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Original poster

Presents that turned out to be disappointing

95 replies

bob1985 · 20/09/2022 07:27

Wondering if it might be handy to
share gifts that actually turned out to be a bit of a let down and why.

Last christmas got my DD a yoto. Thought it would be amazing. It's barely been used, she's not got the slightest interest in it. Gets bored of the cards after 5 seconds. Prefers a book.

OP posts:
stayathomer · 20/09/2022 14:10

I know this isn’t the thread but kinetic sand has always gone down so well with all age groups of kids!! Worst ever was an intricate garage that had to be put together beforehand and the kids never used

carefullycourageous · 20/09/2022 14:13

Agree Duplo can be skipped, it is nice to have a little bit when tiny but don't spend lots on it.

I think an Ozobot was the biggest waste we had. We got it after trying it at a museum where it was much enjoyed, but it was easily mastered so there wasn't enough progression.

Best toy ever in our house has been K'nex, they never grew bored of it and still faffed with it in secondary as you can build moving models of some complexity.

Abouttimemum · 20/09/2022 14:20

I was planning on a Yoto for our 3 year old this Christmas but might put it on hold now….

He also has an Amazon Fire and loves it, he finds it easy to navigate and use himself. It’s the 10 inch though so a bigger screen maybe helps.

Worst thing is a paw patrol lookout tower. He loves paw patrol but he’s barely touched it. Thankfully we bought it quite cheap second hand off marketplace!

Surtsey · 20/09/2022 14:23

We once bought our dd a Snow White cottage. It was massive, and looked already assembled judging by the scale of the box, but when we opened it, it was clear that it would take hours and hours to fit it together. Loads of the parts were still all attached to one another in that extruded plastic stuff, and dd couldn't play with it on Christmas Day at all. DH spent ages on Boxing Day fitting all the furniture and other bits and bobs together, but by then, dd's excitement had totally worn off and she never did play with it much.

So - the moral of the tale is, if you are buying any kind of dolls' house or similar big thing, it is well worth opening the box to check, and putting it all together before the big day, so it is ready to play with.

Favouritefruits · 20/09/2022 14:32

Bluey crap, house, school figure…it all just sits on the playroom window sill never to be played with, but still asks for more when new things come out Confused

abovedecknotbelow · 20/09/2022 16:49

Sylvanian bloody families!!

RunningKatie · 20/09/2022 17:23

Chocolate coin maker. DC1 was desperate for one till we bought it. Thankfully got it at a bargain price but it sat in the cupboard for easily 2 years being ignored, and was the biggest faff when we tried it.
I have binned it and no-one has noticed.

feministqueen · 20/09/2022 20:53

Oohh we love the Yoto here too! Bought one about 3 years ago for DD and quickly realised we needed to buy another for DS. They use them every night. DD listens to the podcasts and the cards. DS generally listens to the stories.

I'd say the hot wheels dinosaur track thing is the biggest waste of money for us. It never gets played with! In fact... most of the hot wheels stuff!

Franticbutterfly · 20/09/2022 21:09

A Ferrari and super car driving day for my DH. He said that the instructor was so prescriptive and precious over the car that it made it not very fun. My DH is an excellent driver, but he wasn't allowed to drive, he was just given instructions.

prisscalledwanda · 20/09/2022 22:25

Icanneverthinkofausername · 20/09/2022 08:59

Mr Frosty!! Still bitter 30 years later 🤣

Literally came on here to denounce Mr Frosty. What an absolute con.

EcoCustard · 21/09/2022 06:15

Hots Wheels Criss Cross Crash and similar sets. They are massive, expensive batteries & are never played with. Kids preferred basic track & stunt sets or just their cars on a IKEA car mat. Happyland never played with, gathered dust. Barbie never popular here either. Anything techie, Kindles never been very popular and have been looking at a Yoto but think it might not be popular so not sure. Was looking at a Switch lite for Ds7 but he has little interest in any kind of gaming so scrubbed that one for now too.

MynameisJune · 21/09/2022 06:24

Yoto player was a miss here, both DD’s prefer to read or be read a book. Thought they’d love it but no.

Also agree about the older gen kids kindle, very slow and unresponsive so we just ended up not using it and got iPads instead.

Dolls house has been one of the biggest flops, thought DD3 would love it but she barely plays with it.

