With Halloween just days away why not talk about things that haunt our dreams. Infomercials. From Pajama Jeans to the Slap Chop, inventors keep rolling out ideas on how to make our lives easier.
Here’s some I can think of:
Shamwow, Slapchop, Pajama Jeans, Snuggie, Eggies, Peg Egg, Pedi Paw, Clapper, Cami Secret, Smart Spin, Pasta Express, Magic Bullet, Buxton Purse, In Styler, Hot Dog Express, Pillow Pets, Mighty Putty, Green Bags, Bump Its and Aqua Globes.
Overall, I get duped into buying these once in a while and I am generally dissapointed. Even more disappointing is usually in 6 months or so they start trickling into the dollar stores. The only As Seen On Tv products that I’ve ever found to be of acutal use is a knock off Chi hair straightener and Aqua Globes. Are there any As Seen On Tv products that you love? Ever gotten duped into buying one that disappointed?
I think the Pajama Jeans are pretty sweet looking… picks up phone…..
PS. Isn’t that baby vest picture just hilarious? I haven’t laughed that hard at a pic in awhile.
I’m kinda curious about the Bullet as well as No-No. I’ve seen the Bulet at Wal-Mart, and the No-No SOUNDS like a good idea, but I wouldn’t form over te cash until I hear some things about their usefulness, etc.
We got a Magic Bullet as a gift and we love it! It’s been over a year and a half and it has yet to disappoint. It gets used almost on a daily basis (smoothies), we use it for sauces, hummus and pesto. Great for chopping/grinding up nuts and seeds, making breadcrumbs, mayo, dips…the list goes on. It’s more convenient than lugging out the food processor and it’s easier to wash. The juice extractor on the other hand is awful. lol
Magic Bullet — DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY! Save the money and put it towards a better blender. My MB doesn’t chop up nuts, and the other day it jammed and wouldn’t turn off. I thought I was going to break it I have to try so hard to twist it off! I also find it has a hard time mixing the ingredients so anything at the top doesn’t get in there, I have to stir it and put it back on. I still use it daily for my breakfast smoothie but have given up trying anything else with it.
With that being said, Janetta likes hers so you can’t really judge a product based on one review. Maybe I just got a crappy one?
🙂
I got suckered in to the Pasta Express. Never worked.
The Slap-chop came with a bonus Gratey. I really really wanted the gratey, but already had a terrific chopper from Ikea. I patiently waited and was happy to find the Gratey during my last visit to Palm Springs for $2 at Big Lots! It doesn’t work for soft cheeses, but is a dream for chopping nuts, flax seed, and parmesan.
They now carry the Gratey at Dollarama and if you like to add nuts to your salads like I do, I highly recommend it!
We have the bullet too and love it! We just bought our second one because the tabs on the cups were breaking off (only because we litterally use ut ALL the time) making it difficult to use. We have had the first one for well over 3 years
Very freaky picture!
The bullet’s design isn’t meant to last… but it’s pretty convenient
we got suckered into purchasing the NUWAVE oven cooking table top thing lol yes thats the technicsl name. Actually hubby convinced me to call in. ITS GARBAGE!! only used it for exactly 2 days, dried everything we cooked in it, from fries to chicken, felt like we were eating wood, all the flavour was gone from the food. I followed all the instruction step by step…. why did i get suckered into thinking a light bulb thingamagiger can cook my food..?
Oh my, what have I bought. There was the Pasta Express–leaves pasta half cooked. There was the Slap Chopper—broke after 2 uses and was really small to begin with. There was the Brownie Pan—brownies stuck even to the dividers even though I sprayed them with oil. There was the PediPaws—1st try a piece brough off and slapped the cat`s paw, so now she is terrified of it or anything that sounds like it. There was the ShamWow Mop—worked okay for the 1st few day, then washed it as instructed. After that the end kept falling off as you pushed it around the floor. There was also the PediEgg—was messy, left feet a little raw and looked like a cheese grater. And there were others. You`d think I would learn. After all that I still want to try the Cami—not sure how they can mess up a triangle of material, but I`m sure that after I buy it I find how.
I’ve never bought things off TV, but some things have been mighty tempting. 😀
I still can’t believe people bought Snuggies… Honestly, they’re REVERSE ROBES… just buy a robe for half the cost and wear it backwards! =_=
I’ve bought many things over the years and the only thing I never regretted was the Magic Bullet! I first bought it in 2005 and used it almost every day. Now with 2 kids, we had to buy a new one to replace the old, because we made all the baby food with it and it finally died. DEFINITELY WORTH IT!!!! They usually go on sale at Canadian Tire for $40…pick one up!!
I have the Bullet and while it works pretty well for stuff like smoothies, I could have saved my money by just using a mason jar with the pulse button on my own blender.
