A mum has taken to Facebook to give parents a brutally honest review of the latest toy craze: Hatchimals.
Kirsty Myerscough, from Manchester, said her review of the interactive toy pets that start their life in an egg then “hatch”, was based on her seven-year-old daughter’s experience with the toy.
“So this one is one-week-old and has been played with for a few hours,” she wrote on 18 November, alongside of a photo of the “hatched” toy.
Myerscough continued: “The best bit was it hatching and then we had to break it out as it wasn’t working.
“It grew up from a baby to fully grown in a few hours. It doesn’t talk, it just records the child’s voice and plays it back.
“It has a few games that are boring and once played [children] don’t want to play again.
“All you can do is feed it by tilting it forward, stroke it when it gets cold and pat the head if it’s scared.”
The mum said once the toy is taken out of the box, it starts hatching, which takes around 20 minutes to an hour.
“So make sure your children are ready to sit with it and help it hatch,” she added. “Overall not worth the money.”
Myerscough’s Facebook post has been shared more than 65,000 in one week, with thousands of people tagging others on Facebook to show them the review.
“They are a waste of money,” one mum wrote. “Same as every toy they all end up in the same place, but if your child wants one from Santa it’s what you have to do.”
Other parents who are keen to buy the popular toy have been paying high prices on eBay or resorting to another mum’s trick of buying it on the Italian Amazon.
Will you be getting your child a Hatchimals toy for Christmas?