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July 1999
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Ramble Index
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May 1999
6/30/99: Momo Ramblette!
Check the Linkorama
for additional store listings, thanks to a flurry of
contributions. We'll be adding maps and directions as soon as possible.
Also: apologies to all who are waiting for email
from me. I am now officially
two weeks backlogged, with no end in sight. Please be patient! Thanks...
(At left, a blurry X-file shot that circulated during
Monday's Cafe Chogokin Chat from Masato Shono
of the impending Marmit Liger. Raiger. Laiger. Lager.)
Finally, check back tommorow for some travel announcement Ramble!
AN ODE TO MOMO-RANGER:
A Feminist Manifesto
By Secret Press Agent Hiroko
"As you probably already know, Goranger was the first Sentai show in my
country, Japan. Goranger was so cool, so breathtaking, that it
immediately became popular among Japanese kids. I was only five years
old when Goranger first aired on T.V. My memories of that time are kind
of blurred because I was so young, but I vividly remember being
amazed by the coolness of these handsome adults
fighting in the name of 'justice and peace.'
"The really popular thing at my kindergarten during that time was to take
wooden crates (which seemed huge to us then, but I bet would look really
small now) and recreate the five motorcycles of the Gorangers. Five
kids sat on those wooden-crate motorcycles, chanting 'the power of five
becomes one: GORANGER!' just as our heroes did in the show. (Needless
to say, we also had to do the accompanying Sentai hand-motion disco
thing as well. The adults must have thought we were totally insane.)
"The only problem with this is that there was only one spot for a girl --
Momo-Ranger, whereas there were four for boys. Because of this, there
were always fights among the girls as to
who would get to take Momo-Ranger's precious seat. Unfairly enough, I
remember that the boys were the ones who always made the final call as
to which girl would get the privilege of becoming their Momo-ranger. Of
course, the girl who got this coveted crown was always the cutest in the
class -- their kindergarten sweetheart -- and sure enough, it was NEVER me!
"The more I engaged in fighting with the other girls, the more I began to
question, 'why is there only one spot for a girl and four spots for
boys?' and 'why do BOYS always made the final decision over the
GIRL's part?' Sounds like the questions asked about the role of women
in society today...I guess one can conclude that these questions
regarding my heroine, Momo-Ranger, were in fact my first experiences
about feminism!" -- Hiroko
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Mechaman Roger Harkavy
with "Stupid Drumlo Under Glass
Tricks"
"At a recent garage sale I found this neat little wood
and glass display stand which was originally intended
for pocket watches.
"Being the pack rat that I am, I
scarfed up this goodie for a measly two bucks and put
it to good use on my desk at work. Now it houses that
phat bastid Drumlo from my collection of Gashapon EX
Aura Battler figures, lending a touch of class to a
cubicle normally renowned thoughout the company for
it's squalid geekery.
"Maybe you can title it 'Drumlo Under Glass' or 'Stupid
Drumlo Tricks'" - Roger
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It's 6:00 AM and I've got the shakes. No -- it's not from the high-octane
coffee I'm pouring down my throat. It's from fear and giddiness
over the sheer power and and and TANGBILITY of
what has become for me the ultimate of all possible reissues:
I'm warning you now: if you got into this for "the markut,"
GET OUT NOW. I'm serious. Close this window, jump to
ebay, hock your wares, and dig out your "long-saber" variants.
Bandai's ability to shrug one of these off on demand is as if the Shroud of Turin were
nothing more than a rug sample. This is an ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE reissue,
down to the foil sticker on the box. A quick comparison with photos of the
original yield minor (and deliberate) minute differences in packaging.
Who cares -- they nailed it.
Will this devalue the original? Not one whit. But
it clearly shows where the bar is in capability, and GA01's "rair" lesser cousins are
in for a reckoning.
Let me publicly express my etarnal gratitude to
Steve Chang of Nostalgic Anime Toys
who handled the difficult task of accruing the
Playstation discs and [masterfully] orchestrating the transaction.
He is a true gentleman.
More anaylsis and closeups of this in the Gallery of Love coming later... |
6/20/99: Linkorama!
