Like many of us from the middle class, he experienced the very real abuse that lay concealed inside the uniform, primly painted houses - and the hypocrisy required to keep the two realities apart. On top of that, he collects toys, as a fair number of people in his generation do. To many of us, this is fascinating in itself. It is significant, however, that the toys that James collects are those he played with as a child. This adds an element, however slight, of longing and sadness.
Old toys are iconic.
Their significance to us comes about as close to religious as many of us have ever felt. Collecting the toys from our youth not only evokes our nostalgia for an Edenic childhood, but also the toys themselves, these humanlike figurines, become gods and goddesses, drawn from a sacred text written by Mattel. Like the gods of any pagan culture, each god of pop culture has its own personality, its superhuman powers, as well as its vulnerabilities. Most important, though, these plastic gods act, talk and even think according to a child's whims. The child remains in control over a fantasy world.