This Buzz lightyear toy was on the kitchen table today, the result of  cleaning up the basement, where a rather large cache of toys–spanning my children’s multiple periods of interest, from Imaginext to Transformers–lie in storage.

I grew up in a memorable age of toys. Star Wars. He-Man. Transformers. The rebirth of GI Joe.

In the 80s, cartoons often were used to market toys (for much more on this, see The Toys that Made Us. So you might find a toy in a store, and then watch a cartoon that contains the character; or you might watch a cartoon, and then step into a store and find toys based on the story. But there were a number of interesting toy lines, and cartoons to give them a backstory and context.

Buzz Lightyear and the characters from Toy Story were different, though. In that franchise, the toys had their own lives–as toys–despite the story provided to market them. One of the most joyful plot arcs in the original movie is watching Buzz go from believing the story about his purpose–to protect us from the evil Zurg–to being one of a number of Andy’s precious toys.

So I find this Buzz Lightyear toy a little mind bending. It’s a recreation of an animated character–who was a toy. Who found out he was a toy. After thinking he wasn’t a toy. It’s like a house of mirrors.

I was happy when my kids got them. I wanted to know what it would be like to play with a Buzz Lightyear. Because of how he was portrayed in the film, you could almost feel the joints clicking in your hands, and see the points of articulation. But to hold one, push the buttons, flip the visor up?

It was a brilliant and satisfying realization–a confirmation of the film’s animation.