The Torpe Road Chronicles: The Search For New Zealand...

WHERE THE F*CK ARE YOU???

I am staring at my dated laptop and I suddenly thought about her again. I've already checked all the necessary news feed on my Facebook profile, ( illegally ) downloaded songs that I need to listen to my mp3 player and checked and updated my anti-virus software. Dumaan nanaman sya sa isipan ko, so I tried searching for her on Facebook using her real name.

Nothing.

Instagram?

Nothing.

I tried the Google search engine.

Zilch.

It has been almost 10 years now, and I still don't know how "New Zealand" is doing.

                       

Who is she? Siya ang una kong niligawan. My first attempt at puppy love, my awkward advances, ang simula ng aking pagiging Torpe, at iba pa. I dubbed her "New Zealand" dahil dun na sya nakatira sa huli kong balita sa kanya, and taking a cue from a writer on a local Men's Fitness Magazine. And, well, to protect her identity. I really don't want a lawsuit dahil lang sa aking nais na ipahayag ang aking mga nilalaman. Naks.

( you can check out my post about my time with New Zealand HERE to know more. )

                        

It's very strange y'know? She would be the last person on earth that I know that wouldn't have a Facebook profile. She's very social at ma-boka sa lahat. Yung tipong nagse-selfie sa kama with matching GOOD MORNING ALL!!! GOD BLESS POH na comment. I would think that she uses a jejemon-like name for her Facebook profile, something like -= =- but that would be too absurd. Last that I have seen of her was her Friendster profile. But we all know what happened to Friendster now, didn't we?. All that I could ever dig up on her on the internet is a Myspace profile that has 3-4 pictures of her and a Picasa profile that I've just discovered recently. But those 2 discoveries don't really give out any new details on her. Mas madali pa nga akong makakuha ng impormasyon sa nurse na nag-alaga sa akin nung sinilang ako kaysa dito. Parang nawala lang sya sa daigdig. I remember having some "intimate conversations" with my brain about that and I arrived that merong mga tao na ayaw magpahanap. Kung bakit, yan ang isa sa mga misteryo sa mundong ito.

Having a habit of making stories in my head, I would often imagine my attempts to find her, like packing my bags and getting to New Zealand and knocking on doors, joining some neighborhood get-together, community outreach or a Christmas party just so I could get some leads. I recall an FHM article that I read where the country of New Zealand is a haven for paid prostitutes, where they get health benefits and government registration. That also played in my mind in New Zealand's scenario, pero mas minabuti ko na lang na wag nang ikwento ito masyado. For obvious reasons...

There is another scenario that I played in my mind ( yeah, I have knack for those ) where I finally meet New Zealand by getting an item online and doing "paying-cash-on-meetups" basis. We talked for hours on end, and exchanged numbers and we keep in touch for a while until she would disappear again. Or she would meet me sa isang party na pinuntahan ko. Ang mangyayari ay makikita ako ng isang kaklase ko nung elementary na nagkaroon ako ng alitan at marami na rin na nainom, kaya biglang lumapit sa akin at pinapahiya ako, sumsigaw sya at may mga sinasabi na mga salita na nakakasakit ng damdamin. Inaawat sya at lumabas naman ako para di na mapahiya masyado. Tapos may lumapit sa akin sa labas at si New Zealand yun. Kinamusta ako sa nangyari sa akin at nagkwentuhan na kami. Mga ganung eksena. Yeah, I have a lot of time on my hands. Or that I really tend to drift a lot when I'm all by myself. It can go something like this:

There I was, seating next to my first love New Zealand. She really blossomed into a woman. She kept talking about her last movie that she watched or something. I could care less about what she's talking about.

I'm just happy that she's here, physically. Then she stopped talking. I thought I did something to upset her. But she smiled and said, " Alam mo, na-miss kita, ( my name ) and suddenly held my hand. She looked at my eyes for what seems like an eternity. 

                     

Some of you might be asking, "Why the obsession with New Zealand?". You know, sometimes I wonder about that myself. I often think, "Ano ba, pu****ina, di ka ba maka-move on???". Granted, sometimes I border between a stalker and someone needing serious medication, pero first love ko sya eh, alam mo yun? You can never really forget your memories with your first love. You remember every single memory, good or bad. It is with her that I learned how to approach a girl, what not to say etc. Atsaka wala talaga akong balita sa kanya, di ko alam kung may pamilya na sya, mayaman na entrepreneur, deds na ( just saying ) o may isang hacienda na sa New Zealand na country at nakaupo na lang sa isang villa, nagpapamaypay na lang na may hawak na red iced tea at nagbibilang ng salapi ( there goes my brain again... ) making me more intrigued about her whereabouts. "Absence makes the heart grow fonder" mentality. We're just wired that way.

So there. Just something that I wanted to share. It's always fun to revisit my "The Torpe Road" subjects. Wag mahiya sa saloloobin, find ways to express yourself. Sana naaliw naman kayo kahit paano. And to New Zealand, wherever you are...

I hope you are doing fine. Sana buhay ka pa ( hey I'm just saying ) Hit me a line one of these days.

