I'm buying it for ME!!
Warning: There are NO pics is the following post...*evil laugh*.
This recently happened to me when I was browsing the toy aisle at TRU. In particular ,the Star Wars section. I was there with the missus and our daughter. As usual I would slowly drift away after a few mins of head nodding at the latest baby clothes and what-not.
Anyway, I was there admiring the new Star Wars Clone Turbo Tank. Totally immersed with the pics on the back of the box, reading it(aloud I think) when a kid, aged 6-8, came up to me. For the next bit I'll do a bit of dialogue because let's face it, I have too much free time today.
Kid: "Cool isn't it? Who are buying it for?"
Me: "Yeah, it's the coolest! I'm thinking of getting it for me"
Kid: (giving me the once-over from head to toe)"Are you going to play with it?"
Me: "Oh no, I don't do that anymore. I just collect them and display them"
Kid: "That's silly. How many Star Wars toys do you have?"
Me: "Quite a lot I think"
Kid: "That's silly because I like Star Wars and my Daddy never lets me get them. Well, maybe a few but not a lot. If I had a lot, I would play with them every day"
Me: "Well it's my money. So, get out of my face before I drop this box on your head"
Ok. I made up the last bit. Actually I just smiled and went off to another aisle. Then it got me thinking, the kid was right. Collectible or not it's a toy after all. Hasbro and other companies are Toy Makers. Their target audience are kids. Not us. Sure there are certain companies that cater to us so-called collectors. But for fans of the likes of Star Wars, G.I. Joe, Transformers, Marvel, just to name a few, their collections are basically toys made for the sole purpose of having a 6 year old running around the house or in the sand box making 'BOOM', 'SWOOSH', 'POW' noises. I sure did when I was 6.
So the dilemma in being a collector is that we are actually sharing the market niche with kids, not owning our own piece of the pie. No matter how much you complain, yours truly included, on your website regarding sculpt or articulation or paint app, do you really think it really matters to toy companies? While it seems through the existence of toy sites like OAFE, Toybender and Poe Ghostal that our numbers(collectors) are many, think again. Kids are still winning in numbers. Why do you think action figures consist of mainly the good guys(sometimes the same one in different 'forms') and not as balanced as we all hoped. Sure kids need a bad guy or two for their good guy to battle but its the good guy that excites them the most. Collectors on the other hand has a different perspective. We need more bad guys in our collection because we want to complete the set or at least balance out the forces of good vs. evil which has been at war on our shelves.
So how exactly do we justify collecting toys for the sole purpose of displaying it? There are and will always people who criticizes us. Mrs. Lobo sure did when I started and thankfully she has given up and have now on occasions been known to say "I think you don't have that in your collection". *GASP*. Moving on to the subject of justification it all depends on what age group you are. If you're like me, around 30-ish, I could always use the reason that 'I have always been an action figure collector, I just didn't have the disposable income back then'. If you're younger you could use the 'It's better I spend my allowance money on this than buying drugs' reason. LoL. Whatever your reason is, nothing will beat the 'It's my money, it's not illegal and what do you care?' in-your-face response. But if you think about it., why should we justify our hobby? They don't ask people who would...say collect stamps, fridge magnets or currency.
On a lighter note, I'm glad this trend is slowly growing in Brunei. Especially for those who have been in the game for a long time, they can now look for action figures IN Brunei instead of having to order it from abroad. To those who have started, I hope they can make use of local toy bloggers like Toyzstation, Marvel-Less Talk, Shewsbery Land, House of El and dozen others. Awareness of the existence of toy collectors has already been established thanks to the sites I've mentioned. The next step is to create a pool of resources where we can share information. Who knows one day we could have our very own Brunei Toy Con or Comic Con?
I apologize if my ranting has gotten somewhat sidetracked. My point to this whole story, of course there's a point, is the next time you come across an annoying kid like that, just lie and say it's for someone. A gift for a kid of his age perhaps. It'll drive them nuts.
