what toys do you regret buying

[elephantmeg]

I've been working on the kids' toys and I'm sitting here going "duhhh!" why did I buy this crap???

Top list
-silly bands (way too many!)
-squinkies
-strawberry shortcake dolls (potty prizes for DD)-although I imagine she'll grow into them at some point, lol!
-cheap junk from the dollar store (more potty prizes-on the upside she did completely potty train at 2.5!)
-holiday stuffed animals-I still find myself wanting to buy them but at the same time I hate them! I store most of them in with that season's decorations but still...
-just too much of any given thing. DS was really into dress up so I bought a ton and now it's too overwhelming I think...

What's on your list?

[SnuggleBuggles]

I've been working on the kids' toys and I'm sitting here going "duhhh!" why did I buy this crap???

Top list
-silly bands (way too many!)
-squinkies
-strawberry shortcake dolls (potty prizes for DD)-although I imagine she'll grow into them at some point, lol!
-cheap junk from the dollar store (more potty prizes-on the upside she did completely potty train at 2.5!)
-holiday stuffed animals-I still find myself wanting to buy them but at the same time I hate them! I store most of them in with that season's decorations but still...
-just too much of any given thing. DS was really into dress up so I bought a ton and now it's too overwhelming I think...

What's on your list?

Minus Strawberry Shortcake ITA with that list! Add to that some (most) of the toys ds1 has bought at yard sales and such.

Getting sucked into collecting stuff. Like getting all the Little People sets, and then have them be played with rarely. The thrill was in the hunt for ds1 and I and then being able to set up our LP village just like the brochure. Exception is Lego minifigures- those are just cool. :)

Too many character driven things when ds1 was little, but that was mostly clothes more than toys.

Beth

[GvilleGirl]

The Fisher Price Ball Popper. It is SO loud! It often "broken".

[KrisM]

The Fisher Price Ball Popper. It is SO loud! It often "broken".

I've seen that mentioned (assuming it's the Playskool one) and we loved it! I wonder if the volume is higher now. Our is 6 years old.

My list:
**Tinkertoys - no one plays with them and they get dumped
**Block puzzles that make 6 pictures - way too easy with only 9 blocks
**xylophones
**Big bin of Duplos - never much got played with. DS2 now loves the sets he got for Christmas. I plan to keep a handful from the bin and sell the rest.

[veronica]

Little people
squinkies
laugh and learn puppy
automoblox were never played with here
haba ball track. It is gorgeous but both DC's were like "who cares?"

[LMPC]

All of the ride on toys I bought her...I should have really just stuck with one...or none. She has such little interest in them!

[KpbS]

Tinkertoys! They end up all over my house and 90% of the time they are just used to build weapons, which get broken into a billion pieces all over the house. I can't believe I haven't pitched them yet.

[artvandalay]

Tinkertoys! They end up all over my house and 90% of the time they are just used to build weapons, which get broken into a billion pieces all over the house. I can't believe I haven't pitched them yet.

lol.... this is the same scenerio in our house except the boys use Lincoln Logs.

I second Little People. My boys never ever played with them.... and I thought they were so cute! Hopefully dd will like them.

[bubbaray]

Build A Bears. OMG. I am overrun with BABs. I mean, the first 20 are cute and all, but SERIOUSLY. We have a problem here.

I also hate loathe and despise Lego (yes, lets make a toy with sharp pointy pieces so that parents can step on them in the night) and Tinkertoys (ditto).

I'm not fond of Barbie because none of her d@mn clothes fit -- they are just brutal to get on. At least the Disney Princess clothes fit.

Anything LeapFrog is the work of the devil.

Oh, and lets talk Moon Sand. The famous gift from my CLEANING LADY. Um, yeah. Thanks.

[RunnerDuck]

Oh, and lets talk Moon Sand. The famous gift from my CLEANING LADY. Um, yeah. Thanks.

Moon sand is EVIL.

Any time I see a toy like that described as "never dries out!" I think "yeah, you clearly have no children, do you?" about the man who invented it. What is that other evil one, floam? The styrofoam balls in gooey stuff? Moon sand is worse though. never dries out so you can NEVER clean it up.

I regret buying little people. My kids ignore them but I feel like I can't get rid of them because what if they decide they like them some day??? But I do have a feeling the farm and house's days are numbered.

I regret buying the plan toys parking garage. I didn't know it would make me insane. But at the same time it's so damn cute I love to look at it...

For the most part my purchases have been pretty well thought out though...

[WatchingThemGrow]

I think it is just the volume of it all. We are swimming in toys and need to move because of it.

[Staraglimmer]

I loved my little people (the ones without arms that you could put on your fingers). DD has thenew little people and they just sit there.

Also, all of her talking/learning leapfrog/fisher price stuffed animals..they are only played with for about 60 sec. each about once a month.

Too many balls, too many stuffed animals....ugh

[Neatfreak]

Cherry Blossom Market - my kids just tip it over to make a tent. It's sort of an expensive tent!

