This post might come off incredibly selfish. Hopefully not, but what the heck, it's the holidays and gifts are fun. The last few years, when people ask me what I want for gifts, I kinda shrug and say some kind of gift card. This year it finally occurred to me that I don't have to get something semi or even vaguely practical. In fact, I could get something I'd wanted to do for a while ... Gatch stuff! My family is very used to me being particular. My mom's side of the family also has the Collector's gene, which means that my family is used to the somewhat obsessive practice of "I want exactly what I want and don't bother asking me WHY because you probably won't understand." So, when I send someone, say, a collection of eBay links of varying price ranges and say "something in this list," no one is particularly surprised. In fact, my family is usually relieved to not have to guess and dig and stress over finding that particular thing and being sure it's exactly the one I wanted. Anyway, things have started arriving. I feel like a villain rubbing her hands in delight as she goes through her ill-gotten gains, somehow! My Gatch collection has always been very, very small, especially since I don't get out much to SF conventions anymore ... I'm still figuring out where I'm going to put this stuff ... I'll take pictures soon. I finally have Gatch figures, yay! (ETA: Feel free to share your own stuff in this thread ...)

I've started uploading pictures, the pin and the t-shirt are older pics, anything else is stuff I've recently gotten: Gatch collection (I wasn't expecting mint or mint in box given the pics shown in the auction, I figured for my first stuff I wouldn't be fussy)

Neat collection Chris... and to think you didn't have to do any of the hard work. (Ok, I admit, I'm a little jealous)

There's more to be added ... well, I had to suck up to my mom and ask her to purchase it for me (and get reimbursed) since it was US purchasers only, and then forward the package. Fortunately she's a doll collector so she couldn't really mock me.

Great idea of yours, CW, and may you receive more!

Heh, heh...."the Stash"! *rubs hands together* Very happy for you and I know you'll enjoy them!

I'm a big toy person too, so like you, I started with all of the dolls! I'm still looking for a black leather Cool Girl Jun that isn't outrageously priced, but I've mostly given up on that. OTOH, I was finally able to get one of those big God Phoenixes with all of the little vehicles to put inside, so you never know when it might come! I do the same as you, not so much because I am picky (well, maybe I am picky) but because my husband is such a poor gift-giver. I knew this when I married him, poor guy, and it is his one real flaw. But to be fair, he always tries hard, especially at Christmas. We have found that the invention of the Amazon Wish List is a lifesaver, because throughout the year as I come across things I can put them on there, and then before my birthday and before Christmas he can look through it and pick some things out. So it's not exactly a surprise when I open them, but at least I know they are things I want! He did buy me one of those G-1 boomerang flash drives for Christmas one year, grumbling that it was way too much money for the minimal storage space. Of course, I wasn't worried about the amount of storage space!

Woohoo TJ. I'm having some internal debates on how fanatic I want to be. I have some gashapons * now and am deciding if I want to leave them in their bags (for collectible value) or put them together. Meanwhile, I mock myself for even having this internal debate. I have the feeling I'll be putting them together so I can look at them. * I had to look up what gashapons are ... they're toys you get out of vending machines in those plastic balls. I do keep seeing those Cool Girl Jun dolls on eBay but since I've been focusing on Ken and Joe at first I haven't been noting the prices. It was pretty cool to find that big collection that had the whole team, though! I've had to just admit to myself that I'm pretty picky (about some things anyway). Makes life easier than living in denial, heh heh.

There are 2 Cool Girl Juns. There is the one in regular Birdstyle (which I have) and if you are patient you can find that for $50 or so, plus shipping. But the black leather Cool Girl Jun is harder to find, and usually priced over $200, so she has yet to join my collection. I figure she's necessary, since she has to join my Ken and Joe Barbie dolls! I have a bunch of those little premium toys from random places. I just put them together because I enjoy playing with them. I love the little Lego-style figures too (the ones I posed in my Christmas avatar). Unfortunately, the Diamond Select action figures (the ones you purchased) are very brittle. If you manhandle them too much, things snap off. That's what happened to the set i gave my kids to play with. Fortunately, I have my own, still in good condition, tucked away.

