Find out what Mumsnetters and their children have to say about Toxic magazine

[LucyBMumsnet]

This is the feedback thread for the 100 Mumsnetters who have been testing Toxic magazine with their children. All Mumsnet testers involved in this product test have at least one child aged 6 to 12. All testers were sent a copy of the latest edition of Toxic magazine.

Here’s what Toxic magazine have to say: “Welcome to Toxic magazine! Every issue brings your children an unbeatable mix of the coolest stuff in their world. We are packed full of awesome entertainment – from gaming guides and movie news, to hilarious comics, puzzles and activities, as well as competitions to win the latest toys and games consoles!

From Pokémon to LEGO Ninjago and Marvel Super Heroes to Fortnite, we’ve got all the biggest brands assembled just for kids! Plus EVERY issue of Toxic is crammed with FREE gifts. We want to make sure we are always delivering the best content for our young readers, so we’d love to know what you and your kids think of us. Please let us know your thoughts on what you think is right or wrong about Toxic magazine!”

Testers, please give your feedback by answering the questions below as well as completing the survey we have emailed you:

1. What were your first impressions of the magazine when it arrived What did you think of the packaging?
2. Did your child like the content of the magazine? What was your child’s favourite page in the magazine?
3. What did your child think of the gift that was included with the magazine? Was it better or worse than you both expected?
4. If you could recommend one change to be made to Toxic magazine, what would it be?

All testers who give the required feedback will be entered into a prize draw where three lucky testers will each win a £100 voucher for a store of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck!
MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs apply

[HaveTeaWillSurvive]

1. What were your first impressions of the magazine when it arrived What did you think of the packaging?
   

I liked that the packaging wasn’t see through so we had a great deal of suspense waiting till after dinner to open it. Other than that the paper was perhaps slightly less shiny than some magazines but the quality was fine.

1. Did your child like the content of the magazine? What was your child’s favourite page in the magazine?
   

Yes, there was a good mix of content, activities and reading. His favourite page was one with a picture of a man mowing the lawn with a tornado in the background. He thought it was hilarious and has shown me, my husband, his sister, his gran...

1. What did your child think of the gift that was included with the magazine? Was it better or worse than you both expected?
   

They were on par if a little more than normal. We didn’t know what the disc was and had to look it up. We don’t have the toy so it isn’t useable for us.

1. If you could recommend one change to be made to Toxic magazine, what would it be?
   

Nothing, this is a good quality well pitched magazine. From a parents point of view I am not overly keen on ‘plastic tat’ but that is standard for the market so don’t see any change to that being possible.

[starlingsintheslipstream]

1. What were your first impressions of the magazine when it arrived What did you think of the packaging?

It didn't seem very eco-friendly. Most magazines I'm getting now seem to be making the effort to package in paper or compostable wrappers so this was quite different. Colourful and appealing to younger kids though I'd imagine.

1. Did your child like the content of the magazine? What was your child’s favourite page in the magazine?

No, he just flicked through it. He didn't read it in great detail. I think he's at the outside age for it at 11. He felt it was for younger kids. I also think he'd prefer a magazine more squarely aimed at his interests. This seemed to cover a lot of different brands/products, many of which he doesn't care for.

1. What did your child think of the gift that was included with the magazine? Was it better or worse than you both expected?

He wasn't that impressed. I think, even to him, it was plastic tat. And he isn't particularly in to the brands that were connected with the gifts. I think he would have liked something Sonic related.

1. If you could recommend one change to be made to Toxic magazine, what would it be?

Better packaging. Everything was separately packaged and it seemed very wasteful. Also it's very expensive so it would have to be better value for me to consider it.

Thank you for the chance to try it.

[lolly2010]

1. What were your first impressions of the magazine when it arrived What did you think of the packaging?

My son was very excited, he took it straight into his brothers room to find out what was in side. I thought the packaging was eye catching though wondered if it needed to be plastic.

