SERGEANT BLUFF | Cody Robinson believes you are never too old to have toys.
His Transformers collection illustrates that.
The entertainment franchise started out in the mid-1980s with toys that look like ordinary objects, but are "transforming" alien robots who are in an endless struggle for universal dominance or world peace. That spawned comic books, video games, clothing, and ultimately, movies.
Like most kids, Robinson enjoyed the toys, then started accumulating them.
"The bigger ones are much easier to transform," he said. "As the parts become smaller, it becomes more difficult to manipulate them."
When first introduced, the Transformers -- akin to a Swiss Army knife -- were all pretty simple and straightforward to change up. That's changed over the years, Robinson noted.
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"For example, Soundwave (they all have names) turns into a cassette player with a place to insert and eject a cassette tape," he said. "They've started to add more things on the toys, like lights and sounds and honking. Sometimes weapons will emerge or mouths will move.
Robinson gets the Transformers as gifts, but the Western Iowa Tech Community College student also uses money from his part-time job at Sunrise Retirement Community to purchase ones he admires.
"It's the older ones I'm in search of now, those created around 1985," he said.
Q. When did you start collecting the toys?
A. I had some from when I was little because my parents knew what I would like, but I started collecting when I was a freshman in high school.
Q. Why collect them?
A. I collect them because it is very interesting to me how Hasbro -- the brand that makes Transformers -- creates these toys and how they make a robot transform into a vehicle. It's almost like a puzzle.
Q. What's the first one that started the collection?
A. The first that started the collection is the one my grandma bought me Autobot Jazz. That toy came out when the first Transformers movie came out in 2007.
Q. How many do you have now?
A. Probably about close to 80 to 100.
Q. Which one is your favorite?
A. My favorite would have to be all of them.
Q. Where do you get them?
A. I get most of them from Walmart and Target. Sometimes I buy them from eBay because a lot of them are not in stores.
Q. How do you get them?
A. I buy them with my own money. That is what my money is mostly spent on nowadays.
Q. What do they typically cost?
A. The cost depends on what class of toy it is. With Transformer toys there are three classes: The Deluxe Class, which is kind of a small size, the Voyager Class, which is medium sized, and the Leader Class, the large-sized toy. The prices are reasonable, I don't have any complaints.
Q. How old are you, because aren't you a little old to collect these toys?
A. I turned 19 last December. My mom always tells me at 19, she thinks I am too old to buy toys, but I believe that you are never too old to do something you love. To me these toys aren't toys, to me they are a part of my life and it is something that makes me happy.
Q. What criteria do you use for choosing a toy?
A. I base it on the coolness and awesomeness of the toy. The way the toy looks mostly and if I see a certain one, I will do anything to get it.
Q. How does price factor in?
A. Price somewhat matters to me, but very seldom.
Q. What do friends/family think of the collection?
A. Honestly, I have never asked them what they think about it, but the only family members that talked to me about it were my mom and dad. Most of my friends don't really care about it, but some of my friends think it is awesome that I collect them and I really do appreciate them for that. One friend told me that I need to get help but she still thinks it's cool because she said she never had a friend like me.
Q. Do you collect anything else?
A. The only thing I collect other than Transformer toys is basically junk.
Q. Any thought to ever stopping the collection?
A. Until the day I lay to rest in a coffin is the day I will stop. Unless they stop selling them before I die.
