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The Most Popular Toys Through the Decades

Every holiday season, there’s one must-have toy. Customers have been known to wait in line for hours, pay massive amounts of money and even physically fight in toy-store aisles during Black Friday sales just to get their hands on the year’s hottest toy.

Read on to discover the most popular toys of the past three decades — and what the next toy craze will be.

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Cabbage Patch Kids (1983)

Created in 1978 by Xavier Roberts, these “adoptable” soft-sculpture dolls were all the rage in the 1980s. Due to a clever marketing campaign, the dolls were a virtual overnight success, raking in $600 million in sales by 1985. The dolls flew off the shelves during the holidays, forcing customers to wait in line for hours to purchase one. The success of the Cabbage Patch Kids grew and grew until they became the best-selling introduction of a doll in history.

Transformers (1984)

Originally produced in 1984 by Japanese toy company Takara and the American toy company Hasbro, these shape-shifting robots quickly became a sensation. The toys became so popular  that they spawned an animated series, an animated film in 1986 and the extremely popular live-action movie franchise in the 2000s.

Teddy Ruxpin (1985 and ’86)

This animatronic talking teddy bear was initially produced by the toy manufacturer Worlds of Wonder and introduced to the market in 1985. The storytelling teddy’s slogan boasted of being “the world’s first animated, talking toy.”

Koosh Ball (1987)

This delightful ball made of rubber strings was created by Scott Stillinger, who named his product after the sound it made when it hit the ground. The toy was marketed by Mattel and was a smashing success.

Nintendo Entertainment System (1988)

This 8-bit video-game console was an astounding success when it first hit the market in 1988, with 7 million systems sold the year it was released — especially during the holiday season. The market for NES cartridges that year was larger than the market for the entirety of all computer software.

Game Boy (1989)

The handheld Nintendo game console quickly sold an incredible 1.1 million units, outselling all of its video-game counterparts and becoming one of the best-selling electronic game devices of all time.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures (based on the characters from the film of the same title) were wildly popular during the holiday season of 1990, selling more than 30 million units by Christmas.

Super Nintendo (1991)

Nintendo was on a roll in the late ’80s and early ’90s, and its new release, Super Nintendo, was no exception. It quickly became the best-selling video-game console of the 16-bit era.

Barney (1992)

Created by the toy-manufacturing company Dankin, the plush purple dinosaur based on the popular TV character came about because parents demanded it after seeing their kids cuddling video cassette boxes of the series.

Talkboy (1993)

This portable audio cassette player and recorder was conceived and used as a prop for the 1992 film “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.” After the success of the film, young fans demanded a real-life version of the Talkboy. Released by Hasbro, the Talkboy became so popular during the holiday season that the company was forced to pull the product’s ads due to short supply.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (1994)

These action figures were based on the characters of the extremely popular television series of the same title. The toys flew off the shelves during the 1994 holiday season.

Beanie Babies (1995)

These stuffed animals were created by Ty Warner, who would arbitrarily take certain Beanie Babies off the market, making them hard-to-find collectibles that customers would pay hundreds of dollars for. The demand for the toys became so intense that some customers had physical altercations in store aisles over the stuffed dolls.

Tickle Me Elmo (1996)

Based on the Elmo character from “Sesame Street,” this giggling doll was manufactured by Tyco and introduced to the market in 1996. Elmo was an unexpected success, and the entire stock of 1 million dolls sold out by the end of the year. Since the toy was in such short supply, scalpers capitalized on the demand and sold it for hundreds of dollars while physical altercations between customers repeatedly broke out over the doll.

Tamagotchi (1997)

At the height of this handheld virtual pet’s popularity, 15 Tamagotchis were sold every minute in the U.S. and Canada, and more than 40 million units were sold worldwide.

Furby (1998)

Originally priced at $35, these electronic, robotic toys were in such demand during the Christmas season that their resale value skyrocketed to as much as $300. An astounding 27 million Furbies were sold in 1998.

Pokémon (1999)

This popular franchise based on the Game Boy game was a smashing success during the holiday season of 1999. The craze involved various kinds of merchandise, particularly trading cards, and also sparked a popular animated TV series. Pokémon is still a powerhouse today. In 2017, the company reported that more than $900 billion of Pokémon-related products have been sold.

Razor Scooter (2000)

Originally manufactured by Sharper Image, this popular scooter ushered in the new millennium with a bona fide holiday frenzy. The Razor was so popular that it led to the creation of a new extreme sport: freestyle scootering.

Bratz (2001)

These teen fashion dolls with the distinct look of big heads and skinny bodies were so successful in 2001 that they surpassed Barbie as the No. 1-selling toy geared toward girls. Despite the success, many parents were concerned that the dolls were too provocatively dressed and that they promoted an unhealthy body image.

Beyblades (2002)

This line of spinning-top toys was developed and manufactured by Takara Tomy in 2002. It dominated the market and was one of the most popular toy lines in the world from 2000 to 2005.

Yu-Gi-Oh! (2003)

Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game has been wildly popular in Japan since 1998, and 3.5 billion cards trading cards were sold prior to the Yugi Starter Deck’s 2002 release in North America. The game caught on in the U.S., and it landed on many top toy lists for 2003. In 2009, Guinness World Records named it a top selling trading card game, with over 22 billion cards sold worldwide.

Robosapien (2004)

This biomorphic robotic toy was manufactured by WowWee Toys, and it sold a whopping 1.5 million units between April and December 2004.

Xbox 360 (2005)

This video-game console was rushed to shelves by Microsoft to beat out the soon-to-be-released Sony PlayStation 3. The strategy worked, because the Xbox 360 sold a total of 5.5 million units during its first six months on the market.

PlayStation 3 (2006)

This video-game console was incredibly popular in 2006, continuing the trend of wildly successful gaming releases. The system was so popular upon its release that people became violent in their attempts to acquire one.

Nintendo DS (2007)

This dual-screen, touch-screen gaming system from Nintendo swiftly became highly popular. In 2007, the DS broke records to become the fastest-selling handheld game console of all time with 653,000 units sold in one week. To date, worldwide sales on all consoles in the DS family total a whopping 154 million units.

Nintendo Wii (2008)

Nintendo was on a roll in the late 2000s, and the Nintendo Wii was proof of that. The gaming system sold 10 million units by the end of 2008, many of which were purchased during the holiday season.

Zhu Zhu Pets (2009)

Originally known as Go Go Hamsters in the U.K., these plush robotic toys were all the rage during the Christmas season of 2009. Originally sold for $9, the Christmas demand became so high that their value shot up to $60.

iPad (2010)

This tablet is beloved by adults, of course, but it also was a massively popular gift for children during the 2010 Christmas season — so popular that it sold more than 300,000 units on the first day of its release.

LeapPad Explorer (2011)

A tablet computer developed for kids, the LeapPad Explorer flew off the shelves during the 2011 holiday season. After its initial success, it was awarded Toy of the Year honors by the American International Toy Fair in New York City.

Wii U (2012)

This video-game console was another holiday-season home run for Nintendo. It sold like hotcakes, and customers reportedly waited in line for hours to get one.

Big Hugs Elmo (2013)

This plush talking Elmo followed the massive success of Tickle Me Elmo, and was nearly as successful during the 2013 holiday season.

Elsa Doll (2014)

The doll based on the character from the hit animated film “Frozen” was a wild success. It was crowned the new queen of dolls marketed to girls, and retailers were caught off guard by its demand during the holiday season, leaving many in short supply.

BB-8 (2015)

This remote-controlled droid, based on a character from “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” was predicted to be the best-selling toy of the 2015 season. Upon its release, the initial supply sold out in one day.

Hatchimals (2016)
This interactive toy starts as an egg and needs your child’s love in order to hatch. After enough care and attention, the egg will be ready to hatch into a furry creature that can be raised from baby to toddler to kid. The toy can learn to repeat what you say, to walk, to dance and to play games.

NES Classic (2016)

Video-game nostalgia reigns supreme with this retro-style Nintendo system loaded with 30 classic games, including “Super Mario Bros.” and “Ninja Gaiden”. The console sold out in just moments.

