toyboxdx toy blog brog: is graceful art of daily expressing japanese toy  

This was a rather epic purchase in the making.
Uncle Warren is the saintly keeper of all things Red Baron. There is something magical about the character for the man, that induces youthful abandon and causes all logic to go out the window. We have all been there.. that special design that just makes us silly.

So his self imposed focus on vinyl and avoidance of jumbos in general has allowed him to not have to consider this Red baron as an option.

Until now.

A couple weeks ago, Warren and I spy what is basically a dead stock toy… And when I say “dead stock”, I mean this toy looks like it was in a time capsule. The box, struck me as being the stuff of legend… almost mint itself.

I am in awe.

Warren makes his choice, that the love of character trumps the food group focus and asks me to help him bring the Baron home.

So, the long slippery slope of securing this beautiful toy ensues. After a week of nail biting and emails and shifting bank accounts, the final piece in his Baron pursuit is packed up and arrives.

Dave and I open the box, and I get his expert opinion. The smile tells me what I need to know. This toy is … perfect.

I will let the photos do the talking:

Dave approves:

Even the ladies can’t resist the power of the Baron.

And finally the proud papa:

Also our greatest thanks to the efforts of Kohei from Tokyobuyers to communicate, secure and ship this in a textbook manner. You went above and beyond my friend.

In the competitive world of Japanese toy collecting, it is nice sometimes to simply help your friends achieve their grails, and bask in the glow of their love for the toy. In the end, I find this to be the biggest benefit of this community

Denjin Zaboga and I are the same age. And tonight, I think he has certainly aged better.

Original Bullmark on left, reissue on right.

Though not nearly as epic as some of the posts that precede this one, I wanted to let you in on a humble discovery I made yesterday, which might “spark” your interest.

A short while back I won an auction for a Kamen Rider sparkler, with a box, that had thought was a variation of the current one I had, and written about here.
http://toyboxdx.dsri.xyz/brog/?p=8498

Excited, but cautious, as the price seemed higher than typical for a sparkler this size, I followed through and won the toy for more than what I would normally pay . I chocked it up to the box variation and called it a day.The box itself is beautiful and a wonderful rendition by Shotaro Ishinomori. I am a sucker for any Ishinomori- san illustration, so this seemed like a no brainer.

Fast forward three weeks. Box arrives from Tokyobuyers. Most of it is the girl’s, but I see packed in the corner an individually packed box, looking slightly larger then I expected.

To my utter happiness, yes the box is different but also twice the size! I put two and two together and realize unknown to my limited knowledge, much like other sparkers, the Yonezawa Kamen comes in two sizes, the ST and DX. The paint scheme is slightly different and the arms are movable. It sits perfectly between the mini and the larger flying sparkler, completing a trinity I had no idea existed.

Now there are going to be those of you reading this who knew of it’s existence and will look at my pedestrian rambling as quaint and uneducated. Fine with me. I am just psyched that I unknowingly got more than I bargained for, It rarely happens to me anymore, so I thought I would share.

I think the caption says it all. I couldn’t ask for better inflatable friends.. ;)

E

A vintage Yonezawa Adventures of the Monkey King vinyl and tin windup. Circa 1967.

The character is that of 悟空 GokÅ«, the Monkey King, based on the legendary Sun Wukong. Created by Tezuka’s studio Mushi Productions, the anime aired on Fuji tv in 1967. Not usually something I would consider collecting, but for some reason really resonated with me as soon as I saw it. I sense my impending doom of additional “cute” windups in my future.