Why Toothless?
When I thought of 'dragons' - the big, long necked and snake tailed creatures of fantasy formed fire breathing images in my mind. I never liked short, squat, wingless interpretations. They just didn't speak to me. Wings, scales and a bad attitude weren't enough to equal "dragon". Picture Smaug from the new Hobbit films. Smaug screams 'dragon' to me and I absolutely love how they interpreted him (Tolkien fans, don't hate me). Smaug is the epitome of all things 'dragon' in my imagination (and yes, I even found a most excellent model replica of him that will join Draco from Dragonheart on the "shelf of random" in the office). So imagine my surprise when I fell in love with short necked, wide faced Toothless. I was won over by the cat-like mannerisms, the expressive noises and faces. His loyalty to Hiccup is admirable. In the second movie he's equipped with 'cruise control' and could just take off - but doesn't. They've formed a strong relationship - partnership - based on respect, love and what they can achieve together as a team. I love well developed movies where you can feel the characters engage, not just watch them and assume it works. My first acquisition was Walmart's Mega Toothless. I intended it to be my ONLY one. He was a very nice representation of the character in the film, and big for only $20. I started wondering what types of other figurines were out there, and one thing led to another. The "Ooo I don't have that one!" became a seed that grew to where I am today. Collecting the figurines became a fun type of challenge. My own personal can of Pringles. Now keep in mind - I don't buy everything with Toothless' face on it. I'm not into branding. I could care less about the blankets, the plushies, the key chains, the books, the posters, the stickers, or even the other dragon figurines out there (Gronckle, Monstrous Nightmare, etc - granted they are just as neat, but not my cup of tea). I only seek out the Toothless figurines - and some I've passed up because I plain didn't like them. I buy what I like, not to have it all. There are many types of collectors. Here is an interesting Wikipedia read on the Psychology of Collecting. I like to think of myself as a 'happy collector'. :) |
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