As simple as they might seem in concept, the truth is that making a good toy is harder than it seems. Many toys that represent human figures tend to invoke the uncanny valley, but some are so creepy that it’s unclear what parent’s would look at it and think “my child needs one of these.” At the same time, parents are also forced to search through the veritable ocean of bootlegs.
We’ve gathered some spectacular examples of bizarre, creepy or just downright weird toy design fails from across the internet. So get comfortable as you scroll through, upvote your favorites and be sure to share your thoughts in the comments below.
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From What Level Of Hell Was This Retrieved?
Remember when we were making bags out of Happy Meal boxes and french fry containers from mcds in the 90s?
Load More Replies...That baby has seen things. I guess it also has piano tiles embedded into its back so it's ok to look like that
They Should Have Thought About This Kinder Egg Toy A Little Longer
So this is the correct reason they are not allowed in US, not the fake stuff about having things inside food.. 🤨
Load More Replies...Hah! My parents (both of whose first names started with "K") wanted to name me Katherine so we could sign Christmas cards as KKK. I think one of my uncles pointed out the obvious for them.
My sisters and I all have k names. They wanted to name our lemonade stand when we were little “kkk lemonade”
Load More Replies...They are available when packaged differently (the toy being separate from the food portion).
Load More Replies...For those thinking this is fake, it was released in 2019 as a collectable and immediately removed after customers complained. According to Kinder, the original only had one balloon but they added more to make it look better. The K stands for Kinder and nothing else. https://au.news.yahoo.com/kinder-surprise-apologises-offensive-toy-inside-chocolate-045826414.html
Thisd was (briefly) part of the 2019 lineup of limited edition surprise toys designed for the product's 50th anniversary. The toy was approved with only one balloon, with the "K" standing for "Kinder"; the other two balloons were added to make the balloon more stable because the single balloon could easily snap at the "wire" and become an ingestion risk. So, to make it compliant with toy safety laws they had to add a stronger cross section on the weak point and make the potentially detachable part larger to prevent ingestion. This was changed after approval and on a purely "manufacturing issue" point of view, so it didn't undergo much scrutiny, until it was picked up by social media and dubbed "Trump's Kinder" because of the KKK reference and the blonde wig.
Funnily enough, since Ferrero prevented part of the limited edition run to enter the market after they were notified, and even offered to replace at their expense the toy with a different one for people who complained, this is nowadays one of the rarest recent Kinder surprise toys, fetching a few hundred dollars on the collector's market.
Load More Replies...The Quality Check Was Clearly Passed
On the face of it, toys really should not be creepy at all. Most folks would probably agree that playthings for children should, on average, be cute and inoffensive. However, toymakers also have to deal with the unfortunate reality that the items they make tend to be human or humanoid forms and, as it turns out, people have a weird aversion to this concept.
This is generally referred to as the uncanny valley, where “mostly” human figures make people nervous. We tend to be able to relate more to forms and figures that resemble us, but as these figures get closer and closer to perfectly resembling humans, there is a “drop,” or a valley which suddenly creates some revulsion.
This "Hagrid" Doll I Bought 15 Years Ago In A Dollar Store Is Just A Repainted Lion From The Wizard Of Oz. Rocking His Mane, Ears, And Medal Of Courage
Off-Brand Toy With An Interesting Name
HELP I JUST SNORTED IN THE MIDDLE OF CLASS
Load More Replies...Yep. Said before on this pic that I'm pretty sure this was a Google translate accident - they plugged in their language equivalent of 'training' and the program thought they wanted a meaning like 'study' (training your brain) and came up with 'concentration.'
Load More Replies...I mean, it was a Police (dog) State, to begin with, but this is taking things a bit too far.
The Not So Fantastic Four
They look like the toys they bought to put them inside piñatas for childish parties?
Some have, rather sensationally, suggested that this powerful aversion to “almost human” figures is some evolutionary response to alien doppelgangers. However, there is a significantly more logical explanation. It's the same reason rotten food, maggots and skeletons all, generally cause some degree of fear and disgust: being around dead things can be dangerous, and a corpse is perfectly in line with something “almost human.”
