Monday, August 27, 2012

Silly Rabbit, Toys AREN’T For Kids!

Anyone who’s collected toys has most likely at some point experienced being looked down on or ridiculed for pursuing such a hobby.  We all come across those people in our lives, maybe a parent, a partner or an “ex”, who fail to see the joy that these pieces of plastic bring into our lives.  They refuse to let their inner child out and miss out on realizing often times how much care,expertise & talent go into producing some of these “toys”.  Some of these toys truly are “works of art” in one way or another.

Friday, August 17, 2012

Know Your Joe

When Hasbro started the Real American Hero line of G.I.Joe, they faced the daunting task of trying to win over kids like me who were hardcore Star Wars collectors.  Back then, when it came to 3¾ action figures, Star Wars, was king.  But right out of the gate, Hasbro pretty much struck gold by implementing 3 things into their toy line that would set G.I.Joe apart from all the rest, including Star Wars. 

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Dōmo Arigatō, Mister Roboto

The Others Part 3
If these guys look familiar, they should, Machine Robo was the predecessor of the American robot line Gobots.  In the same way that American company Hasbro converted Diaclone into Transformers, Tonka converted Machine Robo into what more people know today as Gobots.  But Gobot toys were never very popular here in the Philippines.  For me, it was Machine Robo.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Childhood Confessions...

The Others Part 2
now THESE bears I could collect!
I Wanna Be A….
OK yes I admit I liked Care Bears….I actually still do….honest.  I’m pretty secure in my manhood to admit to the entire World Wide Web that I like Care Bears….so there.

Sunday, August 5, 2012

The Others

While Transformers, G.I.Joe & He-Man pretty much ruled my toy shelf, they definitely weren’t the only ones on it. There were others.  Some of these other toys were pretty obscure and didn’t have the rich mythologies and and stories behind them (translation: they didn’t have an accompanying kick-ass cartoon) like my big three.  Others, although cool were rather simplistic and were eventually over shadowed by more complex and exciting toys.  And others, well I had to give up on due to being persecuted by my friends for liking them….Anyway, regardless of the fact that many of these other toys failed to make a lasting impression on me, they all were at one point in my life a source of joy to me and for that reason alone, I’d like to give them some recognition.  Since this probably will be a rather long piece, I’ll break it up into 3 or 4 parts throughout the week...

Thursday, August 2, 2012

The Real Meaning of Christmas...

When I was 7, like most kids my age, Christmas really didn’t mean anything more than a kickass day where everyone gave me toys!  Yes I know my parents taught me that the real reason we had Christmas was to celebrate the birth of Jesus, but really, at 7, that basically translated to “I get more toys!”