The New Teddy Ruxpin (2017)

The beloved animatronic bear is making a comeback. It was the most popular toy of 1985 and 1986, but the new version traded in a cassette tape for a free app. Follow along on your smartphone or tablet as Teddy reads a book or sings a song. The fast-selling throwback also upgraded to LED-screen eyes that add expression.

Nintendo Switch (2017)

The Nintendo Switch is the latest gaming system. It can be used as a handheld or tabletop device or with a TV, and it allows flexibility between single- and multiplayer games. After the console’s release in March, stores couldn’t keep them in stock for more than a few hours after each new shipment, and they remain a hot item.

Fingerlings (2017)

These adorable baby monkeys are interactive and collectible pets. When played with, the monkeys come alive, responding to sound, motion and touch. Manufactured by a high-tech robotics and entertainment company, they’re part of the popular trend of robotic pets — and they’re flying off the shelves.

 

 

Sources:
http://www.ebay.com/gds/Vintage-Cabbage-Patch-Dolls-Buying-Guide-/10000000177627408/g.html
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http://www.hatchimals.com/
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http://www.pokemon.co.jp/corporate/en/data/
http://web.archive.org/web/20020402182316/http://www.upperdeckentertainment.com/news.asp

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Powering Up the Star Wars Universe

We crunched the numbers to calculate how much energy it would take to power up the iconic weapons and ships from the Star Wars universe. So…just how many batteries does it take to power Star Wars? We’ll cover your favorites—lightsabers, blasters, X-wings and yes, even the Death Star.

 

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A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, there were lightsabers, there were blasters and there were ships. But all this cool stuff needed power. Lots of power. Let’s check out the power needs of some of your favorite “Star Wars” technology and what it would take to power up the Galactic Empire and the Rebel Alliance.

To better understand power terminology, we took a look at the common energy usage of things in the world around us. One AA alkaline battery contains 3.9 watt-hours. A car battery contains 722 watt-hours. The Tesla Powerwall has 7 kilowatt-hours. One barrel of oil is equivalent to 1.7 megawatt-hours. A nuclear reactor yields 1,000 megawatts. And for comparison, the Earth’s annual energy consumption is 104,426 terawatt-hours per year.

 

Droids

We can’t forget about the droids that inhabit the “Star Wars” galaxy. They need power to function too.

We don’t have droids as complicated as R2D2 and C3PO just yet, but we do have ASIMO. Billed as “the world’s most advanced humanoid robot,” ASIMO, developed by Honda, stands 4’3” tall and is capable of walking, talking and helping people.

ASIMO is powered by a rechargeable 51.8-volt lithium ion battery that lasts only for an hour. That’s equivalent to 132 AA batteries or 1 car battery.

 

K-2S0

Droids would likely be as energy efficient as humanoids in the “Star Wars” universe, otherwise you would expect slaves or clones to replace them. Assuming a 2.14-meter-tall aluminum alloy body (or similar), we can estimate the weight is 470 pounds each.

To power a K-2S0, it would take 19,946 kilojoules, which is equivalent to 5,537 watt-hours. To put it into perspective, that’s 1,420 AA batteries which equals 8 car batteries, 1 Tesla Powerwall, 1.6 oz of oil per hour or 6 hundredths of a percent of a nuclear reactor.

 

BB-8

Assuming BB-8 has a similar energy efficiency as K-2S0 and knowing that BB-8 is 0.97 meters tall, calculation results are 7.92 x 109 joules, which is equivalent to 2,202 watt-hours. That is equivalent to 565 AA batteries, 4 car batteries, 1 Tesla Powerwall, 1 pint of oil per hour or 2 hundredths of a percent of a nuclear reactor.

 

Lightsabers

Lightsabers are powered by high-output diatium power cells, which are capable of recharging naturally. The blade neither radiates heat nor expends energy until it comes into contact with the solid item it is striking.

Qui-Gon Jinn used his lightsaber to cut into the thick blast doors of Nute Gunray’s bridge. The doors were 2.35 meters tall and over a meter thick. Qui-Gon’s lightsaber cut a circular area approximately 0.9 meters in diameter.

In order to melt 0.87 cubic meters of conventional steel, it would require approximately 1.69 gigajoules of thermal energy. That is equivalent to 469,482 watt-hours, slightly more energy than one lightning bolt.

One lightsaber has the equivalent energy of 120,380 AA batteries (that’s 6,000 pounds of batteries or 250 gallons, enough to fill-up a kiddie pool). It’s also equivalent to 650 car batteries (that’s 26,000 pounds, exceeding the 20,000-pound maximum weight of a single-axle semi-trailer). One lightsaber is also equivalent to 67 Tesla Powerwalls, 0.28 barrels of oil (5.5 gallons of gas), one nuclear reactor or 0.05 seconds of Earth’s power supply.

 

Kylo Ren’s Lightsabers

It doesn’t appear there is any reason to assume that Kylo Ren’s lightsaber was capable of generating any more or less power than any other lightsaber.

In one scene, he is shown using the crossguard to burn through Finn’s jacket, causing a small burn. A small lightsaber-sized second-degree burn requires about 166 joules of energy as a low-end estimate. It seems it could be assumed that the crossguard blades are capable of outputting similar power to the full-size blade.

How many batteries would it take to power a lightsaber that uses 2.5 gigajoules of energy or 694,500 watt hours? The answer is 180,570 AA batteries or 975 car batteries. That’s equivalent to 101 Tesla Powerwalls, 0.42 barrels of oil, 1.5 nuclear reactors or 0.07 seconds of Earth’s power supply.

 

Blasters

According to Han Solo, ancient Jedi weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side. Firing bursts of focused particle beam energy (bolts), a blaster gets its power from two main components: Energy-rich blaster gas from a cartridge and a replaceable power pack.

The blaster bolts carry no heat themselves, but materials struck by them deform and fuse like when Princess Leia blasted a hole through a metal grate using an E-11 blaster rifle while escaping from the Death Star.

A hole was blasted big enough for Chewbacca to pass through, probably about 3 feet wide. An estimate on the mass of the grate is approximately 54 kilograms. Roughly 6.34 megajoules is needed to vaporize 1 kilogram of iron, so the blast yielded approximately 342 megajoules.

Power usage is comparable between lightsabers and blasters. Jedi in the “Star Wars” universe have been known to use power packs to charge up their lightsabers.

The 342 megajoules to power a baster is equivalent to 24,360 AA batteries, 132 car batteries, 14 Tesla Powerwalls (that would weigh as much as two cows or half a Bantha), 0.06 barrels of oil (approximately 1 gallon of gas; that’s $2.29 per shot!), 1 nuclear reactor for three blasts a second, or 0.01 seconds of Earth’s power supply.

 

Star Destroyer

It’s one of the most menacing ships in the galaxy. In “Empire Strikes Back,” we see an Imperial Star Destroyer blasting asteroids out of its way. If we approximate the standard asteroid mass as about 33,965,759 kilograms with a heating capacity of iron at 447 J/kg·K, then we could calculate that it would take 30 terajoules (8,333 megawatt-hours) to melt the asteroid.

That’s 2.1 billion AA batteries (in the U.S., 2.9 billion AA batteries are thrown away every year!), 11.5 million car batteries (16 million cars were sold in the U.S. last year), 1.2 million Tesla Powerwalls, 4,901 barrels of oil (at 35 mpg, you could drive around the Earth 130 times or make 6 round-trips to the moon), 10,000 nuclear reactors for a blast every three seconds or 2.5 seconds of Earth’s power supply (enough for 207,000 people for one day).

To vaporize the asteroid, it would take 250 terajoules or 69,400 megawatt-hours. That’s 17.8 billion AA batteries, 96 million car batteries (71 million cars were sold globally last year), 9.9 million Tesla Powerwalls (3 for every apartment in New York City), 41,000 barrels of oil (enough to drive a third of the way to the sun), 270,000 nuclear reactors to fire once every second or 21 seconds of Earth’s power supply (one blast from Earth every 21 seconds).

