Popular New Toy Is Wrecking Kids' Hair And Traumatizing Parents

The holiday shopping season is upon us and as we scramble to nab the hottest toys to put under the tree, there’s one it might be best to leave off the list. Parents are complaining that the new Bunchems toy, sold on Amazon, is getting stuck in their children’s hair so badly they’re having to chop it off. There’s a warning not to get the toy near hair, but obviously, it’s not working.

Parents are posting reviews and horror stories you won’t believe about the toll Bunchems have taken on their daughters’ tresses. It’s a toy meant to build things — they stick to each other — and apparently, to hair. The pictures are cringe-inducing but the stories are the saddest part. Here are some Amazon reviews and accompanying photos of the aftermath of playing with Bunchems:

This group of balls was over three hours to get out. I came very close to cutting all her hair. Every other attempt to get them out only made it worse and wrapped the hair in deeper.

I am a hairstylist and spent a total of 4 hours removing these from a little girls hair today! She had 45 of them matted into her hair! 4 hours of pain and $200 later ….. Not really worth it!!

Mega pack got mega stuck in my kids hair along with her friend… Good luck with this product. Terrible experience for her and her friend. Ended up having to cut them out.

My daughter made a bracelet, then a necklace. The was trying the necklace on then the bracelet on her wrist got entangled in her hair. She slung her head around and before she knew it, the necklace was entangled in her hair, too. She wasn’t trying to put them in her hair, kids are just kids and she’s a little girl who loves jewelry. I couldn’t get the majority of them out. The lady at the salon said it was ripping her hair and would cost me hundreds to have them work on it. So, she has a new hair do. Pretty much all of her hair gone!

There are so many stories like this in the review section with pictures to match. Yes, the directions do specifically state that the toy shouldn’t come near hair, but maybe it wasn’t clear enough just how hard a child needs to heed that warning to avoid a bird’s nest in their head. Spin Master, the company that created Bunchems, issued a statement to Buzzfeed from president Arlene Biran. She says the toys “are intended only to be adhered to other Bunchems” and of the warning the toy includes to keep them away from hair, “We recently changed the color of the warning to make it even more identifiable when opening the packaging.”

That’s all well and good, but we have to wonder if Arlene Biran and whoever else helped come up with this toy has ever actually hung out with little kids. They’re not exactly known for following directions and being super careful. Kids roll around on the floor. Kids throw things at each other. Kids are also insanely curious and inventive. It’s easy to say “tell them not to put them in their hair” but in practice, it’s not that simple. You can give a child a directive and they forget minutes later. It happens, even with the most well-behaved children. I can picture my daughter absentmindedly rolling around on her bedroom floor and landing in a pile of these things. Like plastic burdocks, they would totally stick in her hair.

No thanks.