In 2012, when I was first making the jump from designer toys to sofubi I remember I was all about Touma Skuttles. For whatever reason they were plentiful and not terribly expensive at the time. The design aesthetic felt like it bridged the gap between western and Japanese makers. I proudly displayed them at my work desk (remember offices?) and coworkers would stop by to ask if I was ok haha. Then at some point, I decided that I was a snob. Why should let these fat alligator snappers take up so much real estate when I could be filling my shelves with M1, Bullmark, and Gargamel? I had outgrown the heavily stylized aesthetic, I quietly assured myself, and sold off the lot of my hard backed friends into the reaches of the Internet. A friggin decade later, I'm just looking at Rotofugi for the hell of it, and sitting there is a clear Skuttle-X just asking me where I've been. I bet the clear's all yellowed at this point, but I couldn't resist the pang of nostalgia that hit me. It took me back to making real money for the first time, and spending it on stupid shit. So i rode the wave and spent my money on stupid shit. I don't need another shelf full of these terrapins, but I'm excited to stick this old guy back on my desk. Anyone else have a toy boomerang they couldn't quite shake? Extra points if it's come and gone a few times through different periods of your life.
Transformers… I quit collecting for a couple years and, then start again. My nephew loves them so I’ve handed down quite a few and have passed on the bug. I buy them for him now mostly.
Tokoji. I remember not being sure I even liked them when they first dropped, but Crab Rangoon had a collection and a light when on. I love Koji’s freehand works and I could feel the magic in this toy, so I went for it. I got a nice collection going that made me super happy. A cross-country move, a stint of unemployment, a grail, and engagement later, I found myself needing to sell anything non-booska to make it all work. I’ve let go of a lot of cool stuff in my time in this hobby, but I regret my Tokoji sell-off the most. A lot of memories around that time of people I knew and warm times in my life. I even found a couple favorites over the years, but new house, move, family troubles, etc forced me to crunch down and let them go to stay focused. Then one day, a Tokoji grail popped up on eBay and i pounced. I was able to find a couple old flames and now there’s no going back. I’m older and wiser now, haha I’ll make room for it. I find the toys delightful as f**k
It just finds you right? After 8 years in NYC, a catastrophic break up, wedding, and a new child later I find myself back on the west coast in the same area where I first fell in love with Skuttles. It's like a piece of you's been slowly rolling it's way back to your arms all this time.
I think there might be a theme here, but I struggle the same way with TMNT stuff. I love it, but it ends up sitting in a box because it doesn't quite fit with anything else I have on display. Maybe my daughter will be a fan?
My daughter loves tmnt stuff. She’s 4, so I just let her play with a couple original toys I had. The more-articulated stuff I have in a box for when she’s a little older. Such a wonderfully goofy line of toys
Finally picked up some time to get this guy out of the box! As expected, clear vinyl is super yellowed, but it kinda only helps me feel more nostalgic about it. I also forgot you can extend it's neck! With the rest of the desk crew: What a fun little guy. Glad to have him back. (if you see him in a for sale please yell at me)
The progression of toy collector's taste is always interesting. I've had this discussion with a few friends over the years and a lot of what we went through totally on our own is eerily similar to one another. We start off as a big toy fan when we were children. Lose touch with toys as an adult until something pulls us back which is usually something in the designer realm since those type of toys are often seen in adult places rather than actual toy stores. The designer stuff rekindles our old love of toys so we dive in. Eventually stumbling into even more obscure vinyl stuff like colorful Japanese monsters. For better or worse we get influenced by the people who collect those things and decide other toys we thought we liked weren't good enough anymore. Often eventually ending up jaded by the unavailability and ridiculous pricing. This is where things go one of two ways for the people I know generally. Either we realize all that really matters is how we feel about the toys. Fuck how other people see them or if they match some specific criteria. Doesn't matter if they are rare or vintage or Japanese or Chinese or from the dollar store or a yard sale or out of a fancy gallery show. If they make us happy they have a place in our collection. Or they say fuck it and sell off their collection then walk away from the hobby forever.
