My name is Peter Chen, and I am a Human Resource Information Analyst with Eli Lilly and Company. I graduated from Ball State University with a BA in Human Resource Management and Management Information Systems, with congnates in Mandarin language, Asian Studies, and Applications of MicroComputers. This page started out as a small homepage on Asian Avenue, and blossomed into what you see now within a year. I used to maintain this site as my hobby during college, but I have discovered that Corporate America leaves very little energy left at the end of the day to play on the Web. I continue to keep it up to encourage others to speak your minds and share your throughts on today's issues, while using a canvas that is interesting and unique, such as Action Figures. It's amazing what has happened between the day I first typed this FAQ, and nearly two years later now when I am updating it. I praise the Lord for providing the opportunity, the insight and the courage it took to create this site, and I praise the Lord for you who are reading this right now.
Now, let me answer the FAQ question: I was born and raised in Indiana, from a Formosan (Taiwanese) father, and a Buckeye (Ohio native) mother. I'm multiracial in case you hadn't figure out yet. The most explicit way I identify myself is "Taiwanese-German-French-Irish_American," but Taiwanese American is simpler to say, and Asian American is usually all anyone (who's not Asian) cares to know. I am a Christian, growing up in my father's United Methodist Churches throughout northern and central Indiana, and I am the youngest of three children.
I began collecting Asian American Action Figures as a hobby in 1996 when I visited a, now defunct, K-Mart on the Westside of Indianapolis. I always enjoyed looking at toys, ever since I was real young, and this trip was no different, except for the fact that I came across a whole end-cap full of clearance toys. Hanging on a peg hook right in front of me was "Gi" from Captain Planet and the Planeteers, with her "spraying water pump action backpack!" Now, I had seen a couple of episodes of this cartoon when it first came out, and I knew that Gi was from China and possessed the power of water, but I never knew a toy line was made from this series, and who would have thought that I would have found the only interesting figure from this figure on clearance? So I bought it, and when I got home I asked myself "what the heck am I doing with a toy?!" Was I going to play with it? Well, it ended up posed on one of my bookshelves in my room, and soon I began thinking about how she looked a bit like my sister when she was younger. I then began thinking about how I NEVER had a toy that looked ANYTHING like any family members (accept my mother's side of the family) when I was growing up.
Before I continue, I must say that Gi was not my very first Asian or Asian American action figure. The very first one came in a package of cupcakes my sister bought at a local grocery store. It was a small PVC figure of the Yellow Power Ranger from the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. Now, she had her helmet on, but I knew she was Asian American 'cuz my sister, who volunteered at a children's hospital at the time, was always being asked "are you the Yellow Power Ranger?" or "are you Trini?" I decided to put this figure on my book shelf and it just collected dust until I bought a Target exclusive of Hikaru Sulu from the Classic Star Trek. He was a 9" doll, basically, but he had always been a hero of sorts of mine, not only because he was the first Asian American to be on a weekly TV show, but he has such an AWESOME voice and he is a proponent of Asian American identity and awareness! Well anyway, my "collection" consisted of these two figures until I began seriously collecting with Gi. Why I am beginning the story in this paragraph when I have already explained the Gi story is beyond me, so let me get back on track now.
I haven't kept a journal of my hobby, so details are pretty sketchy from this point on, and when you are a double major and triple minor in college, you don't remember little details like you used to, but here's what I think happened in order of succession. I began searching for Asian American toys on the Web, and guess what, I COULDN'T FIND ANY!!! What I DID find were a plethora of toy sites chock full of people, mostly older than me, who collected toys. This made me feel a little better, knowing that people accepted adults buying toys. This also happens to be my father's biggest worries about me, the fact that I buy toys, but it's all good. Once I found the web sites, I began finding the magazines. My first toy magazine was White's Guide to Collecting Figures, Feb. 1998 edition (w/ Terrell Davis on the cover). Whoa, that was only a couple of months ago, oh yeah, I only thumbed through them in the hobby stores before that. 8-) I have used this magazine's price guide to help list the information about my current collection. The only magazine I buy on occasion now is Toy Fair, which is a hilarious publication that has lots of pictures.
