Dragon Figurines
When I was a little kid, I used to be quite fond of dragon figurines. As a matter of fact, I had pewter Dragon figures all over my room. Some of those dragon collectibles were great. My favorite one was about 2 inches tall and standing upright on two legs like a person. It had a red crystal it in one of its claws and was apparently breathing fire. Although it was tiny, it still has a fearsome aspect that so many of us associate with dragons. It was fun to look at, and the prize of my collection.
As I have grown older, my dragon collectibles have grown more sophisticated. A journey to Chinatown in San Francisco was really a transition point for me. I realized how many more interesting styles of Dragon posters and figurines there were. You can really get almost anything you can imagine. Chinese dragons look much different from, the Western dragons. They don’t have the big swollen bellies and they aren’t seen as evil. As a matter of fact, in Chinese culture, dragons are seen as good luck.
My Chinatown dragon figurines have a much different look than the pewter figures that I used to collect. Often, they are mounted on a background that looks like an ocean. I’m not sure why, although I have been trying to find out. Apparently dragons are associated with oceans to some degree in Chinese mythology. They have that wild hair and those rolling eyes the Chinese dragons all do, as well as a wild serpentine appearance. You would not want to tangle with one of them exactly, but they don’t look like they’re to do you any harm. All in all, Chinese dragons are a much more ambiguous monster, with a ferocious appearance and yet a good tempered nature.
My son has recently got into dragon action figures. Apparently, fantasy is big news again. I’m pretty happy for this. Fantasy books were very popular when I was a kid, and is nice to see toy knights, dragon figurines, and castles coming back into style. I’m not as crazy about the wizards, but I suppose sword and sorcery do go together. Anyway, his Dragon action figures are pretty awesome. A lot of them have buttons that will make them open their jaws or swing their paws. I would have loved toys like that when I was a kid. I’m glad that there are such neat dragon figurines around for my child to have.
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