Showing posts with label anime Bullmark toy collecting chogokin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label anime Bullmark toy collecting chogokin. Show all posts

Monday, April 13, 2009

Well and Slow on Monday

Getter Liger


Usually I sit down to write in the mid afternoon, but I got a call for work this morning (a good thing) and afterward, the business of life got between me and, what now feels a little like a responsibility- writing something on the world famous blog. But dinner is over, Mary is out at a meeting, Booger the Cat is at my feet guarding the chair, and I'm all out of procrastination. It's kind of funny- the "world famous" thing. And the byline about fame and fortune. Of course, I meant it as something of a joke. I hardly expect this endeavor to actually result in either. But the 'world famous' part has come true. I get a few hits a week from off shore. I've had visitors from Europe, Asia, Even Australia, and South America. It's the toy pictures, especially the Bullmark pics from "Reflections on a Talking Robot" that brings them. I doubt they stay to find out what happens next in La Habra.





But like I said, I got a call for work this morning, and today it was at the school that's less than a block away from the house. It was the first day back after Easter, so that would have made it an easy day anyway. Usually the first thing you do when you open up, is to take care of the restrooms. That was done over the break. To boot, the day man over there actually showed up, and unlocked the plant before leaving, so even though the call came late, and I had to charge out of the house, it turned out to be an unhurried day. Once school had begun I just took the park patrol grabber thing, and a bucket, and worked my way out to the big field. It's quiet out on the grass in the morning. The field smells green, and sweet. I have the radio if they need me for anything, but other than that, the next three and a half hours are mine. Cool, and cloudy. The day couldn't commit itself to either being gray and overcast, or blue sky and clouds. The kids were subdued, as they always are the first day back. No bathroom disasters, and only one barf on the rug. Not much throwing and yelling during either lunch. The afternoon is busier than the morning: taking care of the lunch area, the kitchen, and then get the gates unlocked, and plant closed up at the end of the day. The afternoon is as busy as the morning is slow. It was all of a piece, and all rolling along at about seventy eight per cent capacity. Like someone turned all the dials back off of ten for a while. A slow Monday after Easter.





JWM

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Waiting for Astro Boy




It was early in the afternoon Saturday the sixth of August in California, but about 5:00 Sunday morning in Hong Kong. This was one of those telling moments. I was aware of the time difference between Los Angeles and Hong Kong. Because in Hong Kong was the Hot Toys, Limited Edition, One of Three Hundred issue, 2005 Hong Kong Toy Show Exclusive, All metal, Zing Alloy, Chrome plated, 5 ½" Astro-Boy figure. Three available. And Hong Kong is also the place from which I wasn't getting one. I looked at the e-mail for the tenth or eleventh time:

hi John,
thanks for your purchase.
I have checked with my workers..
very sorry that this special version of the HK comics festival has
already out and the new stock has not arrived yet.
I have immediately phoned HotToys to check on their logistic schedule
but the new stock will only arrive us again fastest by the end of this
month.
I am very very sorry for the problem.
knowing that you have paid for the Express for the figure, I am very
embarassed at the situation.
pls let me know if you wish to wait for the new stock to come or you
wish for a refund.
I am very sorry once again

How did this happen? How was it that I, an otherwise mature adult, was sitting here feeling like a kid who just learned Santa isn't coming? Astro Boy? Isn't that some kid's show from Japan? Flash back to 1964. I was twelve. Astro-Boy was on TV after school, and I never missed the show if I could help it. Truth to tell, I don't remember much about the individual episodes. What I do recall is that the show fascinated me because it was the first cartoon I had ever seen that wasn't supposed to be funny. The episodes were real stories, and sometimes they were actually quite sad. Now I have more toy robots than any one man needs. But no Astro-Boy. You see, despite fond memories of the show, I had never seen an Astro-boy figure that did much for me. They all look like - well, dolls. Until this one.

