Loading ...
Poe’s Point > Toy collectors got no reason to live
I realize I’m posting this largely just to provoke some lively discussion–feel free to also discuss whether this makes me a troll on my own site or not. But in reading the comments on Topless Robot’s post about the Wonder Twins packaging, I came across this incredibly pointed attack on toy collectors. It’s notable because the writer, “ZeroCorpse,” spends a lot of ink really going for the throat here.
While everyone’s entitled to their opinion, I’m going to examine this one line by line.
There are reasons I’m not a toy collector. The biggest is that this is ultimately a waste of money, and not the “investment” most collectors will say it is.
“Investment”? “Most collectors” I know open every toy they get. While some collectors of, say, vintage Star Wars toys might look at them as an investment, I think it’s safe to say the majority of toy collectors these days have no intention of getting rich off them in the long term. The only people making money of toy collecting these days are scalpers who buy the toys in stores and immediately sell them to collectors on eBay who will probably open them once they receive them.
The second is that, while I am a geek, I’m not such a man-child that I still collect action figures. The whole point of action figures was to play with them. Collecting them and leaving them in a box, on a shelf in your home, is the sort of thing that makes people refer to you as “socially awkward” (and that’s being nice).
While some of the fellow toy collectors I know personally are a bit nerdy, I can think of at least one who’s a sports-loving, beer-drinking dude, complete with a man-cave, a keg-erator, Playboy mags in the bathroom and a shelf full of toys–oh, and a wife, in case you were wondering. He’s also one of the most outgoing guys I know.
It’s in the same category as cosplay, in my book. There’s geeky, and then there’s “too far”, and being in your 30s or older and collecting every new action figure on the market is “too far” for me.
What toy collector collects every toy on the market? Most of us collect one or two specific lines, often for nostalgic value.
If you want to collect statues, then collect real statues; Not mass-produced plastic figures. Yes, some of them are well-sculpted. Yes, some of them are very cool. But they’re not classy. They’re childish, and you can’t display them in your home without looking like a social reject.
Not classy? Frank Sinatra collected model trains. Hell, he had an entire building devoted to his toy trains.
I try to straddle the line between “geek” and “capable of being somewhat respected by non-geeks”, and while I am, indeed, very geeky… Well, I’ll never be geeky enough to have this toy sitting on a shelf in my home.
Besides, I’d almost say that toy collecting goes past “geek” into “spaz” territory.
“Spaz”? What does that even mean? My understanding of a “spaz” is someone who’s constantly hyped up and restless, which doesn’t have anything to do with whether or not they collect action figures. Unless you’re going with some sort of archaic 1980s Square Pegs understanding of “spaz,” in which case I can only assume you’re a woman in her late thirties.
It’s a cool toy… But it’s still a toy and I wouldn’t buy it unless it was to tear open the box and let my nephew play with it. Anyone who gets toys and doesn’t play with them is going against the very CONCEPT of what toys are made for!
As someone else in the comments thread on Topless Robot posted, are you sure you’re on the right website, ZC?
Toys are just one more thing people collect, like Hummels or cookie jars or collectible plates or baseball cards or thimbles or stuffed animals or little plastic football helmets or DVDs or cars or artwork. The only people who care about what people collect, and label them “childish” or otherwise, are those who, for some reason, feel the need to give people a hard time for something that makes them happy.
Also: here’s Paul of toy Bender’s take on the same topic.
Posted: July 10, 2009 in Poe's Point
Share:
permalink
Return to the main page »
« Webstor pops up on eBay | Archives | Wheeljack screws the pooch on the Dinobots »
This item has 61 comments (now closed):
RageTreb
07.10.2009 8.53
I’m pretty sure this guy’s a troll. He’s posting on fucking Topless Robot, for Christ’s sake.
In any case, the stereotypes regarding toy collecting are almost never true in my experience. Most collectors I’ve met aren’t MOC collectors and often have a wife and kids.
Motorthing
07.10.2009 8.55
Where to start…?
Ah yes. Zerocorpse is a fucking moron.
That’s better.
