I use Mr. T and my wife when either one or the other makes more sense. She gets a kick out of it when I tell her the stories that involve her - and she's plenty colorful enough to give me vivid images.
My favorite: The salad princess (once upon a time) going off to fight the dragon after borrowing the gold chains from Mr. T.
Spiderman is my favorite personification so far - very helpful. Just like for person, I added a second image for 'thread' - my brother. There are so many kanji with 'thread' that it isn't a problem to have multiple images in my experience. Kind of like the Tom Hanks approach.
My favorite: The salad princess (once upon a time) going off to fight the dragon after borrowing the gold chains from Mr. T.
Spiderman is my favorite personification so far - very helpful. Just like for person, I added a second image for 'thread' - my brother. There are so many kanji with 'thread' that it isn't a problem to have multiple images in my experience. Kind of like the Tom Hanks approach.