Die-Cast Dinner!!

We didn't have enough space nor time to hang out at KMH with all of the guys, so Alen and Erik organized a banquet at Tong Kiang Restaurant on Geary Street. I think there was probably around five tables and 50 collectors there with boxes and bags full of toys to trade and sell. I swear it looked like a toy show. Getting a chance to know these guys a bit, I have to say that I was humbled by the experience. Although these die-cast toys are my first love, I was never really a hard core collector. They were the toys of my childhood. When I got back into Japanese toys, I never really went back to what are now vintage toys. I pretty much started up with the modern stuff. A very interesting point was made to me by a collector sitting next to me at dinner. He said that when he meets someone that only has modern toys in his collection, is he really a collector or just a buyer? I write this toy blog and have been called hard core and all that. Sure i've got lots of toys, but these guys are on a different level.



Everyone one I met and spoke to were very warm and welcoming to someone that wasn't really part of their crowd. I think some lessons could be learned here. Although I don't really know or collect what they do, they were patient and willing to explain a bunch of things to a vintage die-cast newb such as myself. I think this openess speaks volumes for the character of these collectors. I was touched that Alen and Erik picked up the tab for dinner. Think about it, with 50 people banquet style with 8 courses, it's like a wedding reception. Amazing generosity. Thank you Alen and Erik.































Check this out. Jeremy brought all his audio equipment to do a Pod Cast for "Destroy All Podcasts" which airs on CollectionDX. wow.





Brian and Hillsy



Wayne wasn't sure if his vinyl Kaiju collection would be welcome here. On the contrary, not only was it welcome, it drew a lot of interest!



toybot studios TV presents Die-Cast Dinner at Tong Kiang Restarant


Die Cast Dinner from toybot studios on Vimeo.

So what did I get at the Die-Cast Trade Fest? (the 2nd Trade Fest for the day). I picked up this Unifive Kamen Rider doll. It's my first. I dig the colorway and I realize now that Itokin Park's arms are modeled after toys like these.







I'm going to digress a bit on this 2nd toy. It's called an "Armored Police Metal Jack". I am not familiar with this anime or toy line nor do I know the manufacturer. It's not a die-cast toy as it's mostly made of plastic. It's a transforming robot that becomes some kind of car/sled vehicle with a pilot. The pieces come off to form a super armored robot. It's incredibly cool. More importantly I was reminded how fun it is to actually play with a toy. I'm embarassed to say I don't really play with my toys all that much. I pose them for a bit and display them, but rarely do I really play with them. Reason being it's too much hassle. When you have something like this MegaHouse Ride Armor that takes 10 minutes to transform from motorcycle to Cyclone and is a pain in the ass in the process, it's not that much fun. It's almost work.



But with this simple, beautiful, well engineered toy, I had fun switching back and forth from one mode to the other. The parts are solid and fit well together. It's got a nice heft to it. No small loose parts to take on and off during the transformation. It' an elegant toy that actually fun to transform and play with. It also doesn't come with 40 extra parts and hands and stuff. I gotta tell ya that a few Fix Figuration toys will make you not even want to open the box cause there is just too much shit to unpack and deal with.















Ironically it was the MegaHouse Ride Armor that I traded for this particular Armored Police Toy! I think these Die-Cast guys have something here. I may have to turn back the clock and see if there are some interesting, vintage die-cast toys I should be collecting! Thanks guys for the hospitality, education and wonderful trades. Should you ever want to collect Japanese Vinyl toys, I've got your back.