Merely a Collector

Cyber Troopers Virtual On Official Sound Data CD!

2010-01-12T19:33:00.001-08:00

This is a cool one.

And not just because I paid a total princely sum of 11 cents for it, either.

This, my friends, is the Cyber Troopers: Virtual On Official Sound Data CD. In other words, the soundtrack to the arcade machine that Pokey cannot defeat me at!

Yes, long before the full machine inhabited my garage, this disc inhabited my CD player. Fade to Black is pretty much the best fight music ever.

This is fairly straightforward for anyone accustomed to collecting video game stuff from Japan- in Japan, games are big enough that soundtracks for sale is no biggie. It's like grabbing the cast recording of Annie at a Barnes and Noble. What's cool about this one is the art inside, as well as the elaborate plot that is all written in Japanese that I do not understand at all. But, as phone pics suck and I have a scanner, let the pictures commence!

Some of this is easy to find out there already, but this has some art of the Z-Gradt I've never seen before, and this booklet has never been scanned before. So off we go to a picture show~!

In other news, Star Trek Online is now 8% downloaded for me. Sucks as I joined the beta testing yesterday but only now got a real installation file working. Wish me luck, and my apologies about not following through with the clock today- a video might crash the server with all I've got going right now and we don't that happening. Expect that tomorrow!

Temjin Plushie

2010-01-12T10:00:00.000-08:00

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat? A straightforward blog post?

Yep, no videos or scans this time, as it doesn't do anything and isn't really paper! This is a rare Temjin plush (Virtual On series- Oratorio Tangram to be precise) from 1999 Sega. This is a fairly straightforward plushie, but it's made of really weird material.

First of all, this thing is HEAVY. And I DO mean HEAVY. It weighs as much as a figure it's size (about 12") would weigh.

It's stuffed with really firm stuffing and is almost solid, except for it's ears which are generic plushie material and just droop. Problem is, they're supposed to stick up like antennas in game. Oh well, artistic integrity and all that.

The plushie itself is made up of normal plushie material, stuffing, cardboard and this weird hard felt stuff. The plushie part of it feels like dog-toy grade fabric and is very soft. The details are haphazardly cut foam and are like a rock- this thing ain't cuddly. There is cardboard in the feet to make it stand (protip- it still can't) and the few parts with detail are just transferred on like a t-shirt.

Especially due to its rarity and overall haphazard construction, I thought this was a bootleg upon purchase. However, as seen above, it has official tags- which bootlegs never do. Hmm. Someone at Sega was a little drunk during quality control. It's an awesome plushie, just really random in its materials. And not cuddly. And it has an ornament hanger loop sticking out of its head, but that's common for UFO Catcher (Japanese claw machine) plushies.

All right, next up, Virtual On CD!

Old Pokemon Music Box (MEZASE POKEMON MASTER!)

2010-01-11T17:50:00.000-08:00

YESSSS POKEMON MUSIC BOX FROM 1998

Imported this one from a liquidating warehouse. It managed to come from Japan LARGELY unharmed... but Ash broke an ankle.

I'm Ash Ketchum, from Pallet OUCH!

The good thing is there is, for some reason, a large metal stick stuck through his leg so he still stands fine. It all operates very well too.

What song does it sing? Could it be?

IT IS! Mezase Pokemon Master, the Japanese Pokemon theme song! Let's sing along! =D

tatoe hi no naka mizu no naka kusa no naka mori no naka
tsuchi no naka kumo no naka ano ko no sukaato no naka (kya~!)

nakanaka nakanaka
nakanaka nakanaka taihen dakedo
kanarazu GET daze!
pokemon GET daze!

masara taun ni sayonara bai bai
ore wa koitsu to tabi ni deru (pikachuu!)
kitaeta waza te kachimakuri
nakama o fuyashite tsugi no machi e

itsumo itsudemo umaku yuku nante
hoshou wa doko nimo nai kedo (sorya sou ja!)
itsudemo itsumo honki de ikiteru
koitsutachi ga iru

tatoe hi no naka mizu no naka kusa no naka mori no naka
tsuchi no naka kumo no naka ano ko no sukaato no naka (shitsuko~i!)

nakanaka nakanaka
nakanaka nakanaka taihen dakedo
kanarazu GET daze!
pokemon GET daze!

tatakai tsukarete oyasumi gunnai
mabuta o tojireba yomigaeru (pikachuu??)
honoo ga moete kaze ga mai
nakigoe todoroku ano batoru ga

kinou no teki wa kyou no tomo tte
furui kotoba ga aru kedo (furui to wa nanja~!?)
kyou no tomo wa ashita mo tomodachi
sou sa eien ni

aa akogare no pokemon masutaa ni
naritai na naranakucha
zettai natte yaru~!