There’s trolling and there’s just being the kind of dickweed that get’s off on how much flame they can generate – and this idiot has a history of hanging around TR for precisely that reason.
Anyone that has to justify just where on a scale of Nerdyness he thinks he is is more than “socially awkward”……and as for realising that “respect” from non-geeks isn’t something most people on Sci-Fi/toys boards give a rats ass about…well honestly where do you start with that?
Enough, next!
jestergoblin
07.10.2009 8.56
hell, i only actively collect Superhero Squad and I’m almost 24.
Yeah, I only collect toys designed for 3 year olds.
The whole “Toys as investment” is total crap. Sure, I’ve made some serious money off action figures (not scalping, more of financial troubles came up, so goodbye marvel legends). But anyone who collects action figures as an investment, there are much better returns in the market place.
Oh and Poe, just post this over at TR.
Dead Man Walking
07.10.2009 9.06
This guy is a huge dork in his own way. I wouldn’t even waste my time rebutting his “arguments.”
VinMan
07.10.2009 9.08
I buy toys and I play with them. If I am a geek or a spaz then so be it…
Poe
07.10.2009 9.13
@DMW: Yeah, but it was fun. I didn’t know about the Sinatra thing until today. I thought to myself, “Who’s undeniably classy?” then did a search to see if he collected anything weird. And lo and behold, toy trains.
nerdbot
07.10.2009 9.50
This d-bag needs to read Richard Feynman’s “What Do You Care What Other People Think?”
“I try to straddle the line between “geek” and “capable of being somewhat respected by non-geeks””
Sounds like he’s trying hard to be cool. Which is so not cool.
nerdbot
07.10.2009 9.52
@jestergoblin: Enjoy your last 6 years of socially acceptable toy collecting!
clark
07.10.2009 10.08
Chances are, ZC knows a toy collector and doesn’t realize it. It’s obvious why somebody would not openly share that with him, though.
jestergoblin
07.10.2009 10.21
@nerdbot oh i will. now if you’ll excuse me i need to go make explosion noises as batman, leonardo and spider-man fight shredder, megatron and apocalypse in the technodrome.
*BOOOOOOOOOMSSSSSSSSSSSSSKRRRR*
finkrod
07.10.2009 11.10
Wow, this guy must be super classy to be hanging around on Topless Robot. I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t expend this much mental energon on subjects I claim not to be interested in. I don’t while away my valuable time on NASCAR websites explaining to fans how the sport they enjoy is not classy. Very silly and indicative of entirely too much time on ones hands.
Templar
07.10.2009 11.27
Hah! POE, your Square Pegs / SPAZ /”woman in your late 30′s” rebuttal was golden, LOL! As for ZC, I feel sorry for this creature – attacking the joys of collecting toys & figures ( he may be jealous that we easily share that joy ??).
It isn’t supposed to be “classy”, however he defines that term. It’s supposed to be cool & at least reasonably accessible to fanboys from all walks of life – hence the term POPular Mainstream Culture……Sure, most of us will never be as classy or as rich as Sinatra was, but he’s proof that you don’t have to be labeled a geek or of a certain age to enjoy collecting something you’d be passionate about – which in the end is NOBODY’s BUSINESS anyway….
Scott
07.10.2009 11.28
“I can think of at least one who’s a sports-loving, beer-drinking dude, complete with a man-cave, a keg-erator, Playboy mags in the bathroom and a shelf full of toys–oh, and a wife, in case you were wondering.”
Wow. I wonder who’s wife lets him keep Playboy mags in the bathroom?
Sorry. Someone had to ask.
finkrod
07.10.2009 11.46
@Poe: Who the hell buys Playboy? Is this guy in his 70s? It’s ‘Gigantic Asses’ or nothing for me.
Poe
07.10.2009 11.47
@Scott: No comment.
jestergoblin
07.10.2009 11.50
these comments got weird fast.
Philip Reed
07.10.2009 11.51
Only one or two lines? Hell, I don’t collect _any_ lines. I just pick up the individual toys that look especially neat (or weird).
And yeah, I think that guy was poking around the wrong site.
