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Post by spymagician on May 28, 2004 7:21:05 GMT -5
What's a volt-in-box?
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Post by actarina on May 28, 2004 8:18:21 GMT -5
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Post by spymagician on May 28, 2004 9:42:36 GMT -5
Radical.
And you've figured out how to post pictures.
You are technically superior to me and hypnotator. have you seen 'Waking Life'?
And do you like the SOC Poseidon? It's a shame you aren't in the uk- It means you are not allowed to join the UK20 ( a semi-famous group of UK robot fans, of which there are 3 members.)
Cybermuton and hypnotator! When are we going to get together??
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Post by actarina on May 31, 2004 1:32:00 GMT -5
Sorry I already have my robotic boyfriend ;D But I'll always have time for my beloved UK..."my" London...I remember the nights at the LA2...mrWong...the Spread Eagle in Camden...    |
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Post by hypnotator on Jun 1, 2004 2:44:56 GMT -5
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Post by spymagician on Jun 1, 2004 2:57:10 GMT -5
It's nice.
If only I had a bit more disposable income...
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Post by hypnotator on Jun 1, 2004 7:21:04 GMT -5
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Post by spymagician on Jun 1, 2004 7:30:43 GMT -5
Ok - I'm keeping my beady eye on that one.
You will be the end of me, hypnotator. My girlfriend will kill me if she knows I'm spending joint-account money on toys.
(my account is empty, of course)
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Post by hypnotator on Jun 1, 2004 8:14:09 GMT -5
Of course Actarina should be allowed into the UK20, if she gives a damn. There aren’t 20 of us, so why should the UK bit apply? You certainly demonstrate more enthusiasm for our capital than I can muster, Actarina. I have come across a couple of other lady collectors but they were both Japanese, which is no surprise. A British lady robot collector would be a find, not that I’m looking for one for romantic reasons. I’m very happily married to a lovely lady who is very tolerant of glass cases.
Getting back to your question earlier in this thread, Spymagician, why do we love toys? What a question! Toys are my main topic of obsession so I have given this some thought, and there are many angles from which to approach this subject.
Why do children love toys? They play with them. Playing with toy trains and cars seems to be a kind of rehearsal for adulthood when we will deal with the real thing. Children aspire to be adults and so there is a kind of wish fulfillment going on too. With sci-fi action toys, the emphasis is greater on the wish fulfillment and less on the practical, however there is still an aspiration to be physically powerful (children aren’t) and to deal with what at least appears to the child’s mind as adult, important issues, such as whether the planet gets blown up or not. The action figure in particular requires the creation of a personality or the projection of the child’s personality into the toy.
Constructing imaginary situations seems to be very important to children. When we become adults, we are happy to have the imaginary situations created and controlled for us, in the form of movies and other entertainment. Perhaps we relinquish that control because we have more control in our own lives than children do.
But some of us don’t grow out of toys. I tried to give toys up when I was about fourteen and felt an increasing embarrassment with my obsession. I sold most of them, and became scared to enter toy shops in case I got laughed at. I can remember seeing a Hornetroid in a big supermarket, recognizing it from one of my last Micronaut catalogues and not even daring to approach it although I was dying to. It was a big stigma, at least in my own mind. By the time I was sixteen, I had enough adult confidence not to care what other people thought anymore and I started collecting again. What the heck for?
I believe that we are animals, governed almost entirely by our instincts to stay alive, keep warm, well fed, free from pain, protect our offspring, etc. Those of us in the “developed” world are pampered enough not to have to worry about these things most of the time, which leaves a vacuum for our busy minds to fill. This vacuum is filled with utter trivia, most of which is entertaining, competitive and/or materialistic. Most people get into the things they see everyone else around them getting into, like cars, sport, reality TV. I hate all that stuff and I can state quite categorically that my nerdy obsession with little plastic robots is infinitely superior. So there.
Action figures are related to dolls. Dolls fall into two categories: babies, which allow the child to role play at parenthood, and Barbie type dolls, which provide role play at other adult issues like relationships, materialism and vanity. An Action Man, G. I. Joe or Big Jim is similar, in that it provides role play for possible future careers like firefighting or the police. There is, however, a far greater cross-over into heroic and violent roles that the child is less likely to achieve in adulthood, like astronauts and secret agents. I would argue that this is at least partly indicative of the gender bias inherent in our culture, that boys are encouraged to aspire beyond the realistic in a way that girls aren’t. Of course, the world is changing, but the toy market is sales-governed so it tends towards the conservative.
