Higher-end toy store?

[fifs2]

I've got 3 young kids. The worst part about the toy prices is the constant birthday parties. For us it is at least once or twice a week. My wife and I figured out that we've had to navigate about 40 birthday parties in the span of the 8 or 9 months we've been here now. It is unreal. We've now settled on buying books instead.

Granted, we didn't have to accept every invitation, but we felt we should in order to help our kids make friends. And I'm now noticing more joint birthday parties than just a few months ago, where 2 or 3 kids are celebrating together. This doesn't do anything for the number of presents we need to buy, though.

Share your pain..but be assured at pre-escolar level the parents start group buying or giving cash so all you have to do is hand over the money outside the school gates...very civilized and so much more logical than all the pre-school crappy purchases including some toys for my 2 year old that are so dangerous its scary! I have tried so hard to get the pre-schooler mums to buy into group presents but they arent "buying it"..

 

[lwfh]

giro didactico?

 

[Napoleon]

As everything else here...

Apartments
Electronics
Food
Drugs

You get the idea.

Actually, there are a few things that are "Twice/Half".

I went looking for a numbing throat spray for my sore throat (not to be found) and I ended up a package of Hall's throat lozenge like things that have antibiotics in them and I didn't see a doctor. The pharmacist just handed them to me. (Not sure how that's legal.) And that cost a whopping ~AR$8.90.

I'm thinking without insurance in the States, you're going to pay more for antibiotic throat lozenges.

Oh, and DENTISTRY... my dentist explained that all of the crowns, porcelain, fake tooth stuff comes from Switzerland/Germany/Japan. They supply the world. And yet the price for the stuff in the U.S. is about 2 to 3 times what it is here. Same quality, a fraction of the price.

Which brings up a great idea.

Give a "Dentist Appointment to get Free Vampire Teeth Caps" as a birthday present to the pre-schoolers. They'll LOVE IT!

 

[earlyretirement]

I agree with what the others said. For the most part the quality of kids toys and kids clothes here are VERY poor compared to the USA. They are also double or triple the price. Fortunately my wife and I go to the USA 4 times a year or so and we load up on clothes there as well as toys. We've still bought lots of toys here as we have 2 young kids. Anything decent is twice or 3 X the price as back home.

Clothes here are not great for the most part. And the good quality clothes is really expensive with kids jeans often times the same price as adult jeans.

We made the mistake with our first child of getting things like imported strollers here like Peg Perego and spent $1,000 US on it as we weren't in the USA the months preceding the birth of our first born... never again.... I'd recommend people to get things from the USA and bring it down or have someone coming down bring stuff.

Basically a rip off on many kids stuff here.

 

[syngirl]

Just another Toy Store recommend -- Educando, they were at DOT but I'm sure there's others. Amongst the barbie and disney crap they had some good quality things - ie we got our niece a giant puzzle/mat thing that is double sided and has I think it was a jungle on one side and the Alphabet on the other -- it was about 120 pesos.

However as my husband commented, a lot of the stuff at Educando was "educando-ing" little girls to put on makeup and pink clothing and sing songs and dress up dolls, while the boys were being taught to play with dump trucks, swords etc. Educating kids to follow stereotypes in other words... (I have to say I love it that my Argentine husband is so against all that!! Muy progresivo!)

 

[Santiago F]

However as my husband commented, a lot of the stuff at Educando was "educando-ing" little girls to put on makeup and pink clothing and sing songs and dress up dolls, while the boys were being taught to play with dump trucks, swords etc. Educating kids to follow stereotypes in other words... (I have to say I love it that my Argentine husband is so against all that!! Muy progresivo!)

He's not the only Argentine who thinks so. Most people I know are of the same mind (locals). I am of the same mind, and I'm a local. But maybe it's like that in theory and not so much in practice... otherwise, these stores wouldn't be selling all those things.

Sorry for the off-topic.