Scott.Buffington.me

My hands and fingers are still healing from the countless plastic and cardboard cuts, mainly from Fisher Price toys. I have to say that the twist tie market must be the most lucrative business in existence. Invest in the companies that make twist ties now.

Would someone please explain to be what is up with the insane amount of plastic, cardboard and for the love of God twist ties on toys, particularly Fisher Price toys. As a parent, the primary parent who ends up unpacking this stuff, it really turns me off toward the the companies that do this. I actually unpack most of the toys for my kids prior to Christmas and the reason is because of the packaging. What kid wants to wait 15 minutes for their toys to be unpackaged?

I cannot even tell you how many twist ties and layers of plastic concealed some of the items. Of particular confusion was the apparent bondage fetish that Fisher Price seemed to display with their packaging of some baby dolls. You read that correctly, they not only binded the dolls inside the packaging but also binded the ankles and wrists of the doll together. Um... Why?

For the record, the Hess Truck was probably one of the most sensibly packaged toys. Although some might point out that they could replace the styrofoam with cardboard, the toy is easily unpackaged and repackaged. Most toys you could never do this with, and considering the vast majority of the Hess trucks go to collectors, the packaging is likely saved.

I saw a news report on the excess garbage after Christmas, the overpackaging of toys is a big reason for this, not so much wrapping paper.