A turbolaser must yield approximately 3,750 terawatts of power, releasing energy four times that of the Little Boy atomic bomb.

 

X-Wing Fighter

Sometimes it isn’t always about the size of the ship in an intergalactic fight— as long as you are packing the right firepower. In “A New Hope,” when a blast from Luke Skywalker’s X-wing fighter struck the surface of the Death Star, it created a blast likely powerful enough to have vaporized at least one cubic meter of armor.

Conservative estimates put the output of the four X-wing cannons at approximately 60 gigajoules of energy, which equals 16.67 megawatt-hours. That’s 4.27 million AA batteries (enough batteries to go 8 times around the Large Hadron Collider, and stacked up, they’d reach space twice!), 23,153 car batteries, 2,381 Tesla Powerwalls, 9.08 barrels of oil, 0.01667 running hours of a nuclear power plant or 5 milliseconds of Earth’s power supply.

 

Snowspeeders

The snowspeeders are outfitted with improvised weaponry, including de-icing and heating elements and two laser canons compared to the X-Wing’s four. To power a snowspeeder, it would take 30 gigajoules, which is equivalent to 8.33 megawatt-hours.

That’s equivalent to 2.13 million AA batteries, 11,576 car batteries, 1,190 Tesla Powerwalls, 4.54 barrels of oil, 0.008335 running hours of a nuclear power plant or 2.5 milliseconds of Earth’s power supply.

 

Death Star

Remember when the first incarnation of this formidable battle station destroyed Leia’s home planet of Alderaan?

Using a beam formed by several beams firing from its Concave Dish Composite Beam Superlaser, the Death Star was able to destroy an Earth-sized planet with a binding energy of roughly 2.25 x 1032 joules. Comparatively, our sun produces roughly 3.846 x 1026 watts. How could one moon-sized battle station produce that much power? Using a ‘hypermatter’ reactor, of course.

The 2.25 x 1032 joules needed to power a Death Star converts to 6.25 x 1028 watt-hours. That’s equivalent to 16 octillion AA batteries (stacked end to end, these batteries would measure 84.5 billion light-years, almost enough to stretch across the observable universe of 92 billion light-years), 86 septillion car batteries (80% of the mass of Jupiter), 8 septillion Tesla Powerwalls (150 times the weight of Earth) or 37 sextillion barrels of oil (enough to satisfy the Earth’s oil consumption for 1 trillion years). The Death Star I uses power equivalent to 2 quintillion nuclear reactors to fire once every 24 hours (each blast would require an amount of uranium equal to the mass of Mercury). The Death Star II uses power equivalent to 1 sextillion nuclear reactors to fire once every 3 minutes (seven blasts would generate enough nuclear waste to equal the dwarf planet Ceres at 9.5 x 1020 kg). A Death Star’s energy usage is equivalent to 598 billion times Earth’s power supply. Astronomers estimate there could be 20 billion Earth-like planets in our galaxy. Only 29 more galaxies to go!

 

Starkiller Base

“The Force Awakens” shows five planets being simultaneously destroyed by Starkiller. The power calculation would be five times the current power of the Death Star, or 3.12 x 1029 kilowatt-hours.

Also in the movie, we see it draining power from an average-sized star, which certainly has enough nuclear fuel to provide the kind of energy shown. Earth’s sun will provide roughly 3.5 x 1056 kilowatt-hours in its lifetime. There isn’t much more info given in the film that would allow for honing in on a figure between these two numbers. Note that the expected lifespan of the sun is 10 billion years.

To power the Starkiller Base, it would take 1.12 x 1036 joules or 3.12 x 1029 kilowatt-hours. This is equivalent to 80 octillion AA batteries, 430 septillion car batteries, 40 septillion Telsa Powerwalls, 10 quintillion barrels of oil, 1.5 septillion nuclear power plants or 3 trillion times Earth’s power supply.

 

Hyperspace

Aside from powering up the Death Star, hypermatter particles allow a ship to jump to lightspeed without changing its complex mass and energy. We’ve seen the Millennium Falcon make the jump to lightspeed several times. According to physicist Miguel Alcubierre, a warp drive could manipulate space-time, taking advantage of a loophole in the laws of physics to move 10 times faster than the speed of light.

To make a warp drive, it was initially estimated you would need a minimum amount of energy almost equal to the mass of the planet Jupiter. More recent studies have reduced the energy requirement to be about the mass of the Voyager 1, approximately 700 kilograms.

Using E=mc2, 700 kilograms is equal to 62.9 exajoules, which is 15 billion tons of TNT explosives or 17,500 terawatt-hours. That’s 4.5 quadrillion AA batteries, 23 trillion car batteries, 2.5 trillion Tesla Powerwalls, 10 billion barrels of oil (1% of all the oil ever produced), 17.5 million nuclear reactors or 16 percent of Earth’s power supply (that’s one jump every two months!).

 

Ebates Star Wars Stores

ThinkGeek – Star Wars Apparel for Adults & Kids
BuyCostumes – Star Wars Halloween Costumes
LEGO – Star Wars Lego Toys and Products
GameStop – Select Star Wars Universe Games

Sources:

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Lightsaber
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How Many LEGO Would It Take to Build These Sci-Fi Megastructures?

With LEGO, it’s often said you can create your own universe, so to get your imagination running wild, we’ve decided to LEGO-fy some of science fiction’s most memorable icons. From hoverboards to Death Stars, here’s how many LEGO it would take to make just a few of the classics, along with a couple of real-world items to help put it all in perspective.

Sci Fi Lego Batman Movie Structures Infographic

 

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We didn’t start with moon-sized star destroyers. We began with one of the smallest units of LEGO possible: the 15.8 mm by 3.2 mm brick. With two of these, a red one and a blue one, we were able to recreate one of the tiniest icons in all of sci-fi cinema: the pills offered to Keanu Reeves at the beginning of “The Matrix.” Of course, you probably don’t want to swallow either of these, since the only trip they’ll take you on is one to the emergency room. From there, we moved upwards, from 300 LEGO to build the 12th Doctor’s sonic screwdriver to 550 LEGO for our very own Baby Groot to 850 LEGO to build an Identity Disk from “Tron” to 940 LEGO to build Benny’s spaceship from “The LEGO Movie.” (We know that seems tiny, but Benny is a LEGO mini-fig, so his spaceship would be LEGO-sized too.) And for Marty McFly’s trip to the future year of 2015 in “Back to the Future Part II,” his Nike Air shoes would take 1,500 LEGO to build, and the Mattel Hoverboard would take 2,050 LEGO.  

Jumping into slightly bigger structures, we started to turn to Matija Puzar, our certified LEGO expert, for help. Matija is a trusted business partner of The LEGO Group who has built some amazing scale models of the world’s most iconic landmarks. If there’s a guy who knows how LEGO and the real world intersect, Matija is your man. The first thing our LEGO expert alerted us to was that any LEGO structure of a certain size wouldn’t be all LEGO. “Larger models need both a steel structure and gluing of the bricks to prevent them from collapsing on their own weight. I’ve made a 1.5-by-1-by-1.5-meter model with no glue at all, although in retrospect I probably should have glued it.”

Matija also alerted us to some real-life LEGO creations to help us with our equations. A man in Austin, Texas, actually built his own fully functional LEGO R2D2 using 16,000 bricks along with a steel frame and a motor from a remote control plane. We calculated that Johnny 5 from “Short Circuit” would take 17,450 LEGO to build. Our master builder also pointed us in the direction of an actual, working car that was built entirely out of LEGO. Although he was quick to remind us that the plastic LEGO bricks wouldn’t “fancy the temperatures around the engine,” that didn’t deter us! Using the real LEGO car as a basis of comparison, we were able to determine that it would take 573,314 LEGO to build and travel through time with the flying Delorean from “Back to the Future Part II.”  

