Wal-Mart Kid Connection Brand Is Crap

Today's Washington Post has a feature article on the havoc wrought by Wal-Mart on the lucrative toy market. Aimee and I generally avoid buying toys at retail outlets. We figure our kids probably have too many toys as it is. And when we do buy toys we'll try to acquire them at garage sales where the price (usually under a dollar) is much better.

However, despite my disdain for mass-marketed toys, I read the article because I was curious to see if Wal-Mart's private label toy brand would rate a mention. There, at the bottom of the second page, was this:

To save money, Wal-Mart contracts with manufacturers to make several private label toys, which are sold under names such as Wal-Mart's Kid Connection. Profit margins on these products, many of which are manufactured outside the United States, are often twice those of brand-name toys, said the executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he continues to do business with the retailer.

I was interested, you see, because I've had some experience with Wal-Mart's private label. On the rare occasion when garage sales have failed us in our search for a particular toy we've resorted to Wal-Mart. And of course there's the inevitable birthday gifts our boys have received from Wal-Mart.

My objective opinion based upon the half-dozen or so Kid Connection brand toys with which I've come in contact: Kid Connection sucks. Not a single Kid Connection toy my children have ever come in contact with has failed to break within 24 hours of coming out of it's packaging. Now for some kids that may not be saying much. However, as a point of reference, my kids regularly play with toys that are over 20 years old without the toys falling apart in their hands. As a result of these experiences, I have vowed to never again let my kids use a Kid Connection toy. I certainly won't ever purchase a Kid Connection toy myself. And if my children should ever receive another Kid Connection toy as a gift I will immediately return the toy to Wal-Mart.

If I can convince even one person to avoid Wal-Mart's Kid Connection brand like the plague then I have done a good deed. You have been warned.