Cheap Junk! Exhibit A: Card Shuffler

[H-work]

We play a lot of board games and card games at our place. Often, my two older boys play a card game, but neither one of them know how to shuffle. They do the "don't know how to shuffle" shuffle by swirling the cards in a big, wide, expansive pile on the table and then gathering them all back up. Cute, especially when they say something like, "it's your turn to 'don't know how to shuffle' shuffle."

I was at the thrift store and saw a vintage, battery operated card shuffler, still in the box, for a $1. Figured we'd give it a try, the kids would like it. I thought that since it was still in it's box, it was kept in good condition. Silly me, I should have looked closer at the box. I should have noticed the "Made in China" sticker to send off wailing sirens that it was a piece of junk. And not vintage--it had a UPC symbol and a warehouse number (like Costco has on their products). Original price, by the way, was $19.

I brought it home and realized my mistake. Just taking it out of the box, the batteries fell out--the battery cover wasn't strong enough to hold them in. When I scraped off the corrosion from the battery contacts, and got the batteries to stay in, and put in a deck of cards (half on the right, half on the left), the motor started purring. And all the cards from the right side flowed down into the little tray. All the cards on the left just sat there. I tried again, carefully lining the cards against their respective metal guard. Hit the button and cards flowed thru both sides, but hopelessly got stuck in the middle and jammed. I got all the cards out and tried again, all the cards on the right flowed thru while the cards on the left sat there.

I tried to get the two sides of cards just right to figure out the "trick". I spend a shameful amount of time trying to win this battle against the cheapest auto card shuffler in the world. About every 2 minutes, I'd have to retrieve the batteries from the floor, because the battery cover failed again and again. One time, all the cards on the left flowed thru while all the cards on the right just sat there. But all the other times, the cards on the right flowed thru (or jammed up in the middle) while all the cards in the left sat there. Never again would the partisan cards reach across the aisle for the sake of America.

Curious, I went to my standby, amazon, to find a good card shuffler. At this point, I'd pay $$$ for a good one, one that actually took two piles of cards and shuffled them. Most of the ones available, ranging in price from $6 to $150 all have the same style, all have the same horrible reviews "piece of junk," "didn't work," "fails in the one job it's designed to do--shuffle!" They all, tho there are several different brands and models, curiously have the same sticker on top, a rectangle that says in bold, "Automatic Card Shuffler" and down the sides, has the 4 suit symbols. Go ahead, look up "card shuffler" on amazon. They all have the same sticker on top. No matter what brand or model, they all received horrible reviews. And many said, they would pay top dollar for one that worked. One reviewer, writing about The Deluxe model, commented, "If this was deluxe, I'd hate to see the standard edition."

I've come to the conclusion that there are no well-built card shufflers out there. (And am seriously wondering why there are so many brands and models of the same thing. Is there just one manufacturer but several companies that buy rights to sell it, maybe?) I've come to the same conclusion about pencil sharpeners (both manual and electric). I haven't found one that actually does what it's designed to do, sharpen pencils. I haven't found one model on amazon that gets descent reviews. Junk. Junk. Junk. Junk.

I decided that this is ridiculous, I've spent enough time on this blasted piece of fragile plastic. I'm going now to teach my sons how to shuffle, properly. It may take awhile for them to get it, but a little practice and they'll have it. In the meantime, they can always do the "don't know how to shuffle" shuffle.

What products have you had this type of experience, where you just can't find one, even when you buy a top of the line brand, that does what it's supposed to be.

[iris lily]

I don't buy top of the line because I fear that I won't get top of the line.

It's one of my pet hobby horses these days: everything is such cheapo junk. I am so afraid that if I buy the most expensive thing, I'll just be paying for bells and whistles that are cheaply made.

Recently I was moaning about the cheapness of the new plastic garbage pail DH brought home for the big box store. I turned it over: made in the US. So now even US products are cheap crap. Way to copy China, US manufacturers.

[Stella]

I got rid of a card shuffler my parents had. It worked OK, but it was definitely a cheap piece of junk.

[Mrs-M]

Hi H-work. I'm straining right now to think of something (anything) I could add to this thread, but I have nothing for now. Hmmm... thinking- thinking, junk- junk.

[H-work]

Psp, Mrs-M, how about toasters and coffee makers :)

[Mrs-M]

H-work. ROTLMAO! :) Ironically, the toaster we have is going on 27 years old and is still going strong! And it was a cheapy too! As for our coffee maker, almost the same story. Two (maybe three) years ago I bought a proper coffee percolator pot and quit using our old electric coffee maker. (Gosh I love percolated coffee)!!!

However, ta-da! Got one! The cheap, hard, stiff plastic laundry basket I purchased about three years ago. It's the round type, average size, and seemed to be a "good buy" at the time (so I thought), as I desperately needed another laundry basket for diapers. However, it proved to be anything but a good buy, although it's still alive and well.

Just weeks after using it, both handles broke, in the same place! Nothing like my old laundry baskets which are a soft-rubber like material/compound and fast approaching 30 years old!

[early morning]

Oh, MrsM - I really miss those baskets!! I also remember using bushel baskets when they made pretty oilcloth liners for them - my aunt had those, and I just loved them. Ok - sorry- OT big time. I was at my mother's a couple weeks ago and her drip pot - brand name, less than a year old- popped something somewhere and sent hot water running everywhere. Piece o'crap! Of course I had to buy another just like it, because they are the only ones she can remember how to use (or that's what she says, anyway! and she is quite stubborn.....) - one does NOT want to deprive my mother of her coffee!!

