Product Review: Yummy Breakfast Keychain Series - Cute or the Cutest?

Question: How much would you pay for a mystery toy? Specifically, would you dish out $4.95 of your hard-earned cash for a small box that contains one of many miniature breakfast food items on a keychain? When the faces on the food are as cute as the ones on KidRobot's Yummy Breakfast Key chain series, available wherever adorable things are sold, the answer is: maybe.

Made of vinyl and metal, and crafted, according to Kidrobot.com, by Heidi Kenney, these little treats feature such breakfast characters are the Sad Cracked Egg, Burnt Toast and Yesterday's Leftover Pizza. They are highly durable toys (one of mine having survived an unfortunate foray into the dog's mouth) and not so common that everyone knows their name. I have found that they often attract attention from people wanting to know where those cute little key chains came from. Quality build and admiration are two of the best things these key chains (or any breakfast-themed toy smaller than 2 squared inches) can get you, and for five dollars it's probably worth the excitement, the risk, and the prize.

But wait, you ask. What risk are you talking about? Excitement? Well, that has to do with the way in which these Yummy Breakfast key chain series are sold. It may be percieved as a (somewhat) con, because you see these little foods are sold via blind assortment. If you're unfamiliar with this term, it means all the boxes are the same and you don't know which one you've got until after the purchase is made. Now keep in mind, this can cause serious frustration if you pay the money and find out you've now got two Pancakes with Buttery Noses, but the assortment is filled with such a wide selection of cute faces it is often worth the risk. Indeed, while the purchase may be something of a gamble, at least your odds are known. Each box contains the pictures of all possible toys and the odds of getting that particular one is listed after the purchase.

For the very, very risk adverse (or just the very eager but limited in budget) you can also try your chances on Ebay, where these collections are sometimes sold, sans mystery. And hey, if you do find that you've gotten saddled with too many of the same breakfast food faces, they make excellent presents for friends, too.

My overall rating of this product is positive - I want more!