[dollie] Playtime

There's been a bit of discussion over at Fantasy Net about playing, and how we play, and whether what we do as adult hobby-ists has any relation to what children do when they bang their barbies together.

I think that I do play. The enjoyment I get out of the hobby is primarily based in the creative aspect - I enjoy making things, and I've gotten fairly good at making 1/6 clothing, enough so that I feel that I can envision a thing, and then make it real. But certainly posing the figures after they are done is an enjoyable activity. Most often I slowly take a group of figures through a story over the course of a few weeks, each pose lasting for a few days before I get the urge to fiddle with them again. The little forest stage I built gives this sort of play a whole new dimension. I told myself I was building it as a background for pictures, but really I knew that I was going to play with it.

So does that sort of thing differ fundamentally from the kids on the floor, moving their Batman figures across the coffeetable and pretending that it's the rooftops of Gotham City? I don't know. We're all exercising our imaginations, it's just that I'm a bit more concerned with the welfare of my toys. The story that the kids act out is real time. My story advances in frozen moments, each one carefully constructed.

I think the only difference is our attitude toward it. A fair number of the people in my life have now seen the figure-strewn inside of my office. Quite a few have admired my sewing skills, a couple have said "cool" when they see the forest dio, but not one of them has asked if they can play. I sometimes wonder if they'd like to.

Hey everybody. You can come play with my toys if you want. Just not the elven ranger. She's my favorite.