Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Plastic toys we HATE...

PJ Sparkles Mini Playset Pj's Magical Lights Bedroom review

***0 Stars*** NO STARS***

Ok, I mean I hate. PJ Sparkles. I hate you. What a waste of money/space/plastic/earth's resources/pollution...argh. This was a birthday present to my daughter from a classmate. My daughter says she 'loves' it. But she doesn't play with it. It sits, in all its pink and purple plastic-y large awkward footprint take-up-a-whole-shelf kind of way in her room, and my dear daughter, sweet girl, does not know how to 'hate' it properly OR how to play with it.

On the very first night, she sadly pushed all the cardboard paper 'knick-knacks' and tiny plastic hairbrushy things that came with the castle-ish playset inside the turret-like 'closet' and shut the rounded door as best as she could and sighed. "PJ Sparkle's crown won't stay on her head, and her things don't fit in her closet, Mama. And her bed is so hard and she keeps sliding off. Can you help me to get her teddy bear to sit on her table?" Um, no, sorry honey, her table is so slanted, nothing will stay on there at all(!).

I asked her if maybe PJ Sparkles is just not a very good toy and that maybe we should think about giving her away (yeah, like to the garbage can, except I feel even worse about contributing to a landfill, so it'll go to the Salvation Army) but my Dd5 said no, not yet. She still 'likes her ok' but even so was very disapointed in the transformation of PJ Sparkles short skirt to long nightgown. "I thought she was going to have a real nightie, but she's just sleeping in her day clothes, Mama. Can you make her a real nightie?"

No honey, sorry. I can't waste one single second more on this awful toy, except to write about it.

So. I am writing about this toy because I really, truly, thought this was a dollar store toy, it is soooo cheaply made. Her chest and the playset do 'sparkle' or rather, light up, for a few seconds, but only 2 of the 3 lights over the 'mirror' (a bubbly bit of junk) do work and overall it just looks and feels so cheap. Really like a dollar store item. Or a $2 store item.
And then I saw it at Target. Wow. Shame on you Target. Made by Zizzle. (Huh? Who?) Whoever you are Zizzle, shame on you too. I mean, outside of the nearly $20 this 'cost', what are the real costs? How much new waste was produced making this awful playset? How much new landfill or - ack- incinerator toxins? Not to mention the cost to my good humor whenever I see the thing taking up valuable space in her room/my house!

So, anyhow, I did cut her a piece of polar fleece for a quickie doll blanket, and it does help to keep her on that plastic, slanty bed, but I swear, the doll and the playset has sat, untouched, ever since. Just a new piece of clutter to be dusted around. Argh.

This piece of awful is on it's way OUT.


2 comments:

  1. That's how I feel about Polly Pockets. I sold them all at a consignment sale awhile ago and never looked back.

    (I'm here because I've loved your etsy shop for awhile! So glad you have a blog! My shop is thereignofellen.)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Aw, poor Polly. Really, it's better for toys to go where they can be loved! So you did good! Now I need to imagine someone loving poor PJ...hard to imagine...lol

    Btw, I loved my Etsy shop for a while too! ;)
    But I'm working my way back, got some fun things that are almost ready to list soon! I love your children's portraits! Very cool! And this http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=13911509 had me choking with laughter! Good one!
    :)
    Autumn

    ReplyDelete

About Me

My photo
Mamazakka is Mommy blogger Autumn Sousanis; also-known-as Autumn Dunbar; and also-known-as "Mama" to six little ones, ages 9, 7.5, 5, 3.5 2 and a 3 month old! :) Busy,yes. A graduate of C.C.S. (Center for Creative Studies, School of Art and Design in Detroit) with my bachelor's degree in Fine Arts, I have finally found my calling as 'Mamazakka', maker of everything and anything that might improve your home, life and outlook. :) It's my goal to create things that truly meet Wikipedia's definition for 'zakka'; (here's an excerpt)..."cute, corny, kitschy is not enough. To qualify, a product must be attractive, sensitive and laden with subtext." Oh yeah! You betcha! Well, that's my goal, anyhow! I'm also known as an over-user of exclamation marks(!) and parentheses (can't help it) though I do try to keep my smileys to a minimum :)