Breaking Bad... it's all fun and games until...
Someone ruins it for the rest of us. So here's a rant, I know I haven't been around in awhile but this is something that I've been noticing and it's bothered me.
It's come to my attention that the Breaking Bad action figures were sold at Toys R Us stores and were eventually put on an "indefinite sabbatical" thanks to one fussy mother out in Florida. I've been reading a lot of argument from each side and while I personally would probably never buy these action figures myself (due to not wanting them, not due to disliking them) I've set myself on the "Let Toys R Us Sell Them" side of things, and here's my rebuttal: (Arguments followed by replies!) "Toys R Us is a KIDS store, adults should buy them elsewhere." It's true that Toys R Us caters to fill the needs of Kids around the world, but Toys R Us uses the motto "The World's Greatest Toy Store", which can only be true if they continue to pursue all toys in all respectable marketable aspects. I'm not saying they need to go out and market actual "adult toys" - I am, however, saying that they should market to the adult collectors. The company found a hole in the Adult Collector market (it's mostly online based) and figured out a way to increase profit in their company in a respectable way - sell the items in store! Toys R Us has plenty of aisles dedicated to children's toys and the like - so what if one aisle is dedicated to the adult collectors? How has an adult buying toys hurt you as a person? We've had this same argument about gay marriage. "The sanctity of marriage is going to be ruined if you allow gays to marry" is the same level of ignorance that creates statements like "mature toys are going to ruin my child's toy store experience." **SPOILER: Gay Marriage is accepted!** "Why do adults even NEED to buy toys?" In the same way some people like to decorate their homes in bad flower and potpourri arrangements or emulate the shitty way the walmart candle aisle smells with their own horrible candle configurations, some adults like to decorate their home with things that make them happy or have nostalgic principles. Just like some people collect dolls or trading cards or shiny bobbles in their homes, some people like to collect action figures. You don't like having to pay for Amazon Prime just to get free shipping (and we all hate shipping charges) - the same way that it's not fair to tell a collector to pay that shipping charge just to get the item. And some collectors are jerks, we all know it, so sometimes telling them to buy it online is unjustified... it's cheaper in stores and the online collectors tend to over value their toys because it's the "happening" item at the moment. In reality most toys don't show real value until years later. Adults don't "need" to buy toys the same way children don't "need" to receive toys to the extent that most people spoil them. And to clarify, I don't care how much, how little or to what extent anyone gives their child anything - no, I do not have kids. I have nephews. And I love those children more than anything, but I can assure you that they do not "need" any more toys, yet they continue to want, and we continue to provide. In the same way that the collectors continue to want and the toy store continues to provide. Supply and demand is the struggle, and it's real. "I don't think Toys R Us should carry these toys where children can wander around and run across them." Valid point you made there! I don't think children should wander around and come across them either. A lot of people I've come across in Toys R Us stores tend to have the same argument: The store is a disaster! I think it's unfair of everyone who believes the statement "this is a kids store!" to then turn around and complain that the store is a mess. Toys R Us is a toy store - that's the truth at it's core, the stores wouldn't be so messy if there was more responsible parental supervision being done. Your children shouldn't wander around and come across the Breaking Bad toys at all if you're doing your job as a parent and guiding them through the store like you're supposed to do. Following after a child while talking on your phone or talking to your friend or texting or any other distraction is not supervising them. Not only would kids find what they're looking for in a more supervised way but the store is less likely to get so horribly thrashed and end up a "disaster" as most people call it. If your child does come across the adult collectibles aisle on your journey through the store and they happen to see Breaking Bad action figures on the shelves, what's going to happen? Are you going to call out to little Timmy only to find out he's ignoring you? When you start repeating his name, will he turn around and Heisenberg you with "Who are you talking to right now?" (obviously this is an extreme overreaction, but it stresses how unthought out the complaints are) If Timmy says "mommy, I want a heisenberg action figure!" what's preventing you from being a parent and simply saying "Sorry Timmy, these toys are for collectors and have an age recommendation of 15+, let's