Kids Prefer Boxes/Playing With

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Basic Trope: A character opens a box containing something valuable, but prefers the box instead.

  • Straight: Jason opens a birthday present containing a Super Megaroid X-11 Spaceship, then tosses it aside and starts playing with the box.
    • Janet opens up her Christmas gift to find a Super Deluxe Barbie, but decides that the nice packaging is better.
  • Exaggerated: Jason opens a birthday present containing a Super Megaroid X-11 Spaceship, then kicks it to the curb and calls the box the coolest gift he's ever received.
    • Janet takes her Super Deluxe gold plated, ultra rare Barbie doll to the dumpster and proceeds to constantly play with the box non stop.
  • Justified: Jason has a box fetish.
  • Inverted: Jason gives boxes as presents to his friends.
  • Subverted: Jason squeals with delight at the box, since he can use it as a Cool Garage for the Super Megaroid X-11 Spaceship.
    • Janet can use the box for a house for her Barbie.
  • Double Subverted: Jason spends so much time decorating the box to be a suitable Cool Garage that he forgets to take the Super Megaroid X-11 Spaceship out of its packaging.
    • Janet decides that she likes playing with the dollhouse more and uses her old dolls instead.
  • Parodied: Kids everywhere around the world ask their parents/family/friends/SantaClaus for boxes as gifts.
  • Deconstructed: After Jason ignores the Super Megaroid X-11, his parents decided to give him boxes as presents in the future.
  • Reconstructed: Jason is ecstatic that his parents keep showering him with more boxes to play with.
  • Zig Zagged: ???
  • Averted: Jason loves all of his gifts, and leave the boxes for his parents to clean up.
  • Enforced: The show's producer is a Child-Hater who wants to demonstrate the vapidity and ungratefulness of children.
  • Lampshaded: Jason's grandfather notes that Kids Prefer Boxes must be some kind of universal law of parenting.
  • Invoked: Jason's uncle Troper gives him socks inside a gigantic, ornate box.
  • Defied: Jason's parents forbid him from receiving gifts for personal reasons.
    • Jason's parents give him his present without a box.
  • Discussed: "You know Jason's going to ignore that fancy toy of yours and play with the box instead."
  • Conversed: "Since it's a kid's birthday party on a sitcom, you can bet he'll ignore the biggest present and go for the box instead."

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