Our master builder also had a friend who built a life-size Tardis from “Doctor Who” with 150,000 LEGO. But, of course, that number would go way up if you built the inside to scale as well. (There are more LEGO on the inside.) A Light Cycle from “Tron” would take 120,217 LEGO to build, and a Groot from “Guardians of the Galaxy” would take 334,235. To build the Batsignal from “Batman,” it would take 226,851 LEGO. To bust ghosts in the Ghostbusters’ Ecto-1, it would take 955,200 LEGO.

As we took off for space, our LEGO numbers took off into the millions. An AT-AT from “Star Wars” would take 12.4 million LEGO to build, and an X-wing fighter would take 5.5 million LEGO. From “Avatar,” a Scorpion Gunship would take 3.2 million LEGO to build, and the Batmobile from “The LEGO Batman Movie” would take 340,000 LEGO. The Millennium Falcon would take 15.5 million LEGO to complete, and NASA’s space shuttle would take 58.3 million LEGO to build.

Matija even had some theories about how a LEGO starship would hold up when it jumped into hyperspace. “I am not sure how LEGO would survive the constant radiation and extreme temperatures. It would definitely be an interesting — albeit expensive — experiment to perform!” NASA has shown that plastics are, pound for pound, more effective at shielding against cosmic radiation than aluminum!

The S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier from “The Avengers” would take 81.7 million LEGO to build, the Discovery One from “2001: A Space Odyssey” would require 186.3 million LEGO, and the Heart of Gold from “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” would take 162.1 million LEGO. Matija told us that “in space, it would be hard to keep track of pieces, in addition to the space suit making it difficult to grab the pieces and build precisely.”

Heading back down to Earth for a little bit, we also wanted to see how many LEGO it would take to build our favorite superhero homes. James May, a presenter from the British hit “Top Gear,” actually built his very own full-size LEGO house a few years ago as part of an art project. The house was two stories high, 20 feet tall and took 3.3 million bricks to complete. Using that as a basis of comparison, we determined that Superman’s Fortress of Solitude from the 1978 film would take 850 million LEGO, and Wayne Manor from “Batman” would take 840 million LEGO. The Mothership from “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” would take 999 million LEGO to build.

Batman’s secret headquarters, the Batcave, would take 1.18 billion LEGO to build. The NSEA Protector from “Galaxy Quest” would take 1.5 billion LEGO to build, and an effort would require Tony Stark to assemble 6.6 billion bricks to recreate the Avengers Tower in Manhattan. Matija commented that the “Avengers Tower would definitely be an interesting one to build! Definitely not a life-size one, but a nice scale model would be cool to do.” Which kind of disappointed us, as we were really looking forward to partying with a full-size LEGO Hulk in the full-size LEGO tower.

The iconic Starship Enterprise from “Star Trek” would take 13.5 billion LEGO to build. That’s still pretty small compared to some other ships, like the Dark Aster from “Guardians of the Galaxy.” According to its creators, this villainous starship measured as long as 11 Empire State Buildings laid on their sides, which we calculated would take 42.5 billion LEGO. The Axiom from “WALL-E” would take 463 billion LEGO, and the Borg Cube from “Star Trek” would take 255 billion LEGO. It would take 554 billion LEGO to build the Spaceball One, and 102 trillion LEGO to build the Halo Megastructure.

The Death Star, a moon-sized planet killer from “Star Wars,” would require 435 trillion bricks to complete (even more if you want to go the extra mile for safety and throw in a few guardrails!). Sadly, Matija didn’t see completing this model as entirely realistic. “It would be a really nice experiment to see how many bricks it takes before a structure collapses on itself due to its own gravity. A bit unfeasible, though, I’m afraid. The average 2×2 brick can withstand 950 pounds.”

 

But this is sci-fi, and who’s to say what isn’t possible today won’t be possible tomorrow! Could some brilliant hero create a new, stronger LEGO brick capable of withstanding the cold, hard realities of space? We sure hope so! Until then, we’re going to keep building, and we encourage you to do the same. Just please put your toys away when you’re done. Your mom isn’t going to be happy if she has to pick up a quadrillion LEGO off the living room floor.

Source List
http://www.matija.no/
http://www.wikia.com/
https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/19gal5dbd9klpjpg.jpg
https://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1472/901/1600/Stratoposeidon%20-%20small.jpg
http://beyondthemarquee.com/15970
https://cdn.instructables.com/FBA/B3KC/HH2VY2JP/FBAB3KCHH2VY2JP.LARGE.jpg
https://cdn.silodrome.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Batmobile-Blueprints-1200×717.jpg
http://www.spaceflight101.com/soyuz-spacecraft-information.html
https://media-3.web.britannica.com/eb-media/89/159589-004-233CA187.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/
http://www.cinemablend.com/new/14-Fantastic-Guardians-Galaxy-Facts…
http://dirkloechel.deviantart.com/art/Size-Comparison-Science-Fiction-Spaceships-398790051

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The Best Flowers to Buy for Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day is on the horizon, which means love is in the air, along with the scent of rose petals. Every year, an estimated 224 million roses are grown for this day alone. The rose has been a symbol of love and virtue for thousands of years, dating all the way back to ancient Greece, where the red flower was associated with Aphrodite, the goddess of love. With roses being such a time-tested token of affection, it’s no wonder they make up more than 50 percent of the flowers given away on Valentine’s Day.

What is a little more confusing is why anyone would act surprised when they get a bouquet of roses. Giving your sweetheart roses may be a nice gesture, but it’s not exactly a clever or creative one. Do you really want your significant other to open her door on Valentine’s Day to discover a bouquet that looks identical to the ones all her friends and coworkers are getting? Or do you want to give her flowers that are just as special and unique as she is?

Best Valentine's Flowers

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For  instance, maybe you’re in the early stages of a relationship. You may not be ready for the bold declaration of love that comes with roses. You want a flower that’s just as pretty and fragrant but not quite so heavy on commitment. The French tulip is ideal for this situation. Its pastel pink and yellow petals bring to mind the first days of spring, which is perhaps why it has come to symbolize new beginnings and fresh starts. A dozen of these may not scream, “I’m ready to spend the rest of my life with you,” but they will let your new lover know you’re excited to see what the future holds for the two of you. French tulips are also perfect for people in older relationships that could use a little sprinkle of young love. They let your longtime companion know that just because you’ve been together for a long time doesn’t mean you don’t have some new adventures in store.

New adventures, however, can be costly. We may all dream of Valentine’s Day getaways with our romantic partners, but we may not all have the money to whisk them to some sunny beach on the other side of the world. Luckily, some flowers can bring a little touch of the tropics to a snowy morning in mid-February. Orchids, which hail from tropical climates like Hawaii and Australia, bloom in dozens of dazzling colors and deliver the sights and scents of an island getaway right to your own home.

Or, if you and your loved one are simply pining for warmer summer months, why not pick up a vase full of sunflowers? Sunflowers represent the sun itself, and they can make any Valentine’s Day feel brighter — even when it’s still getting dark at 5 p.m.

Love is celebrated in many different forms on Valentine’s Day (and romance isn’t the only thing on people’s minds), so naturally there are flowers that represent many different forms of love. Maybe there’s a mother in your life who you think deserves a little bit of attention on the big day. The pink, pillowy petals of the carnation are said to match the color and texture of newborn flesh. Giving them to your mom would let her know how much you appreciate all the love and care she gave you over the years. If there’s a new mother in your life, carnations can let her know how much you look forward to raising a child together.

On the other hand, if you’re only in the planning stages of parenthood, you could always pick up a bouquet of lilies for your special someone. Lilies represent passion and fertility. A dozen of them will let your boyfriend or girlfriend know exactly how you hope this Valentine’s Day will end.

Of course, some loves are just better left unspoken. Gardenias are simple, elegant flowers that represent a secret love. If you’re in a relationship with someone but you’re currently keeping it on the down-low, why not send him or her a couple of these beautiful blossoms? (No note attached, of course.) The stark white petals look like blank pages, ready for a secret romance story to be written on.

