Bears "made" by your child: priceless...more like overpriced!
Written: Dec 06 '04
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Pros: Cute idea: let kids make their own special friends and accessorize them too!
Cons: Overstimulating, Overpriced, Overboard on adorable.
The Bottom Line: The animals are nothing special and the clothes and accessories way overpriced for the average family.
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| thriftymommy's Full Review: Build-A-Bear Stuffed Bear |
This past weekend, we experienced the wonders of creating a very special teddy bear at the Build-A-Bear Workshop. As it was my son's fifth birthday, and with my daughters' third this week, we decided against two separate parties and took the kids instead with their best friends to Build-A-Bear Workshop.
The Basics
Bring your wallet with plenty of disposable income along. Your child is herded through a line that has bins of unstuffed bears, unicorns, Elmos, horses and puppies in barrels to choose from. The un-stuffed animal starts out with reasonable price tags ranging from $10 to the unreasonable $25.
Your child chooses the animal of his choice and is next herded to a Choose a Sound stand where everything from Christmas music sound boxes to Happy Bear Birthday boxes (these are little white cloth cubes with a sound box inside) can be chosen with an additional cost of between $3 and $8.
Next, your child is herded along to a filling station. Your child picks out a cloth heart and places it in the animals' back where the strings are open for filling. Then, your child hands the animal to the attendant who fills the animal with stuffing. The machine is see-through so that the child can see what's going inside to fill the animal. This is included in the price of the animal.
Finally, your child is herded along to the wash station where a plastic bathtub with faucets sits with a pedal on the ground. The animal is placed under the air-faucets and the excess stuffing is blown away. There are also little paw print shaped brushes to help remove the stubborn stuffing.
For an extra cost, your child can dress their animal. Every possible outfit conceivable is there: Spiderman, military uniforms, cheerleader, wedding dresses, Jewish prayer attire, graduation outfits, and many, many more to choose from. You can buy the outfits by the set or indivually create an oufit (for example, miniature T-shirts can match the miniature Joe Boxers). There are also accessories like shoes, purses, book bags, carriers, strollers, bassinets, swings, hats and back packs.
The outfits start at $10 and the accessories start at $5 and the prices climb incrementally until you have the most expensive bear built outside of FAO Schwartz. There are special dressing stations that are right next to the bathing station with the clothing in plain view on the walls and in the middle of the store.
Last but not least, your child is herded along to their computer birth certificate station where they enter their personal identification for future mailings and e-mails and a cutesy birth certificate is printed at the register at no additional cost. The bear is also given its own house shaped box to carry him home with.
My kid's review
Well, I can say I'm glad we decided not to have a birthday party for either child. What we would have spent at a party is what we spent on four bears and their accessories.
The bear filling station scared my soon to be three year old daughter and she lost complete interest in finishing the filling project. The stuffing being blown into the bear sounded like an air gun; I felt as if we were going out to shoot bb guns and the sound is reminiscent of the air cartridges if you shoot them...yes, I have older brothers.
My daughter did like bear wash station. It was fun for her to pretend to give her bear a bath. The air faucets were neat since they had basically no noise except rushing air. She also liked picking out the purse, shoes and clothes. She has the bear in her bed and has slept with it.
My five year old loved the entire experience and enjoyed stepping on the filling machine's pedal to fill his own bear. He loved washing and then dressing his bear as Spiderman. He loved typing his bears' name on the computer and then getting the printed birth certificate. He has the box next to his bed and puts his bear in it when its bedtime with its own special blanky that we bought.
They both enjoyed sharing the day with their best friends and making a bear that they can keep forever.
Mom's opinion
Where to begin? Okay, first, let me address my use of the word "herded" in my description. The store we went to has the centers set up on the walls and the accessories in the center of the store with the stand ropes lining the centers. Picture a "U": in the middle of the "U" is the accessory stands. You are herded from center to center within the ropes. With the ropes in place, wandering around and looking at the price tags is discouraged but being exposed to every possible accessory while on line allows time for your child to decide which accessories they must have.
The selection of animals are basic; the price tags are the only difference between the animals and I've personally found better quality stuffed animals at the amusement park. Supposedly, the higher quality bears are higher priced. The $10 bear is not as fluffy or nice as the $18 bear. I found this to be, well, fluff! The only difference that I could feel was the price tag.
The outfits are cute. $10 cute? No way! You can buy three 16" doll outfits at any department store for that price and be able to change them frequently. I took out some newborn clothing and they fit the bears as well.
The accessories are adorable. Starting at $5, you can buy a bear purse. For a dollar, you can get the same purse at the dollar store. While you're at it, you can also get the baby carrier and backpack at the dollar store.
The birth certificate is nice. Okay, it's included in the price of the bear. So is the adorable house shaped box.
The store also does birthday parties. This review is not our birthday party experience but what was experienced by my family witnessing two birthday parties while in the store.
One woman told me she had 15 kids in her daughter's party and the bill was coming to $600...that's almost a mortgage payment for me; the party wasn't even in a party room but in the middle of the "U"; interrupting the line that was circling the centers. She said you get goodie bags, play games, have an attendant just for your party guest, and the birthday childs' parents pick out the price range for the guests and bring the cake and paper supplies. Her child's guests had a $40 limit...which the attendant told me was about average!!
The store was crowded, noisy and less than entertaining from my perspective. The constant air gun noise from the filling center made conversation impossible and the excessive numbers of children, parents and strollers made navigation through the tights aisles next to impossible. The overabundant displays of accessories created a cacophony of pleas for these shoes or this purse that went past unbearable. It also made my children overstimulated and they were past cranky when we left.
For the money, take your child to pick out some new clothes. Then let him pick out a stuffed animal at the toy store. You'll still have change left over so take him out for ice cream as well.
Yes, it is a novel concept. Yes, the kids get a bear that they "made" and can treasure the memory. No, we won't be going to experience this store again...not unless it's part of a birthday party. We spent in one hour, get ready, $186 on four kids: bears, outfits, accessories and name tags (which are sold as impulse items at the register). Cute, but a once-in-a-lifetime unless you have a great bottom line.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 186
Type of Toy: Stuffed Toy
Age Range of Child: 3 to 5 Years
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Epinions.com ID:
thriftymommy
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Member: April
Location: Home of the Hindenburg Disaster, NJ
Reviews written: 90
Trusted by: 50 members
About Me:
The number of people below the official poverty thresholds numbered 36.1 million in 2005.
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