A lot of toys aimed at the boy market are utterly grotesque. These are tailored to a different kind of role play. The prime example of this has to be the Aurora Monster Scenes series of model kits, which, although pretty tame by today’s standards, sparked their own witch hunt back in the ‘seventies. This was because they included instruments of torture along with a pretty female “Victim”. The manufacturers of this kind of toy usually argue, when pressured, that a child can channel negative emotions in a way that is ultimately beneficial. I don’t know about that, but I do believe that children have to learn at some point about death and all the nasty stuff. The main appeal for the child, in my opinion, is a sense of power over that which frightens them, as well as the power to cause revulsion in adults by showing them the toy.
These grotesque mannequins resemble the tribal totem or the voodoo doll in that they seek to represent or contain a fearsome creature or force as an effigy. This seems to be present in some form in most cultures. A good example in Christian culture would be the gargoyles on a church.
Coming at it from another angle, toys are a souvenir from childhood. Just as a holiday souvenir strengthens the experience of the holiday and keeps it tangible once it is over, so a vintage toy can represent a kind of defeat of the many years elapsed, one’s approaching age and rendezvous with the Grim Reaper. For me, the link with childhood is important, but it is not really a reason for collecting toys. I was always obsessed, far, far more than other kids, and so toys represent adulthood as much as childhood for me.
Finally, although I’m a happily hetero husband and father, I can’t ignore the nagging feeling that action figures and, in particular, Cyborg figures are a bit homoerotic. I’d probably better stop there before I become the site pariah. Please don’t hit me.
So, in a nutshell, these toys are a homoerotic, pseudo-empowering, wish-fulfilling, negative vibe-channeling, quasi-totemic denial of death and at the same time completely irrelevant.
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Post by spymagician on Jun 1, 2004 8:22:33 GMT -5
fantastic.
I especially like your summation.
I think you may have a book in you, hypnotator...
Anyone care to comment on that mini-thesis?
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Post by cybermuton on Jun 1, 2004 9:43:37 GMT -5
That'll take too long at this time!
But - back to cyborgs, I was in maharishi in Floral St today, and they're selling a custom neohenshin - the 'SidBorg' with a Sid Vicious head, and a hypodermic arm attachment.
Like the AfroBorg, but more English.
Toys and art mingling there, if you've got the £150.
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Post by waruderos on Jun 2, 2004 9:03:04 GMT -5
But some of us don’t grow out of toys. I tried to give toys up when I was about fourteen and felt an increasing embarrassment with my obsession. I sold most of them, and became scared to enter toy shops in case I got laughed at. I can remember seeing a Hornetroid in a big supermarket, recognizing it from one of my last Micronaut catalogues and not even daring to approach it although I was dying to. It was a big stigma, at least in my own mind. By the time I was sixteen, I had enough adult confidence not to care what other people thought anymore and I started collecting again. What the heck for? Remarkable. That is exactly the same situation I had, with the same toy line (later issue Micronauts series). We must be around the same age? (just turned 37). I eventually bought, & smuggled home a Terraphant (the box art over-rode my shame) and played with it for hours. I had no choice but to follow up with a Hornetroid... even had excuses lined up, in case I was seen by somebody I knew. I think that a 12-16 year old of the early 80's had a much harder time staying with ("collecting") toys. More things are accepted now...parents like myself even wish that kids liked toys just a little longer...it's a different world every day now. |
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Post by hypnotator on Jun 2, 2004 9:34:30 GMT -5
It’s a good job we weren’t at the same school, or we would have probably formed our own two-man geek club! I’ll be 38 next week and I’m for my birthday I’m getting…. Toys! Those couple of years between giving them up and starting again were tough. The Micronauts were long gone when I got back into it. My first new purchases as an adult were Action Force and a little cassette change robot and bird.
