Collect them all
Last Christmas we went to Toys R Us shopping and while we were checking out there was a huge bin of Disney Cars. My husband grabbed one and threw it in the cart for Luke's stocking. My mom gave Luke the Cars movie for Christmas and he loved it, then he was tickeld when Santa brought him the die cast car! And so the obsession began. Over the next few months, we bought him a new car here and there, despite the $3.49 price tag (when MatchBox or HotWheels are $.97 or 2/$1 on sale). He had 8 or so of them and we decided that was enough because he didn't really care how many he had, but it was rather a "collection obsession" from US! Then Luke would say every now and then, I need XYZ car from the movie, I don't have that one. Of course, you can't just buy them where ever, it may take months to find a specific character. Yes, it truly was an obsession, because we found ourselves driving to a different store 3 or 4 times a week looking for a certain car. Just when we thought we were done, Disney came out with a SECOND series of these dang cars, and now Luke likes to reinact the entire movie with his cars, and he's finding more and more that he doesn't have. I went to Target tonight to pick up medicine for the kids, and I ended up in the toy isle buying TWO more of these cars we don't yet have. However, I stash them in the closet and get them out for good behavior or a special treat. I feel bad not getting a new one here and there for him because he loves them. Sometimes that is the only thing he will play with all week! I could take every toy we have and give them away, but as long as he had his cars, I think he would be happy. Anyway, I'm hoping a new movie comes out soon so the Cars collecting can end soon. And we aren't allowing Luke to watch any new movies, because I don't want to start this all over again! Disney really knows how to rope us in, eh?
Do you think it's more of an obsession by the parents, or is it the kids too?
collectors
I think it's an obsession with the parents and the marketing industry
The collecting fad starts with them and escalates to something extreme
Remember when Cabbage patch kids were extremely hard to find the tickle me Elmo the Beanie babies the adults go after them and for what?
Not the kids the kids could care less.
Agreed
I agree it starts with the parents! After that first Car, WE were the ones that bought the second and third and THEN Luke became the obsessed one! Disney really has us too, because I can't tell you how many "sets" you have to buy to get a certain character...more than the $3.49 individual cars! This one set in particular we ended up buying Luke came with 8 cars, 5 of which we already have (some we have multiples of), but the other 3 don't come individually, you have to buy the $30 set. Thankfully we are buying $3.49 cars, and not super-expensive items, but I'm sure we will continue to buy them because he really enjoys playing with them. Darn Disney!
Jessica
~ Mommy to Luke and Shawn
must have every one thats out there
Yep, know the feeling. My son thinks he must get a hotwheel everytime we go to the store. Has a whole tub full of them but knows which ones he has and doesn't. The girls on the other hand are a bit more pricey. For a long time it was Barbie dolls and then they moved on to the Bryer horse collection. They think they should have the newest out there and look for the news ones to hit the shelf. So for now feel lucky that your obsession is only 3.49! Cheepest Bryer horse is like 20.00 bucks. So they have to earn the horses they get . Bribery! Have to say it works ! LOL...
Really they get a new horse not very often only for special things like honor roll or completing a task at school that they are having difficulty with, etc.
glad we aren't the only ones!
And glad to hear we aren't the only one's who give into it and buy for the kids! Yes, I'm sure the obsessions will get more expensive as he gets older. It started out with the Hot Wheels, and they are less than $1, so occassionaly we would let him pick one out "just because." We've decided we can't just keep giving him stuff because he started to "expect" it every time we were at Target, so I'll continue to buy the Cars, because I know how much he truly enjoys them, but I have three in the closet right now waiting to come out for good behavior, or yes, a day when only bribery will get us through the day peacefully! Thanks!!
Jessica
~ Mommy to Luke and Shawn
collections
Oh you are not the only ones. My son saw the movie 3 times when it was in the movies. Now I think that we have every movie Cars toy out there. Actually this Christmas I told my family not to get him anything with Movie cars on it. I think that my mom ended up buying him a jogging suit that was movie cars. But when I was in the store this Christmas I swear they came out with new toys for movie cars. I could not believe it. Just the other day we were in the store and I saw a bunch of new toys. Now my son absolutely loves cars. Almost anykind with do. But the Movie cars he knows exactly which ones he has and where they are. Sometimes they are forgotten at someones house and we have a huge fit about it.
So as you can see we have the same problem.