The Ekka 2020 has been cancelled – but showbags are still available!
It is just the third time in the Ekka’s 143-year history that the show has been cancelled. It was previously cancelled in 1919 due to the Spanish Flu epidemic and in 1942 when the grounds were used as a World War II staging depot. The Ekka looks forward to bringing the community together once again in 2021.
Missing your showbags? Find out where to buy showbags online here.
Ekka Showbags 2019
We’ve spent hours pouring over all the Ekka Showbags (they used to be called ‘Sample Bags’) and have put together a guide to help you determine how to get the biggest bang for your EKKA buck, regardless of your child’s individual interests.
Let’s be honest, kids all over Brisbane can be divided into two categories, simply send them off to the Ekka Showbags Pavillion without a plan and they will either:
(a) beg you to buy the first show bag that slightly appeals to them. If your child falls into this category and you haven’t planned ahead, please make sure you walk them out the same entrance and aisles you used to come in, to avoid buyer’s remorse.
(b) walk the aisles 50 times each, and end up in a never ending loop of indecisiveness.
In an effort to avoid both of the above, read our Ekka Showbags Guide for 2019 to determine what “category” of showbag you’d like them to buy and steer them in the right direction!
2019 Ekka Showbags Guide Overview
We believe that kids Ekka showbags fall into one (or sometimes two) of the following categories. The first decision to be made is which type of show bag you’d like your child to “invest” in, prior to even starting the selection process.
There are no wrong decisions to be made as far as categories go, only wrong showbag choices within the categories i.e. when looking at value for money. Our guide is to help to steer you towards the best choices within each of the following categories, we’ll explain each of them below.
- The Cheap Showbags
- The Food Showbags
- Branded Useful Showbags
- Costume Showbags
- Cheap Toy Showbags
Secondly, after selecting your showbag choices, the next thing to look at is whether there are any ride vouchers inside. If there are, your next decision is whether you purchase your showbags at the start of the day (and carry them around or put them in a locker), or buy them towards the end of the day (with the constant worry of “what if they sell out”).
Finally, if you’re heading to the fireworks and plan on arriving early in order to get a great seat, you’ll need to decide whether it’s worth while taking some of the contents along with you in order to assist with the fireworks wait time (perhaps this won’t be such a big issue this year with the earlier / family friendly fireworks!
The Cheap EKKA Showbags
The cheap EKKA showbags are the ones that are available for under $5. Within this category, you’re either looking at the cheapest of the cheap, which is the $2 Blue Bertie Beetle Showbag….
…or a $4 – $5 showbag that has the biggest quantity of items in it (and perhaps a novelty item), so the kids think they are getting a fantastic deal.
Our picks for the under $5 showbags which have a good quantity of items in it are shown below. Note, we’ve included these based on the lollies being a mainstream brand name and the number of items in the showbags, but we’ve excluded the bags that are likely to blow your head off (the warhead style bags… as they are not for everyone :).
- Double Dip – $5 – has around 13 lolly items and an inflatable mesh ball.
- Fizzer Showbag – $5 – around 30 lolly items plus a blow up hammer.
- Cadbury Furry Friends– $5 – 9 small chocolate bars and a pack of playing cards
- Trolli – $5 – Lots of gummy lollies and a puzzle cube
Don’t forget to check for multi-buy offers – some of these cheap food showbags are 3 for $12!
We thought the following show bags deserved a special mention as they were under $10 and under, but NOT food showbags!
- Pirates Showbag – $10 – Includes 10 pirate themed dress-up items
- Super Hero Comic Bags – $10 – Your choice of 2 comic book packs. Buy both for an extra bonus!
- Tooth Fairy Door Set – $5 – The little things you need for when the Tooth Fairy calls
- Nickelodeon Prank – $10 – All those gross and yucky things that kids seem to find entertaining.
One final thing to note, when you arrive at the Showbag Pavilion and head to the “cheap food show bag section”, you’ll always find that there are specials e.g. 3 for $12, something along those lines. If you have multiple children, this is usually a fantastic way to save some money (don’t worry if the contents aren’t equal, you can always dive your hand in when they are on a ride and quickly redistribute the contents).
The Food Showbags
- Cadbury Family Deal Showbag – $20 – 40 chocolate bars plus your choice of novelty
- New Zealand Favourites – $22 – Something for the whole family to share: “chups”, chocolate, biscuits and a soft drink
- The Natural Confectionary Co. – $10 – four full-size bags of lollies to keep the kids quiet for a little while
- Nestle Family Deal – $20 – SIX of the most popular small lolly showbags in one. Extra value!
The Branded Useful Showbags
A lot of the branded showbags actually contain “useful” items, which is a great thing for you, but can often leave the kids disappointed (if they haven’t really looked into what’s inside). I remember buying the Hot Wheels showbag one year for my 4 year old twins (they chose it BTW), but when we got home, it was full of novelty items… they thought they would be getting actual Hot Wheels cars!
Basically, a lot of these showbags contain a few of the following items and sell for around $25:
- backpacks
- caps
- cups
- key rings
- t-shirts.
In the scheme of things, the contents can actually be quite useful (and pretty good value for money!) and the kids will get a lot of use out of the contents in the future. Just make sure the kids realise they aren’t full of toys!
There are HEAPS of these types of bags, here are a few of our favourites, though these are probably more suited to older kids:
- Spiderman Showbag – $15 – The T-shirt, cap and poster, the contents will hang around for a long time.
- Ghostbusters Showbag – $26 – T-shirt, cap, drink bottle
- Black Panther Showbag – $26 – Backpack, flag, socks, hat and novelties
- Adventure Time – $26 – Reversible backpack, pillow, cooler bag and novelties
- Junior Sports Bag – $26 – A selection of sports balls in a bag with a pump
- NRL Brisbane Broncos – $26 – Backpack, football, wallet and more
- State of Origin – $26 – QLD or NSW themed with backpack, football, drink bottle and more!