Sometimes stuff just grabs you. You know- you see something on the street, in a store or in a catalogue; it might be a motorcycle, a stereo, a first issue comic book, or a toy robot. And there is no question in the world; it is axiomatic- you are going to have that thing. Period. So it was, one week earlier, when I saw the auction on e-bay. Limited edition. One of three hundred pieces. Three available. I hit the "Buy it now" button so fast it bruised the computer. I even sprung for express shipping from Hong Kong because I not only wanted that thing, I wanted that thing NOW!

The next day I got the e-mail back from the seller. My order had been received. I was getting one of the three remaining pieces. Hooray!
It was Saturday morning when I placed the order, and Sunday when I heard back from the dealer. I figured with two to four day shipping it should have arrived Friday. Friday came and went.

It didn't get here. But the e-mail did. Remember when you were too young to have any self restraint, and threw a crying fit on the floor of some store or other because Mom or Dad said, "NO. You're not getting that."?

And it wasn't like I was getting ripped off. I'd get my Hot Toys 5 ½" all metal Astro-Boy sooner or later. It's just that I wouldn't be getting the Hot Toys, Limited Edition, One of Three Hundred issue, 2005 Hong Kong Toy Show Exclusive, All metal, Zing Alloy, Chrome plated 5 ½" Astro-Boy. (none available) I'd just have to settle for a plain old all metal painted finish Astro Boy. Just like everyone else. Or so I figured.

Nonetheless, I held my breath for two months until the ninth of October. I heard the dog in the front room yapping at something, and I came out of the den to find my wife signing for a small package wrapped in green paper and covered with Hong Kong Stamps. I opened it. and... (Channeling Sam Kinneson)
WOWWWWWWW WOWWWWW WOWWWW





But I should have bought a painted issue too. You can't get one now for love or money.
JWM

Friday, January 30, 2009

Reflections on a Talking Robot (part five) Bullmark Barges In

Click for Mekanda Robo/ Daibaron private auction info

I was going to call it quits, except...The Bullmark sets weren’t selling well at Toys International.
"Obsolete". That’s what Tony, the salesman over there said. "They’re not making these things anymore. Besides that, nobody keeps buying Japanese robots. Except for you." No one seemed to want to spend over forty bucks for a dangerous toy that didn’t blink, beep, or move.So I got a break on the price of the Gift Box Mekanda Robo Technical Gassin, and Dai Baron sets, the finest pieces in the defunct Bullmark line.





But even at a discounted price, buying Mekanda set me back about forty bucks, and Dai Baron was another thirty dollars that didn't go to rent, food, or dates. Compared to the Popy issues, the Bullmarks were primitive. They were heavy, clunky, mostly unposable. Sharp edges. Loose joints. Parts that almost fit. But like outdated science fiction, they had a kind of corny charm that I found irresistible. These guys don’t actually transform. Rather, they break down for transport on the super-vehicles that come with the sets. This, undoubtedly, was in keeping with the storyline of the animated serials that inspired the toys. The Mekanda plane and the car each consist of two modules that separate to carry their respective segments of the disassembled robot.








Dai Barron had a similar configuration, breaking down for transport as a plane and a tank.




And when I opened the big gaudy boxes, removed the inner box cover and looked inside, the same word recurred: Obsolete. Toys were becoming more and more sophisticated. Computer equipped gizmos like Simon could actually out smart the people who played with them. Pinball tables were being replaced by electronic games like Pong, and Asteroids. Bullmark's technology was old thirty years ago. Mekanda just doesn’t do much, and much of what he does, he does poorly. The wrist shield spinners don’t work very well, and when they do work, the plastic blades rub against the black paint on the shoulder. The wind up mechanism in the head barely lifted the spinner off the ground. A dial on the back of the robot fires the four spring loaded missiles in the chest like a Gatling gun. Mostly it either jams, or misfires as soon as it’s pointing at your face. Same with Dai Baron. Fists popped out without warning. Missiles likewise either jammed, or tried to put your eye out by surprise.
An entire bookcase had fallen to the robots. Friends rolled their eyes, and made jokes. I don’t remember that my girlfriend actually yelled at me over this, but she shook her head a lot. She preferred to see books on bookshelves. She wanted to finish college too. Then Kunimatsuya arrived in La Habra.
JWM