Am I a geek? Sure, if anything my job proves that. Am I unable to interact with society? I don’t think so.
americanhyena
07.10.2009 11.59
Speakings of reasons to live
I know you’re letting go of the DCUC line Poe, but you mentioned you’d gotten your Superman/Brainy set on the FE boards the other day and I was wondering if you were still gonna cover that one since you’ve got it?
Paul
07.10.2009 12.00
Hey Poe, you should link to my article that I did like this!
http://www.toybender.com/toy-collecting-is-for-losers-defending-toy-collecting/
Scott: My wife probably would.
Poe
07.10.2009 12.00
@AmericanHyena: Yep–in fact I may be able to get that out later today.
Wes
07.10.2009 12.00
I’ve got no reason to live and am unable to interact with people in society, but it has little to do with toys. Toys and other amusements are kinda like the morphine drip that somewhat diminishes my pain as I lie on my deathbed.
The Flash III
07.10.2009 12.02
Am I particularly proud of the fact I collect action figures? No.
When first meeting someone, is inviting them to check out my collection the first thing I do? Of course not.
But I do enjoy them for whatever reason and I don’t think it’s any weirder than collecting stamps or first edition books, or Japanamation DVDs. Life is short and you should do what makes you happy (within reason, of course!).
That guy just wants attention; saying something like that on Topless Robot is pretty obvious.
Santo
07.10.2009 12.21
im socially awkward , but i don’t like sports , drink alcohol or sleep around…so the toy collecting is just an added bonus…my best friend gives me shit about toy collecting , but this is a guy who drops 20$ a week on comic books …so i’ve yet to figure out why it gets to him
americanhyena
07.10.2009 12.35
Yay! Brainiac goodness!
And I don’t know about you guys but most “normies” tend to have joygasms when they come over and see my collection.
Mark
07.10.2009 12.49
I don’t drink and I don’t smoke so I have the money to buy for my collection. I have many other interests and hobbies, Art, music, sports, ….in fact it was through those other hobbies I got back into collecting Transformers and MOTU and met a few others that also collect.
izdawiz
07.10.2009 12.54
This guy is probably very into social acceptance and thinks that people who don’t tailor their behavior to societal norms isn’t “cool.”
Ronald Reagan had a entire basement devoted to toy trains and people thought he was cool enough to be President.
Green Ring Guy
07.10.2009 13.03
@Mark, Collecting action figures is my booze and drugs! It’s something of a less deadly high.
@The Flash III I always have my door closed when people are over and only when I know it’s for extended periods do I pick up my action figures from the floor, otherwise leave em there, cause it’s play time!
This guy really sounds like he’s going through withdrawls and is lashing out at people for his loss. We all deal with it separately so let’s allow him to grieve.
*bows head*
Toy Bender » Blog Archive » Contest Winners and Links
07.10.2009 13.59
[...] Poe Ghostal put up a neat article in response to some anti-toy collecting jerk in Topless Robot’s comments section. You should [...]
Toy Bender » Blog Archive » The Ultimate Guide Contest Winner and Links
07.10.2009 13.59
[...] Poe Ghostal put up a neat article in response to some anti-toy collecting jerk in Topless Robot’s comments section. You should [...]
Kaiyodo
07.10.2009 16.41
I just post this over TR, this is the first time i do it here as in TR (since english is not mi first language dont feel to motivated), but the article was so good and i fell tottaly identificated:
“Great piece of a master works here. People like these girl are ignorants hipocratics morons that try so hard to keep up with what society said is correct or incorrect, that end living their pathetic lives trough someone else preconcept style, even if it fits them or not. Im an 26 year old anthropologist, with a wife, and friends (some toy collectors, others sporters, others bohemians or gamers, almost all professionals) geek? IAM; and also like travel adventures, had live betwen ethnics groups on the hearth of amazonic jungle and i have came to realized that people are in fact really complicated cultural beings, you cant judged them for the fact they collect toy as far by their culture or ways of living. mostly of toy collectors i know are married and have succesful profesionals life and are great parents…what these jerks from digg do???
they are just an example of how prejudice, irracional and scare people is from everything else doesnt match their social standards that are equally wrong since their conceptions.