After 9 months of promising a Linkorama
overhaul, I've resorted and reorganized our massive pile of URLs. It's
now officially New & Improved!
In addition, due to [ahem] increasing peer "suggestions" on the BBS,
I've added a new Stores Index. Maps, directions, and a ton of new listings are
on the way. If you've got favorites of your own, or general useability feedback,
send it in!
Finally,
Mr. Harkavy recently sent me this ravishing pic of the one and only
Gekiganger III. Apparently, alchohal, as well as the power of passion, were
involved...
Matt Alt with a Takara Newsdive
"With all the excitement surrounding the Uni-Five Jumbo Machines and Bandai
Combattler, it's easy to forget about that little toy company that could,
Takara. Things have been quiet for the past few months, but Takara's just
announced a bunch of additions to their Henshin Cyborg and Microman lines.
"First up is a new version of Henshin Cyborg 99, complete with metallic blue
'internal organs.' It'll be out at the end of June.
"On the Microman front, Takara will be releasing three vehicles in a new
'Zenmine' series. These are tiny wind-up vehicles that transform into
animal-themed robots. The first three will be 'Kero Charge,' a frog;
'Mogu-Launcher,' a mole; and 'Kama-Claw,' a praying mantis. They've got a
very retro 'Diaclone' feel to them; check out the shots for yourself at
Takara's Site
"Look for them at the end of
June as well. At a mere 780 yen ($7) a pop, how can you resist?" --
Matt
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Grumpy old COOP sez
"I know you may be sick of this toy by now, but..."
"Just got the SOC CombattlerV! The design is pretty amazing, in that it
manages to 'work' in both modes, and the intricate workings of the joints and
mechanisms are very cool. That being said, it lacks something that the
original Popy toy has in spades: SOUL. Pretty funny, since this IS the 'Soul of
Chogokin,' but it's just not the same. The SOC Mazinger Z & SOC Great Mazinger
worked better, I think because the Popy originals, while being very cool, are
still of the early, ultra-primitive style. The Popy CombattlerV, on the other
hand, was (in all three sizes) a beautiful TOY, made for kids to play with, while
still having plenty of clever features to please discriminating nerds like
us. I can't imagine this new one would stand up to an actual kid banging it
around. Of course, it wasn't made for the kids, but for 20-30-somethings like
myself, and so perhaps it shouldn't be expected to survive being buried in
the sandbox.
"Perhaps I'm being too hard on the poor thing. In fact, in looking at it
while I type, it has started to win me over a little more. Like the SOCs that
have come before, it perfectly captures the scale and dimensions of the
animated CombattlerV, and can be transformed into all the permutations seen
in the series. It's also a fairly substantial hunk of metal, though not as
skull-smashingly heavy as the Popy DX version. The Popy/Godaikin-style
stryofoam box, with each component laid out in its own little socket, also
provides a Proustian wave of nostalgia for us members of 'Generation
S' (Shogun!)
"In closing, I guess that I don't have to tell anyone to go buy this; I'm
sure mosta you either have one on the way, or you've got it in yer hot little
hands right now. You shouldn't be disappointed; in fact, he's really pretty
neat, and I'm realizing that my earlier dissatisfaction may just be the first
signs of my encroaching grumpy-old-man status. Enjoy, whippersnappers!! " --
Ol'COOP
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6/18/99: Marquee Ramble
About a million years ago, when I was running
Toybox ST,
I hocked my very own Godaikin Gardian to some kid named "Matt Alt" [
$23.00 shipping included.]
Judging by the style and content of his writing, and by the fact the he wanted the toy
"sent to his mother" I figured he was maybe 9 years old.
About a million years later, Alt-san's skillset and enthusiasm have contributed
an invaluable sense of usefulness and professionalism [gasp] to our site.
More importantly, he's refined his ability to spaz over a good toy and write sparkles doing it.
In gratitude, we have a new homepage logo.
So take a moment to thank him for his work
before I strap the rickshaw
back onto his ass and beat him into some Ramble. "Bumping into you on the web" indeed!