                        

One of these days...

- "the king"

Of Colgate, Vintage Toys, Letters and Nostalgia...

                               

We all have that one toy that we would keep not just because of it's sentimental value, but it's WOW factor and great playability. Then you would pass it down to your child, hoping that they would also have fun as you did many years ago.

"let's crack this thing open!!!"

Any kid of the early 90's would remember this toy that came free with a box of your famous toothpaste. They call by many names, but the famous one would be the ALPHABET AND NUMBER ROBOTS by COLGATE!!!

                             

                             

Every box of Colgate Toothpaste would come with a free ALPHABET or NUMBER robots ( there are also math symbols as well ) They're small and colorful little pieces of plastic that you will transform into a robot, complete with arms, legs and beady little eyes and mouths. They're pretty easy to transform to a robot and back to a letter or a number ( there have also been free diecast cars taht came with every box of Colgate, but they don't have the impact as much as these do. ) So while a child is having fun playing with the toy, he/she will also learn the fundamentals of ABC's and 123's and a little bit of math as well. Pretty neat learning gimmick.

                         

What most 90's kids from the Philippines would remember are they are very nifty toys that you can play on the dirt or with your GI Joes or Transformers. All the robots have the word COLGATE painted on their bodies, so most kids would remember as Colgate being the original "makers".

Now there have been debates as to where these originally came from, as the Colgate ones don't have any copyright usually embossed on authentic toys and there have been several bootlegs and different versions that were sold even today ( you just have to know where to look ) but some extensive research on Google, forums, blogs and ebay, I was able to shed light on their origin.

an example of a bootleg alphabots...

i kept this card just for catalog purposes...

The toys were created by a Mr. Shigeyuki Horiuchi from Japan ( where else would we see this kind of oddity? ) commissioned by Mattel ( makers of toy properties like Hot Wheels, Barbie, He-Man etc. ) back in August 1986. They are originally called " Toy Block Transformed into a Robot " by the creator. Not really sure what they are really called, but Alphabots and DoubleDooz ABC's are the names that I was able to find. The creator also made some other toys as well, like a robotic toy fish ( you can check how the robots should look like transformed HERE, HERE and HERE. )The patent looks legit, and the website is convincing enough, so I'm sticking with this origin for now until I can unearth more ( you can check the original patents HERE )

patent designs... a lot of thought comes into it...

patent designs... a lot of thought comes into it...

the fish aquarium toy, also designed by Mr. Horiuchi...

Finding and buying all of your missing letters, numbers and math symbols to complete your collection can be a pain, as they're not that worth that much. But you have to admit, they do have that WOW factor. Any  true-blue vintage toy collector would recognize one immediately. I was only able to see 2 ads that were being sold online from 2 different websites locally and they were being sold immediately. So far, all I'm seeing that have been selling online are knock-offs. They practically use the same mold, but the colors are painted shoddily. And, they don't have that same nostalgic, fuzzy feeling when you're buying a Colgate "original".

group pic

                               

My parents were very kind enough to buy me a lot of Colgate robots that I almost have a complete set. I remember playing with them, even using clay to mold some swords, guns and even a crown for them to use. Lately I was able to buy some knock-offs to complete most of what I'm missing. Now all I need are the math symbols and numbers 1, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0 to go full circle.  Up to this day I still have them, displayed on top of a bookshelf. Some have shown signs of age ( rusty screws, faded 
colors, collected dust, loose joints ) but I wouldn't sell them not even for 5000php. I want my child to play with them and take care of it long enough to also pass it on to his child, and so forth.

                         

                           

- "the king"

Jesus Is A Fighter...

When you buy collectibles on a daily basis and are following just a certain toyline (e.g. you buying just Marvel comics characters, DC Comics characters etc. )  you tend to get burned out.

You get the same old mold used in the bodies of the toys, the same old characters in different paint schemes, the difficulty to obtain that one item that you really want and the poor quality of the product. You tend to "branch out" and see what the other toy companies are offering, while at the same time you are still loyal to you "main" toyline.

Being a collector, it can be difficult to "branch out" as some of the other toylines are a lot expensive than what you are used to. Or you get burned out again, and find another toyline to satisfy your cravings. It can be a very money-consuming hobby.

Being a "smart collector" ( in the strictest sense ). I try to just stick to my main toylines because 1) My wallet's suffered enough and 2) I don't have shelf space for the extra toyline and 3) See no. 1. . But there is often a toy that is so amazing and so bizarre that you just had to buy it.

What I'm talking is THIS.

Action Portable Fighting JC by threeA company.

JC? Yes, it's Jesus Christ all decked out and ready to kick some butt.

This is by far the coolest-looking Jesus Christ action figure ever. Sure, there were some toys out there that have action features, but those look juvenile and downright silly.

Conceived by threeA co-creator Ashley Wood, Fighting JC was a character in a series of stories called Adventure Kartel, revealed in the company's official forums as a companion to the protagonist named Tommy Mission, helping the hero fight the hordes of zombies. He was called by God to help the world be right again.

