I'm digging back in the files again and pulling action figures that I photographed but haven't blogged before. Since starting on this action figure buying kick last year several things became apparent: there were w-a-y more figures produced than I had ever realized; I can't have them all; I don't want them all. What to do, what to do. I think reaching back into the far recesses of my childhood memories will help steer me in the right collecting direction. Here's my plan (if I decide to actually go forward with it):
First: Collect what I like. I've bought figures this past year of super heroes which quite frankly, I just didn't like. My favorites as a kid growing up in the '50s & '60s were Superman, Batman, Flash, Thor, Iron Man and perhaps about 8-10 more. Considering the Pantheon of Super Heroes is far bigger than that, it's really a manageable number of figures to collect.
Second: Find the sculpts I really like. Case in point. Thor was a favorite of mine growing up and today's Thor figure is nicely done, but he looks like some ghetto back alley street thug to me. I'm not crazy about this particular sculpt even though it's well executed. But that's okay because I know that in the big wide toy world there are more versions available. I just need to find the one I really like. The same goes for all the other super heroes or villains - find those sculpts that I would really enjoy having, probably those that come closest to the visions I had of them when I was younger.
Third: As time and talent permit, build dioramas to highlight and display the figures. Perhaps one or two multi-purpose displays similar to my recently built alien planet display base might do the trick. Just an observation here, but have you ever seen photos of toy collections which showed a whole lot of toys crowded into a bunch of shelving? On the one hand, it's eye candy for collectors. On the other hand, should there be any really special or superlative examples on those shelves they end up getting lost in the crowd. By narrowing the collecting focus, the overall theme doesn't get diluted.
Fourth: Don't constrict the collecting to fit narrow parameters. It's important to enjoy any hobby and have some baseline rules but remember to have fun and make allowances for the exceptions.
Okay, on to today's 4" scale action figure by Hasbro - THOR! Enjoy!
