Kids today VS Kids of yesterday

[brannon86]

Do kids actually play with action figures anymore these days. I mean, it is the electronic/computer age now. I dont see how toy companies and stores sell action figures anymore except for us older people who may collect some of them....

[ctc]

>Kids today VS Kids of yesterday

That's a tough one.... according to the news kids TODAY are more violent, but the kids of YESTERDAY were apparently more active....

Wait. You're talking about something ELSE, aren't you....?

>it is the electronic/computer age now.

True; but I think WE were the first video kids. I can remember "studies" about video games making you slow, and violent, and being addictive WAY back when. I don't think things have really changed; even when you hear all the "but kids spend X hours a day playing video games...etc etc etc..." We THINK it's changed 'cos WE'RE the parents now.

>Do kids actually play with action figures anymore these days.

Someone mentioned this a while back, and I still think maybe kids DIDN'T play with 'em as much as we thought. WE did, sure; (otherwise we never would have come to the Museum...) but I can remember the other kids finding it kinda strange that I was always monkeyin' around with an action figure instead of playing sports and such. And right around 11 years old it was group consensus that I was too OLD for stuff like that. So maybe even back when the actual time frame for action figure play was small.

It's a good question; but it'll be tough to come up with supporting evidence for any response: I don't think our childhoods can be considered representative. Everyone here seems to have a predisposition for figures.

Don C.

[Mikey]

I think kids still play with action figures.......
They just stop playing with them at an earlier age.
Society today kind of forces kids to grow up before their time.

Hell, I used to play with my GI Joes when I was in 8th grade
Today, kids in 8th grade are getting each other pregnant.

I wouldn't blame it all on video games....

It's today's society itself... lead by "cool parents" who want to be FRIENDS with their kids.

[palitoy]

My kid and most of his friends have action figures kicking around. I always see Batman, Spiderman and Power Rangers at the birthday parties he goes to.

When I was growing up, my two best friends didn't have any action figures at all, they were into hockey, that's it. The only other kid on the block who had any Mego figures was also a complete freak. I played with him every saturday, he had a Joker!

Of my friends now, few of them had any action figures growing up.

[toys2cool]

Both my nephews play with action figures.Especially Batman,Spiderman and the Power Rangers

[nvmbrsdoom5]

I agree with most of the aforementioned posts, I meet alot of people my age who claim that they rarely if at all played with action figures as a kid. I mean we all know that action figures sold millions back then so obviously there were plenty of kids with them, but I knew alot of kids who were strictly into sports, or were more into tonka toys and playing in the dirt, etc. I still see quite a few kids buying and playing with action figures today. But they do seem to grow out of it at an earlier age.

[ABMAC]

My dad always complained about my playing with "dolls" instead of getting into team sports or hunting. He hated that I wasn't violent and competitive.

I know that some of my classmates must've owned action figures, but I don't remember any of them ever mentioning them at school. I had cousins with Marx Best of the West figures, Big Jim, G.I. Joe, and even one with a Mego Tarzan.

[megoscott]

My dad hated my dolls, yet he bought me Johnny West and Evel Knievel. Manly men.

It seems like Star Wars changed things a lot. When I think about friends with toys I recall a lot more SW figs than Megos.

[Airdave817]

My nephew is six, and he has a bunch of different stuff. Dinosaurs have been big for a while. Then Spider-Man. Those mini-Spider-Man figures thast come in two-packs like the Star Wars figures.

But my neices and nephew are all into WebKinz. They all have about a zillion of them. And they spend a lot of time online earning points for room additions and furniture. They got me a monkey. About six months ago. They logged me on and everything. About six months ago. The last time I was on? About six months ago...

[HardyGirl]

Here's my POV as a teacher/babysitter today, and one who really remembers being a kid in the 70s.

When I was a kid in NYC, Megos were more prevelent in my neighborhood (outskirts of Harlem), most likely b/c they were cheaper than GIJoes. Just about every boy I knew had either Supes, Spidey, Batman or all 3. Though some of them did have GIJoe and the SMDM. All of them read comic books. Most of them watched the many incarnations of the SuperFriends on TV. They all loved race tracks, and shooting hoops. After Christmas when all of the guys were discussing what they got, you'd hear a lot of stuff about action figures, race tracks, a new basketball, bike, skates or a skateboard. Of course in 6th grade (1977), it was all about Star Wars: the bubble gum cards w/ stickers, (stuck to everyone's desk), the action figures, how many times you'd seen the film, etc.

Now as a teacher, I still listen to the talk; only now it's PSPs, XBox, Wii, Nintendo DS, and the videos games that go w/ these. It's Ipod shuffles, cell phones w/ cool Ringtones, and some computer online thing called Penguin Place (I think). The only kids who seem remotely interested in action figures is the kindergarten -2nd grade crowd, but you hardly hear or see any of that. I hear a lot of talk (although I discourage this) about R rated films they've seen. Yes, they are growing up way too fast in a electronic age, that discourages the use of their imaginations. When I bring Evel Knievel, POTA or any of my action figures to school, anything to do w/ making believe seems to be a totally new idea to them. They always want me to guide the pretending, b/c to be honest, a lot of them don't know how. There are exceptions of course, (like the kid I watch, named Zachary). A few years ago, I used to have a GIJoe club w/ some of the kids. (boys and girls) We'd bring them to school, or they'd come over to my house and we'd go to the park and have adventures. But that would never happen now. *sigh*

I said all of that to say, that yes, I do think kids are very different today than the way we were then. I'm just glad I'm in a position to show them how cool it was then.

[Bo8a_Fett]

It's actually quite refreshing when my kids ask for toys at christmas and birthdays...apart from my 16 year old daughter the boys ...aged 6 and 13 are all for toys..my eldest son still hasn't asked for a mobile phone or clothes ...my 6 year old boy always wants the entire contents of whatever catalogue we let them look at...but hey ..he's 6.
In todays world its all down to peer pressure and advertising telling kids they NEED a mobile or ipod or trainers of a certain make of fashion of a certain brand...kids have to grow up fast or else in London...My son was mugged on the way home from school the other day and even the muggers were amazed he didn't have a mobile....they thought he was lying and had it hidden so were about to rough him up until an adult intervened.
They love video games but they also love to sit down with dad and make some models or set up some crazy traffic jam with their toy cars or stage some huge fight with their action figures...and I'm really glad they do..they show imagination and creativity when they do activities like that and it makes me proud.

[Sweep Secondhand]

I know a few kids now who play with action figures but it's true they stop much sooner. I know I played with them at least through the first year of high school and probably beyond that but just not when anyone was looking!

Almost all of my friends when I was a kid had action figures. We would get together and build forts for our G.I. Joes to defend or have or Mego superheroes save the world from dissaster. Even today, most of the adults who are my friends remember having action figures as kids and go into memory overload when they come over to my house and see some of my collection. Nothing makes for a better ice breaker at a party!