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He has hundreds of figures in his collection, more than 70 of them in their original boxes
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“People asked me to customize Madelman with their image and clothes,” he explains.
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40 years ago these figures stopped being manufactured, whose faces were inspired by Sean Connery and Adolfo Suárez
It’s been three weeks since we left Christmas behind but in more than one case the hangover from so many gifts still remains. Shopping centers are packed with sales and changes. And the children begin to discover that under the tree there were many more toys than they enjoyed on January 6.
The most nostalgic can look back and remember that in the 70s and 80s that was not like that. One toy, two at most. And so happy. Precisely one of the star gifts that you went to bed dreaming about on the night of the 5th were the Madelmans, articulated dolls that, although their name might sound of American origin, were entirely Spanish in design and manufacture. In fact, its name comes from MANufacturas DELgado.
Now, 40 years after those figures stopped being manufactured whose faces were inspired by Sean Connery and Adolfo Suárez and whose design was commissioned by Alfonso Díaz Alarcón, a sculptor of religious carvings, we chatted with a passionate collector. A true ‘madelmaniac’.
He is Óscar Tahoces, he is dedicated to modeling in Ponferrada (León) and, although he has already turned 55, he recognizes that continues playing ‘his way’ with the Madelmans. “There are two ways I play with the Madelmans. The one I like the most is ‘toy photography’, which consists of photographing the figures in an environment, a scene. The other, customization, which for me is recreating that Madelman that didn’t come out that day, the one that I would have wanted… now, I do it. I like to create a sensation for people with my photos, transmit something, elicit a feeling using toys like the Madelmans.”
If Óscar looks back he can’t remember when he really started his collection: “I don’t know when I crossed that border from playing with them to collecting. The Madelmans have been in my life since I was little., which my parents gave to me. I imagine that it would be when I was 14 or 15 when I began to have that awareness that I no longer liked playing with them but rather having them in a display case and looking at them.”
Lord Triste, are alter egos
Now he tries to convey his passion for these toys through his alter ego on YouTube and Instagram, Lord Triste: “The ‘madelmaniac’ community is small but very loyal,” he says, although he moves between realism and pessimism when he thinks. in the future.
“For me it is a way to perpetuate the history of the Madelmans, to keep the flame alive a little, because it is a shame, but I am convinced that Madelman is going to die with us, with the baby boomer generation. The world of collecting has always existed, but it is advancing. When the generations that lived through it disappear, they will be replaced by other figures that younger people had as children until a time comes when no one remembers them. It’s sad but I think that’s how it is,” he confesses, not without a certain air of resignation.
When the generations that lived through it disappear, they will be replaced by other figures that younger people had as children until a time comes when no one remembers them. It’s sad but I think that’s how it is
“People tell me that I am very pessimistic thinking that Madelman is spending his last cartridge on my generation, but I think I am realistic,” he adds.
Óscar explains to us that Madelman was a revolutionary doll. “Madelman was a figure completely ahead of his time, with an innovative articulation system, impeccable clothing construction and all kinds of details. The Madel company made accessories that were light years away from any other. They were so important that now, almost 60 years after the first one came out, we are talking about them. He marked an entire generation.”
Today they have no place in society
However, he is also clear that today they would have no place in society: “Today’s generations would not understand the Madelmans. It is clear to me because we are in the touch generation. Children who have grown up from 2000 to now have always lived with touch, screens and video games. Furthermore, although they were the first to also release the figure of the girl and the children also bought it, now they would have a lot of problems because of the message they conveyed. Just look at the Submariner box, in which he is stabbing a shark and today this would not be possible. They would have to retouch almost everything.”
Oscar can’t even imagine it. No lo ve viable. “Right now you could only launch a Madelman thinking about collecting and it would make no sense, it would be very risky. If they made an updated Madelman, but with the same quality rigors that they had in the 70s, we would be talking about a figure with a price higher than 20 euros that a child was not going to buy. When Popular de Juguetes tried it years ago he regretted not having found the key to what children liked. All their production was bought by their parents. and it couldn’t work like that.”
The Madelman who lit the flame in Oscar was Frogman: “My godfather gave it to me. That’s why I always say that my YouTube channel is in tribute to him, because he lit the flame. Later my parents gave me gifts and the first ones I bought with my money were the basic second generation Pirate and the Sheriff. I bought them together. The last one I bought is the Gasolinero, first generation. I bought it loose and now I am making the box to put it in so that it is perfect.”
Since that Frogman, dozens of Madelmans have come into his hands: “Originals, in box, I have more than 70, and loose, another 50. Then, I have the entire Popular de Juguetes collection in duplicate, and the Altaya collection, too. I have them in a box and loose,” says Óscar.
Among collectors, one of the most sought after pieces may be the Caravan. “It is the jewel of jewels, very difficult to find. I don’t know how much you can pay for it, but a lot, although it is true that collectors look more at prototypes. Globalization has caused prices to drop in collecting and it will continue to drop. People are losing interest“, comments a Lord Triste who also remembers that he never had that piece: “When it came out it was a Christmas and birthday gift doll, not a doll to buy on any given day in February. It was the star gift, a special gift. I, for example, never managed to get the Caravan as a gift, which cost 5,000 pesetas. “It was pasta.”
Óscar always dreamed of Madelman betting on Star Wars, but he had to end up doing it himself: “I would have liked a Madelman from Star Wars to have come out, but I understand that at the time it couldn’t have been due to the licensing issue. To compensate, I got it done a few years later, customizing it. Also I miss some World War II series with Americans, Germans, Japanese… I think it would have been more viable and would have worked well.”
Madelman zombie created by Óscar Tahocesuppers.es
Customization has not only led him to create Madelman from Star Wars. He has also had much more earthly proposals. “There was a time when people asked me to customize Madelman with their image, their clothes and so on.. Now, with modeling, I’m a little overwhelmed with assignments, but years ago I did do those things. What I did was take them to my land and make them ‘zombified’. They liked them a lot,” concludes an Oscar who, despite his pessimism regarding Madelman’s future, does not forget that ‘The Madelmans can do everything’.
Themes
2024-02-04 08:15:57
#Madelman #collector #disappear #babyboomers
