Anyone fluent in Seven-Year-Old who can translate?

November 24, 2014 7:37 PM

A seven-year-old has asked for "bumblebee drumsticks and cymbals" as a gift. No idea what this may mean and we can't ask for clarification. Any ideas?
posted by sourwookie to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (18 answers total)

Bee Bop Band has drumsticks that look like bees and it has cymbals. Possible?
posted by jessamyn at 7:39 PM on November 24, 2014 [6 favorites]

Bumblebee is also a Transformers character- everything is licensed these days, so maybe a drum set too?
posted by PorcineWithMe at 7:55 PM on November 24, 2014

Can you have them write it down so as to determine whether it's "bumblebee drumsticks" or "bumblebee" and "drumsticks"?
posted by Madamina at 7:56 PM on November 24, 2014 [1 favorite]

There is a toy brand that does wooden castanets (which could be mistaken for 'drumsticks)' by a 7-year-old) with bumblebees painted on them. I've seen them quite often here in Aus. Can't remember the brand and Google is not getting me far, but I'll let you know if it comes to mind...
posted by Salamander at 8:06 PM on November 24, 2014

Any idea if he or she has a video game console? It could be a kind of cymbal expansion pack for Rock Band 2 or 3 for the Xbox/Playstation 3/Wii.
posted by Merinda at 8:13 PM on November 24, 2014

Where does the child live?
posted by kjs4 at 9:33 PM on November 24, 2014

I googled buzzing sticks and came up with an instrument called the Devil Chase, which seems unlikely unless the child comes from an East Asian family.
posted by bq at 9:36 PM on November 24, 2014

I think it's most likely Bumblebee(transformers character), drumsticks, and cymbals.
posted by CarolynG at 10:57 PM on November 24, 2014 [4 favorites]

If you really can't ask for clarification right now, I'd give the kid an envelope with a little stick-figure cartoon drawing of a bumblebee playing drums, and a note making it clear they'll get the real thing when you know what they mean. Better to wait and get it right than to guess wrong.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 12:47 AM on November 25, 2014

Can you ask them to draw it?
posted by greenish at 3:48 AM on November 25, 2014 [2 favorites]

Is this a Santa issue?
One way to get clarification is to ask, "so what did you ask Santa for?"

And when they say, "bumblebee drumsticks" you say, "Oh. What's that?"

We've had lots of very vague and weird Santa lists.
posted by LittleMy at 3:52 AM on November 25, 2014 [4 favorites]

Another tactic if this is a Santa issue: take the child in question to a mall Santa (or trusted friend dressed up as Santa or an elf, explain in advance the issue (out of hearing from the child) and get Santa to extract the information.
posted by ocherdraco at 4:24 AM on November 25, 2014 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks all. The child is in the central US.
posted by sourwookie at 5:12 AM on November 25, 2014

My guess is also that the child means "Bumblebee (the Transformer), drumsticks and cymbals." On the one hand, I am a huge Transformers fan, so I hear things that way. On the other hand, Transformers is one of the most popular toys these days.

You could easily find a Bumblebee toy at Target or Toys'R'Us. They have these new ones called "Hero Mashers" that look like they'd be fun for a kid that age. I am sure there is a Hero Masher Bumblebee, as he is the "face of the franchise," so to speak. I grew up with the original Transformers toys and cartoons, but I don't know if I could have transformed the complicated ones very well at age 7. The Hero Mashers don't transform; instead, you mix and match their parts with other ones. There are also superhero Hero Mashers, which might work with the Transformer ones.
posted by Slothrop at 5:25 AM on November 25, 2014

I asked a percussionist, and that doesn't ring a bell (no pun intended) with her as a "real" musical instrument or company.
posted by wnissen at 10:45 AM on November 25, 2014

Another way to research: Check advertisements that the child has recently seen, especially if there are print black friday / Christmas wishlist ones that come free in the mail. This has solved similar puzzles for us in the past.
posted by stormyteal at 11:10 AM on November 25, 2014

I assume this is a give-a-child-in-need-a-present thing, where the giver has no way of contacting the recipient and only has a short description of what the kid wants.

I also think the kid is probably asking for something Bumblebee-the-Transformer related, and then some sort of drum kit separately.
posted by Ragini at 12:53 PM on November 25, 2014

I'd look for Transformers stickers that include the Bumblebee character, and the child can stick them onto the drumsticks and cymbals.
posted by Bentobox Humperdinck at 10:41 AM on November 26, 2014