ROUND ROBIN CHALLENGE: OBSESSIONS!

A Meditation by Alexis' Universe for

     I feel like I hit my Teen and Adult years when toys were hitting their golden age. I was 10 when Star Wars came out and when the first toys hit a store called  (I think) guys and dolls I left with Luke, R2, Threepio, Leia and Vader. Han and Chewie came on a trip to California, visiting my sister and brother in law. So lets say 1978 was when the Industry standard 3.75 scale began. Seven Years later my love affair with Transformers started while I was watching my nephews after school.

     So how does this brief and barely interest-sparking biography relate to my obsession? Allow me to Illuminate.

     My Chief obsession is my personal icons. My Superheroes...My Jedi... My Autobots. Always the best representations of those icons, what matches more in my personal head-canon. My Obsession is the path of the upgrade.

     As nostalgic as I am for my G1 Optimus Prime or my G1 Skids, as attached as I am to my case of Kenner Star Wars figures from the first movie, when I display, it's not necessarily the newest, but it's the best. MP-10 is going to stay up there, but MP-09 came down when I head that MP-28 was incoming. The 5 Point articulation POTF figures gave way to the Vintage collection, and the Black Collection for Star Wars. The Mego Captain America and Iron Man gave way to Marvel Universe. I was like this with my gaming miniatures too, finding a new perfect lead figure for that character, and out come the paints. Later I discovered poser and DAZstudio, for character images and endless tweaks and updates to those characters.

     When I saw my first Transformers on the shelves, even though I was well into my teens and looking at girls, I knew that when it came to toys, the best was yet to come. I haven't been proven wrong yet. I also felt just a little bit cheated, because the years ahead of me were not for toys, they were to put away childish things and be a man. Societal pressures said it was weird to collect toys or play with them as an adult. So Sometimes the toys come in with a load of guilt attached to them that they don't deserve. It's taken me a minute or so to proudly tell anyone who will hear it that Optimus Prime is my co-pilot and watches over my office.

     And then there are the thwarted obsessions. The icons I lack a representation of. I went a little crazy trying to find a General Lee when I heard Warner Bros was disavowing the stars and bars on the roof. I have my Wonder Woman and my Green Arrow, but not that perfect Superman. I want the perfect Stitch, and  a V.I.N.Cent that looks awesome. I'm looking for that perfect Fantastic Four

     The terrible truth, or perhaps the wonderful truth, is that there will always be a next great obsession, as long as Mr Smith is Mr Smith. I love my collectibles toys

For more on my Collecting Mind:

• Confessions of a Collecting Mind Part 1
• Confessions of a Collecting Mind Part 2
• Confessions of a Collecting Mind Part 3
• Confessions of a Collecting Mind Part 4

And from my fellow enthusiasts

• Alexis' Universe has a big place in it for frogs of all types
• Green Plastic Squirt Gun seeks little golden books wherever he can find them
• Toy Break Obsesses over the ones he needs but can't afford