Tetsujin 28 scale model kit

Every time I went to any SM mall I always made sure that I drop by their toys department (more popularly known as Toy Kingdom) and check out their stuff there though I am a bargain toy hunter and majority of the items being sold there are way too pricey and out of my budget, I’m positive that sooner or later I’d be able to find me a good catch and all I had to do was be patient and do a lot of thorough searching in every row, nook and cranny where there might be nice and affordable toys hiding somewhere. This is what happened to me one weekend back in 2009 and I can say it was a good find indeed…

My sealed Tetsujin 28 box photographed before opening

Aside from the capsule toys (or gashapons) section that I frequent to, I make it a point to check out the Ban Dai area as well where they sell this humungous  line of Gundam scale model kits, fix figurations and other well-known mecha/robot characters. My eyes carefully searched each and every stack until I found several boxes of classic Tetsujin 28 scale model kits with yellow tags… and when items have yellow tags, that means they are on sale! I was so surprised to see that the Tetsujin 28 model kit was selling for only Php 200 ($4.50) usually this type of model kit would be selling at a higher price, roughly around Php 500 or more ($11.00 or more). Mecha model kits are really expensive to buy and maintaining this hobby is quite pricey as well given the fact that you have to buy an airbrush kit complete with air compressor, the hobby paints plus the other stuff you need. Anyways, I grabbed a box of that Tetsujin 28 model kit and bought it immediately. Just like the Darth Vader figure I got from a Happy Meal back in 2008, it took me quite a long while before I decided to finally open the box and start constructing my Tetsujin 28 figure.

To Heart Girl SR Capsule figure

Last January 17 I was with my sister at the SM North EDSA to buy some stuff for my mom along with other things when we happen to pass by this small hobby shop that were selling several anime stuff like gashapons and PVC figures. I was looking through their items inside the display window and honestly, their prices are way too high in spite of giving discounts to some of their items. Though I’ve seen some good ones on display like figure sets of Shin Chan, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Gundam and many more, I still opted to look for stuff that were affordable and easy on the wallet. I think it was a good 5 to 10 minutes that I’ve spent searching for my treasure until I noticed this cute schoolgirl figure placed on one corner of the display window and I immediately asked the saleslady for it.

My World War 2 scale model kits collection

My fascination with World War 2 never ceases to amaze me ever since I was young though at that time I cared less about the people, the reason and the events that transpired history’s greatest and tragic war… I was more focused on the hardware that both sides used during the war. I know this may sound weird but there is something mystifying about World War 2 that roused my curiosity and watching war clips showcasing the Allies and the Axis‘ war machineries in action just took my breath away! It was an unprecedented race for technological superiority in modern warfare as the Germans and Americans went head-to-head for supreme domination in the battlefield. The tanks, the war planes, the weapons and the intense action… just plain awesome!

More toys waiting in line…

(Back L-R) Debbie Stevens figure, Big Guy and Rusty from Ban Dai, Freddy Krueger figure (Foreground L-R) Gaiking vinyl figure, Ultraman Tiga Dyna Gaia chibi figures, DC Universe Crisis Shazam! action figure

As soon as I was done typing my last blog post yesterday, I decided to clean my room and clear out some of the stuff that I don’t need while I tucked away the other toys lying on the floor back to my display rack. It was only then that I realized that there were “a lot” of my toys crammed in one corner that I haven’t photographed yet! I got them one by one and placed it on a small black television rack I’m now using as a second tabletop platform. Actually these are the bargain toys that I bought in the past and most of them are in good condition since some of them are still sealed and I’m trying to find a way to open them properly so that as soon as I’m done taking their photos I can place them back into their respective packages… talk about being O.C. and all but that’s how I take care of my stuff, most especially with my photography gear and my toy collection. Since finding my niche in Toy Photography, finding new toys to photograph can also drain your pockets big time most especially if you are the type of hobbyist who goes for the rare and expensive ones. And if you look at the photo I took above, you can say that these belong to the same category of toys I’ve mentioned… but all it took was sheer perseverance, patience and a lot of research to find these toy figures and get them at “more-than-reasonable” prices.