Saturday, March 20, 2010

Jane Austen Runs with the Bulls

       Jane Austen is an action figure.
      Yes, you heard right.
       Ms. Jane comes complete with "writing desk and quill." 
        If this doesn't offend your sense and sensibilities, you can pretend to have a clueless Emma match up Ken and Barbie and send them off to the prom.
        Personally, I think this is replete with possibilities and a lot more fun than G.I. Joe.  
      Let your imagination run wild.
      But wait.  Miss Jane is not out there all by her lonesome.  Oh, no. Amaze your friends. Collect them all.
      The pantheon of "literary action figures" includes Oscar Wilde, Edgar Allan Poe and  Shakespeare. Head shrinkers are represented by Freud and Carl Jung. Atom smashers by Einstein.
        Here's Edgar:
    
                  Please note that Edgar comes complete with a raven on his shoulder. Possibly "nevermore" is sold separately.
                  And here's Oscar:
             Oscar, dressed to party hardy, is dashingly accessorized with a walking stick. According to The Writer's Store, this is apt since Mr. Wilde was known, not only for his "comedic plays" and "quick wit," but also for  his "eccentric dress." Presumably the removable cane will allow Oscar to stab you in the front, rather than the back, as true friends do.  Another of my favorite Oscar quotes: "It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious."
      Freud is holding something in  his hand. Can't tell from the picture, though, whether the object is just a cigar.

But perhaps my favorite is Ernest Hemingway:
         
       Not only does Papa come complete with "typewriter and shotgun" but he also appears to be wearing a Hemingway T-shirt and leaning on a saber. The promotional copy says that "a child can role play, pretending to roam in Africa, fish in Cuba, hunt in Michigan, and write the great American Novel."
       I figured if there was a Hemingway action figure, there should be one for F. Scott Fitzgerald. Perhaps sitting drunk at a Paris cafe. Or dancing in a New York City fountain with crazy Zelda.  But alas. The author of The Great Gatsby apparently only rates a finger puppet:

  But he's in good company.  James Joyce has one too.
So do Hemingway and Mark Twain.

Four years of college have come down to this. It's all flashing before my eyes.

10 comments:

Gina Rosavin said...

I love all of these! Makes me want to be a kid, so I can play with them. Of course, you can imagine how I'm thinking: a menage w/Jane, Poe and Hemingway! LOL! The possibilities are endless!

I never would have imagined someone would think these up, but I'm sure glad they did!

Great post! Still giggling! :p

Kat Attalla said...

Well you can mark me down for a Poe doll at Christmas time. Unless of course they come out with a House action figure before then.
;-)You have way too much time on your hands, Terri.

Taryn Kincaid said...

Gina -- Sure, it's all good fun until someone puts a bullet in his brain.

Kathy -- Gee, ya think? ;)

Janet Lane Walters said...

Jane Austin, please. Janet

Wendy S Marcus said...

Edgar is a little creepy. And is there any way we can zoom in to see exactly what Freud is holding?....Knowing for sure may make the toy a little more interesting!!!

Gina Rosavin said...

Well, I supposed if you're into bloodplay! LOL! We'd need Freud present to unsort that one!

Taryn Kincaid said...

Janet -- I thought you might like Tolstoy more.

Wendy -- I think Edgar's supposed to be a little creepy. Have you ever stopped by his cottage in the Bronx?

Yep. According to Amazon, it's a cigar, all right:

"Product Features
Tell Me About Your Mother... Celebrate the great achievements of the man responsible for modern psychotherapy with this Sigmund Freud Action Figure.
Each 5-inch figure captures Freud in a pensive pose, holding a cigar."

Taryn Kincaid said...

Here's a cool site. Features the Tolstoy finger puppet, too, by the way.

http://www.shakespearesden.com/magnetic-finger-puppet-leo-tolstoy.html

Wendy S Marcus said...

I'm kind of disappointed. But as Freud once said: Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

Liz said...

like hemingways the best... I could put in next to my Barbie WNBA doll and Jesus action figure...

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