The world is huge, humans are complicated, not every one is the same and it doesnt have to be..
misterbigbo
07.10.2009 17.39
Poe, does Chief know you’ve invoked him as defender of the masculine toy collector? I’m never going to hear the end of this. . . And a smart man never touches the skin mags in another man’s toilet.
As for this post, what a douche. Obviously frustrated in his desire to still collect toys. Maybe some day he’ll grow up and realize he can do whatever he wants, regardless of what society (whoever the hell that is) deems appropriate.
Poe
07.10.2009 17.50
@MBB: Well, I avoided mentioning Chief’s two pugs, or the photo of him wearing the Baby Bjorn with one of the pugs in it…
Ant
07.10.2009 21.39
allow me to just say: what a fuckin ASSHOLE.
Monty Python
07.10.2009 22.11
I think this guy’s only exposure to toys collectors is 40 Year Old Virgin.
That movie was hilarious, but it’s really all a lot of people know about toys collectors and the hobby of toys collecting, and it’s given us a bad rap.
And really, only a VERY smallperce3ntage of us are like that. The nerdiest guy I know (A zookeeper at the zoo I volunteer at), who does collect toys, is covered in tattoos and plays in a heavy metal band. He’s pretty much the exact opposite of the stereotypical toy collector.
izdawiz
07.11.2009 0.37
Regarding 40-yr-old virgin.
Lemme ask this, has collecting toys ever helped anyone get laid?
Cuz I started collecting only after getting married and having a kid, but I can see why single guys might not want to advertise their toy habits to prospective mates.
I’d imagine it would take a really cool chick to stay interested in a guy with a toy collection.
Poe
07.11.2009 0.38
Which is why I’m married to a really cool chick.
izdawiz
07.11.2009 0.38
Women like that should be celebrated. My wife is the best, but I doubt she’d go for a Futurama cake topper at the wedding.
izdawiz
07.11.2009 0.39
Yeah, but Poe, you’re a suave, good-looking guy with a prestigious background. I’m not sure you really count.
izdawiz
07.11.2009 0.41
You have to admit that lots of us toy collectors tend to be on the dorkey side.(yes there are lots of exceptions)
Ant
07.11.2009 3.23
on the topic of women: i dont do this to get laid, and i dont see who would. one’s sex life shouldnt be a reflection of their hobby, nor vice versa. ones status romantically i think factors so little in this hobby it’s not funny. we’re all from various walks of life, we all acknowledge that, so i dont see the link between sex and action figures. the myth that all ‘nerds’ and ‘geeks’, those interested in sci fi, comics and fantasy are all sex-free is just that: a myth and a stereotype, and i think it’s an erroneous assumption that women dislike men who partake in these hobbies. am i married or in a relationship? no, and i think my luck with women has more to do with me being an insufferable prick than it does with my beloved hobby or my interests. i think linking sexual success with personal interests and hobbies is silly and irrelevant in this context.
Fengschwing
07.11.2009 8.28
I’m 35 years old, very happily married with two great kids. I collect comics and actions figures, which I open and yes, play with.
I consider my self reasonably well adjusted and happy.
Everyone has their right to make their opinions known and I would defend that right to the nth degree.
Of course, that means that I havethe right to make my own opinion known also and it’s currently that Zerocorpse is a shit eating clown.
izdawiz
07.11.2009 12.45
I’m not saying that anyone collects toys to get laid, I’m just saying that it may have the opposite effect on lots of women because it isn’t considered “cool” by society at large.
I was just thinking about what is considered cool and I think it pretty much linked to being considered attractive enough to attract a mate. Think of all the things that have been considered cool or are considered cool. Wearing pants that are five sizes too large and you have to hold them up in order to walk, immediately springs to mind. Drinking until you vomit. Polyester. Disco Dancing. Pretending like you are a polo playing prep school kid. Urban cowboy Cowboy hats and huge belt buckles. Liking Michael Jackson. Do those things and you’ll be considered popular at some point by someone.
Collect toys? You have no reason to live.
I remember a girlfriend in college who was mortified when I told her I considered myself a nerd. She kept adamantly insisting I wasn’t.
