Toy packaging

[Rogue II]

Dear Hasbro,

I have two daughters (1-1/2 and 5 years old), and Santa was good to them this year. In fact, Santa brought a bunch of Hasbro products, mostly Fisher Price Little People and Little Pet Shop. Now on Christmas morning, the girls opened their presents and of course, wanted to play with them right away. The only problem with this was that it took me 5-10 minutes to get the dang things out of the package because of tape, cardboard, plastic, rubber bands, and twist ties. Is all of that really necessary? I was afraid I was going to decapitate one of the Little Pets. And it's not just me. I was on a hockey message board today, and a couple guys said they had the same problems. In fact, the "The Biggest, Littlest Pet Shop House" was mentioned by name. It was a strange transition from Olle Jokinen being traded to Little Pets, but he complained about it just the same.

Thanks

[Kidhuman]

I agree, this is too much. My kids also got alot of toys and the boy especially got losts of Star Wars toys. It took me forever to get the dang things out of the package. I am so glad that I am a carded and MIB collector.

[El Chuxter]

This has been a constant complaint for a few years, and it seems to get worse instead of better. :rolleyes:

[figrin bran]

All of you MOC/MIB collectors really need more practice at opening up packages :p

[jedi master sal]

Just think of the money you could save on this Hasbro. How
s about one less twist tie per figure and, maybe 2 or 3 less for bigger boxes? Pluss, take away some of the tape. It's just NOT neccessary. Heck, you make that slight adjustment and you've got enough money for serveral tools and dies for new action figures.

Just a thought.

[Rogue II]

All of you MOC/MIB collectors really need more practice at opening up packages :p

I'm not a MOC/MIB collector. I wasn't even really talking about Star Wars. But now that you mention it, I had a heck of a time getting the Snowspeeder out of the package. The Shuttle from Target came out of the box with no problem, so maybe it's a window box thing. We bought some Winnie The Pooh Mega-blocks for our youngest daughter. That one was probably the worst of the bunch. Each of the figures and probably 1/3 of the pieces had wire going through or around them. It may be a Matel product, but Barbie was wired in pretty good also. Anyway, Round 2 is tonight. My parents are coming into town, and from the sounds of it, my mother bought everything on the kids' wishlist. :rolleyes: spoiled brats

[bigbarada]

I believe all the extra packaging, rubber bands, and twist ties are there to deter shoplifters. If a kid is trying to steal an action figure and has to spend a few extra minutes just trying to noisily rip it out of the package, then it's more likely that they will attract someone's attention and get caught.

From that perspective it makes perfect sense..... as annoying as it is.

[Rogue II]

So you're telling me that toys for kids under 5 years old like Fisher Price's Little People and Mega-Blocks are targets for young shoplifters?

[bigbarada]

I would guess that all toys would be targets for shoplifters.

[Jargo]

there's also the fact that MIB collectors want things presented nicely in the packaging so having all the ties and tape and wotnot means the product should never slip or become dislodged. forever perfectly displayed.

personally it drives me nuts but the worst offense is the clear rubber bands you don't always see and as you're pulling on a toy to release it the rubber band is slicing into the toy. a swiss army knife is very habndy to have around when tackling packaging. knife through the bands and tape and snip the wire. cuts the time factor down by minutes.

[Kidhuman]

there's also the fact that MIB collectors want things presented nicely in the packaging so having all the ties and tape and wotnot means the product should never slip or become dislodged. forever perfectly displayed.

personally it drives me nuts but the worst offense is the clear rubber bands you don't always see and as you're pulling on a toy to release it the rubber band is slicing into the toy. a swiss army knife is very handy to have around when tackling packaging. knife through the bands and tape and snip the wire. cuts the time factor down by minutes.

I can understand your point with a window box, but sealed box doesnt call for this. Even a window box doesnt. They can use one long twistie and run it all over so you just loosen the one.






I believe all the extra packaging, rubber bands, and twist ties are there to deter shoplifters. If a kid is trying to steal an action figure and has to spend a few extra minutes just trying to noisily rip it out of the package, then it's more likely that they will attract someone's attention and get caught.

