by ABDL vendors, and in this category, it’s a pretty typical offering. Increasingly, the older Bambino designs seems to be diapers content to replicate an older era of 80s to mid-90s baby diapers while newer diapers have more elements in their prints from designs in the past decade or two. If print is what matters to you, and this is your era of preference, then the current version of regular Bambino products still have something to offer you.

Bambino’s older products have nonetheless been pared back in quality with this update, and are no longer one of the best values to be had. In a decade, they’ve inspired a great many competitors, some of whom now offer better deals. If the Bambino Classico/Teddy/Bianco has been your go-to diaper for much of the past decade, I think this downgrade is a good moment to go and try some of the other options on the market.
 
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I had a lower tape come completely off the diaper. The other 3 tapes held just fine.
 
I am bumping this thread to reflect the fact that I've re-reviewed the diaper in light of the changes that occurred when the Magnifico was released in Nov. 2016. The text of the first post has been replaced with the updated review.
 
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