GO FIGURE! TOY BLOG CHRONICLES #2 DRAGONBALL Z

[D. MARQUIS]

Image by FanPop

SO I THOUGHT I'D SHARE MY PERSONAL THOUGHTS ON ONE OF ALL OF OUR FAVORITE POP CULTURE ICONS- OF COURSE IM TALKING ABOUT THE SERIES ABOUT THE RACE OF MEGA POWERFUL SUPER SAIYANS- DRAGONBALL Z.


I SAW MY FIRST DBZ IN A COLLEGE DORM ROOM IN THE FALL OF 1992 IN A ROOM OF APPROXIMATELY 15 TOTALLY BLAZED OUT ART STUDENTS....

ONE OF THE GUYS POPS IN THIS VHS TAPE AND HE'S LIKE " CHECK THIS OUT YOU GUYS....STRAIGHT FROM JAPAN!"

NOW FOR ME- I, LIKE MOST OF US HERE GROWING UP HERE IN THE STATES- WE WERE GIVEN VERY "HOMOGENIZED" CARTOONS -ESPECIALLY OUR ACTION CARTOONS. I CAN'T TELL YOU THE DISAPPOINTMENT I FELT EVERYTIME I WATCHED GIJOE AND TRANSFORMERS AND ALL THOSE SHOTS FIRED BY BOTH CARTOONS OVER ALL THOSE SEASONS MISSED EVERYONE!! COBRA TROOPERS SAFELY BAILED FROM THEIR COPTERS IN PARACHUTES AND THE AUTOBOTS SEEMED TO MISS ON PURPOSE. IN THE 1986 "TRANSFORMERS THE MOVIE" SOMEBODY DECIDED TO FLIP THE SWITCH AND HAVE A HOST OF AUTOBOTS DIE (OR BE SHOWN DEAD ON SCREEN)INCLUDING OPTIMUS PRIME (FOLKS I KID YOU NOT- KIDS WERE CRYING IN THE THEATRE) WE WERE BEING INTRODUCED TO "THE REALITIES OF WAR" THROUGH OUR CARTOONS....FINALLY.
WE'D GET THE AMAZING SERIES IN "ROBOTECH" WHICH PUSHED THIS NARRATIVE A BIT FURTHER.


SO THAT WAS WHEN I WAS 12...FAST FORWARD ABOUT 7 YEARS LATER BACK TO THIS SCENE IN THE COLLEGE DORM THAT WAS ABOUT TO OPEN MY EYES TO THE REALNESS OF WHAT A GREAT ACTION CARTOON WAS. WE ALL WAITED AS WE SAW THE CREDITS CAME ON AND IT STARTED...

NOW WHAT I WAS WATCHING APPARENTLY WAS ONE OF THE ORIGINAL DBZ EPISODES THAT AIRED IN JAPAN. STRAIGHT UP THE CHARACTERS WERE INTRIGUINGLY COOL! I COULDN'T UNDERSTAND THE DIALOG BEING IN JAPANESE BUT - I DIDN'T CARE. THE BAD GUYS APPEARED ON SCREEN LOOKING TO PUT A HURT ON THE MAIN CHARACTER- GOKU.

IM SURE MOST OF YOU AS I DID HAVE A FAVORITE VILLIAN IN DBZ OR MAYBE EVEN A FEW.

IN A NUTSHELL ONCE THE COMBAT SCENES GET GOING- IT WILL LIKELY BE AT THIS POINT THAT YOU'LL BECOME A FAN.I REMEMBER FEELING MY MOUTH DROPPING OPEN AS I WATCHED THESE CHARACTERS GO FULL TILT THROWING PUNCHES AND KICKS WHILE RELEASING POWER ID NEVER SEEN ON ANY CARTOON BEFORE.

YEAH- I WAS HOOKED. THE BAD THING ABOUT BEING HOOKED ON ANYTHING IS THAT YOU WANT MORE.SADLY THAT WOULD BE SHORT LIVED MOMENT IN THAT DORM -BUT I'D NEVER FORGET HAVING MY CARTOON EYES OPENED BY DBZ.