I got my MIL’s old RONCO food dehydrator as a hand-me-down. Let’s just say, don’t dry anything you don’t want to have your house – and everything in it – smelling like for at least a week! The product worked overall, but sounded like a hair dryer running nonstop. I hid it in a corner of the furnace room and swore if I had to wear oregano-smelling clothes to work again my boss would think that it was some kind of drug! MIL asked for it back about a year later, so I handed it over, all the while secretly thankful that I hadn’t tossed it in the garbage like I planned to! 😉
The Snuggie commercial where the whole family is sitting together wearing their matching Snuggies makes me howl with laughter. I agree with Jen… I seriously can’t believe people bought those things!!
I have a magic bullet and also love it. Takes up so much less room on my counter than a food processer and its easy to clean.
I am dying to know if those “Eggies” really work…. I think it would be hilarious to serve flat bottomed, weird shaped eggs at my next dinner party! LOL I also love how the commercial talks about saving HOURS of time since you dont have to peel those pesky hard boiled eggs. Hahaha
I love that picture…soooo funny!
Every year for christmas my siblings and i draw names and pick a theme for gifts. 2 years ago it was as seen on tv products, we had so much fun picking out the gifts! But we also knew most of them would be crap and i think that was the fun of it too lol. I was given a snuggie and i actually really like it!
I’ve been dying to try the no-no. A friend has said her co-worker actually bought it and swears by it.. I just can’t get the guts to put that much money out.
Like everybody else I love my magic bullet – it’s dishwasher safe!
The only other as seen on TV thing I’ve had work was a set of chef’s knives that now retail at walmart for $20 – I wish I could remember the name but they’re great.
Back in the 80’s my parents bought a flowbee. It was a haircutting tool that attached to your vacuum. It cut your hair and sucked up all the hair that had been cut off. My dad used to cut my hair in the garage with this contraption! Needless to say, no 13 year old girl wanted the flowbee style. I still have nightmares about the haircut and I have the pictures to prove it.
I remember the Flowbee! I got harassed about it cuz my maiden name was Scobie lol It’s actually a brilliant idea, but only for boy hair lol
I have the Magic Bullet and LOVE it!!! My mom found the platinum edition a few years ago and its bigger and comes with a blender attachment and a few extras. The cups are bigger too. It gets used all the time!
My Magic Bullet works great! Although I only use it for smoothies, so that might be part of it.
My magic bullet never worked unless it was at least half liquid. Maybe I got a dud, cause my mom loves hers.
HAHAH Pam, that story is priceless!
Jess, are you talking about the Miracle Blades knives?? I got them as a gift and i love them!! I’ve had it for 7yrs and they’re still very sharp. The magic Bullet i thought was ok. Great for making smoothies, but chopping other stuff i prefer using a blender. I also have the snuggie and it’s not bad. Keeps me warm. I aslo got the bra clip for your back to make it look like a sports bra style. Not worth the money. Go out and buy a sports bra instead.
I have the cami and i really like it. The only thing you have to be careful is that the piece of fabric is kind of small and sometimes it can slip out of your shirt. What i do is tuck the end piece in to my bra to hold it in place.
i have the shamwow…and i think it works really great… i use it to *absorb* water from 120lbs bernese mtn dog after a swim or bath… it works like a charm… or else it would take him HOURSSSSSS to dry off…
Miracle Blades are AMAZING. Not only are they 20 bucks, but they are hands down the best knives I have ever owned. I have bought them for friends and family and will buy them over and over!
I would love to know where to buy one of these baby vest things – looks comfy and cozy. Can someone post me a link?
The magic bullet seems to be hit or miss- I wonder if it is about When it was made. We have had our for 5 years. It was great for baby food- an now it is primarily used as DH’s coffee grinder. (His actual coffee grinder, the first, lasted 6 mos;The second, not quite a year.) I love it- and so does he. Buy my best friends- well it died a horrible death involving nuts I believe.
Pam- As for the hair flobee I remember it and always wondered who bought it… but for comfort- it was the 80’s. Who had “normal” hair anyways?? 🙂
I bought the cami things yesterday. I actually like them. I had a mastectomy in September so they are perfect for the extra coverage I need now.
I got the ped egg from walmart probably 5 years ago and I LOVE it. Yes a bit of the skin does fall out of the container from time to time but for my feet it’s great! I have psoriasis on the bottom of my feet so I use the ped egg occasionally to remove the scales. Even getting replacement blades is fairly easy as there’s people on amazon.com that have them.
I bought the Kettlenetics workout program from Target because I saw it on an infomercial and could see the science behind it and how it worked. Unfortunately, I’ve got bad knees and it was just too hard of a workout for me.
