"Why does that cost SO MUCH when it is SO LITTLE Mummy?"

[FrannyandZooey]

asked ds today about Sylvanian Families stuff. Any ideas? And are there cheaper, similar brands, because he is coveting it a bit

(quite proud, that my 4 y o knew that 6 pounds was a rip off, for 2 plastic chairs and a squirrel wearing an apron, tbh)

Could say the same about Playmobil! 2 plastic cats with moving heads (2 cm each), and a mouse the size of my pinky nail, and a 'person' of indiscriminate gender .....£5.99

The cry of glee when he sees "The tiniest cats in the world, mummy!" ... Priceless.

I think the real question is "why is something so cheap and plasticky actually legal?"

ds adores the stuff, it is so vile. They kind of remind me of these

and then there then go bald quite quickly. And THEN what are you meant to do? You can't bin them as they have faces.

Ah playmobil starts from about £3 for a set though doesn't it? Cheapest thing in Sylvania appears to be six quid

rofl @ 'you can't bin them as they have faces'

yes, Franny, it starts at about £3, but all you get is a plasic bowl and a spare Playmobil-person harpiece.

this is untrue

can you not get that baby giraffe and keeper for £3?

Ah we should just be whittling our kids toys out of a stick and a hairpin, surely.

we have been buying paco animals today.
Menly blue stickers and perhaps a red one (the cheapest)

DD1; but i want a gorilla
DS; horsy horsey horsey

come away with 2 green stickered animals

bah humbug
better value than sylvanian families, blue 1.99, red 2.49, green 2.99 and so on reaching dizzy heights of £5

playmobil specials are £1.99 and excellent - a figure plus accssories. All those tiny bits to lose

yes yes the playmobil plumber was £1.99 I think and he has a box of tools and a sink that looks like a toilet

ds wants small furry creatures dressed in gingham and lace caps, though

it is called The Market
you could use it as a spring board to a long discussion about capitalism, the free market, the trickle down effect and how it has been debunked andhow David Cameron will never be PM.
have fun!

Oh I did do that bit

I said "well some people that make toys are a bit naughty, they want to make lots of money and they know that children really really like their toys, so they think "Let's charge as much as we can and get all the children's money." So we're going to buy plasticine instead."

Did he understand that?
no disappointed sad face....

Hmm, what do you think?

No seriously, he had already clocked that it was too expensive himself, when I told him it was 6 pounds. Like I say, I was impressed at his total and immediate grasp of the situation, which was, small flock animals = shocking rip off

Sylvanian Families are grim. And this is from a person who could play with Playmobil and Lego all night, I love them. I remember when I first saw some SF stuff - a friend's 7yo daughter had loads and was showing it to me - after about 5 mins I realised it would be nice to wipe the look of horrified disgust off my face. They're just so tacky and they're like ornaments, not toys. Can't stand their icky cheapo velvetyness

Bin the bastards filly!

Oh and he wouldn't play with the vast and beauteous rainbow selection of plasticine we got because it was "too new". He cried about it - (I wish I was making this up) "I can't play with it when it's like this, I have to wait until it's got hairs in it and then I can pick them out."

It's been that kind of day, really.

yes at 4 that is impressive.
Mine 3.5 and 2 have no clue
but they sometimes get clues from their mother's sharp intake of breath at the cash register and a stifled 'how much?'
lol at him wanting plastic animals in gingham btw
DS in love with horses and babies currently

yes WHAT does that tacky fuzziness remind me of?

it triggers a half-buried teenage memory, but I can't think WHAT.

Am pretty sure its not something I ever told my parents about, but I can't quite place it. Anyway, they look icky.

my little ponies perhaps
cabbage patch kids uurgh
brambly hedge?
my little sister was simply crazy for all

oh ds loves babies also

oh yes

he saw a baby today. He stood there for about 5 minutes staring at it, saying reverantly "mummy that baby boy is so SMALL and WONDERFUL. Soon WE will have a baby like that little boy, we are SO lucky."

The parents were very gallant, and even let him look closely at what was clearly their very new pfb, nodding as he told them that it was a boy like him, even though this child was dressed in every shade of pink ever seen, had a thing attatched to its buggy saying "princess on board" and was wearing a t shirt saying "daddy's little angel".

DD has just had some SF for her birthday. It was a nightmare choosing them. She said she wanted just the babies so I ended up buying a little windmill house and some tiny baby SF animals to live in it . I still don't understand it all but she was very happy and has played with them a lot - just as well really considering the cost!

I am more fond of Playmobil and Lego. Thank god my other two seem more into that .

no, DR, i did not play with those things as a teenager, honestly

I'll believe you filly although am smiling and laughing at your DS and the baby.
My two adore babies and will attacht themselves to any family with a baby member, offer to help carry the baby and feed it etc. Suprisingly no-one takes them up on it.

Filly, I know exactly what you mean... is it some kind of horrible ultra-cheapo gewgaw, the kind you win at a scary fairground? In my memory, whatever it was that had that hideous velvet-thinly-scraped-over-tacky-plastic texture was also electric blue in colour.

Time to start the bi-annual munter conversation of The Evils of Marketing, perhaps

Has he ever seen a little diamond?