OT: What cool toys are you getting your kids this year?

Jackdog · Post by **Jackdog** » Sat Dec 20, 2003 8:14 pm

I always try to get my son something that I had fun with when I was a kid. Last year it was a Stiga Table Hockey game.
 
 This year since he loves playing with toy soldiers,I got him a Fort Apache playset. The fort is made of tin and folds up into carrying case.
 I played with one of these badboys when I was a kid. They cost about 10 bucks then. This one cost 40,but its in great shape. Anyone remember these forts?
 
 Peace.

Teal · Post by **Teal** » Sat Dec 20, 2003 8:37 pm

Wow, Jack, you´re bringing back some memories! I had a bunch of the GI Joe figures, the big foot tall ones, and would play with those suckers endlessly. The little cowboy and indian plastic men, along with the little green army men, were also a favorite pasttime of mine.
 My boy´s only three, so no little army men for him yet, but Santa´s bringing him a bicycle (with flames on it-he loves fire(!!)), a big red firetruck, and a fireman´s uniform (go figure). One thing I had as a kid that he´s totally in to is Hot Wheels. He´s got a bunch already, but he´s about to get more along with one of those plastic race tracks- you know the kind your dad would pull apart to tan your @$$ when you needed it?! Or was that just me...

Boom · Post by **Boom** » Sat Dec 20, 2003 8:58 pm

My boy loves to play with Lego´s... but these ain´t you´re daddy´s legos (.. actually..these ain´t OUR lego´s).
 
 I´ve picked him up a couple of the big Bionicle lego sets. Makuta and some other thingy-ma-jig.
 
 it´s amazig to watch him put that stuff together. He gets so into it... all methodical and whatnot. It´s pretty cool to just sit back and watch him work.
 
 He usually gets a bunch of Videogame jazz, but I really pulled away from that this year.
 
 He´s getting some baseball gear. A new bat and bat bag.

Teal · Post by **Teal** » Sat Dec 20, 2003 9:13 pm

"He´s getting some baseball gear. A new bat and bat bag."
 
 Boom, I can see it now..."Boom´s kid is up to bat. He´s batting a whopping .398 this year with the (your team here), and looks to be unstoppable. But the Braves Teal is looking unstoppable as well, sporting an incredible 1.45 ERA and on his way to a Cy Young. Who wins this chess match? Find out on Sportcenter...(da da dum-da da dum)
 <IMG SRC="images/forum/icons/icon_wink.gif"> Oh, how I love to dream... [ This message was edited by: tealboy03 on 20-12-2003 17:14 ]

lessthanme · Post by **lessthanme** » Sat Dec 20, 2003 9:24 pm

no kids, but man do those xmods at radio shack look cool. They´re like the Zip Zaps from last year, only a little bigger.. and a LOT faster. Plus the larger size allows for more details... Linky here <a href="http://www.radioshack.com/Partners/Xmod ... asp?hm=ad2" target="_blank" target="_new">http://www.radioshack.com/Partners/Xmod ... ?hm=ad2</a>
 
 I need one! <IMG SRC="images/forum/icons/icon_smile.gif">

tjung0831 · Post by **tjung0831** » Sat Dec 20, 2003 10:20 pm

Jack,
 
 I love any of the old rod hockey type games and i´ve had this dream of always owning one of the bubble hockey games. I always told myself that when I got older that I would get one. I recently purchased a brand new Superchexx game for $2700. I was supposed to get it before Christmas but it looks like I won´t receive it until after the new year.
 This has been a present to myself for a long time coming...it´s not like I just dropped $2700 on an impulse buy. I had been warning the wife for 5 years so that helped out quite alot.
 
 Tim

Jason · Post by **Jason** » Sat Dec 20, 2003 10:46 pm

My 3-year old son is really into trains so I got him this bad boy:
 
 <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/st ... Amazon.com Link</a>
 
 Anyone ´man´ enough to admit that they watched ´Silver Spoons´ 20 years ago should appreciate how cool this train is. I´m jealous that I´m too big to ride it.
 
