Girls don't play Skylanders.
Did you know that? Skylanders is a BOYS game.
Just for honesty's sake let me say right now that there's nothing on box that says that. Activision has never come out with any statement saying that only boys are allowed to buy and play their game. I can find nothing on any character I have bought...and oh...there have been a few....saying, "This is only for those with mismatched chromosome pairings." If you actually take the time to look you can see that there are characters of both gender all throughout the game. In fact one of the IT characters the gamers geeks are paying $100's to acquire on Ebay is Ninjini, a girl genie.
By the way, you don't even have to ask. No, my girls aren't getting a $200 toy. If I can't have a $200 toy, they can't. That's the rule. They will wait like every other child of an evil troll mother for it to be released in a store for under $20. Let it be written. Let it be done.
So what's with all the girl haters? It's the marketing industry that tells us it's a boys game. All the merchandising that has been bought and placed on the shelves is geared for boys. There are Skylanders shirts, jammies, sheets, comforters, cups, and pencil sets, towels and underwear....all boy oriented. You want Skylanders things? Go to the boy section of the store. It makes sense of course. Only boys play video games right? RIGHT?!
There is an obvious solution, I know. To call an item a BOY or GIRL thing is society's problem. There is nothing to stop me from buying the Sklyanders shirt or jammies and just saying, "Here ya go!" After all, am I not the one who has been screaming for YEARS not gender stereotype kids? Just by the shirt and hand it to Tessi. A shirt is a shirt. It doesn't define who she is. So what's my problem?
Well...in a word...Tessi is my problem.
While I don't give a rats tush if a girl wears so-called boys undies or jammies SHE DOES. This is a girly-girl in the extreme. She makes beauty queens look butch. This is the kid that snorted and walked away from me in disgust when I asked if she wanted a dress or pants for her school uniform. She point-blank refused to answer me. But I needed no words to understand her meaning. Her snarling face and hair flip as she left room said it all. PANTS?!!! Don't be stupid.
She loves her skirts and dresses. Every winter we fight because I want her to wear pants or at least leggings underneath her dresses to keep her warm. Nope. It compromises the twirl factor and she isn't having it. She is a pink and purple loving, glitter wearing, 6 pairs of shoes in every color type of girl. There is no occasion in her mind that can't be improved by wearing a tiara.
Anyone know that girl that flings herself down a slide, climbs a rope ladder, falls in dirt, runs full throttle and pretty much thinks Life is a perpetual "Kill the Weak One" game? Well, I do. That's Tessi. Only she does it in a skirt and fabulous boots.
I'm supposed to present HER with a green or brown shirt with Skylanders on it and say here you go?
Right. Whatever.
Hell hath no fury like a Tessi presented with unisex clothing.
More importantly, I have to ask. Why should I? She likes bling. Why can't they make gamers clothes with a little razzle dazzle? I know it's possible to Bedazzle little girls apparel. I've seen it. I have personally waded through the landmine field of little and tween girl clothing. I regularly tell people that I have just been shopping at Whore's R Us. Sequin-encrusted micro mini bikinis and genuine imitation leather pants for my 9 and 8 year girls are pretty hot and tasty and ALL the rage. Yet I'M the crazy one because I'm looking for a dress with a video game picture on it?
Tessi isn't asking for a lot. As far as her regular requests go, this is pretty tame. All she wants is to see Stealth Elf and Gil Grunt kicking tail on a polyester-cotton blend dress with a coordinating shrug jacket. Why can't she have an adorable chiffon layered nightgown in ombre pastel shades with Tree Rex and Lightening Rod battling it out on the front?
I understand the arguments that the merchandisers hit us back with....Market Driven Orders. Most of the buyers are for boys so yes, most of the items will be tailored to them. Fine. I get that. Key word is MOST. Didn't you watch The Princess Bride? Mostly dead means slightly alive. Fact. Most of the stuff can be geared to boys but some of it should be geared to girls.
Why not try and branch out? LEGO has finally accepted that girls like to build things. They have been doing quite well with the Friends line. I know. My girls don't really care about LEGO but we have several sets of it now because it was finally something they could relate to and previously it had just been for boys.
Did you read that last paragraph?
They don't like the product. There are other things they want more than this product. YET they still wanted to have some of it because before they thought LEGO was made only for boys and now they are included in the club. It never mattered before that I told them they could have LEGO. Get if you like it. Don't let someone you don't know tell you not to enjoy it because you're a girl! No. It was for BOYS according to them. Also, they really didn't care about it. No big loss. Now though, someone has thrown a plastic wig on an action figure; has them are building a cafe or a horse farm and my girls are lining up screaming to buy it.
Do you hear that marketers? These kids are your DREAM demographic. They don't even want your silly product but scream to buy it. What will they do when you have a product they actually WANT?
Oh, I shudder at the possibilities.
Well until you dig your head out this geek mom is stepping in where you have dropped the ball. I scoured Ebay until I found this:
Did you know that? Skylanders is a BOYS game.
Just for honesty's sake let me say right now that there's nothing on box that says that. Activision has never come out with any statement saying that only boys are allowed to buy and play their game. I can find nothing on any character I have bought...and oh...there have been a few....saying, "This is only for those with mismatched chromosome pairings." If you actually take the time to look you can see that there are characters of both gender all throughout the game. In fact one of the IT characters the gamers geeks are paying $100's to acquire on Ebay is Ninjini, a girl genie.
