Can you find my boy a toy shoe polisher?

October 1, 2008 7:37 AM

About a year ago, we bought our son a shoe polishing toy. Yes, a toy. Yes, shoe polishing. My little guy absolutely *loves* this kit, which is from Playgo Ltd of Hong Kong. Unfortunately, the motor just burnt out and he's devastated. All my attempts to google for a replacement have failed. We bought the original at Tuesday Morning, which usually only gets things after they've been discontinued. Replacing the motor is beyond my skills. Any of you able to help find either a replacement or a near equivalent that will please the precise and fussy ocd heart of my darling boy?
posted by moof to shopping (14 comments total)

Does it have to be a toy? Because for $25-50 you could get him a real electric shoe polisher.
posted by orthogonality at 7:44 AM on October 1, 2008

The toy has very soft parts and the polish is completely fake -- so no staining!
posted by moof at 7:46 AM on October 1, 2008

Oh, dollar stores market a face polisher (yes, really) that's basically a battery-powered little motor and a buffing pad. Round and round it goes....
posted by orthogonality at 7:47 AM on October 1, 2008

Get him a real one and let him use his fake polish with it.
posted by ottereroticist at 7:50 AM on October 1, 2008

orthogonality: Great idea! I'll scope out the $stores later today or tomorrow.

ottereroticist: I still worry about the power of the motor for real ones -- but I'll see if I can find one that's safe, thanks!
posted by moof at 7:59 AM on October 1, 2008

Can you take the toy apart and remove the burned-out motor? If it seems like you'd be able to put the thing back together, it might be worth looking for a replacement motor.

If there are any hobby shops in your area, bring the motor in and ask if they have anything that might work. Lots of radio control airplanes and cars are powered by small electric motors, so the shop staff might have something for you.

P.S. I'm unreasonably charmed by a toy shoe polisher. Who'da thunk kids these days want to polish shoes?
posted by Quietgal at 8:26 AM on October 1, 2008

Why not look on eBay for another one.
posted by camworld at 8:49 AM on October 1, 2008

Ack, meant to say maybe the staff at the hobby shop could replace it for you while you're there, rather than implying you'd fix it yourself. If it's fixable at all, it's probably a simple swap-out.
posted by Quietgal at 9:01 AM on October 1, 2008

Here is a whole cleaning trolley!! Do you think it's the actual shoe shine toy that he likes, or the working parts?
posted by barnone at 10:11 AM on October 1, 2008

They also have a DIY set which is cute. Haven't seen the shoe kit at all yet though - might be worth it to put a saved search on eBay in case one shows up.

Have you seen the Kool Tool drills and saws? Kind of crazy. But maybe he'd like the pretend play part of it.
posted by barnone at 10:26 AM on October 1, 2008

Maybe he wants to help vacuum instead? This toy vacuum gets pretty good reviews.

I've spent a while using all my usual tricks and can't find the polisher anywhere! Would it be crazy to email the company? They have a decent website.

And if the toy opens up, I'll bet you can replace the motor.
posted by barnone at 10:57 AM on October 1, 2008

Look around for a small-appliance repair guy. They hardly exist anymore due to our obsolescence society (and stuff from China being cheaper than repairing better old stuff), but they can be found. I bet it would be worth the repair cost in this case.

But really, you could probably do it yourself with a how-to. Motors can be touchy but they aren't, ultimately, complicated.
posted by dhartung at 3:18 PM on October 1, 2008

I agree with quietgal; i find this is so charming and cute!

I came in to suggest the face-polisher thing like orthonogality. I've had one of these in the past (from avon; a gift during a peak face-buffing season) , and while I found it silly/excessive for face washing, it should work well as a toy shoe polisher because the motor is not so strong (obviously, because it's meant for your face).

If you can't find it on closeout, you should find them online or at the drugstore, sometimes marketed as a "microdermabrasion kit". Here is a pic of one from amazon to show the face-buffing tool as an example (there should be cheaper ones out there though.
posted by NikitaNikita at 8:08 PM on October 1, 2008

Based on ottereroticist's suggestion, this (http://mitainc.stores.yahoo.net/aushpo.html) looks almost precisely like what I want -- but that yahoo site looks really skeevy. I'll keep googling to see if I can find any other sites that sell something similar.
posted by moof at 8:58 AM on October 3, 2008