Focused, he lines up carriage after carriage on the track, then couples on the locomotive. Paddle up, a whistle – and off it goes! No, it’s not a boy playing, but a man. Strange? Not at all. In the past, a man with a model railway was often, in women’s eyes, a freak. Today, mention your trainspotting hobby on a first date and you’ll hear: wow, how creative you are! Men no longer need classic «men’s toys» to be attractive. Sports cars and motorbikes can stay in the garage, expensive watches look just as good in the display case. Time to bring out the real toys!
Model railways are just the beginning. Men want to zip through the air with drones, build their own Titanic from ten thousand Lego pieces or tear around with a combustion-engined remote-control car. Men like machines. The toy industry has realised this too and declared us a well-heeled target group. «The business in toys for adults pays off – especially with men», confirms Dino Savarè, an administrative employee at Franz Carl Weber.
Lego’s exclusive products are especially popular, like the Concorde or NASA’s «Discovery» space shuttle. The packaging then reads «18+». Why? «The instructions are often complex», the expert explains. Popular across all age groups too are the model kits of the cult brand Revell – hours of building and gluing soothe the male soul. Model railways are bought above all by the over-40s, Savarè knows: «Probably because their purchasing power is higher than the younger crowd’s.» So no more sneaking to the toy-shop till with a guilty conscience.
Fulfilling a Childhood Dream
But why do we men so love to play? A not-entirely-serious explanation comes from the German journalist Nicol Ljubic in his column «The Secrets of Men»: men who play with model railways want to create their own paradise – and play God a little in the process. The Austrian psychologist Patricia Göttersdorfer takes a more nuanced view: many men fulfil their own childhood dreams with expensive toys. «It’s the slot-car track you always wanted but never got. Now you’re grown up – and you buy it at the first opportunity.» Or with the first child: while the mothers-to-be sort out nappies and a cot, the fathers-to-be acquire, for the as-yet-unborn son, the toy the boy is still too small for but Daddy is quite big enough.
An evolutionary model explains the urge to play differently: traditionally, men playfully learn behaviours regarded as typical of their gender role – combat and the hunt, for example. Over the course of evolution these shifted into sporting and professional competition, but the urge to play remained. Göttersdorfer accordingly calls play part of a «male survival activity». And: women play life, men play games – the ladies no longer need dolls, since they have children to look after. Be that as it may: playing is good for the brain. According to studies it connects networks that would otherwise not be linked and, in old age especially, keeps the memory fit.
The Rise of the «Kidults»
Play has to do with zest and joie de vivre, psychologists and philosophers agree. So-called «kidults» are people who have preserved or rediscovered their passion for toys. The ethnologist Dr Karin Falkenberg analysed the emotional level of players in a study and found that «flow experiences» are especially important: that as-long-as-possible, trance-like feeling of happiness that arises from immersing oneself in a play situation – and triggers a release of adrenaline.
A special group of «kidults» are the collectors: at flea markets or online marketplaces they buy soft toys, model cars or figures they loved playing with as children and lost over the years. «They try to make up for that loss, buy something similar – and find themselves back in a flow, an intoxication», Falkenberg explains. «Some also say: I never want to grow up, I want to preserve the childlike part of me.» The line between children and adults is no longer clear anyway: no one today is surprised by a 60-year-old in cool sunglasses and trainers. Being a kidult is entirely fine – for men in particular, as Nietzsche already knew in the 19th century: «In the true man a child is hidden: it wants to play.»
Men’s Favourite Toys
Be a Pilot for Once – With a Drone
With a drone, a childhood dream comes true: to be a pilot for once! Drones are the men’s toy of the moment – over 300,000 hobby drones are sold worldwide each month. A mini-drone starts at around 20 francs, but there are also ones for 15,000. The sky is the limit.
Find Your Flow – With Lego
Recharge, switch off, find your flow: that’s what Lego for adults is for, says the maker. From wonders of the world through luxury cars to pop icons, there’s everything an adult Lego heart could desire – including the Titanic with 9,000 pieces, at the tidy price of 700 francs.
Invest – With a Model Railway
The classic among men’s toys is the model railway – a rather expensive hobby. A locomotive like the famous «Crocodile», at around 500 francs, is only the start. The complex system of a layout and the true-to-life details of towns and landscapes add up. Depending on how elaborate it is, a layout easily costs 15,000 francs.
Let Off Steam With Remote-Control Cars
The world of remote-control cars is vast – from pocket-sized speedsters to combustion-engined missiles doing 120 km/h. Especially popular are the models you assemble yourself: when it comes to repairs, you know straight away what’s what. Anyone who really wants to put their foot down will find, for instance at the Race Palace in Oberaach near Amriswil, an indoor track to let off steam. race-palace.ch
This article appeared in MEN issue 2/23 (November 2023).
