A couple months back, Carmen, Buck and I were doing a little antiquing in Westfield when I came across a familiar old Fisher Price Adventure People Fire Truck that I hadn’t thought of since childhood.
It was pretty beat up. A lot of the paint was stained and faded, there were numerous scuffs, and the fireman who came with it was equally a mess if not worse. As much as I was intrigued, forty dollars seemed a bit steep for something so worn.
Days later, I thought about the fire truck and started checking to see if I could find it on eBay. Not only did I find the fire truck, I found nearly the entire Adventure People toy line that I had completely forgotten about and started placing bids on lots immediately.
The first winning item to show up was the Safari set complete with Safari Dad, Safari Mom, Safari Daughter, Safari Son, gorilla, zebra, giraffe, tiger, lion, Jeep, trailer, a pop-up tent that fits on the trailer, two cages, capture net, fence, and a ladder to climb into the pop-up tent.
This was a huge hit with Buck and led to me bidding on more items.
Eventually, I was able to obtain a substantial portion of the Adventure People collection, and Buck and I spent many hours playing together.
The great thing about these toys is that the Adventure People, for the most part, are just regular people. They don’t have super powers or weaponry; they are made up of characters like Forest Ranger, Construction Worker, News Anchor, Reporter, Camera Person, Airplane Pilot, Sky Diver, Medic, and Motor Biker. Their vehicles, although sporty, aren’t flashy or over the top.
It didn’t take long for the Adventure People to became the target of my random acts of Photoshop. At first, there were staged photos. Then came the movie poster redoes.
My Photoshop posts on Facebook got a lot of reaction from people who had played with these toys as children. A neighbor even told Carmen that she would love to come over and play with them if we didn’t think she was too weird.
Maybe adults do need to play with toys more. I hadn’t really given it much thought until Buck came along. Having a two-year-old has softened my soul and helped rekindle the kid in me.
Perhaps my next business should be a place filled with old toys where adults can come play without the worry of shame or judgement from those who have grown old, pudgy, and bitter with age.