Its been almost 10 days since my last report...post...whatever you want to call it. To be honest, alot has happened in terms of work and in terms of interesting day to day events..but i have been so busy with work related stuff, that at times i lack the motivation to update on a regular basis....sigh...i know i am lame to say so.

Well, for those of you who frequent this site more for the toy aspects, you will be happy to hear(or amused) that i have another little story to tell.
I went to Nakano mall with Ray, and we walked around for a couple hours. There is really something special about an underground mall that has at leat 10 different toy stores and magazine and cell shops. Its the Mandarake super stop.
Now i have one bit of good news...the main Mandarke in Nakano has gone through an entire face lift and is now looking very sweet. I was stealthlike enough to shoot some new photos which i will send to Josh B verry soon, and you can see for yourselves, that all the toys are in really nice glass casing. They basically took alot of the cheaper items and sent them to a new spot in the mall and opened another branch.
The main store now deals mainly with Chogokin, tin ,(diaclone and TF)and vinyl.The second store has more recnt items and of a lower price range.
I guess since the unfortunate closing of the Shinjuku mandarke(which is a total shame, since in my opinion)as it was the best of all the stores i have been to(i have yet to be in the Osaka one though) in the Mandarake chain.
I have been promising myself this past year to really cut down on my toy spending...in years past i really have been not the most realistic or responsable person, and would blow good parts of my paycheck on c10 boxed toys....now i cant complain about that really as it brought me great pleasure..but it left me pretty poor.
As i had the oppertunity to save some money here due to the living situation(reebok pays for my house),i really wanted to take full advantage of it. BUT,( and thats a big but....Hmm i feel a Prince song comming on) there are times when i just can't resisit the temptation of the Chogokin....i mean what a time to start being responsable...while i am in the motherland?

So with that in mind, i bought ANOTHER GA51 first version with unbroken belt sticker and c9 box....for 50,000 yen. i know i know its my obession...but hey at least i did struggle with the purchase and did manage to walk away from the case the first couple of times before i caved in. :)
the funny thing is, that the toy was by itself in a case in the main hallway on thesecond floor in a shelf full of manga. It was the only toy,in the whole case as if it had been placed specifically to ambush me.
Now the added bonus was that the little red plastic peice that attatches the arms to the body was unbroken...and in all my years of first version GA51 collecting, its the first time that peice was intact...it was just so fragile, and the way they constructed it compared to the later versions was really much more fragile. So the horror i had with the pricetag was offset by the luck of it being true deadstock. can someone say otaku??

On a more sane note, my parents will be comming out here on April 11th. i am really looking forward to taking them around. Also we will be going to a very famous Inn in Kyoto for 3 days, and as of yet , i have not been to Kyoto.
The weather is starting to warm up this week, though it still gets rainy and cold every 3 days or so. I really can't wait for the cherry blossems. I want to go to the Shrine in Yoyogi park soon, and see the flowers that i saw last June. I can not beleive it has been almost a full year since i came here. The time has really flown by.

Well until next time.
best
J10

posted by Joshua Fraser 3:34 PM

Monday, March 17, 2003

 
so, i am lame...its been almost a month now, and no update. well i have to say alot has to do with the fact i have had little time other than to work. I did manage a nice week back at home to see Tamara and to see my folks though, which was very needed as it had been a couple months since i last saw anyone.

I have about 3 months left. Actualy i have until June, so as it is march 18th, so its closer to 2 and ahalf. Not that i am complaining about the stay here, as i have seen and learned alot, but it will be good to get home at some point.

So since we last talked(?) i have been interveiwed by 5 magazines. the last one GET ON, was last night(its 3:30 am right now), and the guy who wrote for the magazine(or owned?) was really cool. he bought me the "Chogokin" book as a gift, and he and i talked about toys for a bit, until he showed me his amazing sneaker collection on his website. He has a number of shoes in the Green Arrow Grafitti book that he sold to them to put the book together. He was amused by my photo of part of my toy collection and asked if hw could print it...so i guess the first time anyone will see part of my collection will be in Get On magazine....too bad the photo was not the greatest quality. :)
My parents will be comming out on April 11th until the 25th. they are very excited as it will be the first time they have been outside the country. I guess Japan is as good a place as any to start. T will be comming out on the 26th until the 5th, as well, s o it will be a busy month. Lucky for me, Ray will be here to help pick up any slack that month.
On a more scarey note, there has been news of a mysterious virus that came out of south east asia, and has infected numerous people, from vietnam, Hong Kong, China, and aslo in Canada and in the US.. Its been warned that anyone traveling in Asia should be extra careful and avoid the areas affected.. Thats all i need now....Iraq,, Korea and now deadly airborne fatal viruses. fun fun.
So for now, i stay in Japan...no more travel to China factories for me thankyou.
Well i am getting tired again....so i will take advantage of it and say goodnight. I hope i can be better about the updates. I think Once Ray is back from the US things will become more manageable.. Luckily he is comming back...as we lost 6 designers in the past month in the US office. long story, but alot of changes are going on. It seems that way about many things these days, so i am not suprised.
take care all,
J10
posted by Joshua Fraser 10:38 AM