We have Monopoly, Sorry and Stock Ticker – all now over 30 years old and our kids play them over at Nana and Grandada’s house. The pieces haven’t broken, the cards are still in good shape, etc.
Now, how about buying those same board games today?
First of all the boards are all chopped up into squares, folded 3 times, rather than just a nice, sturdy center fold. The boards are about half the thickness (or less), the pieces are the cheapest plastic that break quickly and the cards are even wafer thin and poorly laminated – they bend (and stay bent) just from shuffling them normally!
Every board game we’ve bought in the last five years falls apart in no time. Oh, I lie, we did buy a special version of Scrabble 10 years ago (with real wooden pieces and holders) that’s still in great shape – although, no wait, the bag was crap so I had to sew a new one, which of course is still good (since I used good quality material and sewed it well).
My point is this: I would happily pay double, or triple the going rate for decent, old-style quality board games! And I bet I’m not alone in this.
If they can’t produce a good quality product at the current price point, then why don’t all these toy companies come out with “heirloom” versions of our favorite games? Charge us what the good quality products are worth and we’ll be happy to pay it.
Anyone work for a toy company??
Jini Patel Thompson is an internationally recognized expert on natural healing for digestive diseases. She healed herself from widespread Crohn’s Disease and has remained drug and surgery-free for over 25 years. Jini has appeared on numerous podcast, TV, and radio shows throughout the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia, giving people hope and vision for how they can heal their Colitis, Crohn’s, Diverticulitis and Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), using entirely natural methods. Her books on natural healing for digestive diseases have sold worldwide in over 80 countries.
