Unpopular Toy Opinions

[Broken Irishwoman]

I hate that "pink and purple is for girls" mentality is still at large. Studies show that all small kids regardless of their sex enjoy primary colors. Secondary colors come next and pastels come way later in life, like teens to young adult.

The pink/purple/pastel trend is nothing but a brainwash to me. A few decades ago stuff for girls was primary colors and now it's this. Nobody can tell me girls devolved to only liking two colors. We've been trained to do so so we go for the same colors later on when we have to buy the smaller but more expensive "lady versions" of things.

But honestly, bright pink or magenta is just an ugly color to me, too. Like I loathe the Barbie pink. Probably as a result of the pink onslaught in the 90s.

I couldn't agree more! I remember when I was a child, I always thought it was such a bummer that items like shopping carts, tables, cupboards, stoves etc. always HAD to be pink or purple with ponies and barbies. I mean, I liked my ponies in unnatural colours, but I wanted them to live in realistic houses. A table should be brown, a shopping cart should be steel-coloured. This is also what I admire in the Sylvanian line; just the other day I said to my husband that it is so lovely that they are not afraid to use colours like brown, yellow, red and green. Everything looks so real, it's perfect!

[Zapper]

I hate that "pink and purple is for girls" mentality is still at large. Studies show that all small kids regardless of their sex enjoy primary colors. Secondary colors come next and pastels come way later in life, like teens to young adult.

The pink/purple/pastel trend is nothing but a brainwash to me. A few decades ago stuff for girls was primary colors and now it's this. Nobody can tell me girls devolved to only liking two colors. We've been trained to do so so we go for the same colors later on when we have to buy the smaller but more expensive "lady versions" of things.

But honestly, bright pink or magenta is just an ugly color to me, too. Like I loathe the Barbie pink. Probably as a result of the pink onslaught in the 90s.

I couldn't agree more! I remember when I was a child, I always thought it was such a bummer that items like shopping carts, tables, cupboards, stoves etc. always HAD to be pink or purple with ponies and barbies. I mean, I liked my ponies in unnatural colours, but I wanted them to live in realistic houses. A table should be brown, a shopping cart should be steel-coloured. This is also what I admire in the Sylvanian line; just the other day I said to my husband that it is so lovely that they are not afraid to use colours like brown, yellow, red and green. Everything looks so real, it's perfect!

Realism is kind of Sylvanian Families thing and while they are too expensive to me, I can respect that. They play more into the collector sector, too, so you know they take their child audience a bit more seriously.
I was lucky to be at Nuremberg Toy Convention this year and what I saw of the upcoming Sylvanian stuff left me speechless. You get to build an entire city of large 18th century houses and shops. Which is just awesome to me. But each house is like, 100 bucks.
Well, I guess the one redeeming quality is that you get something of value. Each house is a mini dollhouse, not just a plastic front.

[Broken Irishwoman]

Wow, that must be gorgeous! But they are extremely pricey indeed... I can't afford stuff like that either. I can work the figures and smaller playsets/accessory sets into my budget (though not easily), but the buildings? No way! It's super pretty to look at though.

[Zapper]

Wow, that must be gorgeous! But they are extremely pricey indeed... I can't afford stuff like that either. I can work the figures and smaller playsets/accessory sets into my budget (though not easily), but the buildings? No way! It's super pretty to look at though.

I did address the prices and what the spokesperson told me was that the smaller sets, especially the new sets with a child figure, are geared towards younger kids while the large city is geared towards collectors and tweens.
The city is basically for the oldest daughters of the families, who move out of home to live a romanticed young adult lifeystle in their own apartment.

It's sad, tho. Because a lot of young children will want the large houses, I'm sure. In the end a lot of parents will cave in and get those, too. €£¥$!!!

But I love looking at them, too. Kids can also do a lot of play with them because the figures can hold onto things and have 5 point articulation. It really is the concept of a plush toy mixed with dollhouses. It is a timeless looking toy. Always reminds me of Peter Rabbit.

[Leave a Whisper]

I hate that "pink and purple is for girls" mentality is still at large. Studies show that all small kids regardless of their sex enjoy primary colors. Secondary colors come next and pastels come way later in life, like teens to young adult.

