Might've created a monster...

Figures, collectables, customs and collecting.
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HotShot81
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Might've created a monster...

Post by HotShot81 »

Now my kid sister loves TR Soundwave, which makes sense. She saw Brawn last night (a headmaster), and she did the same thing, "He's soo cute". Why do I sense a few con headmasters will be on her Christmas wish list.
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Post by Warcry »

Good work! How old is she?

I tried pretty hard to get my sister's kids into Transformers when they were younger, and even sent a box full of a couple dozen Unicron Trilogy toys home with them, but it never stuck. They had a very difficult time figuring out how to transform most anything, even stuff as straightforward as Armada figures. Hopefully my son catches on better in a few years.

I did, however, manage to turn two of them into Lego fiends, so there's that at least.
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Post by Sades »

I think it generally helps if you engage with (younger) kids as they're playing with the toys/show them how to work them/start out simply (at least, this is the assumption that "feels right" for me when I'm showing stuff I'm jazzed about to my kid).

I can't say I'm really pushing anything on the small one knowingly (well, toywise anyway, there's some LERNIN' HAPPENING) ... except for maybe dinosaur stuff ("fossil dig" kits are the bee's knees yo). Probably subconsciously pushing Power Rangers... I loved Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger and I'm quite pleased that she enjoys things I enjoy (even if I think the NA equivalent is not that great).
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Post by inflatable dalek »

Warcry wrote:Good work! How old is she?
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Post by Warcry »

I totally agree with you Sades, and I try not to push, myself. Mostly it's a case of the kids seeing the stuff when they come visit, so they want to play with it. And they like them fine while I'm there to show them how stuff works (like you say, engaging with them helped a lot). But when I sent them home with a box of stuff for themselves they didn't have much fun, and couldn't seem to figure out how most of it worked. And it's not like I sent them home with a bunch of ROTF figures or something, I carefully chose stuff that I thought would be easy for kids to catch on to. But I don't think they figured out how to transform much other than a couple Armada toys.

I do wonder sometimes if transforming the figures just requires a certain aptitude for "visualizing" that not everyone has. Or maybe it's that the line is just missing the easy-to-learn entry-level figures like the G1 Minibots, and those small toys were what taught three year old me that aptitude in the first place? I mean, sure, there's Rescue Bots and One-Step stuff, but they're branded separately and most kids over age 5 are going to ask for the "big kid" stuff.

Right now, my one year old seems to be just figuring out that the robots and cars that he sees me playing with are actually the same thing. He'll give me this knowing smile now, like he's thinking "good trick daddy, but I know that's the same toy!" and it's pretty hilarious, especially since it wasn't long ago that he'd get super confused and look around to see where the car went once I'd turned it into a robot. Mostly when he grabs one it's to vroom it around in vehicle mode, though.
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Post by HotShot81 »

Warcry wrote:Good work! How old is she?

I tried pretty hard to get my sister's kids into Transformers when they were younger, and even sent a box full of a couple dozen Unicron Trilogy toys home with them, but it never stuck. They had a very difficult time figuring out how to transform most anything, even stuff as straightforward as Armada figures. Hopefully my son catches on better in a few years.

I did, however, manage to turn two of them into Lego fiends, so there's that at least.
She's old enough Warcry that she has a fiancee.;) A man who thanked me for "converting her" when he met me.

Back when I was attending college, and had access to my first taste of high speed internet, I downloaded all the G1 Transformer cartoons, and placed them on the family network. She promptly found them when she was home sick one day and promptly fell in love with the Decepiticons and Soundwave! Since then if I wanted to make her happy, if I find a new one Soundwave, its hers by default. I figure it cost me close to $100-$125 for TR Soundwave with all his cassetticons.

What surprised me was she fell in love with the actual headmaster toys. Not the first time she's fallen in love with a bot outside her norms, same thing happened with Animated Jazz, she loved that bot's toy.
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Post by Sades »

Warcry wrote:
I do wonder sometimes if transforming the figures just requires a certain aptitude for "visualizing" that not everyone has. Or maybe it's that the line is just missing the easy-to-learn entry-level figures like the G1 Minibots, and those small toys were what taught three year old me that aptitude in the first place? I mean, sure, there's Rescue Bots and One-Step stuff, but they're branded separately and most kids over age 5 are going to ask for the "big kid" stuff.
Well it's possible, I know I'm often left pawing at a figure for awhile until I manage to bash it into shape (INSTRUCTIONS ARE FOR WIIIIIMPS and me eventually when I give up). With young kids I tend to think exposure/play is key, as kids get older they're also generally influenced by their peer group so that may contribute. I don't think the small one will be as interested in our hobbies as she gets older and discovers her own things/makes friends that introduce her to new things, but it may be something that she comes back to later on in life (especially since as it is she's looking to be set to inherit a whooooole lotta rocks and plastic crap).
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