The hardest part was finding a toy for my nephew that didn't take batteries. I wanted the stacking rings and it took me almost a week to find but he loves it.

Even the stacking rings take batteries now. My daughter had a set that played music and lit up as each ring (star, actually) was added to the stack. I certainly appreciate your dilemma -- my daughter got not one but two "learning systems" for Christmas this year. They are proto-computers, really, put in a cartridge and a book, and you can touch words to hear them read aloud or play little "find the red square" games. She seems to like them, but the little cartridges are about 1" x 2", and I know they will be lost by Valentine's Day. Thankfully, her most appreciated gifts were a humble changing table and new bottles for her dolls.