從迷的行動看玩具功能與意義之變遷歷程: 以《玩具總動員》、《怪獸電力公司》與《無敵鐵金剛》為例

Abstract

現代社會中，有許多電影、動畫中的角色被製造成兒童玩具、公仔，原始生產目的是給兒童把玩，但卻有一群成年人視這些玩具為寶物，不僅跟兒童一樣把玩它們，同時也將這些玩具當作蒐藏品一樣珍惜，因而形成成年人蒐藏玩具的獨特文化。本研究旨在透過這群人的行動，探討玩具在此作為物的功能與象徵意義之變遷歷程。透過半結構式訪談，瞭解臺灣國內十三位蒐藏《玩具總動員》、《怪獸電力公司》或《無敵鐵金剛》系列玩具的迷，並針對玩具對這群人在功能面與象徵意義面的轉變歷程與契機進行研究，主要結論有四點，如下所示：\n\n（一） 蒐藏迷的觀點具階段性差異，玩具對迷在蒐藏歷程中不同階段的象徵意義，也從大眾媒介原始意義轉變為個人內在結合舊經驗而產出的新意義。\n（二） 玩具的功能，從原本只用於操作遊玩，到最後出現被人蒐藏的新功能，蒐藏迷對玩具的消費，也從系列性動機回歸為真實性動機。\n（三） 廣義而言，「迷社群」不只包含由迷組成的實體社群，而是整個「蒐藏迷次文化」。「迷社群」除提供資訊交換、成員交流功能以外，也包含與參與者互動，產出物的文化性意義之功能。\n（四） 玩具的意義與價值，不單只是由人的消費行動去定義，而是在這段人與物的互動過程中，以互為主體的關係賦予彼此存在的意義。

The figurines and toys spun-off from modern day film & animation industry have seen their purpose shifted from mere playthings marketed at children or younger audience to the cherished commodities of selected members of adulthood; aside from adoring and amusing oneself with the products as they were the intended consumer, the toy-loving grownups have their unique hobbyist subculture outlined by careful preservation and collection on the treasured subject. This study aims to cover the development of function and symbolic implications of the toys, recounted by the behaviour of the said hobbyists. We seek to retrace the courses on which the evolution of the function and meaning of the toys occurred with the assistance of thirteen hobbyists of Toy Story, Monsters, Inc., and Mazinger Z, from our semi-structured interviews. Four conclusions came out prominent, as shown below:\n\n1. The hobbyists’ standpoint shifted along several stages; and through the stages, inner implications of the toys to the collectors have also evolved from the original presented values by the mass media, to the new meanings merged with the ideas from their own previous experiences.\n2. The toys gained new functions of being collected, aside from the original purpose of being played as an object of entertainment. In essence, the origin of consumer behaviour in the hobbyists has moved from Serial Motivation to Real Motivation.\n3. A hobbyist community does not consist solely of the physical community, but a whole hobbyist subculture in general. The hobbyist community allows not just information exchange and member conversation, but a cultural function of hatching new meanings in the interactions of participants.\n4. Values and significance of the toys are not exclusively defined by the consumer behaviour, but also the connotation born from the intersubjective engagements between man and objects.