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

Our Hotwheels works well, but then it's mainly track- we don't have any of the battery operated bits and I think a lot of the fancy sets look like plastic tat.

Our gogo Hamster is quite a hit. But I don't understand the price on that Amazon shop, ours was definitely under a tenner. There's no way it's worth more.

A lot of the Ben10 stuff look very rubbish. I've bought DS the projector omnitrix in the sainsbury's half price offer and that's as far as I'm going with that.

Our wooden train set has been fab but none of the battery powered trains have been any good- they are very slow, the DC leave them running so they go flat and the brio mains charger one did not last long either.

As others have said, my DC are quite young so we'll see what delights we have in store for future Christmas requests!

Very funny thread!

Before I make a mistake, does anyone have any experience of Play-Doh Build-a-Burger? My DD really wants it. Any good or crap?

Btw, I'm with everyone on the aquabeads - complete rubbish.

stringerbell, that darda stuff looks good but I suspect the reason it's not popular here is that it's hard to get - have only found one UK based site so far that sells it (Cox & Cox) and they are expensive generally (can often get their stuff cheaper elsewhere)

I love this thread!

Yohoahoy I was the same with Mr Frosty! After about 10 years of putting it on my list I finally got it, my parents thought it was a load of rubbish but I loved it! (And still would!)

I love moon sand, but would advise getting a huge tray to keep it on as ours tends to go all over the floor, gets swept up with a dustpan and brush and tipped back in its container along with various crumbs and detritus The tip for it coming out of the moulds easily is not to over fill them.

Hot Wheels cars are cool, and I haven't had any problems with the cheaper sets (I wouldn't buy a bigger one so maybe that's where the problems are?) I do think they are tat but for a tenner or so to see the DS's face light up... I think it's worth it. Had been toying with the idea of the shark one, but after reading this thread think maybe not?

Fifi Forgetmenot's deluxe cottage or whatever it was, and Peppa Pig's house - both total PANTS. If they were a tenner maybe, but for £30 odd for tiny annoying bits of plastic that even I just want to chuck across the room - no thanks!

..... thats most of the xmas list at mine bined then !.
the worst toy ive ever bought was the peppa pig interactive book thingy! it falls apart and the inside is tiny paper .... oh and came with stickers - flea sized stickers ! hate it with a vengence! will try find link .

www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3491984/Trail/serchtext%3EPEPPA+PIG.htm tis pile of pig shite! -

Coin maker nightmare
Moon sand evil
Bukaroo pile of crap

Enjoy xmas

Spotted today that Sainsbury's do a car race track set very similar to that Darda one- much like the hotwheels track sets you used to get in ye olden days, with a pull back and go car. It's half price 8 quid in sainsbury's at the mo. Possibly not as high quality as the Darda one, but at that price it's not such a problem,methinks!

PS I don't work for Sainsburys, BTW

Thanks for that tip Pinxy -will check it out. Must be better than trying to order direct from Germany!

My conclusion after 3 DC, over the last 13yrs.

I dread to think how much money has been wasted on rubbish ,c**p useless Christmas presents.

Every craft/baking/knitting/sewing/sand kit all totally,annoying money wasting rubbish.

The best ever money well spent include:
Books
Dolls: Baby Benjamin/Annabel.
Wooden cot/Abacus.
The Klutz bubble wand and book (10.00)

Lego

Wooden doll's house.

Rail/Road set.

moneysavingtip! That klutz bubble book recommended by Malung is under £7 at tesco books.

ooo-er have sent dd to a sleepover tonight with gold coin maker. Got for xmas, still not opened. Sorry to her friend's mum

Aw, we love Elefun! Well, me and DD1 do. DD2 cries as soon as she sees it come out the box, lol

spiderman web blaster ...I've still got stains on my floors and walls today !! But probably the worst was Teksta. He's a ridiculous plastic dog that was advertised really cleverly (aren't they all!) but a complete waste of money. I still wonder if I got a faulty one but apparantly not ... HUGE disappointment

Peeks through fingers and asks tentatively...

Are Mr Maker craft kits any good for an almost 5yr old?

And are Ikea hama beads as good as the proper hama beads? (again for said almost 5yr old?
TIA (I think)

Scrappy I've never had the proper hama beads but we bought a tub of the Ikea ones in the sale last January and they worked really well.

Moon Sand is truly shite. It NEVER looks like it does on the telly

Oh oh oh! Must just add:

Piranha Panic. World's least fun game.

never get anything involving 'kitchen science' making slime out of red cabbage or lemons or something - you are guaranteed to never have the right ingredients in the cupboards.

also never try and grow crystals.

and those rock polishing things - thy take weeks and weeks and are really noisy.

Pinxy - I got that car & track thing from Sainsburys so thanks for the tip! Only one car comes with it and I couldn't see any others there that might go with it... if anyone else has it I'd love to know if you can get extra cars anywhere.(It's Sainsburys own-brand High Speed Track set - currently £8.99 reduced from £17.99)

Another vote for Mousetrap here. My sister and I spent hours playing it.

Reckon it's probably better for older children who can assemble it themselves.

OOh I loved MouseTrap. too.

Nancy I hope it's a good set. I bet you can get other pull back and go cars. Hotwheels used to do them, I wonder if matchbox do.

Pinky it's NB here under a new name - just wanted to say that the Sainsbury's car & track set works really well and all 3 dcs have had great fun playing with it - so many thanks for the tip!