Sunday Approaches! Toys Part 2

Well, let's finish off with my top 10 favorite toys shall we? :)

6 . Gundam

There was VERY little Gundam stuff in the 80's compared to the quality and volume of the stuff they put out today! I remember my dad buying a chogokin gundam for me when i was a kid, it was from a departmental store that used to be at the basement of Peninsula Plaza. :) It was only later in the early 90's that the model kits started being imported into Singapore. Nowadays there's just too much around, too expensive, and a lot of low quality stuff. :(

Favourite Item - Gundam! In his many incarnations...

Wanted but never got - Hmmm, some of the older die-cast stuff i guess? :)


7. Macross

Even HARDER to get! You'd come across the orginal takatoku stuff at OG in chinatown... man, that was TOY HEAVEN back then! Even NTUC at gardens had the smaller versions that were kinda flimsy. :) I remember watching the series in Mandarin on SBC last time... i think i still have the sticker book too! :)

Favourite Item - A vintage 1/55 VF-1S Strike Valkyrie which i bought from the old model shop in centerpoint. (Now it's at Concorde hotel)

Wanted but never got - The vintage armored valks, think they were so cool, buy Yamato has reissued very nice 1/60 scale ones with tons of detail!


8. Starcom

I think starcom was way ahead of it's time when it was released; it had motorised features which didn't require batteries, and had figures with magnets on the boots which activated features for some sets, OR you could stick on your fridge! :p

This i remember buying from Oriental Emporium's toy section in Hougang (Now near Kovan MRT). We had the starmax bomber, starwolf and the 2 bases... they're STILL somewhere around, but recently have been re-collecting some old ones again. :)

Sadly, the TV series was weak, especially compared against something like MASK. It didn't catch on in US, but did quite well in Europe.

Favourite Item - Shadowbat! I've always thought that the bad guys looked cooler. :) Esp fierce with 2 shadow parasites attached and the invader in the cargo bay.

Wanted but never got - It's possible to buy most from Ebay given some time/patience. :)


9. Vintage Chogokin Japanese Mecha

These were again sourced from various locations, OG again being a GREAT place to get these cos they brought in tons of them. :) Bandai has made better versions of these nowadays, so the vintages will remain a memory of how things used to be, and how technology has improved. :)

Favourite Item - I think it would be the classic zambot 3 figure my auntie bought for me; it was a combiner, a small robot will fit into this tank which changed into the torso of the bigger robot. The legs were some flying spaceship. :)

Wanted but never got - I wanted these little metal lighters that transformed into robots. :) Call Gold Lightarn, luckily Bandai reissued them and also a new version to boot! :D


10. Game and Watch handhelds

Ahhh, who'd though we'd be playing with the granddaddy of handhelds back in the day? We have sure come; with PSP, NDS and iPhones ruling the handheld industry.

I remember having Fireman and that one where you catch the chicken eggs. :P Western bar was the king of games during Primary school. :) If you had that you also had a lot of friends. :p


So there it is! The toys of my childhood! Scary thing is that what i'm still collecting now are re-issues or improvements of the same toy lines! :p