This is an I-Heart podcast.

This is our American stories.

And our next story, well, we love this kind of story.

It comes to us from the Toy and

Action Figure Museum in Paul's Valley, Oklahoma. That's right, the Toy and Action Figure Museum.

Its founder, Kevin Stark, says it's the first museum to be entirely dedicated to action figures.

Take it away, Kevin.

My name is Kevin Stark.

I am the curator and executive director of the toy and action figure museum and also the founder of the museum.

And I got started, gosh, I started collecting toys a long time ago back in 1986.

The girlfriend I had at the time drug me to an antique flea market.

And I didn't really want to go spend the afternoon looking at antiques, but they had all these cool toys, and they were cheap.

And so I came out with an armloaded toys. And I said, wow, that was,

that was fun. When are we going back? She said, well, it happens every month. And I was like,

oh, cool. So I started collecting toys and I amassed this huge collection. But even as a kid,

I had convinced my parents to let me clean out our basement

so that that could be my private play area. And I shared a room with two brothers. So when

my brothers found out that my parents thought that was a great idea, you know, they were a little

upset with me over it. But my dad said, hey, he came up with the idea and he cleaned it up, so, you know, they were a little upset with me over it, but my dad said, hey, he came up with the

idea and he cleaned it up, so, you know, get lost. And I had gotten a job when I was like

10 years old in order for me to be able to go and buy my own toys. So I actually been collecting,

you know, really since I was 10. But I've just always been attracted to toys, always enjoyed them and liked them.

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