The one that gets me is that commercial for I think they call it Magic Mesh? The screen that’s got magnets in it so you just walk through it and it closes on it’s own. I noticed that if you look very closely when the commercial is on, the magnets don’t allow the screen to close flush all the time, so there’s gaps where bugs could get in. No way would I spend money on that thing!
I bought my vacuum sealer from an infomercial. It was the best thing I ever did. I buy large roasts when they are on sale really cheap, slice steaks from the middle and vacuum seal. I found sausage that was in the freezer 2 years and it tasted like fresh.
i had to have my hair cut with a flowbee, too. it’s actually still in the family……*shudders*
I actually use my SLAP CHOP hahaha. When my friends are preparing their pot luck portions at my house, they love to use it too. 100% sure you can do the same thing with a good knife, but… it’s fun! And the pieces end up neater than if I chop it myself. 😛 Not the funnest to clean though.
I also want a Shamwow too. Thought it’d be nice to dry my car with after the washes.
I would just like to say that a Snuggie is the best thing DH EVER bought me. Actually, I’m using it right now! 🙂 I use it every single day! To each their own I guess.
YouTube like comment: HAHA Dat baby is soooo funny. Funniest baby evar.
NormAl comment: that vest reminds me of Kuato from Total Recall
I got my 2 and a 1/2 year old a “magic bowl” its the bowl that never spills….I put some dry cereal in it then chucked it in the air like they do on the commerical. Needless to say it spilled all over my kitchen. Worst of all i did this in front of my daughter so now everytime she eats out of it she tries to throw it. It kinda works…but not nearly as well as on the commercial.
The vest is a Peekaru vest. I have one and loved it for wearing my little one. I miss how cosy it was. Depending on where you are you might find a store that carries it. I bought mine in Halifax when we were living out East. Hope you are able to find one.
A caution against NoNo … It just burns the hair from your skin and the smell is horrible …
I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone wear a Peekaru quite like that! Typically baby is facing you and you’d usually wear your baby higher up on your body so their head would be through rather than them just peeking out. I love mine, lets baby stay real warm when we’re out and about!
you guys all laugh at the pic but that silly thing is a cool $80. but can’t put a price on knowing your infant is warm and cozy even if s/he does look a little silly in that particular pic!
How about that Ninja Blender they are advertising, has anybody tried it?
I bought the Graty and I hated it, it was hard to clean and the cheese stuck to the inside. I also bought the microfibre car window cleaner. I can’t remember what it’s called but it’s a plastic handle with a microfibre cover and it claimed to clean your window with just water. Needless to say it didn’t work at all, it was so cheaply made that when I tried to push a little harder it broke right away. For the snuggie I bought a really soft micro fleece one from wal-mart. It wasn’t a real snuggie but it was wonderful when I lived in an older house and found it chilly all the time.
I really want to try to no-no but I’m hesitant to spend the money and it not work. I thought about the side sleeper pro pillow as well but I have an expensive memory foam pillow that is working for me now.
I have the miracle blade knives (great quality and quantity), a Ninja blender (awesome but the smaller “bowl” part won’t attach anymore after 2 weeks so I need to return it and a knock off snuggie “blanket with sleeves” that I love especially for reading because it is so hard to keep my arms warm with a regular blanket when I’m reading and I love to be under a blanket at all times.
I have to defend snuggies they are much better than robes I find the fleecy ones sweaty and they are so short that you can’t comfortably stretch out. I have always wanted a magic bullet and tried the knock off but it was awful and I returned it. On another note the miracle blade knives and Ninja blender blades are so sharp that I managed to slice my finger open the first time I used them and so did my mom when she was up for thanksgiving.
I got sucked into As Seen on TV products in the ’90s with my first ASoTV purchse, a hits of the 60’s cd from Time Life LOL. I should have learned my lesson but i didnt… in subsequent years, I have bought or gotten as gifts:
-Perfect Pancake Maker = mess!!
-Magic Bullet = garbage! couldnt blend anything with it and couldnt grind nuts.
– Revo Styler = took an hr to get my hair detangled from the machine lol
– Turbo Cooker = never took it out of the box.. too expensive!! returned
– some depilatory cream i cant remember the name of? sucked. returned.
– Kymoro body shaper (though I’m SURE it ws called Kimora?? lol) – HORRIBLE!! material felt like a potato sack!! and impossible to get on and off without scraping off a layer of skin!
– Sham WOW – I didnt find it any better than a sponge.
– Miracle blade knives – these i LOVE!!
– Green bags – I like these too.
Even with all of these disappointments, I still find myself drawn to As Seen on TV ads lOl… though my self control is better. The latest fascinations are No No, that magic bowl that doesnt spill, any that magnetic button that you can put on ‘anything’… i’ve read reviews on all of these things and sadly, won’t be purchasing any of them lol.