 Jason
 [ This message was edited by: Jason on 20-12-2003 18:53 ]

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Sun Dec 21, 2003 12:44 am

Keelin, 5: Lots of Barbie stuff, a telescope (she´s fascinated with the moon and stars).
 
 Bryce, 3 on Dec. 27: Thomas the Tank Engine train stuff, radio controlled Mini Cooper, plastic synthesized guitar, plastic Hess truck with race car.
 
 I think they´ll get some clothes, too. No video game stuff at all, and I want to keep it that way for a few years!
 
 Take care,
 PK [ This message was edited by: pk500 on 20-12-2003 20:45 ]

Teal · Post by **Teal** » Sun Dec 21, 2003 12:56 am

"radio controlled Mini Cooper"
 
 
 PK:
 The BIG ones? Man, those things are awesome! I wonder who it´s really for though-hmmm...vicarious living, I suspect...

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Sun Dec 21, 2003 1:22 am

Teal:
 
 No, no: It´s a 24th-scale die-cast replica. Not Matchbox-sized, but not something like those big honkin´ jobs you see at Radio Shack.
 
 But hell yes, I´ll have fun with it, too!
 
 Take care,
 PK

Teal · Post by **Teal** » Sun Dec 21, 2003 4:11 am

"But hell yes, I´ll have fun with it, too! "
 
 PK: I know you will, but remember- you don´t get kudos for it...

Sudz · Post by **Sudz** » Sun Dec 21, 2003 12:54 pm

i got my 8 week-old "z is for zamboni"

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Mon Dec 22, 2003 3:01 am

Jack-diggity:
 
 Stiga hockey, damn that revives memories.
 
 Santa brought me a Stiga set when I was about 12 or so. I had it and played the hell out of it until my sophomore year of college. I brought it to school that year, and half the floor played it. It was destroyed in a matchup among drunks, as someone got pissed and trashed it. Probably was me!
 
 Take care,
 PK

J_Cauthen · Post by **J_Cauthen** » Mon Dec 22, 2003 6:08 am

How´d the Stiga hockey game work out? Is it pretty solid and durable? One of my fondest memories is a hockey game I got as a 12 year old.... didn´t know hockey from Adam at the time, but this game was riveting. The players were metal, and one of the pucks was metallic, but only enough to allow slight control of it once it came in contact with your stick.
 
 We used to play tournaments with this game where 8 neighborhood kids would play in a double elimination tournament... man those were the days. We finally just wore the game out - the gear teeth on the drive mechansims began to wear down, and they would slip while shooting and passing. What memories I have of those days!
 
 I bought one for my boy about 5 years ago for Christmas, and it was a piece-o-junk. The board was so uneven that the players were rotating at angles that weren´t perpendicular to the surface. If the puck was in the wrong place, the stick would just pass over it because of the rotation angle orientation. Is the Stiga table immune to that?

Jackdog · Post by **Jackdog** » Mon Dec 22, 2003 6:21 am

"How´d the Stiga hockey game work out? Is it pretty solid and durable? One of my fondest memories is a hockey game I got as a 12 year old.... didn´t know hockey from Adam at the time, but this game was riveting. The players were metal, and one of the pucks was metallic, but only enough to allow slight control of it once it came in contact with your stick."
 
 
 It worked out great! The Stiga set I bought is really well built. There is no deadspots on the board at all and the game is a blast!.............Just keep a drunk PK away from it and all will be fine <IMG SRC="images/forum/icons/icon_wink.gif">

Spooky · Post by **Spooky** » Mon Dec 22, 2003 11:42 am

(these are my girlfriends kids but we live together so...)
 
 Hailey, 5: Barbie stuff, lots of Power Pufff girl stuff, dvd´s, books, computer games, ect...
 
 Kyle, 12: Video games (XIII - X-Box, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King - PC), wireless keyboard and mouse for his computer, a Sony discman, some CD´s, DVD´s, shirts, ect...