1. Did your child like the content of the magazine? What was your child’s favourite page in the magazine?

My son loved it, he enjoyed the competitions and completed the spot the difference, he began talking about it straight away. He especially enjoyed the pokemon hacks, he wanted to see a Ninjago story.

1. What did your child think of the gift that was included with the magazine? Was it better or worse than you both expected?

The gun was better than expected, he loved the mutant dino and pokemon cards. It was better than expected.

1. If you could recommend one change to be made to Toxic magazine, what would it be?

I feel there should be more stories there are alot of posters.

[WeAreTheWeirdosMister]

1. What were your first impressions of the magazine when it arrived What did you think of the packaging? It looked very busy and plastic. I didn’t like it.
   
2. Did your child like the content of the magazine? What was your child’s favourite page in the magazine? No, she thought it was too computer game heavy, but she knew the ‘news’ it told her as she is an avid gamer. It didn’t take her very long to get through it – for £4 we could by her a book and that is how I would rather spend our money.
   
3. What did your child think of the gift that was included with the magazine? Was it better or worse than you both expected? My child liked the gun, which I didn’t and she gave the other toys to her four-year-old sister as she wasn’t bothered by an armoured dinosaur etc.
   
4. If you could recommend one change to be made to Toxic magazine, what would it be? I’d recommend better writing, it didn’t keep my daughter engaged, for her it’s definitely one of those ‘tempting’ magazines that I get nagged about because of the toy rather than the content. She recently had a subscription to Phoenix magazine and that was amazing so Toxic had a lot to live up to.

[TheGirlWhoLived]

1. What were your first impressions of the magazine when it arrived What did you think of the packaging?
It was well packaged and dd was excited to open it and see the free gifts. Perhaps paper packaging could be more eco friendly

2. Did your child like the content of the magazine? What was your child’s favourite page in the magazine?

Dd liked the fortnite article as she is really into that at the moment, and enjoyed other articles about sonic the hedgehog but wasn’t as interested in others

3. What did your child think of the gift that
was included with the magazine? Was it better or worse than you both expected?
The Pokemon cards were better than expected and the gun got a lot of use

4. If you could recommend one change to be made to Toxic magazine, what would it be?

I would definitely change the name! Toxic is something that should not appeal to anyone, it is a dangerous thing, not an exciting thing! How about something more positive!

[Fingermoose]

1. What were your first impressions of the magazine when it arrived What did you think of the packaging?

A little plasticky and opaque but my son loved it! He thought it would have lots of his favourite characters in it.

1. Did your child like the content of the magazine? What was your child’s favourite page in the magazine?

He liked the mix of characters. He enjoyed the jurassic park game the most.

1. What did your child think of the gift that was included with the magazine? Was it better or worse than you both expected?

He liked the gifts though didn't recognise the dinosaur. We didn't get the fortnite mini magazine. I thought it was a shame the packaging wasn't transparent as the free gifts are usually what makes my son decide to buy a magazine.

1. If you could recommend one change to be made to Toxic magazine, what would it be?

Transparent packaging. If I can have a second choice I'd consider a name change.

Thank you for the magazine - if my son sees it again it'll definitely be a contender for him to buy.

[Caillou]

1. What were your first impressions of the magazine when it arrived What did you think of the packaging?

I wasn't very keen on the fact that you couldn't see what the gifts were and what was inside the magazine, I think the plastic wrapping is too busy and very much boys orientated.

Due to the plastic wrapping featuring super hero and "boys" characters, dd wasn't very interested in it.

1. Did your child like the content of the magazine? What was your child’s favourite page in the magazine?

I had to ask dd to open the plastic wrapping as she just discarded it when she saw the plastic bag, looked at the gifts but wasn't impressed, and didn't like the magazine.

