Now that we're all sitting here on this mound of new toys and things , what were the big hits? What were the flops?

For DS2, the flop was the rip-stik. I guess I should have known better, but he looked at me like I had three heads and said "Why did you get this?"....ummmm, because the reviews were good.

For both DSs, they have recently been accepted to schools (DS1 to three colleges, DS2 to a private high school). Santa brought them sweatshirts, t-shirts, etc with the school logos and a note about how proud he was of them. They both loved these gifts. They are clothing items. And they're boys. Wow!

cj/

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I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

Our WII was a huge hit, also the moon sand (It came with a "sandbox", so I really didnt find it that messy). Also a Simpsons Jeopardy game I paid $5 for. not sure about the misses yet, but I can tell you my house is a mess right now.

I don't think there were any misses this year, which is unusual. Normally there is at least one thing that DH and I look at and say 'Well that was a waste of money.'

Something that was a huge hit, that I wish I would have bought 2 of was a rubiks cube! I only bought one, thinking the kids would like it, but that I would end up with it. They've argued over that thing like you wouldn't believe. I think when I get out to shop, I'll pick up another one. I almost wish I'd bought the electronic version when I saw it on sale at Walgreens for 9.99!

Of course, my mom was the hero of the holiday with their Wii! LOL

My hits were the Knex I bought from amazon. the swing ride. My college aged son LOVED it..and the other son looked on in envy. He took it apart and built it at least 3 times..

flop was the senseo coffee machine and a battery powered truck I got from JC penney.

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Hits for the 11 yo dd were the XBox 360, the marshmallow shooter, electric scooter and Santa hat. Hit for the 13 yo dd was the XBox and an outfit!

Flop for the 13 yo was the 3 sets of pierced earrings from her aunt - she doesn't have pierced ears!

Lisa

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"It's not having what you want,
It's wanting what you've got"

Those marshmallow shooters are cool! They really work. And if you aren't too fussy about being sterile and all, you get to eat the ammo! LOL

cj/

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I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

Big hit here was the Guitar Hero III. All my family members sat here and played it all day and night. Young and Young at heart ones even. Funniest part was in the morning after my son got it my DH was in his pajamas jammin out on the guitar so we have now dubbed him the Pajama Rock star who jams in his jammies lol.

Pretty much all big hits here....the only "flops" to speak of were the used (yes, I did say USED) VHS tape that MIL gave DD. She also gave DD a necklace, that was fine, but, a USED VHS tape??? And, we have that one already. DS got a kick out of the quad and JEEP Matchbox cars in his stocking. He actaully had those on his "list". Not the Matchbox version, he wanted us to get him the real thing. hahahahhaha, such a funny kid he is. Big hit for him was his paint ball gun. Hmmm, wonder how the neighbors are gonna like it???

Great day all the way around.

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Baby got this from my parents:
Fisher-Price Laugh & Learnâ„¢ Learning Puppyâ„¢

She loves it! She's started hugging stuffed toys recently and when this one plays music she hugs and dances Too cute!

Doesn't seem to play with the big musical toy I got her:
Little Superstar Sing Along Stage From Fisher Price

but she does like the mirror on it at least lol

Got the older two those Force Action Extending Lightsabers, because some kids downstairs have some lightsabers and they play out front with them.. don't think they have enough to go around so kids have to take turns, now my kids have their own... but man the noise they make is soooo annoying!

Did anyone get the Rock Band game? They had the big box for $170 or so, almost got that for my kids but figured they wouldn't actually play it.. it comes with the guitar, drum and microphone. My son loves the shooting games.

Definately! She's eaten plenty of the ammo! At my parents she was racing the dog to beat him to them!

Lisa

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"It's not having what you want,
It's wanting what you've got"

A few years ago, my DH's brother and his family made all of the kids in the extended family marshmallow guns.

They found the pattern online. All it takes is PVC pipe, pipe glue, and plastic spray paint.

The marshmallows are shot with a puff of breath vs any sort of trigger.

The kids always enjoy them when their friends and cousins come over.

A definite fun family project for them and a great gift for the kids!!!

The EyeClops was a big hit. I even had fun with it!

The Moon Sand, a flop in my house.

