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March 02, 2006
spawning of obsession
I might have mentioned in times past that I have an addictive personality. One aspect of that is that when I get into something I like, I *really* delve into it.
The latest case in point is after (finally) watching Batman Begins, I've been re-reading all of my Batman graphic novels and going to the web (where else) to check out what is the latest in Batman toys that are out there.
When I think about all the toys that I've had, I want to kick myself for not holding onto some of them. My parents actually got some toys for me that would be worth a fair amount of money (ok, they definitely weren't mint after I got through with them, but still!). I had a diecast toy of the Batmobile from the 1960s series. I also had quite a few 4" action figures from the 1980s set, and even was given the Batcave and the matching Batmobile to go along with that. I think one of the coolest Batman toys I had was a 12" figure that you could attach to a zipline and he'd grip it and slide right down it. Yep, I'm definitely not going to give Naomi grief if she wants to hold onto her toys as she gets older. (Except for stuffed animals, the house is too full of them as is.)
And now that I've returned to the web in search of the new kinds of toys that are out there, its amazing what they've come up with that were literally what I dreamed manufacturers would make when I was a kid. I'd play with my toys, make sad note of what they couldn't do, and think how cool it would be if they came out with toys that could. Its nice to know I wasn't the only one who lived that kind of life. Take the Batman action figures of my childhood, for instance. The ones that I played with as a child had no elbow joints and no knee joints. Poses? He could either march in a goosestepping fashion or look like he was flying, which Batman does NOT do. So after all these years, it was nice to hear that they finally came out with action figures that could actually pose well. The industry buzzword for this is POA or Points of Articulation. The more, the merrier, and the more poseable the figure will be. Back in the day, the Hasbro GI Joe figures were the pinnacle of articulation, especially after they introduced a cut joint in between the elbow and the shoulder, allowing for so many more arm poses. In recent years, Toybiz bought the Marvel license and proceeded to redefine articulation with its popular Marvel Legends series. I believe they are on like the 10th or more wave of characters, all of which can be put into a multitude of poses. And they are the hottest toy out there, snapped up by kids and adults alike.
So apparently what Hasbro did last year was actually come out with very poseable, or their word, "superposeable" Batman action figures. Exactly what would have loved playing with when I was a kid. Except they made one small error, they didn't actually end up selling them in the US. The stores at that time wanted action figures that tied in with the Batman Begins movie (which ironically started me on this latest obsessive jaunt) and they figured that the buying audience wouldn't go for just a "regular" Batman action figure. It doesn't matter that these were actually better toys, with a higher playbility factor. I can't speak for kids anymore, but I know that's what I looked for when I was a kid. Plus there is the growing audience of adults who collect toys (I wonder why that is?) that definitely recognizes things like poseability and quality manufacturing. So now I'm resorting to trolling on eBay for people who *were* able to buy these from places outside the US.
Now when am I ever going to find time to actually play with this stuff once I buy it?
Posted by spoof747 at March 2, 2006 04:07 PM