This recently happened to me when I was browsing the toy aisle at TRU. In particular ,the Star Wars section. I was there with the missus and our daughter. As usual I would slowly drift away after a few mins of head nodding at the latest baby clothes and what-not.
Anyway, I was there admiring the new Star Wars Clone Turbo Tank. Totally immersed with the pics on the back of the box, reading it(aloud I think) when a kid, aged 6-8, came up to me. For the next bit I'll do a bit of dialogue because let's face it, I have too much free time today.
Kid: "Cool isn't it? Who are buying it for?"
Me: "Yeah, it's the coolest! I'm thinking of getting it for me"
Kid: (giving me the once-over from head to toe)"Are you going to play with it?"
Me: "Oh no, I don't do that anymore. I just collect them and display them"
Kid: "That's silly. How many Star Wars toys do you have?"
Me: "Quite a lot I think"
Kid: "That's silly because I like Star Wars and my Daddy never lets me get them. Well, maybe a few but not a lot. If I had a lot, I would play with them every day"
Me: "Well it's my money. So, get out of my face before I drop this box on your head"
Ok. I made up the last bit. Actually I just smiled and went off to another aisle. Then it got me thinking, the kid was right. Collectible or not it's a toy after all. Hasbro and other companies are Toy Makers. Their target audience are kids. Not us. Sure there are certain companies that cater to us so-called collectors. But for fans of the likes of Star Wars, G.I. Joe, Transformers, Marvel, just to name a few, their collections are basically toys made for the sole purpose of having a 6 year old running around the house or in the sand box making 'BOOM', 'SWOOSH', 'POW' noises. I sure did when I was 6.
So the dilemma in being a collector is that we are actually sharing the market niche with kids, not owning our own piece of the pie. No matter how much you complain, yours truly included, on your website regarding sculpt or articulation or paint app, do you really think it really matters to toy companies? While it seems through the existence of toy sites like OAFE, Toybender and Poe Ghostal that our numbers(collectors) are many, think again. Kids are still winning in numbers. Why do you think action figures consist of mainly the good guys(sometimes the same one in different 'forms') and not as balanced as we all hoped. Sure kids need a bad guy or two for their good guy to battle but its the good guy that excites them the most. Collectors on the other hand has a different perspective. We need more bad guys in our collection because we want to complete the set or at least balance out the forces of good vs. evil which has been at war on our shelves.
So how exactly do we justify collecting toys for the sole purpose of displaying it? There are and will always people who criticizes us. Mrs. Lobo sure did when I started and thankfully she has given up and have now on occasions been known to say "I think you don't have that in your collection". *GASP*. Moving on to the subject of justification it all depends on what age group you are. If you're like me, around 30-ish, I could always use the reason that 'I have always been an action figure collector, I just didn't have the disposable income back then'. If you're younger you could use the 'It's better I spend my allowance money on this than buying drugs' reason. LoL. Whatever your reason is, nothing will beat the 'It's my money, it's not illegal and what do you care?' in-your-face response. But if you think about it., why should we justify our hobby? They don't ask people who would...say collect stamps, fridge magnets or currency.
On a lighter note, I'm glad this trend is slowly growing in Brunei. Especially for those who have been in the game for a long time, they can now look for action figures IN Brunei instead of having to order it from abroad. To those who have started, I hope they can make use of local toy bloggers like Toyzstation, Marvel-Less Talk, Shewsbery Land, House of El and dozen others. Awareness of the existence of toy collectors has already been established thanks to the sites I've mentioned. The next step is to create a pool of resources where we can share information. Who knows one day we could have our very own Brunei Toy Con or Comic Con?
I apologize if my ranting has gotten somewhat sidetracked. My point to this whole story, of course there's a point, is the next time you come across an annoying kid like that, just lie and say it's for someone. A gift for a kid of his age perhaps. It'll drive them nuts.
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