The hits for the two oldest were the new video Ipod Nanos. DS#3 loves his Nintendo DS, and my 6yr. old's favorite present was a Lego Star Wars video game I got free. The biggest hit was the giant remote control we got for my parents. They are always losing theirs, or calling and blaming my kids when they can't find it (lol), so they laughed like crazy at the giant one. I guess the only flop, was the UVA hoody I got for my son. He informed me last night that he decided not to apply there, and would prefer a different sweatshirt. Since I got it @Steve and Barry's for $9, and since today was so ugly and rainy outside, and casual day at work, I decided to keep it. So, not really a flop at all for me! It was a good day, but my butt is still dragging!

Well everyone here has played with the Baby Alive Wets and Wiggle boy that my 2 year old got. They think it is so funny when he pees on someone

Uno Attack has been played several times.
All the video games have been played constantly by someone.

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Insanity laughs under pressure we're cracking

All hits here too (I think it's a first for us also!). My one year old son got a Peg Perego Santa Express battery powered train with track that I got back in June on clearance at Wal-Mart for (drum roll) $35 (normally $140). He rode that for two hours straight, actually he fell asleep on it several times, but just kept his little finger on the button and would wake up when we tried to get him off, holding on tight and wanted to ride more! It was precious. We spent the best part of the morning just watching him and laughing. We eventually had to just open presents around him, lol, he didn't care for anything else, just his train. My oldest dd got a laptop she had bugged us for forever. She was stunned to say the least. DD2 got a lot of games for her DS and tons of clothes and some other neat things she asked for. DD3 got a DS and some games for it. Santa brought Dance Factory for the Playstation2 and they have been playing that all day. Hope that will provide lots of exercise for them during the winter months here that are very gloomy and cold. Probably the best Christmas we've had, no arguments, everybody was happy with what they got, etc. Great day!


Wanted to add that I plan on going to JcPenneys and getting one of those giant remotes on clearance as a gag (but useful) gift for my DH next Christmas (or birthday). Last year he got me a remote for our tv in the bedroom and had my name put on it (he has a friend that owns a sign shop, etc.). We are always fighting over the remote, who had it last, why we can't find it, etc. It was hysterical. I'm thinking of putting some sort of cord/string on the giant one so that it can be attached to the bed. Maybe some velcro. Ha ha. You know what they say about paybacks...

Linnybop, do you mind if I ask about the Lego Star Wars game you got free? Is it a 'deal' the rest of us can get in on? I know someone that would love that! Thanks in advance!

lol I have four boys when they was babies there was always one day where you forget to cover the "cannon" and get sprayed

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My girls love their Nintendo DSs and most of the games that they received. (their father bought some off the wall game that no one wanted or has ever heard of and they're still shaking their heads wondering what it is and why he bought it.....I know the reason, though he didn't tell me, it was CHEAP, lol), the Baby Alive, High School Musical 2 dolls, jewelry and the biggest 2 hits in our house were a Lite Brite Art FX that I bought a few months ago at Target 75% off and the Bear Factory stuffer or whatever it's called. My oldest bought that for her sister because she's wanted it for a long time and I would NOT buy it thinking it would be a rip off and waste of money. Both of them LOVE it. It was less than $20. I bought my 7 year old a digital camera, cheap kids one and it's truly awful. I may take it back if I can find all the papers and everything. Overall though everything was enjoyed and appreciated.
For me, I got a huge set of flavored teas(we love hot tea), some hot chocolate and mugs, a few knick knack items, candles, bath products and $30 in mall gift cards and $10 GC to Dillards. I loved it all because my kids picked it out. We took the $30 mall GC to Limited Too today, used it there along with $20 in extra bucks and bought some clothes for my kids. I know it was to be spent on me but the enjoyment I get from buying for my kids was my gift!

Gosh, I so understand. One year our IL's gave the boys a vhs of "Free Willy"..the thing is, they had slit it open, pulled out the tape, watched the movie, then sent it to the kids ! They ALWAYS send cheap , dirty used garage sale stuff to our kids !

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Live, Love, Laugh

Hey, I resemble that remark! DS2 gave DS1 used video games for Christmas! ANd I gave DS2 a used game. Thing is that DS1 wanted a PlayStation 2 this year.....they used to have one but it died and we got rid of it and all the games. He got the new PS2 platform and wanted some of his old games back....only available used or for mucho $$$ from resellers, so we picked up the oldies-but-goodies from Gamestop.

The new PS2 is so tiny. It's going to be great for DS1 to take to college next year. (and we STILL LOVE UVa Linny! that application has to go out within the week)

cj/

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I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

The most popular gift I gave was one of the cheapest! We got the $2.99 (or less I don't remember now) mouse pad that we on the LWIF board and gave them to everyone, inlaws, grandparents, etc and they all loved them!

