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Action figures for a post-modern generation
April 1st, 2006 by Benjamin Wagaman.Categorized as culture, postmodern.
As a child born the same year that Darth Vader made his debut on the silk screen, I was both intrigued and apalled during my latest trip to K.B. Toys. In the front of the store was a collection of Star Wars toys. Interested in what James will probably play with as a kid, I ran across the latest toy:
The Star Wars Transformer.
At first glance, that’s either the coolest thing ever or the wierdest. The coolness of the toy is that you get both Vader and his spaceship in one toy. If that’s not cool enough, get the Luke Skywalker rebel alliance action figure. Now you can have hand-to-hand combat AND fight each other with blasters too.
On the other hand, the wierd part about the Star Wars Transformer is that the characters of Star Wars and the characters of Transformers are based on two completely different mythologies. A modernist would be throwing up in the toilet even thinking about it. After all the ideal of modernism is purity of style and story.
The postmodernist has no problem with a toy of this nature though. The juxtaposition of these two seemingly contradictory things rather than explained away are allowed to simply coexist, even encouraged. After all, you end up with an incredibly awesome toy!
I kind of waver between these two worlds. On one hand having discrete pure toys is a good thing. On the other hand, if all you care about is having some fun, why not combine them in one.
In internet technology the closest thing to this idea of juxtaposition is the Web 2.0 idea of the mash-up. The basic idea is to pull content from other sites into yours and vice versa. As you combine different data sources, you form a hybrid between the two. In fact two of the biggest internet companies, Google and Yahoo, are actually encouraging this behavior by asking outside programmers to hack their site.
Juxtaposition. It’s bigger than you think.
Dude, nice writing on SW TFs homie.
As a long-time fan of both SW and TFs I must say I still don’t know what to think of the SW TFs. They’re pretty small and detailed, yet fairly pricey at $15 each at Wal-Mart. The vehicles all look great, but some of them look better than others in robot mode. The only one I have purchased thus far is Darth Vader. IMHO, he’s the best one, and they’re going to have a tough time topping him. Both vehicle and robot modes look great, and he just makes more sense than some others as Vader is pretty robotic to begin with. Despite being a neat idea by Hasbro (who owns both SW and TFs), and obvious fan service, it’s highly unlikely that SW TFs will ever be fully accepted into either the SW or the TF cannon. As they stand now, they are just a neat idea.
Now if Lego Transformers would be as cool as Lego Star Wars, that’s a whole different matter all together… And no, the Build-To-Rule TF building sets don’t count. Those things are cheap and lame.
YES! combining two of my childhood (and, admittedly, often since then) joys in one delightful little package! and then, thanks to Ben and the ever-astounding internet, a handy forum for intelligent discourse on this new phenomenon!
firstly, i must say that if your suggestion of a modernist’s response to these toys is accurate. . .i’d hate to be (or perhaps even KNOW!) a modernist of that sort! such a visceral and negative reaction to the mere ponderance of a line of toys? EEK!
secondly, i guess i’m a lot more of a postmodernist, and not only because i can’t imagine the thought of ANY toy (or any thing, for that matter) making me run for the toilet. i also feel (as an initial reaction anyway) that these toys are bordering on splendid, despite their dilution of 2 great childhood/80s sci-fi universes with each other. i doubt that upon seeing them i would be willing to pay $15, but for $10 i’m fairly certain i’d at least get the 2 that you mention.
finally, in this capitalist, everything-is-marketable, spend-crazy nation of ours, your being appalled by this hybrid causes me to worry that you are in for a WHOLE LOT of appallment! (that last word, btw, is apparently considered “obscure” — i think we should all use it as often as possible! what other noun form can be derived from “appal”?)
I love your toys approach to postmodernism. Very creative. And yes, those are some darn cool toys!