The hell that was 'The golden coin maker' haunts me still, what to avoid this year?

[zanz1bar]

If any of you got conned into 'The golden coin maker' my sympathies.
What do you suggest is best avoided (amongst the general tat I will probably get)to keep my sanity in tact

Has anyone else had the pleasure of Flippin Penguins ?!!! Battery powered thing with penguins circulating that you have to flip onto a central iceberg island. It is very difficult to do (DCs unable to do it...) and the "off" button is rubbish - so easy to flick on/off that it regularly turns itself on and can be heard grinding away in the cupboard. I got so cross with it I binned it recently. I chucked it in teh wheely bin whereupon it activated itself and could be heard churning away. The next morning getting the dcs in the car for he school run I passed the wheely bin and the blooming thing was STILL going. Glad that heap of rubbish is finally out of my life....

(And yes, I probably should have removed the batteries before chucking it, but I binned it in a red mist NO MORE FLIPPIN PENGUINS IN THIS HOUSE moment!!!)

make we have got the penguins too.
LOL ours wouldnt turn off either
had to take batteries out to stop it but DCs loved it and managed to do it properly.
flags did break after about 10 minutes tho.

furrycat unless you/DH actually enjoy trying to follow directions with DC jumping up and down with impatience to play with newly acquired playmobil, I would strongly suggest you set aside time to assemble pre-wrapping.

I would say Fur Real puppies are the worst xmas present we have ever brought.

Both our daughters are desperate for a puppy (a real one) but dh won't have one so instead spent £120 (£60 each) on two fur real friends dogs which have not been played with since xmas day last year (and one has a bandaged up broken paw).

They go through batteries like anything and make a horrible mechanical whirring noise everytime they move.

Is it just me or does anyone else find that the modern versions of the old 70s/80s games JUST DO NOT WORK! They are made so cheaply. We've got new Ker-plunk and the middle funnel bit has to actually be held together by someone it's so flimsy, or it just comes apart. The balls get stuck on the way down unless you shake the bloody funnel. It just didn't happen with the one I used to have, it just didn't!

And I agree with the comments made about Buckaroo, which I used to have as a kid - the settings on the modern version are "too sensitive" and "not sensitive enough". And to top it off, once the horse is assembled onto the base there doesn't appear to be any way to get it off again to fit it properly into the box, so the lid doesn't go back on properly!! BAG OF SHITE!

Oh no, sorry "Bag of Shite" is a sandwich bag of moon sand. That stuff gets everywhere, and there's no pots or anything to store it in so you have to get a sandwich bag to put it in, and then you leave the kids alone with it while you have a wee, and you come down and they've mixed all the colours up and there's some of it rubbed into the seat covers of the chairs, and it doesn't quite ever come off!

The absolute worse toy I bought the kids was a Ninky Nonk the other year, which was about 50 times smaller than how it appeared in the catalogue, and you just couldn't play with it as the carriages didn't fit together securely enough and came apart the minute it was pushed along. I notice they've brought a bigger version out, no doubt because they had so many complaints about the original one.

Bah humbug!!!

Thanks, Paddington

I'd looked at Amazon UK but didn't think to look at the US site. The Screature looks quite good...

PeedOffWithNits I want to know about Flitter Fairies, too.

THANK YOU one and all for rescuing me from the cupcake thing. DD has been pleading for it and I have been saying no, but feeling guilty, thinking it was probably only a bit shite and inconvenient. Good to know that I've saved her from tears.

Can the swim-to-me puppy do anything besides swim? I can't endure waiting until the 27th December to take it to a pool.

This is very useful but what are really good things to get???

Thanks for your advice everyone. I was planning to spend Christmas Eve roasting chestnuts on an open fire and watching It's a Wonderful Life but now I know I shall be shouting at the Plymobil instead!

Agree with Curlyhairedassasin, someone bought DS Buckaroo for christmas last year, utter shite. Either everything fell off the moment you touched it or no bucking at all even if you drop kicked it , which we might have done, purely in the interests of trying it out.

However travel version of Hungry Hippos is a family favourite.

I also feel slightly bitter that I never got Mr Frosty am going to get it for DS as soon as he is old enough.

zaza there is a recent thread on here somewhere called 'the toys which kepp on giving' or something similar. Brio scored very highly, IIRC....

How do all your children KNOW about all these terrible toys? My children are clueless! I'd never heard of the cupcake maker or the golden coin maker - thank goodness!

my ds was 7 when he wanted it desperately...he had seen it year after year in the toy shop, where they made a big display of it, each chrsitmas....he is a bit obsessive anyway

My children are now too old for these sort of toys, thank God. It is a waste of money, alright, but they do enjoy them for a while, and have good memories of them for years. You'd be surprised at what they remember!!! They take a lot of space but children want to buy these toys, which is consumerism at its worst.

