I guess I haven’t been to a toy store in a while. What happened? Most toys now talk to you, interact, chirp, whistle, and generally surprise you when they are buried under a pile of clothes and start writhing and…
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Vroom Vroom!
Following up on vintage Tonka trucks, I finally released the last hidden truck to Number Two. He got three for Christmas and the fourth, a huge fire truck, would’ve been lost in the excitement. But this weekend, as I cursed…
Vintage Tonka Trucks
Let’s clear the air about my use of the word “vintage” before we begin. I am not curating a collection of retro toys, I’m not a compulsive hoarder with a sweat-slicked forehead making sure all my old toys are in their ORIGINAL…
The Unbearable Cheapness of Toys
There is a limit, toy-makers. There is a limit past which you are cutting corners and leaving something which shouldn’t really exist. Take for example a mermaid doll. Sure, her makeup is smudged, the eyes distant and crossed, the plastic…
You Get What You Pay For
Step into your local 99¢ store and you enter an alternate dimension. Brands look similar but aren’t quite the same. “Aha!” you think, “There’s my shampoo brand!” You reach your hand out then recoil as you see the label is…
Oh the Indignity
When you entrust your prized childhood toys to your own kids, you can’t control the results. For example, this battle-ready AT-ST from the Star Wars collection, now used as “a cart for Fairy Moon Sparkle”. Look carefully, you can see…
Rub a Dub Dub, Some Stuffies in a Tub
I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised by this kind of thing any more. While the level of sophistication has changed the pure randomness and joy in the play has not. During naptime, Child Harbat decided that all her stuffies needed…
Simple Toys are Best
I’m such a rube. I keep thinking children enjoy toys, but they don’t really. They like simple things than can act as springboards for their imagination. I was the same way as a kid. In fact, I’m the same way…
Her Little Ponies
They multiply. The first one you think is cute. It will be taken care of, treasured. The second one is a companion for the first. The third one was a gift from someone, the fourth given by a friend. The…
Cheap Fun
My wife’s a genius. Why spend buckets of money on complicated electronic toys when sometimes the cheapest toy is the most fun? Yesterday she bought Toddler Harbat some hair curlers at the dollar store. Actual cost of plastic? Three and…
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