 

The toy first came out 2011 in 12-inch form and costs 10,000-12,000php. A few years later, he was rereleased in 6-inch form and costs only 3,000-5,000php. There are at least 5 variations to the character, and I bought the Exegesis variant, the "white-hoodie and blond hair" or I like to call " Super Saiyan JC"
* snicker *

One thing that you will first notice about the toy is it's weathered look. His hands, clothes and shoes are muddy-looking, looking like someone who has gone through a zombie warzone. ThreeA did a great job with the paint applications. His clothes are also made of real cloth and are lined at the edges with a wire, so you can make some dynamic action poses to it as well.

There's a lot of articulation on the figure, so you'll have a field day making some creative toy photography to it. The ankle joints do tend to pop out, but they can be easily be put back in. And because of the figure's skeletal look, the figure is pretty light. But it can be posed without falling off with ease, so long as you apply some engineering or physics to it.

There's a lot of details on the figure. Just by seeing the figure you can already build a story out of it. There are a couple of tattoos on him, the Mama Mary tattoo on his back being my favorite. As one user from a famous toy website said, "fighting jc's got STYLE." He has a cartoony look, so he can look a bit off side-by-side to your Spider-Man or Batman action figure, but it can manage. 

Fighting JC came with a severed head of a zombie, of which you can place it on one of his pouches. The pouches are also fully-functional, they can be opened and closed like a real pouch would.

Really cool.

Fighting JC is a one-of-a-kind action figure. It is worth the big bucks you will drop on. It is a great starter figure to immerse yourself on some threeA figures, provided you have lots of dough ( one threeA figure is the value of 2-3 Marvel Legends figures. ) And even if you don't like the other threeA figures, Fighting JC is a welcome addition to your action figure collection.

photo by FB user and toy collector Pau Gi.
check out his Flickr account http://www.flickr.com/photos/paugi_13/

photo by FB user and toy collector Pau Gi.
check out his Flickr account http://www.flickr.com/photos/paugi_13/

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go to church to avoid being excommunicated. 

- "the king"

LIFE, The Series...

We go through our day going with our daily routine, while also learning something new in the process. Such is Life, it never stops being a teacher to you... 

During the last few months I shared some pictures on my Facebook profile with some very thought-provoking pieces on them, reflecting what Life can be... 

Now, since I am pretty active in Facebook this year ( hence, I don't have any new blog posts for a while now...) , most of those pictures that I shared have already been buried with my other posts of slightly nonsensical nature, so I thought I could compile them all in a blog post. That, and also will serve as an appropriate Year-Ender blog post. End the year with a good lesson, as they say. 

So here they are... Life, The Series... 

And there they are... I hope it inspired you as much as it did me. In closing, here's a video of my favorite singer, the ska-reggae Jewish singer Matisyahu. His songs are full of life and lessons.He helped me when I'm commuting in the congested Metro and in times of distress... Cheers, and here's to a great 2014...

- "the king"

Rant Resurgence

                    

 - It can be very difficult to make another post about ranting about society's problems, but all one can do is check any social media and watch yourself roll your eyes countless times.

- Selfies, Check-Ins, Trolling, Sharing Useless stories ( not unless it's 8fact or 9gag.com ) taking pictures of EVERYTHING and liking your own status update or photo are what comprises of Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram and almost any social media websites.

- But in every "lemon", there is always a "peach" in those websites, like Traffic or weather updates, inspirational stories and quotes, your best friend getting engaged/ promoted/ giving birth and free links to recent movies does make checking out your profile worth it.

- I do love this photo blog, called The Social Climber, that pokes fun at people who are in need of a good smack to the head for being too full of themselves. Do check it out if you have the time.

- That aside, I've seen the comic strip that replaced Pugad Baboy in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, and... the humor is just not there. It's like you get it, but it's just missing a comic flair. Inquirer is missing a large hole in their comic strip department.

- I also remembered a dialogue from The Walking Dead writer/ creator Robert Kirkman that the comic book industry needs to create all-new characters and all-new stories. Writers and artists need to stop making a 37th version of Batman and start making a new character altogether.

an original character by Jamal Yaseem Igle.
Be like this guy. 

- Fast food restaurants need to have diversity in their menus. Or at least have McDonalds' menus be more than just Chicken and Burgers.

- All reality shows ( Billy the Exterminator, Storage Wars, Cake Boss, Pawn Stars, Wheeler Dealers, Amercian Chopper, WipeOut, Survivor, Toy Hunter ) have some form of "scripted situations" that make these TV shows watchable. As long as you accept that, you'll be fine. I mean, just look at Brandi Passante alone.. HOTCHA!!!

- South Korean "accidental" model Jinri Park should go back to the Philippines after her DJ job, 2 Photobooks and several magazine appearances and a TV gig made her famous here. Going
back to the roots, as they say.

- Politics? I said this again, and I'll say it again:  Flying F*ck Politics

- And since I love railroads since they remind me of winding road that has been a recurring image on my "The Torpe Road" series ( start reading the famous series HERE) , here is a beautifully-shot picture of model Susan Coffey ( psstt.. check out her Facebook page HERE or her deviantart HERE.

- "the king"