Who are you really buying toys for?

April 28, 2010 | By Juliana Heng In About life, Overview of collecting toys, Toy observations |

Marvel Universe Union Jack Action Figure.What I mean is that are the toys you buy mostly for yourself (a secretive toy collector), or really for your kids (or nephews & nieces etc.), as you proclaim to the store personnel? 

Till today, toy collecting by adults is still not widely recognised as a “normal” hobby by many non-toy collecting laymen.  Hence there are adult toy collectors who get so fed up with hearing unkind comments about their toy interests, that they prefer to be “low profile” in their toy collecting hobby. 

It’s a bit better when they buy toys from collector’s toy shops.  But sometimes when they buy toys from departmental stores, they just casually mention to the store personnel that the toys are meant for their kids, so as to avoid stares or whatever they don’t wish to encounter from the staff.

It was actually worse off if you had started collecting toys more than 10 years.  Today in most departmental stores, the situation has improved but the “stigma” still lingers around like a restless ghost.  I can sense that some departmental store personnel dislike toy collectors.  Maybe there had been unpleasant encounters with them before. 

I know that in the course of this “highly addictive” toy collecting hobby, emotions can get out of control when some collectors are told too flatly toy the store personnel that the toys they wanted to buy are out of stock or whatever.  The laymen staff at the store won’t really comprehend what’s the fuss about a children’s toy that an adult wants to buy for him or herself. 

Hopefully the staff do realise that not all toy collectors are that ”emotional” and that they can be pleasant people too!  Happy toy collecting!

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    • 2 Comments so far

    1. Hippo on May 3rd, 2010

      I didn’t told my colleagues about it. They make fun of me. :p. Yes what you say are quite true. i mean toys collecting is a healthy hobby I wonder why adults cannot accept it??

    2. Juliana Heng on May 3rd, 2010

      Hi Hippo,

      Perhaps some people feel that going to the IR casinos is more worthy of being adults! It’s just shelling out money in other ways :P

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