MnGCA

[Sharknose Bunnies]

I apologize if the topic has already been discussed, but I searched for swag threads but didn't find one specifically relating to ideas for inexpensive yet good swag to place in caches. I realize that many cachers ignore the whole swag world, but for those that take and leave swag or for those of us who geocache with little kids, I'm wondering if people have some ideas for creative swag that is inexpensive to make/buy.

As for some background...

I went to the Dollar Store and spent about $25 a month ago. One dollar there usually gets you a pack of about six things. But frankly, most of the stuff I got there (ugly plastic bugs, Hannah Montana crayons whose boxes fall apart, plastic cars whose wheels fall off) is pretty much junk, and almost every cache I've been to has oodles of the same stuff in it already. My kids looked at the box of stuff I got and weren't really interested in anything in it.

Ideally, I think I can go up to about 50 cents per item, which would make for $30-$40/month for swag. More than that would be tough to handle on a regular basis, but if I need to, I suppose I could mix in some some dollar items. Target, however, doesn't seem to have much in that 50 cents to a dollar range, outside of Hot Wheel cars for a buck, which do get my son's approval.

So...Anyone have some cool ideas, thoughts, or suggestions for good swag?

So far I've got:

$1 Range
Hot Wheel Cars

50 Cent Range
-

25 Cent Range
Stuff from the Dollar Store (Mostly Does not Get the Kiddie Stamp of Approval)

[dmnrec]

My son loves finding hotwheels (even used are fine), pokeman cards (with high amounts of power, not the energy cards), golf balls (again used are fine), little green army guys, bouncy rubber balls, baseball, football cards, etc. I think most kids don't care if a toy is used or not...as long as it's in good shape and something cool.
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[casinoman]

When the boy and I started He told me he wanted to be able to grab things from the caches that we found. It was a good time to start the get something give something part of caching. So we cleaned out his old toys and other stuff from his room. You know all the stuff that you bought at the store or on vacation that the kids don't play with any more.

Then when that suply ran out ( I do still have some of the smaller stuff.)
We would go to the gerage sales in town. ( gold mines there )
Grabe the small toys or let the kids find the treasure that they will put in the next cache. Fun for them and cheep for you.

Now I go through stuff that still have left over. Lots of crushed pennys. I have a lot of Boston pins left got all those free from a company I worked for a few years back.

The other spot to find the fun toys is at the good will store. I was in a year or so ago and they had bags ( the kind that sheet sets come in ) full of small toys for about $5 for the whole bag. Lots of toys for cheep.

Good luck and have as much fun with the toys as with the find.
That is why I like the bigger caches lots of fun stuff for the kids too.
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I may grow old, But I will never grow up.

[pfalstad]

My daughter loves the little jewel rings that often get put in caches. Looks like they're about 6 cents a piece.

http://www.toyconnection.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=CHFR&Category_Code=R&Product_Count=0

[Jam3s]

[Sharknose Bunnies]

Pfalstad - That looks like a good website for swag in general. I was looking for something like that last night. Thanks. And yes, my daughter likes the sparkly jewel rings as well. I might place an order there for a couple of bags of things.

casinoman - I was thinking about checking out the goodwill store, but hadn't thought of yard sales. That's a good idea.

dmnrec - We put some better Pokemon cards in few caches (not energy, trainer, or stadium cards), but when I went back to one to drop off a coin, I saw the card in there. It had gotten crushed and bent by other stuff in the cache. I was thinking if we put more Pokemon cards in caches that I stick them in some sort of a cheap plastic holder, but I just haven't gotten around to picking some up. What do you think about something like these Small Pokemon Figures? I bought my kids a set of these a year or so ago and they loved them. I was thinking of placing another order to use for swag.

[EPMinnesota]

I like to pick things up for cheap at the Target dollar spot when the stuff goes on clearance as well as Michael's dollar area when they go on clearance at the end of each season. Things I've picked up in multi packs are really cool small matchbook style note pads (Tinkerbell, CARS, Super heros) same for good sized cool looking bouncy balls, writing pens on cords for around your neck (6pk for 50 cents), mini flashlights 2pk, for toddlers I've found Disney themed plastic molded fork/spoons, good sized wooden train whistles, fun socks, hair stuff, etc. I break down the packs and put some items into snack sized ziplocks so they stay clean. My price goal is 25 cents but sometimes go up to 50 cents. HTH!

[CharleneMae]

We drop off the toys that came out of our cereal boxes. We don't have kids yet and have no need for the stuff and it looks like something perfect for a geocache.

[lansima]

Go to any party supply/outlet store (like where they sell plates, balloons, cards, party decorations, etc. - Party City, Party America). You can get a big bag of toys for cheap. My son is partial to the snakes, dinosaurs, frogs, lizards - but they have a huge selection.

[Red_Devil35]

Axman is good for that kind of stuff too. You can occasionally find really weird stuff at the Axman, like scorpions encased in plastic, for about 50 cents each. Dice, whistles, bendy figures, etc. Oh, and they have lots of other caching stuff, like containers, etc.
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"We never seek things for themselves-what we seek is the very seeking of things"-Pascal

[speedysk1]

[Pear Head]

[pfalstad]

[Jam3s]

I am just stating what I read.

Also, I can read, therefore I do.
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[pfalstad]