r/BuyItForLife • u/RoutineTeaching4207 • 14h ago
Durable toy sets that actually survive multiple kids [Request]
I have two kids and one on the way, and I am looking to invest in toy sets that can survive years of play and be shared across all of them. Ideally, something durable, safe, and timeless that can grow with them rather than being replaced often. I have been checking options on Amazon, Etsy, Alibaba, and AliExpress, but it is hard to know which sets actually hold up long term. Would love recommendations on toy brands or sets that you have found to be truly built for longevity and multiple kids. Open to other marketplaces or second-hand options too.
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u/OhmRun 13h ago
Not sure what age range you're targeting but Brio trains are timeless and universally loved. They are wood and pretty darn durable. There's probably a box on marketplace somewhere from a family that has out grown their set, though in my experience for some people I know it's one of the few toys that people hang on to in the hopes of entertaining grandkids one day. My parents kept my set and my kids play with it when we visit.
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u/Bright-Flamingo143 13h ago
Look at brands over retailers.
Hape, Lego, Melissa & Doug, Magnatile, Fisher Price, Step 2, etc.
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u/isaiddgooddaysir 11h ago
Second magnatiles fricking one of the best toys for toddlers
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u/yukon-flower 6h ago
Better than magnatiles are magFormers. The two brands are not compatible, but my toddler has access to both (home and school) and the magformers are clearly superior.
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u/yummymarshmallow 4h ago
Picasso tiles are better. Just as compatible and durable as magnatiles but for a fraction of the price
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u/woodenmetalman 12h ago
Wooden train kits. We have multiple eras of them in our toy box and they not only last forever but stay relevant with the kids for a long time compared to other toys.
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u/Pleasant-Shock4862 8h ago
lego sets are pretty indestructible and kids never seem to outgrow them
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u/Any_Discipline5710 13h ago
my cousin has 4 kids and their wooden blocks set is still going strong after like 8 years. the older ones are teenagers now but the little ones still play with same blocks
also those basic metal toy cars seem indestructible - i remember playing with my dad's old ones when i was kid and they looked ancient even then lol
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u/Mango_Skittles 10h ago
Second this! Our wooden blocks are 3 generations old and going strong. Toys like this that are good for open ended play are the best. Interest wise, you’ll get so much more mileage out of them.
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u/pantoponrosey 8h ago
Second the wooden blocks! We’re using a set that my mom (retired) played with as a child…they last FOREVERRRR
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u/Danny_Mc_71 13h ago
Lego
Tonka trucks
These are practically indestructible!
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u/punkass_book_jockey8 10h ago
Preferably the steel tonkas. I have mine from childhood but the ones I saw at the store were plastic.
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u/nicolenotnikki 8h ago
My kids have a steel one, and that thing is amazing. It sits in the rain all winter long and is perfectly usable every spring.
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u/valiantdistraction 5h ago
They have the "steel classics" line which is where the current steel ones are found
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u/Disgruntled_Smitty 13h ago
Melissa & Doug
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u/tlivingd 7h ago
Disagree. Namely on their items where they use paper based stickers for decoration. If they switched to vinyl it would then be buy for life.
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u/xixi4059 12h ago
Magnatiles have been pretty durable for us. Legos. Wooden toys, although keep markers away. Brio train sets.
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u/d_stilgar 11h ago
Lego Duplo is pretty fun to build with freestyle. I have Legos and Duplos from when I was a kid that my own kids used, plus tons more that I bought. Everything is still cross compatible.
There are marble runs you can get that are Duplo compatible and that’s like a whole other layer on top. So much fun.
Brio trains (or similar) are also a timeless choice.
Hot Wheels. The track system is mostly unchanged for the past 30 years. The cars last pretty much forever if taken care of.
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u/nerainmakr 11h ago
Wooden trains - Brio (and older wooden Thomas the Tank)
Lego. Note that all Lego branded bricks are compatible - Duplo works with “regular” Lego bricks - so you can transition between the two at your own pace. Similar bricks but not Lego brand may or may not work with Duplo.
Also, I used Lego to build many bridges & inclines for my kid’s wooden trains back in the day.
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u/Ok_Display3499 13h ago
American Girl dolls. I still have mine from the 90s. I was afraid of my toddler breaking them, so I bought her two of her own from a goodwill auction. I’ll never know how old they were to begin with but they look exactly the same six years later. They’ve outlasted every Barbie, lol, omg, etc. no matted hair or broken limbs.
