conuly | For me

I'm not really asking (unless anybody really DID win the lottery this year, in which case, I am!), this is mostly for my reference. Any suggestions for the kids in bold?

Girl, 6

Princess dress-up trunk

Child, 6

Paw Patrol play car

Boy, 6

Laser X

Boy, 7

Headphones OR lego

Boy, 7

Bike (no)

Boy, 7

Bowling ball set... it's not clear if he wants a real bowling ball or an at-home set

Boy, 7

Scooter with helmet

Boy, 7

Scooter with helmet
Clothes from Children's Place (gift card)

Boy, 8

Remote control car

Boy, 8

Aquaman toy OR magnatiles

Boy, 8

Basketball hoop (maaaaaaybe, if I do one indoors)

Girl, 8

Descendants 2 doll collection

Boy, 10

Lightning Thief (oh, honey, how about the box set?)
Gadget electronics smart circuit lab
Game

Boy, 10

Books, particularly Spirit Animal Hunter
Scooter

Child, 11

Dying light: the following PS$ OR legos

Boy, 11

Wireless speakers
Basketball book

Boy, 12

2k17 new WWE (if this turns out to be on a specific device, he'll need something else because I don't know what system he has

Boy, 12

Table tennis (surprisingly affordable!)

Girl, 12

Walkie Talkies

Girl, 12

Earrings
Gift Card

Boy, 17

Skateboard and helmet

Would appreciate ideas for the ones I have no idea what to get them.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

killing_rose

WWE2k is absolutely a specific device issue--if you figure out that he's got an xbox, let me know. I've got a 12 month Gold prepaid subscription I'm not going to use.

From:

conuly

Ooof. There's no way to contact these kids and figure out what device they have. Any chance we can get a gift receipt with that subscription? Otherwise, they'll have to get something else. (I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT ELSE! BUT I WILL PROBABLY GET THEM A BOOK! BECAUSE I ALWAYS ADD A BOOK!)

From:

killing_rose

No. I mean, unfortunately, due to restrictions, you're pretty much either going to have to hope to gods it's the right version and get a gift receipt *or* buy a store specific gift card.

Basically, here's the thing: All of the device companies (and this one is on at least two different company platforms and multiple systems--it's at least PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, *possibly* the PS3, and I don't remember if the Nintendo systems carry it, hence why I say "don't guess"--all of those are different prices) are going to be very firm about subscriptions or prepaid gift cards for their services/items: no returns, no refunds, nada. (There are reasons for this, good and bad, all of which mean that those policies are never changing, but it boils down to "these are final sale".) Now, theoretically, if you buy the WWE 2k17 game disc with a gift receipt, he should be able to switch out, say, a One game with a PS4 version. But remember: there's price differences.

So it really boils down to "for the love of gods" please don't buy them things that are manufacturer gift cards for specific devices/games.

HOWEVER! You *can* buy a gamestop gift card for the amount of the game. [Or your local nearby friendly game store, I don't know what New York has.] If you do, remember that (and this is fucked up, and everyone admits it) that gamestop most likely will charge *you* tax for your purchase and then will charge *him* tax for his purchase using the card, so factor in the tax when you do it. Since you don't have device specific info, i would (if it were me), get a card for the price of the base game for either the PS4 or the One. I assume they're the same price, as they're same gen, but. Check the difference in prices for the devices; go with the most expensive base game price.

See, to make it even better? It comes in a couple variations (at least on the Xbox systems; I use PS solely for games that are 15 years old at the earliest). Some have season passes, some have extra downloadable content, some have virtual currency, or some combo of all of the above. But those come with codes to redeem and therefore mean they're more expensive. (And, you know, if that is a thing you're fine with, you are fabulous. However, it is not uncommon for people to get to the store and be utterly flummoxed to "which of these things do I get"?)

...Sorry, this is a thing that I have opinions on because holy gods, you can't imagine how badly the winter holidays influence Incredibly Batshit Decisions wrt game consoles/games that end up hurting the child involved and it's just an absolute mess to attempt to sort out.

[And I would love to go "here, have subscription and here's the gift receipt" but a) not a thing Xbox allows, and b) it's my annual bribe from work thing, so I have no gift receipt anyway.]

Edited Date: 2017-12-07 03:21 am (UTC)

From:

conuly

Ugh.

I'm debating with myself now if I want to go the Gamestop route or if I want to go the "different gift altogether" route. Maybe I can split the difference and get him a Visa check card for, like, $25 and a note explaining the situation. I don't wanna deal with Gamestop this time of year. How much is it likely to be, do you know off the top of your head? I can google it, of course, but I'm sooooo lazy.

From:

archangelbeth

Danny Dragonbreath books!

...yeah, without knowing the actual interests of the kids, it's... pretty hard to go from "bike" to anything else. Like, do they want a bike because it would make them more "normal income" appearing? In which case a nifty backpack might help. But if they want a bike because they want to use it to go somewhere more easily (to school?), then that's harder.

Gift cards for the parents for Toys R Us? O:/

From:

conuly

A gift card, now that's an idea, but the kid might not like it. It has to be a gift card and, not a gift card instead.

From:

archangelbeth

Book about bikes and a gift card? But yeah, I understand that one.

...stuffed superhero dolls are probably not a thing. >_> (Finn action figures!)

From:

kengr

Regarding the headphones: Would earbuds do? I've got some spares.

From:

conuly

I'm assuming earbuds will do. If you can get them here by Friday that'd be awesome. Otherwise I'll pick those up at the drugstore.

From:

kengr

Alas, that'd require Express Mail, which is *way* more than they are worth. :-(

From:

conuly

It's really, though, just the big ticket items that are giving me pause.

Scooters also turned out to be just within budget, if I shop carefully, so that's good. Bulky, but good.

From:

peoriapeoriawhereart

Since Boy,7 includes set with bowling ball set, that's the two under sized balls and 10 pins with some sort of rack to contain them, all blown-formed plastic. (Unless there's a new fangled one.)

From:

conuly

Yeah, but he's seven and for seven he practically wrote a paean to the joys of bowling with Dad. So who knows what he means? I'm gonna go with that anyway, though, because it weighs a lot less than the other option.

Edited Date: 2017-12-07 03:27 am (UTC)

From:

peoriapeoriawhereart

Not to mention an actual bowling ball would require you to know weight and hand size, and be a hazard should it be rolled where it ought not be rolled.

Though, consider including a pad of scoresheets and a pencil.

Edited Date: 2017-12-07 06:02 am (UTC)

From:

conuly

Oooh, not a bad idea.

From:

cesy

For the basketball hoop, would a ball be any good? I get the impression it's worth having a couple of extras since they tend to get borrowed or lost if you're keen on the sport and play a lot. Or the indoor hoops or other small/kids/non-regulation ones make sense, if he's only 8.

For the bikes, a scooter could be a good alternative, depending on what they want it for, which you don't know.