yume wa itsuka honto ni naru tte
dareka ga utatte ita kedo
tsubomi ga itsuka hana hiraku you ni
yume wa kanau mono

itsumo itsudemo umaku yuku nante
hoshou wa doko nimo nai kedo (sorya sou ja!)
itsudemo itsumo honki de ikiteru
koitsutachi ga iru

aa akogare no pokemon masutaa ni
naritai na naranakucha
zettai natte yaru~!

aa akogare no pokemon masutaa ni
naritai na naranakucha
zettai natte yaru~!

What did you just sing in English? Uh... you probably don't want to know.

Anyway, there you have it! Never seen one of these before or found any info on it before or after I got it. That's the purpose of this blog, though, no?

Pokemon Postcards!

2010-01-11T17:19:00.000-08:00

Straight from Japan, it's these extremely rare Pokemon Postcards!

All this for just 9.99!

All sealed packages, too! They all contain the same thing, and I didn't have the heart to open them all, so I just opened a pack for research.

Each pack came with 5 postcards featuring Pokemon doing various human-like things.

Of course, these pictures are pretty bad. Very bad. So I did a full scan for posterity!

Click to enlarge.

I had looked for these for about six years before finally running into them on eBay! I always had my screensaver set to one some guy named PikaOhki made with a bunch of lower quality scans of them. It was missing the cave but also had about two sets worth more of postcards- if anyone has some I don't, contact me!

Astro Boy clock is Super Saiyan!

2010-01-11T15:15:00.000-08:00

IT'S ASTRO BOY! AND HE HAS A CLOCK SURGICALLY DRILLED INTO HIS STOMACH!
OH BOY!

Yep, this is the Astro Boy alarm clock. I picked this up from a famous clockmaker's store at a nearby mall for 12 bucks. Little did I know what dark secrets lay within...

Actually, this is a normal enough clock I guess, but... what song do you think it will play? Either a generic nursery rhyme, a ringing sound, or the Astro Boy theme, right?

Here is the dark truth:

YES, my friends, it is an Astro Boy clock that sings a distorted MIDI version of the original Dragon Ball theme. And it frequently stops to scream "GOOD MORNING" in a bored, distorted female voice that sounds like the daughter of the lady that screamed "PERPARE TUH QOLLIFAUGH" in Pole Position.

The thing is, it never stops. IT NEVER STOPS. There is no end until you push the button. It just keeps repeating it OVER and OVER and OVER.

I looked into this and it doesn't appear to be official (surprise, surprise). It looks like the makers originally made a bunch of unofficial Goku clocks and eventually got tired of that and stuck the same stuff in an Astro clock. It's pretty cute, though, and it's not like the official clocks are even as good. Or maybe they're better. I probably don't want to know. Anyway, there you have it.

I'll try to post some Pokemon Center stuff next. From New York city. Viva la Pokeymanz!

WHAT IS THIS I DON'T EVEN

2010-01-11T14:30:00.000-08:00

I debated what to do for the first post. Something relatively common to save the best for later, my most extravagant of collectibles you'll see no where else... so many amazing possibilities!

Instead I decided to do the most disturbing thing I have on hand.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

No, I did not mutilate two horrible figures and solder them together to make this. This is one freaking figure.

I walked into my local used game/import shop and was shocked to find this thing staring me down. The owner wanted 5 bucks for it- I cringed at the thought, but I knew I would never have another chance to document this thing again. I caved and bought it along with a copy of Megaman 64.

What ISN'T wrong with this thing? It's got Mario's face structure and "M" logo, but Luigi's hat color and mustache. We can call it Maluigi. I still can't figure out what's going on in this scene,
either. Did Maluigi kill the Goomba, and is now using its skin for warmth? Did the Goomba kill Maluigi, and is carrying away his severed head in victory, which is why he looks so smug?

I just don't know.

I thought I could get some clues from who made this bootleg POS (piece of sludge) by looking on the bottom...

...nope.

No copyright, no date... just one of those holes they put in squeaky toys. Only it doesn't have a squeaker. And the thing is so hard you can't even push any air out.

This thing REALLY disturbs me. I mean, REALLY. I took it to school and everyone was so disturbed they almost cried.

Still, I'm happy I got it. I don't know where else you would get one of these things. As long as I don't stare into it's eyes, I'll be fine.

Don't stare... in it's...

eyessssssssssssssssssss