1. What did your child think of the gift that was included with the magazine? Was it better or worse than you both expected?

she wasn't overly impressed, and decided who to give most gifts too, her 2 years old brother like the scary dinosaur and was over the moon the be gifted the "nerf" gun.

1. If you could recommend one change to be made to Toxic magazine, what would it be?

Make it more friendly for girls, not asking for it to be all pink and glitter, but maybe select a few characters that would attract to boys and girls.

[Caillou]

I forgot to add as well, please please change the name, Toxic is definitely not a name that is nice for a kids magazine.

[AdamantEve]

1. What were your first impressions of the magazine when it arrived What did you think of the packaging?
   

Obviously we are all being encouraged to cut down on plastic usage so the plastic wrapping was something that stood out, but it’s not dissimilar to other magazine packaging on the market so it didn’t put me off although it would be better if they could try using a cardboard sleeve maybe in future. The cover looked engaging and my son was excited to open it up and see what was inside (mostly excited for the gifts!).

1. Did your child like the content of the magazine? What was your child’s favourite page in the magazine?
   

My child did enjoy the magazine, it had all his favourite things in, gaming, Lego, Pokemon and funny pictures. It definitely appealed to his interests. His favourite page was about Sonic as he’s just been to see the movie so all the images and information was familiar and he enjoyed showing me.

1. What did your child think of the gift that was included with the magazine? Was it better or worse than you both expected?
   

The little disc toy was discarded immediately as we didn’t know what it was for so that went straight in the bin which was a waste. My son liked the dinosaur blind bag but lost interest as soon as it was opened and hasn’t touched it since. The gun is something he has played with quite a lot and it has worked well, often these type of toys break quickly but it’s quite sturdy so seems ok for a free gift. We already collect Pokemon cards so these were the biggest hit and went straight into the collection! The football stickers were also used straight away. There were probably too many gifts from a parents perspective as my child raced through them and would probably appreciate them more if there were fewer. My son enjoyed opening them all though and he would definitely want to buy the magazine based upon these.

1. If you could recommend one change to be made to Toxic magazine, what would it be?
   

I like the content and it was well suited to my child’s attention span - he wouldn’t like too much written content so he enjoyed the picture heavy content. If I changed anything it would be around the free gifts and I’d encourage quality over quantity.

[BearAusten]

1. What were your first impressions of the magazine when it arrived What did you think of the packaging?
   

Far too much packaging and plastic.. Not particularly environmentally friendly.

1. Did your child like the content of the magazine? What was your child’s favourite page in the magazine?
   

Didn't like a lot of the Gaming pages, especially the Fortnite ones. Not particularly interested in Football. Was interested in the comic strips and Sonic the hedgehog. The problem overall was that the magazine tried to have something in it for everyone. To this extent, only a few pages really appealed to him.

1. What did your child think of the gift that was included with the magazine? Was it better or worse than you both expected?
   

Quite liked the Pokemon cards. Overall, a bit underwhelmed. Less could definitely be more in this instance.

1. If you could recommend one change to be made to Toxic magazine, what would it be?
   

Less packaging, only one gift at most, preferably no plastic gifts that will go in the bin within a week. (Sorry that was more than one.)

[Stuckandsadintheupsidedown]

1. What were your first impressions of the magazine when it arrived What did you think of the packaging?

It looked fun and cool, quite mysterious! The blindbag element of it really appealed.

1. Did your child like the content of the magazine? What was your child’s favourite page in the magazine?

Yes. The comics were a little bit fiddly for her to read, as she's used to a larger font. But she loved the ninjago posters and joke pages

1. What did your child think of the gift that was included with the magazine? Was it better or worse than you both expected?

Much better! She loved the blaster gun and Pokemon cards and gave the for a stickers to her cousin.

1. If you could recommend one change to be made to Toxic magazine, what would it be?

Include a few more female characters please. My daughter loves ninjago and fornite and Lego and would have been really rwally happy with a unikitty poster (one where she's all crazy) or Lego batgirl/Harley Quinn.

