Why Do You Display Your Toys?

[Sky Shadow]

(Following from Vector Prime's thread and my post here: http://www.otca.com.au/boards/showth...341#post237341)

We've had countless discussions on why people do or don't keep their toys sealed or why they do or don't play with their Transformers, but I can never remember anyone answering this question - it just seems to be accepted as something people do. So, I'd be interested to know...

If you do display your Transformers, why do you do it?

Is it for you or for visitors? To have something to show off in the collection thread? Is it something you've always done or only since you joined OTCA? What exactly do you do and what is your purpose for doing so? Do you keep your toys behind glass? In sideways boxes? Hung up on cards on the wall? In rows and rows on shelves? If any of these are things you do, what's the reason why you do it?

[Vector Prime]

If you do display your Transformers, why do you do it?

I liken my displayed TFs as works of art - displayed purely for my own enjoyment though.

I rarely have any people over (as my home is my private place of Zen) so it's certainly not for the benefit of visitors.

Some are displayed behind glass, some are on bookcases and I do have a couple of MOSC items hung on walls.

So I guess to answer your question, I display them because I like looking at them.

[loophole]

because i can, so i do

[Hursticon]

It's a personal thing for me really, whether someone sees the display and thinks ill of me is irrelevant to my own enjoyment of them.
For me, I like to have physical representations of things that manifest themselves within my thoughts, i.e. Like the Ancient Egyptians who worshipped statues as physical representations of whom they bare as proxies - So do I.

[Deceptic_Optic]

its for nostalgic reasons, its represents my childhood and my innocence

[gdmetro]

For me, this question is ancillary to the main question of of why I collect.

I think ultimately, we collect for personal enjoyment (Or Id like to think so) and we each enjoy the hobby/collecting in different ways -i.e. Gok enjoys by playing.

Personally, a large part of enjoying these figures other than the hunt is displaying/posing them- although I am starting to get into photographing them as well.

That is why I display them- they are awesome to look at/brings me enjoyment and is mainly why I collect. I don't care about how the display affects others or their opinions etc- but I only display them in my room- I guess being married /in your situation might be different.

As to why I get enjoyment for looking at the display?- probably to admire their beauty/engineering as pieces of art and childhood nostalgia- it fulfills a part of my childhood pining for toys I couldn't have.

[Bartrim]

I've got one room in the house which is my room that no one else gets any say in. This is my happy place. I display my Transformers in there because Transformers make me happy.

[LordCyrusOmega]

I display them on shelves, bookcases, wherever I can really, most in robot mode. I enjoy looking at them, and standing in front of them trying to decide which one I want to play with. They make me happy; a connection to a childhood I don't really remember. I like seeing them all lined up. I like tosee them free.

[jaydisc]

As mentioned in the other thread, I currently only have one small glass cabinet's worth of display while I'm in between homes (1.5 years later ). Many of my reasons have already been said:

1. They're beautiful in form and function.
2. They remind me of a fond time in my childhood.
3. Some are things that I always wanted as a child, but couldn't have, so those are the completion of a goal.
4. I really enjoy setting up and changing the displays. It's like having my own art gallery where I curate different shows periodically.

I love showing others too, although that's just a bonus side effect, not a motivator. It's been a shock for a few ("OMG, you collect Transfomers!"), but I'm not shy, or shamed, so that doesn't bother me, and even the shocked ones come around to enjoying it after having a gander. Many of my peers have similar memories and love having a chat about it and some others even enjoy a play.

Lastly, my kids love them as well. Granted, they have lots of domestic and more age appropriate releases to play with (they're not allowed in the cabinet ), but they still love pointing through the glass trying to name as many as they can, although for my daughter, they're all "Wobot!"

[Mr Ed]

I open up all the TFs I buy and they live in my display cabinet in my 'Cave'. A room similar to Bartrims. I have 6 cabinets in there, 4 for my diecast collection and 2 for TFs

From time to time, I go in there and find some cool TFs that I play with. Then they are in the lounge room and whilst watching TV I might transform them.

When I see people keep MISB toys, it reminds me of the Pixar Toy Story movie where one of the characters (stinky Pete?) has lived in his box all his life! But each to their own!