Start playing around
The Boston Area Toy Collectors Club proves that this kind of fun is ageless
BRAINTREE - Twenty-six adults hustled into the South Shore Plaza's empty food court on a recent Sunday morning. They arrived with bags of toys - Matchbox cars, "Star Wars" action figures, and "Transformers" - and spread them across eight tables. After they held a roll call, the Boston Area Toy Collectors Club was ready to play.
The crowd, mostly men over age 30 and some with snowy manes, listened raptly as discussions centered on "Star Wars" toys, a rare $130 Joker doll, and "Indiana Jones" figurines.
"These are really detailed for this size," said Greg Sullivan, a technical writer from Danvers, as he held up one of the palm-size collectibles. "I've got Professor Jones [Sean Connery's character] and the Shia LaBeouf character."
These folks take collecting and playing with toys to a whole other level. Make fun of them and they may whip out their light sabers. These collectors trade die-cast cars and action figures, but they also share stories about their lifelong fascination with toys and inform one another about places where they can find old and new ones.
But these monthly meetings aren't just adult playtime. Members discuss the latest industry trends and keep one another up to date about which new toys the manufacturer will be releasing and when. They talk about what may be America's next hot toy. Mostly, though, they obsess on their own collectibles, proving that a love for toys can be ageless.
"A good deal of people only think of the toy industry when little Tommy has a birthday or Christmas," said Stephen Lanzilla, 55, who started the toy club in 1997 after he met other collectors at local hobby stores and decided to bring these devoted toy fans together. Since then, the club has grown to 200 members who pay an initial membership fee of $10 and annual $15 dues. That money helps pay for an annual formal gala in Randolph where tabletops feature product displays from national toy manufacturers.
Unlike other collector's clubs that focus on a particular brand or toy, this group represents different
genres, from marbles and Japanese anime to toys found in Happy Meals.
"Our organization is looking at the entire aspect of the toy collecting phenomenon," said Lanzilla, who is organizing the club's banquet on Sept. 26. The event will celebrate the superheroes of 2008, including Iron Man and the Hulk. "It has made the hobby more fun again. They [guests and members] may see something they collect, something they want to collect or see something they've never seen anywhere else."
Lanzilla began collecting die-cast model cars made by Corgi Toys while growing up in Norwood. He used money from his job as a paper boy to buy the cars at independent drugstores and Woolworth's. Eventually, he outgrew his toys.
"What happens with most of us, we grow up. We have to buy a car, date girls, etc.," said Lanzilla, a telecommunications consultant who lives in Randolph with his wife, Beverly, who is also a toy collector.
In 1995, he saw the animated film "Toy Story," and it sparked in him a new interest in toys. "It resonated and talked to my inner child," said Lanzilla, who then began collecting updated versions of action figures from "Star Wars" and "Star Trek."
After meeting other collectors at five-and-dimes and toy shops, Lanzilla invited them to meet at Borders bookstore, and the club was born.
Although the group meets at the South Shore Plaza, its members hail from all over New England. At their most recent gathering, one member drove up from Hartford.
Mostly men, their professions are as diverse as the toys they collect. They are retired businessmen, broadcasters, lawyers, and delivery drivers. Of the 26 people at this meeting, only two were women.
Beverly Lanzilla was one of them. "It's about the search," said Lanzilla, who has been collecting toys since she was 5. "There are always more out there." Partial to military planes and "The Three Stooges," the retired flight attendant displays a replica of the Starship Enterprise in her home's living room. Heaps of toys, both hers and her husband's, fill display cases, corners, and rooms in their house. Their cat's name: Buzz Lightyear, a nod to the spaceman in "Toy Story."
Louis Sicard brought his latest Matchbox finds to the meeting. Now 83, he's been collecting Matchbox cars since 1960, when his wife bought some for their seven children.
"Then I got hooked," said Sicard, a retired director of management information systems. He admitted he's running out of room for his cars in his Westwood basement, which holds 20,000 Matchbox models. They are stacked in boxes, carry cases, file cabinets, and crates, from the ceiling to the floor. Most of the cars are parked in their original packages.
"From one year to the other, I kept going," he said. "The Matchbox [toys] look like real cars."
What about Hot Wheels, which are more fantasy creations?
"Blasphemy!" said the French-born Sicard, whose accented voice carries the enthusiasm of a boy when he talks about his cars. He said he never leaves home without them. A few sit in the trunk of his real car in case he encounters a collector on the road.
"I stayed with Matchbox because they are more representative of cars on the road than any other type of die-cast," he said.
Sullivan is the group's Popeye guy, although he also collects "Star Wars" and "Indiana Jones" toys. "For me, it's an aesthetic thing," said Sullivan, 45. "It's more about how it looks and how good a representation it is from what it's supposed to look like."
During the toy club meeting, he explained which action figures he found at
"The main idea of the club is sharing what you enjoy with other people who have other interests," Sullivan said. "The other part is helping people looking for something find it."
Johnny Diaz can be reached at jodiaz@globe.com. 