THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 17, 1996 TAG: 9601170340
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FEONA HUFF, CAMPUS CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 118 lines
He sits snug in his rolling chair behind an oak desk. His voice echoes in the air. But you can't hear anyone else.
Who is he talking to? His toys!
Some nights you can find Dr. James Satterfield, vice president of student affairs at Norfolk State University, talking to a camouflaged toy soldier as it crawls across the blue-carpeted floor. He laughs as a silver Transformer-like robot glides along his desk.
``As you can see, something's wrong with me,'' Satterfield says.
These toys make up a 336-piece toy collection in his office. They range from antique race cars to action figure Looney Tunes, X-Men, Ninja Turtles and Koala stuffed animals.
Satterfield's toys, which he has collected for nearly 30 years, provide fun and relieve tension.
``It's good therapy,'' he says. ``It takes your mind off some things.''
Included in his collection are ``conversational toys'' - toys that talk back to you - like the colorful yellow, green and red parrot.
The collection began in the 1960s. A cousin gave a toy car here, a student gave a stuffed animal there. The oldest toy in his office is a 22-year-old red Thunderbird.
The oldest of 10 children, Satterfield, 54, didn't have many toys while growing up.
The few toys he had came from the Salvation Army. He now donates toys to the charity and to the Union Mission. Satterfield plans to bequeath his collection to the Salvation Army, a request his wife Mattie has agreed to carry out.
``I would because that's his wish,'' says Mattie Satterfield, an office specialist for research projects in the registrar's office.
Satterfield hasn't spent a cent on any of his toys. At nearly every job he's had, the administrators and faculty have given him toys. When he taught fourth grade at a New Jersey elementary school during the 1960s, a student gave him a toy train.
The collection is recognized across the country. He's received toys from the Manhattan, Kan., Sheriff's Department and from the University of Michigan.
Satterfield keeps the toys in his office to show the givers that he still has them - even inexpensive McDonald's Happy Meal toys.
``It's not the cost. I look at the gift itself,'' he said.
A Charlie Brown figurine on a skateboard is the first toy he placed in his office. His oldest son, Jimmy , 24, gave him the toy nearly 20 years ago. It still sits, intact, on his wooden office table, two steps from his desk.
Satterfield is very protective of his toys. Four peach signs warn the curious not to touch them. On his desk additional signs read, ``Do not touch anything that says do not touch.''
He keeps a lock on the dark brown cabinet that houses antique cars and toy soldiers.
``I've never had anything missing because I count them,'' he said. ``I don't dust so that if it's (toy) moved I can tell.''
Satterfield chuckles about his protectiveness of the toy shrine. When he meets with parents of small children, he watches the youngsters carefully.
``I'm listening to the parent, but I'll be watching the children,'' he said.
In the past several weeks, however, Satterfield has made an effort to give toys to children who come to his office with their parents, if they approve.
``If some kid can enjoy it, that's good,'' Satterfield said.
Not only kids get excited by his toys. Adult admirers come often in search of a special toy.
``Where is it Satterfield? Where is it,'' Satterfield says NSU President Dr. Harrison B. Wilson asks every time he visits the office looking for Noah's Ark.
Even though Satterfield cherishes all of his toys, a few stand out from the rest.
His favorite is an original painting of a black cowboy that his son Jimmy, now a special education teacher at Granby High School in Norfolk, gave him for his birthday.
He also takes pride in a black cowboy statue that his secretary, Deloris Smith, gave him for his birthday two years ago.
If a fire broke out, the statue, valued at $85, would be the first toy he'd try to save.
Some of Satterfield's toys are cuddly, some are quirky. He enjoys one of the more recent additions: a bank toilet. When you put a coin in the bank, it sounds like a flushing toilet.
Satterfield's collection includes hats and buttons. He has hats from clubs, fraternities and sports teams. His OLD FART button once upset a middle-aged woman. He said the woman may have thought he was referring to her. That button now lies face down.
Other people can see how much Satterfield loves his toy collection.
``He gets a big smile on his face when he talks about his toys,'' says Smith, his secretary of 12 years. ``He's a big kid himself.''
The best way to please him is with a toy, and he's happy,'' she added.
While many question Satterfield's sanity, his sons admire their father's toy collection, which they have enhanced by giving back many of the toys he gave them.
``It's unique because a lot of the earlier toys are things he bought my younger brother Andre and me. We're just giving back,'' Jimmy said.
Satterfield has so many toys that he had to take some home. But when they began dominating space, his wife stepped in.
``He used to have toys all over the house. I had him put them away in the attic,'' she said.
He has about eight or nine boxes filled with toys.
``When I'm away, if I see something unique I will pick it up,'' she said.
For birthdays and special occasions, Jimmy buys him toys.
``It's better than the regular Father's Day tie,'' he said.
Besides his obvious collection, Satterfield keeps birthday napkins and cups.
``I don't know why I do it. I just keep them,'' he said. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
BETH BERGMAN/The Virginian-Pilot
NSU's Dr. James Satterfield says the toys in his office keep the
cares of the day from wearing him too deeply.
KEYWORDS: PROFILE BIOGRAPHY NORFOLK STATE UNIVERSITY by CNB