Playground In Germany
this happened to a lot of small playgrounds in towns with high d**g use..they remove quit everything to sit on and leave a sandpit of sadness.. Still included: little drugbags or broken glas😒
They removed one springy sort of seesaw from a park where I lived as an older child. The council said in the local paper that it was too dangerous. They were right! There wasn't anything under it, like sand or that rubbery stuff... Just concrete. I'm actually surprised that a lot of us survived our childhood at that park!!! 😄
Dirt. You're having the time of your life on the spring and you fall on this hard dirt. No other toys. I feel bad for the kids who have to/have played/play on this
Batman’s Face Is Priceless
Superman has question mark on his chest, and there's some black stuff coming out of Captain America's mouth
And I'm not so sure I like The Riddler's style change....
Load More Replies...He's been beaned in the head by a rock. I'd be miffed, too.
Load More Replies...This Lamb I Won Out Of A Claw Machine. I Love It
The Japanese word is "kawaii". It means "cute", "adorable" etc.
Load More Replies...You must be the only person to ever win something out of a claw machine
In toys, the uncanny valley tends to show up most often in hyper realistic baby dolls. While it might not be as common of a toy anymore, there was a period of time when dollmakers were going through a sort of arms race to produce baby dolls. This included features like crying until it was “fed,” the ability to urinate and dynamic sounds, from sleeping to laughter.
Geocentric Solar System At A Public School's Playground
What are you talking about? Reptiloids made that whole sun thing up to cover up that penguins are pink!!
Load More Replies...My Favorite Show Is Called The Americans
Well they are some similarities! americans-...08-181.jpg
My Friend's Daughter Got A Veterinarian Kit For Her 4th Birthday, He Sent Me This
shít. Shoveled shít. BP really needs to work on their photo quality, it's completely unreadable.
Load More Replies...Nothing like a good old śhit shovel. Especially if you have several cats.
Bacteria? Bacteria! Look, there's bacteria (Now I'll have that song stuck in my head for days)
At a young age, this might all seem quite cool but as an adult, a very lifelike toy making noises and sometimes even “reacting” to movement and light (these sorts of features also exist) are probably the inspiration for horror movies about dolls and toys coming to life.
Homer On Steroids
well, there WAS the episode where homer actually got into the gym and running. he did pick up bart with one hand and almost put him into the ceiling fan.
Pretty much how Homer pictured himself in that episode when he claimed to have a photographic memory. "So then I said to the President - get this-,"
Bort Sampson
Oh No
Ono. Sounds like the family game One-O. Both are going into my game cabinet.
SpongeBob Devourer Of Children
I don't want to know what Mr. Krab's 'nozzle' is for, and I think Gary better lay off the blunts.
Who lives in a toxic waste dumb under the sea, Spongebob ScarePants? (Also, Gary looks like he's been smoking a joint.)
Mr. Krabs's stomach. Small Child: I wanna go play on the Spongebob bounce house!!!! Other Small Child: I wanna crawl through Mr. Krabs's belly!! Both: Yayyyyyyyyy!!!!!!
Found This Toy At A Random Store. Nothing Makes Sense In This Toy
shot u beat me too it, but I'ma do it anyway
Load More Replies...Except thirteen and fourteen are in the wrong order.
Load More Replies...Ah yes, the little used cirle, an underapreciated geometric shape that.
Strange Dinosaur
Hipposaur! (if you want to mix Greek and Latin)
Load More Replies...Am I the only one who started humming the Jurassic park theme song?
Mario Grew A Mustache Above His Nose
I'm A Benign Girl, In A Benign World
Spooderman
“Luigi, I Think Something Is Not Right”
My son, who's looking over my shoulder, informs me this is Huggy Wuggy Mario.. lol
Indeed! https://supermarioglitchy4.fandom.com/wiki/Huggy_Wuggy
Load More Replies...Poppy Playtime trying to branch out to an older audience (0.0) Gonna give us ancients a heart attack yo
There is Off-Brand and and then this; Problematic Generic Off-Brand
Jamaicachu: "Jamaica No Problem"
This Bootleg Captain America Toy
She Looks Like She's Had A Hard Life
She needs a better lipstick brand, or a not so rough of a night out with the other male dolls.
