You Will Be Rare

Jamie Moakes has a sizeable collection of action figures. Actually, he only has one (just a lot of them): Ram-Man, a now forgotten member of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, who used to launch himself at enemies. Moakes is trying to buy enough Ram-Men to make him "rare" and, ultimately, worth something.

The economics and motivations are a bit suspect. Essentially Moakes is trying to create a false scarcity, which he describes as “fighting back against the economy”, but is common practice among oil and cocoa barons.

The point is somewhat moot as, despite having done this for years, the results aren’t very impressive. Moakes claims to have affected the average market price for a Ram-Man by 300%, but his horde can still fit on a large coffee table. Strange projects like this are only entertaining when they’re all-consuming, and there is a feeling he has perhaps been distracted by other ventures.

The show’s saving grace is Moakes’ enthusiasm. He's as bouncy as his favourite spring-heeled warrior. Indeed, he finds it impossible to remain on track, and has to be constantly prompted by his producer. However, the fun comes from the easy audience interaction, which includes inviting them to question him in the pub afterwards and auctioning off a signed Ram-Man.

This isn’t a truly successful show, either in terms of performance or market trends. However, Moakes’ eagerness for his capitalist adventure, and pint-sized superhero, is infectious.

And in case you are wondering, Ram-Man and I are very happy together – even if he was surprisingly expensive to buy.