I was flitting around the nets news pages this week looking for interesting stuff to 'tweet' to our readers when I came across a feature published by The Sun newspaper looking at totally weird kids Christmas gifts and decided I had to check them out first and then share them with you as the third post of my new blog!
Earl the
Dead Cat! The Sun states 'THIS pet cat's not resting, it's dead. According to manufacturers, Earl is the purrfect pet for kids, as he doesn't scratch or bite, but stuffed toy Earl isn't ex-CAT-ly full of life'.
LMHRO! I think its quite novelty! I'm not sure where you buy this particular 'Earl' from, however I did find some similar (but better!) products at Roadkill Toys which include 'Twitch' - the Raccoon that didn't quite make it to the other side, 'Grind' the Rabbit that fell into the tread of a 16 wheeler, 'Splodge' the hedgehog that had bad timing on the race track and pop the weasel who wondered onto the wrong side of the track. The best thing is, each 'toy' comes with its own toe tag, coffin, body bag, or death certificate! (Obviously these toys are manufactured more towards the adult toy enthusiast!) I think they are brilliant!!
The next toy in our list, The Sun asked 'SIMPLY the
breast, or too much too young?'. They were referring to Bebe Gloton - the breast feeding doll. I personally remember my first interactive doll - it 'peed' itself. I think I had to pour water in its mouth or something? All I remember is that I loved it and my grandma hated it... Jesus knows what she would have said if I pulled up my special little breast feeding vest to reveal my bare 7 year old chest and proceed to breast feed my baby doll in front of strange men on the bus or the park!!! Yeah ok, I appreciate all the 'making breast feeding acceptable' messages and pushing on the fact that it is completely natural and normal - but really there is no need! Breast feeding is completely natural and normal for a mum with a new born baby, but a child...erm... NOPE!
When I saw the ima
ge of this top which is next on the list, I giggled to myself. Ok, yeah it looked shocking with the 'NIPPLE tassles for nippers?' headline in the newspaper, but as I read on, I recognised the name Suzi Warren as someone who designs absolutely fantastic stuff... in fact, one of my fave websites to be honest. I emailed Suzi after I'd spotted it asking if it really was one of her designs, (I mean, you never believe everything you read in the newspapers right!) she came back with the response "It was £16 but as the only people who bought it were journalists wanting to write about how terrible it is that parents buy it, I've put the price up to £516 and now it's Art" (and commented "Well Spotted!!!") I replied saying that although I could understand where they were coming from, my daughter (8) would love one for the simple fact that it's got tassles! and also that she should do them for adults!!!" So there you have it, but it proves that 'not so good' publicity can also be positive as I would urge anyone reading this to visit the site of Twisted Twee and check out both the 'Baby Things' and 'Grown Up Things' shopping sections, because I can guarantee that you will LOVE every product you find on there... without a nipple tassle in sight!
Which ta
kes me to the next.... and with a feature line of 'MUMS and dads want their kids to climb the career ladder, not slide down a pole'- yes you got it, we are talking about the 'Pole Dance Doll'! This doll seemingly has a pole, a disco ball, it rotates and blinks its eyes and it is designed for tots. Without spending too much time searching the net, I couldn't find the manufacturer or find whether it is in fact real (All the websites mentioning this doll show this exact same dodgy image). Anyways, even if it is or was real, I doubt sales shot through the roof!
And for the
next... The Kaba Kick is a junior version of Russian roulette. With this game, children play with a gun pointed to their own head. They pull the trigger and if it doesn't fire - they score a point. If it does, a pair of pink feet pop out and duff them in the temple! Yeah, harmless enough (obviously being the fact it works with pink feet and not bullets), but I mean, what bright spark decided to introduce this game to kids? Well actually, a few seconds on the net gave me info that a company called Takura last manufactured this toy in 1992 so I don't think it's about anymore... *speechless* !!!
I'm not going to cover all ten of the products featured in the newspaper article - you can read it for yourself here - So I'll make this next joyful toy for your kids to play with on Christmas day the last... The Playmobil Security Checkpoint. The Sun pointed it out as a weird or worst toy stating NOT a secure winner... we'd prefer a cavity search to playing 'airport security' with kids on Christmas Day.
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Earl the
Dead Cat! The Sun states 'THIS pet cat's not resting, it's dead. According to manufacturers, Earl is the purrfect pet for kids, as he doesn't scratch or bite, but stuffed toy Earl isn't ex-CAT-ly full of life'. LMHRO! I think its quite novelty! I'm not sure where you buy this particular 'Earl' from, however I did find some similar (but better!) products at Roadkill Toys which include 'Twitch' - the Raccoon that didn't quite make it to the other side, 'Grind' the Rabbit that fell into the tread of a 16 wheeler, 'Splodge' the hedgehog that had bad timing on the race track and pop the weasel who wondered onto the wrong side of the track. The best thing is, each 'toy' comes with its own toe tag, coffin, body bag, or death certificate! (Obviously these toys are manufactured more towards the adult toy enthusiast!) I think they are brilliant!!
