"Luxury Educational Toys from Abroad Delivered Monthly: My Experience Using 'Toy Sub!', the Talk of the Moms"

2020.04.08 published

Parenting Concerns: Choosing Toys

For everyone raising children, how do you choose your child's toys?

In our household, where we are raising a six-month-old, we have accumulated toys that have been gifted to us and those that we have randomly picked up over time.

As a result, our current inventory of toys cannot be accurately described as "a carefully curated selection of favorites".

In fact, I feel that very few families can say, "Our lineup of toys is the best!"

Reasons Why Choosing Toys is Hard

I wondered why I couldn't be more proactive about choosing toys... After some reflection, I came up with three reasons.

① I don't know what toys are suitable for my child

Babies grow remarkably fast, changing day by day. While I want to provide toys that offer constant good stimulation, I often don't know which specific toys are currently appropriate for my child.

Moreover, being overwhelmed by parenting leaves me without the time and mental space to choose carefully, resulting in selecting toys based on generic packaging indicating "from X months" even if they might not be ideal.

The criteria for choice often reflect the parent's preferences, leading to doubts and a lack of confidence about the selections.

(Perhaps due to a "better too big than too small" mentality, it's common to receive toys made for two or three-year-olds even when the child is just an infant, creating a sort of toy salad bowl situation...)

② Clutter Causes Stress

A common concern for those raising children is that toys clutter up the house. It's to the point where you have to navigate through toys just to walk around…

Ideally, the toys on the floor would at least be aesthetically pleasing, but stylish educational toys from overseas tend to be quite expensive, making it challenging to purchase them for home use.

As a result, many affordable toys are scattered throughout the room. In a messy living room, my already tired parenting brain feels even more exhausted, leading to the thought, "I don't want to think about toys anymore!"

➂ It's Hard to Throw Them Away

Determining the right time to dispose of toys can be tricky.

Children can be very honest; if they don't like a toy, they won’t play with it at all, or even if they wanted it at first, they may lose interest quickly.

Since I feel that it’s wasteful to just throw away something I bought or was given, my home ends up with a clutter of toys and limited storage space.

(Toys take up a lot of space, and selling them on flea market apps yields very little profit due to shipping costs...)

Conversely, toys that are truly liked are often clung to even when they’re falling apart, creating feelings of guilt about throwing them away…

I feel like this issue of "buying is burdensome" and "throwing away is burdensome" is at the core of the toy dilemma.

Reflecting on this, I realized that I had been holding an unexpected amount of stress regarding toys.

There's a Service Called 'ToySub!'

I learned about 'ToySub!', a service that seems to address these common toy issues, at the "Japan Subscription Business Award 2019" held in December 2019.

A subscription is a monthly service where you pay a fee for a set period to use certain rights. If you think of services like Hulu or Spotify that provide music or movies, it becomes clear.

I became interested in the fact that a company dealing with toys won the grand prize with this trending business model.

➡ What Kind of Service is "ToySub!"?

'ToySub!' is a service that selects and delivers toys tailored to the growth of infants aged 0-3 years.

With over 1500 types of toys and a total of over 60,000 toys delivered, it’s an impressive service…!

Using unique data on toy evaluation by month, they not only choose toys that perfectly match the developmental stage of each baby but also plan individually based on our requests and the child's preferences—this is remarkable!

Furthermore, the toys that arrive are mostly high-quality foreign toys (supposedly worth around 15,000 yen!), and I felt a thrill at the thought that such toys could be beneficial for my child's education! I decided to sign up right away.

➡ Here is the ToySub! application page

The ToySub! Course is Very Simple

The toys delivered through 'ToySub!' differ by household, but the current contract course is only "bi-monthly course."

Having just one option is honestly relieving, as having too many choices can be overwhelming.

Whether you view the monthly fee of 3,340 yen as expensive or affordable, I thought, “After two months, my child’s interests will likely shift, and since toys will eventually become unnecessary, I want to provide quality toys through rental instead of purchase.”

It seems that you can cancel after 60 days or more, so it would be a good idea to try it out once.

