My Purchase of "Pirate Monkey"

I am proud to say that i did not fall to the pressure of buying a licensed toy on our class trip to Toys R Us in Times Square. Instead of buying my girlfriend a Barbie or a Hello Kitty, I found her a small, pink monkey doll dressed like a pirate. When I gave her the doll on sunday, I told her that her name was "Pirate Monkey" and that she was not allowed to rename her.

The task of not buying a licensed toy at Toys R Us, however, is not an easy challenge to complete. Not only are there significantly more licensed toys in the store then non-licences toys, but the licensed toys are placed in ways that they can catch your eye. The licensed toy sections, such as the Barbie and superhero sections are surrounded by large statues or big pink houses that will pull children to those parts of the store. On the other hand, the unlicensed toys are usually just lined up on shelves the way you would find them in any normal Toys R Us or department store. Even sections such as the candy section were "licensed". The third floor candy section was called "Candy Land" and had the logo of the classic children's board game towering over the section's entrance. The second floor candy section was filled with "Wonka" candy products.

The licensed products also seemed to be the products that excited children the most. When walking through the crowded superhero section of the store, children ran past me from product to product. One little boy ran by screaming "Look Mom! A lightsaber!" On the other hand, sections like the Imaginarium and board games sections were either completely empty or had a few parents browsing the shelves while there children gazed at a licensed toy a couple isles away.

With all these distractions in my way, i am very proud of my purchase of the unlicensed "Pirate Monkey"

Toys "R" Us- Times Square

My “Toys R Us” experience was very nostalgic and fun. I loved being in the store and I loved seeing all the kids and parents walking through. I did however in the front entrance when we were greeted by Professor Fuqua, I then see 3 tantrums from 3 separate families as they were trying to drag the kids out of the store. I think that based on Seiter’s “just looking” question that seems to not be a good idea with the families and the kids because, obviously the kids seem to want everything and for parents to buy everything in the store. Which I think is normal to a certain extent based on the fact that children want to play with toys and being there can be an overwhelming experience. The other thing I noticed too is that most of the merchandise does have a TV show, or franchise associated with it. I was more attracted to the “Boys Toys”.  A lot of merchandise was for the “Ninja Turtles”, “how to train your Dragon 2”, and of course Superhero’s. I noticed that the store was separated in genders, age groups, and the video games; Ipads and DVDs seemed to be all gender neutral on the bottom floor.

Toys R Us

Being a young adult, I have clearly had my fair share of Toys R us visits. I remember vividly how excited I would get when my parents would surprise me with a visit there. I was so mesmerized by the colors and selections that I would just run down the isles like a crazy child. Strangely enough I had a different vibe with the one in times square. I walked in and was obviously captivated with the huge Ferris wheel but after a few laps around the store I noticed how people weren't really buying anything. I noticed how the majority of people in the store were either employees or adults. As I was walking around I noticed the product placement and how strategic they were. The Girl stuff was mainly in one section and the guy stuff was in another. They had bright pink walls next to Blue or black walls to guide people in the directions in which they were interested in. They even had huge life like figures such as T-Rex or a life-size barbie house to bring people in. 

One thing I noticed was how many games and products were based off of T.V shows, or movies. You had transformers, Disney characters, Star wars and many more. I found this interesting because growing up I clearly had my favorite t.v shows and if there was ever a doll or game based off of it I had to have it. Its funny how much kids or adults fall in love with a show or character and go out and buy a game based off of it. This also takes place in the video game section where games are now based off of shows where you can play you're favorite character. Having all of these products that are from T.V shows and movies is some what of a domino effect for the entertainment industry. Someone makes the movie another makes the toys and its a win win for both because people will go out and buy the product. 

another thing I found interesting was all the stations placed around the store with "How to" and an employee showing you how to use a certain product. I find this to be smart because some times you are skeptical about buying something not knowing if you will like it or not, so having people demonstrate it before hand is helpful and probably helps sales. 

TOYS R US Trip

As I walked through Toys R Us, the crowd was rushing through the store as if it was Christmas in July.  Being located in Times Square, this Toys R Us store was no ordinary touristic attraction. It was as if you enter the Chocolate factory of Willy Wonka, only in toys.  

Being here multiple times, I knew the exact layout of the store was. Most items still in the same location as last time, only this time, different brand toys were stored on the shelves. Many of them being licensed, these toys tried to make an everlasting appearance to the point where people would buy their merchandise. Although people bought toys, most of them were adults (tourists) who went to the store just to look around at the life size toys (such as the Transformer, minion, dinosaur etc). 

