Return to the Asylum Return to the Toy Basket
	Yoshi Plushies: These are so soft and well made it boggles my mind. The small green Yoshi came from Game Traders and the larger black Yoshi came from eGames '08. Jun purchased the black one for me because I'm special.
	Yoshi Figurines: 2 Yoshi figurines. The smaller one with the crossed arms was originally a keyring. I believe they were given away with kids meals at fast food stores some time during the '90s. The slightly larger one came from the ACMI gift shop at Federation Square after Jun and I went to see the history of videogames exhibition. Jun got Goomba and Bobomb figurines.
	Mario Kart: Yoshi and Mario in little cars from a bauble machine. When you pull back and let them go they zoom off. I'm suitably impressed by the detail these toys have. I hate mystery toys because I wanted Bowser. Still, at least I didn't get Luigi. The potential characters included: Mario, Luigi, Peach, Wario, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, and Bowser.
	TMNT Containers: I found these 3 on an opp-shop adventure. Unfortunately I didn't find Leonardo but we do have Donatello, Raphael and Michaelangelo. They look so similar you could be forgiven for thinking they're the same mold with different paint jobs but they are all slightly different in shape, mostly just in the hands, feet and weapons department. The difference is so subtle though, they might as well have used the one mold.
	When you push down atop their heads their shell flip open. I have no idea why. Perhaps once upon a time, back in their days of Happy Meal they contained something wonderous. Or perhaps it's some stupid gimmick. We may never know. I doubt I'll bother looking it up anyway.
	Anime Sweatbands: Madman Entertainment brand sweatband was obtained at the e-Games exhibition in '07 (it might have been armageddon actually, not too sure, I went to a lot of expos that year). Neon Genesis: Evangelion NERV themed sweatband was obtained at Animania '08. It was really too expensive and I actually wanted a "poison mushroom" on from Super Mario. But I made do.
	Pink & Blue Yoshis: I found this great little shop near TAFE where they sell all kinds of toys and other things. They have a set of Nintendo figuirines they sell there, Jun already has the Goomba from that set but there are 14,000 different colours of Yoshis! I got the blue one for jun because when I told him he said blue Yoshi's are the best. I wanted the pink one so I got that for me. The shop is pretty cheap, I got these two for about $7 each, at conventions I've seen them selling the same figuires for around $20 each.
	They are really well made, the paint has a smooth finish and doesn't run over te edges. The plastic is soft and has that delicious "new toy smell" like those toys you used to get from Pizza Hut before they stopped having restaurants. If you even know what I'm talking about. Apparently Jun's brother was concerned by the amount of toys he's accumulated recently, but that's fine. Jun isn't crazy it's just me that likes gifting him with toys.
	Doraemon "Amusement Toy": When I was learning Japanese in school (which was a long time ago since I haven't done that since 2001) all the work sheets had little pictures of Doraemon on them. From what I gather he's some kind of a time travelling cat from the future who has no ears and a pouch. I don't know if my teachers were obsessed with Doraemon or if the worksheets came that way. The label specifies it's an "amusement toy" and also that it's "prize only" which makes me think that all the prizes I've won are jibbed; he's made out of the same quality velour as my yoshi and MLP plushies and stuffed with cotton wool; not cheap foam beans.
	It looks to me as though somebody has pulled his collar off as there are red threads around his neck. Which almost seems a little macabre. My parents wondered if Doraemon's pouch was magical and if that was maybe Felix inspired; what with his magical bag of tricks and all that. Something to think about anyway. Doraemon came from the opp-shop. I hadn't seen a toy of him before at all, not even with all the pop-culture nerdy stores I frequent. Don't know if I would have paid more than $4 for him though. He just popped up in the right place at the right time. Bet I looked silly on the train.