An unexpected journey

An article about me — or rather, my toy collection — was featured in last year’s Christmas issue of Town Joho magazine. My business partner Katsumi (who has appeared in a magazine herself) recommended me to the staff, who visited my home with a professional photographer. While the published photos aren’t particularly flattering, the staff was very pleasant and I enjoyed the attention. They asked me if I had some appropriate attire to wear that would reflect my interests, so (since I had yet to acquire my Boba Fett or Biker Scout armor) I put on an old Halloween costume for the photo shoot: an Earth Federation uniform from the original 1979 Mobile Suit Gundam TV series.

Having been impressed by a photo of Shaun Wong on his Website, I decided to follow suit and wore sunglasses. It didn’t really work with the ensemble, but my wife was relieved; I’m harder to recognize this way, you see.

The toy room was photographed with a wide-angle lens, which actually makes the room look even smaller than it really is!

The staff spent some time debating where and what to photograph in my house — I have showcases and displays in almost every room — and also took separate pictures of larger items, like the three-foot long “Tumbler” Batmobile from Hot Toys’ 1:6 scale Batman Begins line.

These infamous photos of the toy in my driveway I shot (from a deceptively low angle) have fooled numerous people over the last couple of years!

I was asked what items were the most valuable, and which I liked best, and in both cases I pointed out event-exclusive Boba Fett figures from Medicom’s “Kubrick” Star Wars action figure series, my favorite of which accurately reproduces the original vintage Kenner figure and packaging:

I also gave a shout-out to Shoji Kawamori, the genius mecha designer responsible for the transformable fighter craft of Macross, as well as the recent Yamato Toys’ 1:60 versions.

Of course, if the interviewer asked me to pick three favorites now, I’d likely give three completely different answers.

With so many fantastic figures and vehicles, how could I possibly choose?

If you can read Japanese, click here to read the full text of the article.

Since the magazine publishes interviews with collectors on a semi-regular basis, I was hoping the staff might introduce me to a like-minded individual. I asked the interviewer if she knew anyone with a similar collection, and she appeared to give it some thought as her eyes moved from one showcase to another.

“No,” she answered, “nothing like this.”

She pointed to my Bearbrick shelf, telling me she’d met someone who collected those figures, and had also seen a similar collection of 1:6 scale dolls (although apparently not nearly as many as I have on display). My collection far exceeded everything else she’d seen in both amount and variety. According to her, Japanese collectors tend to restrict themselves to a single product line — or at least, a single media franchise — rather than the ever-expanding mass of interests my action figures represent.

However, subsequent to the article being printed, there was a collector who contacted her wanting to be introduced to me. Koji, a vintage Star Wars enthusiast, had seen the magazine in the convenience store where he works, and was eager to meet other dedicated fans. He’s a member of the 501st Legion, a worldwide organization of costumers with exacting standards for membership; only screen-accurate costumes are accepted, requiring the investment of a great deal of time and money to meet their rigorous standards. I helped him put together this Stormtrooper costume.

Affiliated with both Lucasfilm and charitable organizations like the Make-a-Wish Foundation, the Salvation Army, and the Red Cross Hospital, he’s one of “the bad guys who do good.” He’s encouraged me to join the Japanese garrison of the 501st, which meant I needed to put together a costume of my own:

Now officially approved, I have the membership badge to prove it.

My debut appearance with the 501st will be in Tokyo on New Year’s Day, promoting a new Star Wars-themed clothing line from A Bathing Ape. Lucasfilm has requested numerous promotional appearances in movie theatres across the country over the next few months, and I’m joining a charity marathon in Nagoya to benefit sick children as well.

Toy collecting can lead your life in unexpected directions!