This is the second in a series of articles dealing with the joy of
Japanese toys that quickly become highly addictive to collect. I have
already written about Toys R Us and please refer to last week’s PCR for
that story.
Vending machines are everywhere in Japan and they offer items not found
in any other country. Just take a leisurely stroll through one of the
many shopping arcades and don’t be surprised to see vending machines
that sell used panties with pictures of the past wearers included,
condoms sold by blood type, Jack Daniels in the bottle for anyone to
purchase without an ID check, and my own personal favorite, collectable
toys.
Ever since I was young, I always loved those vending machines with
pictures of toys on the front. You put in a quarter or two and out pops
a bright colored plastic egg with one of the items inside. I like the
thrill of not knowing exactly what is going to come out.
I was always a Robotech fan since that cartoon aired in localized form
on US TV in the mid-80s so quite naturally the first plastic toy I
wanted was from Robotech.
I was leaving a restaurant, and noticed a row of vending machines and luckily enough
found a Robotech machine. I can’t remember the name of the mech that came out,
(pictured here with the gray face and white hands) but it looked cool anyway. I
remember my buddy from high school owning a Zentradi toy that was a little larger
than a 16-ounce Coke bottle and being the envy of the hardcore nerds from Robinson
High circa 1989.
Robots toys were the most fun and the toys that I collected more than
any others. In elementary school, I had a complete set of rubber robot
erasers that saw many battles and fights on a sunny Saturday afternoon.
So it is no surprise that I liked the Gundam cartoon. Although Gundam
didn’t air on US TV back in the 80’s, I had the next best thing. A
fellow geek that I met at Monroe Junior High School had videotapes of
classic Gundam from the 70’s and those tapes were golden back in 1986.
Ok, I admit the quality was bad, the commercials were left in (which in
some cases was a plus because Japanese commercials can be completely
outrageous and funny, sometimes more than the show you are watching),
there were no English dubs, but no one else had them.
On one of my many adventures in Osaka, I stumbled on a Gundam vending
machine and put in a 100 en coin (close to $1) to get a purple colored
egg that contained RX-78-2 Gundam inside (pictured at right.) The RX-78-2
Gundam was seen in the old TV series called Mobile Suit Gundam and aired
from 1979-1980, as well as, the movie trilogy from 1981-1982. Not
content with that one, I went to the machine that featured the SD or
Super Deformed Gundam that were smaller and cartoony. The one I got was
the little green one with the red eye or sensor staring back at you.
Next to the SD Gundam vending machine was a SD Ultraman and I couldn’t
pass up one of those too. Everything in Japan can be SD’ed and thus
made cuter to increase sells with Japan’s cult of cute.
Moving along to another fan favorite, and yes another robot, is Mecha
Godzilla from the Toho movies. Mecha Godzilla came in individual
plastic parts that you assembled together. A good-looking toy that had
stood on my computer desk at home for years.
If toy robots are not your thing and you have trouble working up the
courage to hook yourself up for a date next weekend, then how about a
sexy anime toy?
I found a vending machine with Love Hina toys inside. Love Hina was an
anime from 1998-2001. I bought mine around the height of Love Hina
mania, sometime in 2000. Love Hina was an anime about a lonely geeky who
is studying to get into Tokyo University based on a childhood promise
that he made with a girl. Tokyo University is like Harvard in the US
and it is just as hard to get into. The young man, now a recent high
school grad, takes a job at a girls’ dorm while he studies for the
college entrance exam. Many hilarious jokes and sexual situations ensue
as he tries to manage a girls’ dorm as a timid geek.
Anyway, I put in my money and got one of the girls living in the dorm.
When you turn her over, you get a panty shot. All from a vending
machine.
That’s it for this time. Join me next week for a different avenue of
Japanese toys to explore.
"The Asian Aperture" is ©2010 by Jason Fetters. Webpage design and all graphics herein (except where otherwise noted) are creations of Nolan B. Canova. All contents of Nolan's Pop Culture Review are ©2010 by Nolan B. Canova.