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@heihachi_73 wrote:
Nothing new with plastic in the world of computers, electronics and audiovisual media. I wonder how many broken records and chewed tapes have ended up in landfill in the past 50 years...

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That is precisely my concern. It's not new; it's still happening; even with the increased level of knowledge we have about the effects of plastic, plastic is still being produced and used.

It worries me.

Re nostalgic value, I do tend to agree with digital*ghost about the role of being tactilely involved with items is more likely to be associated with that feeling of nostalgia than looking at sealed items or items sitting on a shelf.

As for the current craze where parents are prepared to spend ridiculous amounts of money on these Ooshies and so on, that says to me one or other of the following:

• parents are the actual "subjects" or "targets" of the craze
  • Since parents are the ones with the ability to purchase (i.e., have the money) and are the ones more likely to be swayed by "rareness" factor of the furry Ooshies, for instance;
• children are the actual "subjects" or "targets" of the craze, but the parent-child bond has also been manipulated to ensure that parents are receptive to their children's wish to collect these items
  • two-pronged advertising/manipulation, which seems less cost-effective as well as results-effective, unless the advertising/manipulation can be achieved on both targets with one stroke;
• childrens are the actual "subjects" or "targets" of the craze, and no further manipulation was needed because a high number of parent-child bonds are currently dysfunctional, with parents signifcantly at the mercy of their children's whim
  • This may be a bit hit-and-miss; quite a number of children who are malleable to advertising designed to make them want to collect these items may not have equally malleable parents, which represents lost opportunities;
• some combination of any of the above.

Have any of you seen Derren Brown using his mentalist skills to persuade Simon Pegg (the actor who starred in Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz) that he (Simon) really, really, really wanted a particular item? Clearly there are ways to tap into the mental constructs of desire or wanting for things. Watch this - and watch it again to try to see how on earth he does it! (I could see some of the trigger words being used, but I'm sure I missed some.)