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Tuesday, January 27, 2026
HomeOpinionToy story

Toy story

IF you have a child in your life, the biggest news of the past week has most likely been whether or not you were successful in the highly-anticipated Big W toy sale.
This exciting – or frustrating (depending on who you ask) sale has caused quite the buzz.
It wasn’t that long ago people were fighting it out to get a pack of toilet paper, so it sure was a nice change of pace to be trying to load up on toys instead.
That’s if you could get your hands on what you were after of course.
This year Big W kicked-off their sale online, at the stroke of midnight, and stories of site crashes, long queues and out-of-stock items have been commonplace.
There was a big ticket ‘online exclusive’ item I was after that had me debating whether to stay up for it or not, but ultimately sleep won – and I regret nothing.
For every proud parent posting on Facebook about how they had managed to snag some bargains, there were plenty saying they had not been so lucky.
I headed in store for a few different items instead, and had a much easier and successful experience.
Thankfully, Christmas isn’t just around the corner – we haven’t even finished the financial year just yet! There is plenty of time to shop around and find toys and gifts for our little ones.
After the 2020 we have been through so far, maybe it is a good time to sit back and appreciate that missing out on some toys isn’t the be all and end all.
As our world grapples with social issues, a pandemic and a harsh economic slump, if missing out on a Barbie bargain or load of Lego is our biggest gripe, things aren’t that bad.

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