Post by snowdog on May 15, 2010 6:54:48 GMT -5
Back when I was just a little runt, my five-year-old life was pretty simple. Playing with die-cast cars, riding the bike, playing cowboys with my buddies, those were the activities that would make up a day. After a hard day's worth of playing, I'd be allowed to watch a couple of cartoons (mostly Tom & Jerry) or some old Western serial or Laurel & Hardy shorts.
This cozy little world was seriously rocked, when French TV suddenly started broadcasting a Japanese show called "UFO Robot Grendizer" (or "Goldorak" as we used to call it back then). Monsters from outer space were using every trick in their book to destroy mankind. Every week, they'd come up with another deadly plan to eliminate humanity, and those plans usually involved one of their giant war-machines wreaking havoc on Japanese cities, causing thousands of deaths and massive property damages. Unfortunately for the aliens, there was one man who, together with his alien super-robot, stood up to them and gave them hell.
As it was the case for millions of other kids of my generation, I was spellbound by the adventures of Duke Fleed and his Grendizer robot. This show was unlike anything I had ever seen before. It was mesmerizing. Mind-blowing. Back then, it felt like the coolest thing that had ever been put on celluloid, and I kept watching it religiously.
When you're a kid, December is usually a pretty cool month, especially in some European countries. Apart from celebrating Christmas, some countries also celebrate Saint Nicholas on the 6th. For primary school kids, this means a day off, plus gifts and sweets from Saint Nic. That year, when I got into the living room there was a gift-wrapped box. Expecting it to be another car to add to my collection, I excitedly pulled off the wrapping. I was completely taken aback when I realized what the box really contained: Popy's GA-37 Grendizer DX (actually, to be accurate, it was the Mattel version).
It's hard to describe what went through my head at that moment. I didn't even know they were making Grendizer toys. Die-cast toys on top of that! And my parents had got it for me (yeah, it later turned out that it was the parents who bought the gifts). It was the best present I'd ever got. Unfortunately, back then my parents lacked foresight, and instead of taking the toy away from me that very moment, putting it back into its box and storing it in a safe dry place for the next 30+ years, they foolishly allowed me to play with it. And play I did. To the extent that, when all the playing was done many years later, this was all that was left of my most favourite toy:
Finding replacement parts is almost impossible because for some reason pretty much everybody seems to have lost the bot's right fist. Odd!
A few of months ago, I joined this board, and one day there's a post by jwm, who's about to auction off his entire vintage collection. Among those robots, there's a Popy GA-37 DX. No box, but otherwise complete. So I bid on it and won. Yesterday, after some delay at the LA post office, I finally laid my hands on the parcel. Opening it was almost as exciting as Saint Nic's day so many years ago, even though this time I knew what was in the box. John had taken good care of the Chogokin and there's hardly a scratch on it.
Best of all, since it's complete, I even have some spare parts for my old bot:
It's has been a while but it's really great to have this back!!
This cozy little world was seriously rocked, when French TV suddenly started broadcasting a Japanese show called "UFO Robot Grendizer" (or "Goldorak" as we used to call it back then). Monsters from outer space were using every trick in their book to destroy mankind. Every week, they'd come up with another deadly plan to eliminate humanity, and those plans usually involved one of their giant war-machines wreaking havoc on Japanese cities, causing thousands of deaths and massive property damages. Unfortunately for the aliens, there was one man who, together with his alien super-robot, stood up to them and gave them hell.
As it was the case for millions of other kids of my generation, I was spellbound by the adventures of Duke Fleed and his Grendizer robot. This show was unlike anything I had ever seen before. It was mesmerizing. Mind-blowing. Back then, it felt like the coolest thing that had ever been put on celluloid, and I kept watching it religiously.
When you're a kid, December is usually a pretty cool month, especially in some European countries. Apart from celebrating Christmas, some countries also celebrate Saint Nicholas on the 6th. For primary school kids, this means a day off, plus gifts and sweets from Saint Nic. That year, when I got into the living room there was a gift-wrapped box. Expecting it to be another car to add to my collection, I excitedly pulled off the wrapping. I was completely taken aback when I realized what the box really contained: Popy's GA-37 Grendizer DX (actually, to be accurate, it was the Mattel version).
It's hard to describe what went through my head at that moment. I didn't even know they were making Grendizer toys. Die-cast toys on top of that! And my parents had got it for me (yeah, it later turned out that it was the parents who bought the gifts). It was the best present I'd ever got. Unfortunately, back then my parents lacked foresight, and instead of taking the toy away from me that very moment, putting it back into its box and storing it in a safe dry place for the next 30+ years, they foolishly allowed me to play with it. And play I did. To the extent that, when all the playing was done many years later, this was all that was left of my most favourite toy:
Finding replacement parts is almost impossible because for some reason pretty much everybody seems to have lost the bot's right fist. Odd!
A few of months ago, I joined this board, and one day there's a post by jwm, who's about to auction off his entire vintage collection. Among those robots, there's a Popy GA-37 DX. No box, but otherwise complete. So I bid on it and won. Yesterday, after some delay at the LA post office, I finally laid my hands on the parcel. Opening it was almost as exciting as Saint Nic's day so many years ago, even though this time I knew what was in the box. John had taken good care of the Chogokin and there's hardly a scratch on it.
Best of all, since it's complete, I even have some spare parts for my old bot:
It's has been a while but it's really great to have this back!!
