In fact, one of the most painful rites of passage I had to go through was the one right about the end of sixth grade where it becomes uncool to ask for toys for Christmas. This scared me. What else would I want? Clothes. God no! Thankfully I was always passionate about music and I asked for that. I did ask for clothes too, but they were tied into my passion for music (Def Leppard and Iron Maiden T-shirts).
I could go on about how wonderful of a childhood I had and how I strive to recapture it. And that's true. But the simple fact is that I still like to have toys. And I'm not alone. Just look at the success of this summer's movie "The Transformers," based off the legendary toy line from circa 1984 and they cartoon that followed. I am certain a large portion of the audience was comprised of people of my generation who have never lost their love for those toys.
A recent article in Time analyzed how there is a growing segment of the American male population that is refusing to simply grow up and abandon their childhoods. Bravo, I say.
Given that financially my generation is doing very well. I am making more money than my father ever did. Now mind you I said making, not saving. Nevertheless, the males in my generation have a surpluss of money to spend on a variety of things. Next, kids are simply staying kids longer. Look at when the average American gets married or starts working compared to 50 years ago. My dad never graduated high school. He quit part way through his senior year and started working. At about the ripe old age of 20, he married my mom. A year later they had my brother and they never looked back. Their youths were over and they became adults. This is not bad, but it isn't the reality today.
At 20 I was probably like a 12 year old in my father's day. Even though I turned 34, I still felt like that child who could easily get down on his knees and have a good old fashioned battle with some action figures. Or spend half a dozen hours putting together a 1,200 piece Lego set!
The process --
The box. I could sell this sucker on ebay for a small fortune, but what fun would that be? Actually, I'm usually the sucker on the other end of the ebay transaction buying stuff like this for a small fortune.
Maybe I got myself in too deep. Look at all these pieces!
I then group the pieces according to shape and color. That's why I have every bowl in the house put to good use. Hope no one wants to make anything for supper.
Time to start building the base.
The minifigures are all ready.
Working on the rear side panels.
Starting on the front side panels.
It's all taking shape now.
Almost there!
And the finished product. Kristie thinks it quite ugly. However, I think it's cool. Yeah, my Jabba the Hut skift from "Return of the Jedi" is pretty cool too, but this monster was quite a task to put together. Plus it has so many minifigures and features (a crane, the removable middle, turning wheels that actually run on treads). It's enough to make any man child happy!
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