By the way, you don't even have to ask. No, my girls aren't getting a $200 toy. If I can't have a $200 toy, they can't. That's the rule. They will wait like every other child of an evil troll mother for it to be released in a store for under $20. Let it be written. Let it be done.
So what's with all the girl haters? It's the marketing industry that tells us it's a boys game. All the merchandising that has been bought and placed on the shelves is geared for boys. There are Skylanders shirts, jammies, sheets, comforters, cups, and pencil sets, towels and underwear....all boy oriented. You want Skylanders things? Go to the boy section of the store. It makes sense of course. Only boys play video games right? RIGHT?!
There is an obvious solution, I know. To call an item a BOY or GIRL thing is society's problem. There is nothing to stop me from buying the Sklyanders shirt or jammies and just saying, "Here ya go!" After all, am I not the one who has been screaming for YEARS not gender stereotype kids? Just by the shirt and hand it to Tessi. A shirt is a shirt. It doesn't define who she is. So what's my problem?
Well...in a word...Tessi is my problem.
While I don't give a rats tush if a girl wears so-called boys undies or jammies SHE DOES. This is a girly-girl in the extreme. She makes beauty queens look butch. This is the kid that snorted and walked away from me in disgust when I asked if she wanted a dress or pants for her school uniform. She point-blank refused to answer me. But I needed no words to understand her meaning. Her snarling face and hair flip as she left room said it all. PANTS?!!! Don't be stupid.
She loves her skirts and dresses. Every winter we fight because I want her to wear pants or at least leggings underneath her dresses to keep her warm. Nope. It compromises the twirl factor and she isn't having it. She is a pink and purple loving, glitter wearing, 6 pairs of shoes in every color type of girl. There is no occasion in her mind that can't be improved by wearing a tiara.
Anyone know that girl that flings herself down a slide, climbs a rope ladder, falls in dirt, runs full throttle and pretty much thinks Life is a perpetual "Kill the Weak One" game? Well, I do. That's Tessi. Only she does it in a skirt and fabulous boots.
I'm supposed to present HER with a green or brown shirt with Skylanders on it and say here you go?
Right. Whatever.
Hell hath no fury like a Tessi presented with unisex clothing.
More importantly, I have to ask. Why should I? She likes bling. Why can't they make gamers clothes with a little razzle dazzle? I know it's possible to Bedazzle little girls apparel. I've seen it. I have personally waded through the landmine field of little and tween girl clothing. I regularly tell people that I have just been shopping at Whore's R Us. Sequin-encrusted micro mini bikinis and genuine imitation leather pants for my 9 and 8 year girls are pretty hot and tasty and ALL the rage. Yet I'M the crazy one because I'm looking for a dress with a video game picture on it?
Tessi isn't asking for a lot. As far as her regular requests go, this is pretty tame. All she wants is to see Stealth Elf and Gil Grunt kicking tail on a polyester-cotton blend dress with a coordinating shrug jacket. Why can't she have an adorable chiffon layered nightgown in ombre pastel shades with Tree Rex and Lightening Rod battling it out on the front?
I understand the arguments that the merchandisers hit us back with....Market Driven Orders. Most of the buyers are for boys so yes, most of the items will be tailored to them. Fine. I get that. Key word is MOST. Didn't you watch The Princess Bride? Mostly dead means slightly alive. Fact. Most of the stuff can be geared to boys but some of it should be geared to girls.
Why not try and branch out? LEGO has finally accepted that girls like to build things. They have been doing quite well with the Friends line. I know. My girls don't really care about LEGO but we have several sets of it now because it was finally something they could relate to and previously it had just been for boys.
Did you read that last paragraph?
They don't like the product. There are other things they want more than this product. YET they still wanted to have some of it because before they thought LEGO was made only for boys and now they are included in the club. It never mattered before that I told them they could have LEGO. Get if you like it. Don't let someone you don't know tell you not to enjoy it because you're a girl! No. It was for BOYS according to them. Also, they really didn't care about it. No big loss. Now though, someone has thrown a plastic wig on an action figure; has them are building a cafe or a horse farm and my girls are lining up screaming to buy it.
Do you hear that marketers? These kids are your DREAM demographic. They don't even want your silly product but scream to buy it. What will they do when you have a product they actually WANT?
Oh, I shudder at the possibilities.
Well until you dig your head out this geek mom is stepping in where you have dropped the ball. I scoured Ebay until I found this:
It's hard to see from the picture but its Stealth Elf is on a very purple shirt. Two requirements met. We have a chick Skylander and it's purple. Check. Just need to add a feminine touch.
Here is what I ended up giving Tessi for her birthday.
No bling, I know. It's a simple dress that she can wear to the shops, park, or even as a nightgown. It multi-tasks. Multi-taking, I think you all know, is a VERY feminine trait.
Next I stumbled across some Skylanders grosgrain ribbon on Ebay. I'm not sure how that slipped onto the market ...all I can think of is cake decorating or maybe making lanyards, I really don't know.
\
Doesn't matter what it was for before....I know what needs to be done now.
I turned the ribbon into these.
I've ended up not really the color combo on the two-bow set but it doesn't matter. The client was THRILLED. Her squeals ending up only being able to be heard by dogs. In fact Miss Tessi wore the lavender bow with a red and pink dress to her bowling birthday party the other day. Judge all you want. She felt fabulous. Note the bling people. Note...the....bling.
I have to say I agree with her. There really isn't too much that can't be improved with a bit of sparkle. I may start looking at playing Skylanders myself.
