5 ms·

By far the best toy store in our hometown is a 30-yr old store that sells mainly wooden toys, board games, kites and nice dolls. They've survived and even impro

by wjnc 9y ago

By far the best toy store in our hometown is a 30-yr old store that sells mainly wooden toys, board games, kites and nice dolls. They've survived and even improved in recent years, while the big toy stores merge and get less numerous. That's awesome and I happily applaud being part of that as a customer. Every play toy should last multiple children as a rule. We don't take that to the extreme as parents, but the basic rule is sound. Even children like it that their cousins play with the same toys they've played with when younger. Buy good stuff. Share. Bye bye Toys R Us.

slx26 9y ago
This. I feel a big problem the industry has is that they started to care more about ads and just grabbing attention than actually caring about product quality. Sure, you will sell more and toys will be frequently replaced, but in the end I do not believe that's an stable plan. I mean, economically understandable, but I hope we get our focus back on 'good toys' soon. Actual engagement over stimulus overload. Toys are so important for kids, and I think parents are already realizing again.
- scarface74 9y ago
  This. I feel a big problem the industry has is that they started to care more about ads and just grabbing attention than act In the 80s, weekdays were full of 30 minute toy commercials masquerading as cartoons - Superfriends, GI Joe, Transformers, etc. The 80s Transformers movie killed off all of their characters and introduced new ones to sell more toys.
  - dspillett 9y ago
    > The 80s Transformers movie killed off all of their characters and introduced new ones to sell more toys. Constantly introducing new characters (and letting others fall into the background) worked for them, but actively killing them off backfired badly. Transformers saw meteoric growth, from the first introduction of the comics and TV series in 1984 to the star-studded cast of the movie in 1986, then viewing figures plummeted. They misjudged how invested a large part of the audience were in their favourite characters: mainly Prime but also others. In fact they brought Prime back only one year later, though the damage was done: kids were moving on to the next fads. The decline would likely have happened anyway due to the audience moving on to other things, but the movie for all its success is credited with accelerating that significantly.
- lmilcin 9y ago
  It's our collective fault that industry produces shitty producs. If consumers were not buying shitty products and preferred more expensive but better quality toys, what do you thing industry would be producing? The fact is that average toy buyer does not care much about quality and people who actually do are too few for the industry to change the trend. Also, I suspect, a large part of the reason is that having X dollars to spend most consumers will prefer to buy more flashy toy.
tinco 9y ago
Does ToysRUs sell bad quality toys? My mom always bought us name brand toys and they were all excellent, we got Ghost Busters, Jurassic Park, Power Rangers, Action Man. All got years and years of play from both me and my little brother. Don't they also sell Lego, Playmobil and Barbie? I hardly think toy quality has to do with their problems. I think the answer is just 'Amazon', as it is to most of the world's retail industry. I don't think wood is a very suitable material to make children's toys with, but to each his own.
- wjnc 9y ago
  My rant was more against the whole cheap plastic toy industry. The big chains definitively sell more cheap stuff (daresay shit) than my eco-self would like. But you're right: Legos, Playmobil and indeed Barbies (my girl is a few weeks old, so yet to start on that avenue) are all very durable plastic toys and a large staple of what Toys R Us and other big toy stores sell. I agree with the other commenters that Amazon and Alibaba online and local discounters locally only serve to enhance the get-plastics-for-nearly-free market in toys. An example: The metal miniature cars of the 80s still survive to this day. The plastic miniature cars, even those with metal tops, of the 10s get ruined by my boys in 24-48 hours. I don't even think they play like little monsters. A few good falls and it's gone. Then I get to toss it away and I really cringe. I blame toy stores for that, but that's totally naive.
  - wdr1 9y ago
    > My rant was more against the whole cheap plastic toy industry. Honestly, I don't have a problem with cheap, plastic toys. This is something my wife & I don't see eye-to-eye on. She favors things made from wood, tend to be more expensive, etc. I personally don't care. At this age, kids are hard on toys. Their change and they might play with a toy for 5 minutes & the never again. All the more reason for something cheap & inexpensive.
    - wjnc 9y ago
      But ... your child and your childs' child will inherit our planet. Not saying your reasoning isn't economically sound, but the external effects of all that plastic are clearly not in the price.
perseusprime11 9y ago
Where can I buy quality wooden toys online?
- johnyitd 9y ago
  Hey, go to instagram @shopspeedy message them about it. They will tell you lowest price website. You gotta try them they are excellent i got from them they SHIP FREELY AT YOUR DOORSTEP
ravitation 9y ago
If I were looking at this through my eyes as a child (especially one that has reached the age of awareness of social pressures and advertising)... I have no interest in wooden toys, (most) board games, kites, or nice dolls... I want the toys that have the cool movie or TV show tie-ins, I want the toys that exist in these expansive worlds I'm familiar with, I want the toys that all my friends have (and, to a certain extent, expect me to have)... Projecting things like "children like it that their cousins play with the same toys they've played with when younger" seems extremely questionable (and, if I had to guess, hugely false - what kid wants old toys from a cousin). This is not about a shift in the toy market, it's about Toys "R" Us.