I'm just hoping she plays nicely with Ken and Joe!!

I always play nicely. *cough* I tend to be so impulsive about opening things up that I wanted to be a bit more cautious this time. Figured I'd see if anyone here tends to keep them intact or not. So far, no!

Gashapons are not as easy to assemble as I thought. I don't think this one's going to stay together without some glue. Is that generally how it works? I've got the Tatsunoko Heroes one who's fighting a goon. He's supposed to look like this: gashapon Got him together! Still, if I move him he'll probably fall apart. Never knew Ken was so fragile. Might need to reinforce with glue. my gashapon

This came with the batch of figures I bought. Not sure what I'm going to do with it or if I'm going to keep it. It's ... ostentatious, like Katse/Zoltar, so it kinda suits him/her. Katse/Zoltar Bust

Another Ken gashapon, he was much easier to put together than the other one. I've got the Joe one from this set coming too! Another Ken gashapon

I hadn't realized that this set of little Gatch vehicles came with the Turtle King. How fun is that?? It also came with Joe's cable gun (though I half wonder if the gun belongs to one of the dolls, but I think the seller would have put it in the doll's bag, then). They're battling here on top of the Ippei Kuri Works Art Book, that shows Ippei Kuri's work chronologically, some nice Gatchaman sketches and watercolors in there. Vehicles

That is a very nice collection you are amassing there Chris.

You know, I usually buy my Gashapon already assembled on EBay, so I have no idea, but yeah, my inclination would be to use glue.

This sheet of stamps is really gorgeous: Science and Technology and Animation Series IV Gatchaman stamps Just arrived today.

Just added a number of items I already had, going back to university days. Have also been adding explanations under the pics.

Originally posted by ChrisW This sheet of stamps is really gorgeous: Science and Technology and Animation Series IV Gatchaman stamps Just arrived today.

Those are great. I started a stamp collection when I was a kid and inherited my father's. I have no idea what any of them might be worth, but I plan to give the whole thing to my son eventually. I'd love to get my hands on some of those.

I was over in Amazon last night and saw several Gatchaman items from China. They also had that 2014 calendar.

Originally posted by Becky Rock Those are great. I started a stamp collection when I was a kid and inherited my father's. I have no idea what any of them might be worth, but I plan to give the whole thing to my son eventually. I'd love to get my hands on some of those.

eBay ... you can find part of the page (just 1 of each stamp) cheaper but I decided to get the whole page so that was more expensive. The colours really are beautiful in person. Moreso than I expected! I'm told my father used to have quite the coin collection. They think a babysitter stole it (it went missing). There are software and online tools out there that help you catalog specific collections like stamps, if you're interested. Those tools have a huge database with lots of stamps from lots of countries.

Added some more stuff. Two books (one of which I already showed underneath the little vehicles) and one that arrived yesterday, plus some videos. I'm quite tickled to finally own a legit copy of the whole first series! http://s1241.photobucket.com/user/cwwriter/library/GatchCollection Have been trying to add everything I know about each item to the descriptions. It's a habit I get from my "day job." Lemme know if you spot something I left out (if you get so bored as to look through).

Four more packages today, bwahahaha. Two gashapons (1 is Joe and another is a different Ken, gashapons are typically under $10 so they're hard to resist when I have gift money), a set of chibis, and a figure ... will take pics soon. Gotta assemble the gashapons.

Is it just me or does Microman Gatchaman look like he's been captured and prepped for transport? (Yes, this is a cruddy picture, I should do a better one.)

Actually he does, CW! (That might make for an interesting story!)

Reminds me of one of Sosai Tim's Gatchafunnies...

That's exactly the scene that came to my mind, too, TJ! Chris, I must say, I am totally envious of your growing collection -- and thank you for sharing the photos! I'm always amazed by what's out there that I don't know about!

