How Adults Actually Play with Action Figures: A Personal Investigation

For my birthday last year, I got Silent Hill action figures. From my husband.

They are the Pyramid Head (Red Pyramid Thing) and Bubble Head Nurse figures I had been dying for! They are from the Revoltech line (a popular Japanese brand known for highly articulated joints), so the quality is insanely good.

They are currently out of stock, so here are some alternatives!

They are my absolute, all-time favorite characters, so I was beyond excited.
One of the best things about these posable action figures is that they come with a bunch of accessories, giving you so many different ways to play with them.

People who aren’t particularly into collecting might look at them and ask, “What is the point of buying those?” But for me, they are fantastic items with endless uses.

How Adults Use Action Figures

Use #1: Admiring Them

Well, if you buy a figure, this is the most obvious use!
Don’t just dismiss them as “plastic dolls.” If you turn him upside down, you can actually see and touch Pyramid Head’s exposed brain!

And naturally, you can also admire the Bubble Head Nurse’s cleavage…

Oh, by the way, if you want to look at the Bubble Head Nurse from a very extreme low angle… please go ahead and buy this posable figure for yourself (lol).

Use #2: Displaying Them

Another obvious use.
I have various other figures and plushies besides these two, and they are all sitting pretty in my room.

Having Danbo (the cute cardboard box robot from the manga Yotsuba&!) sitting right next to Pyramid Head is wonderfully surreal.

Turning around in my workspace and seeing them there is the absolute best feeling, you know?

Use #3: Toy Photography

This might be their true calling: Photography!
Since they are fully articulated, you can put them in any pose you like and snap away.

Rather than just a quick snap like this, if you lay down a black cloth for the background and set up proper lighting, you can take some incredibly cool photos. I haven’t had the free time to do it yet, but I definitely plan to hold a proper photoshoot soon.

Use #4: Using Them as Drawing Models

This is probably something only artists and illustrators do, but having them serve as drawing references is insanely convenient.

You just set them in a pose…

And then you use them as a model to draw your pictures!

They don’t move. They don’t fall asleep. They don’t complain.

Aren’t they the absolute perfect models?

Summary: How to Play with Figures

So, the reasons I buy action figures are:

• To admire my favorite characters
• To display them
• To take photos of them
• To use them as drawing references

Because one single item gives me four amazing ways to enjoy it!

That being said, it’s not like any action figure will do. It strictly has to meet the condition of being “a character I love,” so please keep that in mind.

“Revoltech” is a specific brand, but since terms like “posable figure” and “Revoltech” are often used interchangeably, I’m treating them as roughly the same thing here.

Check out my other hobbies here!