The Big Talk

[Apositive]

At what age did your parents suggest to you that you were getting too big for action figures and other toys? Or did they just lay down the law?

I was 12 when my dad just said "Aren't you getting too old for that stuff?" - meaning my Star Wars action figures. By the time ROTJ was released I felt ashamed to buy toys in public and often had younger friends or friends with no shame buy them for me. LOL- hey- I was in middle school!

I was about 21 when I started collecting toys again.

[Earth 2 Chris]

I kind of slowly gave it up around age 12 as well. I think my dad kind of gave me some looks in that direction, but never said anything about it. I started collecting within a year though...

My son just turned 11. I figure this is the last year for action figures, as far as playing goes. I wouldn't be surprised if we don't have go get him a Detolf case soon...

Chris

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

I had a stepdad that expressed concern around 14; but he was a ****** so I didn't care. Other than that, nobody in my family had a problem with it.

Don C.

[CrimsonGhost]

I don't remember it happening. I kind of stopped on my own around 13 or so. I would pick up a few things still, but they were not played with. I picked up the first set of Ghostbusters and Ninja Turtles sometime in high school. I considered myself an artist even then and it was all part of my "artistic" side.

[Sideshow Spock]

I had a "normal" evolution with my toys, leaving things like Tonka trucks, Stretch Armstrong, and Bionic Man toys behind when most kids do as they grow up.. I really never gave toys another thought until well into my 20s when my wife (then g/f) pointed out Star Trek toys on the shelf in the '90s, as I was a big TNG fan. That's what got me going..

[BlackKnight]

Sorta never .....
I didn't buy Toys ..., But I collected Many Different things Batman and Comicbook Related.
From like 13to16 ..., then BTAS came out, I had my 1st Job ..., and well sorta never stopped.


With Hot Toys, Sideshow, Neca & Transformers ..., I dunno if my Son will stop... He loves that crap, and He see's all his Dads Stuff.

[Mikey]

I gave up toys around when I first noticed girls --- guessing I was aound 10 or 11 ... well before highschool

[cjefferys]

I was probably around 13 when my mom starting expressing concern. I think the straw that broke the camel's back was when I asked her to drive me to the store so I could buy a Kenner Alien that was on clearance for $9.99. She flat out refused and told me she was not driving me somewhere just so I could buy a toy, at my age. So I was in stealth mode for a few years, still liking toys but not buying any, and finally in my late teens I started buying again, Super Powers, Transformers, etc. At that point I could drive myself to the store, and my parents pretty well gave up harping about my "weird" hobby at that point. Then the early 90's happened, and toy collecting became more "acceptable" and common place, and all was right with the world.

[MIB41]

I would say by 13 I was getting the occasional remark from my dad. So that would put me at 1977 back then. I was in 7th grade and it was a tough time to still be holding on to anything from when I was younger. But what I did, thankfully, is box up my favorite things and stick them in my closest. The mistake I made was leaving some items under the steps in our basement. I lost a small fortune when my mother went spring cleaning. I'm sure we all have those horror stories to tell. But I would occasionally pull them out and look at them. What is interesting is I didn't know anyone else who felt that way. I thought I was by myself in having this love for my old figures. I truly felt like a closet case for a very long time. In the 80's they saw less daylight though because I really got into the whole MTV age of going out and having a good time. So it wasn't until the turn of the 90's that I started going to conventions and noticed the pricing on my old figures. I was blown away. I had no idea. That's when the bug hit me to pull everything out and do an inventory of what survived and what didn't. That was an emotional journey, let me tell you.

But I have to really give my wife all the credit. Until I met her, I was pretty suppressed in my feelings about all of this. When she saw my collection and not only accepted it, but got into some of it, that really was like an awakening for me. I suddenly didn't feel awkward looking at this stuff in public anymore. I could just be me through and through. The flood gates opened. And did it ever come out. If I had a fond memory of something, I wanted it. Since the 90's I have amassed just about anything that charmed me as a kid. I completed action figure sets; restored figures; purchased play sets I never had as a kid; and on and on. The final connection was finding this forum a long, long time ago and bonding with so many great people. That was my final realization I was truly not alone. These days I'm getting more new product than old, since I have obtained most of everything I wanted. Not many "Grails" left to be had. Its the new product that is making me crazy now. But it's hard to know where all this stuff would be today, if my wife hadn't been as cool as she is. I guess I would still just have a couple of boxes laying around. Oh and my kids never got that talk about throwing anything out. So unfortunately I taught them to be hoarders too.

[HardyGirl]

At 12 years old when I started buying records, I just kinda grew out of it. Who would have thought that at 46, I'd have a toyroom, and more toys than I had as a kid!

[Hector]

I'm kinda like Sharry, I naturally switched from toys to records.

My dad never pressured me on this matter.

[starsky]

never had the big talk but i lost interest in toys from about 18-24 and got into cars and then it was back to toys again when i walked into an antique mall and had a flashback.

[Hector]

Now that I think about it, I never actually left toys altogether because I continued on with model making, launching rockets, and R/C cars, I just stopped playing with my action figures, lol.

[Marvelmania]

I just kind of switched interests, from toys to skateboarding, then to other sports and girls.

[TomStrong]

I got out of toys and into sports from about 13-21. But I had held on to the best figures of my Super Powers collection. I was on the fence about it for a while until I rediscovered my love for Megos and became a member here. I lost my mind over the Retro Action Heroes and got every one of them. I've bought many of the Megos I had as a kid from some of the members here. I can remember my Dad giving me sideways looks around the time I quit collecting as a kid. My mom never really said much.