When I was offered the chance to review some Silly Bandz, I just knew the girls would be in their absolute element. As the people at Silly Bandz say, "This summer’s number 1 craze in America has finally hit the UK and Mainland Europe. The Silly Bandz wearable bracelets have been far and above the biggest selling youth accessory of the summer with over 1 million packs being sold per week in America. [...] Don’t be fooled that Silly Bandz are just for kids ! Celebrities such as Sarah Jessica Parker, Agyness Deyn and a range of Sporting stars are being pictured wearing the silicon bracelets on a regular basis."
Well, I have to admit that when they arrived, I was slightly underwhelmed. I love the idea of the funky shaped silicon bracelets that you can wear and share with your friends but the lumpy bumpy look when they are all layered around your wrist looked a bit strange to me. Despite the grown-up celeb endorsements, I assume it's an age thing though because the girls were oohing and aahing and sharing them out and swapping them and grinning 1000-watt smiles as they pulled them out of the packs and put them on. When you look at some of the themes, such as Justin Bieber and Hello Kitty, you can tell that these are principally marketed at teens and tweens !
We received two packs to test : Rock Bandz and Pet Animals. Other designs include Animals, Rainforest, Baseball, Princess, Halloween, Rudolph, Dinosaurs and Marvel. Some of those will appeal to the boys as well as the girls.
Absolutely everybody, whatever their age, was absolutely amazed by the fact that however much you stretch them, they ping back to their original shape. Believe me, we've given them some serious testing and they really can't be overstretched ! 9-year-old Sophie loved the fact that when you were wearing them, nobody knew what the original shapes were so you could wear them as secret messages - for example, spelling out the name of the boy you like with the alphabet ones and nobody but you would you know !
Silly Bandz are the perfect pocket money toy for kids who like collecting things and swapping them with their friends. Silly Bandz explain that they will be offering a collectors' league and a points system on the site so that Silly Bandz collectors can earn points each time they purchase an additional pack, as well as getting rewards for inviting friends and uploading funky pictures of Silly Bandz.
Sillybandzdirect.co.uk are due to launch the “Creativity for Kids” campaign that will allow schools to win Arts & Crafts equipment for their respective class by entering new designs of Silly Bandz. The winning designs will be immortalised into a new range of Silly Bandz in time for Christmas.
I may not be wearing them myself but I do like stretching them and watching them ping back into shape (little things please little minds !) and the girls and their friends all seem to be total converts, wearing matching bracelets and sharing and swapping every time they meet up.
star rating : 4/5
RRP : £3.99 for a pack of 24
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I have seen these around and wondered what they were, now you have enlightened me - thanks! Glad we have boys and keeping my fingers crossed they don't catch on with them (football cards are bad enough!)
ReplyDeleteI remember having similar bands when I was younger (but they didnt stretch) they came in all kinds of colours and we were always trading for different colours and things in school, can see how this will catch on!
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