Superheroes 'WOW!' museum visitors

The community of Pauls Valley came together to plan ideas to help increase local tourism. They teamed up with local resident Kevin Stark, who has been a toy designer for 18 years and created The Toy and Action Figure Museum.

Sunday, April 27th 2008, 10:07 pm

By: News 9


By Christian Price, News9.com INsite Team

Action figures from the past to the present have their own museum in Pauls Valley Oklahoma.

In 2000, the community of Pauls Valley came together to plan ideas to help increase local tourism. They teamed up with local resident Kevin Stark, who has been a toy designer for 18 years and a lifelong toy collector.

"This is the only museum around devoted to action figures," Stark said. "They're a lot of doll museums and they're a lot of train museums and even generic toy museums. But we're the only one that focuses on action figures."

Since the opening of the museum in October of 2005, more than 40,000 people have come to the museum to look, play and learn.

"Barbie was so popular for Mattel when she came out in 1959, that Hasbro felt like they had to compete, so they came up with GI Joe," Stark said.

The Toy and Action Figure Museum highlights many different aspects of toys and their creation process.

"We pay tribute to the designers, sculptors, and companies that have turned a children's plaything into a work of art," Stark said.

Children were kept in mind when the museum was designed. There is an area where they can dress up as their favorite superhero. There is even an area where they can play with the figures.

The displays change often.

"If you've been here six months ago, 2 months ago, or a month ago, you can come back here and see new stuff," Stark said.

For more information about the museum and times of operation, log on to www.actionfiguremuseum.com

 

logo

Get The Daily Update!

Be among the first to get breaking news, weather, and general news updates from News 9 delivered right to your inbox!

More Like This

April 27th, 2008

March 22nd, 2024

March 14th, 2024

February 9th, 2024

Top Headlines

March 28th, 2024

March 28th, 2024

March 28th, 2024

March 28th, 2024