Saturday, July 04, 2009

Economics lessons in the game aisle

For a long time my boy has wanted a Monopoly game. I loved Monopoly as a kid but wasn't looking forward to the marathon games. But, my girl and I looked at them while we were in WalMart the other day. I was stunned - the price was $21 and change. Forget it.

Then the boy, who'd been looking for at soccer stuff, came over and pointed out that the game was $10.48. Huh? I saw my mistake: The $21 game was the Star Wars version. Oh, and there was a Littlest Pet Shop version for $20-something too. (I hadn't known of Littlest Pet Shop. My girl described them to Daddy later as ugly little animals with really big heads. He asked if they had really big eyes too, and she said yes, they look like Bratz pets.)

Anyway. I asked them if they thought it would be worth it to pay more than double the price of the game for a toy- or movie-related version. They looked at me in shock and said no. The implied "you idiot" was unmistakable if not verbalized. They ranted for a minute about how stupid it would be to pay so much extra for a different version. I heard the words "licensed characters" in a voice dripping with contempt.

Yes, I was proud of my children.

Of course we bought the game. And they spent 3 hours playing it yesterday afternoon. With no arguing!

1 comment:

Missy said...

The thought of marathon Monopoly games give me chills... pure chills. This is why I STRONGLY encourage my kids to play cards when they ask me to play a game with them..... Card games are quick. Good for your kids that they are learning the value of money early and NOT to be drug into the latest fad. Wish more people knew that one.