The2Omicronnies · 21/09/2022 07:54

Came on to say the absolutely ginormous Hot Wheels Mega Garage Thing With Oversized Dinosaur Head (not its official name). It’s massive, so takes up loads of room, and was hugely overpriced. I can probably count on one hand the number of times DS has actually played with it. But he refuses to let me get rid 😫

Sylvanian Families also largely underplayed with. I bought a second hand big house and customised it by hand to make it a Christmas version, and whilst it’s all been played with a few times, I don’t think it was worth the financial layout, nor the space required to store it all.

Original poster
bob1985 · 21/09/2022 07:56

I'll also add toot toot tower garage to the list.

DD put car down it about 3 times on boxing day and it's gathered dust ever since

OP posts:
Beadley · 21/09/2022 08:02

Hot wheels was a big hit for years here, but mainly the cars and smaller play sets. He then sold it second hand and was over the moon with the €50 he got for it!

Playmobile and Duplo also endure here, but we keep them in big boxes in the garage and only bring them out for a few days every couple of months when they are played with, spread all over the floor, then tidied up and put away for months. With kids younger than 9, toy rotation is definitely the way to go.

ChristmasCwtch · 21/09/2022 08:23

Mr Frosty is better nowadays!! I had one 35 years ago and it didn’t work at all 😂 I bought one for my DC last year and had more success.

My little one loves his Tonie box. It’s often on in the background whilst he potters about doing other stuff in the playroom.

GoneWithTheWine1 · 21/09/2022 08:26

Kindle kids fire tablet.

Absolute rubbish, barely loaded, never again.

FTM2022SS · 21/09/2022 08:28

bob1985 · 21/09/2022 07:56

I'll also add toot toot tower garage to the list.

DD put car down it about 3 times on boxing day and it's gathered dust ever since

Oh no this was one of my LB first Christmas ideas haha! Back to the drawing board lol

DreamingofItaly2023 · 21/09/2022 08:29

DS’ yoto was the hit of last Christmas, is used every single day.

PuttingDownRoots · 21/09/2022 08:32

Weve had kids Fire tablets for 7 years and they still get used. Not as good as an ipad... but they are in an entirely different price bracket. (Even the adults in our household don't have ipds, we ha Samsung/Nokia phones...)

QuiltedBear · 21/09/2022 08:39

bob1985 · 20/09/2022 14:10

Yup tried me recording stories. She still wasn't into it. I'll likely keep it another year and see if it's something she grows into (she's 4).

She loves the ipad she has our old one and can navigate easily.

I've also found duplo a bit of miss. She showed no interest in it and now she does want to build things she picks lego. so could have skipped duplo entirely

I’d give the Yoto player another try when DD is a bit older. DS is 4 now and starting to show more interest in his player (got last Christmas when he was about 3 and a half). My friend’s girls are 8 and 6 and they get loads of use out of theirs, whereas her son is 4 and also doesn’t “get” it yet.

Tibtab · 21/09/2022 08:39

Franticbutterfly · 20/09/2022 21:09

A Ferrari and super car driving day for my DH. He said that the instructor was so prescriptive and precious over the car that it made it not very fun. My DH is an excellent driver, but he wasn't allowed to drive, he was just given instructions.

I had a similar gift off my DH, you could only go round the track 3 times so by the time you figured out the controls it was over. You spend most of the time watching a presentation or waiting for others to have a go (as there was only 1 car). It was fun but not worth the money.

Dinosauratemydaffodils · 21/09/2022 14:35

Toot toot for us too. Ds had no interest. I bought lots of expensive wooden toys when ds was born, he's never been interested. Dd on the other hand has pinched most of them for her room and wants more holtztiger animals for Christmas.

Our yotos get used every night by both ds (7) and dd (4).

mam0918 · 21/09/2022 15:45

ChristmasCwtch · 21/09/2022 08:23

Mr Frosty is better nowadays!! I had one 35 years ago and it didn’t work at all 😂 I bought one for my DC last year and had more success.

My little one loves his Tonie box. It’s often on in the background whilst he potters about doing other stuff in the playroom.

Really? nostalgia hit and we went to smyths and bought one for our DS and it was still as crap as ever... its sat in a box ontop of the kitchen cupboards and has for the last 5 years.

Onionbhajisandwich · 21/09/2022 19:45

Gotta go flamingos. The worst part was that we bought the kids one each as they were so desperate to get one, we thought that they would be played with lots. They weren’t and nobody noticed when they disappeared !