[Stuckandsadintheupsidedown]

Fifa* stickers

[Jaderice21]

1. What were your first impressions of the magazine when it arrived What did you think of the packaging? my daughter loved it so exited,
2. Did your child like the content of the magazine? What was your child’s favourite page in the magazine? yes she loved it she really enjoyed all the pokemon and sonic pages as well as the competitions
3. What did your child think of the gift that was included with the magazine? Was it better or worse than you both expected? my daughter loved it was much better than we expected

1. If you could recommend one change to be made to Toxic magazine, what would it be? maybe a little colouring

[chickensandbees]

1. What were your first impressions of the magazine when it arrived What did you think of the packaging?

Too much plastic and packaging. Not sustainable at all.

1. Did your child like the content of the magazine? What was your child’s favourite page in the magazine?

They liked the comics and the games but though the comics were too short. They were surprised there was no contents page.

1. What did your child think of the gift that was included with the magazine? Was it better or worse than you both expected?

The liked 2 of the gifts the Double Blaster and Battle Dino but not the others. I don't think they would play with any of them for long.

1. If you could recommend one change to be made to Toxic magazine, what would it be?

Less packaging.

[hanliying]

1. What were your first impressions of the magazine when it arrived What did you think of the packaging? The package is good Saturday but a bit put off because of the color
   
2. Did your child like the content of the magazine? What was your child’s favourite page in the magazine? Yes for content. He liked all of them
   
3. What did your child think of the gift that was included with the magazine? Was it better or worse than you both expected? It definitely has a lot of the bits and pieces. He likes the stickers and trading cards particularly
   
4. If you could recommend one change to be made to Toxic magazine, what would it be? Change the name. It is not very attractive and a bit put off

[Nsmum14]

1. What were your first impressions of the magazine when it arrived What did you think of the packaging?
   

My kids were excited, as it was colourful and full of surprises. I personally did not like that there was so much plastic. We are all fairly immune to excessive packaging especially when it comes to kids' toys and magazines, but it isn't great for them to grow up with such amounts of unnecessary waste.

1. Did your child like the content of the magazine? What was your child’s favourite page in the magazine?
   

Both my kids have picked it up over the 5 days since it arrived. My daughter did the spot the differences and filled in the form to enter the competition, she also read some of the cartoons. My son liked the funny animals best, and the picture of the fox caught out on the golf course.

1. What did your child think of the gift that was included with the magazine? Was it better or worse than you both expected?
   

The gun was OK, and my son aimed at the target practice page with it a few times, but my kids didn't really bother with the other bits. Neither of them have ever been interested in stickers or football, and they didn't find the plastic toys interested.

1. If you could recommend one change to be made to Toxic magazine, what would it be?
   

More stories would be good. My kids love all the Dav Pilkey books, and graphic novels, so something along those lines. A few imaginative comic pages, something to get them reading and thinking about character and plot. I know it is just a magazine, but anything that gets them reading is good in my opinion. Also the title really isn't great for a kids' magazine, I would consider changing it.

[buckley1983]

1. What were your first impressions of the magazine when it arrived What did you think of the packaging?
The magazine arrived on Saturday & both my son (7) & were really excited to open it! He was really impressed by the cover & did a little whoop of joy when he saw Pikachu on the packaging. Although not ideal as it's plastic - the shininess of the packaging does a great job of appealing to kids - makes it look really special & something of a treat - I can see how it would stand out to them on a shelf of kids comics/mags.