NOW- INTERESTING ENOUGH, THIS OCCURRED RIGHT AFTER I HAD BEGAN WORKING AT COLLECTORS PARADISE (THE VERY FIRST ONE ON 3RD ST IN SANTA MONICA)IN THE SUMMER. IN THE FALL I STARTED CLASSES AWAY FROM ALL MY COMIC BUDS- BUT WHEN I CAME BACK ABOUT 2 YEARS LATER- THE STORE WAS NOW IN A NEW LOCATION (COLLECTORS 2) AND I NOTICED THAT OUR FEARLESS LEADER
HAD REALLY UPPED THE INVENTORY OF ANIME / MANGA INVENTORY AND AT THAT MOMENT HE WAS ACTUALLY MAKING A RESTOCK RUN IN CHINATOWN-AND ASKED IF WANTED TO GO WITH. THIS WAS ONE OF THE BEST PARTS OF WHAT WE CREATED AT COLLECTORS.GOING TO CHINATOWN. THIS WAS THE ONLY PLACE YOU WERE GOING TO FIND THE AMAZING MANGA /ANIME PRODUCTS WE SOLD IN OUR VIDEO CENTER. PARTICULARLY THOSE AWESOME DRAGONBALL Z SCROLLS.

DBZ SCROLL 1
DBZ SCROLL 2
IF YOU WERE EVER LUCKY ENOUGH TO GO ON THESE RUNS-YOU ALSO KNOW THAT LUNCH IN CHINATOWN WAS HAPPENING AFTER SHOPPING BEFORE HEADING BACK TO THE STORE.

SO BACK THEN THERE WEREN'T VERY MANY ACTION FIGURES THAT WERE AVAILABLE FOR DBZ- AND THE ONES THAT WERE AVAILABLE WERE PRETTY SHODDY IN BOTH DESIGN AND POSEABILTY BUT IT DIDN'T MATTER -WE COULDN'T KEEP ANY DBZ ITEMS IN STOCK. TODAY, LIKE OTHER FIGURE LINES- YOU CAN GET ALL TYPES OF DBZ ITEMS-AND NOW FIGURES THAT ARE SUPER POSEABLE AND HIGHLY DETAILED.

YOU'LL WANT TO CHECK OUT WHAT TYPES OF DBZ PRODUCTS NOW AVAILABLE 

(Links provided by Amazon Associates)

ACTION FIGURES 

Dragon Ball Super – Dragon Stars Super Saiyan Blue Gogeta Figure (S...

Dragon Ball Super – Dragon Stars Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta Figure (Seri...

Tamashii Nations S.H. Figuarts Ultra Instinct Son Goku Dragon Ball ...

Tamashii Nations S.H. Figuarts Ultra Instinct Son Goku Dragon Ball ...

Bandai Tamashii Nations S.H. Figuarts Shenron "Dragon Ball Super" A...

Dragon Ball Super - Jiren - Final Battle, Bandai Tamashii NationsS....

TAMASHII NATIONS Bandai S.H. Figuarts Great Ape Vegeta Dragon Ball ...

TAMASHII NATIONS S.H. Figuarts Zamasu (Potara Ver.) Dragon Ball Sup...


TAMASHII NATIONS - Chi-Chi -Kid- Dragon Ball, Bandai S.H. Figuarts

Dragon Ball Z Super Saiyan Trunks (New Pkg. Ver), Bandai SpiritsFig...

AWESOME RIGHT?! CAN YOU IMAGINE THE TOY DISPLAYS WE COULD HAVE DONE WITH THESE DBZ FIGURES?... I KNOW SOME OF YOU MAY STILL BE COLLECTING SO I CONTINUED THE DBZ ACTION FIGURES AVAILABLE NOW

HERE.

SPECIALTY ITEMS

DBZ MONOPOLY

DBZ STICKERS (100 PCS)

DBZ BLACK TEE

DBZ UNO GAME

DBZ (AHEM!! SPICE GRINDER)

DBZ LAMP

DBZ FACEMASK 1

DBZ FACEMASK  2

DBZ XBOX

DBZ FUNKO POP

DBZ AIRPODS CASE

DBZ CRYSTAL DRAGON BALLS

Dragon Ball Z Complete Box Set: Vols. 1-26 with premium

CHECK OUT THE OTHER ACTION FIGURE BRANDS WE LOVED AT CGG:

COWBOY BEBOP

AKIRA
TRANSFORMERS HAUL

SAILOR MOON

GUNDAM
STREET FIGHTER
GODZILLA
MACROSS / ROBOTECH

RANMA 1/2

SPEED RACER

GATCHAMAN

VOLTRON

NINJA SCROLL

HE MAN

THUNDERCATS

GHOST IN THE SHELL
ROBOT CHICKEN
THE BOONDOCKS
GI JOE
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES

[D. MARQUIS]

[D. MARQUIS]

http://www.newkadia.com/idevaffiliate/idevaffiliate.php?id=577