Dr. COOP
on the expansive Nostalgic Heroes Kikaider
"My experiments are a success! I've been tinkering with this little
gadget, I call it a Expando Ray. Well, I finally got all the bugs outta the
prototype, and I decided to try it on a test subject. Since my Chogo display
case is down here in the lab,I opened it up and selected my brand-new
Nostalgic Heroes reissue of the first-version Kikaider motorcycle and
sidecar. It's a terrific toy, by the way, just too tiny.
"I set the toy down on the slab, adjusted the dials and gizmos on my
Expando Ray, threw the switch, and, BBBZZZZZAAPP!!! I waited for the smoke to
clear, removed my goggles, and 'Eureka!!' There,on the table, was the Kikaider
moto, only now greatly increased in size! After consulting my trusty slide
rule, I determined that the Expando Ray had enlarged the toy to about TWICE
the size of the original, or about 1/16 scale. WOW! All the detail was there
too,even more! I could see the numbers on the gauges, the circuits on
Kikaider's head,everything! My experiment was a complete success!
"The next day, I went to the local Tuxedo shop,because the Nobel Prize
Awards Commitee expect you to dress formally when you show up in
Switzerland. Next door to the tuxedo shop was a toy store. Well, being a
devoted Toy Junkie,I HAD to go inside! Not much caught my eye, till I saw, in a
cabinet of Japanese toys, MY 1/16 SCALE KIKAIDER MOTORCYCLE!! Damn! Those guys
at Nostalgic Heroes had released a scaled-up version of that damned
toy! Curses! Now I would be a called a charlatan, a fraud!! CURSES!!
"Needless to say, I bought the toy. I'm so f***ing pathetic. Oh well, back to
the ol' drawing board..." --
COOP
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Matt Alt on Bandai Action
Get ready for ACTION!
"Look for Bandai's line of fully-articluated Gundam action figures later this
month. The new series, dubbed 'Mobile Suits In Action,' will retail for an
astoundingly low 1,000 yen a pop, and the first three characters will be
RX-78 Gundam, Char's Zaku, and Zaku Standard Type.
Just check out the
detail: these lil' guys look like they're ready to do more before 9 A.M.
than I do all day. (Not very difficult, believe me.)"
Dragon-Slayer!
"Check out Bandai's new 'Dekkai Robocon Series'! First up: Robocon (shown)
and New Robocon. Word on the street is that these bad boys are designed to
strike terror into the heart of Dragon, which up until now was the only
company with a large-scale Robocon toy up for grabs. Not anymore. They're
50cm tall, they're 5,000 yen a pop, they're vinyl and plastic, and they're
cute as hell. Buy 'em before they rip your lungs out. 'Dekkai' means 'big,'
by the way.
"Look for them in late June or early July." --
Matt
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Incidentally, here's an excerpt from my June 6 Ramble,
which Matt fired through the Systrans
Machine Translation System. This miracle of science translated my Ramble into
Spanish and back:
"A fast shot down to NYC, and I we are behind with a battery of crap!
"I spent east weekend that bought something of tawdry I strike - dull the
scrap iron that is being made on ebay in deads furtively at night. Imposters
infames includes:
Wonderful roboticos foresters, soldier 2-in-1 of the airplane, and the
crossed of the eagle of the iron.
"Conjecture what? They do not aspire!
Sounds like my Ramble!
6/17/99: U5-K7
Matt Alt greets the Army of Machine-Monsters!
"It's finally here! The first promo shots of the Garada K-7 Jumbo Machine
have just been released, and the toy looks GREAT. Just LOOK at those squat,
evil-looking proportions! Words fail me, so I'll turn the mike over to
Uni-Five's orgasmic ad-copy:
"First Mazinger Z, then Great Mazinger, and now here comes the Kikaiju
Gundan (Army of Machine-Monsters)! More specifically, a piece that's only
been seen up to now on the original Jumbo Villains packaging! An ethereal
ghost that's been haunting collectors, it can truly be said that up to now
almost nobody's ever seen the real thing. FINALLY, Garada K7 makes an
appearance!"