shop something else." Of course, I'd be interested to learn why Timmy knows what Breaking Bad is that he'd bothered to stop at all. In reality, my nephews have gone shopping at Toys R Us many times and in all the adventures there we've walked through the collector aisle a lot (they like to see every aisle, I oblige) and they don't know what most of that stuff is. They glance here and there, ask indirect questions like "what's that?" or "is he a bad guy?" (usually in reference to the Prometheus and Doctor Who toys) The Breaking Bad toys have been there on a few trips to the store and they've never batted so much as an eye in their general direction. They don't recognize the characters, they look like regular people for the most part, and if they don't know who they are and they don't look like aliens or monsters, they don't care for them. They've never said "Why does he have drugs or tons of money?" Then again, they've never mentioned those toys at all. They're almost 6 and they like what they like. They enjoy some of the collector toys (ghostbusters, back to the future and the like) so there's no reason to pretend the aisle doesn't exist. But if your child knows who Heisenberg is or understands what the bag of blue crystal is there's only one of two reasons for it: 1) You're bad at telling your child what they can and cannot watch and have let them see it because in your mind 'it's only television.' Or 2) You are cooking meth way too often and your child wants a toy that relates too close to home. But I'm leaning towards option one. "It's just liberal nonsense, even Aaron Paul is just jumping on the train and sounding like an idiot. His arguments are ridiculous!" Perhaps everyone is just being liberal but as everyone else in the world likes to remind us when they start preaching about things that bother them or when they don't want their opinions to be negated or overlooked: "This is America, the land of the free!" Aaron Paul's arguments are actually just satire, you do know that, right? I'm sure he probably plays video games himself and yet you don't see him robbing prostitutes, stealing cars, running from the police, killing zombies, beating people to a pulp or camping on a rooftop and sniping spawn points. (oh, wait.. that last one was off focus) Video Games are the target behind most helicopter moms to say "and this is why our children are shooting up schools... they have practiced!" In reality your children don't typically have access to guns and when they do, they usually are the property of irresponsible parents who don't know how to safeguard their weapons and keep them out of the hands of their kids. Now, if your kid pulls a butter or steak knife on someone, that's not entirely your fault for not safeguarding cutlery, but you should have noticed Timmy was getting a little crazy. Barbie dolls are the target behind most feminism groups to say "my daughter has an eating disorder because Barbie taught her that she had to be 36, 24, 36!!" So did Brick House, but no one is hating on that song. You probably even dance to it. Maybe you didn't know the meaning. Sorry, I forgot to say "spoiler." In reality Barbie also teaches your daughters they can be astronauts, teachers, president, lawyers and doctors - so when your daughter instead decides to be a stripper, trophy wife or gold digger, please remember that at no point did Barbie ever have those jobs. Though in fairness she does teach you that you can be a mermaid, princess, fairy, a video camera and a cheerleader so I suppose on some level she's also setting those sort of unrealistic goals. I agree with Aaron Paul and many others though in regard to their satirical standpoints. How can a woman judge an action figure (which is segregated to its own aisle) so harshly when there's video games (not segregated by anything more than choice of system) that have:
Mature Content, (GRAND THEFT AUTO) Nudity, (HEAVY RAIN, DANTE'S INFERNO) Sexual Themes, (MASS EFFECT) Strong Sexual Content, (WATCHDOGS, SAINTS ROW 4) Drug Reference, (BIOSHOCK) Sexual Violence, (METAL GEAR SOLID V) and Use of Alcohol (BIOSHOCK INFINITE) that are actually alongside other game characters such as Sonic, Mario, Spongebob, Barbie and the like, and yet never says a peep about it. In fact, their child probably owns some of these games. So, I'm not saying you can't voice your opinion, I'm only saying that your 'concerns' are irrational if your child is actually uncorrupted by irresponsible parenting. If you're a great parent who has kept your kids from watching or playing anything that is unsuitable for his/her/their age group then bravo, you have nothing to fear by these toys co-existing in the stores. You've learned that "no" means no! However, on the other side of that coin... if you're a parent who allows your children to watch or play content unsuited to the correct age group, then you should learn to have boundaries. Toys don't influence children, you do. Or your failure to do so does. Thank you! Here's the petition to keep the toys on the shelves:
KEEP Breaking Bad (and other Adult Collector) Figures On TRU Shelves Petition by: Daniel Pickett
