If you dislike character toys

[nappyaddict]

Is it because of the extra expense (I have seen quite a lot of stuff that isn't really any more expensive than non-character toys especially when it is on offer or if you buy it second hand)

Is it because of the marketing aimed at children (aren't all toys marketed at children if they are on TV adverts etc?)

Or some other reason?

I generally try to avoid all of it, it just feels like it's so forced.. and I do feel quite strongly about, as a pp so eloquently put it, children being primed into brand loyalty through pester power.

(That is aside from my other big reason, which I stand by, that children are better playing with more open-ended toys).

And fwiw mine don't see ads yet.. they watch DVDs. They're 3 and 5 now, and I'm still getting away with it

Just realised I made it sound like I'm not grateful for the other comments so thanks to everyone who has posted :) I said thankyou specifically to AngelDog because I sent her a message asking her to return to this thread!

ohoh, I like them! (some anyway). Is it OK if I explain why? DS (5) has never watched Ben 10 on telly, but he likes that it's a boy superhero that looks like him. He has a Ben 10 toy and some of the monsters, and he has made up his own stories about it, he has built his own character around Ben 10, and makes up stories with beginning/middle/end and he does 'plays' for us. He does the same thing with his spiderman lego, he builds walls and stories and enjoys telling us his made up stories. He also started to ask for a Harry Potter toy, and he has a wand, and he makes up his own stories about a boy wizzard.

Yes, that's right about the Beatrix Potter toy, OP.

I would definitely buy the original books - Beatrix Potter, Winnie the Pooh, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Thomas the Tank Engine etc because I think they're all good, well-written literature (which is why they've been so successful in generating spin-offs IMO).

But I wouldn't buy other stuff associated with them eg plate & cutlery sets, clothes, toys etc.

I wouldn't refuse to buy comics but I'd be reluctant to end up buying them every time they came out as I think that works in the same way as the 'collect them all' mentality. But we are skint (and probably will be for years yet) and all DS's stuff is presents, from the library, or second-hand so we'd be unlikely to pay for something like comics.

The Hungry Caterpillar is one of my favourite baby books :)

Has anyone seen the Thomas The Tank duplo and Toy Story lego? Would you also avoid that. DS is outgrowing Duplo but all of the lego sets apart from the Toy Story ones look too hard for him.

Would any of you buy a character toothbrush or toothpaste or a character potty or toilet wipes for a child who was reluctant to brush their teeth or potty train?

Or perhaps character soap or shampoo for a child who doesn't like washing or bath time?

Soaps etc tend to be dreadful quality.. I suppose I could go along with the toothbrush.. at a push.. but again, I would be concerned that it wasn't up to much. I like the reply given by a pp" Bob the Builder doesn't know anything about teeth" !
Are you conducting some research?

Definitely not soap! It would most probably cause an allergic reaction.

Yes, we love the Very Hungry Caterpillar.

I've not seen the branded Duplo, but yes I would avoid it.

I'm a lentil weavery hippy UP-type though so (in theory) if DS were reluctant to potty train, I'd (ideally) wait till he wanted to do it, or use some other incentive for tooth cleaning / bathtime. I guess I expect DS to want to do things like that because he sees DH and me doing them, not because the objects are associated with a fictional character. DS has eczema so things like wipes / toiletries are only used if on prescription from the hospital.

(Caveat) of course I'm giving my current opinion - it hasn't been tested in practice yet!

OP is this Market research for a business venture by any chance?

It makes me laugh a little when parents won't buy character items if it's from tv, but will happily fork out for book related merchandise!

In terms of play, I find that dd mixes up all her toys, so eg buzz lightyear can be found chatting to one of her dollies etc, it doesnt seem to limit her play at all.

I would, in fact have, use a character to promote a behavior I'm struggling with otherwise - for eg dd is crap at eating fruit but I've tempted her onto tescos oranges because they have Mickey mouse on them- eventually she'll just eat any old oranges but this gets her started iyswim!

