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

Ok, no wine gum  ;-)
My monday morning macro picture.

Just for fun!

more gum: http://toyboxdx.com/phorum/read.php?4,198184

The arrival of a Danguard zenmai a week ago made me reflective.

I know your dad didn’t love you. I am sorry for that. Even your stoic emotionless face betrays your sadness Danny boy.

Maybe he was ashamed and never wanted to admit you were his creation. You were jealous of his other children who were more popular at school than you.

Sometimes the other super robots maybe made fun of your manchild lips.
Even Raideen smirked at them behind your back.

And it took me a while to understand why we saw you so late in the anime…How many training sessions did we have to go through? Why did we have to suffer through Patti’s terrible accent?
I was admitingly disapointed when your Force five day rolled around on Monday. Even Spackateers was more exciting in a car crash kind of way. I mean we all knew Captain Mask ( Captain Dan) was Windstar’s (Takuma Ichimonji) dad pretty early on, and what was up with his trumpet solos on the bridge at susnet at ends of episodes?

But eventually as I got older and more sentimental, like an abused spouse, I decided to remember your good points years after our relationship ended. I wear rose colored glasses now. I warmed up to you. And as time went on, I began to see your appeal.

Even your lips did not seem so disagreeable.

(*Dan Kobayashi actually designed Danguard, but Matsumoto was the creator of the series.)

I became intrigued with Big Scale Pla Bases upon seeing the small photo of the Thunderbirds base in the Popy Datafiles. I made it my mission to create my own ‘datafile’ with pics of these things, since there was no other info on them that I could find. I didn’t see any on ebay, but once I discovered YHJ they came rolling in.

My first discovery was a Getter base.

It was loose and cracked, so I naiively thought I could grab it for a couple of hundred. WRONG! Damn thing went for over a grand.

I had seen several Getter G bases after that, mostly loose, and then this showed up.

Saw it within an hour of listing. It was a BIN so I probably paid too much, but no regrets as I have yet to see a better boxed version come up, and is the only four figure toy in my stable.

For just over a year now I’ve been gathering photo’s of these things and discovered big bases from the likes of Bullmark, Takemi, and Takatoku. Some are rarer (and much more expensive) than others, but all are cool looking.

If Pla bases are your thing or want to know what accessories came with them (where possible to this point), come on by to my photo album for more pics. I think I have the Popy ones covered with the exception of Combattra and Raideen Bases.

Oh, and if anyone has other, or more complete pics of these things, please shoot em over, as I’m constantly updating this. Thx.

Big Ass Bases

So they got “eternal” right on the card and goofed up on the boxes I guess. It’ll always be “etarnal” to me..

Long before Saito, Igarashi, or Nishimura got into the publishing game the ground was laid by none other than Popy. Behold the “Popy Catalog – Great Toy Encyclopedia”. Look at it as the TBDX little red book.

Minister of Information Alt wants all of our comrades to play safe, so read very carefully and retain..

“How Chogokin are Made” and on the right and “The Weak Point of Chogokin” on the left!

“Since Chogokin are made out of a hard metal, if they are struck against a hard surface such as a dresser or desk or glass window (!), they can damage your family furnishings. Play with them carefully. And never, ever throw them at other people!”

Vintage Bandai’s winged, fist-firing sofubi Danguard Ace.

Martial arts has been part of my life for about a decade. I have a sifu whom I owe much to. Someone who has shown me a path to better myself, and how to interact with others.

There is another though, that has simply through his consistent goodness and never ending exuberance, shown me the way.

Boomerang in T minus 10…9…8

“Uncle” Warren, the bright eyed, platnium curl and pepper haired, captain of the perverbial ship of gokin, vinyl, and tin.
The silent, spiritual sentinal who blazed a path from which our toy DNA spirals outward and onward, talks with a quiet and steady cadence.

“Josh, hold up, I have something for you”.

You can’t fake this, buy it, or manufacture it.

Warren Schwartz’s grace is not in how large his collection is, or how long he has been acquiring. Likely more than any of us on both counts anyway.
It is in the kindness of a heart that wishes to not only share his love and knowledge of the Japanese toy foodgroups, and ultimately the care and respect he shows his fellow collector.

Warren runs upstairs and reappears with a Popy box in hand. He seems almost child-like in his excitement. It is a thing I had lusted for when first seeing it not an hour previous. One I know all too well. One up until this point, I never thought I would ever have.

…7…6…5

My first meeting with Warren was the fateful week that Day Old Antiques had closed its doors for the final time.

Like my first meeting with Alen, I was not only impressed by Warren’s nature but the resulting feeling I had known him for years.
Deciding that another meet up should be in the works, we met for sushi and then took a trip to his house to see the famed collection.

It has been written about before, so I certainly will not go into detail, but suffice to say I was speechless at the magnitude and the care in which he quietly stored everything. Row upon row of brown paper bags and boxes, complete with hand written description cards of each one’s content. Each one describing entire runs of toys.

This is Zen. This is what love looks like physically condensed.

…4…3…2

When at Day Old, I had with me one of the many custom containers used for transporting Popy GA 51’s. Shyly I spoke to my new acquaintance about my goofy desire in locating the perfect box one day.

Um, your OCD is showing.

Ironically, up until that point, I only had a Shogun Warrior box, that would be worthy of such a container, as it seemed that in the early days of seeking out these treasures, A Popy version seemed few and far between in any condition above a c8.

Warren hands me the Ark. It is gem mint. It has a sheen and a glow I rarely see on vintage.
I don’t get truly emotional over toys, but this was a moment where choking up a bit did not seem unwarranted.

…1

“I think you should have this. Just when you get a chance, send me your box in the mail.”

I nod.

What do you say in such a moment?

I look up, throat tight, and a sting at the corner of each eye.

Hold steady son.

Warren stands there, his Buddha smile seems to clarify everything for me. A thought begins to crystalize. I have a boomerang in my back pocket and a desire to throw it hard.

My heart is beating fast, and I realize I am in the presence of true benevolence.

Thank you sifu.