Love my magic bullet – in fact when we wore it out after 7 years, we bought another one. I also love the shamwow – works like a charm for spills but for us the trick is dampen it first…oh and DON’T put them in the dryer or they loose some effectiveness I find.
Ahhh, alien!!!
I have the miricle blade knives. They are pretty good. However, my “rock n’ chop” needs to be sharpened after about 2.5 years of use. Not sure how to do that since part of it is serrated…
I bought the Body Dome. Actually a pretty good product…if you use it…
Got the Bumpit for a friend as a joke because the Showcase store has them on clearance for $0.99 Sooooo doesn’t work!
Topsy Turvey planter. Got the butterfly one, also on clearance for 99 cents. The flower out the bottom died and its way too heavy.My mom has the tomato one and she repotted the tomatoes because they got too heavy too.
I am very drawn to As Seen On TV products…they do such a good job of getting into the sleep deprived mind! LOL
I got the Magic Bullet years ago and it still works. I used it for making my daughters baby food, for smoothies, for dips… I guess you just have to learn how to use it properly.
Did you know you can buy some of the ASoTV items through Regal? Some aren’t the “official” As Seen on TV, and at better prices. The aluminum wallet and the no spill bowl comes to mind.
Personally, I have had mostly good experiences with the ASoTV products.
Magic Bullet was a Christmas gift for my teen, she loves it for smoothies. She has never complained it couldn’t do anything she wanted it to.
The bra clips (to make the back into an X) – bought for teem and me, we both love them… perfect to hide straps when needed.
Bumpit’s – you need to have thick hair, my teen bought herself some and they look good in her hair (that is also VERY THICK).
Pedi-egg – just bought, used once and I was happy with results!
Smooth Away Hair – you rub this sandy paper on legs to remove hair. It does remove SOME hair, but I really like it to get rid of dead skin, leaves me legs so soft!!!
ShamWow – love them… use them on my two dogs and they dry so much faster. Also good at cleaning spills, hold so much more then you would expect.
Shark Steam Mop – HATED IT, left streaks, still looked dirty and was a PITA… returned it.
Smart Mop – hated it from the first time I tried it, threw it out.
Air Climber – gift, never gets used. will sell at next years garage sale.
Green bags – didn’t see a differance
Aqua globes – work when I remember to fill them.
topsy-turvy tomato thingy – bought but havn’t used yet
slap chopper / graty – hubby like slap chopper, I live the cheese grater
Pet stuffing free toys – LOVE THEM… my dog tears apart toys with stuffing in seconds, these are strong and the dogs both love them!
Pedi Paws – a no go in my house, BUT my dogs HATE having anyone try to do anything with their nails.
Pet zoom trainer – works 85% of the time to get them to stop barking
Snuggies for dogs – I WANT to try these, hubby says no way. My little dogs get cold and love puppy sweaters, I think these might be better.
I have Magic Bullet (like it, but not love it), Tobi (doesn’t work therefore junk), Slap Chop (doesn’t work either, also junk), Snuggie (leaves lint everywhere, super-junk), the blue dryer ball things (noisy, not a fan), Cami Secret (love it! wearing one right now!).
I LOVE my Pajama Jeans. I got them on ebay
We got the magic bullet and have used it for years. Works really good. Tobi is a piece of crap. Snuggies I got from Canadian Tire last year 2 for $10.00 good to keep in the car as part of an emergency kit.
Magic bullet didn’t work very well for us. Depends what it is I guess. Motor burnt out. I also didn’t find the aqua globes to work very well. Smooth away thing, my mom swears it works but I had no luck. Maybe depends on the persons hair? Also that spaghetti thing did not work at all!
I like the pillow pets, although my daughter won’t go near hers as she is scared of it, lol.
Whenever I get down to the Bayfield Mall in Barrie On. my first stop is at the “as seen on tv” store.The best thing about it is being able to check out the items, and there is no shipping and handling fee. Also have never had a problem returning stuff. With a store like that only a 45min drive away I would never again order anything from the tv.
Forgot to say My grand-daughter had a terrible experience with no-no, burnt her face, and she is not a young kid. Followed instructions to the letter and says tell people no-no to no-no. And yes, the eggies do work and they do have a flat side that looks a little strange sitting on the plate.
I purchased some Eggies from EggiesCanada.ca and I love them. They work great but one tip is to make sure you always spray the inside of the eggie system container before you put the egg inside. I made this mistake the first time by not spraying and when the eggs were cooked some of them stuck to the plastic.
I have to say…..if you actually bought and wore the pajama jeans, you’d not have them on your list. Best invention EVER…very comfy and look quite classy. They retain their colour and don’t fade….have a nice flare design on the lower leg…kinda a boot cut. I love them and those I gifted them to love them. I live in Canada and buy them in the US because they are $70 here…though I paid that and felt it was worth it. But you can get them in Walmart US.