From that perspective it makes perfect sense..... as annoying as it is.

That is part of the issue. IT does deter shoplifters from opening the package, but if they want it bad enough, they will take the whole freakin box. I knew a guy that stole the Lego Falcon but putting it down his pants and wcovering it with his shirt and jacket. No twisties there stopped him.

[El Chuxter]

"Is that a Lego Millennium Falcon in your pants, or are you just happy to see me?"

[bigbarada]

That is part of the issue. IT does deter shoplifters from opening the package, but if they want it bad enough, they will take the whole freakin box. I knew a guy that stole the Lego Falcon but putting it down his pants and wcovering it with his shirt and jacket. No twisties there stopped him.

I guess it has to do with odds. In other words, the longer it takes for them to remove the items from the package the better the odds that they will get caught. And if they are forced to take the entire item, package and all, then it makes it tougher for them to conceal because of the increased size, thus again the odds are better that they will get caught.

You'll never be able to stop all shoplifters, since you will always have the incredibly bold/stupid person who tries to shove a LEGO Millenium Falcon down their pants. :stupid: However, you can lower the number of casual or first-time shoplifters.

It's estimated that retailers in America lose $25 million per day to shoplifters, so I can imagine that manufacturers are doing everything they can to make products more shoplifter-proof. I'm not sure how effective the new packaging really is in reducing those numbers, but I'm sure it helps give the retailers piece of mind if nothing else.

[Kidhuman]

TRust me BigB, I worked Loss Prevention for years in Caldors(a K-mart type store, discount retail and Home Depot). IT is easier to take the whole package then bust it open and go for the gizzards.

[bigbarada]

TRust me BigB, I worked Loss Prevention for years in Caldors(a K-mart type store, discount retail and Home Depot). IT is easier to take the whole package then bust it open and go for the gizzards.

I guess I was thinking about when used to swipe GI Joes and the little Transformers from our local grocery store and K-Mart (until I was caught and never did it again). It was so easy just to pop open the bottom of the package and slide the figure out.

Now when I open the 4" figures, I can't imagine how much more work it would have taken me, when I was 12, to shoplift these. I would never have had the guts to try to steal the entire card, so this new packaging method would surely have deterred me back in those days.

Fortunately, those days are behind me now.

[Jargo]

do stores not put those security stickers inside boxed items? The ones that trigger an alarm as you walk through the upright barriers before exiting a store? they're just square stickers about the size of a nicotine patch with circuitry on the underside. I've seen carded figures with those slapped on too. Seems to deter would be shoplifters coz the damn things are impossible to get off with the adhesive being so strong.
I would have thought most larger stores would use them. and if retail loses that amount of money every day then fitting the security system in would be a small outlay compared to their losses annually.

[Kidhuman]

do stores not put those security stickers inside boxed items? The ones that trigger an alarm as you walk through the upright barriers before exiting a store? they're just square stickers about the size of a nicotine patch with circuitry on the underside. I've seen carded figures with those slapped on too. Seems to deter would be shoplifters coz the damn things are impossible to get off with the adhesive being so strong.
I would have thought most larger stores would use them. and if retail loses that amount of money every day then fitting the security system in would be a small outlay compared to their losses annually.


The correct term for the sticker is E.A.S. tag(Electronic Article Surveillance) and no, not all products have them, usually the high end priced stuff. When it comes to toys, usually the ones about 50 dollars and up have em, but not Lego for some reason. I usually find them in DVD's and CD's. I have never seen carded figures with them in it. Might be different in the UK, but in the US, they arent in them.

Retail does use alot of money in shrink(term for dollars lost per inventroy cycle). It is usually matched up against how much merchandise is sold through out the period of time between inventories(some are 6 months, some 1 year). A good store likes to be around 2-3% shrink(2-3 cents lost per dollar sold). It doesnt seem that bad, but alot of it is also caused by clerical errors in receiving and paperwork.

