Wednesday, November 2, 2011

The "IT" Toy

Ok, I fully admit before I had kids I remember thinking the people trampling each other for Tickle Me Elmo were certifiable. I also remember a Christmas or two as a kid where I either didn't get my heart's desire or it didn't work. Somewhere between a childless person's lack of understanding and a child's disappointment when the magic of Christmas lets them down is the true reality of a parent on the trail of their child's desired toy at Christmas.

Last year it was the Mickey Mouse that danced. People were getting twice what he retailed for on Ebay. Greedy soulless people who went to toy stores in September/October and bought toys so they could exploit desperate parents in the holiday season. I looked for him earlier in the year, but there were never any on the shelf. I was going to skip it, but I ended up buying one on Ebay. What can I say? I love Christmas and it was such a cool toy. We'd had a rough end to the year that year the kids deserved a big Christmas.

The year before that Isaac wanted this stupid wrist watch thingy that figures snapped onto and lit up. To find it and the figures that went with it took months and was so stressful. We're talking multiple WalMart trips in December (shudder). We didn't have resort to Ebay in this case. By the time we found it I would've paid more to have been able to skip all the work.

This year Riley wanted a certain doll. I bought her early because I'm trying to spread out Christmas expenses and keep them in check. Plus I was there and she was on sale, yay! When I bought her she was one of only two on the shelf, in October. Maybe they'll get five more shipments before December, but somehow I doubt it. When I got home I looked up a different toy and found people selling the doll I'd just purchased for two and even three times what I had just paid. Where do they get off?

Do the toy companies do this on purpose? Are they controlling supply to drive up prices like with diamonds? I bet they do. It's endlessly frustrating and a little cruel.

The kicker is that the stupid Omnitrix thing we tracked down for Isaac was broken a month later.

1 comment:

  1. "The kicker is that the stupid Omnitrix thing we tracked down for Isaac was broken a month later.”


    This gets worse as the kids get older. It breaks or doesn’t ever work or has no appeal after it is unwrapped. We opted out of the Xmas mess many years ago and when we feel that someone we know and love pops into our minds while we are living-that’s the time I send a gift of remembrance or a card with a Gift Card in it. I refuse to be led down the bankruptcy path by the likes of madison avenue.

    YMMV

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