Just to throw gasoline on the fire of the generally unethical lootbox/gambling controversies, these sleazy practices have seeped into children?s toys: fucking Boxy Girls. To save you dignifying their existence by even clicking the link, they?re dolls that come with 6 boxes of random accessories like shoes, shirts, etc. to dress up the doll. But wait, there?s more! With these Boxy Girls, luckily little girls everywhere can buy additional boxes of random shit in those hopes the pink shirt her doll has can get a pair of matching shoes or pants! How fun, right?!? This mirrors the recent trend of online retailers that ship ?suburban moms? boxes of clothes and accessories that aren?t specifically selected by the customer, but are customized to their particular preferences by the retailer, i.e.: she?d say she wears a size 6, likes loose clothing and prefers fall colors, and on a monthly basis, the retailer would assemble and send her a collection of clothes and accessories within those general parameters; she keeps what she likes and sends back what she doesn?t. Difference being, these toys (as far as I can tell) don?t offer a chance to customize what you get; it?s random, and you can?t send the shit you don?t like/want back.
I know randomness and chance is nothing necessarily new to toys/games (I collected trading cards and whatnot,) but for this costly game of chance to be the whole gimmick, the whole reason these toys exists, I find personally disgusting. IMHO, girls playing with dolls (or boys, it?s 2018 and I?m open-minded) is about as innocent a thing as can be; to make it a cash grab is just crude and I feel might be an attempt to condition children to this new norm that what you pay for isn?t necessarily what you?ll get, but don?t stop tryin?!. I?ve not read much into them, but I?m guessing there might be certain degrees of rarity, i.e.: poor little Suzy (or Billy) will have mommy and daddy buy dozen of these (loot)boxes and have as many duplicates of the same brown shirt in the hopes they can luck into that pink dress that might be in 1 in a hundred boxes.
Thoughts?
I know randomness and chance is nothing necessarily new to toys/games (I collected trading cards and whatnot,) but for this costly game of chance to be the whole gimmick, the whole reason these toys exists, I find personally disgusting. IMHO, girls playing with dolls (or boys, it?s 2018 and I?m open-minded) is about as innocent a thing as can be; to make it a cash grab is just crude and I feel might be an attempt to condition children to this new norm that what you pay for isn?t necessarily what you?ll get, but don?t stop tryin?!. I?ve not read much into them, but I?m guessing there might be certain degrees of rarity, i.e.: poor little Suzy (or Billy) will have mommy and daddy buy dozen of these (loot)boxes and have as many duplicates of the same brown shirt in the hopes they can luck into that pink dress that might be in 1 in a hundred boxes.
Thoughts?