The pink/purple/pastel trend is nothing but a brainwash to me. A few decades ago stuff for girls was primary colors and now it's this. Nobody can tell me girls devolved to only liking two colors. We've been trained to do so so we go for the same colors later on when we have to buy the smaller but more expensive "lady versions" of things.

But honestly, bright pink or magenta is just an ugly color to me, too. Like I loathe the Barbie pink. Probably as a result of the pink onslaught in the 90s.

I couldn't agree more! I remember when I was a child, I always thought it was such a bummer that items like shopping carts, tables, cupboards, stoves etc. always HAD to be pink or purple with ponies and barbies. I mean, I liked my ponies in unnatural colours, but I wanted them to live in realistic houses. A table should be brown, a shopping cart should be steel-coloured. This is also what I admire in the Sylvanian line; just the other day I said to my husband that it is so lovely that they are not afraid to use colours like brown, yellow, red and green. Everything looks so real, it's perfect!

Realism is kind of Sylvanian Families thing and while they are too expensive to me, I can respect that. They play more into the collector sector, too, so you know they take their child audience a bit more seriously.
I was lucky to be at Nuremberg Toy Convention this year and what I saw of the upcoming Sylvanian stuff left me speechless. You get to build an entire city of large 18th century houses and shops. Which is just awesome to me. But each house is like, 100 bucks.
Well, I guess the one redeeming quality is that you get something of value. Each house is a mini dollhouse, not just a plastic front.

That sounds incredible! 

[Taffeta]

I think with Sylvania you generally get what you pay for, but sometimes you have to pay a lot for it.

Alpacas and Llamas have been all over the place for a long while. At least, they have been in Japanese stuff for a long while, and that seems to have bled over here for the last three or four years. But I think it is still all about the unicorn. It was the owl. Now we end up with monstrous hybrids like the owlicorn posted above...

I was in Entertainer today and I looked at the toy shelves and went...what? So much random stuff you'd play with maybe once but never again? Fast fix toys?

Also, and this creeps me out a bit, but forget just slime. What about furry neon slime? I mean, I would call that radioactive mould, honestly, but that's just me...

When did slime evolve to have fur? Surely the point of slime is to be, well, slimy?

[Leave a Whisper]

I think with Sylvania you generally get what you pay for, but sometimes you have to pay a lot for it.

Alpacas and Llamas have been all over the place for a long while. At least, they have been in Japanese stuff for a long while, and that seems to have bled over here for the last three or four years. But I think it is still all about the unicorn. It was the owl. Now we end up with monstrous hybrids like the owlicorn posted above...

I was in Entertainer today and I looked at the toy shelves and went...what? So much random stuff you'd play with maybe once but never again? Fast fix toys?

Also, and this creeps me out a bit, but forget just slime. What about furry neon slime? I mean, I would call that radioactive mould, honestly, but that's just me...

When did slime evolve to have fur? Surely the point of slime is to be, well, slimy?

What?? 

[Ragamuffin]

I think with Sylvania you generally get what you pay for, but sometimes you have to pay a lot for it.

Alpacas and Llamas have been all over the place for a long while. At least, they have been in Japanese stuff for a long while, and that seems to have bled over here for the last three or four years. But I think it is still all about the unicorn. It was the owl. Now we end up with monstrous hybrids like the owlicorn posted above...

I was in Entertainer today and I looked at the toy shelves and went...what? So much random stuff you'd play with maybe once but never again? Fast fix toys?

I forgot about owls! They died down haven't they? "Fast fix toys" is what I feel applies to a lot of stuff nowadays. Do kids actually play with blind bags after they've opened them? I feel like they do have their fans, but I can totally see kids liking opening them and then leaving them on the coffee table to do something else. I mentioned Fingerlings earlier and I still don't see the appeal of them. They're not really like finger puppets. Finger puppets you could definitely play with but a monkey or a unicorn wrapped around your finger? What's the fun in that? Why were these one of the biggest toys over the holidays? How do you play with them? What's so great about having something wrapped around your finger? Why is this such a successful toyline?

