It’s amazing how times have changed since I was a young boy.  Back in my time playing with the so-called boy “dolls” was done usually alone and in the confines in our room.  If we were caught with one in hand we had mental checklist to justify that it was merely a toy and not a “doll.”

I can now understand why the adults of that generation considered them dolls.  To them they looked like a Barbie doll in the guise of a superhero or soldier and it was used to role play.

The action figures of yesterday had only four stiff moving parts consisting of both arms and legs if you’re lucky…

And you really couldn’t pose them in a realistic fashion.  You almost also had to be a magician to get them to stand upright by themselves.  It was simple and did it’s job in entertaining us for hours on end.  We didn’t care if it got dirty or if it was missing an arm or leg.  It was cheap enough to go to the store to get another to replace it.

But the wonders of science changed all of that for the male generation. Technology had advanced to the point where stuff we once imagined was now a reality.  Growing up as a kid in the 21st century with the type of toys abound is simply mind-blowing.  The “boy dolls” were now know as “ACTION FIGURES”…doesn’t that sound more masculine.  And boys nowadays are proud to tote them about wherever they go.

The “action figures” in today’s society are TOTALLY INCREDIBLE!  Just take a gander at these:

They’re like sculptured works of art…don’t you think?  And the best ones have 26 or more points of articulation.

What does that mean?  Well, that enables you to pose them in more human like fashion.  It gives you the power to show them off in super cool action stances where they looked like they jumped out of the comic books and onto your floor.  It’s just AWESOME!

The only drawback to these type of action figures is that they’re quite expensive and is usually just meant to be displayed out of reach from young inquisitive and prying hands.

I for one tend not to remove them from the box.  WHAT?!  Yep, that’s right.  An action figure that is neither handled with human hands or displayed out in the open.  I guess it’s like my own personal Picasso that I keep locked away in storage; I relish in the thought that I own a priceless work of art only meant for my gaze.  One day I’ll remove them from the box and enjoy it in the manner it was designed for but until then I’ll just admire them from within the box and mentally list the poses that each one will be in.