2. Did your child like the content of the magazine? What was your child’s favourite page in the magazine?
After eagerly unwrapping the free gifts, my son got stuck into the magazine straight away - first flicking through each page & checking out the posters, then going back to the beginning again & looking at it in more detail. He enjoyed the Spot The Difference competition but his favourite page was the Escape Jurassic World game page which he insisted we play immediately - it was quite fun :)

3. What did your child think of the gift that was included with the magazine? Was it better or worse than you both expected?
He was jumping up & down with excitement when he saw the Pokemon cards, also really liked the gun. He enjoyed opening the Battle Dino but hasn't played with it since & the little accessories that came with it have already disappeared under the sofa! He wasn't too bothered about the Fifa stickers but he's not into football, so no surprise there. To summarise - great quality gifts - especially Pokemon Cards which were a winner for us both!

4. If you could recommend one change to be made to Toxic magazine, what would it be?
£5.99 is a LOT to spend on a magazine - I usually wince when I see the usual price of kids comics/mags which seem to average around £3.99. I would suggest perhaps one quality free gift & then lowering the price to fit the average.

[Alo2019]

1. What were your first impressions of the magazine when it arrived What did you think of the packaging??
   

We loved it my child was so happy to open it I loved seeing how excited he was.

1. Did your child like the content of the magazine? What was your child’s favourite page in the magazine?
   

He loves the magazine he was quite for ages reading this which is very odd for Layton that how I knew he enjoyed it. His favourite part was the fortnite poster which is up on his bedroom wall.

1. What did your child think of the gift that was included with the magazine? Was it better or worse than you both expected?
   

They gifts included was amazing especially the bullet hun shooter even my 3 year old enjoyed getting her dad with it.

1. If you could recommend one change to be made to Toxic magazine, what would it be?
   

I wouldn’t change a thing about it as I think this was superb and I will now continue to purchase this brand of magazine for my son

Thank you for this great opportunity

[lottietiger]

1. What were your first impressions of the magazine when it arrived What did you think of the packaging?

My son age 7 loved the colourful packaging and was very excited about it.

1. Did your child like the content of the magazine? What was your child’s favourite page in the magazine?

He was a bit disappointed there wasnt much to do. he read the comic strips very quickly and pulled out the poster for his room. The game was also a hit but then it was just pictures which he flicked through. He doesnt like football so that section was just glossed over. It didnt take a lot of time up for the £5.99 price tag.

1. What did your child think of the gift that was included with the magazine? Was it better or worse than you both expected?

He couldnt wait to open the gun and the dinosaur. One thing we didnt have the toy for so couldnt be used, it just got thrown in the bin. The football stickers he wasnt interested in and he didnt know anyone that collected the pokemon cards. The gun was pretty good and set him off playing with his dad.

1. If you could recommend one change to be made to Toxic magazine, what would it be?

Its trying to cover too many topics and focussing on none. Is it a gaming magazine, or a football mag etc. Not enough actual content more stories and puzzles/activities required for me to spend £5.99.

[OnTheEdgeOfTheNight]

1. What were your first impressions of the magazine when it arrived What did you think of the packaging?

It was unusual to not be sure which toys were included with the magazine- this made it more like a"blind bag " which my eight year old liked.

1. Did your child like the content of the magazine? What was your child’s favourite page in the magazine?

Yes he read the magazine. He liked the variety of content, particularly the Jurassic world game.

1. What did your child think of the gift that was included with the magazine? Was it better or worse than you both expected?

He really liked the pokemon cards and the gun. The Power Pux toy was disappointing as it is no use in it's own without buying the full toy. He doesn't like football so the stickers can go to a friend. We didn't receive the fortnite thing (which he's too young for anyway, so that's good.)

1. If you could recommend one change to be made to Toxic magazine, what would it be?

The magazine seems to be trying to cater for many tastes. I think that some general content like comic strips (with their own characters) may be good. Something funny like the Tom Gates or dog man stories etc would be good - something that children enjoy reading but not necessarily connected to any known characters.

[puddock]

1. What were your first impressions of the magazine when it arrived What did you think of the packaging?

Quite bulky with gifts. The shiny opaque wrapper was exciting! TBH I would prefer to see recyclable packaging, if you could find something suitable.

