Day 159: For all of the fact that I deplore both commercialism and plastics, occasionally some "must-have" object crosses my radar and my resolve collapses. As my readers know, I am a huge fan of Star Trek (particularly the Next Generation) and during my less anti-plastic years purchased as many action figures as my budget would permit. For the most part, they now live in a large computer-paper box and only come out for special occasions like photo shoots. That said, I am also a Doctor Who fan and have watched almost every episode of the original series, and naturally have found my favourite Doctors. I bought a Tardis and a Dalek early on and added Doctor #10 to bring substance to the scenario playing out on top of my dresser, but was recently tempted to add Doctor #4 in person of Tom Baker who truly defined the role for all time. What surprised me when I purchased these four toys was the quality when compared to the tacky figures marketed with the Star Trek logo. They resemble the characters with much greater accuracy and are proportionally correct, without the outsized hands designed to hold cumbersome and poorly executed tools seen in the Trek action figures. The joints are designed better and are less obvious as well. If mass-marketing can be done this well, why do things on American shelves have to be so sleazy? The answer, I think, is that these are made to be cherished and handed down to the next generation of Who fans, not discarded upon inevitable breakage. We should take a hint and cultivate a culture which embraces durability rather than planned obsolence. Then perhaps plastics wouldn't be such a bad thing.
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