My kids are still little, so anything Hotwheels and Dora goes over great here.

My MIL gave the kids more of those Kid Connection toys and they decided after a little prompting to return them and get something else. Those are such junk and they break so easily, I would rather they had a couple new coloring books or something instead.

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"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked." ~ Bernard Meltzer

The Wii and Legos were the big hits at our house. DS#2 got a Star Wars lightsabre from Santa and everyone was happy about that (DS#1 saved his b-day money and allowance and bought one months ago and DS#2 really wanted one).

The only strange gifts were ones I got -- a $25 Bed Bath & Beyond gift card from my MIL. I don't even shop there so I have no idea what she was thinking -- maybe it was a regift, I don't know, but I'm sure I'll find *something* I can use there.

Also, I got an opened Wii game from MIL & FIL. The disk looks new (no scratches & all the instructions are there), however, but it's just strange to give an open game as a gift. To top that off, I got a duplicate of the same game, but the other one is still sealed in shrink wrap so now I just have to find a store that will return/exchange it for another game.

Sarah.........mom to Jason & Devin

The biggest hit in our house for our son is the Wii Thrillville game. Our son loves it! (Like Rollercoaster Tycoon)

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"Yesterday my life was duller, now everything's technicolor!"

My sons favorite is Guitar Hero 3 for the Xbox and daughter loves the Wii. The only flop was all the new shirts son got(which really aren't a flop but he just kept saying more clothes). When you reach 11 it gets harder to avoid the clothes for Christmas. I held onto the guitar hero game until after every thing else was opened so he was really shocked. The best thing I got was the mop bucket I wanted with the wringer on it..... been wanting one for 2 years since we have tile all thru house(except bedrooms). I can't wait to mop, LOL.

Pretty much everything was a hit in our house. My dad gave our 10yo DD a Nintendo DS which was a HUGE hit. He and my brother also gave her some games to go with it. My dad gave our 4yo DS a Leapster L-Max with some games and he loves it. He's playing it right now, as a matter of fact.

My DH is a salsa addict. We usually have his favorite (Medium Pace Picante) in the house...well, the last few months have been tight financially so I haven't been buying any when I go grocery shopping. So, I bought a huge container from Costco for my DS to give him for Christmas. LOL Then my brother also gave him the same size container. DH was very happy!

peapie

WII and Guitar Hero 3 were hits in our house.

The 4 marshmallow shooters that I bought were opened Christmas Eve with all the family and friends around. They were a BIG hit! Thanks so much to CJ for suggesting them on another thread.

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Donna

The Wii was the best hit in our house. I think they'll enjoy the Eyeclops, but the TV has been running Wii games 24/7 right now. Once the new wears off I'm certain the other things will get some attention.

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My son has been playing with his Rock Band every day since Christmas. My bro in law and 4 nephews have been over everyday playing it. Kinda drives ya crazy especially listening to them *ahem* sing (if that's what you would call it) But they are loving it. He also got Guitar Hero 3 so they have an extra guitar to use with Rock Band. So we have 2 guitar players, a drummer and a singer. I'm sensing an Osmond/Jackson 5 vibe happening at my house right now.

The $20 Hyper Slide game has been a hit in our house and everywhere that we've taken it over the holidays - with kids, with adults - it's a lot of fun. When one player tires, there's always someone ready to take their seat. Lot of fun but good for memory skills and hand-eye coordination without sitting in front of the screen all day.

cj/

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I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

The coolest gift I got was from a gal friend of mine with whom I've been exchanging gifts with for 30+ years. She regularly goes to the Coach website to see what is the latest and greatest thing in style. Under the catagory: women's accessories/jewelry/necklaces, she found a Coach watch necklace on a leather cord for $248 and really liked it and decided she could duplicate it. Her plan was to make a bunch of them for sisters, friends, etc. She ended up making only 2 of them, one for herself and one for me and it is the neatest thing. She said her cost for each one was less than $15.

"The only strange gifts were ones I got -- a $25 Bed Bath & Beyond gift card from my MIL."

Sarah, would you be willing to trade your gift card for one of my gifts? A purple Magic Popcorn shirt. My 8 YO daugter received the same one in the same size. Classy!

Rebecca

My flop was the CVS digital picture frame from Black Friday - it didn't work! I went to five different CVS to find one that still had it in stock in order to exchange it.

THEN the picture ratio was off - it stretches pictures to fit the frame so everyone looks quite squat. If anyone bought it and has a solution (besides manually resizing every image in photoshop) I'd love to hear it!

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