[H-work]

Here's another one: clothes pins. The ones they sell now look like they'll fall apart if you look at them funny. I always snap up the strong, wooden ones at yard sales and church bazaars. I can get a whole container for 25 cents or so, they're practically giving them away.

[artist]

We had a Ronco card shuffler when I was a kid. I seem to remember that working fairly well.

[Mrs-M]

Early morning. Yes, they were made sooo well weren't they. I love mine to no end! As far as bushel baskets go, nothing speaks home and country better IMO! I always get this stereotypical image when I think of bushel baskets. The image is of a middle aged woman wearing a colourful flowery dress or jean skirt, her hair is long and pulled back and held in place at the back with a leather hair clip, the kind that has the thin wooden stick to set, and as she tacks freshly laundered things to the line, her bushel basket sits close by. (Always a country setting).

H-work. Yes, yes, yes! Clothespins!!! A wonderful frugal story to share with you. Last fall (early fall) I happened upon an add on Craigslist for a large bag of old wooden clothespins. Well over a hundred regular spring pins, and about 25 old-fashioned peg pins. Guess what? I bought them! :) They arrived in fairly dingy form, so I will (at some point before I use them) have to give them a good cleaning, other than that they were a magnificent find/buy! (The spring pins have the thickest steel springs I have ever seen)! Made sooo well!

So, with that said, I bought a small bag of pins a few years back to help supplement the collection of old quality pins I already had, but the new ones paled in comparison. Thin springs, the wooden part not as heavy duty as the old, and pins that always want to fall apart and separate when you squeeze them. (Not a good buy). I get angry over things like this. Instead of manufacturers cheaping out and making garbage, why not make them the good old-fashioned way and even if a steeper premium has to be applied, so be it, because homemakers would appreciate them that much more.

And, just thought of another. Baby rubber pants. Back in the mid/late 80's when my nephews and nieces were starting to sprout, rubber pants were still made the good old-fashioned way. They were durable and withstood an occasional thrashing in the washing machine, and the elastic openings stayed stretchy for longer. When my youngest was born (92), the quality of standard (store bought) rubber pants began taking a tumble. Cheap stitch applied elastics, thinner plastic, ripped/tore easily, didn't last. (I was going through them at a steady rate/buying them often). A busy mom shouldn't be made to content with that. Manufacture quality baby goods and a smart mother will buy them. Quality sells.

[daisy]

I like to cook and especially to bake, so one of my biggest current pet peeves is Corningware. It is no longer flint glass and is just pottery now (made in China, of course). So I snap up the old stuff at estate sales and thrift stores. Actually, I buy most of my kitchen wares at those places because I like the things made in the 1940s and 1950s. My waffle maker is a 1947 model and is still going strong.

[benhyr]

I'm very disappointed in lawn tools these days. Week-old rake busted a handle and I had a d-handle come off a pitchfork (that I was worried about when I bought it but did it anyway)

[Mrs-M]

One word, Benhyr, Fiskars! Never been disappointed. :)

[benhyr]

One word, Benhyr, Fiskars! Never been disappointed. :)

We had a pair of Fiskars loppers that had the plastic part of the handle separate after a few uses. I did return those and buy a full-metal sleeve (I foolishly thought it was a plastic handle over metal tube, not plastic inserted into the metal tube).

[Mrs-M]

We had a pair of Fiskars loppers that had the plastic part of the handle separate after a few uses. I did return those and buy a full-metal sleeve (I foolishly thought it was a plastic handle over metal tube, not plastic inserted into the metal tube).Gosh, everything we own in the way of gardening/pruning tools carries the Fiskars name, and so far not so much as a single problem to mention. P.S. If your new loppers were purchased recently, I'd return them, and look for something of better quality. DH and I were just looking at Fiskars tools a few weeks back, and the hedge shears (which we need) look miles better in quality compared to our old ones. Have you priced out the upper end model range?

[benhyr]

oh, I think I was confusing. I originally bought the second from the top pair of loppers. Those were the poor quality ones. I returned those and bought the top pair at the store. They're a bit harder to operate (ratcheted instead of levered) but they're built very well. As they're harder to use, I had to pick up a friendlier pair for DW... so, it's all set now, but at substantially more than I had planned on paying ($80 total instead of $40)

[Mrs-M]

Hopefully the items you bought will last for a really long time. Our current set of hedge shears have withstood roughly 10 years of regular use, at times, heavy use. (Industrial use). So we're due for a new set. The only thing my husband wasn't pleased about Re: the new hedge shears, is that they have extension handles. He seems to be sold on a fixed handle system, so we may have to look outside of Fiskars this time around in order to find a set that have non-adjustable handles. Our old set was so nice to use. Fairly lightweight, smooth, and extremely sharp. Made cutting back and shaping conifers a breeze.

[H-work]

Another one. Socks, especially for children. My son would get a hole in his the first day out of the package. We did get him some army regulation socks and those last so much longer.

And tools. We got some Stanley vice grips. Sure, they hold on tight but the entire handle bends if you put any amount of force on it--which is kinda what you do when you're using vice grips. I thought I could buy the original brand of vice grips, but they are made in China now so probably not much better. I'm looking out for a pair at yard sales.

[Mrs-M]

H-work. Grrr, kids socks have always been a major gripe of mine! I don't know what it is about kids and socks, but I seem to have the same happenings in my house related to brand new socks and holes as you! Drives me insane! :)

That, and searching for stray and missing socks! I'm such a fuss-nut when it comes to laundry and the organization of such, so when something goes missing or I fail to find a mate to a matching pair of something, I drop everything else I'm busy doing and start hunting. Washing machine, tumble dryer, laundry baskets, dresser drawers, you name it, I search it! :laff: