What Toy was a Bust with the kids?

[MickeyMomOfThree]

So far no disapointments here. The favorites seem to be Biscuit (which we LOVE, but we can't have a real dog) and Guitar Hero for Wii. I have to say we got the kids wii last year for Christmas and I think it has been used just about every day since--- we all love it!!!

 

[TanyaS]

The ant farm we got DS. The seal isn't tight enough to keep the ants in. Big disappointment since the kids were all excited and had fun collecting the ants to put in it. Made dinner exciting when we realized they had escaped out on the table. We still like the concept, so we'll have to try a different farm container.

 

[Nom]

I think the biggest disappointment was the Princess Liana (Barbie) doll from Barbie and the Diamond Castle. The one that has a button on her hand and sings with the Princess Alexa doll. Liana's dress is supposed to flip automatically with a crank on her back. The only thing is that the dress hangs from her waist in three pieces (four including the back piece). DD hates that the skirt isn't one solid piece. Plus the skirt doesn't even lie flat like it's supposed to. I wouldn't have bought the doll if I'd known her skirt was in pieces like that, but when it's packaged up you can't tell.

I think it is weird that the dress for the other diamond castle doll and Liana's dress don't work the same way... the other doll's dress works much better. It seems strange to me that they used two different mechanisms, because my dd had to learn two different things to do for each doll. I agree Liana's dress is annoying but dd still loves her. Did you get both dolls, and if so, can you get them to sing in sync?

 

[Debbie7452]

This was the dud toy for us too. It seems that you have gotten it to work better than us though.

Just an idea...make sure the helmet on swith is not still on "try me" mode. It's really hard to see the markings between "on" and "try me" modes, so annoying! Definitely not something a kid can handle either!

The microphone only works when the left yellow button is held down on the steering wheel. I think I'm going to mark it so DS can tell what it does...Ya think some toy designer couldn't have thought of that though, you know?

 

[iheartdisney]

I think it is weird that the dress for the other diamond castle doll and Liana's dress don't work the same way... the other doll's dress works much better. It seems strange to me that they used two different mechanisms, because my dd had to learn two different things to do for each doll. I agree Liana's dress is annoying but dd still loves her. Did you get both dolls, and if so, can you get them to sing in sync?

my girls have had both dolls since Oct, and we can never push the buttons in sync. I think it might be that Alexa gets alot more play (mainly because of the stupid dress design on Liana) so she sings a little slower.
Also, from reading the box, it sounded like there was a transmitter that synced them when they held hands...not that you have to try to push both buttons at the same time.
I really wanted to get them the castle playset, but right now are staying with my mom while househunting, so we don't really have room for it. But after the cheap construction of the carriage, I'm really glad I didn't throw down the BIG money.

 

[mom2faith]

Unfortunately, the Wii has not been as popular in our house as we had hoped. Two possible reasons: two cousins were here (older than our kids) who had gotten a Wii and said they did NOT like their Wii, so my kids probably didn't want to seem lame by liking their Wii (a little annoyed by that whole scenario). Second, we went to Universal Studios on the 27th for two days, so they weren't home to play. I hope they'll play soon! I love it!

Same problem here!!

DD told me to ask Santa for one with Mario Kart, so DH and I got a Wii for the family and bought her Mario Kart. When she opened it she cried - she said she wanted me to have Mario Kart, not her. She has not played the Wii even once (although DH and I like it). Our daycare provider, who is a good friend of ours, says DD loves Mario Kart and plays it at her house, but she will not touch ours.

However, my mom bought me Disney Scene It and DD wants to play that non-stop. Should've bought a few Scene It's and saved the Wii money!!

Oh - we also bought her Littlest Pet Shop for Wii and High School Musical Sing it, and he really has no interest (despite that fact that she sing into her fake plastic microphone almost non-stop).

 

[mom2faith]

Wow, now I am so glad I did not spring for that and just got dd the two dolls that sing together. She is happy with them thankfully. BTW, have you ever gotten them to sing 'connected' and stay in sync? It seems that no matter how we time it, one of them always ends up faster in the end. I think that it is an error in the timing of the two songs.

But back on topic, I have to say this is the first year that nothing has been a bust! hurrah! But I cut back on her number of toys, too, so I think that helped.

I think the biggest disappointment was the Princess Liana (Barbie) doll from Barbie and the Diamond Castle. The one that has a button on her hand and sings with the Princess Alexa doll. Liana's dress is supposed to flip automatically with a crank on her back. The only thing is that the dress hangs from her waist in three pieces (four including the back piece). DD hates that the skirt isn't one solid piece. Plus the skirt doesn't even lie flat like it's supposed to. I wouldn't have bought the doll if I'd known her skirt was in pieces like that, but when it's packaged up you can't tell.

my girls have had both dolls since Oct, and we can never push the buttons in sync. I think it might be that Alexa gets alot more play (mainly because of the stupid dress design on Liana) so she sings a little slower.
Also, from reading the box, it sounded like there was a transmitter that synced them when they held hands...not that you have to try to push both buttons at the same time.
I really wanted to get them the castle playset, but right now are staying with my mom while househunting, so we don't really have room for it. But after the cheap construction of the carriage, I'm really glad I didn't throw down the BIG money.

I HATE these dolls!! The dresses are a PITA!! They NEVER sing together, no matter how hard we try, so DH and I are used to an off key version of "Connected" in the round. Some of the Barbie stuff is pure garbage as far as I am concerned. Not like it used to be - LOL!!

 

[ferrytale]

So far, no major busts. But there are toys that the kids haven't gotten to yet. A Lucky the Puppy (that I haven't taken out of the box yet)

DS got a lucky puppy last year and it took him a few months before he was interested. Now he plays with it like it's a real puppy (and we have 2 dogs!!!) You'll have fun with it, but make sure to keep the directions/commands somewhere so that you know you what to tell it to do!!!

 

[Fintastic]

Also, from reading the box, it sounded like there was a transmitter that synced them when they held hands...not that you have to try to push both buttons at the same time.

We thought the same thing, maybe there was a chip or something in there that gets them to sing together. In the instructions it says to put their hands together and then push the buttons. We get better results just pushing the buttons at the same time. DD is actually pretty good at it.

 

[megthewonderful]

The wii has been a hit with our family. However, my boys love the Naked Brothers and so Santa brought them the Naked Brothers game for the wii. They hate it! I think I get more of a kick out of it using the microphone to sing along with the songs.

 

[sdarwkcabemanmy]

No busts this year, but last year..DS got a Geotrax train set that he only played with a few times before deciding it wasn't worth it. The train doesn't go faster than a very..slow..crawl, which frustrated DS to no end. But it was a gift from the ILs so we couldn't exactly return it.

This year, on our advice, they bought him a Leapster2 which he LOVES.

Except for the fact we're waiting on batteries to charge right now. He's played with it so much the batteries died.

 

[Cibahwewah]

The Disney Princess Movie Projector is a piece of crap. The slides get stuck (DH spent first 10 minutes with needle nose pliers), the sound effects are dull, the microphone doesn't work--just looks like a microphone, and the sound quality from the MP3 port is terrible. And it's hard to focus. It's sitting on the shelf--the kids can't do it themselves without me helping.
Transformers--4 adults with advanced degrees couldn't figure them out despite instructions.
Moon Sand---OMG how awful! Never again.

Absolute hit? iPod Nano for DS5. Now, DD2 wants " a pink pie-pod Nano."

 

[mommyof2princesses]

Swim to me Puppy. She likes it but it really doesn't swim. It tips over andthen pretty much walks in the bathtub. What a rip off. I think she would have like the LPS game for Wii or for use on her sissy's ds.