Comments on: Wacky Business Idea #12: On-line / Off-line Toys

By: Carnival of Credit Report Stories | Fix My Personal Finance - Personal Finance Advice - Money Management Advice

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 08:54:47 +0000

[...] Wild1 presents 9 Great Ways to Enter the Real Estate Game at The Wild Investor. Mr. Cheap presents Wacky Business Idea #12: On-line / Off-line Toys posted at Quest for Four [...]

By: Shevy

Shevy — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:01:06 +0000

Yes, some folks are anti-Webkinz, either because they believe it encourages consumerism or because they oppose children spending time on the computer.

That`s not me. My 5 yo loves Webkinz. It teaches all types of computer and mouse or touchpad skills, eye hand coordination, typing (especially the game Lunch Letters), plus helps with math skills (Booger), matching (Smoothie Moves) etc. My Dear Child can type in her own user name and password all by herself and is reading a lot of things on the site.

From a financial point of view, it also teaches that things cost money and you have to do various things to earn money or you can`t have all the fancy clothes, toys etc. you want. Plus the pets need to be fed, you can garden, have your pets take classes. Most of the games are actually pretty fun for kids and my DC can get to level 7 on Bananza and level 3 on the easy version of Lunch Letters.

Right now her computer skills are almost equivalent to my grown sons when they were 10 or 12. My Number 1 Son is now a team manager for an ISP. DC would probably be ready to join his team by the time she`s old enough to get her first job. Plus, she has a much better concept of being able to afford things than she did 6 months ago (she got her first Webkinz 9 months ago).

Additionally, their production quality is actually very good compared to the other people offering similar sites. I can`t remember which one it was but the graphics on one were something I would have expected 10 or more years ago.

Anything that would be similar to this (in terms of purchasing something that unlocks a complex virtual world), but geared to an adult audience would be worth considering. Of course, this idea requires serious technical skills so wouldn`t be for just anyone.

By: Mr. Cheap

Mr. Cheap — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 19:15:05 +0000

Potato: Yes, there was something I read about where they’d sculpt your WOW character (with their notable equipment and clothes). Quite neat (but not something I’d spend money on).

There have been parent backlashes against Webkinz (that its training kids to be hyper-consumers). Ultimately, anything you make and sell that targets children will draw complaints from SOMEONE (e.g. D&D, Harry Potter, Webkinz, Narnia, Barney, etc).

By: Potato

Potato — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 17:24:15 +0000

If you can get the kids hooked on it, it’s a great cash cow… but there’s usually a lot of backlash against buying your way to the top, especially when skill and time sinks are options.

For some games, like Pox Nora, that’s just the name of the game.

There are some neat reversals to this for WoW: you can get items made with your character on them (I can’t remember now if it was just T-shirts and coffee mugs with their picture, or if stuffed dolls or action figures were options…)