Yeah I was thinking of that scene too. Given that my family has the collector's gene that gatchafunny was always one of my favourites! I've been having a lot of fun finding out what's out there. Some of it's kind of disturbing (there's some babyish chibis that really freak me out!) or weird (there's some astronaut toys that are labeled BOTP on the packaging but the toys themselves don't look anything like the team). I also didn't know that there's all kinds of alternative covers for the BOTP comics. Been attacking clutter throughout the house to make room for displaying things so I don't just put them away and fail to appreciate them. Woo.

Chris, this is a good reminder to me to frame my Gatchaman stamps. Lord knows where I put them. I collect space stamps and frame them. I had quite a collection going but after we moved to Maryland I got busy and haven't put everything up. I also collect Hard Rock Cafe shot glasses. I've been doing that since I was in college and I have over 30 of them by now.

Originally posted by Transmute Jun Reminds me of one of Sosai Tim's Gatchafunnies...

Sheldon took his Star Trek transporter out of its box in a Big Bang Theory episode and broke it. Don't want them to break Ken.

Originally posted by jublke Chris, this is a good reminder to me to frame my Gatchaman stamps. Lord knows where I put them. I collect space stamps and frame them. I had quite a collection going but after we moved to Maryland I got busy and haven't put everything up. I also collect Hard Rock Cafe shot glasses. I've been doing that since I was in college and I have over 30 of them by now.

Which Gatchaman stamps do you have? I've seen 2 different sets. I'm not sure if there's more. The colours in the ones I have are really beautiful. Like little works of art. Do you have a Vancouver glass? Though I think it's now the Hard Rock Casino or something instead of a Cafe.

Hi all! There were only two different sheets of stamps released, with four different Gatchaman stamp designs. When the stamps were first released, back on March 23, 2004, Japan Post also released a variety of different Gatchaman themed postcards (Using previously existing images, nothing newly created) that people could use to put the stamps on and get them cancelled to commemorate the 1st day of issue. They made two special postmark stamps for that day. The first was for stamps that were postmarked by hand, seen here on the left. The second was for stamps that were postmarked by machine, seen here on the right. These postmarks could only be gotten at specific post office branches, and only on the 1st day of issue. All in all, they're a pretty neat collectible! James

I didn't know about those postmarks, thanks! I have the full sheet of the one on the right.

Originally posted by tatsunokofan These postmarks could only be gotten at specific post office branches, and only on the 1st day of issue. All in all, they're a pretty neat collectible! James

Those postmarks are pretty cool! Like CW, I've not seen those before. Thanks for the info James!

Originally posted by RIgirl That's exactly the scene that came to my mind, too, TJ! Chris, I must say, I am totally envious of your growing collection -- and thank you for sharing the photos! I'm always amazed by what's out there that I don't know about!

Same here! CW ... it really seems that you're enjoying your growing collection! The items that you're acquiring are very lucky to have the perfect owner that you are!

James ... many thanks for sharing those stamp and postmark pictures! They're just so cool!

It's kind of addictive so I'm having to be careful. Only "Found" money goes to collectables, for example, so gift $ and $ from taking in recycling and stuff like that. But it's definitely fun!

Hi all! Here are pictures of a couple examples of the first day of issue postcards I mentioned, both showing all four Gatchaman stamp designs and the hand cancelled postmark design. There were other postcard designs, but these will give you a good idea what they were like. James

I got my hands on the G-1 Eagle from Taito. He flew all the way from Italy without his plane, so hopefully cargo was comfortable. Now I just need Joe! G-1 Eagle from Taito

*sigh* Not fair...some folks have all the luck....

With this one he's been on ebay for a while now, but the price was pretty high and so was the shipping. I waited for various reasons, including not having the $ at first and just finding the combo of the price and the shipping from Italy pretty expensive. Eventually the price came down enough and I'd saved up enough and I got him. I do feel kinda lucky, though. If the price hadn't come down I'm not sure I'd have gotten him.

Since we were talking earlier in the thread about different postcard designs for the stamp release, I got a couple of them for ny birthday: Still need the machine-done cancellation stamp.