Dd wants a (in my opinion) rubbish present for Christmas.

[Florencenotflo]

Dd is only 5 and already doing her Christmas list. She asks for the (attached) present every time we go into the toy shop and has even asked to buy it from her own money.

I am usually quite happy for let her spend her money on things she chooses, but I think this is really rubbish! And I know it will be top of her list again this year. Our budget this year for Dd is around £100 on presents for Christmas so to spend £40 of that on one present seems daft. The reviews of it are terrible, the case is pretty flimsy (not really usable as a suitcase) and the contents are mainly paper.

But at the end of the day, she's 5, it will make her happy, do I just suck it up?

(Plus, I can now see why my parents never bought me a Mr Frosty for Christmas when I was a child, although I'm still salty about it 😂)

I just sold my kids old Mr Frosty (which they begged for but played with less than 5 times in three years!) on Ebay. I was shocked at the bidding war for it and eventual sale for £24 plus postage!!!!

Check out this brand and range on Ebay is my advice (I pick up quite a few toys when the kids are in a phase of infatuation, like Pokémon, Harry Potter and various must have Lego sets!). I expect to pay half price second hand and always clean and wrap in a beautiful box with ribbons etc (which also get reused!!). Environmental and Cost effective!!
Still find the Frosty sale surprising though!

[quote ImFree2doasiwant]@TopCatsTopHat my 6 yr old son wants a ryans world "mystery egg" he's seen them on TV he thinks the 12.99 one is the one with LOADS of crap stuff in, but it's not. That's the £45 one. I might stretch to the 12.99 one for Christmas but my god he's going to he disappointed. But then he'll be disappointed if he doesn't get one
at all.

If I had the money to waste I'd buy the £45 one because I think it would help him get over the bloody obsession.[/quote]
Horrible isn't it. We'd clubbed together with GP's to get the hatchimal so suspecting it was crap and being proven right was a bitter pill to swallow.
The annoying thing is the knowledge that these companies employ sales/marketing directors who are cynically exploiting our childrens innocence to flog shite. They know all they have to do is stoke up the flames of desire and they have you by the short and curlies cos no-one wants to rain on their childs parade on xmas day.
So they create a brilliant marketing campaign but not a brilliant toy to match, just one that looks good at a glance. Makes me so cross, it's not what xmas is about it's what the worst of capitalism with no honour is about.
But this is the game we're in so we have to play it.

Aww I would just buy it!
It's crap and and a complete waste but she will remember this present and how excited she was for a long time.

Please don't buy her a similar suitcase and fill it with things yourself as some pp's have suggested. It won't be the same and your DD will know it's not the one she asked for and I can guarantee be disappointed,
My parents did this when I was a child - I asked for a popular type of doll but when I opened it it was a cheaper version and nothing like the one that all my friends had. I was so disappointed. My parents to this day have no idea (now in my 50's) but I can still remember it vividly

If it was me and it was in budget I'd get it for her. It's probably totally overpriced and dreadful quality but there was nothing worse as a child than getting what parents deemed to be 'better' alternatives! I'm sure she'll be so delighted to get it that it'll be worth the expense. Just avert your eyes when you see it knocked down to a tenner after Christmas!!

@CatsnCoffee

I was really expecting something worse. I would buy it now, but with a gift receipt. That way you can always return it to retailer if it proves disappointing on the day. Also, it may drop in price closer to Christmas and you could have a refund and re-buy it at new price. Of course, 2 months is a long time when you’re 5 and she may have moved on to something else by then.

But the child will have opened and played with it... All the plastic wrapping/cardboard etc won't be intact, and the child may well have put the earbuds in, used the fake lipstick etc.

It's not exactly the same as returning a unopened board game or an unread book.

I can't get over the amount of people who think it's OK to return used toys that have no way to go back to a resalable condition

@00100001

I can't get over the amount of people who think it's OK to return used toys that have no way to go back to a resalable condition

They wouldn't be entertained by the retailer, surely?

Difficult one because I hate wasting money but....

When I was a child I really wanted a particular walking/talking doll I'd seen in a catalogue. Parents said I was too old for dolls and didn't buy it for me. They did buy it for my sister. I spent all Christmas trying to get my hands on it. Parents realised they'd made a massive error and it spoilt their Christmas. They told me this years later. I remember that Christmas and my disappointment clearly.

My friend's son asked for a Coca Cola duvet cover and a couple more random and surprising things. Can't remember what the others were.
Friend didn't take it seriously as she thought he couldn't really want them. When she asked him if he'd enjoyed Christmas he said Santa hadn't brought him any of the things he asked for.

Maybe you have to just go with it but I feel your pain.

I desperately wanted a Mr Frosty as a kid. I never got one so I got my own kids one when they made a revival a couple of years ago.

It was shite 🤣🤣

@GreyhoundG1rl you'd hope not!

I’d get it if my DD Really wanted it, but I’d be disgruntled because the Advert for the happy napper really annoys me, due to the video clip of the kid saying “I love it, I want to sleep in it tonight” 😒

I meant to say I’m in the same situation with the happy napper.

We spent £60 on a shit Paw Patrol truck. Reviews were crap and it barely got played with!

£40 is a lot of money for that, I like the idea of getting her a better quality case to put better things in. Have you seen if Disney direct do something better?

www.shopdisney.co.uk/disney-store-anna-and-elsa-rolling-luggage-frozen-2-427241268035.html

This is glittery and looks like it would last longer. Put a dressing up outfit/Disney combs/hairbrush set/'make up' in there?

Or this with her name on!

www.shopdisney.co.uk/disney-store-disney-princess-backpack-427252009702.html

Buy it. My 8 year old very recently wanted a Ryan's Mystery Playdate playset for his birthday (he's autistic). He went on and on about it for months. I HATE giving money to that awful money grabbing family. It was discontinued but luckily Very had some left, a few months before his birthday. Imagine my horror at discovering some in a nearby Tesco, the week of his birthday, nearly half price in their Christmas section. He now has a spare hidden away!

P.S. I also wanted Mr Frosty and I didn't get one.