Shopkins Friday: How Shopkins Became a Part of my Everyday Life (From Shopkins Parents!)
First, a huge thank you to the Moms in Shopkins of America on Facebook for taking the time to answer my questions. As we continue Shopkins Friday, the parents of the children will be the ones who helps me keep this going!
About a month ago, I turned to my daughter and asked "What do you want to do for your birthday"? Her birthday isn't until October 29th, in fact this year we can actually do her birthday party ON her birthday so I know she was really excited as it falls on a Saturday. Her answer was quick, simple, and made me feel my eyes fall out of my head: "Mommy I want a Shopkins birthday party in my back yard!"
Okay so let me first explain, we moved at the beginning of March out of an apartment and into a duplex. This is the first time in her life she has had a backyard so that part didn't surprise me. What made me go "Oh goodness" was the SHOPKINS part. Why is that? Well, I've only been a Shopkins Mom for a few months and I have come to realize these little suckers steal a Mother's soul and devour your income faster than a hungry pup smelling steak! Not only that, but parents are realizing these things are really a cash cow. Parents are going to local stores like Walmart, Target, Toys R Us and are buying out the blind bags/baskets before parents can come get any then turn around and re-sell them online for double or even triple the price. For example, at Walmart you can find a blind bag for $2.88. Online, you'll find them for "$3.50" or sometimes "$4.00" and then they want you to pay $3.00 for shipping. Just a note: This does not settle well with parents. So FYI to you up-sellers, we may buy from you but that doesn't mean we like you! Veronica V. from the Facebook group Shopkins of America herself said:
"I started off by doing trades which I found so helpful. I have yet to actually sell any of our duplicates. I came across the famous "Walmart glitch" where they accidentally went live for selling season 5. Of course there I was ordering her some. I find it insane that adults go out of their way to purchase HUGE LOTS at a time and then turn around and resell for almost triple the price. I refuse to be a part of that. These are toys for kids and lately adults are the ones clearing shelves to resell."
Did you know that Shopkins are not just the cute little toys all the kids must collect (Like Chinpokomons from South Park?)? No, now there are birthday party decorations, bedding, clothes, school supplies, home decorations, and more! Knowing my daughter wants the birthday party I already priced everything out. I'm looking at around $50 for supplies. Not too bad right? But then, you look at Shopkins. We want to put Shopkins in the goody bags, maybe mix Shopkins and candy in a pinata for kids to knock apart...and yet we would have to spend about $200+ in tiny little buddies! It's crazy! Jasmine J. explains:
"The most we(I) ever spent on Shopkins was $100 when we purchased our first (and last) case of food fair. It was totally a random we stopped in a Walmart out of town and went down the aisle with shopkins and my oldest spotted 4 cases of food fair. She asked if she could get one since it was the first time we ever seen them in person and I figured since food fair is a collection of 60 it would be best to purchase a case at one time and hope to get as many as possible to complete the set."
Perhaps it would be easier to make our own Shopkins for the birthday party. Many parents have begun creating their own Shopkins and repainting some. The custom work is really cute, and kids seem to think that they are just as good as the originals. Jasmine goes on to explain:
Custom Shopkins are really one of a kind they are hand made and painted by a person who takes pride in creating something for someone to admire and truly appreciate. I learned a lot of time is put into making a custom it isn't done in a matter of 1 hour I would say a custom can require at least 24 hours of making in total from prep time to molding time to trimming and painting and then finishing it off by being sealed. I don't want to say customs are better than regular shopkins but so many people create such beautiful customs you cant help but admire their talent and express how much you enjoy seeing the variety of customs."
I think the real question now is: What to do with the collection when the kids grow out of it? All children will grow out of toys at a certain age. Shopkins will be one of them, and do we want to spend hundreds of dollars on something they will in the end no longer want? Do you want to sell the collection? Donate it? Keep it to show the kids just how obsessively crazy they were when they were under the age of seven? One Mom from Shopkins of America said:
"I will probably never part with season 1 or the customs. I'd like to keep them for my daughter to give to her children one day. I've even joked to my friends that I would like to be buried with my favorites."
I remember owning Pogs as a child. I had several cases of them in a shoe box under my bed. When I was about 23 and moving out of my Grandmother's house, I threw them away. Do I regret it now? Oh absolutely! I wish I had saved them for my daughter to see how simple life really was back when I was a child (and boy do I feel old saying that!) As parents though of this generation, we are having to deal with selfish parents who want to cash in on a craze, Youtube which pushes the belief that if one child has 500 Shopkins all children should have that many, and more.
Welcome to a Shopkins Life!
Elizabeth is a work at home Mother of a sweet and beautiful daughter. She is a wife of seven years and a blogger for some time now. When she isn't spending time with her "Livvybug" she is looking for new review opportunities and writing or singing along to classic rock and pop music!
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