[Zapper]

Alpacas and Llamas have been all over the place for a long while. At least, they have been in Japanese stuff for a long while, and that seems to have bled over here for the last three or four years. But I think it is still all about the unicorn. It was the owl. Now we end up with monstrous hybrids like the owlicorn posted above...

If Nuremberg was any indication, llamas will dominate in 2019 and 20. Everyone had a llama plush, some companies had an entire llama line, there was llama stationary, lifestyle products, costumes, rocking "horses", electronic llamas, unicorn llamas, glitter llamas. It was a llama wave. I saw more llamas than actual unicorns. I am not being hyperbolic, llamas are the new it-animal and won't go away any time soon.
There was also a trend of avocado And glitter eyes on plush toys will stay for a few more years as well.

[brightberry]

Llamas, unicorns, owls... these are all things that I've always liked.  But perhaps not in multi-color, glitter form.  And how many llamas can one person possibly need?

[Zapper]

And how many llamas can one person possibly need?

I am kind of glad it's llamas because they weren't overly popular or over-represented before. Japan had their alpacas but a llama is superior (yes, fight me!)
I have been loving llamas since childhood, even created a llama mascot (she was a diva wearing a huge bowtie) and all other kids would ask me what the heck that animal was I was constantly drawing. Like I went from horse-crazy girl into a 1 year long llama phase. Back then there weren't any good llama plushies and now they are everywhere! If they had been around during my llama phase... oh boy. I would have saved all my allowance and constantly begged my parents.
But I doubt most kids are like me and are just coocoo for llamas. I wonder what the next it-animal is going to be. My money is on elephant shrews.

[Leave a Whisper]

Llamas, unicorns, owls... these are all things that I've always liked.  But perhaps not in multi-color, glitter form.  And how many llamas can one person possibly need?

If they aren't up to the roof you don't have enough.

[Taffeta]

And how many llamas can one person possibly need?

I am kind of glad it's llamas because they weren't overly popular or over-represented before. Japan had their alpacas but a llama is superior (yes, fight me!)

Oh dear, I can already sense the carnage that debate is going to rile up in some sectors of the internet...

[Zapper]

And how many llamas can one person possibly need?

I am kind of glad it's llamas because they weren't overly popular or over-represented before. Japan had their alpacas but a llama is superior (yes, fight me!)

Oh dear, I can already sense the carnage that debate is going to rile up in some sectors of the internet...

Spoiler

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Back on topic, I do think it is an unpopular opinion elsewhere:
I think boy characters in toylines geared towards girls are often so lame looking. Like the Barbie Fashionistas get all those Forever 21 Instagramchic colorful cuts but the Kens are repeating the same old shirt and pants pattern. Why would I want a male doll like that as a kid? Why would I want more than one?

When characters are fantasy, I abhor how the males always look more grounded/earthy. I have been going on and on about how I dislike how G4 ponies are mostly three colors and brown with short, ugly manes and tails. But you can see than stuff elsewhere, too.
It's like toy companies are constantly afraid of Tinky Winky syndrome, the teletubby who had a handbag and had parents in shambles because they thought he was gay.

[Shaz]

Back on topic, I do think it is an unpopular opinion elsewhere:
I think boy characters in toylines geared towards girls are often so lame looking. Like the Barbie Fashionistas get all those Forever 21 Instagramchic colorful cuts but the Kens are repeating the same old shirt and pants pattern. Why would I want a male doll like that as a kid? Why would I want more than one?

When characters are fantasy, I abhor how the males always look more grounded/earthy. I have been going on and on about how I dislike how G4 ponies are mostly three colors and brown with short, ugly manes and tails. But you can see than stuff elsewhere, too.
It's like toy companies are constantly afraid of Tinky Winky syndrome, the teletubby who had a handbag and had parents in shambles because they thought he was gay.

I agree, male characters in girl toy-lines are often disappointing. Even the Monster High guys (who were better designed than the usual 'token boys') didn't have such exciting and detailed clothing as the ghouls. And other doll lines are just hopeless. I have always found it frustrating when the girls all have nylon hair and most of the boys have plastic hair.
One of the reasons I like the Mountain Boys and Big Brothers so much is because they are brightly coloured boy ponies with lovely long hair. I wish G4 had gone down that root instead of sludgy colours and troll hair.