What Children’s toy still traumatises you?

[Soubriquet]

Was discussing toys from when my oldest was a baby, when I suddenly remembered that stupid singing v-tech bear my mum bought my dd.

Nearly 7 years later, and I still remember the fucking song

“I’m a friendly light up bear
I’ll teach you 1-2-3
A sleepy hungry happy bear
Hey come and hug me”

Then it would randomly go off in the evening with things like “I’m a happy bear!”

No bear...you were lucky to be in one piece

For all those (quite rightly) terrified by Struwwelpeter - some evil person has animated it and put it on YouTube, I once discovered. It's way worse than the book.

Talking of youtube, the nightmare that is The Singing Ringing Tree is on there. Anyone remember that? (or mercifully managed to repress the memory?)

In someone else's house, there was a toy like this one (see picture), which I loved playing with, aged four or five, until they made me do it the proper way: they mixed all the pieces up, and I couldn't see to put them in the right places, because I was blindfolded! They explained I was supposed to do it by feeling, but I couldn't look at it in the same way after that.

@LongstantonSpiceMuseum Is the Octopus game you're referring to called "Peek a Shoe", and the ball ends up under one of the octopus's shoes?

@MissCharleyP I loved Ghost Castle, although it had really scary pictures! I found the games where something random happened eerie and fascinating, as if the game had a mind of its own. With computers which "thought" of something, such as choosing a word for Hangman, I believed that computers really could think.

There was a game with a shark's head, with an open mouth. It had thirteen teeth, and you took turns to press them down: one of them was unlucky, and would make the mouth snap shut, on your finger! The tension was unbearable, as you wondered if your finger would be "bitten off".

Teddy Ruxpin... my autistic brother used to chuck it over the fence

I know the bear you’re talking about. My dd use to be terrified of it!

I wondered when Teddy Ruxpin would make an appearance. Yet another toy I coverted and didn't get. Woe.

Coveted even. Excuse the rogue 'r'

Do you remember the vtech rocker/bike?

‘Come along and play with me
There’s so much to learn and see
Colours and shapes
And fun silly sounds
That make you want to play around’

And the guy that sang it OVER SANG in the most irritating way. I still have that bastard in the loft. All of the most irritating things I was bought are still up there, ready to be gifted back to the person who bought it.

My daughter had that Alfie bear, I really hated it but my daughter loved it. The worst though was this ride on Winnie the Pooh. If you stood on the wrong floorboard in her room it would start singing in the middle of the night. God I hated that toy.

@Soubriquet we had that bear. Now I can actually hear the tune, after reading your post! It's stuck going round in my head 😂 Actually, we ended up with 2,DD had a blue one to begin with and someone gave her a pink one for her 1st birthday. She also had another singing thing with a creepy face, I think my mum got her it in home bargains. She loved that thing and DH hated it! I think it might still be somewhere in her bedroom!

The book on ancient Egypt with very graphic mummy photos which I was given at a far too young age.

I also had a soft toy dog that had a pouch in its belly where it's little puppies were and you could open the pouch up and it could give birth....

Pound Puppy's going to be a mother
Pound Puppy soon they'll be three others
Pound Puppy now she's having puppies if her own.....

I didn’t like dolls. Especially ones where their eyes followed you.

I’m sure the Child’s Play movie traumatised me as an 8yo. I had to check under the bed after that.

I remember a Fisher Price medical kit, which contained items such as a stethoscope, blood pressure band, hypodermic syringe. In a way, I'm bearing a grudge towards this toy, because I found out that the genuine articles used by real doctors and nurses were much scarier!

VTech Crawl and Learn ball. I got it for my DD when she was 6 months old. (recommended age). Turned it in and it went over to DD and bashed her in the head and she obviously burst out crying. It’s quite a heavy thing. She and I still hate it over 3 years later. I should really charity shop it but don’t want to inflict it on any one else.

My parents both each of my twins a harmonica!!! In stereo....it was absolutely horrific.
They were 'filed' to the top shelf of the bookcase.

letsgo Yes it was the peek-a-shoe octopus! It was broken or possessed so never said the right shoe!

This little twat-
"I am a piggy bank
I have a piggy snout
You can put coins in my slot
And you can take them out"

Shudder

the elc did some planets protectors toys, the bad guy would say 'I'm going to get you' which was fine until late one night when I was home alone and went in the dcs bedroom and accidentally triggered it. I nearly wet myself.

This evil thing, doc tox

Cabbage patch dolls scared the living shit out of me as a young girl.

@ShSpecialFriends you win hands down 🤢🤢🤢 I had horrific morning sickness when we had that bastard walker and even the words to the tune make me feel distinctly queasy 13 years later...Justin Fletcher has a similar effect 🤢🤢🤢

Not RTWT but it's my duty to maintain order and here comes my body have me actually crying at my desk.

My grandmother gave me a large china doll which looked a bit like me (long dark hair/blue eyes) and according to the box had the same name as me. I was absolutely terrified of the damn thing. On a similar theme, my mum still has the china dolls from her Great Aunt's dollshouse and they used to frighten me too. It's those blank painted faces I think.

One of my friends had a Teddy Ruxpin. Even back then we wanted to kill it with fire.

Our house is old and creaky. My mum bought dc1 a light up musical caterpillar from a charity shop and it randomly goes off in the night. The first time I discovered it flashing and playing music in the darkened playroom I ran upstairs in a panic and made dh go and search for ghosts.

I loved Ghost Castle though. I still have a copy and ds (almost 5) likes playing it with me but doesn't like the skull. He needs to know it's been safely put away in it's box.

I don’t remember any from my childhood, but a couple of my DC’s toddler toys will stay with me forever.
The first was a Peppa Pig car. Dead cute. Had the four pigs in, press a button or wheel it along they’d snort and repeat phrases, or sing the theme tune.

Until it started going off by itself. Even when not in the kids room or even switched on.

The second, a Lotty Ladybug rocker. Played rock a bye baby when you squeezed a feeler. Battery was running down a bit.
Used to go off by itself in a thunderstorm. Lightning would strike and immediately “doo do doo doo doo...” have a video somewhere. Was creeeeeeepy.

As an adult a relative bought me a bloody china-faced (evil-looking little bugger) doll.

It was a lovely thought and all... but they give me the willies so I gave it to a local charity shop that was at the end of my road.

They put the bugger in the window and it was there for months, giving me the evils every time I went past. Its probably scaring some poor wee kid right now...