ABSTRACT
The study of Star Trek fans by Henry Jenkins and Camille Bacon-Smith launched the analysis of fans' interpretive communities by scholars within the US. Twenty-two participants were interviewed altogether, a few individually, though most in small groups of between two and seven. Potential interviewees were approached by the first author while waiting in line for various panel presentations, based on visual and/or auditory cues alluding to an interest in toys. The potential for enriching one's fan interests is almost limitless, and priceless, inside industry-organised conventions like Comic-Con or BotCon. At the crux of adult play with toys is the question why adults collect. Here, what age is becomes exceedingly complex as a contributor to behaviour because the relevance of age is more than just a set number of years that mark one's time since birth. This chapter examines how adults who collect children's toys use them in their lives.
