Sean Akizuki's Personal Blog

One event that happened was that Toys R Us closed and filed for bankruptcy last 2017 . However, it was still operating in Asian countries even after that . I could still remember entering a Philippine branch of Toys R Us for the heck of it! Man, I never noticed that the American branches have reopened this year! I wrote this post because of the latest Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger episode. Toys R Us still operated in Asia while the American branches closed down. The American branches re-opened in 2023. The character of Geoffrey the Giraffe was invited by Princess Himeno to the Kingdom of Ishabana. I even speculate that there's probably some celebration by Toei. It's been 30 years since Toei entered the American market. Why this sudden placement of Geoffrey giving away the stuffed toys? I wouldn't be surprised if gift certificates were handed over to the cast members. I guess there's a deleted scene of giving away gift certificates to the people of Ishabana. Anybody who'...

WorthPoint I was thinking of how often I was jealous of someone I now dub "Mr. Sinister". This "Mr. Sinister" guy was pretty much the cool kid who had almost any toy he wanted. I remembered how I grew up not having a Super NES (and that Exceedraft episode reminded me of how I hated not having one as a CHILD). I was looking for vintage toys of what I wanted as a child. I remembered the oddity that I wanted a Kamen Rider BLACK RX toy. I remembered how I had some Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers that are now broken. Why I still kept some old toys (and some are broken) is just weird. I still have my Conan the Adventurer toy even if the cartoon show is an Old Shame now. So much for me quarreling with my parents about missing an episode! I really looked for some second-hand toys. Some of them were sold TOO PRICEY. Why would I buy a vintage Kamen Rider toy set for that much? Another offered to sell an entire set (13 pieces) BUT I thought 3,000+ would be too expensive. I c...

One of the coolest toys back then was the Conan the Adventurer toyline by Hasbro. Back then, I had NO IDEA that the Conan the Barbarian movie wasn't for children. I could remember being the selective toy collector. I ended up having both Conan and Wrath-Amon. The Conan action figure's string is now broken but I keep it around for a reason. What was amazing was that there was more than one Conan toy - Conan the Adventurer (which had Needle the Phoenix), Warrior Conan (which felt like a throwback to the adult movie), Ninja Conan, and Conan the Explorer. There was also Zula, and Greywolf. The bad guys had Wrath-Amon and Skullkur in the toyline. There were also the battle stallions which featured Conan and Wrath-Amon. For me, I was thinking at how the toyline was somewhat impressive. Though, I remembered watching the adult movie because of this toyline. Seeing the movie version of Thulsa Doom was a real scare. The whole movie was filled with stuff only fit for an R-18 movie. I just...

Jingle All the Way can be a film that some 1990s children can relate. I could remember how I became a misfit because some of my peers had this and that. I remembered wanting a Super NES to "fit in" though it was already getting obsolete real fast. The film actually had the peer pressure when Howard and Myron got into the misadventure to get the hottest toy that sold too fast. I still can't help but find the film more annoying than funny at times. I mean, why should parents really bend to their children who are asking for toys to fit in with the "cool kids" who will just cry when what they have ain't so hot anymore, right? That would be the Turbo Man and the two got into serious trouble that should've locked them down. In real life, both of them would be arrested for their shenanigans. I bet Myron's son would be too disappointed if he ever found out the length of stupidity to get that doll. I was wondering if the whole thing about Turbo Man was a paro...

Toy Story 3 is not without its teary moments. What happens to your toy when you grow up? I reminded of Jollibee's campaign for toy donation for less fortunate children. TBH, I'd rather dish out some cash and buy brand new toys for the less fortunate than to give mine away. Talk about it that you may be willing to give away a new teddy bear from Toy Kingdom or Toys R Us over the teddy bear you slept with. Toy Story 3 really has that theme going on especially Andy is now 17 years old and getting ready for college.  The ending side of Toy Story 3 has him donate the toys to a little girl named Bonnie at the end of the movie. Andy tells Bonnie to take good care of all the toys as they mean a lot to him. What's so sad was that Andy wanted to take Woody to him in college (though Woody temporarily got replaced by Buzz in the first Toy Story movie). However, seeing Buzz and Woody were always together -- he sadly gave Woody away for the best. Somehow, Buzz and Woody just became inse...

If having toys based on the very adult Mortal Kombat franchise was just weird then consider the Aliens vs. Predator franchise also had toys. I could remember a trip to Nova Fontana (before it got closed down) or to the SM Toystore. Wait, wut? You've got toys based on an adult franchise? This was really something when I considered how the Aliens movie was rated R-18 yet why are there toys based on the franchise?  It makes me think of how the existence of the toys made me think the movie was for children. Yes, I was a 90s child and I remembered watching the Aliens movie. Ugh. I was in for a surprise, really, like when I saw Conan the Barbarian back in the day. The movie franchise themselves were for adults but why in the world are there toys for children? The franchise was for ADULTS. I wonder what in the world was Kenner even thinking with that?! I heard there was a planned toned-down version of Aliens vs. Predator coming up but was that even a good idea? There was also the Spawn to...