by wjnc 9y ago

slx26 9y ago

This. I feel a big problem the industry has is that they started to care more about ads and just grabbing attention than actually caring about product quality. Sure, you will sell more and toys will be frequently replaced, but in the end I do not believe that's an stable plan. I mean, economically understandable, but I hope we get our focus back on 'good toys' soon. Actual engagement over stimulus overload. Toys are so important for kids, and I think parents are already realizing again.

scarface74 9y ago
This. I feel a big problem the industry has is that they started to care more about ads and just grabbing attention than act In the 80s, weekdays were full of 30 minute toy commercials masquerading as cartoons - Superfriends, GI Joe, Transformers, etc. The 80s Transformers movie killed off all of their characters and introduced new ones to sell more toys.
- dspillett 9y ago
  > The 80s Transformers movie killed off all of their characters and introduced new ones to sell more toys. Constantly introducing new characters (and letting others fall into the background) worked for them, but actively killing them off backfired badly. Transformers saw meteoric growth, from the first introduction of the comics and TV series in 1984 to the star-studded cast of the movie in 1986, then viewing figures plummeted. They misjudged how invested a large part of the audience were in their favourite characters: mainly Prime but also others. In fact they brought Prime back only one year later, though the damage was done: kids were moving on to the next fads. The decline would likely have happened anyway due to the audience moving on to other things, but the movie for all its success is credited with accelerating that significantly.
lmilcin 9y ago
It's our collective fault that industry produces shitty producs. If consumers were not buying shitty products and preferred more expensive but better quality toys, what do you thing industry would be producing? The fact is that average toy buyer does not care much about quality and people who actually do are too few for the industry to change the trend. Also, I suspect, a large part of the reason is that having X dollars to spend most consumers will prefer to buy more flashy toy.

tinco 9y ago

Does ToysRUs sell bad quality toys? My mom always bought us name brand toys and they were all excellent, we got Ghost Busters, Jurassic Park, Power Rangers, Action Man. All got years and years of play from both me and my little brother. Don't they also sell Lego, Playmobil and Barbie? I hardly think toy quality has to do with their problems. I think the answer is just 'Amazon', as it is to most of the world's retail industry. I don't think wood is a very suitable material to make children's toys with, but to each his own.

wjnc 9y ago
My rant was more against the whole cheap plastic toy industry. The big chains definitively sell more cheap stuff (daresay shit) than my eco-self would like. But you're right: Legos, Playmobil and indeed Barbies (my girl is a few weeks old, so yet to start on that avenue) are all very durable plastic toys and a large staple of what Toys R Us and other big toy stores sell. I agree with the other commenters that Amazon and Alibaba online and local discounters locally only serve to enhance the get-plastics-for-nearly-free market in toys. An example: The metal miniature cars of the 80s still survive to this day. The plastic miniature cars, even those with metal tops, of the 10s get ruined by my boys in 24-48 hours. I don't even think they play like little monsters. A few good falls and it's gone. Then I get to toss it away and I really cringe. I blame toy stores for that, but that's totally naive.
- wdr1 9y ago
  > My rant was more against the whole cheap plastic toy industry. Honestly, I don't have a problem with cheap, plastic toys. This is something my wife & I don't see eye-to-eye on. She favors things made from wood, tend to be more expensive, etc. I personally don't care. At this age, kids are hard on toys. Their change and they might play with a toy for 5 minutes & the never again. All the more reason for something cheap & inexpensive.
  - wjnc 9y ago
    But ... your child and your childs' child will inherit our planet. Not saying your reasoning isn't economically sound, but the external effects of all that plastic are clearly not in the price.

perseusprime11 9y ago

Where can I buy quality wooden toys online?

johnyitd 9y ago
Hey, go to instagram @shopspeedy message them about it. They will tell you lowest price website. You gotta try them they are excellent i got from them they SHIP FREELY AT YOUR DOORSTEP

ravitation 9y ago

If I were looking at this through my eyes as a child (especially one that has reached the age of awareness of social pressures and advertising)... I have no interest in wooden toys, (most) board games, kites, or nice dolls... I want the toys that have the cool movie or TV show tie-ins, I want the toys that exist in these expansive worlds I'm familiar with, I want the toys that all my friends have (and, to a certain extent, expect me to have)... Projecting things like "children like it that their cousins play with the same toys they've played with when younger" seems extremely questionable (and, if I had to guess, hugely false - what kid wants old toys from a cousin). This is not about a shift in the toy market, it's about Toys "R" Us.