to think that the snobbery surrounding cheap toys is sometimes entirely justified?

[OstentatiousBreastfeeder]

I've heard lots of people say that cheap toys are as good as the expensive ones, and to spend your money on the high-end stuff is completely unnecessary.

My SIL, for example, says she can afford to buy her children toys every week - because she buys them from poundland. She says they don't last very long, a couple of days at most sometimes before she chucks them, but they get variety and the excitement of something new more often than they would if she had to save up to buy them more expensive ones.

My parents bought the kids some toys for easter from the pound shop. It was a few cars for DS and a plastic doll for DD. They're crumbling to pieces after a few days, the doll was made with plastic so thin it was hard to believe it had stayed together this long - it's all gone in the bin this morning - It was a choking hazard.

I didn't expect them to last long obviously, but it occured to me as I was throwing them away what a huge waste it was. You can't recycle these materials and the cars and the doll were one of hundreds of thousands that were being (and are still being) produced to such a poor quality. All of these toys will end up in the bin very soon after purchase.

AIBU to think that maybe the snobbery surrounding these poor quality, cheap toys is justified? I don't mean the good quality toys that happen to be cheap to make, so end up in pound shops, bouncy balls, marbles etc. I mean the toys that are made to look like their expensive counterparts (barbies etc) but are made for pennies.

I agree about the disappointment - DS still talks about a cheap remote control car that my mum bought him from the market, Christmas year before last. He loved it but it broke within two weeks, he was most upset.

It went to landfill, my mother had wasted her money. Huge shame all round.

giles I did try to say to Mil once oh that thing is nice it was a lego bioncle dd1 loved mil said but it is only 1 thing was really not worth mentioning again.

See they'd probably just go out and buy it. or get the aldi version of it

I realise that sounds horrid. I am truly grateful and I am so lucky to have grandparents so involved with the kids and they all adore eachother. It's lovely. but I just do not have the space for all this stuff. It starts off at their house as a toy to play with them gets given to us when they have a clear out and their house is twice the size of mine. my front room is impossible to clean properly as a result of all these toys and books and crayons they keep giving.

I can't throw alot of it away either as they have some of the same toys there so will come back from visits wanting to play it

YANBU about the Pound shop toys breaking so quickly and going to landfill.

However, there is an area between Pound shop toys and 'high end toys'.

My kids have some fairly 'middle of the road' price range toys in the toy box that must be at least 20yrs old, as some of them belonged to my 23yr old.

So how does one say, politely ask grandparents to not buy stuff
damn no-one has found the answer.
One thing that worked was getting granddad to play with the cheap lego he had bought, found out how hard it was, how badly written the instructions were etc, now he understands the request not to buy it again.

I don't tell the grandparents not to buy anything but I move them on pretty fast to a charity shop etc unless the kids seem to really love it

Oh they buy two of everything as well cos I have two Dds. except they are 4 yr apart so either the younger one can't use it as it's to complicated or its too babyish for the older one.

yy I know first world problem

Mine didnt get expensive toys either i loved woolies chad valley toys for them so mid price cheaper toys that are safe and last toys passed round our family for years

Grandparents are buggers for this sort of thing, because they're not used to the idea that these cheap toys are so craply made!

YANBU

When I had DS, I talked a lot about how we had a small house, didn't want him to have too much at once, etc. Grandparents were all requested to buy one toy and give money if they wanted to give more, so we could save for larger toys for the garden etc. It's working quite well so far, one grandparent goes off message a bit, but on the whole it's OK.

Why not stick with name brand things inside of Poundland, for example you can get a pack of Moshi Monsters in Poundland, but the same pack would cast £3 in Sainsbury's it's just the old series in Poundland.

But you can get some great things in Poundland- lovely simple toys, crafts stuff, marbles, dominos, playing cards, toy soldiers, skipping ropes, kids gardening stuff, little watering cans, rakes and buckets for sand or water play, bath toys, balloons, Plasticine, wooden puzzles.

It's snobbery if you don't rate these just because they came from a Poundshop.

I think the grand parents just think i don't buy them anything.

that's not the case. sometimes we have to wait til I can afford it. and I know just how crap some things can be so I try and be careful with what I buy. checking reviews and getting the best price on line or asking here.

sometimes obviously it's out of stock or the better version costs a bit more so we have to wait a bit longer.

then in the mean time we get given a cheaper version which doesn't do what we wanted or what dd would like and we are stuck with that instead of what we were saving up for.

again I appreciate the thought and know I'm lucky to have close family. but I do get fed up with people assuming I'm. Not going to bother or that we are cheap just became I don't run out to a shop and grab the first thing I see

fwiw I have nothing against cheap. For instance I won't pay m&s or JL prices for something that's no better than tesco or asda.

I'll grab pound land or Claire hair bands cos why bother paying more fir stuff that falls out and gets lost.

I'm not going to spend out on expensive cart stuff when reduced to clear in the works or pound land is cheaper. After all its only going to get glued or cut up. cheap and cheerful of course has its place.

but some things are worth spending out on

No one should be buying cheap plastic toys or anything disposable.

It's not snobbery, it's an environmental 'need'.

AIBU to think that maybe the snobbery surrounding these poor quality, cheap toys is justified?

I buy cheap toys, I just buy them second hand - good makes from charity shops and car boot sales.

For a £1 you get crap in pound store, for a £1 in a car boot you can get 5 books, a barbie, something really nice.

ebay too of course

Anyone else's family like it with everything? not just toys?

for instance something breaks and you start searching fir a replacement. now expensive purchases are a treat for me. I enjoy trying to find things in my price range that ticks all the boxes and if you have to wait a bit then so be it.

Next thing you know X was having a clear out cos they were moving or Y at work was selling his old one or the sisters hamsters boyfriends chauffer driver picked one up at a boot sale and doesn't want it. so your given this item which has no manual or parts are missing (which you of course gratefully receive with smiles and many thanks and flowers or wine etc) and it's nothing like what you wanted or needed but functions just enough to eliminate the justification of spending a fortune on the new one.

somehow we seem to have become the house used by others to take in everything they throw out half of which is no good.

The thought and generosity is of course appreciated and everything is politely received with genuine gratitude for the thought.
.but fir the love of god I've no idea where the fuck to put it all

When I was growing up we only got toys for birthdays and Christmas or if we'd been very good as a reward. I think buying toys for a child every week teaches them to be entitled and expectant and have less respect for their possessions. My DD is 6 months old and I'll only be getting her toys twice a year (I'm sure she'll get more from her family though). Having said that I wanted her to have a Fisher Price telephone as it's a classic toy, I picked one up in our local 2nd hand baby shop for only 3Euros (I'm in Germany).

giles it is time to get rude and say thanks but no thanks, i was looking for something a bit more shiny. I am sure a charity would like it, mention the salvation army

have less respect for their possessions
how can you learn to respect things which only last 3 days, so fully agree with you

That's the trouble i feel really rude. I'm genuinely grateful for the thought towards me or my children. but it's got to the point now where it's impossible to find space for it all. I have 4 bags of rubbish for the tip all full of crap. and when people start commenting on the mess or clutter it passes me off because I wouldn't have bought half the stuff that's taking up the space. but you gather things up at yours that you think the kids will like which then makes its way over unsurprisingly to my house. and next thing you know I have piles of crap that won't get used taking up space I don't have.

I buy lots of cheap toys and generally don't find they break more easily than more expensive ones. What I would say is daft is where people will pay three times as much for a toy just because it has a Disney character on it or similar. It's the same bit of plastic with a different picture on it.

I do agree about not buying kids stuff all the time though, but it's good for kids to be able to buy a toy with their own pocket money.