Manses: All Are Welcome

Most kids go through a phase when they love action figures. But my husband and his siblings created a unique name for action figures that has been passed down to a new generation of children.

Manses.

Man + zes

I've studied every possible etymological evolution that could have led us from action figures to manses, and finally determined that manses means multiple action figure men who have little regard for grammar.

Or something like that.

And in case you are wondering...the singular form of the word manses, is mans.

But just like nearly every other word in the English language, (and many of the made up words my children have subsequently added) manses has morphed to mean more than just it's initial meaning. Apparently the manses have a fairly inclusive club.

This is a whole group of mans...hence they are called as a collection "manses". There are many of them. They are all strong and manly. Sort of.

This mans is actually the leader of a faction of intelligent robots. He can transform into a tractor trailer rig. He's earned the title of mans, even though he's not human because of his willingness to protect all forms of life. Also, the position of Robot Ambassador needed to be filled quickly.

This is a ninja. He is also a mans. His enviable stash of weapons makes all the other manses jealous. Luckily he's willing to share a nunchuk or two with other manses who've had their weapons suffer any untimely vacuum cleaner death.

This is a bad mans. Nobody really wanted to let him join the club, but bad guys are hard to come by, and he proved sturdy when he was tested for initiation by the infamous "little sister chew toy" test.

This is in fact a shark.

None of the other manses have the heart to tell him that he doesn't belong.

This one is actually a girl. There was an issue with gender equality...so she had to be let in. She spends most of her days lobbying for a name change. She's torn between
Wo-Manses, and SPAWM (Society for the Protection of Action Women and Men). The group votes in November.
Even Tom Selleck managed to get in.

This mans had an unfortunate training session with The Thing. He's really lost a lot of his swagger.

But, his other half has proved much more resilient since the accident and is really beginning to get ahead.

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