A Box of Toys from ToySub! has Arrived!

After some time following my application, a box from 'ToySub!' arrived at our house.

Inside were six types of toys that matched my child's age! All of them were brand new to us, and the parents ended up getting excited.

By the way, when you input the toys you already have at the time of application, they ensure to choose toys that won’t overlap with how you play with those you already own.

(The photo shows the toys unwrapped, but each one was actually well packaged in plastic!)

Are the Toys Clean and Safe? Have They Been Disinfected?

One concern I had when applying for 'ToySub!' was whether the toys were clean.

Since these are items that babies touch and often put in their mouths, I was genuinely concerned about whether they were properly cleaned and disinfected.

(Especially now due to the impact of the coronavirus!)

Upon researching, I found that 'ToySub!' uses two types of disinfection for toys: “disinfection with alcohol at 77% ethanol concentration” and “disinfection with hypochlorous acid water”.

It is said to be a method adopted in restaurants, nursing facilities, and kindergartens.

The process of cleaning the toys is also available on YouTube, showing that they take great pride in it.

More importantly, I felt reassured seeing the statement that “All cleaning staff are mothers, so they conduct thorough cleaning and pack the items based on the final judgment of whether they can give this toy to their own children.”

Benefits of Using 'ToySub!'

Here’s a summary of what I felt after using 'ToySub!' for two months.

☑ Having six new toys expands the range of play

☑ The toys are cute in appearance, so I don’t feel stressed even if the room is cluttered

☑ It’s helpful to see which toys my child likes and doesn’t like

☑ I can keep the toys I like and continue using them

➡ Check more details about 'ToySub!' services here

There are many little positives, but in short, I feel “stress-free about toys and incredibly refreshed!!!”

The once nagging thoughts of, “I need to buy new ones soon… When should I throw this away… I don’t really like this character…” have completely vanished.

Regarding my child’s toys, I can mentally take a break in a good way, which I believe is worth the 3,000 yen by itself.

Moreover, by actually using 'ToySub!', I discovered an unexpected benefit.

That is, being able to notice my child’s growth.

While I initially thought of it as providing toys suitable for their age to support growth, contrary to that, I was surprised to realize, “Oh, my child can do this!” through the toys.

I was amazed to see them understand how the sound-making mechanism works.

I learned that they have preferences for different materials.

Thanks to the new and unusual toys I wouldn't have chosen myself, I've become more aware of my child's growth.

I also take a lot of photos of them playing with new toys, so I have more records of memories like, “They played with this toy at this age.”

What are the Drawbacks of 'ToySub!'?

Of course, where there are benefits, there will be drawbacks.

Although 'ToySub!' delivers toys bi-monthly, there is some hassle involved in receiving and sending them back. However, since the pickup is done at home, the effort isn’t too burdensome.

Still, since the toys arrive in relatively small boxes, you'll need space to store those boxes.

➡ Here are the steps to use 'ToySub!'

The monthly expense of 3,000 yen could also be seen as a drawback. However, in our case, considering that we used to buy numerous single-use toys or bought toys that were never played with, I deemed renting to be more economical.

Moreover, with toys that have many parts, there’s a concern about losing them. If a piece is lost, you’ll have to buy it, so if you’re not confident in managing, you should communicate that you want to avoid toys with many parts.

The Stress of Choosing Toys is Significantly Reduced!

Here’s a summary of my experience with 'ToySub!', a subscription service popular among parents.

Initially, I was attracted by the claim of “high-end toys worth 15,000 yen for only 3,000 yen”, but after actually using it, I felt that the benefits far exceeded the price.

Daily parenting is a constant juggling act, and having no need to think about toys at all has made things feel easier.

☑ Lacking confidence in choosing toys

☑ Wanting to avoid accumulating more toys

☑ Wanting to provide quality toys

☑ Wanting to eliminate the stress of throwing away toys

I believe this service is perfect for those who resonate with these concerns, so how about trying it out just once?

➡ Detailed application method for 'ToySub!' here