JoeCanuck
General Section => General Joe Talk => Topic started by: canprime on May 12, 2012, 06:19:01 PM
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So I was looking through a local Zellers
Most are now 40-70% off all stuff. The toys are 40% off. So while checking out the selection that is left, I managed to score one more ROC RHINO for $18 after the discount ($20.34 after tax).
So, I'm walking and a woman is there with her 5-6 year old. They are looking at Star Wars and a couple other things. Then I hear the kid ask about an item. This is when I hear the woman say "I will never buy GI Joe because it promotes war"
I am not ashamed to say that it actually stung a little to hear that about a brand I grew up with and loved as a kid, and now as an adult. I get wanting to raise your child as you see fit, but I hate that she boils it all down to a simple thought. If you asked her to think about most of the toys her son will/does like, most are based around conflict and violence. Hell SW is rife with fighting, and killing!!!!! in Clone Wars. But of course GI Joe is the bad one she'll never buy.
Ugh, just soured an otherwise nice day.
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stupid moo.
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So I was looking through a local Zellers
Most are now 40-70% off all stuff. The toys are 40% off. So while checking out the selection that is left, I managed to score one more ROC RHINO for $18 after the discount ($20.34 after tax).
So, I'm walking and a woman is there with her 5-6 year old. They are looking at Star Wars and a couple other things. Then I hear the kid ask about an item. This is when I hear the woman say "I will never buy GI Joe because it promotes war"
I am not ashamed to say that it actually stung a little to hear that about a brand I grew up with and loved as a kid, and now as an adult. I get wanting to raise your child as you see fit, but I hate that she boils it all down to a simple thought. If you asked her to think about most of the toys her son will/does like, most are based around conflict and violence. Hell SW is rife with fighting, and killing!!!!! in Clone Wars. But of course GI Joe is the bad one she'll never buy.
Ugh, just soured an otherwise nice day.
You're looking at it the wrong way. One day, that same kid will rebel against his Mom by buying G.I. Joe toys. Just you wait!
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Why let someone else's thinking spoil your mood? There's tens of thousands of unseen people that think just like that mom, some even more stridently and "militantly" (ironic that). So she doesn't want her kid to play with the toys, big deal.
Look at it another way, she might object to a toy you love, but she is trying to promote ideas and values in her kid's head that are..........well, somewhat beneficial to society.
I say just go right on loving what you love and forget about those that don't like it.
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Why let someone else's thinking spoil your mood? There's tens of thousands of unseen people that think just like that mom, some even more stridently and "militantly" (ironic that). So she doesn't want her kid to play with the toys, big deal.
Look at it another way, she might object to a toy you love, but she is trying to promote ideas and values in her kid's head that are..........well, somewhat beneficial to society.
I say just go right on loving what you love and forget about those that don't like it.
Yeah, yeah, relax I'm not saying it was the end of the world, just a bummer to hear that out of the blue. Especially since my own sister was the same way with religion and Halloween and Christmas. Her kids couldn't celebreate Halloween because it was "evil" and Christmas was only about the birth of Jesus, contrary to everything else surrounding the holiday that was celebrated by their friends.
She finally relented when the kids started coming out with mixed up notions and she realized she was probably screwing them up somewhat. Such as Jesus brought the presents, or the devil poisoned candy on Halloween. I have no doubt the GI Joe mom will eventually mellow as well.
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Hallowe'en is the Evil Christian Church hijacking a Pagan holiday, just like Easter and Christmas.
and really, Hallowe'en is just All Hallow's Eve, the day before All Saints' Day.
so, yeah.
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I bought a guy's entire Joe collection because he didn't want his kids to have Joe's because it promotes war.
The guy's father (the Grandpa for this story) was heartbroken because he spent countless hours, assembling the vehicles and painstakingly applying the decals. The Grandpa was very upset and was proud when I told him I am a collector, and not a reseller.
Afterwards I found out the son was pissed off because I paid $300 for the collection, when he thought it was worth at least $700.
Funny... the guy doesn't want his kids playing with toys that "promote" war, but he was also upset that he didn't make extra money off those "war" toys. ;)
I can see where the parents are coming from. If they don't want their kids to play Joe, then it's their choice. Unfortunately for me right now my kids aren't interested in G.I. Joe (which they were) and now I have to pack up all their stuff before they trash it.
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I bought a guy's entire Joe collection because he didn't want his kids to have Joe's because it promotes war.
The guy's father (the Grandpa for this story) was heartbroken because he spent countless hours, assembling the vehicles and painstakingly applying the decals. The Grandpa was very upset and was proud when I told him I am a collector, and not a reseller.
Afterwards I found out the son was pissed off because I paid $300 for the collection, when he thought it was worth at least $700.
Funny... the guy doesn't want his kids playing with toys that "promote" war, but he was also upset that he didn't make extra money off those "war" toys. ;)
I can see where the parents are coming from. If they don't want their kids to play Joe, then it's their choice. Unfortunately for me right now my kids aren't interested in G.I. Joe (which they were) and now I have to pack up all their stuff before they trash it.
I think your kids are what it boils down to after all. Like with my sister and that woman, you can try and hide your kids from things you don't like or agree with, however they are more adaptable than we give them credit for. The things we think will harm them are stuff they forget about a day later.
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I bought a guy's entire Joe collection because he didn't want his kids to have Joe's because it promotes war.
The guy's father (the Grandpa for this story) was heartbroken because he spent countless hours, assembling the vehicles and painstakingly applying the decals. The Grandpa was very upset and was proud when I told him I am a collector, and not a reseller.
