Richard Gottlieb

The Tribes of Toy Nation

A few weeks ago, in a blog I entitled, “The Many Faces of Toy Nation: The ASTRA Annual Marketplace & Academy,” I made the observation that, “Toy Nation has many faces. We are a bit like a nation of tribes. We all owe allegiance to Toy Nation but each tribe has its own customs and rituals.” Who are these tribes? Well, there are the inventors, designers, packagers, distributors, manufacturers, mass market retailers, specialty retailers and on and on. 

One tribe we may not think about as much as we should is the enthusiasts. They are consumers who collect, write about, ponder and just plain love the toys we make.

My thoughts turned to this group after I was contacted to do an interview by Jason Clarke who writes an excellent blog for the Action Figure community. Jason’s website, called Poe Ghostal’s Points of Articulation, is very well done (each page looks like a blister card for an action figure) and, from my perspective, serves his community very well. He asked me some excellent questions which I did my best to answer and seemed to both satisfy and not satisfy his readers.

It’s that last point that really appealed to me. These are people who care, and care deeply, about the products we create. Their passions not only drive sales but creativity. Yet, when our big national and international toy gatherings take place, I do not sense their presence. 

As we move into a future where more and more adults will (hopefully) exercise their enthusiasms, these communities will become more important. I think it is in Toy Nation’s best interest to embrace the enthusiast’s tribe. Whether they collect dolls, action figures, miniature cars and comic books or are into roll play, adventure or hobby games they are all an important and not fully recognized part of Toy Nation.

So, in order to do my small part to increase awareness of these and other tribes, I am going to begin doing occasional pieces on the many different tribes that make up Toy Nation. 

If you are a member of a tribe that you think readers need to know more about, please contact us and let us know about it. The more we know each other the stronger we are.

Posted by Richard Gottlieb on July 16, 2008 | Comments (0)