More knitting

Today I blogged a couple more knitted pieces onto Men Who Knit. Rather than duplicate the content here, I'll just put up the pictures and a link or two.

An unusual new year's post

So this is going to seem a bit random. I'll start by saying that I sort of have a vested interest in this post. Granted, the pension check I get from Hasbro really doesn't amount to a whole lot each month, but in the name of full disclosure, I did work for them and continue to receive money from them each month.

That said, I was never involved in the production of the toys. I worked for the hobby gaming division, Wizards of the Coast, in a business support role. Hardly a marketing, insider or really anything that would amount to much at all in the grand scheme of things.

This afternoon though, I discovered something really incredible about something they are doing with their Littlest Pet Shop (LPS) line of toys.

My girls are really into the figures and when they got their gift cards to Target from their grandmother, they hounded me to take them shopping. After dragging them beyond the entry way and the dollar value area just immediately inside the store, we made our way back to the toy department.

At this time all the LPS stuff was on sale, so several of my daughters purchased some of the packages and sets. The youngest got one of the boxed sets and was excited about it when we got home, so immediately set about opening it up.

In the current tradition of just about everything, the box was filled with the toys presented against a cardboard and plastic insert. Normally I've found things taped and wire tied into this packaging and so wasn't too surprised when she asked me for help getting everything out.

I was a bit surprised when I found that the wire wraps holding the figures and playset in place were bright pink. Now pink is my favorite color, so I thought it was quite clever to use it in packaging a set designed for little girls. Had it been any other color, I would have dismissed it out of hand, but I set these aside thinking I could easily reuse them.

Fast forward to today. I'm sitting in the living room picking up some of the scattered bits of packaging that seem to keep appearing from nowhere. I know for sure that over the past week, I have had this living room spotless at least 3 times, yet there still seems to be bits of packaging, wrapping paper and other stuff all over the floor. Either the children kept bits back to annoy me, or somehow the stuff is creeping out of the dumpsters and sliding beneath the door back into my home.

Anyway, I find one of the pink ties. I notice as I pick it up, it seems to be wrapped in paper, rather than being a single plastic piece. So I start to peel back the paper layer.

What I uncovered was another layer of paper, which I also proceeded to remove. I did this 2 more times and was left with 4 pieces of pink paper and absolutely NO wire inside. I was amazed!

Whether they made the move to using twisted paper as a cost savings or a greener manufacturing process, I don't know. What I do know is that I'm very impressed. It strikes me as a wonderful way of cutting down on the hassle in recycling and also the annoyance of having another bit of wire to deal with.

When I was removing it from the package, I had no idea it wasn't a wire tie, it had the same structure and feel. Maybe only a bit less rigid. It was very cool and something that I thought worth sharing. It may just be me, but I'm impressed when someone challenges the norm and goes their own way. Coming up with a twisted paper tie to replace the usual wire tie really catches my attention.

I know, sort of goofy that I'd get all excited over the packaging of my daughter's toy, but that's just the way I am. I certainly think it's blog worthy and totally worthy of being my first post of 2011.

Here's hoping everyone else can find a new way to innovate and get excited. Have a happy new year.