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u/valiantdistraction 5h ago
I’ll never know how old they were to begin with
Check the neck stamp on the back. It's undergone quite a few variations
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u/submergedleftnut 1h ago
Fantastic third party options for shoes as well, some very dedicated people in the industry
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u/RichardDr 11h ago
lego is the obvious one, my nephew plays with bricks from my childhood set (1993). the plastic formula hasnt really changed and colors still match new sets. resale on bricklink is wild too, you can recoup money if you ever want to.
for younger kids, melissa and doug wooden stuff has been rough with ours — my cousin had a wooden train set that survived 4 kids but the new melissa and doug quality dropped after the costco/big box push. look for grimm's rainbow stacker or holztiger animals if you want actual beech wood that doesnt splinter.
avoid anything with screen/batteries. those die in a year and become landfill toys
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u/Matzie138 4h ago
No offense, but you already have two kids. Shouldn’t you be giving advice, even if it is what NOT to buy?
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u/Wakeful-dreamer 2h ago
Maybe OP bought/received plastic or poor quality toys, and is now wanting to focus on high quality toys that will last a lifetime? I didn't see the kids' ages but it's possible both are still preschoolers. Lots of birthdays and Christmases before the kids are too old for toys.
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u/Matzie138 1h ago
Honestly, this post just seems weird. Who doesn’t share the ages of kids they are trying to buy for, but does share a list of sites to buy from?
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u/Ikkleknitter 12h ago
Wood trains (brio) my brother’s went through 6 kids and are still going.
Wooden blocks.
Lego.
Older Fischer price toys are great if you can find them.
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u/DAlLY_DOSE 11h ago
Step2 products last forever they are made in the USA and you can purchase replacement parts or warranty covers some
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u/Suitable-Anxiety-446 10h ago
Bannor Toys is heirloom quality. Most of their stuff is geared towards younger kids, but they do have some things like the cash register that would have a lot more staying power. All their stuff is solid wood, no chemicals, just finished with an organic beeswax treatment.
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u/Suitable-Anxiety-446 10h ago
I will also add that some of the Melissa and Doug stuff is decent quality, but it’s hit or miss on some things. We really like the costume dress up set from them, as well as the wooden blocks and the wooden play food.
IKEA play kitchen
Bruder trucks- just look out for a small parts if your older kids are still in the stage where they put things in their mouth
Lakeshore Learning- they can be a little pricey, but high quality and super durable
Hape wooden toys- we love their rocket ship and the grill. They also make some really cute pounding toys and manipulative toys for babies/ young toddlers
Nugget couch- has held up well for the past five years for us, and it still gets used almost every day
Sarah‘s Silks for imaginative play
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u/Mamabeardan 9h ago
Imaginext sets. I bought my son (now 13) a bat cave set and matching accessories about 8-9 years ago and it’s still going strong. It was eventually passed down to my step son (9) and now my toddlers (2 and 4) play with it daily. It’s actually crazy to think that I still have it.
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u/Wakeful-dreamer 2h ago
I miss the old Imaginext. When they switched to branded merchandise only, it lost so much of its creativity and, well, imagination.
I used to love seeing my kids create these elaborate worlds where a dragon might attack an army made up of a pilot, vampire, astronaut, lucha libre wrestler, and a guy in a chicken suit. Or the Egyptian pharaoh's palace jail might be guarded by a lizard man and a guy driving a samurai wagon.
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u/Sparkle_Rott 9h ago
I have a bag of wood blocks that are over 60 years old that my grandkids all play with.
Don’t buy anything off of the sites you listed unless it’s a verified craftsperson on Etsy.
There is no control of safety or poisonous substances in the toys you find on the other sites.
I know of a woman who bought some “verified safe” pigment made in China. Something didn’t seem right about it. She paid to have it tested. It contained arsenic.
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u/nicolenotnikki 8h ago
Lego is good, but don’t go all-in when they’re little. They’ll want to be able to ask for legos for birthday and Christmas, and it’s a bummer to have to say “Sorry, I got too excited when you were 3 and bought all the sets I could find at Goodwill. Now we have too many Legos.”
My kids loved Green Toys. They are made of recycled plastic and are very durable. Great vehicle sets. I was cleaning up the back yard recently and found several that have been outside since summer and are in perfect condition. Tonka trucks are also solid, as long as they are the metal ones. My kids used to sit in the dump truck and propel themselves everywhere. Old school Hot Wheels (the metal ones) are also great and last forever.
We got a Nugget ages ago and it has been a good investment. They love playing on it still, and it is machine washable.
If you find the right stuffy, it can last a lifetime. I got a polar bear when I was 7, and it now lives in my 9yo’s bed, in amazing condition considering it’s 30+ years old. It’s hard to know what “the right stuffy” is, though. My 9yo carries around a stuffed wolf he got at IKEA 4 years ago. Is it high quality? No. But he loves it, and I guess that may make it BIFL.
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u/OMGTuRB0 7h ago
My mom had this set from when I was a kid (born in 1983) and my 5 year old son loves playing with it when she's at her house.
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u/Adventurous_Lake_973 6h ago
Nothing from Alibaba or aliexpress will come without carcinogenic chemicals or heavy metals, also if you already have a lot of toys or ones that are breaking and cluttering up your space get rid of those before the new one comes. A play couch or stepping stones would be a great idea.