Some things that stood out to me while being at Toys R Us: 

*I found interesting how Playmobil and Lego toys were located right next to each other. In the reading by Seizer, it was mentioned that Lego is commercialized while Playmobil is considered "high quality". What makes this specific toy so special?! As I mentioned in class, Playmobil is just like HBO is to television; both contributes a need to a person (to play or to watch) and yet, one is considered more quality than the other. HBO is the same as a regular channels on television, so is Playmobil is (pretty much) the same to Lego.

* I liked how two girls wearing Tangled (Disney licensed) shirts decided to pose in front of a huge Transformer figure. Following them, I realized that they went to more "boy-ish" toys and wanted to play with them instead of girl toys. Its amazing how the store is set up so that the sharp bold colors of the boys' side is isolated from the girly pink and colorful lights of the girls side. 

*The store is set up so that the boys' toys are located on one side while the girls' toys are on the other. In a reading, Miles of Aisles of Sexism by Sudie Hofmann, it mentions that "toys for girls implicity urges them to find husbands in order to get their dream lives". When going into the Barbie house, you can see Barbie as many different occupations, while having many accessories and other toys to play with. Barbie is the representation of the "perfect girl", a skinny girl who can get a guy by wearing make up and dressing inappropriately. It makes girls want to look like her, which can be a negative influence on girls. They can believe that they are not beautiful enough and try to do anything and everything to be like her. Bullying, harassment, jealousy and eating disorders can occur just so that girls can have the ideal image of perfections. Boys have toys that can lead to aggression and violence.  Competition can rise as well and are "encouraged to define manhood in ways that hurt themselves and others" (Hofmann). 

* The ferris wheel. If that is not a marketing tactic, I don't know what is. Every seat is designed as a brand toy, so for example, there was a Barbie car as a seat, a Monopoly inspired seat, My Little Pony, Nickelodeon etc. With its bright lights and only $5 to go on the ride, this ferris wheel is (pretty much one of) the main attractions in Times Square. 

If you want to go to have a good time you can, just remember that there are many tourists walking around in the store. Expect yourself to stay in the store for at least 2 hours and try to remember that you're there to look (unless you are buying something). Chances are, with consumerism in the air, you might end up just leaving the store with a toy in your Toys R US bag. Because after all, YOU WANT TO BE A TOYS R US KID ! 

Gendered Toys

This was my reaction to the painfully gendered toys.

Does consumerism bring you down?

Does ridiculously gendered toys bring you down?

Me too!


During my visitation in Times Square's Toys R Us store, I focused on gender and how toys are treated and separated by gender. As I walked into the store, I looked up to see half of  a UFO which not only reminded me of "Roswell," but had me feel as though I was being transported from Times Square into a world of "Pure Consumerism."


My immediate reaction was to stare at the brightly-lit ferris wheel with each car designed with a brand/licensed, such as Scooby-Doo, Barbie, and Toy Story. There were no "original" designs for these cars, the brands were recognizable and nostalgic, making you want to spend $5 to ride the ferris wheel.

Families in these cars: parents looked bored & children looked pleased.

Walking in a group, I noticed there were more young adults and parents roaming the stores than children. Furthermore, I realized the colors consistently changed depending on the products. A prime example would be with the Barbie section where the majority of the belongings were pink and stereotypically feminine, whereas the playmobile toys were predominantly blue and stereotypically masculine. In the Barbie "dream house," it was very small and unexpectedly disappointing. On the right-hand side were expensive barbie dolls of different movie characters, such as the Good Witch from the Wizard of Oz. On the left were cheaper ken dolls from romantic movie characters, such as Jasper Cullen from Twilight. Surrounding these two display sections was a continuous sea of pink boxes of dolls. The people in the Barbie house were all women (excluding the men from our class). The men avoided the Barbie house like the plague, yet in the boy-toys section, no one seemed to want to leave....

Girl toys are either PINK or PURPLE /// Boy toys are BLUE and RED.

Near the Playmobile section, there was a dragon and a knight and other male figurines on display. The packaging were blue and the characters portrayed on the boxes were predominantly male. Where the toys in Barbie were collectible dolls from movies (specifically romantic), the toys in the Playmobile were of buildings, travel, and adventure. No romance? Is this just a "girl things"?

