ScottyP wrote:When I was much younger, it was about actually having adventures for many characters. Vroom, Crossblades, and Thunderwing's inner robots were some of my main jams. I don't remember what the story was around them anymore, but they were the main heroes.
I can relate to this so much. When I was a kid I didn't have a lot of electronics because my parents didn't like the idea of me playing any video games until I was old enough to earn money to buy them. Cable TV was a "waste of money" even though we weren't poor. We weren't rich either but that's besides the point.
I spent most of my childhood building forts in the woods and playing with figures. I changed schools a lot so a lot of my friendships were long distance. I would spend hours playing with my figures. I had a big tub of figures, I can still remember laying on the floor and making them fight. I would create my own stories and sometimes make huge battle scenes. Some days I would take them outside in the grass and make them go on adventures.
As an adult my relationship with figures has changed. I don't play with them like I did when I was a kid but I do pose them. I like to hold them in my hand while I watch TV so I can fiddle with them. Sometimes I do come up with poses for stories though. Recently I have been thinking about doing some picture comics with them but I need more Decepticons to even out the roster.
Another thing that strikes me is that a lot of people complain about having to "fix" their figures. I agree that we shouldn't have to and that a figure should come out of the box ready to pose. For me doing maintenance on my figures like removing a burr or fixing a dissembled joint (In Pyra Magna's case) somehow makes me feel closer to that character.
Yeah, I know that figures aren't alive and characters are purely fictional however, I feel that we give them life. A figure is a very tangible way of interacting with our imaginary muses. You get to hold them in your hands, learn how all their mechanical parts move when they transform. It's a very satisfying feeling.