Career-minded couples need a little bit of romance as well. If you and your loved one feel more married to your jobs than to each other, Valentine’s Day is the perfect time to slow down, take stock and remind each other how you really feel. A purple iris signifies royalty, and certain stems can cost as much as $100 a pop. But when you’re working 60 hours a week, it can feel nice to be treated like a king or queen every once in awhile. Or if your significant other is so busy he or she doesn’t even have time to water the plants already in the house, they might appreciate a succulent. These spiny, cactus-like plants are pretty and can live for months with just a little bit of water.

Of course, sometimes people might just be expecting roses. If that’s the case, you really should go for tradition, but there’s no reason you can’t put a slightly personal spin on the old classic. There are tons of different types of roses that each have a unique charm. Our favorite is the Black Baccara Hybrid Tea Rose. The darker red of this rose variation will stand out from all the rose bouquets delivered that day. The richer, deeper colors scream with sultry passion, and they’ll let your sweetheart know just how deep your love is.

Whether you settle for roses or something more unusual, the most important thing is that you remember Valentine’s Day in the first place. Feb. 14 actually has a pretty high breakup rate. A few flowers could help remind you and your significant other why you fell in love in the first place and keep you there for a long time to come.

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America’s Favorite Christmas Movies: Box Office Battle

Do you have a Christmas movie favorite? One that you watch every year, or one that sets the tone for the season just like that first cup of eggnog or putting up the Christmas tree? Although there are favorites aplenty, the box office numbers haven’t always lined up with the sentimental Christmas favorites.

Favorite Christmas Movies Infographic

Top-Grossing Christmas Movies Since 1980

  • Home Alone (1990), $285.8 million
  • How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), $260.0 million
  • The Polar Express (2004), $183.4 million
  • Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), $173.6 million
  • Elf (2003), $173.4 million
  • Gremlins (1984), $153.0 million
  • The Santa Clause (1994), $144.8 million
  • The Santa Clause 2 (2002), $139.2 million
  • A Christmas Carol (2009), $137.9 million
  • Four Christmases (2008), $120.1 million
  • The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (2006), $84.5 million

Timeline of Christmas Movies at the Box Office

  • A Christmas Story (1983), $3.2M budget, $17.4M profit
  • Gremlins (1984) $11M budget, $142M profit
  • Santa Claus: The Movie (1985), $30M budget, $6.3M net loss
  • Nutcracker: The Motion Picture (1986), $781K gross
  • Ernest Saves Christmas (1988),$6M budget, $22.2M profit
  • Die Hard (1988), $28M budget, $55M profit
  • Home Alone (1990), $18M budget, $267.8M profit
  • Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), $20M budget, $153.6M profit
  • The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992), $12M budget, $15.3M profit
  • Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), $18M budget, $57.1M profit
  • The Nutcracker (1993), $19M budget, $16.9M net loss
  • The Santa Clause (1994), $22M budget, $122.8M profit
  • Miracle on 34th Street (1994), $17.3M gross
  • Jingle All the Way, (1996), $75M budget, $14.4M net loss
  • The Preacher’s Wife (1996), $48M gross
  • I’ll Be Home for Christmas (1998), $30M budget, $17.8M net loss
  • Jack Frost (1998), $85M budget, $50.4M net loss
  • How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), $123M budget, $137M profit
  • The Santa Clause 2 (2002), $65M budget, $74.2M profit
  • Elf (2003), $33M budget, $140.4M profit
  • Love Actually (2003), $45M budget, $14.7M profit
  • Bad Santa (2003), $23M budget, $37.1M budget
  • The Polar Express (2004), $150M budget, $33.4M profit
  • Christmas With the Kranks (2004), $60M budget, $13.8 profit
  • The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (2006), $12M budget, $72.5M profit
  • Fred Claus (2007), $100M budget, $28M net loss
  • Four Christmases (2008), $80M budget, $40.1M profit
  • A Christmas Carol (2009), $175M budget, $37.1M net loss
  • The Nutcracker in 3D (2010), $90M budget, $89.8M net loss
  • A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas (2011), $19M budget, $16.1M profit
  • The Best Man Holiday (2013), $17M budget, $53.5M profit
  • Tyler Perry’s A Madea Christmas (2013), $25M budget, $27.5M profit
  • The Night Before (2015), $25M budget, $18M profit
  • Krampus (2015), $15M budget, $27.7M profit

Check this graph for net profit and losses for all Christmas movies in our research:

Christmas Movies at the Box Office

Not What You’d Expect

The 1983 classic, A Christmas Story, is shown repeatedly on TV and often quoted, but its total lifetime gross is just $20.6 million. It made less money than Ernest Saves Christmas!

Interestingly, there is some debate about what’s considered a Christmas movie. Some films that are not considered Christmas movies by data collectors include the sixth-highest-grossing movie, Gremlins (1984), at $153.0 million; the 12th-highest-grossing movie, Die Hard (1988), at $83.0 million; and the 21st-highest-grossing movie, Love Actually (2003), at $59.7 million.

What about the classics? After looking through the list of films, you may have the realization that many of your favorites are actually from before 1980. If you’re looking for It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) or Charlie Brown’s Christmas (1965), then you may be taking an old-fashioned approach to your holiday movie picks.

Net Profit/Loss

More than just box office sales, let’s look at which Christmas movies since 1980 made the most money or lost the most money.

Highest Net Profit

  1. Home Alone, $268 million
  2. Home Alone 2, $154 million
  3. Gremlins, $142 million
  4. Elf, $140 million
  5. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), $137 million

Biggest Net Loss

  1. The Nutcracker in 3D, $90 million
  2. Happy Christmas, $70 million
  3. Arthur Christmas, $54 million
  4. Jack Frost, $50 million
  5. A Christmas Carol (2009), $37 million

In addition to grossing less in recent years, more Christmas movies have been showing a net loss after box-office sales.

Trivia and Background

It’s a Wonderful Life: The 1946 film made $3.3 million during its initial run, failing to break even after $3.7 million in costs. The film was shot in a California studio, but Seneca Falls, N.Y., claims to be the inspiration for the small-town setting. It returned from obscurity in the 1980s, going on to be so beloved that an original film poster sold for $15,535. The film was named by the American Film Institute as one of the 100 best American films ever made.

Muppet Christmas Carol: It was the first major muppet project after Jim Henson’s death. The puppet for the Ghost of Christmas Past was filmed underwater to create its ethereal, ghostly look before being superimposed onto the set background.

The Nightmare Before Christmas: 100 people worked for 3 years to create the 12 stop-motion moves made for every second of film. Because stop motion is such a time-consuming process, filming began before the script was completed.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas: Jim Carey’s makeup took 8 hours to apply. No movie since the Wizard of Oz in 1939 had so many characters in heavy makeup. The costume designer looked to 1950s cookbooks as vintage inspiration for the 300 hats in the film.

Love Actually: The airport footage at the beginning and end of the film was of real people greeting each other at Heathrow Airport. The nativity concert was filmed at the Elliott School in Putney, southwest London, which is also where Pierce Brosnan went to school.

Bad Santa: To play a drunk Santa, Billy Bob Thornton got drunk during the filming. The non-traditional representation of Santa ruffled some feathers. Thornton’s reply: “As far as I know, Santa Claus is not in the Bible. I think you guys are talking about Jesus.”

A Christmas Story: The filming budget was $3.2 million. You can visit Ralphie’s house in Cleveland, which is open for tours year-round. In 2004, a San Diego entrepreneur bought the house on eBay for $150,000. A longtime fan of the movie, he watched it frame by frame to draw up the plans for a $240,000 restoration back to the way it was in the film. Although none of the three “leg lamps” that were used during filming have survived, reproductions are available for about $200.

Elf: Walter’s apartment is in the same building as Dana’s apartment in Ghostbusters (located at Central Park West in Manhattan). Will Ferrell’s costume sold for $10,000.

Polar Express: It’s the first all-digital capture film, which got it listed in the Guinness Book of World Records. The conductor references director Robert Zemeckis’ childhood home in Chicago when he says the street address, “11344 Edbrooke.”

Home Alone: A blizzard struck on the second day of shooting, which meant that fake snow had to be created for the rest of the filming. The suburban Chicago house that was used for both interior and exterior scenes sold for $1.58 million in 2012.