By putting hte EAS tags in all ,merchandise, it causes an increase in prices because it is somehting else the company(Hasbro, Mattel etc.) has to pay for and eventually the increase will trickle down to the consumer.

Basically, stores are willing to give a certain percentage to theft, whether it is internal(employees) or external(shoplifters). It is a given that loss will happen, it is up to the staff of the store and the Loss Prevention(sometimes Asset Protection) departments to maintain some control over theft.

[JediTricks]

Clearbands and twistie-ties are the most annoying because they warp the toys and can injure the person trying to get the toy out (the clearbands fling hard when they break, and the twisties can be sharp). I can understand the need for 1 twistie to hold down a figure to keep him in the tray during shipping, but a half dozen to hold down a 4" figure that has no separate parts???

As for the blister packs, I'm getting sick of Hasbro's packaging requiring heavy savaging just to get the tray out of the bubble. Taped flaps, bubbles welded inside-out, bubbles welded at funny angles, and bubbles welded in between the halves of the cardboard are all frustrating as hell, then you go and mix in 2 or 3 of those on a single card no less! I tried to casually open a Star Wars figure last month rather than use a knife and ended up shredding that card, and the poor poor Titanium Series 3" vehicles' packaging...

[Rogue II]

From the article on the front page (http://www.sirstevesguide.com/index.php?categoryid=13&p2_articleid=756):


Another proposal, by a shareholder, would require the toy company's board of directors to publish a sustainability report, which would include Hasbro's policies on social, environmental and economic sustainability and the company's long-term sustainability plans. The board opposes the proposal, saying the company already is committed to producing environmentally responsible products and has reduced its use of twist ties and adhesive tape in its packaging and shipping cartons.

Really? My kids birthdays are in July and August. We'll see how many twist ties there are on all the Fisher Price and Little Pets. Granted, I got the TAC TIE Fighter, and there wasn't a single twist tie to be found, but it also didn't have a window.

[El Chuxter]

It took me well over an hour to free Ultra Magnus and Skywarp from their Target-exclusive twist tie prisons. I'm not sure why so many are necessary when the trays are already molded to their shapes. :confused:

And that was, what, six weeks or two months ago.

[Jargo]

I've taken to buying my figs loose on ebay. for the most part. Can't be bothered with the hassle of the packaging anymore.

[Mad Slanted Powers]

I opened the K-Mart exclusive Cantina sets a while back. The clear bands had caused some of the barstools to be crooked. Looking at online pictures at RS, they seemed to have had the same problem. I don't think it was made that way, because the original Wal-Mart exclusive versions were just fine.

Some of the figures can be hard to get out of the package due to a clear band. I often don't notice it at first, because figures can sometimes be difficult to pry out, and the bands are hard to see. Sometimes they are useful when they have them securing a gun to a figure's hand. I often leave it that way since some figures have trouble holding their gun, lightsaber or other accessory.

[JediTricks]

Yeah, Hasbro's gone insane with clear bands and twisties, though I've noticed the twisties are not found in the basic figs' packaging anymore, instead it's either the tray doing the work (yay) or the clearbands (booo!!!).

[JEDIpartner]

All of you MOC/MIB collectors really need more practice at opening up packages :p

Ditto. It takes me no time at all to get things out of the packaging! Amateurs... all of you! LOL

[Jargo]

pair of snub nosed pliers for the metal twist ties. a scalpel for the rubber bands. rip the card off the back. rip the two halves of the blister apart. use the scalpel to slice through tape. if need be use the scalpel to slice through the blister back half if the figure is inserted part way through. destroy the hell out of the packaging and trash it. enjoy the toy.

that's my new motto 'ENJOY THE TOY!'

[pbarnard]

pair of snub nosed pliers for the metal twist ties. a scalpel for the rubber bands. rip the card off the back. rip the two halves of the blister apart. use the scalpel to slice through tape. if need be use the scalpel to slice through the blister back half if the figure is inserted part way through. destroy the hell out of the packaging and trash it. enjoy the toy.

that's my new motto 'ENJOY THE TOY!'

I think a determined 5 year old doesn't need that much...