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

SANJEEV SAYS:

“That was the Godfather,” I stated in a slow tone, lowering the phone from my ear.

“Alen?”, my girlfriend queried, already knowing the answer…and based on my expression, also knowing full well the weight of the proposal just put before me.

A metric ton of Japanese vinyl monster toys spanning nearly four decades of production waiting in Denver, Pennsylvania to be identified and evaluated. Character and non-character toys from Bullmark to Blobpus. Vintage Marusan to modern Marmit. And the assignment of wrangling these beasts was to fall onto my shoulders. After all, who else could accomplish such a herculean task but TBDX’s own Chief Glowologist? And who could even think of turning down such a toy-nerd dream? And most importantly, who could say “no” to the Godfather?

For a moment, I pondered who from the Boston unit would get to be Ryoma…me, Alen, or Josh. Hey, as long as I wasn’t Benkei, right? These are the general sort of thoughts that occupied my fevered otaku brain en route.

Upon arriving at Morphy’s however, such whimsy was set aside. I didn’t envy Mark, Josh, and Alen’s job of identifying the myriad robot toy bits and matching them to their boxes. But at the same time, the sheer volume of vinyl before me was awe-inspiring.

Over the next three days, I formed my own one-man Monster Attack Team, with Josh and Jim Maitland’s invaluable aid. But WOULD the kaiju be corralled in time?

JOSH SAYS:

The normal executive timbre in Alen’s voice was colored with an obvious undertone of fanboy excitement. I had spoken only the night before with Uncle Warren hypothetically about this, and in his usual fashion, Alen picked up the ball and ran with it. I knew this was going to be special in a way none of us could imagine.

There really was almost no reason to ask the question. Of course I was going to do this. Despite the magnitude of the task, this was something that all of us could not have fabricated in our wildest otaku drenched dreams.

Within a week of the conversation, details were laid out and tickets were purchased. Sanjeev on vinyl would work, but after some industrial math, we knew we were short. We would need another person — someone else to complete an East-Coast trinity. If only we knew of someone who could relentlessly crush like a machine, and fight like a solidier. A Machinesolider…

MARK SAYS:

As I pulled up to Morphy’s showroom, I could sense a vibration in the air. The energy… here was an entire warehouse full of gokin, less than an hour drive from my house.

I had seen a few advance pictures but that did not prepare me for the shock and awe of seeing it in person. Rows of tables, lined up end to end, on which hundreds, possibly thousands, of boxes were stacked. Popy. Takatoku. Takemi. Bandai. Unifive.

The boxes were mostly empty. Aisles of drawers, reaching almost to the ceiling, contained the loose toys and accessories that belonged within. Missiles and fists were everywhere. The task ahead of us was daunting to say the least.

We organized the boxes first, grouping by series and manufacturer. Once that was in order, we dug in to the drawers to gather the toys and their accessories, and put them with their boxes to create lots. Treasures were found, and it amazed me how mint these toys were. Most looked like they were taken out of the box when bought new, put on display, and have sat untouched ever since. A Voltes V was found in 5 separate pieces, which had never been combined; as well as a mint, unbroken Takemi Sandaio, and a Gardian with intact knees.

* * *

We honestly had no idea what was waiting for us. Before this was over, and after an intensive 72 hour marathon, the word “Morphy” would be burned into our skulls.

Yeah, we thought we were on a mission. But it was really a slice of hell on earth, and it was payment time for all our gokin sins. Manhandling the toys was just the first of the tasks. We had forgotten about a little something called “the LOTS…”

Mark Gradwell’s Photos are online. Check them out:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8570113@N05/

((( Stay tuned for Part 2… )))