Action figures (and other toys)

Are you trolling? Sounds like a question someone might get all huffy about, but I’ll answer it (in my mind)… ‘dolls’ are figures you dress up and clothe, and articulation is possible but not necessary to its primary function of dressing up. Non articulated non-clothed figures/ dolls are ‘statues’. Whereas a non clothed doll with sculpted clothes are ‘figures’, and well articulated ones that can change pose are ‘action figures’. Things have gone a bit blurry though, since a lot of action figures now have sculpted but removeable clothes/vests hats etc.

Anyhoo one year since I posted my cabinet and now I have tons of transformers, some Hasbro hiding under the shelf, but mostly third party Chinese-designed Legends-size. You can see they’re the same height as Joes which is great since they fit in my shelf much easier than the larger official ones, and they’re based on the original toy/cartoon instead of some of the garish Hasbro re-imaginings… I actually have a few more since this pic was taken. These transformers are totally action figures since they’re so poseable, and they transform to boot (the pieces are so small!)

New photo by Michael Brunet

huh… seems like my vertical photo is getting cropped horizontal? At least on my browser. Weird.

Yes, I’m trolling.

Yay, I’m a year older and got Thanos. I really like the detail on him. I just wish he was as big as the hulk figure.

Wonder what I’ll get for Christmas…

Nice. I like those Diamond figures. They have a good solid feel and good sculpts.

I thought of this thread a couple of weeks ago. While in Florida, my girlfriend and I went into a huge antique store. As with many like it, it was divided up into small themed mini areas, like rooms where a particular type of thing could be grouped together: chinaware, crystal, old kitchen stuff, war memorabilia, etc. I wandered off away from my girlfriend and happened to walk into a cubby dedicated to action figures. In it was the largest collection of 1970s and 1980s action figures I had ever seen. Tons of them. In just Star Wars alone it looked like they have every early figure as well as vehicles made for that time. The same for quite a few other space based shows of the time. And while I marveled at it, one nagging thought hit me. It’s in an antique store. This was probably one lucky souls entire collection.

And I spent quite a bit of time after that wondering what happened. Did they pass away and someone sold all that to the antique store? Why did they suddenly stop collecting things after the 1980s, or was that a rule within the store to not put those on display? How on earth did someone keep such a large collection so pristine for so long? On and on I wondered. It left me a little sad afterward, something so loved, now sitting in a store in the middle of a small town, without the love it once had.

For what it’s worth, the store was in Fernandina Beach, Florida. Sadly I don’t remember the name of the store.

Very moving little vignette. I sometimes feel melancholy about all my books and toys I have displayed in my basement office/lair. Without kids, and no relatives old or young who have any interest in anything like these things, I suspect that one day it’ll all end up in a landfill.

I lost a ton of my older things as my family moved around while I was young. The later items from High School and onward were lost about a decade ago when my parents basement (all storage) flooded during a really bad storm in their area. So seeing things like that really get to me, I lost my bond with my stuff so long ago. Someone took really good care of those things. They should be held by a larger collector somewhere who will continue to cherish them. Then again, like you said, once you’re gone, things like that go to people who don’t know what to do with them.

My girlfriend even remarked that I seemed lost in there while looking at that old stuff. I was. I was lost in my own memories as well as thinking of what that had meant to someone else.

Heh, I moved 26 times before I was 18. I never had any roots, or any stuff I carried with me. The only thing I’ve toted around more or less consistently are some books dating back to grad school mostly, and stuff I’ve accumulated in the last 20 years living where I am now. I don’t really have much attachment to stuff as stuff, but I hate throwing useful things away and I hate thinking that cool stuff won’t have a good home.

Found it. Eight Flags Antique Market. Someone snapped an older pic near the area where I was standing. It’s probably only 1/5 of what was there, so you can see the tail end of the Star Wars section, with the Hoth ice base and large X-Wing above as well. In other cases were all the original characters, many still boxed, Space 1999, original Battlestar Galactica, Alien and several other science fiction themed statues, and action figures. Based on the older picture here where they are on sale, I’m really thinking it was one estate they got that all from and they just want to move it.

My kids interest in my collection is zero. Maybe a grandchild will want them when I’m gone, but I suspect they won’t be in a good condition by then.

This sort of thing is good for me, because it helps keep me healthy about what these things actually are worth.

I used to have much more of a collection/attachment to physical things mindset.

I think it is healthy to know that their value is just in your head. They really are just things. If you get something from them, great. But it is was too easy for me to fall into possessing things just to possess them. I have felt much better after throwing out a ton of stuff like 80s and 90s computer games, etc.

Things that just sit somewhere don’t really do anything for me anymore. A few things that I really appreciate (I’m not sure I would call them art, but I just like them), but by and large, I enjoy not having the clutter or just things pointlessly sitting around.

Merry Christmas to me.

Lego Bastion (in turret mode).

My money is on the cat.

Cats are cold-blooded murderers.

And yet, so fluffy, too!

Hasbro’s Overwatch figures are out. Comparable to the Marvel Legends line in scale and detail, I picked up Lucio.

He looks great, but the articulation is pretty disappointing in the legs. I know his bulky design is a challenge, but his knees basically only lock in one of two positions, straight and about a 30° bend.

I will still buy a figma Lucio in a heartbeat if they ever release one, the articulation should be much better on one of those. Just don’t know if they’ll ever get around to him.

I was really tempted to get the Reinhardt figure just because of the awesome size, he’s nearly double the size of Lucio, as he should be. Anyway, here are some Lucio pics (the stand was not included).

The URL says “clothed” but I wonder if they have unclothed variants:

https://clarktoys.com/the-golden-girls-set-4-8-clothed-figures-by-neca/

I would assume there is such a variant for Blanche.

I keep buying stuff.