Creative outlet or childish passtime?

Most of the people I know are more than cool with the fact that I'm basically a big kid who sets his own allowance. Once in a while though someone asks the question "what do you do in your free time?" and is a little taken aback by some of the answers. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, then this post is for you.

First as you may have already noticed by some of my previous ramblings and pictures. I collect toys. I collect a lot of things, but for now let's stick to that. Over the course of my life I have amassed a very sizeable collection, and it often gets raised eyebrows by the unitiated. Admittedly, I've been buying a lot less and have been actively trying to downsize, but it's still hard to find space for everything sometimes.

So what do I do with all this accumulated plastic? Not much really. Most of it stands on a shelf or is packed away in boxes like almost every other man's collection, whether he's single or not. That's not to say women don't collect things too. I've seen a lot of wierd collections in my time, ranging from the relatively standard shoes and bags all the way up to Hello Kitty and Minnie Mouse trinkets. I guess us guys don't exactly have the market cornered on the collecting-of-things, but I digress...

Talking about toys, I was sitting around one day after sorting through yet another box and thinking to myself, "What the hell are you going to do with all of this stuff?!" While I didn't come up with an answer for that question, I did come up with an idea. I've always liked creating things, whether it be drawing, painting, animation, writing music or whatever. So I thought I might as well try making so toys of my own. You may have seen my first attempt a few posts back. Which brings me back to the title of my article.

Whether you think collecting toys (or anything for that matter) may be a little on the wierd, freakish or downright childish side; it can be a creative outlet as well. If you don't believe me, take a look below and tell me that sculpting and painting these figures is any different than building models or trains. It's not, but most people just are just ashamed to admit that sometimes they wish they could let go of all their adult hangups, plop down on the floor and just play once in a while. Er...not that I do that. I'm just taking pictures of my latest creations. ;)

• Guardian - leader of the Canadian superhero team Alpha Flight.
  Construction notes: I made Guardian out of two figures (parts of a red figure and a white figure), hand painted the maple leaf / uniform, and used a microman Batman figure for the head. Of course the ears got cut off and resculpted to look right.
• Nemesis - immortal agent of retribution.
  Construction notes: This was a pretty simple paintjob; black paint over a red figure. The tough part was creating the cape. It's made from a piece of old umbrella, painted, glued and stitched in place. Lot of work that thing!

日本語　で　少し　せつめい　します：

こども　時　から　おもちゃ　を　しゅうしゅう　して　いた。　だらか　さいきん　figure を　つくいました。　上　の　しゃしん　は　ぼく　の　二番目　と　三番目　つくった　の　おもちゃ　です。　たぶん　ちょっと　こどもーぽい　な　しゅみ　けど　おもしろい　も　ね！　どう　思ういます　か？