Wrap Rage: indestructible packaging, endless twisties turn nursery into war zone

Sop stealing, and then the packages don't have to be so open-proof.

Girl, you are so damn right. You said it all. Sometimes several adults are trying to open these things. It's just pandemonium. You need a jack hammer and a chain saw to open some of this stuff and then the endless untwisting of the ties (although I've recycled them on numerous occasions)I have a girl. We have the Barbie package wars on a regular so I know you understand my pain and I'm not just talking about from the lacerations. It's getting so I don't want to buy anything I see in that industrial/military strength plastic. If only they were this cautious with our food products or medication.

And what about the waste? The cost? the ENVIRONMENT?

What needs to happen is a nice class action LAWSUITE by the ones injured while trying to open these assine packages. I can't believe in this sue happy world someone has not done this.

I can feel for the mfg. ( NOT ) trying to curb shoplifting... now they just take the whole package... but there has to be a better way.

my .02

Rick

Maybe we would be less inclined to rant and rave about the packaging if we truely understand WHY they are packed the way they are...... a failing of society to teach children ( who later become adults) that it is not right to steal. Companies have been backed into a corner where they have to make packaging indestructible to deter theft. Futher more, this packaging it added on to the price of what we buy. Maybe we should spend more time teaching our own not to steal and less time complaining on the internet. Companies will not stop packaging in such manners because we as a society have no manners to begin with.

Has Jo Ann, Packaging Diva, lost her mind - or does she work for a packaging company? Safety? Security? Neither come close to explaining our collective experience with toy packaging. I nearly lost my little finger trying to get a Princess Barbie doll out of her "secure" packaging one Chritmas. After 20 minutes of cutting, twisting and exasperated pulling, her grandfather finally tore away the last of the lethal plastic to release a slightly disheveled Princess Barbie with knife cuts on the arms and legs - and handed her to our five year old granddaughter who by this time had completely lost interest. Is anybody listening - JO Ann?

There is a simple solution: get yourself (and your mother and anyone over the age of 8) one of those new WrapRager™ gadgets--It is fabulous for opening everything from cereal boxes to shrink wrapped bottles to clamshells and it's not metal so it can't cut clothes or fingers. Sigh...made my life a breeze!

DON'T BUY IT!!
It's simple! If you hate that packaging, don't buy it. One season of sales in the dumper, and toy manufacturers will beg consumers to buy their stuff. They'll jam toys in brown paper bags if that will help sell them. Look, if consumers reject the packaging, manufacturers WILL change it. It all about sales, people, the bottom line. Increased sales is what prompted manufacturers to use the current packaging (display) systems. You CAN use manufacturers' greed to your advantage IF you know how...
And the "know how" is your purchace. Put your money where your mouth is. If you don't like something, don't buy it.

Well, these are all very good points but I think that the insurance industry is concerned more with child safety than parent safety, essentially making products impossible to open without an adult being present. It's all about risk reduction. If anyone is to blame, it's the consumer for sueing everyone for everything that goes wrong in this country.

This is my #1 pet peeve. I bought it (whatever "it" is), It's mine. I want to use it, but I still can't get into it. It's bad enough the instructions are usually lost to the fight of getting the package open, but unfortunately the product can be damamged also, not to mention the number of bandages I have used on cuts from the plastic when it bites back. My favorite "incident"... I needed a box cutter to open some packages I sent ahead to my hotel while on business travel. I bought one, at the corner store, but still had to find someone with a knife to borrow to open my box cutter to open my packages. Arrggghhh!!!!!!

Did you ever have problems opening crackers or MEAT/CHEESE STICKS while driving down the highway. Forget it. One cannot even open it while sitting in the car still. Now, I try NOT to buy those while I am in my car. Knives are not allow to sit in the car. Toys, are just as worse, I agreed with the parent or parents. Have you ever try to open up toys that the cats or dogs will use, that r wrap up in plastic? wE ARE LIVING IN A WORLD TODAY OF PLASTIC AND TIES. jUST THANK GOODNESS THAT OUR CARS OR TRUCKS DON'T COME WRAPPED UP. Merry Christmas 'n' Happy Holidays to all and gnite.
a senior parent. anna

I just blogged about this very topic and then did a search to see if I was alone. Thank goodness I'm not. Lots of people are having the same problem prying their children's toys loose from the indestructible packaging.It's awful!