Am I crazy to be thinking about their birthdays already? Do these prices seem ok to you?

[elaineandmichaelsmommy]

Both of the kids have their birthdays in the first 8 days of november. So it makes sense to buy ahead. I've been considering buying ryans room dollhouse furniture for dd and we'll be buying a train table in the next few days. I went to the local independant toy store today and looked at prices and I was just wondering if anyone could tell me if you've seen better anywhere.
RR furniture was anywhere from 12-20 dollars a set. Ravensburg puzzles for 10. M&D puzzles for about 17. Bilibo was 30. The tub toy I looked at and liked was 17 it was three pieces that suctioned onto the tub and they can pour water into it and it spins and there's a waterfall,fun huh?
Ds just kept going back and back to the 200 dollar wooden kitchen(yikes!). No way is that happening. He seemed to take an interest in the Schleich animals but I'm worried that they might be hazerdous. He likes the trains,but mostly just ran around the store. I'm still undecided about what to get him. But dd is turning 5 and has some very definate things that she's into right now. Thank god it's not bratz or barbie. Let me know what you think about the prices and if you think they're high could you let me know where you've seen lower. Thanks so very much.

[Babywhite]

Don't feel bad, I'm working on Christmas presents! :) We have 11 friends/cousins birthday parties b/w April and October...then Christmas hits! I start after Christmas looking for good deals for birthdays. Once I finish those -- I start looking for Christmas presents again!

DH and I have decided that Santa is going to bring DD (age 3) a Ryan's Room dollhouse for Christmas this year. I am heading to Tuesday Morning this week to start looking at prices for furniture (if they have any). I'll let you know if I find anything!

Note: We got DD a Kidcraft wooden kitchen at Costco (during the Christmas season) for $99 a couple of years ago. It has held up extremely well -- no chipping of paint, problems, etc. I have been able to find most M&D puzzles for @ $10. I even found the M&D fishing magnet puzzle for $5 at Tuesday Morning.

RW

[babyready]

Those prices seem about the same as the independent toy stores around here. Tuesday morning has great prices if you can't hunt down furniture but I haven't seen any furniture there recently. Just a dollhouse and fire station. TJ Maxx or Marshall's carries some M&D stuff.

We also had a store where I used to live called The Children's Orchard. They are a franchise that does new and used children's items. They carried a good selection of quality toys for much less than the other stores in town. Not sure if this is an option for you, plus I think they vary a lot from place to place.

You can look on-line too. Kidsurplus.com has good prices but sometimes the shipping makes it less of a deal. Also, look at ebay. With the plan toys furniture (which I think complements the Ryan's Room stuff nicely) being so cheap recently on amazon, there will probably be some deals on ebay for it.

And you can definitely get a kitchen for less than $200 if DS would really like it. We got one in October for dd's birthday and it gets used EVERY DAY! It is just the $80 Target one but it works.

HTH!