You Had One Job
To be fair, this is how a lot of folks wear their makeup, with a face a totally different complexion than the rest of their body
She doesn't normally look like that, the plastic packaging cut of her oxygen?
Don't they use a bit of green if one has red acne spots? Maybe this is Teenaged Acne Girl: Able to cover acne spots with the pass of a make-up sponge!
I Don't Even Know What To Call This
Dora Did Not Like What She Explored
Somewhere there's The Terminator action figurine that comes with a pink, flowery backback.
That would be epic. I love mash ups like that! I think I was the target audience for Diablo 3's colorful bonus maps they made in response to people complaining about a rainbow appearing in early screenshots of the game.
Load More Replies...Hola! What should we take out of Backpack to help us? A banana...a tea pot...or a gun?! *stares in awkward silence* ...Si! A GUN! Vamanos!
Finally the Terminator/Dora cross over we’ve all been waiting for!
Spiderman With His Famous Spider-Rifle
It's just some dude who went off the deep end in a Spiderman costume
Load More Replies...Looks like a repainted GI Joe type figure. Also, does the rifle have a bend in it?
I Have No Words
I see Captain America, fit Popeye, a guy with puffed-up cheeks who looks vaguely familiar, Spiderman, and what appears to be the disembodied head of Ben 10
I think this is Spiderman's Dutch cousin, Spindermaan.
Load More Replies...Hey, it's Carreta Furacão! This is a thing here in Brazil! It's a bus or a truck that goes down some streets and these guys just dance around and spread happiness to people watching! The guy with the F is named Fofão. carreta-67...feed28.jpg
I'm sorry, but I had a good long look at those masks and there's no way in hell that they spread happiness to ANYONE. They spread terror XD
Load More Replies...The yellow long sleeved doll is a Brazilian character for kids that was famous in 1990 and early 2000´s.
What Am I Supposed To Call This? Lario?
Here Comes The Yellow Cat That Hates Saturdays: Barfyard
Reminds me a very small bit of the very nice psychology cats on YouTube by Pixi-Gags. Just because of the colour and it being a cat mostly. Pixi's are a lot cuter.
Spotted This Chimera At The Mall
I'm a little more worried about the auto erotica asphyxiation Pikachu in the background
Blursed Avengers
The person who packaged this probably thought "Mario Brothers, Batman, The Avengers...all the same thing..."
Adolescence-Deformed Karate Frogs
looks like the teenage mutant ninja turtles r finally goin through the "awkward phase!
They Blocked The Middle Slide At The Playground
But yet, judging by all the shoe streaks on it, the kids found a way to still use it!
of course they did. Because if there's one way to motivate kids to do something it's to make it appear that the adults don't want them to do it.
Load More Replies...I would have just climbed around and used it anyway, child me would see this as a challenge.
The middle slide is always the emergency lane. If incidents happen on the other slides, everyone can be evacuated safely and emergency responders have better access. I'm more concerned about the lack of lighting in the night and missing smoke detectors. And where are the signs to require helmets ?
The Folks Installing The Playground Weren't Looking Too Closely
Can't have been Australians, WE would have put Tasmania in as well! ;)
Load More Replies...So, instead of NEWS, it's NOSE now?, or is this a completely different language that I don't understand?
They were Pole Shifters. A moderate splinter group in the flat earther community. They believe in the globe in general but with reversed magnetic poles.
This could be right. North is not UP by default, after all, that's just on maps, and south could be right ahead from that position. That said, the text is upside down, so probably they did mess up.
I Think Wario Ingested A New Kind Of Mushroom. I Wonder What Mario Party He Went To
A Transforming Dinosaur Robot Toy My Son Got
I own a rather similar one of these that looks like a raptor, got him as a kid. I love his stupid looks
Load More Replies...Is that a t-rex in your pants or are you just happy to see me? Oh,,,it's a trex.
This Is A Toy That I Got Today. My Kid Removed It's Head To Reveal This. I Should Have Read The Text Properly, "Security And Non-Taxic". The Head Comes Off Very Easily, And It's Very Pointy
Oh it’s non-taxic! How come the package says it’s $1 but I had to pay $1.25?
