Do you buy even when you know it's rubbish?

[Paintmybathroom]

So 5 yr old DS has been happily adding half the Smyths catalogue to his list for Santa but has mentioned on a few occasions that the thing he really wants this year is the Beast Lab Creator (£90!)

Now all the reviews say you play with it once to make the 'beast' then you can't really do much else - so it seems crazy money for something that will be packed away by Boxing Day.

He'll get lots of other things from his list and technically we can afford it - but would you buy it even when you know it's just more plastic tat? 🤔

I personally wouldn't, especially at 5. Have conversations about how a santa list is just suggestions and we don't get everything on it.

Most likely on Christmas day he will be so pleased / overwelmned with what he does get he'll not think about what he hasn't got.

If he is still talking about it after then it can go on the birthday list and will have probably dropped in price by then

It's expensive but if if you can afford it and it's the main thing he's hoping for then I'd buy it.
Try and find voucher codes to bring the price down.

No. We have a duty to be reasonably responsible consumers of the earth's resources. An expensive one-use toy to gratify a five year old's whim is absurd.

Not at £90. £10 and below... maybe!

No, I wouldn't - see many, many adults re: Mr Frosty.

Sometimes Father Christmas knows better, and gets you something you don't even know you want!

When I saw this thread my mind immediately jumped to beast lab! Then the thread opened and it seems somebody else had the same dilemma as me 😂

It’s all ds has been going on about for a month now. Extremely annoying when I’d already bought his main gift.

It looks like a pile of rubbish but I couldn’t handle the thought of how disappointed he’d be so I bought it. I got it reduced on Very for £70. I think it’s reduced at Smyths as well, or it was last week so I’d keep an eye out as it will probably go down again for Black Friday.

No I wouldn’t Santa lists are just ideas lists and I drum that into mine from the earliest age possible.

I agree. It's a wish list, not an order form. It's actually really good preparation for life - it's okay to be disappointed sometimes and you learn that you're still absolutely fine even if you didn't get that one thing that you wanted.

Exactly.

Letting little kids dictate that they will get expensive, wasteful, environmentally unfriendly tat is absurd.

If they are "devastated" that a ginned-up consumerist whim isn't granted, that's a hell of a parental fail.

Watching the advert, you can see why a 5 year old would want it.

id explain to him that it only 'creates one beast' and that's all. Plus it won't be like the advert they've used lots of money to make it look like that etc etc. id show him other things around that price (70/75 it now available for) including things you've already bought.

remind him it's a WISH list not an order.

then wait and see until much nearer Christmas (or make sure it comes with a new year returns policy)

sometimes getting them what they really really want is worth every single penny & sometimes it's not. Only you know your DS.

This looks similar to the magic mixies cauldron that I bought a few years ago for DD at £80.
She enjoyed it and used it the one time to get the toy.
She has used it in the garden mixing potions a few times since.
But it largely sits in the corner of her room (broken I might add).
I look at it and think what a waste of money!

I couldn't bring myself to spend £90 on it, no. If it was significantly cheaper I might consider it.

Meanwhile, my 5yo DD is gradually overhauling her wishlist (after I've already bought or arranged her Christmas gifts) and replacing it with toddler toys! She's now asking for a toy steering wheel with a horn and a toy vacuum cleaner that lights up and plays music 🤦‍♀️

I just can't do it! She's my youngest and last and I have been gleefully selling/donating all the toddler toys she's outgrown and now she's asking for a whole heap more! I need to stand firm!

No, I don't. I am sure they will lament this in 30 years' time but oh well :D

When I'm choosing Christmas presents I try to think about what I think they will actually play with for a decent length of time and/or that can be passed on in decent condition.

The VTech toot toot playset was a mistake in this genre - just flimsily built and a lot of the moving parts loosened and stopped working properly. I had thought that it would be a set which could be built on over time, but not really.

The other mistake I've made before is buying something that they're really at the tail end of the age range for, so they play with it a few times and then get bored and discard it. But then I've also done it the opposite way, looked for something that will last and ended up getting something which is too complicated for them to enjoy at their current age.

