Bewildered by the cost of these toys - what's the point

[PetiteSourisManoir]

Yesterday I went to visit an old friend. We went to primary school together (all girls private so I'm not going to pretend I'm not also privileged). She's been living abroad for several years but now has a little girl who's 3. I have 2 DC who are 2 and 3.

Anyway, she showed me around her home which was lovely but I've left feeling a little bewildered by the cost of some of the toys.

Her daughter has a rocking horse, I commented that it was lovely and asked where it was from, custom ordered from a specialist maker. I asked how much and she said a little shy of £5000 but it's an heirloom piece. Fair enough I suppose, not something I would do but I get that it's intended to be passed on for generations.
When we were in the toy room and the kids were playing though I noticed how so many of these toys seemed expensive. I got nosey and decided to have a google when I got home. Dolls house - £870, play kitchen - £569, tea set - £129. There were more but these stood out to me!

Now I have 2 boys, but our play kitchen was £160 and I thought that was ridiculous. Now it has crayon marks, stickers etc. on it and frankly I wish I'd spent less or got it secondhand!

AIBU to think what is the bloody point in toys this expensive? Have you ever bought your kids a ridiculously expensive toy? If so why?

once the kids grow out of the toys they can be sold on and I imagine there will be a decent second hand market for them and people prepared to repair and repaint them. It’s a bit like designer handbags, you might think they’re a rip off, but they won’t end up in land fill.

You asked her how much something cost? Dod you miss etiquette classes at your all girls private? 😉

Haha, only the rocking horse as I briefly thought oh the boys would love that ... very quickly changed my mind!

Some people spend thousands on clothes, handbags, phones, ipads, cars (hundreds of thousands)... their money, their choice.

As long as the children have food on the table, warm clothes and a warm house... id it harming anyone?

You googled the prices of their toys? You really have too much time on your hands and seem rather envious.
It's her money if she wants to spend it on toys it's none of your business.
Hopefully for the sake of your friendship she's not a MNer.

I barely care about anyone’s children, let alone pay enough attention to a toy tea set to be able to Google the price of it later, but there you go. Some people have money to spend on stuff, including toys; some people are content to let their children ruin their toys by crayoning on them so it’s not worth giving them anything other than cheap shit. That’s life.

I'd be interested if the children are actually allowed to play freely with all these expensive toys .You mention that your expensive toy kitchen shows all the signs of being well used, which is the point of toys. No point in your friend having expensive stuff if she is then
frightened of the children playing with them because it will spoil their resale value.

This. I was on holiday this summer and saw a family with 3 kids dressed in Fendi, Gucci, Dior outfits every single day. Not my cup of tea even if I had won the lottery. They weren't allowed to get dirty though, not have ice team or spaghetti bolognese or play on the beach. Each to their own. Your friend probably likes the sentimental side of toys that can be passed on generations and there's nothing wrong with that.

I find it hard to get worked up about someone's toys being pricey. If the child is loved and cared for then surely it doesn't matter whether their toys are cheap second hand stuff, or expensive designer stuff. If that's what the mum prefers and she can afford it then why not. Bit weird to be googling the cost of her belongings to judge whether she's spent more than some arbitrary cut off that you consider to be acceptable.

When I win the lottery I am going to buy a Stevenson Brothers rocking horse. They are about 10k so I can see why the mum bought an expensive horse. They are not cheap at all for an expensive wooden one.

I imagine everything in their lives is more than you spend though, not really sure the point? People with significantly more money than you will often have more expensive things? Shocker.

You sound very jealous op

She has more disposable income than you
or gets enjoyment from spending her money on these toys and you get enjoyment from spending your money on something else. Does it matter?

You're paying for skill, time, materials and a niche market and that is a totally different financial league to mass-produced items in a factory.

The glitch with heirlooms is that they may well not have an heir. I have a gorgeous carriage pram passed down to me, but having had sons that would not have pushed it down the street by the time they were big enough to use it (they did have little prams when they were small) and I haven't got space at home for it, so it idles away at DM's house. There's no guarentee of grandchildren to appreciate it. It's only value is to be sold on to a collector at some point.

Seems mad to me and I also would 100% googled the cost of some toys if they had a 5k rocking horse 😂.

Thing is a lot of people would have the same reaction to your £160 toy kitchen.
What are you going to do about it?
Nothing presumably cos it's none of their business.

If you had bought a handmade dolls hoise with someone being paid at least minimum wage for their time and skill it would have cost far more than the £160 you spent. We've got used to the cost of labour being very little or negligible.

Fair play to your friend. She can afford to spend a lot on beautiful toys. No need to be envious. I personally wouldn't and cannot anyway, but I don't have an issue if others do.

If she has the money and wants to spend it on her children then I don't see the problem. People spend money on all sorts of things.

I thought this was going to be a thread on Jellycats

Our toys are well used and well loved, but I wouldn’t allow them to be defaced with crayons or stickers 🤷‍♀️

I presume the idea is that they get passed down.

We have a £90 IKEA toy kitchen. We’ve had it for two years and it’s in pristine condition, my son loves it and it gets played with daily. I’d have the same reaction to your £160-odd kitchen having stickers all over it 😅

I mean; they are ludicrous prices, but I know someone who goes on four or five £6k holidays a year to lob her kids in childcare and “relax”, so I guess everyone spends their moment differently, and toys seems a nice way to do it at least!

Waste of money

The rocking horse will not be passed down. They will want it out of the way once the kids get bigger

Second hand toys do not fetch much money

I'd have googled you prices too in that situation! I don't think they're doing anything wrong if they can afford it, but I don't really get it. Those things will be grown out of quickly, and probably damaged in the course of playing. I also feel incredibly sad that some children get £5000 toys and others don't have enough food to eat, but that's the reality of the UK.