  I really confess that I'm a choosy toy collector. I always had this feeling that if that action figure is not there - better save the money than buy an action figure I wouldn't like. I could remember a lot of toys I wanted. Some of them were Bandai merchandise, Hasbro merchandise (and Tonka was rivals with Bandai), Marvel toys (way back Marvel got hit by the woke disorder), DC Toys, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and the like. So, a lot of toys are already gone now but some were saved. I do miss some of my troll dolls. I was also thinking about what I wanted and why toy buying time with my parents ended up with them saving more money. One time, there was the X-Men toy collection. I did have some toys given to be on Christmas and got them. I could remember my Wolverine action figure which I accidentally destroyed and I wish I didn't. There was also the Cable toy, Warpath toy, Gambit toy (which was broken), then I just stopped when the toys I wanted were no longer around. I ...

Here's one weird ad that sells this sad-faced husky. The toys really look like that they are begging you to adopt them. The owner tries to sell these toys in a very weird way. These sad faced plush huskies look pretty sad but cute. Will you adopt one? XD 

Taking care of a real dog can be a hassle for many. There's always a scenario of have money but don't have time and the same can be true for real pets. The "solution" seems to be this one -- get a Blue Magic pet where each one will have an adoption tag. Each "pet" will have a specific name with a "Please Adopt Me My Name is _______" tag on them.  Not all the stuffed dogs can get your attention but one particularly got my attention -- it was the cute adorable toy they named Westcott. Westcott has been colored either gray or brown (like the picture above). There's also Mr. Smith who is a bigger version of Westcott -- still available in either brown or gray though that husky toy comes in either Medium, Large or Extra Large.

What can be disheartening is when your childhood memories go away doesn't it? I remembered getting toys from Toys R Us on the Holiday Season during the 90s. I thought about how interest can switch from toys to video games in one easy step. I felt it myself especially when I saw some children look forward to the coolest video game than the coolest toy around. I decided to read NBC News where it reveals something about what could have gone wrong. Video games are now the latest competitor. I remembered how my childhood went from the toy store to the video game store. It was still old school gaming when loading times were pretty slow. It wasn't the glorious time of DVD technology in video games for that time. The digital age vs. physical toys? Here's an interesting excerpt that I think I could use to analyze the situation: Toys Swiped to the Side "They got stuck in 1985," Robyn O'Bryan, an author based in Boulder, Colorado and the mother of four childre...

I thought about what the adult life is especially whether one's employed or self-employed. It's all about earning some self-earned money and saving them for both needs and wants. Gone are the days of being dependent on adults to get some toys. At the same time a lot of toys that I wanted to have as a child are gone. Why in the world do I even go to a toy store when I'm not buying anything at all for myself? I go to certain malls and find out certain toy stores that I went to as a child are gone. I see Nova Fontana has been long gone. I go to Toy Kingdom, SM Toy Store and almost every toy store only to find out that the inventory has long been changed. I go to other toy stores only to find out that my generation has been long gone. I just felt like I was asleep for 300 years only to find out everything's changed. Yet there's something special about certain toy stores that still exist. There's still the inner child that yearns to be there in one way or another....

So yeah the Mogwais were dangerous (most of them) except for Gizmo... and fortunately they're not real.  So what I was thinking is that since they are not real, I want to get myself a toy Mogwai for the sake of display.  I mean, I have had toy dogs, I want to get a toy raccoon and I want a toy Mogwai which is pretty hard to find... =P.  So I thought I want the battery operated one or not.  But still, I just want to get one of them. From the movie, the rules were never get him wet, never expose him to bright light nor feed after midnight.  Which I just thought, fortunately this one gets wet and never releases any evil versions of itself, it doesn't need to be fed (come on, it's not real) nor will it perish under bright light since it's not real.  However if it comes too expensive, I might as well drop it from my wishlist.

Okay I'm aware of the dangers of keeping real raccoons (because they are wild animals who can maul people and they are really rabid) and two, raccoons are only meant to be left at the wild not to be cuddled as pets or eaten for consumption.  However it doesn't mean I can't have a toy raccoon like I have a toy lion, a toy tiger, a toy rabbit or a teddy bear... now I want a toy raccoon.  Here's my ideal toy I want to purchase on my own... I could probably order this cuddly toy raccoon representing Meeko from the Disney's version of Pocahontas from e-Bay.  Well of course raccoons are obviously very naughty and mischievous and this one has got the look of trouble in its face but fortunately it's just a toy.  So yeah, I can keep this raccoon without the dangers of breaking the law because it's not real.  Raccoons are meant to be kept in the wild or sanctuaries... now here's my wish to have this "pet raccoon".  Well this raccoon won't attack p...

I found this picture on the Internet and I thought I want to have at least Bakumaru and Cream from the list of toys.  Cream's such a cute rabbit if you ask me, she's one of my favorite cute rabbit characters and I might "raise" a "rabbit" with the Cream stuffed toy after I'm buying some stuffed toy dogs as well.