Blink...blink...blink....

[dvandom]

I got one of the new wave of Sigma 6 GIJoe figures the other day (Hi-Tech, with HOUND autonomous drone). It had this blinking red LED in the package that could not be shut off. The whole shelf of them was blinking out of synch (although, if they were IN synch it woulda been kinda scary). I figured, well, okay, light-up gimmick for the toy. Cool.

Tonight I finally got around to opening it up.

The LED has a battery pack with 2 AA's. And it has NOTHING to do with the actual toy. At all. Not even a way to connect it to the footlocker you make out of the package endcaps. It's only there to make the packaging more eye-catching.

I'm old enough to remember when LEDs were actually something kinda special. I know they've been dirt cheap for years, but it's still a sort of future shock to realize that they're now at the level of disposable packaging glitz. Wow.

Comments

[unicronq.livejournal.com]

I saw those the other day at work (while on my lunch), and I was looking all over the package for what kind of gimmick they were before I realized it was just to make the package eye catching. I've seen that on display packages of different items, but never actually on each item. Just imagine how annoying that would be if every toy in the toy isle had that :P.