Any Idea Why My Kid Refused To Ride This?
This Pikachu Off-Brand Found At Goodwill
Oh my goodness, is that a "reskin" of one of those battery-powered barking toy dogs? They'd bark, walk a few steps, then slowly sit down and then SUDDENLY they'd do a backflip. They were terrifying.
Especially terrifying if, like the one I had, suddenly sets itself off in the middle of the night! "MUUUM!!!" 😭😭😭
Load More Replies..."Quality" Toy I Found In A Claw Machine
Tele... Babies
off brand says telebaibeis, not teletubbies, having litle sibling gives u knowledge that u would rather not have
Found This At The Mall
Love the hat and the tag reminds me of Minnie Pearl (showing my age!)
This Toy Parking Deck Has A Battery Compartment Without A Battery Compartment
Oh come on, even as a kid my d**k would never fit in there...
Load More Replies...Panda-Themed Children’s Ride
Excited Panda is a bit.... different I'd assume
Load More Replies...This Burger King's Patrick Star Toy Is Actually Mr. Crab
Poor Woody And Buzz, What Have They Done To You?
They dance and sing and you can speak to them and they'll speak back what you said but with a higher voice. Now they are the ultimate Woody and Buzz, thought the toy makers.
I Found Some New Avengers Infinity War Figures. "Derp" Black Widow And "Calm But Clearly Not Amused Steve" Captain America
Iron Deficiency Man
Some Toy Company Made A Plush Of Meilin Lee From Turning Red, However They Forgot To Give It A Nose
Walt Diary Presents
Hey wait...is this the same company that developed Mikey and Millie Moose?
I Was Finally Able To See It
Reminds me of that episode of the amazing world of gumball with the game child console
Deformed Eggs
"Only a few steps can complete the deformation" has to be one of the scariest things I've ever read. IT WILL BRING YOU MORE INFINITE HAPPINESS IN THE VOID WHEN THE DEFORMED EGGS HATCH
Why Do They Keep On Torturing Him?
This is the worst thing to happen to Sonic since Chris Chan.
SpongeBob Is My Favorite Avenger
Superman, You Look A Little Off Today
Did I Stutter?
Found This At A Local Chinese Store
That is just Peter B Parker between the time he divorced Mary Jane and he got pulled into Mile's dimension
I’m A Bearby Girl, In A Bearby World
My Favorite Game, Mong Us
Found This Giraffe With Five Legs In A Search-And-Find Book
Some You! Bunny Loves
… Somebunny loves me, I wonder who, I wonder who he can be. Somebunny loves me, I wish I knew, who he can be worries me.
Load More Replies...My Favorite Transformer Is Coca-Col
Pokémon? Nah, I've Got Petbaby
Pikachu Isn’t Looking Too Good
I don't care what it's intended use is and I don't have that phobia, but I genuinely hate all those small strands 😭😭
I Found These Pikachus
Hexagon, Star, Oval, Heart, Triangle, And… Round?
Muigi And Lario
This "Cartoon Plush" On Temu. Honestly, I'm Not Gonna Sleep After Seeing This
not what I'm supposed to be focusing on but why is the default font so bubbly?
Kobe Bryant
Um, considering how he died, that seems in extremely poor taste, even for a knock-off O_O;
Or, if you have extremely dark humour, it's hysterical. Also, for what it's worth, those things are legit and were give-aways at his last game, according to the reddit threat.
Load More Replies...I’m Afraid
Mater, Is That You?
This Kid's Octopus Toy Only Has Seven Legs
Worse if it has six legs. Then it's a sextopus. (I actually saw one in a bath book for kids)
Load More Replies...Kids' Boat At The Playground. Water Has Nowhere To Go
My Daughter's Toy Tablet Has No Word For The Letter "C". Clown? Cowboy? I Mean It's In German But Still A Lot Of Words With C
My Favorite
Right? All he needs is a tiny bible and cross necklace and it be perfect.