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"Not all's well in Jumbo-land, however: as you can see from the photo, Garada
seems to have been stripped of any kind of missile-firing mechanism! But
who're you kidding -- you KNOW this 'ethereal ghost' is going to end up on
your shelf, you toy-geek!" -- Matt
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6/14/99: Foreign Exchange!
Check it out: ToyboxDX studs Matt Alt and Roger Harkavy
crash onto the print scene in this month's ToyFare 24!
In their rapier-sharp wordbomb "Foreign Exchange,"
the dynamic duo desperately try to educate the victimized
action-figure public on the manifest destiny of Japanese Toys.
Did it work? Only time will tell.
In the meanwhile, pick it up and drop our fearless missionaries a pat on the back.
Nice going guys!
Info Boy
Matt Alt on the SOC Combattler
"The SOC Combattler seems to be a hit for Bandai: the first wave is all but
sold out in Tokyo, although there seem to be reserves of it in outerlying
areas. (Don't worry: an additional run is on the way.) The verdict? If the
readership of the Kong Tong Town BBS can be taken as any indication,
the reviews are mixed. Recent comments ranged from 'holding this piece in my
hand made me feel like a five-year-old again,' to 'I can't reconcile the
price with the build-quality. I'd recommend buying two Mazingers instead'
(!)
"Apparently you can't have your cake and eat it too. Although the obsessive
transformation-gimmicks Bandai managed to cram into the toy are amazing,
they lower the overall solidity and posability of the piece. C'est la vie."
--
Matt
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Sean Bonner with the skinny
on Ron Meloni's Repro Stickers!
"A few months back Ron Meloni sent me an email asking my opinion on
his plans for making replacement stickers for his Jumbo Machinder and if
I thought others would be interested and most of all what, if there was anything
he could do, to prevent people
from passing them off as the originals. I told him I thought it was
pretty cool, although I do like my Jumbos with a little 'battle wear' to
add character, I've had ones come though my hands that were beyond a
little beaten with stickers totally missing or destroyed beyond any
possible usage and for those situations it could make a toy a hell of a
lot more displayable.
"So he did it, and made them and varied them just slightly
enough that anyone who knows what to look for won't be tricked into
buying something that isn't what they think. My least favorite of all my
American Jumbos (any Jumbos for that matter) is Mattel Gaiking, maybe
it's because I know how much better the Popy version is, or maybe I know
how retarded the Mattel version is, but it has always taken last
billing in my book. The one I have was kinda messed up but nothing
enough to make me want to buy a new one, so with the Uni5 reissue of the
badass popy version a few short months away, when Ron asked if I'd
check them out for him Gaiking stepped up to the plate. I don't think I
need to fix all the stickers because some of them still look pretty
cool, but the legs and sides of the mouth have taken their share of
skuff and are in need of fixin'.
"Step one, removing the old stickers. Not as easy as it sounds. I guess
there's some strange Jumbo god that likes to play tricks on people by
making stickers fall off easily when left alone on a shelf but when you
try and actually pull them off, forget it, the ultra adhesive kicks in.
A squirt of Windex, a few drops of Clorox, some Dawn dish detergent, and
mountains of elbow grease later they were 'most of the way' gone. That's
gonna have to do because I'm just not that patient. I suppose I could
have gone to the store and bought some kind of actual adheisve remover
but the store is blocks away and it's hot outside and I just got AC
today so this is going to have to work.
"Step two, new sticker application. Peel 'em, stick 'em.
"Step three, put that bad boy back on the shelf.
"My final opinion? They are alright. Like I said early on, I think a few
skaratches makes the average Jumbo look tougher than a pampered pansy
pristene version (of course if I had all deadmint versions my feelings
would be completely opposite) but if you have some trashed Jumbos, these
things can really help their self esteem.
"Price-wise, you could probably
make them yourself if you spent the hours Ron must have measuring out
each one, making a template and trying to convince your local
sticker/signmaker you weren't nuts and that would probably save you a
few bucks, but if you don't want to deal with it, like I wouldn't, these
things might do the trick for you..." --
Sean
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Evan got a Getta Record!
