Trying to find a gift for the birthday child when your children are invited to birthday parties can be tricky sometimes, especially if you don’t know them all that well. Described as more of a present buying service than a toy shop, Wicked Uncle is a great place for getting birthday present ideas and finding the perfect gift.
The name “Wicked Uncle” reflects the fact that this is an online toy shop that doesn’t sell primarily to parents. It is also aimed at uncles, aunts, friends and cousins – anyone who might be choosing a gift for a child. The website is well designed. There are clickable links to age-appropriate presents divided by gender prominently displayed on the home page. According to the FAQs section, this is to help people find what they are looking for more quickly, Many of the toys are found under both genders. If a toy is found under one gender only, this is due to not being popular amongst the other, as the toys are shown in order of popularity by default. The gender/age search options are also prominent on the sidebar so it is easy to change search options whilst browsing.
I had a few presents to buy for upcoming birthdays plus wanted to get my girls something. I searched under the following categories: Boys – 2 years and 4 years and Girls – 1 year, 2 years and 4 years. There was a good range of toys available in each category. The prices ranged from £4.50-£8.95 at the lower end, up to £99 at the upper end.
It was easy to find a present which I thought each of the birthday children would like. I chose wooden puzzles for the 1 and 2 year olds and a dinosaur torch and projector for the 4 year old. I thought Jessica and Sophie would both enjoy the Aquadoodle which I decided to have gift-wrapped. There is a choice of ten different gift-wrap designs from farmyard and jungle animals to spots or stripes, as well as a small selection of cards to choose from. Standard delivery (2-3 working days) is £2.95. Gift wrap costs £2.95 for the first present and £1.50 for subsequent presents. The card cost a further £1.95 (although a gift message can be included for free with gift wrap instead). Wrapped gifts also come with a prefilled thank you card which makes it very easy for the recipient to say thank you.
The gifts could be assigned to each child during the check-out process. When they arrived in the post, each item had a sticky note indicating which child it was for. This would have been very useful if all the presents have been ordered with gift-wrap! I was very pleased with the speed of delivery. The items arrived within a couple of days of me placing my order and were very well packaged. The two wooden puzzles were good quality and the dinosaur torch and projector looked like it would be fun. Hopefully they were well received by the recipients!
Jessica and Sophie were very excited to have a present to open. They loved the Aquadoodle – a big mat that is drawn on with water-filled pens or stamps and brushes dipped in water which cause rainbow-coloured marks to appear. Once the mat dries out, it goes white again and can be reused. I loved the fact that the girls could “paint” to their hearts’ content and there was no mess!
Overall, I was very happy with the Wicked Uncle shopping experience. I found it an easy-to-use present buying service for children. There is a good range of toys available and delivery was quick. It is certainly something that I am likely to use again in the future.
I received a voucher for £40 to spend at Wicked Uncle for the purposes of this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Prices quoted are correct at the time of publishing this blog post.
I love that little mouse wrapping paper so cute! Never heard of wicked uncle before, but will take a look #TriedTested
I loved that wrapping paper too and was nice to see such a good selection of gift wrap options.
We reviewed them recently and I was really impressed by their service and loved the selection of toys they suggested #TriedTested
Glad you had such a good experience too – I thought the selection of toys was great.
I’d never heard of them but it looks like they have a great range of gifts #TriedTested
I thought the range of toys available was great – a nice mix of unusual and more conventional gifts.
I have recently reviewed these too and I love the site….
It looks like you chose well & the girls had fun! My two used to have an Aquadoodle and they loved it x
The Aquadoodle is great – we’ve had so much fun with it! 🙂
I was really impressed when I used them, too, a handy way to search for gifts. Lovely choices, and a nice touch to have it gift wrapped, too – always heightens the excitement! x
Glad you enjoyed your shopping experience too – thought the girls would love having an unexpected present to open! 🙂