Monday, April 18, 2016

What Exactly Are Shopkins, And Why Are They All Over The House?









"Ouch!" I shrieked as my bare foot connected with plastic nonsense.


"Mommy!" Natalie yelped, and for a second I thought she was going to ask if I was okay. Instead she went, "You HURT them!"

"Who is THEM?" I bellowed, limping to the couch.

"My SHOPKINS," Natalie answered, mortally offended. She scooped up the weapons and hugged them against her chest.

"What exactly ARE they?" I demanded, massaging my wounded foot.

"Shopkins." Natalie gave me the same look I give to Donald Trump whenever he speaks.

"I know," I replied patiently. "But what exactly are they?"

Shopkins came into our lives about a year ago. I blame YouTube. Natalie watches videos where people review different toys and suddenly she was telling me, "CookieSwirlC got some Shopkins!" Soon after there were these colorful objects with eyes in my home because Natalie started spending her allowance on "blind bags." Before I knew what was happening, the house was filled with these things.

"Are they food?" I wanted to know. "With eyes?"

Natalie sighed. "No. They're all sorts of things."



"Margarine?" I questioned. "But why?"

"Because! She's beautiful," Natalie explained.

These things have cutsey names like Birthday Betty and Flappy Cap.



"And they're to play with?" I wanted to know, inspecting one that looked like a washing machine.

"Yes. And to trade."

"What's the goal?"

Natalie blinked at me.

"I mean...what's the point?"

Natalie rubbed her temples. Our roles had reversed. Normally I'm the one rubbing my temples when she's asking me things.

"It's to have fun!" Natalie finally replied. "I love them!"

Oh. Okay. For her birthday, she received some play sets, because of course you can't just COLLECT Shopkins.



And the other day my husband came across a Shopkins (or would it be ShopKIN?), because since they are small, they end up all over the house.

"What," Tom began, "is this?" He held up the toy between his thumb and forefinger.


"Oh," Natalie said simply. "That's Blue Flushes Toilet."

"What the fu--" Tom began, and I shot him a look, so he swallowed the rest down. But I shared his confusion. A toilet Shopkins? But why?

"Is she rare?" I wondered, because I noticed there were "rare" and "limited edition" Shopkins. I assume these are worth more. Maybe the toilet could pay our cable bill.

Natalie shook her head. "I don't think so."

"But if she were...maybe I could list her on eBay and.."

"What! I can't GET RID of my Shopkins!" Natalie looked appalled at the thought.

"But if you trade them, you're sort of getting rid of them," I pointed out.

"I'm trading ONE friend for a NEW friend." I swear Natalie added "Duh" under her breath.

I doubt I'll fully understand Shopkins. But it's okay, because Natalie does. I'll just have to watch where I step, because they are everywhere. It might not hurt as much as stepping on Legos, but it still stings.



And if I think this is the only thing tweens like to trade, I am mistaken. The other day at Toys R Us Natalie spent the rest of her birthday money and calmly told me, "I'm collecting Num Noms now."



Having a girl is fun.

24 comments:

  1. Lol! I've wondered what those things are...the youtubers are getting paid to promote them right and left. I remember collecting stickers, but those couldn't hurt anyone! And Garbage Pail Kids. Mom hated those lol.

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  2. Simon watches youtube videos where people get Shopkins. I'm surprised he hasn't asked me for any!

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  3. My niece collects these. I still don't get it. My kids have a few from random things, but no way are they going to start accumulating them!

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  4. Haha good to know what they are! I've heard my nephew talk about them.

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  5. I can 100% relate to this post! Emily is obsessed with Shopkins! They are all over the house. Everywhere! And they are painful to step on! Emily plays with them with her Barbie dolls. I find them pointless too. And she whines when she gets a duplicate. Lol

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  6. Joanns has Shopkins fabric. And Shopkins aren't just for girls. But 10 year old 4th grade son was collecting them for a while.

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  7. I don't know what's the big deal about shopkins but I love Toms verbal response when he encountered the shopkins toilet which caused me to laugh. And also I had the same reaction as Tom when I saw the photo of the shopkins toilet you had posted on here. I was like what's a toilet got to do with shopkins?????? LOL

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  8. What, praytell, are Num Noms? I'll wait for that post.
    The Easter Bunny brought Scarlet that same gumball machine one. After I swore up and down, I would never buy one of these flappy crappy things.
    I was wrong.

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  9. I am so glad we dodged that bullet. My girls were all in to the Silly Bandz and those don't hurt if you step on them. They can wreck havoc on a vacuum cleaner though.

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  10. Is it sad I miss having small toys all over my house? Having girls is so much fun. I hated when they started liking technology more than little plastic toys and dolls.

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  11. I want to laugh, but the entire time I was reading this post I was thinking, "This is so me when I was a kid!" My poor parents...

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  12. My niece is obsessed with them. She was playing with them and there was 20 when she started. When she finished there was 15. I have no doubt they are all over my SIL's house.

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  13. The preschoolers are always bringing these to forest school. Ahhhh!

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  14. I think I am pretty glad that my kiddo is a little bit older because those things are...special. A toy toilet? I don't think my Barbie ever went to the bathroom once, not even to change cloths. Hmmm.

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  15. AHAHA no idea what they were and still perplexed as to what their point is!!! One day...!

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  16. We are beginning to have a Shopkins issue here... and it's bad because they fit in the baby's mouth perfectly! Eep.

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  17. The whole point is to steal money from our pockets ;) still kids must have some fun, gotta love them...kids not Shopkins. :D

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  18. Hahahah, these seem so weird to me too, but hey, it sounds like she really enjoys them :)

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  19. Hahahaha. The blue toilet part cracked me up. I've heard of Shopkins but I thought they were like little dolls sets. Clearly I am OUT OF TOUCH! :)

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  20. :) Why did I not think of these?!?!?! Eyes. on. anything. equals money. Brilliant!
    I imagine Shopkins are like my Legos here, those suckers hurt when you step on them barefoot.
    Thanks for sharing with us at #MMBH.
    XOXO

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  21. We lied and told McDonald's our daughter was a boy when they were running this promotion. Bullet dodged! :)

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  22. Yea, I don't get Shopkins either. But then again, I don't get a lot of kids stuff - Minecraft, Pokemon, Angry birds.

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