 

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Sources:
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=christmas.htm
http://people.com/movies/25-things-you-may-not-know-about-home-alone-25-years-later/
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https://www.wikipedia.org/

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Decoding Your Teen This Holiday Season

This holiday season, families may be scratching their heads about how to celebrate with their teens — what movies to watch together, what gifts to give or where to celebrate. We did the research, and our survey results reveal how parents with teens can bridge the generation gap and have a holly, jolly holiday together.

Decoding Your Teen This Holiday Season

 

What Parents Think Their Teens Want vs. What Teens Really Want as Gifts

Parents’ ideas about what to give their teen are not always in line with what their teen actually wants.

After surveying parents, here are the gifts they think their teen wants: 41.0% said a gaming console (e.g., PlayStation or Xbox), 37.2% said clothing or shoes (e.g., a new jacket, slippers, a tie), 24.7% said the new iPhone, 21.6% said sporting goods (e.g., tennis racquet, bike accessories) and 18.1% said accessories (e.g., jewelry, handbags, backpacks).

But teens have other things in mind for their wish list. Here are the gifts that teens would like to receive: 60.4% said clothing or shoes (e.g., a new jacket, slippers, a tie), 36.8% said sweets (e.g., cookies, candy, chocolate fruitcake), 35.4% said accessories (e.g., jewelry, handbags, scarves), 25.0% said other (popular responses were electronics, video games, money, gift cards) and 22.8% said sporting goods (e.g., bikes, tennis racquet, baseball bat).

Although 60.4% of teens said they would like clothing or shoes for Christmas, many parents wonder if the gifts will last. Teens shared their thoughts about the clothing or shoes they received last year as gifts: 41.1% of teens are already over them and 36.4% of teens are still in love with them.

Top Tech Gifts Your Children/Teens Want

Tech gear is a good choice when thinking about what to give your child or teen. Our survey results reveal which tech gifts they actually want: 45.6% said a laptop or tablet; 33.6% said the new iPhone; 30.8% said a gaming console (e.g., PlayStation or Xbox); 19.2% said a new digital camera, video camera or media player; 16.4% said a Samsung Galaxy smartphone; 12.8% said a drone; 11.8% said a VR headset; and 11.8% said a Fitbit or other wearable fitness device.

The Christmas Families That Adults and Teens Want to Spend Time With

While many families watch Christmas films together, teens and their parents have differing opinions on which Christmas family they would want to spend time with.

When surveyed, adults said they would rather hang out with the following Christmas families: 24.0% said the Griswolds from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation; 12.4% said the Whos from Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas; 8.1% said Buddy, Josie and Papa Elf from Elf; 7.7% said the Calvins from The Santa Clause; 7.1% said the Browns from A Charlie Brown Christmas; and 6.9% said the McCallisters from Home Alone.

When asked the same question, teens made different choices about who they would like to spend time with: 18.4% said the Browns from A Charlie Brown Christmas; 16.6% said the Whos from Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas; 13.8% said Buddy, Josie and Papa Elf from Elf; 13.0% said the McCallisters from Home Alone; 8.2% said the Griswolds from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation; and 6.0% said the Calvins from The Santa Clause.

 

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Petition for a 2-Hour Break for Cyber Monday!

Between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, 103 million Americans will shop online. And while most people don’t work on Black Friday, Cyber Monday falls on a workday. As a result, people who are hungry for those online deals often shop for them while at work in their cubicles.

We are requesting that employers give everyone two hours of shopping time on Cyber Monday so they don’t have to hide it anymore. To sign the petition, click here.

Petition for a 2-Hour Break for Cyber Monday!

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Cyber Monday Petition – Why This Matters:

People do their Christmas shopping at work whether or not they have permission to do so. 50% of people shop online from their office during the holiday season. Of these people, 13% spend less than a half-hour each day, 16% spend 30 minutes to one hour per day, 15% spend one to two hours per day, 16% spend more than two hours a day, 28% don’t know how long they spend and 12% have web policies that restrict this.

However, not all professions are created equal when it comes to shopping at work. The professions in which employees are most likely to shop at work are sales (63%), financial services (62%), info tech (57%), health care (52%), transportation (50%), manufacturing (46%), leisure and hospitality (42%), and retail (39%).

Younger workers are also more likely to use company time for personal Internet surfing: 76% of those ages 18-24, 67% of ages 25-34, 60% of ages 34-44, 53% of ages 45-54, 44% of ages 55-64 and 19% of ages 65+.

On top of that, employee behaviors are shifting. With companies increasingly monitoring web traffic, employees are moving more and more toward using their personal devices for the task. Only 27% used personal devices in 2014 for online shopping at work, but this jumped to 42% in 2016.

28% of managers have even fired an employee for using the Internet for non-work-related activity. Unfortunately, each company lost time and money by needing to hire a new employee.

What we are asking:

Rather than have employers struggle to get employees to stay focused amidst an Internet full of distractions, it would be in everyone’s best interest to permit a two-hour work break for employees to seize their favorite deals during Cyber Monday.

Why we are asking:

Your employees are dedicated. They are going above and beyond the call of duty, engaging with work tasks outside of the office. 87% of people read business emails outside working hours. 80% check their email before they get into the office. 50% check their email during vacation. On average, this accumulates to about an extra 30 days of work time per year.

As the digital age shifts the boundaries between work time and personal time, a two-hour reprieve for employees is a small step toward compensating them for the time they spend managing incoming messages.

It would also be a gesture in the spirit of the season, a move that Scrooge would make *after* he’s been visited by the three ghosts.

What you get:

And if the warm, fuzzy feeling of generosity is not enough, here are some tangible benefits for granting this two-hour shopping break on Cyber Monday:

Creating a culture of transparency, including open communication about Internet behavior, affects your bottom line. Companies with a culture of open communication had 270% higher 10-year total shareholder returns, and 99% of professionals preferred a workplace based on honesty.

Employees need more than just money to make them feel valued. 69% of employees would work harder if they felt better appreciated, and 65% of workers would prefer a better boss over a pay raise.

When rewarding employees, the small stuff adds up. 90% of workers say a fun work environment is very motivating, and 70% of workers say meaningful recognition has no dollar value. Studies even show that rewards like free pizza rank higher than a cash bonus; a cash bonus resulted in a 4.9% increase in productivity while free pizza increased productivity by 6.7%.

Permitting a two-hour break for Cyber Monday shopping will boost the productivity and focus of your staff. Workers who take breaks are known to be more productive, and this would be a move toward monotasking, which promotes focus and higher cognitive performance.

Employees care about work-life balance, and nearly 40% of them wish their employer cared more about it. In fact, work-life balance is one of the highest-ranking factors in job satisfaction worldwide.

Happy employees outperform competitors by 20%. It’s that simple.

What now?

If you want your company to benefit in these important ways, sign the Cyber Monday petition here.

 

Sources:
http://fortune.com/2015/12/01/online-shopping-work-fired/
http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2015/11/shopping_online_at_work_this_h.html
http://fortune.com/2015/12/01/online-shopping-work-fired/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/check-work-email-hours-survey_us_55ddd168e4b0a40aa3ace672
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/samanage-survey-shows-employees…
https://www.bluesteps.com/blog/honesty-most-profitable-policy-executive-career.aspx
https://www.tinypulse.com/blog/sk-employee-recognition-stats
http://www.forbes.com/sites/tykiisel/2013/01/30/82-percent-of-people-dont-trust-the-boss-to-tell-the-truth/#c6628a64d6b4
http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/6084-employee-happiness-without-raise.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/09/01/free-pizza-more-motivational-than-cash-if-you-want-staff-to-work/
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/mind-the-manager/201306/new-employee-study-shows-recognition-matters-more-money
https://www.fastcompany.com/3027496/work-smart/8-reasons-why-you-should-definitely-take-that-lunch-break
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Make Black Friday a National Holiday

For holiday shoppers and anyone looking for a great sale, Black Friday is a big deal. Most Americans (61.7% of them) have shopped online or in person during the holiday weekend.

