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AIBU?

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Original poster

To think that a lot of children's toys are plastic tat?

28 replies

Kasterborous · 12/02/2014 19:36

I took DD into a toy shop today for a look. She quite liked this dinosaur from Dinosaur Train. However it was £20 and looked really flimsy, as did a lot of the stuff. I bought her a Schleich dinosaur and Panda instead. Got them both for £10 which isn't particularly cheap but they are well made and will last a lot longer than that Dinosaur Train one would have.

OP posts:
PleaseNoScar · 12/02/2014 19:39

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Waltonswatcher1 · 12/02/2014 19:41

Schleich holds its value , hang onto them and sell them on eBay when she has grown out of them.
Most toys are total junk , wooden ones are usually better made and are far nicer to use I think.

JumpingJackSprat · 12/02/2014 19:44

Kids love plastic tat.

hazeyjane · 12/02/2014 19:44

Some of the toys my dc's have loved most have been things that are 'plastic tat', even some of the freebie plastic tat from comics bought for my dd1 are still played with by ds a few years later.

It doesn't really matter whether it is 'plastic tat' or lovingly handcrafted worthy wooden toys - it is whether the child loves it and enjoys playing with it.

Marcipex · 12/02/2014 19:44

Myriad has some nice toys, especially wooden puzzles.

Stinklebell · 12/02/2014 19:47

YANBU.

My nearly 9 year old is desperate for a Despicable Me fart gun she saw in The Entertainer. £25!!!!! She can forget that idea right now.

I don't mind cheap plastic tat, but I'm not buying twenty-five-quid plastic tat

brooncoo · 12/02/2014 19:50

It really depresses me actually. Lost count of the amount of plastic toys that haven't worked, broke easily or were just such cheap tat they went straight to the bin (including all the useless penny crap etc you get for party bags). Can't get my head round that there are whole factories producing this rubbish. Then there s the over packaged plastic crap for you groceries, meats and veggies etc. fucking plastic, plastic, plastic.

brooncoo · 12/02/2014 19:53

And I'm not even thinking about the price - it's just the endless stream of plastic and where it goes.

Waltonswatcher1 · 12/02/2014 19:53

My problem with plastic tat is that it looks appealing and lures the child,then breaks after five.
One of the best plastic toys we bought was a nerf gun target-that looked like it was total junk but three years later it still works.
Wooden toys last generations and are better for the planet .
And they look nice on the shelf!

PleaseNoScar · 12/02/2014 19:58

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

RainYourRottingMyDhaliaBulbs · 12/02/2014 20:00

As poster said so what if its plastic tat as long as child likes it, its your fault if your stupid enough to pay lots of money for it.

go to car boots, pay 50p, go to tk max, homesense, shop in sales, on line amazon! Freecyle!

Ragwort · 12/02/2014 20:01

YANBU. I was the meanest mum ever and allowed my DS very few toys, many he was given for birthdays etc went straight to the charity shop Grin. The result is that even as a teenager he keeps his room and belongings tidy - as he hasn't got much Grin.

Ragwort · 12/02/2014 20:01

Rain - even if it's cheap it's still cluttering up the place Grin.

Original poster
Kasterborous · 12/02/2014 21:17

I still buy her plastic tat, she's got plenty of it.

OP posts:
JumpingJackSprat · 12/02/2014 21:28

if you put a wooden toy in front of a kid and a plastic one, I imagine they would go for the plastic. toys aren't about being tasteful and looking good on the shelf.

UriGeller · 12/02/2014 21:30

Agree and too much of the plastic tat is tie-ins to bloody TV shows or films.

legoplayingmumsunite · 12/02/2014 21:33

My problem with plastic tat is that it looks appealing and lures the child,then breaks after five.

This. Two birthdays ago DD1 got a Holly and Ben playset thing. It was shite, the DDs played with it for 5 minutes, it didn't even work the way it was suppose to, and then they announced it was rubbish and they didn't want to play with it any more. In contrast they played for about 2 hours that morning with the plasticine she got from someone else.

There is a lot of plastic tat about. I just don't buy it but that doesn't mean we don't receive it, I have a strict 'throw out broken toys' rule that gets rid of a lot of it. If it survives and is played with then it's not tat.

This is not about tasteful wood vs evil plastic though, everyone knows some of the best toys are plastic: Schleich, LEGO, Brio trains (obv the track is wooden), playmobil. Other things are best in wood (dolls houses, toy kitchens, wooden blocks). Yet others are best in fabric (soft toys and rag dolls).

SomethingOnce · 12/02/2014 21:34

Kids love plastic tat.

That's good because it will be with them for a lifetime one way or another. And their children's. And theirs...

Daykin · 12/02/2014 21:36

I've had some wooden tat to be fair. Playmobil and lego are usually pretty good and my 35 year old plastic train track is still going strong.

frugalfuzzpig · 12/02/2014 21:42

YANBU, the only plastic things I really love are playmobil and lego as they are not tat. :o oh and numicon although I don't really class it as a toy.

Less is more when it comes to toys IME.

This recent Xmas DH and I agreed to avoid the tat, in particular we agreed no battery operated/electronics and as little character stuff as we felt we could get away with :o

I was a bit worried as we neared Xmas that they would be a bit disappointed by lack of brightly coloured plastic and Disney branded stuff but they were over the moon with what they got. They haven't really got to the stage of wanting 'the latest thing' from adverts etc, they are 4 and 6 so I know it won't last forever!

DS plays pretty much every day with these robots for example, and a friend gave DD a puzzle from here which is amazing.

frugalfuzzpig · 12/02/2014 21:45

Oh I got one of the Ben and Holly sets for DD's birthday a couple of years ago. Less than an hour FFS and she wasn't rough with it.

I agree there can be some wooden tat too. I bought DD's first shape sorter and had to take it back because it was shit quality. The ELC one I bought after was great though.

I could stare for hours at the Myriad site, I love the look of some of those puzzles but they are £££

ShadowFall · 12/02/2014 21:48

Brio trains are plastic?

DS1 has some Brio engines for his wooden train set, and if the Brio train engines aren't wooden, they're certainly a very good imitation.

legoplayingmumsunite · 12/02/2014 22:23

Brio trains are plastic. Some other compatible sets (BigJigs, IKEA, John Lewis etc) have wooden trains but the BRIO ones are all plastic as far as I can tell.

hmc · 12/02/2014 22:27

Ragwort - my parents followed that approach with me. I haven't forgiven or forgotten

Innogen · 12/02/2014 22:27

Yes it's tat, but it make them happy. That's what your aiming for when you buy them toys, right?