A few months back, my friends Dave and Jenn came over to our apartment with their three-year-old son, Aaron. Dave and Jenn both are geeks, though Jenn moreso than Dave. Aaron is just about that age where action figures start to get interesting, and in this era where videogames are slowly supplanting good old-fashioned toys, I consider it the solemn duty of all collectors to try and instill a love of toys in all children.
With that in mind, I brought Aaron into the computer room, a.k.a. the Toy Room. He was entranced by the shelves upon shelves of Masters of the Universe Classics, Ghostbusters, Ninja Turtles and assorted vintage toys on display. This, I thought, is what you get when you can spend your own money on whatever you want, as I thought back to the all the toys I might have gotten had I the disposable income available that I have now.
Aaron, who’s both shy and, I think, respectful, didn’t touch any toy I didn’t hand to him, so I opened up one of my storage trays and began handing him pretty much anything I came across, attempting to explain each one when necessary. He was familiar with the classics – Spider-man, Wolverine, Batman. I did try to get him interested in He-Man, but it was a no-go…he was all about the superheroes, Star Wars, and especially the Transformers. Watching his glee at seeing Optimus Prime go from a robot to a truck reminded me just how mind-shatteringly awesome the Transformers were when they first hit.
Aaron was very amused by my Spongebob figures (one of which he got to keep). It was fascinating to watch his eyes light up looking at the toys, and I’d be lying if I didn’t envy him a bit. I remember how exciting it was just walking into a toy store at his age.
I happened to have a tub of toys from my cousin Jeff, who had cleaned out his parents’ attic recently and given me a bunch of toys he’d found. One was a big, gold-painted, special edition Playmates toy of the U.S.S. Enterprise-D from Star Trek: The Next Generation. I’m not sure what the story was behind this thing–I suppose it was the anniversary of Star Trek or something, or perhaps it was commemorating the time the crew went to the alternate universe where everyone was a rapper.
After grabbing some batteries, we discovered the ship could still light up and make sounds. So, with the blessing of his parents, Aaron got to take the Enterprise home. At this point it’s probably important to note that I do like Dave and Jenn and consider them close friends–giving their son a toy that makes repetitive noises was not an act of passive aggression. I just wanted to spread the love of toys to the (ahem) next generation.
