Somewhere in Nishi-Tama, two hours from downtown Tokyo by train and local bus. Hiking along a stream I see the color of something man-made, half buried under fallen branches and leaves. Then I see the pattern. It can't be... A soft vinyl monster toy, apparently vintage, all the way out here.
Feelings a mixture of the bemusement of Al Pachino in Godfather III ("Every time I try to get out, they pull me back in") and the awe of Nausicaa encountering the husk of the Ohmu deep in the Sea of Corruption. I begin excavating. Empty eye sockets and toothy grin appear, like a Toy Story sequel gone horribly wrong.
Eleking. From the 1967 series "Ultraseven." Body filled with mud and cracked from years of exposure. I flip it and rub dirt off the base of the foot. The circular mark is unmistakable: Marusan, the show's first licensor. Is this an original edition? Out comes the iPhone for a quick scan of recent Yahoo auctions. How did a thousand-dollar toy end up here? Impossible to tell with this much damage. Left behind after a picnic decades ago to moulder here by the riverside? Hurled out of a car window in a fit of childhood pique, its original owner now probably older than I am?
I consider taking it back for forensic analysis but then decide to replace it back in the underbrush where I found it, hoping another toy freak finds it decades hence...
I wonder how many of these are buried deep in the land reclamation layers in Tokyo Bay?
Posted by: AcroRay | May 06, 2012 at 10:32 AM
excellent story matt! how come i don't ever come across stuff like this? tho i did find some toy soldiers and limbless TMNT in my backyard bushes when i was clearing them away... nowhere near as cool tho! i'll link this up to out tofufu site so more toy folks can read it :)
Posted by: wayne | May 06, 2012 at 10:50 AM
beautiful but I have to tell you how much I was begging for you to take it home - my own home is one of many lost toys and toy parts. I appreciate you own choice but, well, you're a better man than I am, Gunga Din.
Posted by: cae | May 06, 2012 at 01:17 PM
If only I'd known! Would have salvaged it for you.
Posted by: MattAlt | May 06, 2012 at 07:20 PM
Very fun. Its is always crazy what you find around Japan, its got such a long history I'm surprised more archeologists aren't running around. I found all kinds of things from shoes to pottery to odd bones just in my garden!
Posted by: Benjamin Martin | May 07, 2012 at 11:23 AM