Men in Their 30s "Rejuveniles" (Transformers News)

[lordsmurf]

Wanted to share this news story.

From DallasNews.com, link at http://tinyurl.com/367gax

[quote]quote:Transformers not outgrown
For some men in their 30s, the toys are still out of this world
11:55 PM CDT on Wednesday, July 4, 2007
By DAN KOLLER / The Dallas Morning News
dkoller@dallasnews.com


Since Transformers was released Monday, movie theaters nationwide have been packed with men in their 30s reliving childhood memories of the Hasbro toy line.

Robbie Ryan of McKinney saw his passion for Transformers reignite when son Avery took an interest in the toys. They have 120 Transformers in their collection.

But for some men, Transformers aren't distant memories. These men either began buying the toys again as adults, or never stopped buying them.

Lynn Cranford, a 36-year-old medical courier living in Palmer, southeast of Dallas, has been continuously building his collection since April 1984, when he purchased a Transformer named Cliffjumper.

"That one little $3 figure started something that will probably go the rest of my life," he says.

Today, Mr. Cranford estimates that he owns 1,500 to 2,000 Transformers. To what does he attribute his fascination?

"They're the perfect toys," he says. "They're several toys in one."

Most Transformers start out as cars, and "every little boy loves cars," Mr. Cranford says. The transformation process presents the same challenge as a puzzle. "Then once that's done, it's an action figure," he says.

Mr. Cranford is part of a group known as "rejuveniles," a term Christopher Noxon coined in a 2003 New York Times article. He defines it as "people who cultivate tastes and mindsets traditionally associated with those younger than themselves." It was the basis for his 2006 book, Rejuvenile: Kickball, Cartoons, Cupcakes and the Reinvention of the American Grownup.

"It's about play," Mr. Noxon said in a phone interview from Los Angeles. "This is about the thing that we're all born knowing how to do, which is fall down on the carpet and play make-believe. ... As you grow up, you lose that ability. ... I think people are just yearning to re-experience it."

Mr. Noxon said he met a few "Transformers people" while researching his book. "They tap at something that's very top-of-mind for a lot of grown-ups. Transformers are about the next step into evolution, which is people into machines."

Hasbro introduced Transformers to the U.S. market in 1984, basing them on toys produced in Japan by Takara. The editors at Marvel Comics were asked to come up with the characters' names and bios, which would be used by year's end in a comic book and animated TV series. An entire generation of boys was soon hooked.

"There was a kind of post-Star Wars void in epic, exciting things. There was no big space battle movie like that," says Robbie Ryan, a 33-year-old customer service representative who lives in McKinney. "And then Transformers came along."

Like father, like son

Mr. Ryan had 400 Transformers by the time he was 30, but he sold them after he and his family moved into a home without enough room to display them. He fell back into the habit once his son expressed interest.

"Of course, he gets hooked and I'm buying them all again," Mr. Ryan says. He and Avery, 6, have amassed 120 Transformers. "Being his dad, I totally encourage it."

Pam Ryan attributes her husband's hobby to the fact that his younger brother got a lot of Transformers when they debuted, while Mr. Ryan was closing in on 11, an age considered too old for toys.

"I always tease Robbie that the only reason he's into it is because he was deprived," she said.

Although she remembers saying, "I feel like I'm dating a 6-year-old," in the early stages of their relationship, Mrs. Ryan has come around on Transformers.

"I mean, really, when you look at it, it's a pretty cool toy," she said.

Mr. Noxon's book includes a chapter on the "toyification

[debwalsh]

Men in their 30s? Boy, have they missed a huge chunk of the population - go to any mainstream SF con, and you'll see men and women in their 50s and 60s and even older - and every last one of them collects some kind of toy related to SF or fantasy. But at conventions, they're not quite as noticeable as in line at the movies, I guess. :>

$300 wouldn't even begin to cover my action figure habit. Especially now that DST is bringing out even more kick*ss Stargate figures. And I found an affordable source for Doctor Who (new series) figures).

[lordsmurf]

Affordable source for Doctor Who figures?! Please share!

[debwalsh]

JRSToyWorld - I found the link on BTVSFigs forum, and they were highly recommended. I'm ordering the 5" Martha, Micky, and Face of Boe. And when Novice Hame becomes available, I'm snagging her. They're located in Illinois.

http://www.jrstoyworld.com/catalog/i...?cPath=117_130

There's also Who NA:

http://www.whona.com/mm5/merchant.mv...ory_Code=drwho

There's a US distributor now for new Doctor Who toys, which is why the figures are becoming more affordable. I paid over $50 for my first wave Rose from the UK, but US retailers are getting her now for like $16. Time and Space Toys out of Pittsburgh has some other figures, but they're more expensive.