Hi Ho Cherry-O - it's boring and has tiny pieces, so double whammy

Polly Pocket and her imitators - again, little pieces, and DD1 still gets too frustrated trying to put on the clothes!

[lhafer]

The Fisher Price Ball Popper. It is SO loud! It often "broken".

I've seen that this thing is actually above the safe decible level!!

http://www.wakulla.com/Community/Community_Columnists/Keenan's_Kids_Foundation_Announces_10_Most_Dangero us_Toys_for_2009_200912029113/

[RunnerDuck]

The complaints about the ball popper are so weird to me. I don't remember ours being that loud. But I hated it because 1. we have hardwood floors so the balls would REALLY run away and 2. I got tired of extracting farmer jed, string cheese, duplos, etc from it.

[elephantmeg]

re the ball popper, I wonder if some people are talking about this

http://www.amazon.com/Fisher-Price-Corn-Popper-Push-Toy/dp/B00000IZOU/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1296053537&sr=8-4

and other about this
http://www.amazon.com/Playskool-Explore-Grow-Busy-Popper/dp/B002B555QQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1296053537&sr=8-1

[WolfpackMom]

So far there arent any we have bought that I regret - probably because the bulk of his toys have been gifts.

Gifts that I wish DS hadnt received though...thats for another thread. The ball popper is definitely one of them.

[MoJo]

Only regrets I've bought have been stuffed animals. Thankfully, Jelly Bean was willing to donate two bags full yesterday! :cheerleader1: (*I* didn't get her two bags full. EVERYONE has been giving her animals, and she just never plays with them.)

The Playskool Ball Popper is the worst gift we've rec'd. Jelly Bean hated it from the moment we tried it, and she doesn't complain about much.

She has the old school FP one and used to play with it a lot; I expect Ha will be using it soon. I didn't realize the new corn poppers are battery operated!

[goldenpig]

Got the Playskool Busy Ball Popper for DS for Christmas because DD has always loved playing with it at other people's houses. Didn't realize at first how loud it was when we were at Nana's for the holidays, when there were 5 cousins and 3 dogs running around all the time. That one is going away now...even DD says it's too loud.

And the worst one...Lucky Ducks game. I bought it because DD loves yellow ducks. That is the loudest most obnoxious toy ever. Donated!

[zag95]

I regret allowing my MIL to give DH his toys to use with DD- many of them are either dangerous (3 legged stool that has a magnify glass on the top part of the stool), not age appropriate (a bead necklace at the age of 1 for kids ages 4 and up), or incomplete (the little people castle from the late 70s- without any of the people or accessories- what are we supposed to do with it?!!)

I put them all away...

Perhaps this should go in the griping section?!!

[WolfpackMom]

Oh forgot to add, for those that hate the noisy ball popper. I used a piece of fabric, folded it up into a multi-layered square and then duct taped it over the speaker. Its still loud, but is an improvement. Getting rid of it wasnt an option for us because SIL would check for it to be out when she is over (like she did this past weekend).

[RunnerDuck]

I have heard of putting a piece (or more) of packing tape over the speaker to dampen sounds of obnoxious toys.

[Minnifer]

Freakin' zhu zhu hamster - got sucked into the hype last Christmas, and DD's hair got sucked into the wheels on the thing during the whopping 2 seconds I looked away. Buh-bye hamster.

[lizzywednesday]

I regret allowing my MIL to give DH his toys to use with DD- many of them are either dangerous (3 legged stool that has a magnify glass on the top part of the stool), not age appropriate (a bead necklace at the age of 1 for kids ages 4 and up), or incomplete (the little people castle from the late 70s- without any of the people or accessories- what are we supposed to do with it?!!)

I put them all away...

Perhaps this should go in the griping section?!!

Nah, maybe we should start a spin-off thread.

[AnnieW625]

Really I don't have many, but I bought an Automoblox Mini thinking it was a regular size on Amazon (I had never seen these before) and it wasn't much bigger than a Matchbox car and I wanted to give it as a gift to one of DD1's little boy friends, but felt it would look cheap if we just gave that. DD1 plays with it every so often, but really it's the one toy bust in our house in my mind.

[liamsmom]

Well, there's no way I'm buying a ball popper after reading this thread! :ROTFLMAO:

I wish I hadn't bought the Melissa & Doug wooden stacking rings. I think plastic ones would have been just fine and a lot safer. DS likes to use the stacking base like a hammer. And the wooden red ball that sits on top of the rings is always underfoot in my house. One of these days, someone (most likely me) is going to step on it and get wiped out.

[lizzywednesday]

Well, there's no way I'm buying a ball popper after reading this thread! :ROTFLMAO:

I wish I hadn't bought the Melissa & Doug wooden stacking rings. I think plastic ones would have been just fine and a lot safer. DS likes to use the stacking base like a hammer. And the wooden red ball that sits on top of the rings is always underfoot in my house. One of these days, someone (most likely me) is going to step on it and get wiped out.

