Hellobee Boards

I think Calico Critters are "retro," rather than new. I'm pretty sure they were around a number of decades ago during my own childhood. (Ahem.) I feel like they kind of build off of the Beatrix Potter books, but that's only a vague feeling because I never had them and haven't really paid much attention to them recently.

ETA: As to how children get "into" particular toys, I think most of it has to do with the influence of peers. LO isn't in school and doesn't watch any TV (or even recent kids' movies), so he's had little exposure, but his request for a particular toy this year was for something that several of his friends own.

Hatchimals. You buy one sight unseen, switch it on, carry it around for an hour, it hatches, then it's just another stuffed animal and you might not like the one you got? For $50?! Pass.

I loooove calico critters. I had them when I was a kid so I got them for lo. I think they're worth the price. They're well made and the detail is incredible (TONS of tiny pieces lol.) Lo will play with them for hours.

@JerricaBenton: yes! Another calico critters fan! @Bao: I'm thinking of getting mine out of storage over the holidays....the house and the ice cream shop are at my grandmother's house, along with probably 15 animals

I don't really understand how kids get into this stuff. My kid doesn't watch regular tv or things with commercials. So he has no idea what a hatchimal is. Or shopkins or whatever. Same goes for those youtube unboxing videos I hear so many people's kids get into. He has no idea they exist.

@ShootingStar: we also don't really have cable, but for me pre k introduced mine to all this stuff. He even came home asking what a gun is! yikes. And our pre k is a private, secular school run by a university so it is fairly controlled.

M decided she loved Shopkins when she saw them in the holiday catalogs. So a few friends already bought her some and we got her a bunch for Xmas - along with a big plastic bin so they don't get lost/eaten by the baby

@T.H.O.U.: i love calico critters but those arent new though. i have loved them since i was a child, i think they used to be call sylvanian families. and they were always so expensive! I think the detail that goes into each single piece makes them worth it

Ugh. All the "I wants" are coming from show and tell at preschool for us. Consequently LO asked Sants for a singing mermaid doll that she is never going to play with.

@ocean81: yes! They're the same! I think there are definitely more sets available now. I'd love to do a giant 'train table' type thing and set up a whole village We got LO a house and some room sets when she was turning 2. She had some families before. I kept all the tiny pieces back for a while but at almost 4 she still plays with them and always asks for more sets for gifts. It's so fun!

I heard about hatchimals on hellobee and had to look up what it was and I was thinking it looks like the dumbest thing ever. I don't think my kid knows what it is and thankfully didn't ask for one.

I don't think he knows what shopkins are either?

Calico critters have been around awhile! I remember a girl I nannied had them and loved them. They're pretty cute.
ETA: saw that many already mentioned they're an older toy- I tried to get my son interested, but he's not.

People in my area are losing their minds over hatchimals, like posting for triple retail which is already beyond insane and then ripping each other up in the FB groups for doing so. I just. What.

LO is too young to express desire for any kind of wishlist. I was thinking to get my niece a Hatchimal because she wanted one but if it's really just a $50 stuffed animal I'm glad I held off!

When I was a kid, I really wanted a cabbage patch doll...I would suspect I heard about it at school. I also was a bit older and watched a ton of TV, so probably commercials played a big part.

My son picks up most of his pop culture knowledge from his peers at school. The kids with the older siblings at home have a lot more information than they know what to do with, so it filters down.

I think things become a "thing" when they introduce limited edition or hard to find items, like they do with Shopkins. Parents get into it too that way, it becomes the thrill of the chase I think.

Calico Critters used to be called Sylvanian Families when we were kids. I still remember the theme song -

"Sylvanian families, to collect and love!"

DD knows about Shopkins through Youtube videos. It's similar to other low-price collector items, in that it really doesn't make any sense for anyone else, except that it's supposed to be a collection. I approve of it because it helps with memorization and sorting. DD surprisinly knows the characters by name and she's nowhere near reading, but tries to "read" the names. The list it comes with idicates rarity (that's color coded), and type, and in that aspect, it's introduced categorization. She doesn't have too many, but investing in some kind of storage is a definite must.