I think it all stemmed from her need to be considered “cool,” which is a need I don’t think I’ve ever really had. Had I been a toy collector at the time, I think all I would have to have done is point to my collection as irrefutable proof of my nerdiness and there would have been no argument. I’m also thinking a lot of other girls would have probably automatically written me off as well, due to the stereotypes.
izdawiz
07.11.2009 12.51
Anyway, what zerocorpse is trying to do is convince us that unless you subscribe to society’s current definition of cool, you have no reason to live.
That’s pretty pathetic isn’t it?
I guarantee you that one of these days it will be cool not to be cool and the nerds will be raking in all the chicks. (we can dream can’t we?)
Then Zerocorpse will be automatically disqualified because he collects statues and not toys, which will make him too cool to be cool.
DrNightmare
07.11.2009 13.29
I don’t think arguments like “toys are for dummiez” even matter, people who collect things like toys are going to tend to attract and have friends with similar interests, so why would the average toy-collector even care what a non-toy-collector thinks about their hobby?
I sure don’t go yelling at people about how many music CDs they have, just live and let die, man.
Chief
07.11.2009 13.52
Well, I do love football and porno and books about war. I’m not an avid toy collector but I do pick up anything that strikes my interest. I have a set room for my proudly displayed toys as well as guitars and anything else that might not fit in the main part of my house. I am quite possibly the farthest thing from “socially awkward”. It’s a hell of alot easier on my budget to collect cool looking $5-$20 action figures than $50-$300 statues that this prick is talking about. I was kind of personally offended. And MBB is right, he will never hear the end of this, Thanks Poe
Poe
07.11.2009 14.58
Thanks for stopping by, Chief. And you’re welcome.
dayraven
07.12.2009 0.22
the problem w/ dicks like this guy is thanks to the internet, i don’t get to remove parts of his anatomy. these kinds of odious self-loathers are the kind of trash i used to love to take out. and i’m a cripple!! and i’d still run my cane so far up this guy’s chocolate highway he’d taste the rubber foot.
there’s trollhood and i think this guy drove right over that cliff into Jackassville.
Monty Python
07.12.2009 1.51
Izdawiz: You just have to find a girl who’s open to your hobbies (If she isn’t, she’s just not right for you anyways) or is into this stuff herself.
izdawiz
07.12.2009 13.31
@ Monty
Well I’m very happily married so I’m not asking for myself, per se, but just out of general curiousity.
@ Poe
And since when did watching porno become the mark of a real man? Real men used to go out and conquer real women, now they just sit on their couch and watch telegenic prostitutes ply their trade?
That’s just sad…
Poe
07.12.2009 13.43
@Iz: Hey, I didn’t bring up porn! That was Chief. Don’t look at me.
Unless you’re counting Playboy as porn. I suppose that makes sense, but these days I feel like Playboy is really just a more honest version of Maxim compared to what’s available on the Internet.
izdawiz
07.12.2009 16.26
Playboy doesn’t count. The only person I know that has Playboys in their house is a 72 year old and most of them appear to be at least 30 years old.
No Playboy is downright quaint now-a-days. I’m old fashioned, but not old fashioned enough to consider it porn.
I’m talking about modern day porno-junkies.
Since when did it become socially acceptable for people to declare their love for porn? Or to wear a “pornstar” shirt? Or advertise that your bum is “JUICY” if you’re a pre-teen schoolgirl? Why does every no-talent Paris Hilton wannabe have to release a porn tape before the media will pay attention to their press releases?
I don’t wanna know what kind of porn anyone enjoys or don’t enjoy and I don’t wanna see the Porn Awards televised on Showtime.
Porn should be a dirty secret and porn-junkies need to slink around like the pale, hollow-eyed operverts of old.
