# Broken right out of the box. Christmas presents that never worked. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 22, 2011, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/broken-right-out-of-the-box-christmas-presents-that-never-worked/607031 "2011-12-22T02:12:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chicken\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/broken-right-out-of-the-box-christmas-presents-that-never-worked/607031/21 "2011-12-22T18:10:27Z")
Broken Dancerina, which is just a heavy, stiff monster of a doll when it won’t dance. Broken microscope. No-go pogo stick. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/broken-right-out-of-the-box-christmas-presents-that-never-worked/607031/22 "2011-12-22T18:45:03Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > Sounds like they were too small, probably child-sized. Yes. 2.5’ is much too small for a scarf. My scarf is about 5’ long and it’s perfect. I can wrap it around my neck twice (enough to cover it completely) and still have enough left over to knot it so it won’t come undone. One year, my best friend gave my boyfriend a $50 gift card to the Lego store. Two weeks later, we were in Disney and went to Downtown Disney. We went to the Lego store to spend his certificate only to find out that it wouldn’t work because the Lego Stores had recently changed their gift card system and anything bought before the change wouldn’t work. My friend hadn’t kept the receipt so we were never able to return it. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/broken-right-out-of-the-box-christmas-presents-that-never-worked/607031/23 "2011-12-22T20:18:31Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > How did the scarf and hat not work? Did they make you colder when you put them on or something? It was sized for a small child. Which ear do I wear the cap on and which ear do I wrap the scarf around? ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/broken-right-out-of-the-box-christmas-presents-that-never-worked/607031/24 "2011-12-22T20:20:04Z")
> [@Motorgirl](#): > > I have wondered for years if my sister and I had the only working Mouse Trap game in existence. It worked fine for us and was a very fun game. I feel sad for everyone whose sets didn’t work. I never knew anybody that had a working one. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/broken-right-out-of-the-box-christmas-presents-that-never-worked/607031/25 "2011-12-22T20:31:20Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > I never knew anybody that had a working one. _raises hand_ And I loved it to death. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/broken-right-out-of-the-box-christmas-presents-that-never-worked/607031/26 "2011-12-22T20:42:02Z")
My sibs and I had a working Mousetrap game, and so did a couple of other families. I never knew of anyone who had a malfunctioning one. Sometimes we’d set up the trap for the sheer joy of triggering it, and didn’t even bother to play the game. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/broken-right-out-of-the-box-christmas-presents-that-never-worked/607031/27 "2011-12-22T21:25:57Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > I never knew anybody that had a working one. We did. But we never actually played the game like you’re supposed to - assembling the pieces as you go around the board. We always just set it up right away and caught mousies ASAP. Never did actually play the board game, I don’t think. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2011, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/broken-right-out-of-the-box-christmas-presents-that-never-worked/607031/28 "2011-12-23T03:02:11Z")
[Milky the Cow](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdS9ZJ_Wf4k). For some weird kid reason I wanted this toy so bad for Christmas. I did get it, and played with it for about an hour, total. The little chalk tablets made such weak, thin “milk” that I decided to feed her actual milk so I could get real milk out of her. That wasn’t such a good idea…especially a couple of days later. Never could get that smell out… ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2011, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/broken-right-out-of-the-box-christmas-presents-that-never-worked/607031/29 "2011-12-23T03:13:33Z")
Nintendo Power Glove. It wouldn’t work with any of the games we had, and we didn’t like any of the games that it supposedly would work with. It went back to the store a few days after Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![Ashes\_Ashes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@Ashes\_Ashes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashes_Ashes)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2011, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/broken-right-out-of-the-box-christmas-presents-that-never-worked/607031/30 "2011-12-23T04:01:48Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > We prefer to think of it as a glass-half-full sort of thing. We have four cats, and having an autobox that two or three of them use DOES cut down on the amount of box cleaning that we have to do. Sometimes I suspect a Feline Conspiracy, though. I wouldn’t put it past the cats to decide that an autobox will make things too easy on the humans, so they take turns going in the regular box, just to keep us on our toes. Ugg. This reminds me of the weeks I spent toilet training my cats. One used the toilet with no problem; even learned to flush. The other, ‘Princess’ Violet refused to the point of giving herself a UTI. So close yet so far. That cow toy would have been on my list. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2011, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/broken-right-out-of-the-box-christmas-presents-that-never-worked/607031/31 "2011-12-23T12:52:40Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > [Milky the Cow](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdS9ZJ_Wf4k). For some weird kid reason I wanted this toy so bad for Christmas. I did get it, and played with it for about an hour, total. The little chalk tablets made such weak, thin “milk” that I decided to feed her actual milk so I could get real milk out of her. That wasn’t such a good idea…especially a couple of days later. Never could get that smell out… You only got a couple tablets anyway. My brother loved his cow. Now my niece plays with it a lot even though the udder won’t stay on because it lost it’s elasticity. This year she wants a horse, and horse toys. I don’t think she’ll be too disappointed when she doesn’t get a real horse. ---
**Author:** ![Ashes\_Ashes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@Ashes\_Ashes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashes_Ashes)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2011, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/broken-right-out-of-the-box-christmas-presents-that-never-worked/607031/32 "2011-12-23T14:37:02Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > I bought my mum a log, inoculated with oyster mushroom spore. > > 2 years later, it’s still sitting in her back garden, with nary a mushroom in sight, as is the shiitake one in my garden I got for myself at the same time. > > Bah. Bah indeed! I’ve bought one, created an elaborate bio-dome around it, and not gotten a single mushroom. I’m convinced they’re a sham. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/broken-right-out-of-the-box-christmas-presents-that-never-worked/607031.md?page=1)