It's a tricky business!! But 100% would not be spending £90 on something that is used once. That looks so gimmicky.

Mine wants an €80 Lego set because it has a bus in it.

The bus DOES look cool and it's a train station which he also loves, but it's too much for the bus. And that's Lego, which has endless replay value and I don't mind spending money on in theory.

We bought this for our friends sons birthday and he loves it. You can definitely use it again and again and again ...trust us, we’ve all had to watch it a lot,😅 but yes, it’s the same beast that is ‘revealed’ each time. We also bought him the refill pack of mist with extra experiments.

My kids would have loved it at that age and no doubt we’d have bought it if it they would have asked for it.

Hatchimal springs to mind!! My daughter was desperate for one when they first came out. I joined every waiting list possible and ended up getting a dip pff about a delivery to a 24 hour store about an hour away. We raced up there around 11pm and managed to get one! Christmas Day she was so over the moon about it. Her little face when she opened it was the best. BUT... once it hatched... it was rarely ever played with again. It's in a drawer now and occasionally I come across it and smile as I know how happy "getting" it made her and the magic of Christmas! Was expensive but I'd do it again in a heartbeat to make her that happy

This year I haven’t given my DC the Smyths catalogue for the first time, so my DS doesn’t realise it exists. If he did he’d want it! I did have a look at it though after seeing it on a ‘top toys’ list. Refills are available, so it can be used more than once, if you pay an additional amount in the future. I’ll consider it for his birthday later next year, if they drop to a much more reasonable price.

To answer the question, I have bought things on occasion previously when I’ve known they’ll be rubbish, depending on what they are, the price, if it’s the only thing they’ve really wanted and if I think they’ll still love them even though they’re rubbish.

At that age I wouldn’t, I’d tell him to write a list of ideas and let him know he won’t get all of them FC will just pick 1 or 2! My boys want that beast lab but there’s no way I’m spending £180 on two toys!!!!

I was looking at the Beast Lab too for my nearly 4 year old but I agree on balance it's just too much money for what it is.

If it was half the price then maybe! Saying that, I did buy the Magic Mixie cauldron when it came out and tbf I was wowed by it. My DD though did make plenty of use of the toy cauldron afterwards and we bought a couple of refill packs. She also liked collecting the mini ones (Mixlings).

That was £70 at full price though and still felt a bit much. My DD has the crystal ball version on her list this year and I will probably buy it (to answer your question about whether people buy even knowing it's a bit rubbish) despite the risk of it not have as much replay value as it's £40 odd.

If I find the Beast Lab for half price I may be tempted as I know my Dinosaur obsessed DS will go mad for it!

We use to circle EVERYTHING in the Argos catalogue... we got none of it.

We DID get loads of incredibly awesome stuff that had true surprise factor because we had never even seen it before... my mam was queen of that.

I think there was only the Furby year where I really wanted something... my mam couldn't get it and got an OOgli as a stand in until she could get the Furby weeks later. I ended up loving the OOgli and hating the Furby lol.

Our kids have never been lead to think they get a say, they will often say things like 'Santa might bring me one like this' if they see something they like in a shop (they usually forget before xmas so aren't upset if they don't get it or get something 'similar') but never 'Thats what I want for xmas' as if its an order.

I was never bought a Mr Frosty for Christmas as my mum said they were rubbish, and I'm still gutted to this very day to be honest 😅

😆 nothing to be gutted about. Useless shite it was🤣🤣🤣🤣

Zhuzhu hamsters i think they were called, cost a fortune, were difficult to get and then hardly played with!! Also a car that drove up the wall- nightmare. Oh and do not get me started on drones, so many lost in fields!!! think many of us have bought that gift, it is so hard when it is the one thing they want.

Mr Frosty is the one thing I never got and I still contemplate buying it now at 43 just to make up for the disappointment

You'll still be disappointed... its crap.

I had one back in the day... it was crap.

Nostalgia got us and we bought on for DS... it was equally as crap.

They are impossible to crank, even worse to clean and they get 'sticky' after the first use then literally gather dust... I think the devil invented it just for a laugh.