Who or what is/are the Octonauts, you may ask? It's a cartoon on Disney Junior that my 3.5 year old son absolutely adores. Actually *I* absolutely adore it. Per Wikipedia, the show is:
The Octonauts is a British children's television series, produced by Silvergate Media for Cbeebies and animated by Brown Bag Films. The TV series is based on American children's books written by Vicki Wong and Michael C. Murphy of Meomi Design Inc.
The Octonauts follows an underwater exploring crew made up of stylized anthropomorphic animals, a team of eight adventurers who live in an undersea base, the Octopod, from where they go on undersea adventures with the help of a fleet of aquatic vehicles.
The subject matter is reminiscent of Star Trek and Thunderbirds[1] blended with Jacques Cousteau. Although it is science fiction as regards its technology, the exotic creatures and locations that the crew encounter are real marine animals in their natural habitats.
Well, the show has been on Disney Junior for a while now, but there were no toys available in the United States. On Amazon you could find them, from Great Britain, at jacked up prices. So when Fisher-Price announced they'd be selling the toys at Toys R Us, I was very excited.
Then I went to their website and the toys were SOLD OUT online. The Octopod playset wasn't even shown on their site anymore--after being on there for a week or so. And the toys were back on Amazon, selling for at least 25% more--sometimes even twice their original retail price.
So I called my local store and, thankfully, they had all the toys. I stocked up. Why? Because I've instituted a sticker reward chart for Little Man for trying/eating new foods. He has been eating terribly. The same few meals. Lots of junk. And I need to change that. Sadly, he needs incentive. The chart has 25 stars. If he fills in 10, he gets a small toy from a dollar store (or maybe a small Octonaut toy... we shall see). And when he hits 25, he gets a big one (he is unaware that it will be the Octopod playset).
These are all the toys I have waiting for Little Man. And I have a few pics of the other toys that I didn't get--and probably never will, if they are no longer available. I sure as hell am not paying twice the MSRP.
Octopod Playset
I am pretty sure this comes with Captain Barnacles (Polar Bear) and Kwazii (the Pirate Cat), but wasn't 100% sure, so I got backup figures that I probably will return. Little Man doesn't need two of those figurines. I also bought him the rest of the crew (along with creature) because he'll look at the box and say he "needs" them.
Peso (the Penguin) and the Comb Jelly -- Shellington (the Sea Otter) and the Sea Urchin
Tweak (the Rabbit) and the Squid -- Dashi (the Dog) and the Electric Torpedo Ray
Professor Inkling (the Octopus) and the Sea Horse-- Turnip (the Vegimal) and the Cuttlefish
I don't know how to explain about Turnip and the Vegimals (there are more). They are part vegetable, part animal. They seem to cook and clean the Octopod. It's somewhat disturbing.
Lastly, I did get ONE Gup vehicle (they have the Gup A, Gup B, Gup C and Gup D). This is a pic of all 4 that are sold. I purchased Kwazii's favorite Gup--the Gup B, which is designed to look like a shark.
I know I am completely overindulging my only child. It's terrible. But I am. And he has more toys than he knows to do with! So perhaps I've made the wrong choice to do so. But at least he plays well, and imaginatively with them. Little Man is very creative (see my Wordless Wednesday post where he put Rex in his Frog Wellies). I often hear him make his cars talk to each other (in Mater and Lightning McQueen type voices). So if I am going to overindulge him, at least he isn't spoiled by the toys. He PLAYS with them all.
