Toy Collector Dilemma: Here We Go Again!

When I started to collect toys, I was influenced to collect them mint and carded/boxed. The problem with this is the boxes and carded figures takes up space. So what I did was to packed the toys in cardboard boxes and stack em up. Many of these toys never saw the light of day again. So I began to visualize...how nice to have my own house...to have a dedicated room to display my toys. That was in the mid 90s.

In 2001, my wish came true. I got my own house. I dedicate one room specifically for toys. I had 3 glass cabinets and 5 book shelves. I got to display my prized Batman toys, my vintage He-Man, my vintage Star Wars etc. Boy it was good....for a few years. Over the years and as the collection grew, I added few more shelves and 2 metal racks. The room became smaller..

Now , the once toy display room became nothing more than a toy store room. Boxes of toys are stacked on top of each other. There is only a tiny visible pathway in the room. And I m still buying toys...though not as frequent as in the past. And my mind starts to visualize again...how nice to have a bigger house, a bigger room to display my toys.......here we go again.

7-Eleven Care Bears Collection

One morning while bringing my son for breakfast, we stopped by a 7-Eleven store. There I came across some cute Care Bears stuff - a magnetic memo pad with pencil and clip(2 design), a handphone pouch (2 design) and a handphone strap (2 design). On closer look, it seems that these are 7-Eleven premiums! So I grab one set of them. These are not toys but they do remind me of the 80's. Check em out!!

Shell James Bond Cars Collection

Shell have came up with a cool premium: James Bond cars from the movies. There are 5 in total - Sunbeam Alpine, Aston Martin DB5, Aston Martin DBS, BMW Z3 and Lotus Esprit.

Each car comes with a display base with cover! It also have a mini James Bond movie poster as the display backdrop! Very cool. To top it all, it only cost RM5.50 each! (You must pump RM40 petrol to be entitle to buy one) For the diehard collector, you can also get a limited edition briefcase display for RM60.

Collectible Value: Quite good, selling in eBay Malaysia for RM200++

DRAGONBALL AND SAILORMOON BANDAI

Besides collecting movie toys, I collect anime toys as well. I was a crazy anime fan in the mid 90s, I went all the way to Hong Kong to get Evangelion original VCDs. (Back then, we don't have so many comics stores and the Malay translated Manga are just starting...) My early favorites - DragonBall

I came to know about DragonBall when I was in Secondary School. I got a videotape from Petaling Street and I was hooked probably because of humour in the young Goku series. After a while, the storyline kinda run stale..but anyway I love to collect the DragonBall figures. I managed to acquire 4 vintage Bandai DragonBall figures. These are really for display as the only articulation is the arms. But that was the past. Now - you can have super articulated Goku figures! (Hybrid series)

Another popular anime back then was SailorMoon. Nope I m not a fan but a fellow collector persuaded me to buy the whole set of 5 SailorMoon dolls coz they are on sale. So I got all the 5 main characters at a very good price. (RM18 each) These are 12" dolls with cloth uniform! I got another surprise as my collector friend also got me Sailor Chibi Moon - who's that? That is SailorMoon's daughter!! I too didn't know that until I got the doll..

ArtFX Kotobukiya Terminator 3: T-850

I got these from warehouse to sell. After looking at it, I kinda like em..and guess what, I decided to keep them. I got two T-850 model kits (version 1 and 2) by ArtFX Kotobukiya. Version 1 have 2 interchangeable Arnold's head, one with sunglasses another without. Version 2 is the battle damaged version where it reveals some exo-skeleton.

Batman Begins: Transforming Gotham City Batmobile Playset

Its been some time since I last wrote. Have been pretty busy. Anyway, got some time to catch up with my hobby. Here's one playset that I recommend to all Batman movie collectors: Mattel's Batman Begins Transforming Gotham City Batmobile!

For starters, this playset is pretty huge and heavy! Secondly, its decently priced (original price RM119). Thirdly, Gotham city playset has 9 play features! Fourth - it has electronic light and sound effects! Fifth - in converts into a huge Tumbler Batmobile!

The features includes Battle Cable (a zipline), Combat Stage 1 (platform to place 2 figures), Arkham Asylum (A jail cell), Sewer Control Panel (from the instruction sheet, it seem one of the pipes can be use as Batman's weapon) Combat Stage 2 (another platform but this comes with a 'Gotham sunset view' on a cardboard), Break Apart Water Tower, Action Cockscrew (hang Batman on the cockscrew pole and watch him twirling down), Removable Train (with light and sound) and Warehouse Platform (comes with breakable boxes). After playing, you can store all the accessories in the playset and converts it into a huge Tumbler Batmobile that runs on free wheelie. The front wheels can also be pull out and act as a carrying handle!

This is one cool toy! Grab it while its still reasonably price!

ToyBiz Batmobile with Cocoon

This is my first Batmobile. I bought it from the ebay. I like it very much though its not really an accurate representation of the Tim Burton's Batman movie Batmobile. This ToyBiz Batmobile doesn't come with a covered cockpit! It has 2 versions - the first version comes with a cocoon while the second version doesn't. Later Kenner released another batmobile based on the movie, and yes that Batmobile is movie accurate. I m still trying to get my hands on one of those...

Play Value - 2 concealed rocket launchers. Here's the cool part, you shift the gear and the rocket launcher pops up from the side of the batmobile! It has storage compartment at the back of the Batmobile. And it comes with a plastic cocoon that covers the Batmobile like in the movie.

Collectible Value - This toy was made in 1989. Quite rare now. Mint in box ranges from USD90-USD120 in ebay.