The $6,000,000 Toy

Or, why Sarah is no longer allowed to go to garage sales…

My Grandmother has been looking for a high chair, now that she has two great-grandchildren and a third on the way. She really wants a wooden one, but they are anything but cheap. So, we’ve all been on an unofficial mission to check out garage sales for used wooden high chairs. A few weeks ago, I found a garage sale where I was able to pick up this toy for $3. It’s the Neurosmith Music Blocks toy I saw in stores a few years ago for $60, thought it was very cool, but much too expensive (plus I didn’t have kids yet). We were assured that it still worked, but we figured for $3, even if it didn’t it wasn’t a big deal. After spending $5 on batteries (for a $3 toy), we found it did work.

Now, it came with an extra cartridge, and I started wondering where I could get more cartridges… Turns out Amazon had them on clearance, because the company is no longer in business. Perfect! $20 for two cartridges, $2 tax, plus $4 shipping. (For those of you keeping track at home, the $3 garage sale toy has turned into $34. So far.)

Then I did some reading. I knew when I picked up this toy that the target age range was 2 and up. Well. There was another product put out by this company for ages 6 months – 2 years that takes the same cartridges! What better way to get my money’s worth out of the cartridges than to get another toy that can use them?!? And so, I hunted around, found the Jumbo Music Block (on sale!) and ordered it. $40 for the toy, no shipping, but $3 tax. Hmm. Oh, and that one required batteries too, so add another $5.

So, all told, my $3 garage sale score turned into $82. This is why I will never be allowed to just “stop for a minute” at a garage sale again. (The bright side is, they are fantastic toys, which I think will provide hours worth of entertainment for the baby. Oh, and for us. They really are kind of addictive…)