We have the triple-peg stacker which has 3 types of shapes - squares, octagons and rings - but DD goes for the red ball first.

She likes to chew on it. Then she likes to throw it.

All the same, I don't regret buying it.

[DebbieJ]

The Fisher Price Ball Popper. It is SO loud! It often "broken".

We LOVE the Ball Popper here (yes, it's Playskool) but you're right--it's VERY loud. It has been banished to ds2's room and will NOT be coming back out into a common area.

[lele]

M&D piano :duh:bad decision!! thhey just bang on it.

[AshleyAnn]

Well, there's no way I'm buying a ball popper after reading this thread! :ROTFLMAO:


I'm not sure if they've changed it recently or I'm more tolerant to noise but really its not nearly as loud as I anticipated it being from the reviews here. DD is 14 months and LOVES it so I hear it play a lot and think its sounds are kinda cute. Its slightly louder than her other noisy toys but not ear spliting - think loud setting on toys with a volume setting.

[MamaMolly]

Hoo-boy!
This week it would be:
squinkies. WHAT was I thinking??? There is a reason the big box with the gum machine like dispenser was only $2. It didn't work out of the package. Those things are horrible...at least when you have an infant in the house. They are currently on top of the fridge and I pray Lula forgets about them.

The friggin' singing birthday Dora my sister sent. It was a extra that her daughter got (the grandmas were fighting over who got to give it to D Niece). She sent it last week. Lula's birthday is in September. It is SO LOUD. I hate it with the heat of 1,000 suns. If it were quiet I'd actually not mind it being around.

I'm also bummed about the Little People. I thought they'd get a lot more play. Luckily they are almost all garage sale finds, so we aren't out big $$$.

[RunnerDuck]

I returned it right away but - Haba Cathedral Blocks. They looked so neat. But they were awfully $$$. But I thought they might be fun. Hmmmm. SOOOOO little to the set, and they were slippery and hard to work with. I sent them back. DS was like, what's in the box? I said something I bought for the babies, but it's dumb. He wanted to see - he looked and was like, yeah, that's dumb, why would you buy those? :rotflmao:

I was like OK, I will consult you before I buy things now.

So when that 1/2 price giant rainbow thread was just up... I almost pulled the trigger... but I asked him and he was like, ehhh... looks kinda dumb... I decided to listen. I have a strong feeling that would have become another "what was I thinking?" purchase. I mean it's cute and all but how many variations on a theme do you really need? We have things that nest. We have things that stack.

[bigsis]

ITA about the Little People. I have spent about $200 for the 6-8 sets that I have so I have such a hard time just Freecycling the entire lot.

I also regret:
-Bumblebee helmet for DS
-Fur Real Puppy (why don't i just burn $40 dollars, at least I won't have it to clean up)
-Legos (the itty-bitty ones! the Mega Bloks got a lot more play time)
-Step 2 train table (that $100 toy got $5 in play time)
-Build-a-Bear---that's great for 2 days
-VSmile

there's too many to count. I'm from a third-world country. As far as I'm concerned, clothes are legitimate gifts. Tell that to my DS!

[RunnerDuck]

ITA about the Little People. I have spent about $200 for the 6-8 sets that I have so I have such a hard time just Freecycling the entire lot.

I also regret:
-Bumblebee helmet for DS

Is this like a BIG full face helmet that makes noise? We got a star wars one for DS and I HATE it. It is always breaking in half (supposed to). It makes obnoxious noise. It takes up so much room in the dress up bin. It really doesn't seem to fit anyone well. But when I try to get rid of it, he has a cow.

I seem to think he asked for a bumblebee one, too, and I said NO. You already have a star wars one!!! (It's white, in my day it would have been a storm trooper, but I think it's something else with the new star wars...)

[sunshine873]

I have to disagree about the Playskool ball popper. DD loved it when we bought it last Christmas, & still loves it today. I've enjoyed watching her learn to pick up the balls, learn how to start it herself, and now she's figured out where the balls come out, where they go back in, and how they make their way back through. If it's too loud, put some tape over the speaker. We bought it after many, many good reviews on here and I don't regret it one bit.

[7pages]

I regret buying Connectagons! My kids never play with them and they were pricey!! :(

[wimama]

re the ball popper, I wonder if some people are talking about this

http://www.amazon.com/Fisher-Price-Corn-Popper-Push-Toy/dp/B00000IZOU/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1296053537&sr=8-4

and other about this
http://www.amazon.com/Playskool-Explore-Grow-Busy-Popper/dp/B002B555QQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1296053537&sr=8-1

We had the Fisher Price Popper Push toy and we liked it. That Playskool ball popper was a present. So, loud and it spewed balls all over. The really rolled far on our hardwood floors. And, then DS discovered he could put things down that hole. Little People mainly. They go in just fine , but are a PITA to get out.

Our biggest opps was Rocky the Dump truck. DS loved it in the store. Once he had it at home. It board him and he played with it all of like 3 times in a year. What a waste of money.