A stark contrast of both sections is seen in the picture above. This brings us to the question as to why toys are so gendered. In the LEGO section, the majority of the characters portrayed on the packaging were male. In the Mid-Town Comics & general super-hero/ninja section, the majority of the superheroes were male. Barely a female character in sight. In these sections both girls and boys were putting on masks and having fun. But in the girl sections, the majority of the people around them were girls and consisted of handbags and vanity products. This is an immense difference from the LEGO and superhero sections!!

Why do people shy away from the girl's section, filled with pinks and purples and dolls and vanity products, but everyone surrounds the boy's section, filled with blues and reds and dolls ("action figures") and heroes? As a female, I felt frustrated with the lack of accurate female representation. Not all girls like pink. Some girls like blue, yellow, red, green, etc. Some girls like adventure, action, violence, dinosaurs, and superheroes just as much as the boys. With this said, not all boys like blue and red. Some boys like pink, purple, yellow, etc. Some boys like romance, vanity products, and collectible dolls (woopse! I meant... "action figures").

Toys project the gender stereotypes we are surrounded with and it's not subtle.

Now, if you excuse me, the city is in trouble and I need to put on my blue super-suit and go on an action-packed adventure of justice.

"Pure Consumerism" -- A "Pure Imagination" spin-off for Toys R Us

Come with me and you'll be, 
In a world of pure consumerism. 
Take a look and you'll see,
Into your consumerism.

We'll begin with a store,
In Times Square called the Toys R Us store,
What we'll see will defy
Explanation.

If you want to view licensing,

Simply look around and view it.

Everything is branded and licensed,

Even the huge an -- imatronic -- T-Rex!

There is no store I know,

To compare with pure consumerism.

Walking there, you will see,

gendered toys I wish wouldn't be.

If you want to view licensing,

Simply look around and view it.

Everything is branded and licensed,

Even the huge an -- imatronic -- T-Rex!

There is no store I know,

To compare with pure consumerism.

Walking there, you will see,

gendered toys I wish wouldn't be.

Hope you enjoyed my song :)

When I walked around the Time Square toys r us I saw that the majority of toys had to do with a movie or tv show. Most of the sections are broken up by the product and have some form of art or interactive piece tied to it. What I picked up on is there were a lot more sections dedicated to boys as opposed to girls. The first section was action figures based on a movie then directly after that was some stuffed animals and NewYork based products. Once you make your way passed there you are greeted with more boys toys. Here is the tricky part about that though, even with in the boys section there are scattered pink toys for girls which to me sort of made it seem like the toy manufacturers were making it ok for girls to play with the boys toys. Most of these toys were out doors things such as bikes, scooters and random sports products. These sections also had a good amount of neutral colors such as green, yellow and teal.
What caught me by surprise was the amount of action figures based on video games, cartoons, and movies. There was a whole side of video games and within the mix were all these action figures based on the game. Then when you go upstairs there is a whole section for super heroes and of course ninja turtles since the movie will be out soon. Even when you go to the creativity section where they have all the instruments, I noticed the boxes had boys on all the packaging except the pink one, so even the neutral teal with purple had a boy on the packaging. There was a whole section of building toys, legos, playmobil, megabloks and duplo. While I walk through all of these sections I kept asking where is the barbie dolls and baby dolls? All the way tucked in the back corner on the third floor. Over in this section there were dolls for all ages, and other products such as backpacks and dress up outfits. In the furthest back corner there was a big barbie house where all the barbie dolls were hidden, I mean literally hidden. You had to actually go in the house to see the collection of dolls. This surprised me most of all because there were all these sections for boys and yet the one part that is dedicated specifically for little girls is hidden off to the back depth of the store. The nickelodean section was the same size as the whole girls section. The boys have a whole floor dedicated to their imaginations yet the girls get a dark corner. The boys have hot wheels, action figures, sports and nerf guns, a whole floor dedicated to video games and electronics yet the little girls have a shelf of baby dolls. I don't know if this has something to do with the amount of creativity young boys lack or if it is that little girls don't have the same interest as they did when I was growing up. It is almost as if the manufacturers are focusing on what they can sell in package deals as opposed to sparking imagination. All these products based from movies are big bold and in your face. I even noticed the ninja turtles now have a play set that you can buy, when I was younger my brother and I made our own ninja turtles weapons and costume. The manufacturers are telling us parents what our kids will watch and play with now and I think it will only get worse as technology grows.