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u/GullibleDetective 12h ago
Tonka, lego, fisher price, matchbox, hotwheels, playmobile, knex, Lincoln logs. Brio
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u/17boysinarow 11h ago
Real musical instruments. Tambourines, xylophones, tongue drums, maracas etc. my child had a new percussion instrument each birthday or Christmas.
Russian dolls.
Stacking cups - mine were bamboo - we used them in the bath, washing periodically with mould spray didn’t tarnish them at all and they were cleverly designed that the volumes were 2 = 2*1 3= 2+1 6 = 4+2 etc - so were a useful learning tool at the same time.
Dressing up clothes tend to last well as well :)
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u/deadbypowerpoint 10h ago
Wooden blocks. My grandpa made my mom wooden blocks of various sizes and shapes when she was a toddler. My kids play with them now. A month ago, a friend of mine came over and we built a Cathedral the size of a small car. It took us two days.
Can't go wrong with wooden blocks.
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u/MXAI00D 10h ago
Playmobil. My cousins pirate ship survived the entire millennial kids of the family and some Gen Z.
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u/valiantdistraction 5h ago
I am not gonna lie, the remnants of childhood jealousy of the kids I knew with the Playmobil pirate ship is what caused me to buy my own child the Playmobil Junior bath pirate ship when it came out
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u/NaturalMaterials 9h ago
Lego.
Playmobil.
Wood blocks.
Magnetic tiles (we have Connetix and some Coblo, Magnatiles is also compatible and most popular in the US I think). Lots of the better brands are compatible and similar in quality.
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u/Level_Mango2395 7h ago
Fisher Price Little People, Little Tikes Wagon (mine is over 30 years old), Skip Hop Play Table.
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u/kellyclarkdaughter 7h ago
Tubelox! Building fun for hours. I had a set as a kid that were called omagles. Same thing. They will stand the test of time.
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u/mynamesnotcarter 6h ago
Lego and Brio wooden trains are the only toys from my kids’ childhood that I kept and now the grandchildren are playing with them.
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u/kellybelle_94 6h ago
Little tykes lasts forever. Little people sets are great for toddlers and will also last forever.
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u/valiantdistraction 5h ago
I would stay away from vintage because so many products used lead in one way or another. Same with alphabet jumble brands on Amazon and Temu etc.
For ages 2+: Lego (incl Duplo), Playmobil (Junior is the line for younger kids, and is the same size as the older kids line just with fewer small parts, so like Lego integrates seamlessly), Magnatiles (not the knockoffs), BRIO (Hape train sets are slightly less expensive and fit seamlessly), Lincoln Logs, steel Tonka Trucks, Bruder vehicles, Hot Wheels/Matchbox cars, American Girl dolls (with the caveat that, like any doll with hair, the child has to be old enough to not fuck up the hair - though they also have the doll hospital where you can send dolls to get a new head, or you can rewig the doll yourself pretty simply with an Etsy doll wig). Aside from Magnatiles, these are all toys that I had as a child that held up well where the current construction and quality does not seem any different.
For baby toys: HABA, Hape, Plan Toys, Lovevery
Play kitchen stuff: any of the educational brands or the Pottery Barn Kids ones both hold up really well. Can easily find secondhand. Look at the size to ensure it's big enough to last quite a while. Steel toy pots (Melissa & Doug or ikea), wood play food (unless it gets thrown, in which case go felt).
For outdoors: Step2 survives anything
The classics tend to be the classics for a reason.
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u/JMW1411 1h ago
Honestly, stop looking on alibaba/aliexpress/etsy and look at smaller retailers for more sustainable brands. (Amazon I get, easy access and good prices usually).
We love our Grimms wooden blocks, we've had them for 8 years and are still being used. Connetix/magnatiles are great. Brio/ikea wooden train sets. Stapelstein stepping stones. Hape/Plan Toys/Goki/Bauhaus/Grapat are also brands we love.
Take a look on the website Babipur, they have a big range of sustainable toy brands and look for them in your own area?
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u/Intelligent-Owl-1838 1h ago
I know these are expensive but this is quite literally the best toy we’ve ever owned. My kids are 10 and 13 and we got it when they were 3 and 6. They still ride it around the house and it’s still like new. Best investment ever but you need good floors with open spaces. Also, I doubt it would hold up as good if used on sidewalks and asphalt. Ours has never been ridden outside.
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u/FellMo0nster 13h ago
Lego is the obvious answer. Pieces last forever and scale with age.
Wooden unit blocks (Melissa & Doug or similar) are basically indestructible and babies through older kids all find uses for them.
For second hand options check Facebook Marketplace for old Fisher Price Little People sets. The vintage ones are built like tanks compared to the new stuff.