One of the things about Micronauts in the UK (where I live) was that they used the same catalogues as Mego but didn’t bring out all the figures, so we were left scrutinizing the tiny, blurred pictures (why did they blur them?) wondering what they might be like. When I saw that Hornetroid, it was one of the things I thought would never come out here. But I couldn’t even walk close to it and catch a glance. I wouldn’t give a damn these days, of course, but as you say, times have changed.
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Post by spymagician on Jun 10, 2004 7:30:22 GMT -5
www.vision55.com/sybocI haven't finished it yet- still not sure if it's a good enough idea. I need 2 more finished vehicles and 1 play-set. maybe a few de'luxe figures. does anyone know anything about approaching toy companies with concepts?
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Post by hypnotator on Jun 11, 2004 4:49:36 GMT -5
Well, Spymagician, you have been busy in your absence! I’m impressed. I like Harry the most I think. I also like the sketch of the one that looks like Android, but then I would, wouldn’t I? He’d look great with a clear dome head – is that what you intended? Out of the playsets, the escape pod looks good, and I like the rocket car. Are you familiar with the art of Giraud (Moebius) and Bode?
I’ve no idea how to go about getting them on the market. All I can suggest is that you copyright them, which you will have already done if you are wise, and then approach as many toy companies as you can find. Your presentation is very slick and I would suggest you post your designs on paper to companies as it is harder to ignore nice colour pictures than a web link.
Bets of luck,
Hippy
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Post by spymagician on Jun 11, 2004 5:19:49 GMT -5
So you think I should continue with this, Hypno?
The idea is that they should have cross-market appeal- ie - good playability for kids, and also a cult-ish look for adult collectors.
Yeah- I did intend to do a clear-head-guy. I originally intended an ecology/environmental slant - I wanted to do a geodesic-dome playset (a la Silent Running)
I have not copyrighted. Do you think someone will nick the ideas?
The graphics files will be dated at the time that I created them - will that stand up in court??
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Post by hypnotator on Jun 11, 2004 9:19:46 GMT -5
I think the risk of someone stealing your ideas is slight, but after all the work you have put in it would be a great shame. If I were a toy manufacturer, I would certainly peruse these websites to get an idea of what the toy buying public is into.
Regarding copyright, I was once told that you post your designs to yourself and don’t open them when they arrive. Then you have your designs in a sealed envelope stamped with a date by the royal mail that can be produced in court. Someone else told me that this is nonsense and won’t stand up in court. So you will have to look into this. You could try the Citizens’ Advice Bureau; it’s free but you have to be persistent.
I think you should pursue it but regard it as an interest or hobby until someone shows an interest, rather than be disappointed by any lack of interest. Britain is not the most toy-obsessed country so I suggest you cast your net worldwide. Japan is the robot toy capital of the world so I guess your greatest chance is there. Know anyone who can draft you a covering letter in Japanese?
Quite some time ago my brother and dabbled in self-published comics. We managed to get ourselves kicked off the Enterprise Allowance Scheme because the content was fairly offensive. My brother was the real talent and he sent stuff off to Fantagraphics, who publish a lot of the stuff we like. He got an encouraging letter saying they liked his work, what he had sent wasn’t good enough to publish but please would he send his next work. He worked hard on the next project, sent it off and heard nothing. Then he gave up. In retrospect, he should have at least tried a few other publishers. I suppose what I am saying is, if you are going to go for it, then try every company and leave no stone unturned.
Hippy
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Post by spymagician on Jun 13, 2004 9:33:47 GMT -5
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Post by hypnotator on Jun 14, 2004 4:14:25 GMT -5
Thanks for that, Spymagician. He is a nice Android but I'm just looking for the Kryptonator legs, the Hypnotator head, a torso/pelvis and a "greenie". This has it all but lots more too, and will probably go well over £100 by close of auction. I'll be keeping an eye on it, though.
That Turn A Gundam never got any bids; you could have had him for $20! I know how it is, though. When one has spent one's monthly quota, it's best not to even look at the net.
Hippy
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Post by spymagician on Jun 14, 2004 4:31:07 GMT -5
Wrong!
I emailed him and he accepted my 20USD offer just after the closing. (I don't think it is very good ebay etiquette to do this, but oh well)
This is all your fault, Hypnotator. When I eventually start getting the heat from my woman- I'll be directing her to your postings.
We're all in this now.
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