Reliving childhood! Adults bank on action heroes to cut work stress

BENGALURU: “For people, it’s a toy. For me, it’s a stressbuster,” says Anshul Dubey (29), a fashion designer at Myntra, when asked about his trendy hobby.Drawn to the world of comic book characters, Dubey is hooked to the childhood appeal of collecting action figures like Hulk, Star Wars, Batman and Captain America. He has a proud collection of 250 figures with one even at a price tag of Rs 16,000! When not designing garments, Dubey is actively engaged with dialogue on the world of action figures as a member of Facebook page Action Figure Fanatics India.Who says comic book superheroes and science-fiction villains are for kids only? Many professionals in Bengaluru like Dubey have discovered this hobby as a means to escape reality and stress.

Take the case of George Samuel (35), a marketing analyst at Convergys. Samuel keeps aside a sum of Rs 5,000 every month for his bucket list of action figures. His collection of playmates include X-men, Superman, Batman, Hulk, Predator, Transformers, Tin, Asterix, Obelisk and The Lion King. His recent most buy was a Batman-Joker combo. But his most expensive buy is a complicated piece of Transformers at Rs 12,000.“At the end of a hard day, all I have to do is to take a look at my collection of action figures and stress melts. I relive my childhood memories. It is also a sense of achievement because I can afford this expensive hobby,” says Samuel.

Calling it “feel-good”, Himanshu Raj spends his weekends cleaning and rearranging the poses and placement of his collection of action figures. That include the Minions, Star Wars, Star Trek and Transformers. The price for each ranges anywhere from Rs 250 to Rs 3000. “Kids don’t pursue such fun hobbies anymore. GI Joe and World Wrestling Entertainment cards have been replaced by smart tab-lets,” sighs the communications manager for financial tech start-up Zeta. Meanwhile, the 30-year-old eagerly waits for the memo-rabilia of the new Star Wars movie scheduled to release this December.These unique collectors stay abreast and shop for their pas-sion online on sites like Amazon, Alibaba, e-Bay, Flipkart. Brick-and-mortar stores like Entertainment Store on Church Street and Gundam Galaxy in Ulsoor also are regu-lar haunts.

According to Vani Shree, head of purchase at Entertainment Store India, the per-month sales of the Church Street store has increased from Rs 15 lakh in 2013 to Rs 27 lakh now. “On an average, we sell 150 action figures per month. Popular price bracket is from Rs 2,000 to Rs 10,000. Lawyers, IT professionals, teachers, journalists and even government officials are regular buyers,” she says.