Honestly, are Crayola's cooler when you buy them at The Gap

(Spoiler alert: the answer is "no".)
I ventured to the Gap website today, as I pretty much do every morning since the addiction started. I've been checking sites for signs of pre-Christmas sales. And, I love The Gap (as my closet will attest). But, we are always more critical of the ones we love......

Today, I thought I was going to spit out my coffee all over my laptop. First, the Christmas ad that they released today on their homepage is atrocious! Go look at the video and give me your thoughts! I didn't think something trying so hard to be Uber PC could be so Uber offensive to my ears! I must be a small fringe of their target market, 'cause that does not appeal to me! (Bring back the Sarah Jessica Parker khaki ads and the Jump,Jive and Wail khaki ads....those were my fav!)

But, what REALLY got my attention was that The Gap, God bless 'em, are now selling toys. Now, I honestly and sincerely applaud The Gap for encouraging the basic, honest toys of crayons, activity books and wooden toys. I wish more companies would offer these! (can't you see Don Draper telling The Gap....."you are not selling a toy, you are selling imagination. You are selling honesty and purity....")

BUT, did they have to jack up the price?
I mean, is a Crayola Backpack with art supplies in it any cooler just because you bought it at The Gap? The Gap is charging $14.50 for it. Amazon has it for $13.73 (it's merchants sell it for even less at $7.99!). Even the Crayola STORE has it cheaper at $12.99! What are we paying for? The coolness of buying things at the gap? I already pay for that each month with my credit card statement comes......and I pay even more when Steve asks," did I just see the UPS truck deliver something at the front door AGAIN?"

The Gap is also offering this: It is the Wonderworld Eco-Friendly Wonder Shop. I love it! It's an all wood little play fruit standy-thing. The Gap is charging $140. Amazon has it for $119.21 (a merchant at Amazon has it for $99.81!) I found it at a hoity-toity toy shop online for $127.99. And this is just the shop with no accessories! You can buy all of them at The Gap, too.

I took about 12 items from the toy section of The Gap and compared the prices and all were cheaper elsewhere. But, still, I applaud The Gap for bringing up some really great toys (that honestly I would not know existed if I had not seen them on their site)! I found a GREAT activity doodle book called "Doodle All Year" (check it out!) that I know one little boy will be getting for Christmas. But, I'll be buying it from Amazon.

The theme with retailers this year will be old, traditional Holiday. A "make due" holiday. The Gap TV ad kinda takes it to a weird, uncomfortable level......but the toys they are offering and the idea behind them are nice. Use stores like The Gap as "idea places" to find new and unique toys and gifts for your kids......but ALWAYS comparison shop! Crayons from The Gap are not cooler because you paid an extra $3 for them......they are cool because Crayons are just cool. Don't buy the hype. (or pay for it, either)