Thursday, January 19, 2012

Toy Trains Are Antique

!±8± Toy Trains Are Antique

Collecting toy trains is called the world's greatest hobby; and for some, it isn't just an interest. It's a passion and a way of life, perhaps beginning in childhood. Several thing collectors started out their hobby as youngsters, when they were given a toy educate as a present. Toy trains, at one time, had been an increasingly fashionable and significantly desired toy among youngsters. Over the course of time, that concept faded and was substituted by razor scooters, iPods, and webkinz.

Most children of today aren't knowledgeable about the classic toy trains from back in the day, so the legacy is left to be continued by adults who choose to start an accumulation their personal. One particular such well-known toy educate that is desired by many collectors is the HO toy train, created by Marklin in 1935. So what makes these miniature locomotives so much diverse than others?

The construction with the HO is a single aspect that makes them stand other than other toy trains. HO trains are jagged and are scaled at 1:87, making them the ideal starter electric educate. Appearance is in addition a major factor in collecting HO stuff. The flawless detailing presents them a realistic appeal, producing them an attractive inclusion to any toy train system. The Marklin HO stuff resemble the Z gauge in that they are built from diecast metal. The majority of the frames and wheels are constructed from 100% metal. The engineering of Them is also quite brilliant. The wheels with the freight and passenger cars have a low center of gravity to avoid derailment, making them an honest addition to electric systems.

The third-rail track systems of Them make them a hassle for-free operation. The electrical current is carried by miniature stud contacts located in the middle in the ties. If you don't look closely, the chances are you'll miss these clever additions. This helps prevent wiring troubles and electrical pickup issues. Given the careful engineering and construction of Them, most collectors consider HO stuff part of a scale hobby. At the debut of Them, they had been sold being a toy train as opposed to a scale model as they're usually sold these days.

Scale model railroading didn't become a favorite passion among collectors until right after the 1950's. Until that time, HO stuff had been thought of as just one more size of train. Therefore, the Lionel Corporation began to make Them as smaller versions with the classic freight and passenger cars. It wasn't long before the Louis Marx Organization started constructing their own adaptation of Them, and they even started out to trade them with complete scenery and in slot car sets.

Although finding Them on the shelf at your local toy store could be a challenge, they aren't all that tough to come. A simple search of the world wide web will supply you with a concise listing of available HO stuff for sale in addition to places to locate these classic toy trains.


Toy Trains Are Antique

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Friday, January 13, 2012

Nerdgasm! Ep 17 - Thundercats!

Time-warping back to 1985 to compare old versus the new cats, the boys moan and groan about 8", 6" and 4" action figures. While Andre falls head over heals for Panthro, Chris hurts his back (we covered lifting techniques for nerds in an earlier episode) lifting the big daddy of all Lion O figures! This is yet another episode shot/edited ENTIRELY on Chris' iPhone!

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Monday, January 2, 2012

The Difference Between Dolls and Action Figures

!±8± The Difference Between Dolls and Action Figures

When you hear the word "doll," the first thing that comes to mind is "Barbie". The major difference between dolls and action figures is that the former is oriented towards girls, while the latter is oriented towards boys. Dolls usually include matching outfits while action figures generally include clothing and accessories that you might not see every day.

Look at Barbie. Since her inception in 1959, Barbie has been the quintessential girls' toy, what with her interchangeable clothes, pink cars, and Malibu Beach House variations. Though the collection later included Ken, of course, Ken was by no means an action figure. His clothes, like those of Barbie, were typical day-to-day outfits, albeit ones that was masculine.

By comparison, your typical "action figure" is muscular, especially to an exaggerated degree, and might include weapons as accessories. Two classic examples that come to mind are Thundercats and G.I. Joe. Thundercats characters, while somewhat human-looking, were normally yellow or gray-tinted, with overdeveloped muscles; their outfits consisted of tank tops or tights. Most Thundercats figures, whether male or female, included a weapon; Lion-O, for example, was packaged with The Sword of Omens, a longsword with a fiery-red handle.

G.I. Joes, while not as muscular as the Thundercats, still looked physically fit and generally included accessories such as machine guns, knives, and grenades. Can you really argue that these weren't designed for boys? That isn't to say that girls never played with them, but that's not what the marketing companies had in mind.

Other popular dolls include American Girl and Ashton-Drake, both of which are also oriented towards young girls. On occasion, some adults may collect dolls of this type, because of their realistic appearance and value, if kept in good condition.

Another classic action figure collection that may come to mind is the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, whose very name suggests action, and perhaps violence. Like G.I. Joe and Thundercats, the Turtles, armor, and play sets with vehicles such as tanks and artillery-studded cars. Again, while some girls may have found the Ninja Turtles appealing, they were primarily popular with boys. The villains, too, were distorted and mutated, such as Shredder and his henchmen, Bebop and Rocksteady. Perhaps these figures were meant to appeal to the same boys that liked aggressive competitive sports and war games.

Today's action figures vary somewhat, but again, their appearance as a whole is about the same. Perhaps, even as times change, people's mindsets tend to stay the same. The toys produced for boys and girls, for the most part, reflect this.


The Difference Between Dolls and Action Figures

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