During a recent trip to Wal-Mart with my good friend, we stumbled into the toy section after roaming around the store collecting items. My friend wanted to find something small to bring with her to Europe to take pictures with, as many people do with gnomes or small stuffed animals. Our search came up empty, but something else caught our eye.
Placed in a display all to themselves were historical figures, but not just any historical figures, Canadian historical figures. John A. Macdonald, Sir Isaac Brock and Sir Wilfred Laurier packaged up and being sold as action figures under the Canadian Legends line.
I was completely intrigued by these Canadian heroes, so I decided to Google the product to try to find more information. I found the site, Legends Action Figures (www.legendsactionfigures.com) that offers a lot of information about each figures and everything each one comes with (a 20-page colour bilingual booklet detailing the life of the figure, a display base and accessories).
I am not overly convinced that these Canadian Legends action figures are such a great learning tool. I mean, how much can one person learn in the span of 20 pages? It is just enough to wet one’s whistle to go and learn more and bone up on their Canadian history. But why would any child want Sir Isaac Brock when he or she could have Wolverine, The Hulk, or even Buffy the Vampire Slayer?
As a Canadian, I could not be less interested in purchasing these products. I think the only circumstance would be as a joke to my friend who attended Brock, the same Alma Mater as I, so we could have a good chuckle at the expense of Canadian history. Does that make me a bad Canadian because I am not interested in my history, probably not, but it is open for debate.
To me, these Canadian Legends action figures (and I do use that term loosely) are purely for the history nuts and those who collect everything under the sun. Just like any other collectable, it would stay fresh in the box, never to see the light of day or come out to play with all the other super heroes and action figures. I don’t know how much action these figures would get in the home of a child, but I would wager my money on not much.
Rachel,
As a fellow Canadian and a graduate of that fine learning establishment, Brock University, I think a trip to Wal-Mart is in my future.
But really, do Americans care about Canadian history?
Cheers,
Bruce
Rachel, I’d totally buy these action figures. Not only would they be welcome additions to my action figure collection, but they would also remind me of the time I spent in Canada learning the language, studying the history and culture, and dodging the U.S. Military. Oh the memories.
Hi Rachel and thanks for your post.
We started out designing these figures with the hopes that Canadians would learn more about the people who helped shape our country. Although the lineup is only limited to 3 figures at the moment, I think there’s a significant amount of information surrounding these notable Canadians. Yes, each book has only 20 pages, it is bilingual, illustrated and one of those pages is a quiz to help reinforce some of the learning or information contained in the books. This means that only 9 pages contain information. However, we’re proud that the information is well structured to relay lots of significant events surrounding each figure. For example, did you know which provinces were part of the union of Canada n 1867? what was the name that was originally given to the RCMP? How much gold was discovered during the Klondike gold rush? or which battles were fought by Sir Isaac Brock in the war of 1812? This information and much more is contained in these small booklets. In addition to this, children (and also adults) learn their history much better when they associate events with a prominent figure – we tend to enjoy learning about people – hence the figure. I may not be able to change your opinion, but perhaps I can shed a little more light on our product and why we started this lineup of figures.
Regards,
Andrew Nafekh