Toys that were a sad dissapointment and why

[janeybwild]

While I understand that what one kiddo loves another may hate, but there are some toys that I wish I had know certain things about before opening them. So here goes for my top 5:

Leapfrog Pretend and Learn cash register : starts at FULL volume, coins and scan things don't store in it, coins get constantly stuck which necessitates a screwdriver to open the handy dandy door that they apparently figured out they needed to fix the crappy design. All the settings are not useful for the under 5 crowd. They just want to put the coins in and watch them come out and open and close the drawer.

Thomas Aquadoodle: A soggy disappointment that takes too long to dry to be useful for more than 5 minutes

Fisher price gum ball Roll arounds: why would you make a toy that doesn't even store all the balls in?

Fisher Price Peek a blocks wagon: it takes up a lot of space and just isn't fun.

Doodle Pro bear : what a good idea, teach my child to draw on fabric!

Care to share?

[just_teachin]

Oh, yes. The TMX Elmo. I won one on the local radio station the week they became available last year. I thought about selling it on ebay, but despite being a not-too-many-toys-have-batteries-family, I saved it for my Elmo-crazed DD's birthday in November.

She was terrified of it. She grabbed it and hugged it until it stopped shaking.

And it's sat in a closet ever since.

* * *

And I have to second the peek-a-blocks, but only because DD wasn't into spacially oriented toys...


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Heather
Mommy to Corinne, almost three!!
6/7 SAHM, 1/7 Kdg-8th grade music teacher; 7/7 Bargain Huntress
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_sapphire_24m.gif Proudly breastfed for 24 months and 7 days! Corinne has self-weaned!

[MMMommy]

Toys that disappointed in our house:

My First Leappad and LittleTouch Leappad. Both were gifts a couple of years ago from a relative, so I can't complain about wasting money. I honestly think the My First Leappad and LittleTouch Leappads were misses b/c they were too young at the time to care or find it interesting. But now they are too "old" to care or find them interesting. We're giving DD1 a Leapster L-Max for her 4th birthday b/c she shows interest and it seems more age appropriate now. We'll see....

Doodle Bear

TMX Elmo--my girls were fascinated AND scared

Sit n' Spin--I thought this would have been a hit, but a total miss.

Stuffed animals--aside from two favorites (a duck and a koala), these just gather dust.

[kijip]

Maybe this is just my kid, but Toby could not stand the Rody Pony. He was 2 and 1/2 and it scared him half to death. Grandpa returned it the next day (it was a gift from him) and let him pick out train stuff with the money.

Fisher Price LP sets- my brother gave these to Toby at every opportunity from age 1 to 3 and they never, ever got played with for more than 10 minutes. I ended up giving them away every 6 months or so on CL.

[fivi2]

Laugh and Learn Learning Home - I bought this for my twins just before their first birthday. They are now almost 2, and honestly have played with it about 5 times. I hate huge noisy toys but had heard such good things I caved. Ugghh.

Also the Parents big play cube - the zoo one. Can't remember the exact name - wood cube (big) with bead maze on top and diffeerent activies on all sides. They almost never play with that.

The Parents Bee Bop band (instuments in a drum). It is adorable, but even non-musical me thinks the quality of the instruments is bad. They rarely play with it - other than to beat each other with the drum sticks.

[DrSally]

I second the roll arounds toys. We have a peak-a-blocks fish and it was really worthless.

[nicknack]

Yep, we had that fish too (luckily it was cheap at Tuesday Morning) and Maeve hardly played with it. She liked the roll around gumball machine thingy slightly better.

DS liked the Incrediblock a lot when he was a baby but DD not so much. I think that's because she likes everything that's DS's and not age appropriate for her!

[nicknack]

Sadly, DS didn't play with the Plan Toys garage as much as I would have hoped. I don't know why, maybe because it seems a bit low to the ground and you can't see well into every level (if that makes any sense).

That was the most sad, I think.

[willow33]

By far the biggest disappointment was the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. The pieces don't stay attached and it is rarely, if ever, played with.

[Pennylane]

Here were some big flops at our house.

Doodle Bear: it was drawn on once and then thrown away.

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Oh, how I wish I would have sold it all on Ebay and made some $$!

Remote Control Tonka Cement Truck: boring and broke after a few uses.

Ann

[Canna]

Mr. and Mrs. Potato head - DD has always been afraid of them, even now at almost three. She won't go near them! Thinks they're really scary.

Corolle Calin doll - I spent so much time agonizing over the selection of the perfect doll for DD's first birthday. *I* love Calin. But DD has never played with her much. She prefers any stuffed animal to a doll. Turns out she's not a doll kid. I still keep having the urge to buy more of them for her, thinking maybe I just haven't found the right one!

