OT-Why do the toy manufacturers put those stupid twisty things on their toys?

[LaraK]

OK, does anyone elses fingers ache today? I think I may be crippled for life. I mean, I understand anti-theft devices, but does ever stinkin little tiny tiny piece of every toy have to be strapped down with more security than a skydiver's gear? I bought a box of little princess dolls....I think we paid $5 for 7 dolls....each doll had two sets of twisty things on it....what thief is going to spend that kind of time getting out a doll worth about .80 cents?

Sorry, rant over.

 

[Philadisney]

ugh, I feel your pain. I spent 10 minutes opening a handheld video game for my cousin, between the twistys and nearly slicing myself on the sharp plastic container it came in...not fun.
Barbies are the WORST. Every Barbie I ever had still has those sharp little plastic bits still sticking out of her skull

 

[mom2minniemouse]

Two words: Electric scissors!

 

[mecllap]

Tin snips!!! -- Big Lots has cheap tin snips in the tool section that are very helpful in liberating toys (and other things) from their packaging (the wires, and the hard plastic sealed "clamshells") -- other budget stores probably have them also -- powerful scissor tools.

 

[WAHMto5]

They drive me CRAZY!!! The put soo many things just to keep the toy attached to the dang box!!

 

[flying_babyb]

I know how you feel! then its a race against time to grab them all before the dog Or in my case CAT eats them. Plastic vs cat= BAD

 

[mouseketeer_mom]

Two Christmas's ago, my twins, 2.5 at the time, got a lot of Little People toys. My husband spent literally hours getting everything out of the boxes.

 

[susykt4]

I always thought Fisher Price was the WORST about all those twisty things and tape, etc. Then DS got a monster truck toy that plays music and has buttons to move backward and forward. The thing was SCREWED into the box!!! I had to remove eight long screws AND had to find an appropriately small Phillips screwdriver. Not only is the toy incredibly annoying, but it was practically impossible to remove from the packaging.

Yesterday while I was spending seemingly hours untwisting obscene numbers of those tie things, I was at least thankful that no screwdriver was required!!!

 

[kaysmommie]

Ughhhh! I hate those things. I spent about and hour of time just untwisting yesterday, my fingers hurt. The Barbie Princess Genieve had alot of them and so did the Mickey mouse Clubhouse and Figurines. There must be a better way..

 

[akamom]

I agree! It's rediculous!

 

[Stephres]

Yeah, I got my nails done for Christmas (a little present for me) and now they are ruined, thanks to those twisty things!

 

[Paull117]

During Christmas I carry my leather man around with me. That way I have the screw driver, the wire cutters, and or course the pliers. I used to take this with me going to disney but now they don't let you bring it on as a carry on. I have packed it a couple of times but I worry it is my favorite tool.

Paul

 

[all4fun]

Yup, this subject comes up every year at our house too. I think there's a two fold purpose - marketing (making it look "prettier" in the box) and assets protection. It's a total pain for us consumers though!

We have learned just to cut them. Even a regular pair of scissors will do. If you're worried about ruining them, just pick up a pair at the dollar store. I never thought of looking for tin snips there - will have to keep that in mind for ds's birthday, which is coming up in a few months.

 

[Whosemom]

so that the parents have something to do Christmas morning too. It would just be boring to sit there, sipping hot chocolate, taking an occassional picture, chatting about rememberances of past holidays with extended family.

 

[bedgraynexl]

Oh those things are evil. Plus you are picking them off the floor a week later because they blend into the carpet so well.

At least DS is getting to the point he can get them of himself, unless they are looped back and underneath, then he has a little trouble with them.

DD still needs help

 

[perdidochas]

OK, does anyone elses fingers ache today? I think I may be crippled for life. I mean, I understand anti-theft devices, but does ever stinkin little tiny tiny piece of every toy have to be strapped down with more security than a skydiver's gear? I bought a box of little princess dolls....I think we paid $5 for 7 dolls....each doll had two sets of twisty things on it....what thief is going to spend that kind of time getting out a doll worth about .80 cents?

Sorry, rant over.

Well, that is the point. A thief isn't going to spend the time to take the twisties off. That said, I agree with you that they are annoying. I think a better answer would be boxes that don't require those.

 

[norcalmouse]

Well, these things at least have a notice in the bottom suggesting
cutting the wires or using a screwdriver to untwist them. But really
15 minutes each to get the things unpacked is crazy. and then
of course I realized I forgot to get the 11 batteries that each one needs!

 

[SaraMc]

DS got a Fisherprice singing animal train. It took 25 minutes to get it out of the box, not to mention that every car was wired down but so was every animal in it.
My BIL was put incharge of getting it out of the box and half way through getting it out, he went and got a beer and annouced to us all that it was never coming out of the box.

 

[LaraK]

DS got a Fisherprice singing animal train. It took 25 minutes to get it out of the box, not to mention that every car was wired down but so was every animal in it.
My BIL was put incharge of getting it out of the box and half way through getting it out, he went and got a beer and annouced to us all that it was never coming out of the box.

That's really funny....last year Santa got tons of Geo Trax and Little People...even snipping the things off we didn't get to bed until 3. This year my poor arthritic fingers still hurt two days later....guess I should have had kids while I was still young enough to get their toys out of the packaging (and get off the floor, but that's another topic)

 

[TinkerbellMama]

OK, does anyone elses fingers ache today? I think I may be crippled for life. I mean, I understand anti-theft devices, but does ever stinkin little tiny tiny piece of every toy have to be strapped down with more security than a skydiver's gear? I bought a box of little princess dolls....I think we paid $5 for 7 dolls....each doll had two sets of twisty things on it....what thief is going to spend that kind of time getting out a doll worth about .80 cents?

Sorry, rant over.

I am right there with you. My son received at least 20 toys with this evil crap involved, and that is no exaggeration. Ugh!