Parentstrut: Most obnoxious gift for your kids?
Grafwritah
4,184 Posts
This year I nominate that god awful build-your-own-lightsaber kit that was extremely popular (and frequently sold out) this year.
What this should be called is the "Star Wars Ultimate Working in a Chinese Toy Factory Experience".It has about 150 million pieces, and none of them fit together very well. Actually, hardly at all. And when they say "Build your own" they mean BUILD YOUR OWN. And I don't mean like legos. I mean like you're on the assembly line in China working for a quarter a day. Say what?How they managed to market a completely disassembled toy and made kids think it would be fun to put it together themselves is simultaneously amazing and impressive. Amazing that they could convince people that it's "fun," and impressive because I'm sure it probably saved them loot on assembly line costs.On top of that, the continuous lightsaber "sound" that it makes is really, really obnoxious. Something like a cross between a broken microwave and a TV left on static constantly.After spending 20 minutes with two 25[/b] year olds trying to get it together, my girlfriend asked what the suggested age for it was. For ages 6+[/b]. WHAT?![/b] My son is right about on that line and there is no way he could do that himself without some help, at least for the first 10 times or so. At least. If ever. And the instructions were ridiculous - they used many multisyllibic techno-scifi words that no 6 year old could read. I'm sure my son would have had difficulty, and he reads several years beyond that age level.Obnoxious obnoxious obnoxious. I'm sure all you parents with kids or people that spent Christmas with nieces, nephews, etc. encountered at least one obnoxious present this year. Do share so I feel better.
What this should be called is the "Star Wars Ultimate Working in a Chinese Toy Factory Experience".It has about 150 million pieces, and none of them fit together very well. Actually, hardly at all. And when they say "Build your own" they mean BUILD YOUR OWN. And I don't mean like legos. I mean like you're on the assembly line in China working for a quarter a day. Say what?How they managed to market a completely disassembled toy and made kids think it would be fun to put it together themselves is simultaneously amazing and impressive. Amazing that they could convince people that it's "fun," and impressive because I'm sure it probably saved them loot on assembly line costs.On top of that, the continuous lightsaber "sound" that it makes is really, really obnoxious. Something like a cross between a broken microwave and a TV left on static constantly.After spending 20 minutes with two 25[/b] year olds trying to get it together, my girlfriend asked what the suggested age for it was. For ages 6+[/b]. WHAT?![/b] My son is right about on that line and there is no way he could do that himself without some help, at least for the first 10 times or so. At least. If ever. And the instructions were ridiculous - they used many multisyllibic techno-scifi words that no 6 year old could read. I'm sure my son would have had difficulty, and he reads several years beyond that age level.Obnoxious obnoxious obnoxious. I'm sure all you parents with kids or people that spent Christmas with nieces, nephews, etc. encountered at least one obnoxious present this year. Do share so I feel better.
Comments
IMO THAT AIN'T THE WAY OF A PADAWAN.
it has a really loud doorbell, and says the same 4 or 5 things over and over again!
I looked at that but Dora is a high priced landlord, forget that. My daughter got a sweet dollhouse though, but I think it was Fisher-Price.
Yeah, might as well make the most of it. Another year or two and he'll be able to read the package anyway and that's the end of that.
squeaking those ducks gets old fast.