Buzz Lightyear Instruction Manual

TITLE: Buzz Lightyear Instruction Manual
AUTHOR:Unknown
ORIGIN: Toy Story 3 (movie, 2010, directed by Lee Unkrich)

The instruction manual for the original Buzz Lightyear action figure, released in 1995, when short-sighted retailers did not order enough dolls to meet demand. The toy was based on the character from the cartoon series Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, a spinoff of the popular Lightyear movie trilogy from the 1980s. The manual covers basic operation of the toy: how to retract the visor, extend the wings, replace the batteries, the functions of the various buttons, and so on. Certain things are not explained especially well, however. For instance, contrary to what the manual states, “demo mode” does not reset the doll to its factory settings — a meaningless act in a toy with no customizable settings — but presumably limits its available actions to slow battery drain when on display. Similarly, the reset button serves no obvious purpose, though disobeying the manual’s unexplained warning to not hold it down for more than five seconds does switch the doll’s language settings to Spanish, a helpful feature that the manual perhaps should have mentioned.

I. Handbooks and manuals — Toys and games — Action figures
II. Handbooks and manuals — Pseudo-living creatures — Robots, AIs, and golems
III. Plot obstacles — Mental tampering — Troubling existential questions

For such a comparatively simple book, I spent an INORDINATELY LONG TIME making this one. I couldn’t find any images that were high-res and/or clear enough to suit me, either from screencaps or from the official replica that came with the extremely expensive Buzz figure from Chogokin, so I ended up making my own by painstakingly tracing over a low-res image. Of course, for full verisimilitude I printed it out and made my own booklet which I then took a picture of. What is wrong with me.

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