A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
From Displays and Dioramas to Doll Dramas Adult World Building and World Playing with Toys
Authors: Heljakka Katriina, Harviainen J. Tuomas
Publisher: STRONG
Publishing place: Rochester, U.S.
Publication year: 2019
Journal: American Journal of Play
Journal name in source: AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PLAY
Journal acronym: AM J PLAY
Volume: 11
First page : 351
Last page: 378
Number of pages: 28
ISSN: 1938-0399
Web address : https://www.journalofplay.org/sites/www.journalofplay.org/files/pdf-articles/11-3-Article%203.pdf(external)
Abstract
Toys both guide and foster the play-and stimulate the imaginations-of players of all ages. The authors investigate adult use of toys as a point of entry to the world play of both transmedia-connected and stand alone toy characters-dolls, action figures, and soft toys. They point to how adult toy players engage actively in world building in their world play and suggest that play better describes the object relations of adults with toys than such notions as collecting or pursuing a hobby. They discuss how adults use world playing with toys to develop toy industry back stories and replay-and sometimes revolutionize-original story lines familiar from popular fiction. And they highlight how mature audiences for character toys employ these physical objects to explore their capacity for imaginative, spatial, and hybrid world play.
Toys both guide and foster the play-and stimulate the imaginations-of players of all ages. The authors investigate adult use of toys as a point of entry to the world play of both transmedia-connected and stand alone toy characters-dolls, action figures, and soft toys. They point to how adult toy players engage actively in world building in their world play and suggest that play better describes the object relations of adults with toys than such notions as collecting or pursuing a hobby. They discuss how adults use world playing with toys to develop toy industry back stories and replay-and sometimes revolutionize-original story lines familiar from popular fiction. And they highlight how mature audiences for character toys employ these physical objects to explore their capacity for imaginative, spatial, and hybrid world play.
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