"I work at the Newbury Comics warehouse. I was pulling together a 7"
record order and this was one of them. Pretty cool. My record player
doesn't even work but it was only $2.50. Anyway, that's all. Carry on.
Regards," -- Evan
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6/12/99: SOC Quick Pic!
A quick Ramble to post this cool image kindly sent in by Darren, who writes:
"I'm sure you've already seen too much of this -- but I'm so happy with
mine, I can't help but share . . . :)"
Thanks for sharing Darren! More pics on the way...
6/09/99: NY/Toy Crack Ramble!
A quick shot down to NYC, and I'm back with a pile of crap!
I spent this weekend buying some of the tawdry knock-off junk
that's been sneaking onto ebay in the dead of night. Nefarious
imposters include: Super Robotic Rangers, Aircraft Warrior 2-in-1, and the
Iron Eagle Crusaders.
Guess what? They don't suck!
Actually, let me qualify that "statement." Maybe these guys do suck,
but they suck in a cool way! Every one of the kooky pieces I picked up
had a bizarre resonance to the parallel universe of, um, actual good stuff that we love.
Check out the Iron Eagle dudes: Sentai
squad colors with Robocopish skulls. Each
comes with a pile of guns and blades, as well as (I kid you not) diecast hips and feets!
(The diecast in question is some bizarre alloy -- almost like waxy plastic, and barely
recognizable as "metal." But hey -- at least they tried!)
Now take a moment to admire the Mego-esque Super Robotic Ranger way up above.
Standing a bold 8" tall, this limber dude has sweeeet wrist
articulation! Yellow Ranger has that totemistic quality
found only in the really old -- or really fake -- stuff. Kind of cool that he's
"USAF" too!
Finally, my favorite: the Gundam-y "Aircraft Warrior!" If you look closely,
you'll notice that 1) he jacked Voltron's Shield 2) he's also
a Decepticon! and 3) he's got a rockin' M16 for a weapon!
And talk about Graphic Design and branding: what an AWESOME LOGO for a mech!
The great thing about this crap was just how totally fun it was to hang at the corner
of 14th Street and 7th, digging through cardboard
boxes filled with weasel balls and flip flops
in the attempt to uncover some robot rubbish. Ain't no collectibles here -- just toys!
Finally, the fierce haggling rocked: I had to talk the guy down from $4 to get the
Super Robotic Ranger for a hefty $3! Total cost of the above items: $9.
In a day and age when we've become
accustomed to paying more for the tax on a toy, it's nice to
see stuff true [truish?] to faith that kids can actually afford...!
Mathew Z sends a 1st-time Ramble on the new
SOC Combattra!
"GX-03 Combattra V has arrived, a giant on my toy shelf. At twice the
height and double the mass of GX-01, has my Mazinger Z met his match? I
don't think so.
"Sure, there's lots to like here: fine engineering and
finish, excellent individual vehicle detail, and superb transformability and
range of motion. However, upon closer inspection my enthusiam dims: the
right ankle joint shows play, the BattleMarine/BattleTank combination
threatens an inadvertent solo flight for the BattleTank (Ouch!), and the
BattleTank earthmover blades are very difficult to extend or retract. I
almost certainly damaged mine extending them, and stowing them required the
use of my leatherman pliers.
"From a playability aspect, wassup with no
projectiles? Surely a piece this size could shoot something, right? Don't
get me wrong, this is a sweet toy, from the slick spring-loaded faceplate on
the Battlejet's belly to the twin whip antennae and rotating tread on the
Battletank. Heck, I even dig the earthmover blades! I'm just not quite
ready for the arthroscopic I'll be performing for his ankle, or the
exploratory I'll perform because of the earthmover blades. Don't get me
wrong, I recommend this toy, I'm just a little hard to please after 13,440
yen after taxes for this piece." -- Mathew Z
Accessories:
BattleJet with detachable side rotors BattleCrasher with detachable landing
gear, tailcones, yoyo halves BattleTank with retractable whip antennae,
extendable earthmover blades, rotating rubber tread BattleMarine with
retracting fins, removable yoyo halves on hips BattleCraft with retractable
drills AtomicBurner attachments ChoDenki Spin attachment ChoDenki YoYo's
TwinLancer blades Display Stand Fittings for BattleMarine/BattleTank unit
and Grandasher modes
(Box is double the size of GX-01 box!)
