Toys under $20 for a cash-strapped Christmas

By Tanya Bricking
Advertiser Staff Writer

"Hot Wheels Super Speedway" features a figure-eight raceway that is one of the only remote-controlled, dual-racing games you can get for less than $20. Photos by Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

The scrooge challenge? Finding decent toys for $20 or less.

Considering that even Chicken Dance Elmo ($24.99 — and sold out, by the way) is beyond our budget, we've combed the aisles and the Internet to find some deals that might save you from having to resort to Spongebob Squarepants (which is in strong supply and in our price range).

Toys for tots

Let's start with toys for toddlers:

• We're recommending Play-Doh for ages 2 and up. At $1.69 for a four-pack at Kmart, and $3.99 for canisters topped by "Bob the Builder" or chia-pet-type creatures that grow Play-Doh hair, you can really stock up and still not break the bank.
• And you can't go wrong with the Tonka Mighty Dump Truck, by Hasbro, for $14.99 at Amazon.com. It's not sophisticated. The truck bed tilts, and that's about it. But it's a tough little toy. Or Mr. Potato Head, the first toy ever advertised on television, is still only $5.89 at Kmart. You can splurge for a Mr. and Mrs. set in a plastic suitcase for $14.89.
• Barbie as Rapunzel is expected to be the top-selling toy under $20 this year, according to PlayDate Inc., an independent marketing company. Barbie has remade herself with a 12-inch hair extension. She's $19.99 at toy stores, but she's tough to find. As an alternate, may we suggest the popular Bratz dolls (about $17 in stores such as KB Toys), a line of five multiracial dolls that claim to have a "stylin' attitude."
• For boys, anything Spider-Man is selling well.

Wheels for the little kids

Perhaps we're a bit obsessed with things with wheels, but isn't every kid? Let's skip the Silly Putty, yo-yos and Slinkys and talk about the toys that bring out the competitive nature in the youngest of us:

• "Hot Wheels Super Speedway" costs $19.99 at Kmart. It does need four D batteries (about $4), and when it says "adult assembly required," it's not kidding. But this figure-eight raceway is one of the only remote-controlled dual-racing games you can get for under $20.
• Coming in a bit cheaper is the "Lego Racers Super Speedway" game ($16.49 at Kmart). It's a game, not exactly a race. Lego also offers other building sets in our price range, alongside other building blocks with skateboarding and soccer themes, which also are good options.
• Fisher-Price has something called a "Spiral Speedway" (about $16.50 in toy stores and on the Internet). It has "supersonic" racing sounds and dual plastic spirals for hours of racing fun.

The ever-popular Osbournes (Ozzy as the count, Kelly as the G.I. and Sharon) now come as miniature dolls ($6.50).

• The 1980s are making a comeback in stores like Hot Topics at Ala Moana Center. You can find Strawberry Shortcake items at Reagan-era prices. Spongebob Squarepants apparently has a following among the Goth set there. And Care Bears' Grumpy bear is $14.99 at Hot Topics, the store known for its loud music, sarcastic T-shirts and teenage clientele.
• Claire's, the malls' trendy jewelry shop, has girly-looking skateboards, decorated with butterflies and flowers, for $8. You also can get Osbourne miniature dolls (from the hit MTV reality series) there for $6.50, or two for $10.
• Even big kids love things with wheels, and RadioShack is selling out of ZipZaps, two-inch remote-control cars known as micro RCs or micro cars. Prices start at $10, but the bigger sting is in the accessories. Upgraded motors, gear and suspension kits and different body designs go for $9.95 to $14.95.

The kid in all of us

A game that's fun for the whole family is "Operation," in which you use tweezers to pull out various parts of the body before setting off the alarm. The Milton Bradley game sells for $15.

• In 1965, Milton Bradley introduced a skill game called "Operation," in which you use tweezers to pull out the funny bone, Adam's apple and broken heart before setting off the alarm that buzzes and makes the patient's nose turn red. The game's tweezers have been blunted for safety. But the game is about the same, and it's about $15 in toy stores, plus another $2 or so for two D batteries.
• We found other classics, like "Monopoly" for $11.99 and "Twister" for $15.99 at Kmart.
• If all else fails, raid the Christmas stash of the young 'uns. "Hot Wheels Super Speedway" ($19.99) was a favorite in our office, perhaps because it brought back that nostalgia for the toys of Christmases past. Better not fight, though. Santa is watching.

Reach Tanya Bricking at tbricking@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8026.