Sounds like it worked out well in the end. The Joes went to someone who appreciates them. My father was in the US Navy for 20 years. I never had a negative feeling about collecting them. Actually, it made it even more fun b/c he could tell me what was real and what was a bit science fiction (e.g. laser rifle troopers, and such).
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Makes me think of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbHH5xZcVvQ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbHH5xZcVvQ)
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Ah yes. UHF! Loved it!
Another way to cope. Was the mom hot? Just saying............
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Ah yes. UHF! Loved it!
Another way to cope. Was the mom hot? Just saying............
I'm sure she is TONNES of fun, if you catch my drift..... Just saying.
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Ah yes. UHF! Loved it!
Another way to cope. Was the mom hot? Just saying............
I'm sure she is TONNES of fun, if you catch my drift..... Just saying.
What I meant to add before adding the post as my PC crapped out was just make casual talk.
But really - don't let it sour your mood. Everyone is entitled to their opinion.
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I don't think there are any "action" figures out there that don't promote violence in some form. That's why they're "action" figures.
Poor misguided lady. If it weren't for the real heroes that GI Joes play tribute to she wouldn't have the freedom to make that choice for her son.
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Ah yes. UHF! Loved it!
Another way to cope. Was the mom hot? Just saying............
I'm sure she is TONNES of fun, if you catch my drift..... Just saying.
What I meant to add before adding the post as my PC crapped out was just make casual talk.
But really - don't let it sour your mood. Everyone is entitled to their opinion.
Yeah it was just a one day thing, time to move on and fret over another insignificant thing.
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My sister in law (who is great) tries to comtrol how much violence my nephew sees. What she doesn't know is that when they leave him alone with the TV he flips it to things like the Walking Dead.
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Hallowe'en is the Evil Christian Church hijacking a Pagan holiday, just like Easter and Christmas.
Point could of been made without adding "Christian" to the comment. Please refrain from bringing any religious beliefs, comments, or disagreements out of all board discussions. Thank you.
Sundance, I'm sure it was very innocently done. We all have our own beliefs (or lack of) and that's fine - to each their own. Just please (everyone) leave them off the boards.
Back on topic.
I once had a lady tell me that I was a bad person for selling Joes - because it promoted war. I asked her how the Ninja's promote war within G.I. Joe?... She had no answer. She then turned her attention to Superman, stating he gives kids a false sense of flight......
I asked the kid looking at the Star Wars stuff if he liked Superman - he said yes. I asked him if he thought he could fly because of Superman. The kid gave me a look like I was the crazy one and said "NO".
I looked back at the lady, and she left in a huff.
Seriously... there's a lot of idiotic people out there that believe their point of view if the only one and the correct one. All this lady did, was convince her son that he'll have to go play G.I. Joe and other "violent" type things at his friends house now.
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I once had a lady tell me that I was a bad person for selling Joes - because it promoted war. I asked her how the Ninja's promote war within G.I. Joe?... She had no answer. She then turned her attention to Superman, stating he gives kids a false sense of flight......
I asked the kid looking at the Star Wars stuff if he liked Superman - he said yes. I asked him if he thought he could fly because of Superman. The kid gave me a look like I was the crazy one and said "NO".
I looked back at the lady, and she left in a huff.
Seriously... there's a lot of idiotic people out there that believe their point of view if the only one and the correct one. All this lady did, was convince her son that he'll have to go play G.I. Joe and other "violent" type things at his friends house now.
And the unfortunate, safe, assumption we can make is that these are knee-jerk reactions that people just parrot because they've never really though about this stuff before on their own. Putting forth an opinion they've heard before from someone else is the easiest way to say something without actually thinking about it. Someone else says its bad, therefore it must be bad. Right? Right??? Its a bit scary when it comes to establishing values in someone, especially a young someone. Just saying "something" doesn't give it value, or truth even....and it can steer thinking the wrong ways.
But I digress.
I've been castigated by strangers and other around me for my likes, interests and toy collecting hobby. The big issue people seem to have veers from what the items are ( their themes--violence, war, etc) to my "maturity-level" in choosing to collect them to the costs of collecting.
My stock answer now is to ask them if it would be more mature and social to spend my disposable income on cocaine, tobacco, booze, prostitutes or gambling.
I suspect it doesn't really get them to thinking about it much, but it does tend to shut them up.
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There have been independant studies on the subject of war toys on children. A few years ago, one extensive study (I can't find the link at the moment) showed that boys playing war, if properly guided by their parents, actually turn out to be gentler adults than those kids that do not play war. The reason (at least the hypothesis) is that playing war allows children to internalize/understand the concept of violence. This makes them more peaceful, less violent adults. The kids that don't play war, don't learn about violence when they are young and so tend to want to explore it when they are older. They tend to become more beligerent adults.
That is what the study said. Obviously, they look for patterns, there are always exceptions and the research is always ongoing...
In a nutshell, playing with Joes is good :)
OB
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you also have to watch for how the study was conducted. sometimes people start out with an idea in mind (violent toys make kids violent or violent toys don't make kids violent) and then try to make sure their results fit their criteria.
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I think it comes down to how you teach your children about the subject. If you totally ignore it they are not learning about it and other related aspects of the subject. I believe that is ok for children to be exposed to this kind of stuff. It is how you educate them on the views and various consequences of real war that is beneficial. I find that in life the more a person knows and learns the more open they are open to other view points. In my job I always tell my customers that the more they know about what I am selling them the better it is for everyone involved. After all knowing is half the battle.