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Mon Dec 22, 2003 12:58 pm

Noah´s just about 2, so it´s a bit difficult to really buy those cool toys just yet. We thought about Thomas the Train but I was awed by how expensive a train car is, a coupl tracks, etc. Talk about ridiculous! So, opted to get him the Little People Construction set, the farm, and the airport. He also got a little cheap electronic piano that he loves, some toy pots and pans (he loves to pretend), a "soft" bat and ball, a little baseball glove, a stuffed baseball, soccer, basketball, and a football. Hey it´s Hannukah guys.....it´s 8 days for christ sake! There´s more but I can´t remember what all the wife is spoiling him with.
 
 By the way, my best present of all has been a framed picture of my son and I my wife gave to me on the first night of Hannukah. Worth more than my favorite video game any day.

James_E · Post by **James_E** » Mon Dec 22, 2003 2:06 pm

If you can get to an IKEA or Costco, they have those little toy train packs for WAY cheaper than the brand name like Thomas or Brio, and the kids don´t seem to care.
 
 We got a train table, with full tracks and bridges and tons of train cars, for $200 CDN at COSTCO. Would have cost > $1000 if we bought name-brand. (This was for Liam´s birthday in the summer.)
 
 For Christmas, Liam (3 1/2) is getting books, a "Leap Pad" (great educational "toy") set with some books for it, some toy cars, and I´m sure a bunch of other toys from family. Duncan (21 months) is getting books, stuffed animals, and toys. Nothing really major this year. My kids have too much already. Liam and I discussed giving away a bunch of the toys. He´s quite worried about kids that don´t have alot of toys. It´s nice to hear him say "We need to give things to kids that don´t have as much money as us."

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Mon Dec 22, 2003 2:26 pm

"We got a train table, with full tracks and bridges and tons of train cars, for $200 CDN at COSTCO. Would have cost > $1000 if we bought name-brand."
 
 James,
 
 If you can find a link with a picture of this train set, I´d love to take a look at it. While we were checking out the Thomas the Train sets other day, I said aloud to my wife why hasn´t someone come up with a "knockoff" train set at half the price? There were seriously 3 other parents who heard me who were wondering the same thing. It´s a wonderful hobby, but not at the price they´re asking.

matthewk · Post by **matthewk** » Mon Dec 22, 2003 5:59 pm

About the Thomas stuff. Yes, they are WAY overpriced. However, we found a great way to get out cheap. Target has a generic brand of wood train set that goes for $20 ($13 on sale). It has over 70 pieces, and there is a bigger one that has something like 140 pieces. The best part is that the track is 100% COMPATIBLE with the Thomas wood pieces.
 
 You don´t have to shell out lots for the basic straight and cuvred pieces. We only buy the Thomas trains and some of the bridge pieces that the generice brands don´t make.
 
 As for Cameron (3), he´s getting more trains for the grandparents. We got him a Leap pad, THomas book for the Leap Pad, the Rescue Heroes Fire Truck (These guys are WAY cool!), and the newest Land Before Time DVD. He loves Dinosaurs, and can name over 20 of them on sight.
 
 Kaleigh (2 months) gets a GLow Worm and a Peek-a-Block train. She doesn´t need much at this point, plus we have all of Cameron´s baby toys.
 
 We have too much stuff. This country (USA) keeps rolling along because we Americans just can´t stop buying crap. I´ll admit to giving in a bit to consumeritis, but I held it in check pretty good. There were a couple of great deals on Rescue Hero toys that we are saving for a rainy day. We dole them out to Cameron for special occations.
 
 Oh, and I did buy myself NBA Street 2 at KB for $10 <IMG SRC="images/forum/icons/icon_cool.gif">
 
 -Matt

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Mon Dec 22, 2003 6:06 pm

Excellent suggestion Matt! I´m gonna head over to Target this evening. I was just shocked at how much a piece of track costs....12 or 13 dollars for about a six inch piece!??!? Insane.
 
 Thanks again.