1. Did your child like the content of the magazine? What was your child’s favourite page in the magazine?

Yes, he found it generally interesting. His two favourite pages were lego batman and Spider-Man, also the ninjago posters.

1. What did your child think of the gift that was included with the magazine? Was it better or worse than you both expected?

He liked the battle dino and the pokemon cards. The blaster was okay but in general too much plastic is off-putting. He's not interested in football and he does not play Fortnite - he is too young for a pegi 12 game / online gaming - so that wasn't relevant to his interests either.

1. If you could recommend one change to be made to Toxic magazine, what would it be?
2. Although I know lots of primary school age children do play Fortnite, I would prefer that this content (and other things certificated as 12+) was not there. Placing them alongside e.g. Sonic and Lego suggests to the child that they're equivalent. I would actively avoid buying a magazine that I felt didn't get this balance right.
3. Wider range of characters, think about increasing female representation - not just for girl readers but for all readers.
4. I also think that the football content is out of place in what is otherwise a magazine about gaming/entertainment.

[Anusia86]

1. What were your first impressions of the magazine when it arrived What did you think of the packaging?

It was impressive and looked posh but ny little girl (she is 7) didn't really notice that, she noticed sign free gifts and that grabbed her attention.

1. Did your child like the content of the magazine? What was your child’s favourite page in the magazine?

She didn't really like it, she flicked all pages and said ithat the content is more for boys as there wasn't anything about girl superhero or favourite character. I showed her spot the difference and pages with game so that was only bit we found interesting.

1. What did your child think of the gift that was included with the magazine? Was it better or worse than you both expected?

She and her little sister opened all free gifts and that was excitement, but only played and still playing with gun. It is great as even my 3 year old is strong enough to use it and she couldn't do it with any other NERF gun that we have at home.

1. If you could recommend one change to be made to Toxic magazine, what would it be?

Price of course is higher than other kids magazines, and of course I would vote for more girly things included in it to make it more interesting

[JimbosJetSet]

1. What were your first impressions of the magazine when it arrived What did you think of the packaging?
   

Looked exciting from the packaging

1. Did your child like the content of the magazine? What was your child’s favourite page in the magazine?
   

The cartoons

1. What did your child think of the gift that was included with the magazine? Was it better or worse than you both expected?
   

The Pokemon cards were well received. The gun didn’t work properly so that was a disappointment. The toys only held interest for a few minutes.

1. If you could recommend one change to be made to Toxic magazine, what would it be?
   

Less disposable plastic toys please.

[ButterflyOfFreedom]

1.What were your first impressions of the magazine when it arrived What did you think of the packaging?
My son was quite excited, he wanted to.open it straight away to see what was inside. It appealed to him.

1. Did your child like the content of the magazine? What was your child’s favourite page in the magazine?
   

He was more interested in.the toys that came with it. He flicked through the mag and some pages caught his eye (football one) but he wasn't going to spend time reading it when he had a plastic gun to fire at his little sister!!!!

1. What did your child think of the gift that was included with the magazine? Was it better or worse than you both expected?
   

He loved the gun! Me not so much. Why would I want my son playing with guns, plastic or not?! Just seems unnecessary. It was about what Id expect though, most mags seen to come with plastic tat. It's not very environmentally friendly though and he'll get bored with it very quickly.

1. If you could recommend one change to be made to Toxic magazine, what would it be?
   

Less plastic tat. Maybe if you're including freebies put in stickers or useful items such as stationery.

[allthingsred]

My son was so excited to receive this so thank you for the chance of reviewing.
1st impressions was suspense.. because you couldn't see the toys inside it was exciting wondering what they were.
He really enjoyed all of the mag. His favourite page was one with a joke about a tornado?!
The toys were well recieved. Better than were expected & lots of them!
He wouldn't change anything about the magazine. It was full of content & characters he is interested in.
I wouldn't change anything because it got him reading for a while instead of gaming!