Load More Replies...Avengers 2 - My Favorite Superman Movie
This Puzzle In My Kid's Playground Which Can Never Be Right
Darth Goblin: "You Know, I'm Something Of A Sith Lord Myself"
Found These Bootleg Pokémon Cards At The Bootleg Anime Store In The Mall
Found This At My Local Dollar Store Yesterday
I don't really get what's wrong with this one. It's just a slightly wonky Grinch?
Whoever Thought "Let's Make A Peppa Pig Toy Phone With No Off Switch"... It Malfunctions And Randomly Goes Off All The Time
These Burger King Toys
Apparently My Daughter's Baby Doll Is Not Much Alive And Frozen
Super Heroes Avengers, Featuring A Swollen Captain America
Alternate universe Nick Fury if he was portrayed by Will Smith and Iron Deficiency Man have me rolling.
Average 2
Aye Of Course, Sense Of Right Alliance On The Way
Batman got Gotham, Superman got Smallville, and Shrek got the Swamp to defend 😤🙂↕️
Load More Replies...Today's Playground Counting Lesson With My Toddler Became Disappointing. Look At Numbers Six And Nine
I see that 6 and 9 issue, but what about the 1 issue... One Whale does not fit the scheme (two trains, five feet, eight eggs, etc)
"One whale" isn't great, either. Sure, same sound, but not the same letter.
You came in before I came back because this irked me XD
Load More Replies...And that's why the line on the bottom was invented - clearly not everybody can count or spell
They're backwards. 6 is actualy upside down 9 (nine nails) 9 is upside down 6 (six saws)
Load More Replies...Thanos
The Terrible Physical Bootleg
Those are actual characters from the show "The Amazing Digital Circus" (Free on Youtube)
Load More Replies...Wow it’s ax and Pomnipotent being from the amazement digital circle!1!1!
Deformers
My Daughter's Toy Piano Key Labeling
For the people lacking music theory knowledge: what is the probem here?
It's misaligned. Certain Notes don't have a note designated a half above following, but a whole above, yet the frequency actually is only one halfstep higher, not two. E to F doesn't include an intermediate step for example, and so don't B to C, so accordingly, where there's no black key inbetween, must be E-F and B-C. It's shifted to the right by one step.
Load More Replies...Minion Toy With Broken Eyes
I Got This A While Back. The Only Reason I Got It Was Because Rapunzel Is In The Cinderella Box
My Sad Christmas
That's the nose. The mouth is below it in pink. Although at first it does look like a frown.
Found This Gem In A 2-Dollar Shop. Had To Take A Picture
I've heard Pei Pei Pig is a famous original show from China, so no clue what's wrong here! /s
Well, you're almost actually correct! Peppa Pig is actually called Pèi Pèi Zhū in Taiwan (zhū meaning pig)
Load More Replies...Make Friends With Us
Found These Extremely Derpy Eeveelutions At Our Town Festival
My Son's New Toy
I see they replaced the "X" with the military version - now there is one with Alpha, Bravo, Charlie etc. and "xylophone" incorrectly on it
This Toy Car Has Two Different Numbers On It
Care To Explain?
Nah, after googling Draculaura is the one to the right and Clawdeen is the one to the left with the wrong package.
Load More Replies...From Bentendo: The Acqua Brink With 1 Included Title: Ocean Funny Game. Only $12
Umm What? Toy Fail
This isn't a bootleg, or an error. He's wearing coconut shells. It's in the movie.
I wonder if they use AI to do the designs for them... The "mistakes" look kind of similar...
Load More Replies...Quite off topic but you know the plug for Bored Panda's shows at the bottom of every post? Well they've managed to misspell THEIR OWN FREAKING SHOW. 'Secret Diares' indeed.
And my wife wonders why I always take a quick tour through the toy section at the dollar store! :)
i collect these type of mess ups when I see them lmao I have so many derp stuffies
I wonder if they use AI to do the designs for them... The "mistakes" look kind of similar...
Load More Replies...Quite off topic but you know the plug for Bored Panda's shows at the bottom of every post? Well they've managed to misspell THEIR OWN FREAKING SHOW. 'Secret Diares' indeed.
And my wife wonders why I always take a quick tour through the toy section at the dollar store! :)
i collect these type of mess ups when I see them lmao I have so many derp stuffies
