For me, it was an action figure from the Six Million Dollar Man television series – look it up, kids – and tracking it down sent my parents on a quest from one toy store to another.
Confused? Join the club, pal. You have to pay close attention when you’re a parent and that’s not always easy. Thankfully, Google is there to bail you out. Monster High is the latest – although the way things change in the kid world, it’s probably been replaced already – “Must-Have” toy to hit stores.
Image by pullip_junk via Flickr
In a nutshell, they’re the teenage daughters of famous monsters. Just think Barbie meets Bratz meets Universal Monsters and you’ve got it. A couple of kids fell for them and now they all have to have them or they’ll suffer an aneurysm or something. It’s all beyond me but I know one thing: the look on my daughter’s face when she acquires one of these dolls compels me to move Heaven and Earth to get one.
All parents know what I’m talking about. We’ve all been there at some point or another; sometimes we succeed and snatch that elusive item just in time – sometimes we literally grab it from another poor slob – and sometimes we don’t. I shudder to recall my epic failures and so we won’t discuss them here. Either way, it’s a tough racket.
- You scroll through one eBay window after another, searching for a dealer whose price won’t force you to sell a kidney, and then you spend days running back and forth to the computer, checking your auction ranking.
- The phone book sits open for hours as you call every store in your area and listen to more Muzak versions of Celine Dion tunes than you can stand! When you do reach someone, you have to repeat yourself numerous times, as the pimply faced kid on the phone is more clueless than you are!
- When you do hit the jackpot, you have to hope the clerk on the phone will actually have enough compassion in their Big Box heart to hold the item in question until you can race out there without running into a speed trap!
If luck – and the Fates - are truly on your side, you’ll snag that special treasure and fill your child’s heart with love and gratitude. All will be right in your universe.
Until the next rare item catches their eye.
Related articles
- The Season’s 15 Hottest Toys: Watch the TV Ads (adweek.com)
- new monster high dolls (thediamondringreview.com)
Ok, the Million Dollar Man series I was familiar with( clue of our age, right?) but the Monster doll made me confuse so here I am putting my name of the “confused list,” as you mentioned on your post. So much stuff out there . Every now and then I can catch up through my son’s latest obsession but I don’t have a daughter so I got lost with the new girl craze out there. My son is easy and obvious, anything Star Wars Lego will throw him into a fun, thrilling spin. He even digs the star wars by Harrison and company. Isn’t that ancient too? Cool , wild post. I enjoyed it a lot…
Lego Star Wars? Lego costs a ridiculous amount of scratch these days! My condolences…
Thanks for the visit.
…on the “confused list,”…..
You’re in good company, my friend!
I hate toys in these days. They are just dumb and look very boring. Great post
Thanks, buddy! There are a few good toys out there. You just have to look really hard to find them!
Ah, yes, in the old days (goodness did I just write that?) mom and dad waited in the cold outside of the toy store with lines stretching round the corner for my Six Million Dollar Man and My Millennium Falcon! Steve Austin, unfortunately, has left my home–probably pitched into a trash dump somewhere. But luckily, the Falcon still makes it out every so often for a flight round the living room by my kids! Great read! Thanks for it.
You’re more than welcome!
I just took a second job at a major toy retailer and I heard them calling over the radio for that specific doll three times yesterday. Crazy!!
It sure is!
How strange… For me it was always books. You sound like a good dad though, tracking these things down for them. I hope you get plenty of hugs after a successful hunt!
I sure do! My wife takes half the credit though, rightfully so!