Comments on: Unitasker Wednesday: Hot Potato

By: Robin

Robin — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 20:45:19 +0000

I can see why this looks like a unitasker on the surface, but it seems pretty practical to me. You eliminate the need to play music to drop a hacky sack/whatever so that you can easily push your kids outside to play (like we always did). And a real hot potato? I think people with little kids are probably better off skipping that whole aspect of the game.

By: Vanessa

Vanessa — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 13:23:32 +0000

I get what people are saying that this isn’t the best unitasker they’ve posted, but you can’t really compare it to Monopoly. You can’t (easily) make your own version of Monopoly to play. It has many different pieces, cards, money, the actual board itself, etc. Hot Potato really only needs one thing, and everyone has it in their house, be it a sock, or potato, or ball. Yes, some people will like this toy. Erin has said MANY times that some people will want, or even need, the unitaskers she posts- even she has some!

So stop analyzing every unitasker to make sure it passes your ‘Unitasker Test,’ and just enjoy it.

By: Linda

Linda — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 07:03:37 +0000

It’d say it’s handy for when you’re somewhere where you can’t play any music.. (since you’re out when the music stops, not when the potato is dropped) and perhaps you could double its function for entertainment (like a radio?) *LOL* J/K

I liked your last unitasker though.. the itzbeen.. that seriously made me laugh. How have people been coping for the last six thousand years without one?

By: brittany

brittany — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 06:47:56 +0000

My primary school had these for us. I am pretty stunned that this has really stood the test of time to still be for sale.

By: Beth Frede

Beth Frede — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 00:56:01 +0000

Do batteries make it more of a toy?
My kids are Lego people…. they would probably have fun tossing around a battery-less potato!

By: Jim

Jim — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 22:35:41 +0000

Holy crap, I didn’t see Claire mention Monopoly before me. LOL.

By: Jim

Jim — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 22:33:32 +0000

Hot Potato has nothing to do with dropping the potato. It has to do with whoever’s caught with the potato when the music runs out (in this version). In the original, it probably had to do with the potato cooling down enough to not have to throw it.

This is crap for a Unitasker. Is Monopoly a Unitasker as well? You can only play ONE GAME with it.

By: Tabatha

Tabatha — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 20:58:19 +0000

i think if there is a toy that you have to buy to play a game or whatever, and there is a perfectly good way to play that same game without actually buying something than it qualifies as a unitasker. or at least a waste of money.

By: Tabatha

Tabatha — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 20:56:33 +0000

a base ball bat isn’t a unitasker though, it can also serve a weapon if you have an intruder.

By: Scott

Scott — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 17:05:05 +0000

I guess we shouldn’t buy a baseball bat either, since we all know the way to play is to grab an old broom handle…

I guess you did have to come up with something this week though. Not my favorite though.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 16:29:11 +0000

haha, this toy was fun for a while but I think we eventually just went outside and pretended to be carebears or my little ponies.

By: Cate

Cate — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 15:00:51 +0000

I think you’re stretching on this one. It’s a toy, and essentially aren’t most toys unitaskers in their own way? I think too that parents these days are much more concerned about their childrens safety (oh, those fun days, riding in the front seat, unbuckled while by mom whippped her cigarette holding hand across my chest to keep me from flying thru the windshield), and don’t really want little Jimmy to scald the palms of his hands.

By: wch

wch — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 13:52:07 +0000

Google “cosmic catch” for a much better toy. Each player wears a tag on their hand, and the ball tells you who to pass next to, and judges who wins and loses each point. Fantastic for those times when time expires mid-toss. It doesn’t play music, but has a ticking-time-bomb sound that increases just before a buzzer sound.

My boys love it; parents will too (I could see this becoming a drinking game pretty quick…)

By: Clare K. R. Miller

Clare K. R. Miller — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 03:09:27 +0000

I’m not sure toys deserve the Unitasker treatment! Heck, you can’t use a Monopoly board for anything other than playing Monopoly, can you?

Also, I always thought this game was played with a ball or a water balloon, not an actual potato.

By: Jenny

Jenny — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 02:34:30 +0000

I had one of these when I was a kid. I loved it. I vaguely remember there being cards that spelled out HOT which ment the came lasted longer.