I've had situations at my stalls where grown men have bought hundreds of dollars of collectibles, but have told their children that they can't have anything. In those cases I've always given the kids free Spychangers or McDonalds Transformers - the toys don't mean much to me, but might brighten the kids' day. Or hour anyway.

I feel the whole thing is a tough call - if children are given too many toys by their parents then they aren't developing a work ethic and may get the message that good things will just be thrown at them. I also have issues with the materialistic nature of Transformers - I find there's something just a bit disturbing about having a massive accumulation of toys. That's one of the reasons why I choose to have a different 'collection' to many of the other chosen collection aesthetics of the board - mine ebbs and flows - I buy new toys and sell old toys so I never have too many at one time.

Parenting is hard - parents sacrifice a lot for their children, so it's nice for them to be able to treat themselves once in a while. For mothers, that's often on clothes, shoes or handbags. For fathers, it's usually some sort of toy or gadget, whether automotive, electrical, or - in 'our' case - Transformer.