You know the old saying, "good things come in small packages?" In the toy business, the saying could be "good things come in impossible-to-open packages." Tonight, Consumer Reporter Liz Crenshaw reports on toy packaging that can make parents moan for mercy.

FOR MANY PARENTS, TOY PACKAGING HAS BECOME A WORLD OF HARD-PLASTIC, BONDAGE-BREAKING, TWIST-TIE TORTURE. IN TONIGHT'S REPORT, YOU'LL LEARN WHY TOY PACKAGING IS SO DIFFICULT TO DEAL WITH, AND WHY WE'RE ASKING "CAN YOU OPEN IT?"

YOU'D THINK THE TOY COMPANIES WERE PROTECTING FORT KNOX OR THE QUEEN'S DIAMONDS. OUR PACKAGING STORY BEGINS AT THE BALLSTON COMMON MALL IN ARLINGTON VIRGINIA, WHERE WE SET UP A SIGN POSING A VERY SIMPLE QUESTION, CAN YOU OPEN IT?

WE ASKED SHOPPERS IF THEY'D TACKLE THE PACKAGING SURROUNDING SOME OF THIS SEASON'S MOST POPULAR TOYS AND GIVE US THEIR OPINIONS.

Consumer
Do I get like a scissors? Crenshaw
You get this.

Consumer
Oh good, okay.

Crenshaw
AS THE SHOPPERS RIPPED, ROARED, UNTWISTED AND TORE THEIR WAY THROUGH THE PACKAGING, THE OPINION PART OF OUR STORY WASN'T HARD TO GET AT ALL,

Do toy packages frustrate you in any way?

Consumer
Very much so.

Crenshaw
Tell me about it.

Consumer
Because when you open the toy package and you want to get the toy out, It takes about 30-40 minutes to get the toy out, and I want to strangle somebody.

Crenshaw
You ever hurt yourself?

Consumer
All the time.

My son when he was about, oh, 6 or 7, he had the hard plastic, and he got it part way opened and then it slipped out of his hand and it come up and cut him across the top of the eye here.

Crenshaw
Oh you're kidding.

Consumer
So he went to the doctors, got some stitches, and that's how we spent our holiday.

Crenshaw
BUT WHY DO MANUFACTURERS MAKE PACKAGING SO PERPLEXING TO PENETRATE?

Consumer
Stand back.

Crenshaw
Not too bad.

FOR THAT ANSWER, WE TURNED TO JOANN HINES, AN EXPERT AND CONSULTANT IN THE PACKAGING INDUSTRY.

Joann Hines, Expert in Packing Industry
Well there's one important thing to understand about packaging, without the packaging, you can't have a product. :06

Crenshaw
HINES SAYS TODAY'S PACKAGING MUST PROTECT PRODUCTS FROM THE BEATING THEY TAKE DURING SHIPPING AND DISTRIBUTION, TRIPS OFTEN COVERING THOUSANDS OF MILES AND DOZENS OF HANDS

Consumer
Oh ho, wait, wait, wait, look, look, oh yeah.

Crenshaw
PACKAGING MUST ALSO ADVERTISE AND TANTALIZE. LOTS OF PACKAGING THESE DAYS IS KNOWN AS INTER-ACTIVE PACKAGING, THE KIND THAT ASKS YOU TO PLAY WITH IT. STORES KNOW CONSUMERS WILL BUY 80% OF PACKAGES THEY PHYSICALLY PICK UP.

Consumer
Okay Jenna, you need to wait. Okay?

Crenshaw
You know you're yelling at a doll. You're aware of that?

Consumer
I do.

Crenshaw
Okay, just checking.

PLUS, PACKAGING MUST ALSO DETER THEFT, IF IT'S HARD FOR YOU TO GET THE TOY OUT, THE THIEF WILL HAVE TROUBLE TOO.

Consumer
This is heat sealed man, that ain't going to work out.

Crenshaw
AND ABOVE ALL, PACKAGES ALWAYS HAVE TO LOOK GOOD WHILE SURVIVING ALL THE ABOVE.

Hines
It's something ingrained in our minds that if the package is damaged, the product is damaged. In many cases that's not true but you know yourself how you've gone and overlooked the one that has dented sides or torn whatever and looks like it's been opened.

Crenshaw
HINES SAYS THE BOTTOM LINE IS MANUFACTURERS ARE NOT TRYING TO DRIVE TOY-BUYING CONSUMERS CRAZY.

Hines
He's trying to keep the product in a shape and in a pristine condition like when it left the store so that when it's in the retail environment it screams out buy me, touch me, feel me, whatever and still looks like a new product.

Crenshaw
AN EXPLANATION WHICH MAY OR MAY NOT SOOTHE OUR VOLUNTEERS.

Consumer
It's frustrating. I mean it definitely is overkill.

Never again with this,

Crenshaw
Are you happy?

Consumer
No I'm not.

Crenshaw
There's your animal explorer.

Consumer
Okay.

Crenshaw
Okay.

Consumer
I thank you. Nice meeting you.

Crenshaw
Nice meeting you. Are you ever going to help me again?

Consumer
Uh, no.