Bloody shopkins - WIBU to ban them?

[thinkingmakesitso]

Ds's latest craze and by far the worst, more so than mlp, Disney princesses and the rest. Just what is the point? They have absolutely no value whatsoever that I can see and are a royal pita: endless numbers to collect; ridiculously small so easily lost, causing tears; don't move or do anything; the associated playsets are a total pile of shit and horrendously expensive (£20 for a slightly bigger shoe and a small plastic umbrella anyone?); endless bloody blind bags; the stories in the annual are about fuck all, no moral, no characterisation, no fun twist, nothing; fucking small plastic baskets scattered everywhere.

Yes ds does play with them imaginatively sometimes, but his favourite thing is watching Youtube vidoes of some mad American woman unwrapping them and saying how cute they are.

This morning he spent half an hour in my bed telling me he hates me because I won't get him a 12 pack. I want to get rid of them all and wish I had never heard of it. AIBU?

[imip]

Ah, this is my ASD 7yo dd obsession! I share your pain. I'm in the same position - very difficult with a very anxious ASD dd who's prone to self-harm. Fuck camhs waiting lists!

[Sothisishowitfeels]

my 4 and 5 year old obbsessively watch YouTube videos about shopkins. When I saw the price I told them you couldn't get them in this country

[RealityCheque]

Hesterton.

"Refusing to discuss it" is not a grown up form of communication and sets a poor example. Explain why he isn't getting them simply and firmly and repeat when necessary.

[pippistrelle]

YANBU. But I just want to offer you hope: it won't always be that way. Even though she hadn't played with them for a while, my daughter's slight hoarding tendencies meant that she insisted on holding on to her Shopkins collection. To be fair to her, she kept them all in good condition and contained in their own box. But two weeks ago, at the grand old age of 11, she agreed that they - and a whole load of other similar small annoying toys - could go to the charity shop. (She's still holding on to the Sylvanian Families though!)

[wineoclockthanks]

Does she get pocket money? I found DS's desperate need for Match Attax cards was diluted when it was made very clear that he would have to use his money to buy them!

I've never heard of shopkins so apologies if they're madly expensive.

[ghostyslovesheep]

£2:50 a pack - cheaper than the awful comics available

My dd is obsessed with blind bags of anything! - especially MLP and shopkins but she's limited to either spending her money or having 1 a week on a sat as a treat

However we have discovered MLP Kinder Eggs - and they are 4 for £2:40 in the co-op so she had 4 today (but the chocolate is for the week!)

Kids like collecting things - limit the spending but don't stop them having things they like

[WhetherOrNot]

Refusing to discuss it" is not a grown up form of communication and sets a poor example.

Of course it would be better if the child had a fully adult working brain! You've obviously never tried to reason with a young child - you're talking bollox Reality

[SweetieDrops]

Those my little pony kinder eggs are a swizz. You don't even get a bloody Pony in most of them, DD has got one Pony and 3 crappy bits of plastic jewellery with pictures of ponies on them.

[fuzzpig]

Does your DC get pocket money? I found that when the DCs started really being desperate for particular tat things, it was the right time to teach them the value of money. My DCs now get £1 a week and have to use that for sweets (other than once a week when they get 20p tuck money for one of their clubs) and toys. I do still get them the odd thing, like board games and books in charity shops, and they'll get a little extra for souvenirs if we go somewhere, but things like Shopkins I'd never buy myself. DS is 6 and is very much a saver - he'll turn down things even when he wants them because he's saving for more sodding transformers. 8yo DD prefers to splurge but I think she's gradually learning that she'll never get the big things she'd love. For both of them though, it's really helping them think about what THEY genuinely love, rather than being guided by whatever the latest 'in thing' is.

Also, DH and I have pocket money - we don't have much disposable income so we have a set amount each month that we can use for DVDs and stuff like that. They see us managing our money to get things we like and that helps I think.

Shopkins are absolute shit though so YANBU about that. I'm quietly chuffed that DD's latest obsession is foreign coins - basically free (other than an album I'm getting for her birthday) because friends and family are donating their leftover change from holidays :o

[Jibberjabberjooo]

What is it with you tube? I don't understand the videos of cars being wrapped in play doh and opened again. Ds could watch this for hours (he doesn't).

[wyldstile]

Oh my god the YouTube videos... DD (6) is obsessed with the incredibly irritating shopkins woman... We've passed through the "cover everything in playdough and then uncover it" videos, but the shopkins ones are killing me. We got 1 12 pack but she's more interested in the videos. They are PAINFUL. So yadnbu.

[ijustwannadance]

I feel your pain. Why the fuck are they so expensive?!. My DD started on disney wikkeez. Now onto shopkins. And littlest bloody petshop. I bought a little wooden 6 drawer unit from ikea. Each fad has it's own drawer and if they are full then no more enter the house.
She has now spotted the new mini plastic versions of the disney tsum tsums.
Wouldn't be so bad if they got rid of the blind bags so you could only pick what was needed.
And yes, she too loves those freaks on ebay opening kinder eggs etc. And the grown woman making videos with anna and elsa dolls and putting on silly voices. Truely the stuff of nightmares.
The other one is sticker albums that are never in production long enough for you to get all the stickers. Bastards.

[ijustwannadance]

*you tube not ebay. Sorry.

[mouldycheesefan]

Luckily it's a phase that doesn't last long. Last year mine were mad on watching blind bag openings in you tube, fast forward six months they have lost interest.

[IPityThePontipines]

Is that really a thing?

[imip]

Toy genie on loop here

mouldy about a year and counting here...

[ijustwannadance]

The worst to me is disney collector. That women's voice could be used to torture confessions out of people. They get loads of money for it too, and free bloody toys. Facts that only make me hate them more.

[thinkingmakesitso]

I'm so glad it's not just D's who watches those video s - I was beginning to think there was something wrong with him, and me for letting him watch them .

He is now covering the kitchen a shoe box with glitter for them to live in, so at least they have inspired some creativity today. Whoever came up with the concept of blind bags really did their bit to make parenting that little bit more difficult, didn't they?

[ijustwannadance]

For my DD's 3rd xmas I bought a giant polystyrene easter egg mould off amazon, filled it with kinder eggs, blind bags etc, then covered with play doh. She almost wet herself with excitement when she seen it.
Then opened it with a running commentary like she was making her own you tube video

[Dancergirl]

YABU

For goodness sake, does every single item that children enjoy have to be 'good value for money'? Children just don't think like that.

Doesn't anyone here remember being 8 and obsessed with (in my day anyway) Beautiful Sunday stationery, Hello Kitty, smelly pencils and ET themed stuff?? It was all probably 'plastic shite' (horrible term IMO) but it meant a lot to me.

Yes kids like collecting things and this sort of thing is really important (to them) in the playground, comparing which ones they have and swapping etc. The phase soon passes and they'll be into the next thing, just roll with it.

I would MUCH rather buy this sort of thing for a tenner or less than expensive electronic devices which I personally think are bought much too young.

My 8 year old dd gets £2/week pocket money. She likes to save it up and buy what she wants. And I like her to buy what gives HER pleasure.

[ijustwannadance]

My DD is only 4 so doesn't get pocket money as such, but we tend to let her choose something when we do the big shop, and if she get money off gp's she buys what she wants. Some of these things are very expensive for what they are but I wouldn't not buy her them. She just understands that she has x amount to spend and no more.

I had the most amazing collection of rubbers (erasers!) and smelly stickers.