Hosive

the simpsons toy line made by playmates(not those playmates)is regarded as one of the best toylines ever made along with gi joe, transformers, the original star wars figures lines and cabbage patch kids. welcome to the toy subculture. in japan, the subculture is actually mainstream…more extensive and involved…intimidating if not scary.

the history of the simpsons playmates line is too extensive to recap on my site. but there is an excellent article with pictures of every figure and diorama from the line here. you don’t have to read the whole thing….just look at the pictures(i feel a weird playmates theme arising).

this is theresa’s workstation. at her office, there is a culture of collecting and displaying toy collections from robots to kinder egg toys to the current vinyl toy craze. theresa features our simpsons figure collection by bringing in a different diorama and cast of characters every few months. btw, there is foreshadowing in this picture. check back next week.

for election season, she is displaying town hall with mayor quimby, kent brockman the reporter and the evil mr. burns. after election day, another set will be rotated in.

the goal of the toyline was to recreate the whole springfield town with all the locales and sites. the formal name for the line was the world of springfield. i started out by getting the church with the pastor as a joke but then found a bunch on clearance as the toy line was winding down. whenever we go to a town, i rummage through the local toy store’s stock and see what “treasures” i can find. once in awhile, i go through ebay listings to see what rarities might be available. friends also buy us figures….so the collection has gotten pretty extensive.

one of the features of the simpson toy line is that they talk…and say lines from the show. each figure has a chip and when plugged into a relevant setting, they will say something….on some sets, they will have multiple lines. discovering which figures will talk and what they will say in the sets is part of the fun. you take the figures and put them into the connection points in the set and push a button…and magic. if a figure is not compatible, a sound effect relevant to the scene will play….in this case, a hot mike.

because the sets run on batteries….sometimes when there is an electrical spark in the air, the sound feature goes off on their own. in own home, that means….you hear voices for no reason. a few guests have had the crap scared out of them.

i’m guessing people come over and look at theresa’s toys especially since she brings different ones in…..and i’m guessing they push the buttons to see…or hear what will happen. i know that when people come to our home…they go to each set and push away….plugging in different characters.

and…..there’s that foreshadowing again.