And while it’s a significant event for shoppers who are seeking the sales, it’s even more significant for the retail industry. 30% of the year’s retail sales happen between Black Friday and Christmas. For specialty retailers, such as jewelers, this can be as high as 40%.

For a day that’s important to so many people and businesses, we’re asking that it be made into a national holiday. To sign the petition, click here.

Make Black Friday a National Holiday

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The statistics show that Black Friday is already a significant event for shoppers. 1 out of 3 American adults goes shopping on Black Friday. 72.8% of the weekend’s in-store shoppers shop on Black Friday. 73.1% of the weekend’s online shoppers shop on Black Friday.

Why are they shopping? 57% of Black Friday shoppers find the experience to be fun. 50.4% shop because the deals are too good to pass up. 31.2% shop because it is a tradition.

And if you’re wondering how much they’re spending, 233 million shoppers have spent $50.9 billion on a single Black Friday. On average, each person spends nearly $300.

Here’s Why It Should Be a National Holiday:

48% of the country already observes Black Friday as a paid day off. The states that already celebrate Black Friday are Arkansas, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Washington and West Virginia. Nationalizing the holiday will give retailers in all states a chance for economic prosperity.

Black Friday has been spreading internationally, with both governments and retailers promoting it as a shopping day. The countries that recognize Black Friday are Australia, Austria, Bolivia, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Lebanon, Mexico, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Panama, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, South Africa and the United Kingdom. Making Black Friday a national holiday would help U.S.-based retailers stay competitive internationally.

Who Said Yes?

Our independent survey polled Americans about making the day a national holiday. Here’s who said yes: 58% of those age 18 to 24, 49% of people age 25 to 34, 41% of respondents age 35 to 44, 39% of all age 45 to 54 and 26% of those age 55 to 64.

When we further parsed the data, we found these subgroups who also said yes: 57% of women ages 18 to 24, 68% of parents, 75% of moms and 70% of people ages 25 to 34 who make more than $50,000 a year.

Moms and dads are more likely to be in favor of the national holiday. It would mean starting the holiday season with family time and getting a head start on buying the gifts Santa will give.

How We Got Here:

In 1863, Thanksgiving was named a national holiday by Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. As of 1932, retailers traditionally waited until the day after Thanksgiving for Christmas advertisements. But in the 1950s, the police in Philadelphia began using the term “Black Friday” to describe the many suburban shoppers who would travel into the city after Thanksgiving. Worried that Black Friday had negative connotations and that people would stop coming into the city to shop, there was an effort to rebrand the term in 1961.

By the 1980s, the event was becoming more widespread, but retailers in Cincinnati and Los Angeles were still unaware of the term in 1985. In the year 2000, a phenomenon called “Christmas creep” began, and stores started to ignore the unwritten rule to wait until after Thanksgiving to promote holiday shopping. Notably, Lowe’s began setting up Christmas trees by Oct. 1. In 2008, the first Black Friday death occurred when a stampede of Black Friday shoppers trampled a worker at a Long Island Wal-Mart. Just as holiday sales were being advertised earlier to capture more shoppers, the stores were opening their doors earlier and earlier. In the late 2000s, they opened on Friday at 4 or 5 a.m. In 2011, stores were opening at midnight. It jumped to 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day in 2012 and 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day in 2014. Recently, sales have begun early Thanksgiving morning.

With the country’s economic policy committed to growth, Black Friday as a national holiday would allow more people to take advantage of the holiday shopping day, which would result in greater success for the retail industry.

Sources:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/amyodell/9-stats-about-black-friday-that-will-blow-your-min..
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/21/black-friday-shopper-statistics…
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2014/11/black_friday_2014_by_the_numbers.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_(shopping)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving_(United_States)
http://money.cnn.com/2014/11/28/news/black-friday-history/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_creep
http://blackfridaydeathcount.com/
https://nrf.com/media/press-releases/thanksgiving-weekend-shopping…
https://nrf.com/sites/default/files/2015%20NRF%20HSK_102015_Final.pdf
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2015/11/29/151-million-people-shopped-over-black-friday-weekend/

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How Much Does the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Cost

For many, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is the kickoff of the holiday season. Now in its 90th year, the Manhattan spectacle is a tradition with a big audience. The live broadcast attracts 50 million TV viewers, and 3.5 million spectators watch it in person, pushing the total number of people in Manhattan to more than 5 million.

Macy's Thanksgiving Parade infographic

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While the job of putting on the parade may prompt images of Maureen O’Hara performing Doris Walker’s character in Miracle on 34th Street, executing such a parade actually takes the effort of 8,000 people, including more than 4,000 Macy’s employees who volunteer on Thanksgiving morning.

The Makings of a Parade

  • 17 giant character balloons as well as other, smaller balloons
  • 27 floats
  • 10,000 parade marchers, including 1,000 clowns, 1,100 cheerleaders and dancers, and members of 12 marching bands from around the country
  • Celebrity appearances and music groups
  • Mini performances of 5 Broadway musicals
  • The Radio City Rockettes
  • And only 1 Santa Claus

Balloons

Some say the balloons are the highlight of the parade. With the largest balloons measuring 5 or 6 stories tall, they sure do make a statement. Snoopy, a well-loved character, has been in 38 parades, more than any other character. Each balloon requires 50 to 90 volunteer handlers and uses 300,000 to 700,000 cubic feet of helium. The minimum helium cost is $510,000, and notably, Macy’s is the world’s second-largest consumer of helium, trailing only the U.S. government.

The height at which the balloons can be flown is determined by a calculation of balloon size, volume of helium, gross weight and wind. Wind is the biggest concern when handling the balloons. While the narrow streets of New York City protect the balloons with predictable airflow most of the time, when a balloon approaches a street intersection, handlers must navigate unpredictable crosswinds that usually come from the west.

Construction

Floats and balloons are constructed at the Macy’s Parade Studio in Moonachie, N.J., where 26 sculptors, carpenters, metal workers and painters work year round. One float can take between four and nine months to go from sketch to completion. And a single float can include 100 to 200 pounds of glitter.

To get from New Jersey to New York City for the parade, balloons can be deflated for shipment. But floats must be constructed to collapse down to a width of 8.5 feet so they can fit through Lincoln Tunnel. And the preparations are more than just balloons and floats; about 700 new costumes are designed each year.

It’s Time for the Parade!

Balloons are inflated between 3 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Wednesday. Then, from midnight to 8 a.m., the floats are set up. Many spectators arrive before 6:30 a.m. to line up for a spot with the best view. In just two hours’ time, 200 costume fitters dress 2,000 balloon handlers, 400 kids, 300 float escorts and 900 clowns. The parade begins promptly at 9 a.m., following a 2.5-mile route that ends at the Macy’s storefront in Herald Square.

When It’s Over

After the parade ends, it takes just 15 to 20 minutes to deflate each balloon and pack it up for transport back to the warehouse. Costumes are packed into about 10 truckloads, and the laundering of these costumes will take about a month to complete.

But even before the parade is over, the work has begun on next year’s event. Marching bands are notified two years before their parade performance, with a representative taking a trip to the high schools and colleges to let them know in person.

Money and Costs

Macy’s, a company with annual revenues of more than $10 billion, is tight lipped about the total cost of the parade, but some of the expense is offset by having corporate sponsors for balloons and floats. Here’s what we know:

For new balloons, sponsoring companies pay $190,000, which includes construction and a parade fee. Repeat balloons cost sponsoring companies a $90,000 fee. Each float costs Macy’s approximately $30,000 to $100,000 to construct. The costumes that are in storage total $2 million in on-hand assets, including the custom-made outfits for Santa and Mrs. Claus. Broadway shows that performed in the parade saw a $300,000 jump in advance ticket sales after their parade performance.