Before I go on, I should mention that I collected basketball cards for many years, and then moved on to Kenner Starting Lineups (SLU's). I have my brother to thank for my SLU hobby. He took me to my first SLU convention in the city where they are developed, and in the city where he lives, Cincinnati, OH. I still buy SLU's once in a while, but only for players I really like or for really cool poses like the baseball Wall Pose! The only reason I'm mentioning this now is because I have the very first Asian athletes SLU's produced: 1996 Hideo Nomo (in both uniforms) and 1996 Paul Kariya. Since then, I have added several more Hideo Nomo's, and a Chan Ho Park, and am looking forward to Hideki Irabu's 98 ext. piece.
In case you haven't noticed, I talk in tangents, going from one story to the next, without ever finishing them! Sorry 'bout that. I'll try to stay relevant for the rest of this FAQ.
So after I began finding out that many different toy lines had an "Asian representative" included in the set, I started thinking about collecting every Asian and Asian American action figure ever produced, and display them in my dream home someday. Well, for the time being, I'm living in University housing, and the majority of my collection sits back in my Indianapolis home in Rubbermaid tubs. I guess I should start typing the other questions in this FAQ, so please read on.
Wow, now that's a good question. An Asian American Action Figure is actually a compromise I came up with that described action figures and other toys that depicted Asian or Asian American people, comic heroes, TV stars, Movie stars, sports stars, fictional and nonfictional characters, etc etc etc... Why do I differentiate between Asian and Asian American? Well, that is another FINE question, but it deserves its own section, so I will tackle that in the next section.
When I started collection Asian American Action Figures, I wanted EVERY single one ever made. Well, I soon found out that this was rather short-sighted because I was counting out all of the foreign figures that were made. I then decided not to become a "completist," or one who tries to collect EVERY version of a particular figure. After this, I realized I didn't have the money to collect all figures ever made, and especially the really old ones or rare ones that would take forever to find (not that there really are many old or rare Asian American action figures around). So I began to limit my collection to figures I really liked, and ones that portrayed stereotypes of Asians and Asian Americans (mostly bad and/or untrue stereotypes I might add!). A really good example of my limitations are with the new Mulan toys from Disney. I will NOT collect EVERY toy that is made from this line. I currently have only a couple of the action figures, but I do not see the purpose of collecting more than a representative sample of any given toy line.
What I look for most in Asian American Action Figures is the head sculpt, especially the eyes, for obvious reasons. You'd be surprised how many of these figures don't look Asian at all, but rather, white people squinting! Now of course Asians and Asian Americans are just as diverse, if not MORE SO than any other group of people. I don't subscribe to the belief that "we all look alike!" In fact, there have been times when I was walking down the street during lunch time at school, and every person who walked passed me looked the same. And if you know anything about Ball State, it's a majority White school. It's only common sense that a whole group of people (notice I don't subscribe to the use of the word "race" when I can avoid it) cannot look "alike." I tend to believe that the more people look "alike" to someone, the less "open minded" that particular person may be. But anyway, this is just one of many PCism's I have. I explain what that is in another section.
Another feature I look for is the role of the action figure. What is this action figure doing, what pose is it in, what accessories did it come with, and what type of role did the person this figure is representing play. A real common role is the "martial artist." Do you have any idea how many "kung-fu masters" and "ninja assassins" I have in my collection!? How about "old wise sages" and "exotic women warriors?" Way too many of these representatives of Asians and Asian Americans exist in society today. I'm sorry, but we all don't know karate! We can't all give you wise Confucius sayings, or 'ancient Chinese secrets!' We're all diverse in our own ways, so give us a break and stop categorizing us into one huge group of shy, reserved, exotic people. This is another PCism, by the way.
There are some huge exceptions that I allow for in my collection that go completely against the definition of an action figure. For instance, I mentioned already that I have a PVC figure in my collection. Actually, I have two thus far, Yellow Power Ranger and Mai Ling from Creed comics. PVC figures are non-poseable, non-action, sometimes non-standing statuettes. The only reason they are part of my collection is because they deserve attention, and I'm not a stickler when it comes to definitions. I also have some 9" dolls (Sulu, Ensign Kim, 442nd GI Joe, etc...) that are poseable, thus action-filled, but cannot really be considered figures since they are dolls. I have recently stopped pursuing many of these particular dolls, (Mulan, Paul Kariya, and a whole series of "ethnic dolls" including three Asian dolls that I recently found in a Toys R Us) due to their relatively more expensive price tag, but hey, it's my collection, so it's all good. One HUGE exception occurs with my foreign collection, consisting mostly of Anime figures. Japanese Animation toys usually depict "western features," such as big round eyes (I find that so cool and funny, don't you?) and big feet. I usually reserve myself from buying too many Anime figures because they don't really fit in my collection, and they are a LOT more expensive once they've been shipped over here, but I do have some. The best one I have is a little window bouncer of Astro Boy, the VERY FIRST Japanese Animation super hero. In fact, he's on my monitor right now just bouncing along on the little wire suspended from a suction cup. He's so cool! Another exception is my only McFarlane Toys figure, Manga Goddess. McFarlane Toys makes all those Spawn figures, with the blood and guts hanging out, and the gory detail and everything. Check them out sometime because they really are great action figures, as far as detail goes. But anyway, the main reason I got the Manga Goddess, which is another name for Angela in the Spawn comics, is because she's in this really cool Anime-style armor and she has Japanese characters written on her armor. I figured she's fit somewhere in my collection, and once again, it is my collection, so it's all good.