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Mathew Alt with the
K-7 411
"Interesting info on the upcoming Garada K-7 Jumbo Machine, due for release
June 12 from Uni-Five. In response to a pointed question asking just what
the Garada toy was based on, Kong Tong Town management had this to say:
"Because all that remains of the original release are photographs, it was
necessary to approach Nagai Go and his staff for actual data regarding the
original. Although the molds used are all new, the utmost care was taken to
keep the design and dimensions as close as possible to the original, so we
think it can safely be called a 'reissue.'"
-- Matt
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If you hadn't noticed, there's a new Mechaman update by
Roger Harkavy. Check it out now in the
Info Library
or just click here...
Finally, take some time to check out the latest
contributions by ToyboxDX's Info Minister Matt Alt and Secret Press Agent Hiroko:
Lunar: Silver Star
Story Complete
is out for the Playstation, and features a generous dollop of anime cut-scenes
and cool characters. Matt and Hiroko were responsible for the ass-kicking
translation. So if you're an anime fan, consider yourself plugged.
(And if anyone out there needs game localization, check out
Matt and Hiroko's translation site at
www.altjapan.com. :)
Nice work, guys!
6/02/99: HCM Update
Check it out: the High Complete Model list has
been updated in the
Info Library.
Robert Curlee sent in some new scans and writes:
"Here are scans of a Bandai HCM brochure I was recently given.
It settles some of the
debate as whether Bandai sold the Sling Panniers as separate items or not.
It's also cool to see all the detailed images of the Super
HCM L-Gaim Mk-I.
Notice on the back page, the two Sling Panniers are listed for 500 yen a piece..."
Thanks Robert!
Mechaman Roger Harkavy was
Waiting for Godog
"A couple of months ago, I was throwing fits on the BBS and in the Cafe
about the wait for my my Kaiyodo Red Shoulder
Custom action figure
(click here for audio.)
What can I say, I lust for VOTOMS toys the way
grade-schoolers crave Pokemon.
"Originally, I only ordered one of these from Kaiyodo using
their own pre-order service. The previous figure I had ordered
this way was the LED Mirage, which not only came a mere
three days after its release date, but on a Sunday.
As March dragged on, however, I grew increasingly impatient.
The idea for this little consumer report struck me
, and on April 1, I placed orders for the same
item with two additional sources. The dog race was on...
"I'm providing details regarding each order on how many days processing
and shipping took, and on shipping costs in Japanese and US amounts.
(The amounts were converted from Japanese Yen to US Dollars via the
Universal Currency Convertor on 04/17/99 and rounded
to the nearest nickel. The retail price for the Scopedog RSC figure
was 2980 yen, or $25.30 US.)
"Since I originally did this comparison, a couple of things have
occurred that will probably affect these numbers. Hobbylink Japan
has added a new ordering system that promises to reduce order processing
time, and on June 30, Kaiyodo will shut down its international
toy and model sales.
"Take this information and do with it what you will. I'm not about
to recommend one service over the others. That part is up to you..."
-- Roger
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Matt Alt on
Uni5 Fistin'!
"Uni-Five's 'U5-A Rocket Punch Units' accessory set, which
contains a pair of Jumbo-mountable Rocket Punch Units, will
go on sale this Saturday, April 5, at Kong Tong Town.
The price? 4,000 yen ($35 or so.)" -- Matt
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Marc Raley with some
Music Appreciation
So I'm listenin' to the Phantom Surfers today and I notice they just
say 'Gaiking' in the middle of this song
'No Go Diggy D.' (I don't know
if he actually says Gaiking or even knows who
he is, but it sure sounds like it...) -- Marc
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July 1999
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Ramble Index
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May 1999
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