Amazon drops "Boy" and "Girl" categories from toy listings

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Next step: combine “Action Figures & Statues” with “Dolls & Accessories.”

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A friend of mine was a huge fan of Inspector Gadget, but his parents wouldn’t let him have an Inspector Gadget because Toys’R’Us sold it as a “doll” rather than an “action figure”.

Decades later I still can’t figure out why they thought the distinction mattered.

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And “Dress-Up & Pretend Play” with “Grown-Up Toys”?

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And “Dress-Up & Pretend Play” with “Grown-Up Toys”?

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For that matter, why categorize toys by age? I’m sure Bronys would agree.

Maybe you are trying to be pedantic, but that is not the same.

Many toys are created specifically for a developmental stage, which can generally be expressed as an age range - even if they can be enjoyed outside of that range. Very few children toys actually require your genitalia to be internal or external.

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Well, minimum recommended ages are there for toys in the case where either there could be small parts that are choking hazard or there could be elements of the toy that need finer motor or cognitive development to enjoy.

As for upper age recommendations, these are usually softer but they are indicative of when a child will lose interest in a toy, or find it not as fun in general.

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That’s minimum age not maximum age.

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Well, there is no age limit for choking hazards.

Actually yes there is.

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There is an age in which most children will stop putting everything in their mouths (I think it’s typically 3 or 4 years). Small children have a tendency to put everything in their mouth, and it takes cognitive development to break out of that.

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It’s also dependent on the size of the throat and other physiological changes.

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Ask David Carradine.

I have no idea who that is; don’t be obtuse. I’m going to assume that it’s an adult that choked on something; that doesn’t negate having ages on toys as recommendations for choking hazards based on what ages kids grow out of putting things in their mouths. Once you have the cognition to not do that, it’s on you to not choke on non-food items by not putting them in your mouth. Babies and toddlers below a typical age threshold don’t have that cognition, any object you hand them goes right in the mouth. And I’m also saying typical and most here because, yes, I’m aware that there are special cases of neurological or other develomental issues that can either give a child the cognition late, early or not at all; but they are a small outlier, while most children stop for the most part by certain ages.

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I’m giving you a like just for that first sentence.

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You do realize Carradine didn’t choke on an object right?

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  1. Amazon dropping these as categories will not change how some people perceive things.

  2. Dropping these categories will make refining a search less easy.

Should we just avoid any potentially-upsetting labels by just putting everything in a ‘stuff’ category? That would make wading through Amazon much easier.

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We are on the internet.

This. Jokes in poor taste are only worth it if they work.

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Or, better yet, we can choose actual meaningful categories instead of made-up BS. Besides, the categories are supposed to describe the toys, not the customers - unless the customers are really the “product”.

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