[giavila]

Ditto the Peek a blocks. We had the train and the shape sorter (both were gifts). DD1 did not care for them too much.

But the biggest disappointment would be the LP sets. I got her a couple when she was around 1 thinking they would be hits and she never played with them longer than 5-10 minutes. We still have them and I bring them out once in awhile to see if she would be interested now and she still doesn't care.

[MMMommy]

Peek-a-Blocks Shape Sorter was a disappointment for DD2 at the time.

[bubbaray]

Peak-a-blocks (gifts and purchases) -- which one? We have too many and neither child really liked any of them. Wagon is stupid. We also have the roll-a-round turtle, the giraffe. They both liked the train, though.

TMX Elmo (purchase). I liked him more than DD#1. DD#2 is scared of him.

Corolle Calin (gift). DD#1 never liked hers. Not sure why. I persist and purchased a second Calin that looks more like DD#2 in the hopes that she will like it. I'm hoping DD#1 will like hers more when DD#2 starts to play with the one I got her.

Little Touch LeapPad (gift). Neither really liked this toy, other than to chew on the cartridges.




Melissa

DD#1: 04/2004

DD#2: 01/2007

[rlu]

On the other hand, my DS loves the sit and spin he has at my folks.

Misses - mainly already listed

Little People - I played with these as a child but DS just ignores them. Might try again with a set with a vehicle (need to research what is available, school bus, train or if I'm really lucky they have some sort of garbage truck)

Weebles - shunned for a while and then thrown as a ball - put away and now I can't find them

Stuffed animals except his beloved Clifford

Not a toy but the toddler-sized pillow and handmade pillow cases were tossed off his bed each night and now reside on my rocking chair.

[nicknack]

Yeah, I think it was on the train table at one point. He'll still play with it every now and then (actually played with it today), I had just expected it to be that "WOW!" gift and it really wasn't.

[mimieliza]

The Leap Frog drum. I showed this to DD in the store, and she seemed to love it, so I got it for her birthday. It's noisy, and doesn't really respond to the baby - you can hardly hear when they are "playing" the drum over the loud music it plays. It's also heavy and hard, and DD has dropped it on my feet and her own feet several times.

We ended up getting a plain, no batteries drum as a gift from someone else and she LOVES IT!

[chlobo]

Magnatiles - DD get's so frustrated that she can't put them together the way she wants & that they collapse too easily. No sturdy.

[clc053103]

Peek a blocks

FP Bounce and Spin Zebra (fun for 30 seconds!)

Baby V smile- and the sound of that woman's voice is like nails on a chalkboard.

[Tondi G]

I second this one! My boys each played with it maybe a few times and it has sat collecting dust since last christmas! Not to mention the elevator broke off about 2 weeks after we got it! BIG BUMMER!

My DS loves the wooden trucks and cars from Plan Toys that we got to go with it but the garage was the "big" thing and it was a dissapointment.

[janeybwild]

>FP Bounce and Spin Zebra (fun for 30 seconds!)
>
Oh oh. CJ just got this as a gift for his b'day. The kids were all over it on day 1, but not since. It sure takes up a lot of floor space!

[August Mom]

Automoblox - at first DS didn't like it because we just had 1 and he wanted to mix them together; then we got a second and he played with them the first day but they don't interest him much since - not really enough ways to mix and match and the wheels don't stand up to play by a preschool boy

[TahliasMom]

Aquadoodle - never really a big hit. dd prefers to scribble on paper

Doodle Cat - yeah drawing on fabric was not a smart concept

TMX Elmo - was a gift. dd had zero interest in it and once in a while it comes out of the closet. she tries to hug him and tell him to relax...

LP Fisher Price sets - hit and miss, not sure

On the other hand, DD loves her interblock and those peek a boo blocks. haha. she's 3.5 and i'm trying to get rid of it but she won't let go.

[KrisM]

FP Little People and Weebles were a miss with DS. Fortunately, DD is liking them.

Workbench and tools - I thought he'd love them, but they have been ignored for 2 years now.

I'm glad it gets easier as they're older - trains are a sure bet this year :).

[KrisM]

FP Little People and Weebles were a miss with DS. Fortunately, DD is liking them.

Workbench and tools - I thought he'd love them, but they have been ignored for 2 years now.

I'm glad it gets easier as they're older - trains are a sure bet this year :).

[JBaxter]

peek a blocks -- just boarding
TMX elmo AND elmo knows your name not a big hit
Duplo blocks didnt like at all
My fist leap pad -- to hard to use
all little people EXCEPT the darned faires wheel He spins that thing still