Do you play with your Transformer toys?

[AussieJason]

I'll transform one every now and then, or occasionally check out the small details of the G1 toys, but that's about it.

Reading that so many of you do play with them, maybe I need to re-kindle the imagination I had as a kid

[GoktimusPrime]

It seems to me that we have three main kinds of collectors and while most of us probably have elements of all three in us, we tend to lean toward one. So it's more of a spectrum rather than just rigid boxes or pigeon holes.

So we have...

THE CURATOR

Your toys aren't just toys, perhaps you've long since grown out of playing with toys. You insist on keeping your toys in mint sealed condition or loose mint condition. Handling your toys isn't a priority for you, rather you gain pleasure from collecting Transformers for prosperity's sake. Your collection is like your own private museum and you collect Transformers to add more pieces to your museum. Currently 17% of OzFormers fall under this category.

THE FIDDLER

You enjoy handling your toys and fiddling around with them. You transform them back and forth, admiring the ingenuity of the creativity and engineering behind each figure in your collection. Your Transformers are much like three-dimensional puzzles in a way. A whopping 71% of us are fiddlers.

THE PLAYER

You're just big kid who's never grown out of playing with your toys! You love nothing more than just getting down with your toys and inventing fantasy stories while you play with your toys. You provide voices and sound effects. Only 7% of us are players.

Other?
5% of us classify ourselves as being none of the above!

[turtle boy]

THE FIDDLER

Thats me

[GoktimusPrime]

I'm obviously "The Player."

kup pointed out another collector type:

THE ARTISAN

You have a creative streak. You derive enjoyment from artistically modifying toys or restoring damaged toys. You look at junkers and tell yourself, "Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology." Hopefully none of your customs, kitbashes or restorations have ever cost you $6 million.

Now as for which option an artisan should vote for on this poll, I think it all depends on how they _play_ with their custom/restored toys (after all, playing is what this poll is about). If you make customs/restorations purely for display and don't play with them then you'd vote for "don't play," but if you like to fiddle with your customs then you'd vote for "fiddle play" and obviously if you like to include your customs into your fantasy play then vote on "fantasy play."

[kup]

When I restore a toy I try to make it as close as possible to its original out of the box/card condition. That includes its playability so I will go a long way to trying to get the gimmicks to work, restore his joints with the purpose of making him able to hold his weapons again and it bothers me lot if the restored toy is no longer able to do something it originally could.

[Lithium]

I like to fiddles with my TFs. I don't make sound effects or I'll just end up making myself feel like an idiot. lol

[GoktimusPrime]

Why? I don't see anything wrong with toy play. For me Transformers as a hobby is a form of escapism - and I like to get lost in the fantasy. What's the point of having all this rich and diverse lore and mythos if I can't dabble in it with my toys? It also allows me to exercise my imagination and creativy.

So I don't think playing with your toys is necessarily a sign of stupidity; to the contrary I think that creativity and imagination are signs of intelligence.

"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination."
"Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere."
"Imagination...is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."
- Albert Einstein

"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing."
- George Bernard Shaw

"If you aren't playing well, the game isn't as much fun. When that happens I tell myself just to go out and play as I did when I was a kid."
- Thomas J Watson Sr.

"Creativity is the sudden cessation of stupidity."
- Edwin Land

I'm proud to be a Player.

Playing with Transformers as a child in the 1980s
pew pew pew

Playing with Transformers as a graduate student at UNSW's Keith Burrows Theatre
Pew Pew Pew!

Playing with Transformers at Pizza Hut with Roller last year
PEW PEW PEW!!

References
Creativity
Imagination
Play: "Modern research in the field of 'affective neuroscience' has uncovered important links between role playing and neurogenesis in the brain."
Childish vs. Childlike

[Lithium]

I didn't say anyone who plays with their TFs is stupid. I just feel silly doing it myself. I express my creativity through fanfics. Everyone has their own outlet of creativity. Yours is your toys, mine is my fanfics.

[SMHFConvoy]

Fiddler. I find that the best way to keep them dust free to handle them a bit.

[GoktimusPrime]

I didn't say anyone who plays with their TFs is stupid. I just feel silly doing it myself. I express my creativity through fanfics. Everyone has their own outlet of creativity. Yours is your toys, mine is my fanfics.

No worries. Excuse my somewhat over-the-top reply. Got overexcited.

Fiddler. I find that the best way to keep them dust free to handle them a bit.

+1 qft