So I got a Russian nesting doll (Matryoshka doll), not the classic type, but ds1 chose the most "mean"-looking and fierce one at the Utah State Fair. (The matryoshka doll character in the Firebird DVD is a bad guy.) Guess what? That turned out to be this Virginia Tech Hokies players drawn as Russian dolls. Within this, there are 4 more dolls, with different players' names and numbers. I just hope they don't know ds1 is using them as the villians in his game. Ouch.
ANyway, the funny thing is after we bought the nested dolls, we were strolling about at the State Fair and looking at the US Navy submarines and vehicles, then as we passed this diver and other Naval officers, they saw him playing with it and exclaimed, "Hey are you a VTech fan? wow! cool!" And all the navy guys came over to look at and admire his dolls. Then they asked me where I bought it and they said they'd check it out!
Then Target happened to send me advert emails about sales and I spotted Little Einstein toys in them. I didn't know there were. I checked them out online and found out that they were on sale since June. Amazon.com and eBay also carried them but were at very high prices. Cos it turns out that the quantities are limited so people are snapping them up.
And the funniest thing was, as I checked back on the same Pat Pat Rocket toy, the price went up from $129 to $199 in 20min! That was on Amazon. On eBay, it was the same, the bids kept going up.
So when I saw Target was selling the exact same toy for $39.99, I went to the store nearest my place with kids in tow. Guess what? Yeah, the shelves were totally empty. Whole long shelf. And the staff said initially it was $35 when it came out. Now it's $39.99. They called 5 other Targets in Utah, and they all ran out of stock too. Wow, I was thinking... I didn't know so many pple liked Little Einsteins so much too. Then I read the Amazon review. This mom said they waited for the toys to come out for 3 yrs already. So when the range came out, she rushed out to buy everything. From the plastic figurines ($5 for 2), to the Alaska and Egypt adventures, to the Van Gogh and Monet Drawing board (which plays classical music as you draw)... wow...
I knew then I would not be able to "fight" with these people, much less to bid on eBay at high prices. So I just bought a cheap bath toy that's a submarine to be Rocket.
The Pat Pat Rocket is impressive though. It will start off with the kids pat patting on their laps and accelerating. And it is supposed to go forte or piano with the kid tilting rocket up or down. Then if you roll it forwards, it will go presto and backwards, it will be adagio. It also says all the pet phrases of the 4 little einsteins... Basically, enhances the kids' musical vocab and the understanding of it. It also plays several great composer's works.
Dh was impressed with this latest DVD because it's Stravinsky, which is not catchy or easy for kids to learn. Yet they managed to put it into a story such that the kids were humming it after just watching it 1x. The 1st DVD ds1 watched, based on Ode to Joy, that was understandable, cos it's a catchy and familiar tune. Even ds2 was singing along. Amazing. Because of this DVD, the kids and I were suddenly on a learning journey about all things Russian too. Cos there was the St Petersburg, the Faberge egg and so on, all mentioned in the show, and which sparked off more questions from ds1. And since I didn't know Russian history very much, I had to read up then answer all his Qs. Very interesting, I learnt a lot too.
These people are earning big bucks too, so I suggested to dh, since he's got so many comments about each DVD, and so many suggestions, why doesn't he write one. Then the money can come rolling in... yay. dream on... :-)
