Are Hatchimals even worth it?!
It seems like every few years or so there is a toy that comes out around Christmas time that sends parents into a consumer frenzy. A toy that their child simply HAS to have. Like I will totally DIE if you don’t get that for me Mom!
When I was a child it was Cabbage Patch Dolls. Those were the must have toys for that year back in 19- cough cough!
I realize I just totally dated myself because I remember when Cabbage Patch Dolls were new and special. That is the very first toy craze I remember though.
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I was lucky though, because around the time that the Cabbage Patch dolls were in high demand my father worked as the manager of a toy store! So you can guess which little girl got the hook up on Cabbage Patch Dolls.
When people were running around like crazy trying to find a doll, ANY doll my wonderful father had already shipped me THREE! Well, actually it was two dolls and one Koosa. Now if you aren’t familiar with Koosas they were the ‘pets’ of the Cabbage Patch dolls. There was a dog, a cat and a lion – those are the only ones I remember. They were basically Cabbage Patch dolls with animal heads and tails.
Now let’s forget the fact that they were basically trying to tell little children that if they had this doll they would be lucky. I wanted one just so my other dolls could have a pet. During the Cabbage Patch rush these guys were just as hard to find as the others. So I was REALLY lucky to have gotten one for Christmas that year.
Moving forward the next real toy craze I remember was that damn Tickle Me Elmo doll. Remember that one? People were going CRAZY about that toy back in 1996. People were stampeding each other, parents were getting into fights in the stores… it was ridiculous! I remember as a teenager thinking they were all insane!
By the way there is a whole NEW Tickle Me Elmo still out there today if you’re interested. He’s still pretty cute – this one falls over with his butt sticking up when he gets tickled. So there’s that as an added feature – lol.
This year is apparently the year of the Hatchimal! And if you are not yet familiar with Hatchimals (which I can only see happening if you do not have children under the age of 13) they are toy pets that come inside an egg. Yes an egg.
While inside the egg the Hatchimal will make noise, tap the inside of the egg and even sleep. The child is supposed to ‘play’ with the Hatchimal – which I am still not entirely certain how you play with something inside of an egg, but I digress. Once the Hatchimal has reached a certain level of played-with-ness it will be ready to hatch. At which time it then pecks its way out of the egg.
Now setting aside the fact that I find that both odd and cool at the same time I am struggling with understanding the madness over this toy. I get that it IS kinda cool that the thing hatches out of its egg and all. But then what?
Well apparently after the bird or whatever you get hatches you then have to help it grow up. Give it attention, play games with it and such. It also apparently grows up from baby, to toddler, to kid stages. Each stage allows you to teach it new things, play new games with it and such. Which again – is pretty cool.
It does however bring to mind the Tamagotchi craze from several years back – ok it was a couple decades back. Shut up. Tamagotchi were electronic pets that you wore on a key chain and ‘took care‘ of. You were supposed to play with it, feed it and such – just like the Hatchimals. If I am going to be quite honest I am pretty sure I killed mine – a couple of times.
They tried to make a come back in 2015 but weren’t wildly successful.
Which makes me wonder – are Hatchimals worth it?
As a parent I can not understand why I would want to buy one of these things for my child. Maybe I have become stodgy in my old age but I find them quite annoying. I KNOW that like all of our other pets at some point I would likely be the one tasked with taking care of the thing.
And what happens if you don’t care for it? Does it die like my Tamagotchi did? Will my child be traumatized for life because we killed her Hatchimal? Or will it simple continue to beep or tweet or whatever noise it makes until I am forced to remove its batteries and hide it in the closet. It’s happened before.
Now setting aside whether or not I feel this toy is even something I would WANT in my home – why in the name of all that is good would I want to pay hundreds of dollars for it?
Seriously, that’s what they are charging online right now. Because they are sold out everywhere! So smart people, those who saw this coming – they went out and stocked up on this toy. And they are making a KILLING off the parents this year. Wish I had thought of it!
Sell a half dozen Hatchimals at a 50 – 70 percent profit – Christmas would have been GOOD this year for the kids.
Thankfully, my daughter actually said she didn’t want one of these things for Christmas so I don’t have to worry about trying to find one. But even if she did want one – she wouldn’t be getting it. At least not until they went back in stock at the regular price and MAYBE then I would be willing to get one.
I am not one of those parents. I can’t be. I am not going to stand in line for hours or stampede over other parents trying to get that LAST Hatchimal. Nor am I going to pay hundreds of dollars for one. It’s ok for my child to be disappointed. She will live. The world won’t end.
I honestly simply can not understand how parents justify behaving in that fashion for a toy. I get wanting to make your child happy on Christmas, I really do – but I don’t understand going to THOSE lengths to do so. And then the question becomes – what are you teaching your child? That no price is too high? That they will get what ever they want even if it means mommy turns into a raving lunatic at the store, pushing other people to the ground to get it?
No. That will not be me. Not ever.
No one ever died from disappointment. My children won’t either.
So now the question is – are you one of those parents who WILL spend obscene amounts of money on a toy for your child? Or stand in line and stampede over others to get it? And if so – WHY?
Do you just not want to upset them? Did you have a childhood where you went without and now you do everything to keep your child from experiencing it?
Comment below and let me know because I personally truly don’t understand why a parent (or any one for that matter) would step on another person simply to gain access to a toy.
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