Go figure. As an ex-pat in the UK I am definitely on the outs with British celebrities and such, but knowing the somewhat in-breeding of celebrity culture here of course, he is very much one of the recognisable names/faces even to me. In any case, a known sci-fi fan, he has earned some previous mentions on the board here for such things as being the host of BBC's Japanorama, as well as covering the top100toys. But outside of being an occasional television host and somewhat quirky dude, I was not really aware that he personally is also a massive toy fan and über collector. Which, I am going to be honest, has significantly raised him a few levels in my estimation. I saw mention of this/him a couple days ago, and was honestly trying to figure out if it was the same person, or maybe just someone else with the name. Anyhow, there was an interesting special on an episode of Antiques Roadshow dedicated to toys over the Christmas period, and a feature segment of it was a visit to Mr. Ross' north London home and collection 'den.' In the brief glimpses I caught, there are some pretty great stuff covered, some of which definitely falls within our little remit: tons of excellent Microman (including an unbelievable painting by Ken Kelly), Henshin Cyborg, jumbo machinders, and of course, sofubi. Video link is below, but just in case there is some silly geo-restrictions, I am going to throw up a couple preview screenshots. Microman display Henshin Cyborg shelf Ultraman and Captain Ultra art w/ some giant robuts Holding a jumbo Jeeg figure Nakajima Astro-Mu display with toppled over Bullmark cyborg Redman Not bad for just a couple minute segment. Anyway, I thought this was pretty cool to see, I learned something new and at least there are some great toys to check out if nothing else. Now to arrange a tour somehow..... {Jonathan, if you are reading this, please drop me a PM } Full video [might require log in to the BBC] here, with JR's spot starting around the 47:00 mark. https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001gpbh/antiques-roadshow-toys-childhood-special and an expanded/different cut clip, hopefully viewable at least, here https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0dnpdr4
Yeah, I was always a fan of his TV shows about weird cinema etc, but it was much later in life I heard about his love for toys. I also think I saw him on an Adam & Joe TV show, maybe 'Go Tokyo' ... where he talked to them about his Japanese toy obsession. They showed part of an obviously huge room/mancave, where he had an impressive variety of cool toys.
Leicester Vintage Toy Shop owners went to its home in London and had a tour. It's crazy, you can find thé video on YouTube.
My head was spinning at the scope of it all, and the unbroken stream of information coming out of his mouth. I also felt like an idiot not realizing what happened to the guy who hosted the Incredibly Strange Film Show I watched as a kid/teen. It's also notable how relatively silent the Leicester toy guys were.
He's as you can see from the videos a bigtime Microman/Micronauts collector, but beyond that he is a super human. He made a large format run of prints of his Henshin Jaguar blueprint, and Ken Kelly Microman painting, and on seperate occasions sent them to myself and other collectors on his own dime. He's also a great supporter of the arts (if it's toy related), and even backed my Krackle & Klong (the big two headed turtle) campaign some years back. Jon Jon is awesome.
This is so random! We've been watching a lot of british stuff for at least a decade. So, we're pretty familiar with their comedy landscape (easily more familiar than I am with most comedians in the US theses days). And every time J Ross shows up (on Big Fat Quiz, or something), we always used to cringe. He just drove us crazy with his TV personality schtick. But, somehow, hearing that he's actually a huge toy nerd is kinda making me rethink my whole take on him. If you imagine him as like hacky, name-dropping, celebrity, constantly amused by his own wandering anecdotes -it's not so funny. But, knowing he's just sort of an awkward dork like me and somehow ended up on TV, it's like finding out he's a whole different person. Anyway, thanks to all sharing their experiences of his generosity and excitement for the hobby. It is definitely not who I assumed he was.
Like most TV personalities, I would imagine he got pigeonholed early on in his career, either by others or by himself because he saw that people liked what he was doing and job offers were coming in. He is pretty constant in the way he presents himself on TV and is akin to vanilla ice cream: not offensive but hardly going to have you raving about it. He may have done things that were less middle of the road but I have missed them, not that I have either chased what he does or followed his career. I did, however, know he loved Japanese toys because later in life he does get wheeled out as a collector on those programs that need recognisable faces making generalist comments about whatever the show is focused on. To me, he has always seemed relatively down to Earth and one of the less ego driven celebrities on British TV. His wife comes across similarly. However, I also mindful that it is impossible, and wrong, to judge people by what you see in an edited, scripted and polished program; I mean this in a positive manner, not that he may come across as decent but in fact is not. I have however, had the misfortune of meeting a fair few ‘personalities’ who present themselves as wonderful people in the media but are complete ego driven asshats in reality, so you just never know. That said, JR seems a decent bloke and it was nice to read Fig Belly’s insight!
