Horder

Noooo... Zoids!

Ever have the realization that you're hobby technically classifies you as a hoarder? Recently, I went through and did some late Spring cleaning. I went through massive amounts of junk, purging what I could and placing the more valuable toys in plastic tubs. It's also a little disturbing to mentally hear your grand fathers voice in your head questioning why you waste all your money on junk. Ha, it's funny how familial logic is ingrained into you subconsciousness. "I know grand pa. I waste money. I'm sorry." ^_^

Audio Tape Graveyard

It's pretty amazing looking back over the decades at the things you purchase and the reasons why a person holds on to those items. It's nice to find old stuff from ones childhood that bring back fond memories of a simpler time in the past. I found a few items from elementary school including a button and t-shirt. I also found my blankey from when I was 4-years old. Precious!

Money Shot!

It was a little sad to throw out my audio cassette and VHS collection. I kept the mix tapes friends made for me and the store bought VHS tapes but there was an insane amount of audio tape singles and stuff I recorded off TV.

Whatever the reason, it's always good to purge once in a while. At least I can recycle the funds gained from selling off items I really have not seen or interacted with in a decade. Oh and I pulled out my vintage Takatoku, Gakken, and Bandai stuff. Oh what a find ... err refind.

And so it begins ... again.

Growing up in North Beach and Chinatown in San Francisco, California shaped me as an adult. I was close to my ethnic Chinese roots, raised by my paternal grandparents, but also a product of my cultural generation and time being a second generation ethnic Chinese American. One of the most influential forces in my life has always been my love for children’s toys. Not any toys, Japanese robot and super hero toys. 

Suppa Robo Imagination GOOOO!

Chinatown allowed me free access to a plethora of Japanese toys during the early 80’s. Being the first born son's only son had it's advantages. I was extremely fawned over by my grandparents who admittedly spoiled me at the time. I remember making maps of all the shops that offered cool toys at the age of eight. I knew which shops had the Popy Machine Robos, Takatoku 1/44 Destroids, and even the random stuff you could find that was totally disassociated from the consumer outlets offer them (the wedding dress shop on Stockton Street that sold Takatoku Valkyries, the jewelry shop four blocks north that sold Four Star Diaclone Bootlegs, and the newsstand on the corner of Jackson Street and Grant Ave that sold Taiwanese bootleg Macross Valkyrie figures (the ones that ended up as Convertors years later).

This is probably one of the most powerful influences in my life and has shaped my professional path as an adult. While I was a late bloomer academically, I went from Videogame Journalism, to Videogame Public Relations and eventually ended up in the Business Development in the adult collectible (toys) field. Now I'm actively involved in production, sales, distribution, and manufacturing aspects of toys. Who knew this love would turn into my career when I was eight years old.

Me, Grand Pa, Grand Ma.

In fact, I can recall very strong memories associated to particular toy pieces I had as a child. From the Voltron (ST Godaikin Go Lion) I took with me on my first airplane flight at the age of nine to the first toy (Takatoku Macross 1/55 Armor Set) I saved up my allowance to purchase (which tragically I missed out on as it was purchased by a friend the day before. A very traumatic story that taught me not to trust people so easily).

Currently, I still collect Japanese robot toys and my collection is nearing the 1000 piece mark. I collect everything from vintage Godaikin and Chogokin pieces to recently released Transformers series and third-party Transformers toys.

This blog is dedicated to these stories from my childhood and anecdotes relating to my current collection and toy purchasing habits. As my late grand pa used to repeatedly tell me in Cantonese, "All Law Lop Sop." (It's all garbage).

In reality, this is a vein attempt to distract me from my habitual rampant consumerism, ha. Enjoy.