Please let me know (either through aaaf@oocities.com or through my feedback section) if you have any more questions about what Asian American Action Figures are.
Wow, now that's a GREAT question. I am not an expert on this subject by any means, but I do speak through experience. Asian refers to anything that is from Asia, or an Asian country. It can pertain to a person, place, style, or thing, but one has to remember that it is a completely vague and generalized term. It doesn't take a genius to realize that with so many countries, thousands of languages and dialects, and more than half of the world's total population, the word Asian has sever limitations to what is can describe. It never ceases to amaze me how so many people do use "Asian" to describe anything. "That person is Asian," "Are you from Asia?" "The Asian Economic Crisis," or the "Asian Campaign Finance Scandal." At the very least, just keep in mind that when you use the term Asian it can mean a whole lot of diverse things. This word is preferred by many as a substitute to the old fashioned term "Oriental," which is completely unacceptable. Now I am open minded enough not to jump on anyone's case when they use the term Oriental, but PLEASE do not try to argue with someone about using a word that is offensive to that person, especially when it is a descriptive word. This is the worst thing ANYONE can do to ANY OTHER person!
Asian American refers to anything that is of Asian descent in some way or another, but is also American. For instance, for the sake of simplicity I identify myself as Asian American. This means for me that I am an American who has a parent from an Asian country. Now, a good friend of mine is also Asian American, but she was born in an Asian country and adopted by American parents who are not of Asian descent. I have yet another friend who was born in the U.S.of A., and both parents were born in the U.S. of A., but their parents were born in an Asian country. Do you see how diverse and different each of us are, yet we all identify ourselves as Asian American. This means that you can't go and label everything Asian American either. So what do you label people as, you may ask. You don't label people as ANYTHING, you treat people as individuals and remain sensitive enough to their beliefs and diversities so that we all can learn from one another and co-exist peacefully and happily! What are some other Asian American "things?" Fortune Cookies, Egg Rolls, General Tso's Chicken, Egg Foo Young, Crab Rangoon, etc etc etc... That's right people, you'll never find a greasy egg roll or cream cheese crap in any authentic dish in a country in Asia! I speak from experience too! These are unique ONLY to the United States, and perhaps other Western Countries.
So does any of this make sense? Do you agree or disagree? These are just my thoughts on this important topic, drop me a line and lemmee know what you think.
hehe, this is just something I made up earlier this evening when I began writing this FAQ. Is it a Political Correct-ism? Is it a Personal Computer-ism? Nah, it's just a Peter Chen-ism. I'm not claiming these are my own original ideas, but rather, ideas I have gathered from many good sources of multicultural schools of thought. For the sake of clarity, I have highlighted all of my PCism's in bright yellow. I hope this doesn't give you a headache! 8-) This web site serves two primary purposes: it shares with the world my hobby of collecting Asian American Action Figures, and it shares with the world an awareness of a unique aspect of Asian American culture. The toy information dominates these pages, but when you see something in yellow, then that's the heart and soul of who I am and what I believe in. I truly hope that you can learn something from my efforts in creating this web page.
No, I do not, but I would be more than happy to let you know where I go to find Asian American Action Figures, and especially where on the Internet I go to find them. You can probably just go to my links section to find that info out though.
Well, that's a toughy! I mean, I really want to publish a quality web page, but I am a perfectionist, I am working with limited HTML skills, I don't have any visual arts talent, and I never have any time to do anything but study. 8-) Again, when you're a double major, triple minor, you're fortunate if you find time to breath, let alone publish web pages.
I will update this page sporadically though. My only suggestion is to come back often and see what I have done. Might I also suggest you send me tips on how this web page should look, and how I can put real cool and visually appealing stuff in here! 8-)