Otherwise what fun is it?
izdawiz
07.12.2009 16.33
Sorry about the typos. Some of the keys on my keyboard are kinda sticky…
Mark
07.12.2009 18.09
In all seriousness we do need to know when it gets a bit obsesive. I had 3 wardrobes almost full of stuff. I had a massive Transformers collection, near complete Thundercats collection, loads of MOTU, full Bravestarr figure collection, box of G.I. Joe toys, drawer of gobots, couple of boxes of Star Wars figures, several Japanese robots from Macross and Voltron etc. The problem was I had too much cool stuff and couldn’t display it, I had forgot about the cool stuff I had as it just got pilled in a wardrobe and forgot about gathering dust. I am pretty much in the mindset now that less is more. I only want toys that I actually like or am sentimentally attached to…not because they did this in episode such and such or this and that in the comics etc. When I started collecting a couple of years ago in college it was just purely for the purpose of getting a couple of the cool ones I did not have in my collection when I was younger. I admit I went over board (thanks to eBay) and bought all I wanted and then some. That is why I have been having a massive clearout. At least I have made over £1,000. Collecting didn’t affect my social life but it messed up my priorities. I didn’t have alot of money saved when I was in college and I remember having to make the decission if I should spend my £15 on Transformers Hotrod or go and see Sepultura…..lets just say I made the wrong choice. At least now I can can display my collection a bit better instead of it being boxed away. I can also boast that I have owned every Transformers toy I ever really wanted except Overlord, Sunstreaker and Trypticon….when I finish clearing out I might get them LOL not as to say I won’t have the room.
izdawiz
07.12.2009 20.12
Collecting can definitely be an outlet for obsessive tendencies.
When it ceases to become a source of joy and becomes one of consternation, then it needs to stop.
I know someone who had a huge Star Wars collection then sold it all when it ceased to make him happy. Then he assembled a HUGE complete Marvel legends and Marvel toy collection and then he sold those at a HUGE loss.
What’s the point?
But I think that if something brings you joy and doesn’t hurt anyone else, who cares whether anyone else thinks it’s cool or not, right?
Chief
07.12.2009 20.44
@ Iz, the “Football…porno….books about war” line was a Dennis Leary joke. It wasn’t meant to be the ingredients to a Real Man. Poe is kind of right though, the stereotypical “Guys Guy” is a beer drinking, sex having, sports loving, handy around the house, guy. I do cover all of those as well as reading comics and collecting cool looking action figures.
izdawiz
07.12.2009 20.56
My bad. I stopped paying attention to Dennis Leary right around the first Ice Age.
izdawiz
07.12.2009 21.01
That has me thinking about the best things out of Boston.
1) Baked Beans
2) Comedians (Leary, Stephen Wright, etc.)
3) The Patriots
4) The Celtics
5) Haaahvaaard…
6) “Cheers” was set there.
7) Filene’s Basement (according to my wife)
ayak
07.12.2009 22.48
What can I say, one man’s junk is another man’s treasure, to each his own… where the hell did this asshole get off telling people how it is? get a life asshole… collecting, wether they be toys, playboy mags, cars, whatever, they’re not just hobbies, they ARE passion.
Dark Angel
07.13.2009 11.49
I gotta say…this really doesn’t upset me. The whole rant reads to me like someone who has far more issues with their own self image than I care to get into, and I just feel sorry for him.
“Lemme ask this, has collecting toys ever helped anyone get laid?”
I once had to trade sex in exchange for the return of my Tauron Shaman, does that count?
…yeah…it’s a long story…
izdawiz
07.13.2009 15.49
Lemme guess, a breakup was involved…
Was the Shaman worth it?
DankOne
07.17.2009 16.16
Well seems to me this one is jealous. Maybe someone made fun of their body part collection. Seriously, I sound to me like somebody needs to look into the mirror and look at ones own issue before casting the hate towards toy collectors. I’m a pretty happy person and I’m ok with who I am! I still play with my friggin toys! Being almost 37 ain’t gonna stop me. I drink beer… I make my own Beer. I’m married and have my own home bar, pay my bills and go out with my friends the opposite of awkward. Unless you count my ability to drink to much tequila and punish the bushes with my Vomit Power! That can be awkward.
Sure it’s cool nowadays to be a “GEEK” but I’ll be willing to bet many of us were geeked out way before you emo band worshiping greesy hair women’s jean wearing types were were still in diapers.
May you fall into a pool of 1,000,000 legos!!
Ok I feel better now!