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Original poster

Which toys to avoid

55 replies

NeitherNowtNorSummat01 · 14/09/2019 03:18

Following on from the ‘which toys still get played with a year on’ thread, I thought it might be useful to have one for which toys were an absolute waste of money and why

For me it’s Thomas Trackmaster. What an absolute pile of crap. The track is fiddly to build, the trains constantly de-rail and the track falls apart constantly. Both my sons get really frustrated with it after 10 minutes.
If you must get the trackmaster, go on eBay and buy the old style track and trains- much more robust!

OP posts:
khlo5 · 16/09/2019 19:18

Fingerlings. Absolute tat

CassianAndor · 16/09/2019 19:20

Dolls house when they’re too young. I actually think 8 or 9 is a better age for one than 3 or 4, which is when DD has hers, never got played with. Nowadays she loves them.

GrandmaSharksDentures · 16/09/2019 19:22

Swim to me Little Puppy - hardly walks on dry land & it's not waterproof (SWIM...!!). Pile of crap

codenameduchess · 16/09/2019 19:36

Poopsie is shit, and the £10 poopsie slime surprises are equally shit!

Any surprise toy is overpriced garbage- LOL, hatchimal, pikmi pops, cry babies, the giant party popper things... there are so many and my dd is unnaturally drawn to every single one of them!

I've seen the adverts for this years 'must haves' LOL camper/ooh la la baby/OMG, poopsie rainbow surprise and many, many farting/shitting unicorns.... so much money will be wasted on them all to be opened and never touched again.

Original poster
NeitherNowtNorSummat01 · 16/09/2019 20:39

I’ve thought of another one
My First Hornby railway- another absolute pile of crap. Barely stays on the track and the tunnel and station are cardboard. very poor from
Hornby

OP posts:
RachelEllenR · 16/09/2019 20:45

The books that have puzzles as part of the story throughout, my children have been given a few. Story great - puzzle great, puzzles in books so frustrating!

Mine like their hatchimals. Fingerlings don't get played with much but they were £5 each so was still worth it for that.

Barbarara · 17/09/2019 06:54

Fingerling- dn was delighted to get it because she saw it in school but only played with it once.,

Schleich advent calendar - a bit meh. Too many tiny bits.

Bush baby - dd saved up for this herself and it has been ignored after about two days

Hamleys plasticky balloons in a tube - bought against my better judgement and utter rubbish.

Barbarara · 17/09/2019 06:55

@RachelEllenR I actually shuddered at the mention of puzzles in books. Work of the devil.

DelurkingAJ · 17/09/2019 12:13

Mine adore the puzzle books. Usborne puzzle adventure series have provided hours of entertainment (I loved them too as a child). Confused

RachelEllenR · 17/09/2019 13:00

@DelurkingAJ I mean actual jigsaws on the internal pages - not written puzzles/quizzes, I also loved the Usborne Adventure books!

DelurkingAJ · 17/09/2019 13:04

Ahhh...yes, those. Where the pieces end up scattered at the back of the bookcase. Such a good idea in principle! Makes more sense!

SeaSaltandLime · 17/09/2019 13:14

Paw Patrol lookout tower - the giant one.

Bought this for DD last year, plus all the large vehicles and characters and pup packs.
It's just crap.

The lift breaks if you pull the lever with a slight force, the vehicle spin table doesn't move slowly, the flipper at the end of the slide does nothing.

DD loves Paw Patrol, she was over the moon when she opened it.
But, after a few sessions of play, she gets frustrated with it because of how fiddly it is.

WellTidy · 17/09/2019 13:15

I’m going to be controversial here - some of the Playmobil. In particular, buildings. DS had the school and police station. Both kept falling apart, especially when you moved them, and the little pieces were so so little, they served no purpose but to get lost all the time.

In contrast, the vehicles including the camper can, fire engine, police van etc were brilliant. Swimming pool also brilliant. Playground also very nice. I think we might have had a penguin pool too, which DS liked.

Best of all were the house, the vet/pet clinic and stables that folded up and you could keep everything in them and carry them.

Doubleraspberry · 17/09/2019 13:19

Remote control helicopter. Broke on its first outing.

FurrySlipperBoots · 17/09/2019 13:23

Anything that's 'this year's must have' fad - crazy expensive, rarely has any play value and headed for landfill

Baby dolls that cry, tell you they love you, wet themselves etc. What's wrong with an ordinary doll and you know, imagination?