Financial Roundup

Annual Costs

  • Helium: $510,000 minimum
  • Floats: $810,000 to $2.7 million
  • Property taxes: $138,573
  • Salaries: $51,433 is the salary for one studio coordinator
    (There are 26 full-time staffers working year-round on parade prep and construction)
  • = $1.5 million to $3.4 million

Assets

  • Studio in New Jersey: $6.9 million
  • Costumes: $2 million
  • = $8.9 million

Freebies

  • 4,000 Macy’s volunteers
  • Marching bands
  • Broadway performers
  • NYPD

A Look Back at Parade History Highlights

  • 1924: Although it took place on Thanksgiving Day, the first parade was called the “Macy’s Christmas Day Parade.” That first year included live animals like camels, goats, elephants and donkeys; horses pulled the floats. About 250,000 spectators attended.
  • 1925-1926: The parade added live lions, tigers and bears.
  • 1927: The name was changed to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The live animals were replaced by giant balloons because the animals frightened children. The first balloons included Felix the Cat, The Dragon, The Elephant and Toy Soldier.
  • 1933: This was the only year in parade history when Santa Claus led the parade instead of ending it. Also, it was the first year the parade was recorded on newsreel and then later screened in theaters.
  • 1942-44: The parade was cancelled because of World War II.
  • 1947: The movie Miracle on 34th Street was released, including the parade as a significant part of the plot.
  • 1948: The parade was telecasted for the first time by NBC.
  • 1957: The Radio City Rockettes appeared in the parade for the first time.

 

Sources:
http://fortune.com/2015/11/24/macys-thanksgiving-parade-numbers/
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/04/realestate/how-many-people-can-manhattan-hold.html
https://www.yahoo.com/news/secrets-of-the-macy-39-s-1303459097149494.html
http://www.wsj.com/articles/broadway-shows-battle-to-perform-during-macys-thanksgiving-day-parade-1448314024
http://time.com/money/4125880/macys-thanksgiving-day-parade-2015/
http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2014/11/macys-thanksgiving-day-parade-expert
http://www.businessinsider.com/what-are-the-macys-balloons-made-of-2015-11/…
http://time.com/money/4125880/macys-thanksgiving-day-parade-2015/
http://time.com/money/4125880/macys-thanksgiving-day-parade-2015/
http://www.nyctourist.com/macys_More_History.htm
http://people.howstuffworks.com/culture-traditions/holidays-other/macys-thanksgiving-day-parade2.htm
https://www.buzzfeed.com/keelyflaherty/facts-you-probably-never-knew-about-the-macys-thanksgivin
http://heavy.com/entertainment/2015/11/macys-thanksgiving-day-parade-facts…
http://gonyc.about.com/od/thanksgiving/tp/2011-Macys-Thanksgiving-Day-Parade.htm
http://mentalfloss.com/article/29284/how-are-balloons-chosen-macys-thanksgiving-day-parade
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/record-number-cops-will-guard-macys-thanksgiving-day-parade-n469961
http://www.blm.gov/nm/st/en/info/news_releases0/2015/august/fy16_helium_sale_and0.html
https://www.reference.com/science/difference-between-1-mcf-1-mmcf-natural-gas-8647efa637dbb147
http://www.realtytrac.com/property/nj/moonachie/07074/140-state-st-hm/145045089
https://www.glassdoor.com/job-listing/float-technician-thanksgiving-day-parade-seasonal-macy-s
https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Macy-s-Studio-Coordinator-Salaries-E1079_D_KO7,25.htm

 

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Cost Analysis of Your Favorite Movie Weddings

Whether it’s walking down the aisle in Princess Buttercup’s gown or getting an entire chorus to sing “All You Need Is Love” after your first kiss, you’ve probably dreamed of how your own wedding could be just like the ones in the movies. That got us thinking: How much would it cost to throw some of our favorite movie weddings?

 

For the full infographic, read on!

Ebates Movie Weddings Infographic

First off, we gathered estimates of how much the iconic weddings from our favorite movies would have cost in their respective time periods. In 19th-century Denmark, the wedding festivities of “The Little Mermaid” would’ve set you back approximately 43,297 krones, which is equivalent to $64,496. Vito Corleone’s wedding for his daughter in the 1945 film “The Godfather” was $46,730. Next, fast forward in time to 1987, when getting hitched in “The Wedding Singer” would’ve been $7,763. In 1991, the “Father of the Bride” would be shelling out $34,365 to get his daughter hitched. The “Kill Bill” wedding, in 1999, was a bargain at $500. Then again, they never really made it to the reception. The event all six seasons of “Sex and the City” was building toward in 2008 would’ve been $229,869. Saying “I do” in “I Love You, Man” in 2009 came out to $48,061. Perhaps our most expensive wedding is “The Princess Bride,” which took place in the Renaissance Era and cost 20,000 ducats, which is equivalent to just under $3 million!

The average cost of a wedding today in the United States, excluding the honeymoon, is approximately $32,642. Catering alone costs $68 per guest. With that figure in mind, let’s see how much each of the movie weddings would have cost based solely on the number of guests in attendance: “Kill Bill,” $748; “The Little Mermaid,” $5,100; “Meet the Fockers,” $6,936; “I Love You, Man,” $9,560; “The Graduate,” $9,656; “Father of the Bride,” $10,200; “The Wedding Singer,” $11,900; “It Happened One Night,” $12,376; “The Best Man,” $12,240; “The Princess Bride,” $14,960; “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” $16,320; “My Best Friend’s Wedding,” $16,864; “Wedding Crashers,” $20,400; “Love Actually,” $21,080; “Bridesmaids,” $21,800; “Sweet Home Alabama,” $24,840; “Sex and the City,” $30,600; and “The Godfather,” $37,400.

Next we compared where these weddings took place. In “Love Actually,” “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” “My Best Friend’s Wedding” and even “Kill Bill,” the couple decided to exchange vows the traditional way, in a church. The average cost to get married in a church, based on our movie wedding estimates, came out to $32,161.

Some of our on-screen couples decided to go no farther than their own backyards, as was the case with “It Happened One Night,” “Father of the Bride” and the memorable Corleone Estate of “The Godfather,” filmed on Staten Island. The average cost of the backyard weddings from our collection of films came out to $66,565.

Other movie weddings took place in unique locales, like “Sex and the City” in the New York Public Library or “Bridesmaids” in the scenic Los Angeles County Arboretum in Arcadia, California. We even learned from “The Little Mermaid” that the perfect place to marry a mermaid is on a ship. Our average cost for a movie wedding at a venue: $86,013.

So who actually made it down the aisle? Couples in “The Little Mermaid”; “The Godfather”; “Father of the Bride”; “My Best Friend’s Wedding”; “The Best Man”; “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”; “Love Actually”; “Meet the Fockers”; “Wedding Crashers”; “Sex and the City”; “I Love You, Man”; and “Bridesmaids” all were pronounced husband and wife. Meanwhile, fate or just cold feet halted couples in: “The Princess Bride,” “It Happened One Night,” “The Graduate,” “The Wedding Singer,” “Kill Bill” and “Sweet Home Alabama.”

What’s the worst way to crash a wedding, you may wonder? In “The Princess Bride,” it was dashing heroes coming in for the rescue, while assassins stopped the wedding and gave the bride something to avenge in “Kill Bill.” Perhaps the crasher we all remember is Dustin Hoffman’s character in “The Graduate,” banging on a glass panel, screaming, before escaping with the bride. Hopefully your wedding has a far better outcome — and it’s death that makes you part, not Dustin Hoffman.

 

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Source List

http://qz.com/228518/the-venerable-80-year-tradition-of-the-insanely-expensive-american-wedding/
http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/weddings/Weddings+Through+The+Decades-258745.html
http://www.bridalguide.com/planning/weddings-through-the-ages
http://celyn.drizzlehosting.com/mrwp/mrwed.html
http://www.seeing-stars.com/Locations/WeddingSinger.shtml
http://www.movie-locations.com
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0259446/locations
http://ir.xogroupinc.com/investor-relations/press-releases/press-release-details/2016/Wedding-Spend…
https://www.sovereignman.com/finance/why-dost-thou-whet-thy-knife-so-earnestly-8453/
http://www.apmex.com/spotprices/gold-price

 

 

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