What not to waste your money on for the DC this Christmas-

[Sparklingbrook]

I will start, get the DCs wish lists ready to cross them off-

Elefun. Should be renamed Ele IMO.

Golden Coin Maker. Just don't.

Any more suggestions?

Sea monkeys...are they living...does anyone care?!!!

Peppa Pig house - flimsy.
New version of Guess Who - again flimsy and cheapo, not sturdy like the old one.
Moonsand - ridiculously messy.
Paint a pot type craft things - always ends up looking crap as the paints and brushes are cheap shite, the plaster of paris always clumps and doesn't fill the mould properly or just doesn't set.
Hot Wheels - takes an age to set the track up and after a few laps it starts collapsing and the kids get bored of putting it back together and drift away.
Cheap fuzzy felts - they tear.
Build a bear - overpriced. Novelty wears off very quickly.
Any electric v-tech type thing...although two of mine have the Kiddizoom cameras and have played with them a lot.

Those Airswimmers. FUCKING HUGE shark shaped remote control balloons.

Can't take them outside, can't use them in the house because they stupidly big. Pointless waste of 35 quid plus 25 for the gas. One lies deflated in the spare room on the wardrobe, and the other one has never made it out of the box.

bedmonster - please can you link to the good toy thread. I'm feeling :( that I'm not going to find decent toys amongst the rubbish toys for sale.

Hot Wheels - it took far longer for me to set up and get all the stickers on than DS has ever spent playing with it.

Plastic meccano is a bit shit too. We only have one set and as DS is older I think we can now move to the big stuff which I remember as being pretty good.

We don't have a kids camera as my DC's (now 6 & 4) inherited ancient second hand digital cameras from relatives a couple of years ago. Much more robust than you'd expect (the DC's can be a bit destructive) and they take proper photos and don't eat batteries. Ok, they don't have games and one of the battery covers is now held on with gaffer tape but it still works. Whenever I've played with a kids digital camera at a friends house I've been suprised how rubbish they are for what you pay for them.

Well, I have never done this before, so if I dont manage it, please will someone more experienced do the honours?

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/1609047-Great-toys-to-buy-for-Christmaseek

Okay it sort of worked!! Mainly seems to be lego/sylvanian/wooden train stuff over on there, initially pricey but decades worth of use.

The modern Guess Who is really flimsy and rubbish. Went to mum and dads and got mine out of the loft circa 1985 and its soooo much more robust. (Playing Guess Who with a 3 year by the way is HILARIOUS!)

Dd1 got Moshi Monster Guess Who for her 4th bday and it is rubbish. Badly thought through.

Her most played with bday pressie so far is the Polly Pocket skate park.

bedmonster

Our wheelybug is £40's worth of clutter, frankly. Bought for DS1 after hearing of children who loved them so much they'd take them to bed with them ... he only ever has used it as an extremely precarious step to reach stuff. DS2 is totally oblivious, but I'm hoping he'll get it sooner or later, so wheely is safe from the NNS for now.

I bought DS1 Ikea hama beads and bases the other day, for stocking. Am bracing myself to find them everywhere, but especially in the lego.

DS2 loves a friend's Elefun, and he's really hard to buy for (he has an older brother's toys to nick, and isn't old enough to be 'into' anything much yet) so if I see a good deal, I could be tempted...

I remember a Thing called something like Frosty Ice Cone Maker (it was a plastic penguin that shaved ice, and you flavoured it) that was clearly, transparently, utter shite and I'd ask for it every Christmas, and every Christmas be told NO. It sounds like the 70's equivalent of the coin maker.

My dd 6yo bedded for this octopus game last year and has played with it once, very boring and waste of money imo!!

The most important thing is buying what they will play with, not what you would like them to play with. I think the best things are one piece (eg., a guitar). If they have to be multi-piece, lego is good or very solid good quality stuff (eg., Happy land ELC stuff). And if you do get multi piece stuff always by a decent sized lidded plastic box for it - before hand. Also I've found that I regret it if I buy 'fillers' to make presents look more. One main present, well thought out. Two small extras, then a book, some body stuff and chocs fo the stocking. We all know what rubbish looks like! Try not to be tempted!

Anything cheap and plastic - last year my DS got a garage from a relative but on Christmas morning he fell on it and that was the end of that. No amount of glue will fix it - luckily he has a very sturdy plastic garage and a wooden garage but just a waste of money.

brownsaz agree with you on the character lego, the pieces are too specific and can't be reused.

P.S: I especially hate the girly lego, takes all the fun out of it and kill off it's main purpose of genderless.

One man's meat is another man's poison huh? My kids have had loads of fun with elefun and hex bugs are really popular too although you definitely need a habitat with them.

My girls love both Hama and aqua beads. May make me a bad mummy but no I'm not whipping the iron and board out on demand and they know that a Hama make will have to wait to be finished at my convenience!

I'm just waiting for the opportunity to chuck Hungry Hippos and the very fragile Connect 4 and Guess Who that snap at first opportunity. My 80s versions must have been made of girders.

Mine love Squinkies - pointless tiny creatures in a ball but they play for hours with them.

Mouse trap is another which is utter shit.

Can't even be bothered to fix all te plastic kits to play with.

Octanaught stuff is great. Good wailing plastic and fun.

Wailing?! That would be interesting. I meant quality.

I must get myself a better word predictor for Xmas.

Yup the octonauts stuff in our house has been fab, plus most of it can go in the bath too.

Hotwheels is popular here too - DS has a set we got from the charity shop, it works, stays together and he plays with it for ages - in fact we all do got him a wall tracks one for Christmas so hope that's ok now too

Hungry hippos - hideous noisy game

moonsand, yup, shite

Robosaipian remote control robot toy, large size, - any views?
Ds thinks he'd like one but would a lad of seven get much play out of it?

An electric train set. Bought in the days of affluence, takes up masses of room, takes ages to set up, doesn't always work, used 4 times. That's £30 a play. Oh my.

Same for Scalextric.

Orbeez foot spa. DD got it for her birthday. We unpacked it today. Load of rubbish.

Lots of products are not as solid as they should be (not just toys, washing machines etc) so that we keep on spending money.

How many people have said that the 70s versions of Mousetrap and Guess Who are so much more robust.

Re Hama beads, you don't need to get your ironing board out. It's not like there are tricky bits. Just iron on a towel on a hard surface. DS loves them and he makes lovely things with them: Christmas decorations, coasters etc. He's 9.

Rosemary I got my cousin a robosapien the original one about 5yrs ago it was very popular for several years and is still often dug out and played it.