Anything focusing on poo/snot/farts/pants etc. Because why would you want that in your house?

Craft sets. I can't stand all those make your own soap/photo frame/Christmas cracker/candle/chocolate coin type things. Ditto science kits. They get shoved to the back of a cupboard and if ever remembered, don't come out like the picture on the front. In my experience kids would prefer the same money spent on Playmobil.

Character anything. Very limited play value, and grown out of within a couple of months.

Cuddly toys. Honestly aren't we all drowning in them already? Do they really need yet another? Either they love the ones they have in which case, great, they can keep playing with them, or they don't, in which case why waste money on yet another?

Check reviews on everything before you buy. If it's heavily reduced in a toy shop, there's probably a reason! Check the Amazon reviews on it before purchasing. Also don't buy 'stuff' just for the sake of it. Better 10 things that will really be loved and played with long term, than 100 things that overwhelm the child/break/get forgotten/are disappointing/are fads/have no real play value etc etc.

Hugsgalore · 17/09/2019 13:27

@WellTidy agree with the playmobile.

My dd begged for the sea life centre... reluctantly got it for her and yes she would still play with it but not as intended. I may as well have bought her a plastic bowl and filled it with water. The bits are now fucking everywhere in my house Angry

spiralflower · 17/09/2019 13:42

I agree with Playmobil somewhat. My son loves it but it falls apart too easily and he’s too young to put it back together - I’m looking at the fire station. He also loves the fire engine but the bits keep falling off/ hoses keep falling apart. The aquarium is great and we’ve never had an issue with that (we keep it as a garden toy!).

I agree with rainbocorns. Mine were very excited when they opened them but haven’t played with them since.

And jigsaw puzzle books - we had one which I got rid of very quickly!

Also Hatchimals. My daughter loved hers but the batteries died before it hatched fully and once replaced it died for good within 30 minutes of being played with, which was obviously very disappointing. She still loves it even though it’s stuck on green eyes - I have researched but can’t find any way of resetting the thing so it’s the most expensive teddy bear ever.

Mine love the fingerlings and paw patrol tower! They’ve played with them both regularly since getting them a couple of christmases ago, they were below the recommended age for the fingerlings when getting them though which might make the difference. They also love science kits.

FurrySlipperBoots · 17/09/2019 15:44

@Hugsgalore

Our policy with Playmobil is that it lives in it's relevant Playmobil box, and comes out now and then to be played with half the day, then it's put away and goes into safe keeping again! That way it's special and remains interesting, bits don't get broken/lost/buried at the bottom of the toy box and under armchair cushions, and it's a carrot to encourage them to tidy up everything else: 'Of course we can get out the Playmobil! As soon as you've tidied up the rest of your toys that's what we'll do'.

Works like a charm.

CassianAndor · 17/09/2019 15:46

I think a lot of this is down to toys being bought for the wrong age. DD never bothered with the Playmobil she had when she was younger - she's coming up to 10 now and loves it.

Hugsgalore · 17/09/2019 15:56

@FurrySlipperBoots I've tried that. She just doesn't play with it properly. Just dumps everything in to see if it can swim Grin

nearlyfinished1moreyear · 18/09/2019 10:55

@spiralflower I agree regarding playmobil. We bought our lb the ghostbusters house and car. The car is still going strong but the house is missing various parts due to moving etc. I find playmobil frustrating to put together so staying away from that this year

nowlook · 18/09/2019 12:13

One word: moonsand

FurrySlipperBoots · 18/09/2019 19:39

@nowlook

More words please! Is it just because it's messy and spreads everywhere?

Relationshipsajoke · 18/09/2019 23:43

My dad (8, coming up 9) adores cuddly toys. I wonder when she will grow out of that. DP always moans and says she don’t need another one then will come home with giant cuddly unicorn or whatever because he knows she will love it. She barely has room to sleep on her bed, never known a kid like it!!! Last year she wanted a wolf teddy and she still loves it. Mind you my 10 yr old Ds asked for a snow leopard teddy last year and he loves it Blush makes me sad that he’s going to go to secondary next year and will feel like he can’t like that stuff anymore

CassianAndor · 19/09/2019 10:09

Relationship DD is nearly 10 and is showing no sign of growing out of cuddly toys but we have put a ban on buying any more. She once, not that long ago, laid them all out and counted them - suffice to say, it was an obscene number and she doesn't get any more!