I buy stuff that I like.
Usually I dont like tacky/cheap rubbish.
Very often film/tv tie in stuff is tacky cheap rubbish.

We have got some tv stuff - a 3 inch high plastic smurf for example - because I have fond memories of the smurfs of my childhood. I dont give a fig for anything smurf related created since. My dd has a peter rabbit. We have go them because we love them. But you need to hunt for quite a long while for tv/film stuff in our house (probably could fit every single tv thing in a shoe box!)

As far as possible every single thing in my home is there because its either useful, beautiful or sentimental. The things in my home are there because I love them or because my children do.

I think you need to decide what YOU love, what you want in your home, what you would like your children to play with, what outside influences you want within your home.

So mamsnet, Peppa and AngelDog (if DS didn't have eczema) if your DC were worried about a particular thing or needed some encouragement to do it you wouldn't try a character toothbrush/toothpaste/character potty/toilet wipes/soap/shampoo, clock for learning the time or encouraging them to stay in bed until a decent time, doorsign/name plate for moving into their own room/big boy bed, pull along mini suitcase for first night away from home at grandparents, lunchbox for first day at school, pencil case/pencils/crayons/felts/playdough/paint/glitter glue/other arts & crafts things for reluctant writers etc? My friend's DD was reluctant to practise writing her name for school so her teacher advised buying some Hello Kitty pens, pencils, felts, crayons, paints, glitter glue, playdough and other arts & crafts things to get her to practise.

What do you think about Harry Potter/Pirates of the Caribbean/Star Wars/Disney Cars lego? I really like lego but I'm not even sure if they do just normal lego now all the stuff I've seen seems to be film-based. If that was the case would you just avoid lego altogether? It's a shame cos lego is such a good, imaginative toy.

Also what about the wooden brio Thomas and Chuggington trains? We haven't got any but I remember a MNer saying her DC liked to act out stories from the books and TV show using them and also inventing their own stories with them.

Not market research, although I've often thought I'd be good at that Basically I've generally steered away from character stuff cos of the money factor but have been thinking about the deeper issues connected with it and was interested to hear other people's views on the matter.

mamsnet Oral B do character toothbrushes so presumably they would be up to scratch.

They are always INCREDIBLY ugly.

A bit off topic, but I REALLY object to the Nemo/Pooh graphics on the Huggies swimming nappies. As Huggies have paid for the right to use these characters, I'm paying extra for something I don't want or need. My 3 month old doesn't yet care for Disney branded items - if there was a cheaper plain version I'd buy it.

OP, yes, I'd be reluctant to try branded anything to encourage my DS to try anything. I'm sure there are other ways of bribing offering incentives. And if DS isn't 'into' character toys, it probably wouldn't be that much of an incentive anyway. I wouldn't mind getting him train things because he's into trains, but I wouldn't get Thomas things for example.

I've not seen the branded lego sets but I would avoid them and just buy old second hand stuff if necessary as I do like lego. And yes, I'd avoid the Thomas brio etc.

We don't actively avoid character "stuff" but we don't seek it out either.

The only character toy my boys have is one Yojo (waubuloos) toy that wiggles it's ears when it's tummy was pressed. Ds1 found this hilarious and still does over a year later even though he doesn't watch waubuloos. It would have been hilarious to him even if it wasn't character based as long as the ears wriggled!

No other character toys though. It just doesn't occur to me to buy them.

Saying that, ds1 (now 2 1/2yrs old) absolutely loves the hungry caterpillar book so when he needed new bedding, we went into Next (with some vouchers we where given) and bought him The Hungry Caterpillar bedset. We try to stay fairly gender neutral so this was the only bedding next had that wasn't filled with pink fairies/prinesses or blue trucks/cars.

Plus he loves getting into bed every night with his Caterpillar bedding.

I'd love to not have a tv but Dp almost cries isn't keen on the idea.

AngelDog

I have just found these A.A. Milne original Winnie the Pooh books. However the set does also include a collection of 10 new stories written by David Benedictus called "The Return to Hundred Acre Wood"

Would you buy them with the new stories included or not?