But now, it is me who is taking all the rooms. I decided to hand-make greeting cards for who wants them. I have pleasure in designing, they are "very artistic" and everyone finds them "lovely " which is a great boost. It is as well a lot of money just to have an array of cards but it is self-fulfilling.
The greetings cards in shops are so "ugly", including Christmas cards. wink.

oh LimburgseVlaai you just reminded me of a Dr Science (think that was the name) kit where you had recipes for food, and you had to construct platforms and splat goo stuff at a piece of bread. Took hours to assemble and tasted vile. I 'lost' the recipe book unfortunately........

Furrycat, Ds has just got the Family Camper Van for his birthday. He has also got the recycling truck. Both only took me less than 10 - 15 minutes each to put together so not a massive job. The camper van was the longest to do.

Camper van is great, although our family usually just sits down to a lovely peaceful meal and are then ambushed and attacked by lego starwars figures.

this is a great thread, loving unquietdads discription of the dinosaur bones and the reviews for the cupcake machine

have to disagree slightly for elefun as ds enjoys it. however he only plays it if he has friends round. we found that if you pinch the trunk together at the top it slows the flow of butterflies so play lasts a bit longer.

ditto hot wheels (i think I enjoy this more than ds) though we only have 2 sets and neither require batteries. the 2 we have join togther, though it doesn't seem very sturdy. ds is getting more for christmas from PILs.

agree roary the racing car is crap. ds got the silver hatch race track for christmas lat year and its pants. its huge, really noisy as the cars clatter round. you cant turn the cars off, so they go off when you put it away unless you take the batteries out. it uses loads of batteries too. the cars just go round by themselves. there's not much interaction really.

also moonsand, ds got this for his bithday from DB/SIL, he really wanted it,but was interested for about 5 mins. once he'd mixed the sand togther and spread it everywhere, he got bored with it. its way too messy.

ds wants 'pig goes pop' for christmas, it looks a bit crap tbh. does anyone have it, is it any good?

WhatdidIsayRoy...hate to tell you but Gross magic is shite.

lol at this thread. Haven't read all of it (yet!) but quickly wanted to vote for "Amanda" - interactive (supposedly) doll which MIL bought for DDs christmas last year. Although it is entertaining listening to her constantly asking DD to "Say my name Mummy",and eventually telling DD "you don't sound like my Mummy" to which DDscreams "I AM YOUR MUMMY!!". Added to the fact that we lost hte pizza slice within a week and its all the bloody thing asks to eat. DD has now turned her off...... and is now complaining about the learn to walk baby chou chou which apparently won't walk. She wants Bbay Alive for her christmas this year- I don't think so!

Ok shit toys in this house are:

Golden coin maker
Iggle piggle with blanket
Aqua beads/bindeez
elc bubble maker
hot wheels
WWE arena sets
puppy in my pocket
Furby
Knitting machine
Bratz limo
Barbie typewriter

Good toys are:

Lego
Baby Annabell
Junior pictionary
My monster buddy is ace ds got it years ago and it still has the original batteries.

can i second the vote for the ELC Garage someone put earlier? It is a good garage with good functionality and the dc love it but I cannot believe how bloody flimsy it is for the price they charge for it! If you so much as brush past it bits fall off. I have had to resort to leaving it in the middle of the room as if I gently pull it to one side it literally falls apart. I do not expect that for something of this size and price. I have improved it slightly by sellotaping every seam and joint together but stiil, cruddy. Put it on the list!

Can I also veto the lego games - the ones I have tried are great!

Someone has bought my ds Hot Wheels shark bay for his upcoming birthday. He is 5. Is this going to drive me insane?

STAR WARS FORCE TRAINER ~ IT IS A TUBE THINGY WITH A BALL INSIDE WITH A HEADSET

Matthew Wright used it on TV this week and it is total rubbish and costs £79 !!!!!!!!!!!!

DS has had great times with Hot Wheels Criss Cross Crash (?)- but it does eat batteries.

Gross Magic: terrible.
Spy night vision goggles: Terrible.
Horrible Science Kits: Terrible
Dinosaur Bone Excavation sets. DS spent about a week conscientiously chipping and scraping as carefully as he could, as if he was excavating the terra cotta army or something, and eventually we had to concede that the bloody thing was faulty and there were no plastic biones within after all. DS upset, so I wrote to Chad Valley to complain, and PANICKED the moment I heard my letter hit the botto of the letter box. And I was right. Sure enough, a week later, we get a voucher for ANOTHER bloody kit!

Good:
Microscope set - esp the one that comes in a plastic carrying case
Tobar 'nail art'