The next toy in our list, The Sun asked 'SIMPLY the
breast, or too much too young?'. They were referring to Bebe Gloton - the breast feeding doll. I personally remember my first interactive doll - it 'peed' itself. I think I had to pour water in its mouth or something? All I remember is that I loved it and my grandma hated it... Jesus knows what she would have said if I pulled up my special little breast feeding vest to reveal my bare 7 year old chest and proceed to breast feed my baby doll in front of strange men on the bus or the park!!! Yeah ok, I appreciate all the 'making breast feeding acceptable' messages and pushing on the fact that it is completely natural and normal - but really there is no need! Breast feeding is completely natural and normal for a mum with a new born baby, but a child...erm... NOPE! When I saw the ima
ge of this top which is next on the list, I giggled to myself. Ok, yeah it looked shocking with the 'NIPPLE tassles for nippers?' headline in the newspaper, but as I read on, I recognised the name Suzi Warren as someone who designs absolutely fantastic stuff... in fact, one of my fave websites to be honest. I emailed Suzi after I'd spotted it asking if it really was one of her designs, (I mean, you never believe everything you read in the newspapers right!) she came back with the response "It was £16 but as the only people who bought it were journalists wanting to write about how terrible it is that parents buy it, I've put the price up to £516 and now it's Art" (and commented "Well Spotted!!!") I replied saying that although I could understand where they were coming from, my daughter (8) would love one for the simple fact that it's got tassles! and also that she should do them for adults!!!" So there you have it, but it proves that 'not so good' publicity can also be positive as I would urge anyone reading this to visit the site of Twisted Twee and check out both the 'Baby Things' and 'Grown Up Things' shopping sections, because I can guarantee that you will LOVE every product you find on there... without a nipple tassle in sight!Which ta
kes me to the next.... and with a feature line of 'MUMS and dads want their kids to climb the career ladder, not slide down a pole'- yes you got it, we are talking about the 'Pole Dance Doll'! This doll seemingly has a pole, a disco ball, it rotates and blinks its eyes and it is designed for tots. Without spending too much time searching the net, I couldn't find the manufacturer or find whether it is in fact real (All the websites mentioning this doll show this exact same dodgy image). Anyways, even if it is or was real, I doubt sales shot through the roof! And for the
next... The Kaba Kick is a junior version of Russian roulette. With this game, children play with a gun pointed to their own head. They pull the trigger and if it doesn't fire - they score a point. If it does, a pair of pink feet pop out and duff them in the temple! Yeah, harmless enough (obviously being the fact it works with pink feet and not bullets), but I mean, what bright spark decided to introduce this game to kids? Well actually, a few seconds on the net gave me info that a company called Takura last manufactured this toy in 1992 so I don't think it's about anymore... *speechless* !!!I'm not going to cover all ten of the products featured in the newspaper article - you can read it for yourself here - So I'll make this next joyful toy for your kids to play with on Christmas day the last... The Playmobil Security Checkpoint. The Sun pointed it out as a weird or worst toy stating NOT a secure winner... we'd prefer a cavity search to playing 'airport security' with kids on Christmas Day.
However I personally think that kids are fascinated by planes, tractors, trains etc and no matter what, I can't find myself knocking imaginative play - let innocent minds just play 
and learn about the whole flying experience such as Ticket Checking, Security Checks, Boarding etc and maybe help take any nervous edge off flying. There doesn't need to be drugs, guns or worse in their role play - I mean, is this what the newspaper is insinuating?
So should this be in the weird or worst toy list... I personally think not.
Right, I'm off to go buy some of those road kill toys now!! Have a great Christmas and New Year. ;)
Have you spotted a 'weird' or just plain and simple 'wrong' kids toy or gift this Christmas??
What are your views on these?!!!... let us know below and also vote for your worst toy (panel on the right)
and learn about the whole flying experience such as Ticket Checking, Security Checks, Boarding etc and maybe help take any nervous edge off flying. There doesn't need to be drugs, guns or worse in their role play - I mean, is this what the newspaper is insinuating?So should this be in the weird or worst toy list... I personally think not.
Right, I'm off to go buy some of those road kill toys now!! Have a great Christmas and New Year. ;)
Have you spotted a 'weird' or just plain and simple 'wrong' kids toy or gift this Christmas??
What are your views on these?!!!... let us know below and also vote for your worst toy (panel on the right)