- Paw Patrol Team – $28
- Paw Patrol Skye– $28
- Paw Patrol Skye 19– $28
- Where’s Wally – $26 – Backpack, beanie, mug and novelties
- Jojo Siwa Bag – $28 – with a backpack, stationery, lipgloss and more!
- Peppa Pig – $28 – Backpack, skirt, hat, tea set and more
- LOL Surprise! – $28 – Overnight bag, drink bottle and accessories
- Minnie Mouse – $26 – Backpack, slippers, skirt and headband
- Despicable Me 3 – $10 – Bubble gun, ball, inflatable hammer and choice of soft toy
- Frozen Elsa Bag – $28 – Earmuffs, fur cape and novelities
- Harry Potter Charms – $28 – Duffle bag, stationery and novelties
- Toy Story 4 – $28 – Novelties plus choose TWO plush toys!
- Nella The Princess Knight – $26 – Packed full of accessories and novelties
- Disney Princess – $28 – Bags, stationery and accessories
- Dora The Explorer -$26 – Backpack, activity set, tea set and novelties
- Emma Wiggle – $26 – Accessories and stationery
- The Wiggles – $28 – Musical instruments, stage curtain and carry bag
- Thomas The Tank Engine – $26 – Backpack, placemat, bath toys and more!
- PJ Masks – $28 – Backpack, hat, umbrella and novelties
- Dr Seuss – $20 – It’s always handy to have a Cat in the Hat hat for when Book Week comes around!
Other brand show bags include:
- Five Nights At Freddy’s – $26 – The main items being a plush toy and a mini basketball
- Hot Wheels – $28 – With toy cars, cooler bag, pencil case, novelties and more
- How To Train Your Dragon – $28 – Two soft toys, tattoos and projector torch
- Nerf Showbag – $26 – Choice of two guns plus a hat, water bottle, key ring and target
- Barbie Dreamtopia – $26 – Umbrella, skirt, bag and accessories
- My Little Pony Bag – $28 – metalic backpack, stamper set, lockable diary and soft toy
- Hatchimals – $28 – Backpack, collectibles, pencil case and novelties (another style available too!)
- Pokemon – $28 – One of two different Pokemon showbags available
The Costume Showbags
The EKKA is conveniently scheduled only a few weeks before book week… so plan accordingly!
- Batman Showbag – $25 – Batman costume plus foam dart gun and projector torch
- Spiderman Bag – $25 – Mask, gloves, role play vest, web spinner, projector torch, rocket launcher and disc shooter
- Wonder Woman Bag – $25 – Costume and shield
- Avengers Showbag – $25 – Novelties plus choose Captain America, Ironman or Thor dress up costume
- Fairy Girls Showbag – $20 – A cute dress up, plus umbrella and toys
- S.W.A.T Jnr Showbag – $25 – Helmet, vest and equipment
- Karate Ninja Delux Bag – $25 – mask, vest and weapons
- Ladybug Showbag – $20 – Skirt, wings, headband, umbrella and novelties
- Police Action Squad – $25 – Helmet, weapons and accessories
- Army Jnr Bag – $25 – Army vest, helmet, machine gun with sound and field equipment
Other costume showbags include:
- A lot of the “Mega” brand showbags, including: Mega Cop, Mega Builders, Mega Fairy, Mega Doctors, Mega Nurse, Mega Fireman, Mega Pirate, Mega Princess, Mega Swat and other Mega bags – (generally $25 – 28)
The Cheap Toy Showbags
These are the showbags that will last 5 minutes, full of plastic and items will be lost pretty quickly. Don’t expect much from them, but they will offer lots of entertainment for a very short time. Whilst they are full of cheap toys, it’s not to say you shouldn’t buy them, some of them are jammed packed with so many novelty items they can be handy to pull out one bit at a time on a rainy day… then the item will likely be binned pretty soon after the first use!
Our picks are below!
- Bag of Bubbles – $15 – seriously, bubbles never get boring, buy it and pack some away for another day.
- Building Bricks – $25 – comes with FIVE sets of “building bricks” (which are basically a cheap version of Lego AND it IS compatible with Lego). We bought this one year for the kids, they really enjoyed building them, then I threw them out as I was sick of the pieces getting confused with the real Lego (they were a little firmer and the kids couldn’t easily pull them back apart). Regardless, I’d do it again, 5 fantastic rainy day activities right here (for only $5 each)!
- Gag Big Bag – $15 – Chock full of little games, toys and tricks
- Dinosaur Rules – $25 – Dinosaur toys, hat, watch and choice of a large dinosaur toy
Then, of course, there are all the slime bags…
- Slime Time – $12
- Slime Zone – $10
- Unicorn Slime – $20
- Nickelodion Slime – $15
And Squishy bags
- Squishy Squashy – $15
- Squishy Squashy 2 – $15
- Love To Squish – $15
- Love To Squish 2 – $15
- Fantasy Squishies – $20
Ekka Showbag Guide 2019
I’ll be honest, this started off as a top 10 showbag list but may have got a little out of control. But there’s no “top 10” when it comes to showbags; it’s about choosing a showbag “type” and matching it to your child’s interest… then sticking to a budget!
Bring on the EKKA and all the EKKA Showbags!
To see the whole HUGE range of Ekka showbags for kids and adults, head to www.ekka.com.au/showbags
Very disappointed with Women’s Weekly and Better Homes and Gardens showbags. Neither had the magazine advertised. Other magazines substituted not wanted. Should have been available on 13th August surely. 😡👎
Can i have a slime showbag please
can you buy these online
Can I have a slime and Hubba bubba Showbag
Yes!! 😉