When my son was 2, he shouted, "ELMO!" when he spotted a balloon in the drug store. He recognized the Sesame Street brand immediately, but he was so little! Companies spend billions to attach Elmo or Dora or SpongeBob to everything from diapers to snacks, and they're counting on kids to want them and parents to buy them.
Some licensed items sell well because the quality is great and the character smiling back at the child is a bonus. Others sell because we know what our kids like, and sometimes we'll buy just about anything with that character on it.
My 4-year-old son was completely obsessed with Thomas the Tank Engine. Aside from the lead-paint problems that caused some Thomas cars to be recalled, the tracks and trains are generally well made and will last far beyond my son's obsession with them.
Now that he's seen Disney's Cars movie, he only wants to play with his die-cast cars. Let me tell you...he can spot a Cars character a mile away. If it was on a box of light bulbs he'd want me to buy those light bulbs.
The bottom line is that there's nothing wrong with licensed products. I mean, I put the Dora Links doll in my Top 10 list of new Christmas toys this year! But all of us should think hard, stick to our guns and insist on high quality when buying any toy.
Some questions to consider include:
• How long will the toy keep your child's attention?
• Could it be passed on to his little brother, or even your grandchildren someday?
• Would you still buy it if it didn't have Cookie Monster all over it?
Companies will listen if parents insist on quality and only buy the best toys, whether they feature favorite characters or not.
Photo © Sesame Street
Cars Toys have their effect on boys (big or small). I must admit , as a parent to a 2 year old that has enough toys to open a little toy store or at least a kindergarden – Disney Cars are pretty cheap but they come in bulk and it’s hard to have my son focus on one car for long.
You last question – If it didn’t have the licensed character on it, would you still buy it? – is a great question to ask. The licensed character does not convert a mediocre toy into a good one. I’ve also seen some terrible books with licensed characters, evidently pumped out quickly with nothing more than making a profit in mind. Better to spend a bit more money per item for things that will be enjoyable and benefit the child than to buy a lot of junk that clutters up a home.