Looking for the perfect Christmas gift for the children in your life?
Does the kid have hair? Better stay away from Bunchems.
That’s the advice from angry parents who say the toy, which is designed to stick together, sticks to their children’s hair — with disastrous results.
“TAKE THIS OFF THE CHRISTMAS LIST! No idea these were so EVIL! Gift from grandma turned violent when caught in her hair! two hours of ripping and pulling, then in the trash. She screams when she sees the commercial now,” said one angry mother.
Sort of like squishy, spiky Lego, Bunchems stick together to create whatever shapes children want. They are designed for children over four-years-old.
But online reviews of the toy have been flooded by angry parents who say Bunchems are a disaster.
“Perfect gift for that child you hate. Have a 5-year-old who really gets on your nerves? Then give them this and let them play with it unsupervised,” said Rebecca Olesen, another unhappy customer.
“Horrible, horrible, horrible toy for kids. I just spent the last TWO AND A HALF hours (absolutely, 100 percent not an exaggeration) attempting to remove 14 of these bastard balls out of my daughter’s hair. Buy this toy for someone if you hate them or their child,” really angry dad Ethan Benoit said on Amazon.com.
“They are the most incredible choking hazards on the planet. They bring pain and misery, tears, fighting, broken and ripped hair, and questions of one’s sanity in handling life in general. I can’t feel my arms now after attempting to pull this spawn from hell ‘toy’ that matted itself into her hair like nothing ever witnessed before.”
The company has responded to the complaints by releasing a video detailing how parents can remove the toys.
Still, some parents say the company’s recommended methods don’t work either.
“There is a YouTube video explaining how to remove them. IT DOES NOT WORK! We tried everything. Here is how I removed them. After trial and error this was the fastest and most painless way we found. I used spray leave in conditioner on the Bunchem and surrounding area of hair to make it wet, pull the hair down off the ball with a toothpick (or sharp small object) then when half of the ball is exposed, using a long nosed pliers I wiggled the ball free from her hair. I hope this helps! Good Luck,” wrote another parent.
Despite the angry one star reviews parents have been giving, Bunchems still have a three-and-a-half star rating overall. And some parents are responding to the reviews, saying people need to cool it.
“These are awesome. Reading these reviews are ridiculous. These are such a good toy. Hair tangles? The warnings are both on the instructions and box. How do these possibly get SO ENTANGLED in hair, when they are ‘brushed against’? No, your kids are obviously doing something they shouldn’t be doing. Choking hazards? Well, so are Legos, quarters, and corn, but those don’t seem to be off the market, are they?” wrote “Dad of 1”.
Looks like Santa’s going to have to think carefully about which stockings he puts Bunchems in.
Top Comments
I'm worried now. My sister has bought 2 packs of these for her kids (for me to give them) and I'll have to talk to her about supervising them so she doesn't have to cut them out of my nieces' hair LOL
I have a boy... saw this article and went and got some for him to play with in the car on our next long trip instead of the playdoh!
hopefully he will like them and mums of girls will be selling them cheap after xmas! ;)
They'll probably be bought up by hipsters. I have a feeling that "bunchems tangled in hair" will be the new man-bun.