At Tokyo Disneyland, I Discovered a New Amassing Obsession

We now have too much Disney stuff. In our house, one complete room is particularly devoted to Disney posters and memorabilia. In different rooms, we have now cabinets devoted to Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge, Robin Hood, Toy Story, and extra. It’s an excessive amount of. And so, when lastly making that bucket record journey to Japan to go to Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea we knew we needed to take it simple with the shopping for.

However then I noticed it.

Leaving DisneySea’s Indiana Jones ride (which is rather like the Disneyland trip, except Crystal Skull themed), I observed they had been promoting a tiny, Matchbox-sized duplicate of the trip automobile. I needed to have it. It was small, themed to one thing I really like, and hyper-specific. That was the important thing. This wasn’t just a few Indiana Jones-themed shirt, it was the trip automobile from this trip. I scooped it up.

A couple of rides later, I noticed the wonderful Frozen trip I simply exited additionally had a mini-ride automobile. And the Peter Pan trip. And on the finish of the day, I used to be carrying eight new trip autos in my backpack. The following day, at Tokyo Disneyland, the shopping for continued, and by the tip of our journey, I’d bought 12 autos, at a value of about $15 apiece.

(On the highest stage, you’ve received, from left to proper, Haunted Mansion, Indiana Jones and Magnificence and the Beast, Frozen and Peter Pan, and 20,000 Leagues Below the Sea and Jungle Cruise. On the underside, you’ve received Soarin’, the resort Monorail and Aquatopia, Joyful Experience with Baymax, and Toy Story Mania.)

The autos are made by an organization referred to as Tomica they usually’ve been teaming up with Disney since, according to Wiki, 2001. So it’s not like I’m the primary particular person to find these. They’ve been round for literal a long time. However the dimension, solely, and specificity simply spoke to me. Plus, due to their dimension, I knew that I may fairly simply discover locations for them to show in our very, very Disney-filled house.

However I needed to set limits. An essential a part of my shopping for was being selective. I wasn’t shopping for every part. I used to be shopping for autos for rides I truly rode and actually appreciated. And whereas I actually purchased rather a lot, in one of many shops at Tokyo Disneyland, there was a show with what gave the impression to be each automobile presently out there. There have been far more than 12.

Chances are you’ll discover one well-known trip automobile that’s not in there: the Starcruiser from Star Tours. After I began shopping for these, one among my first ideas was, “Is there one for Star Excursions?” I then checked throughout the trip and park however no, there wasn’t. No less than not now. I later discovered there have been out-of-print autos for Star Excursions that, possibly, I’d buy at a later date.

However, that later date virtually occurred a lot sooner. Afterward our Japan journey, I discovered myself in a geek mecca referred to as Nakano Broadway. A couple of minutes outdoors of Tokyo, this four-story mall is stuffed with all method of geek merchandise and you can spend days getting misplaced in its shops. At one level, I walked right into a retailer and noticed what I believed was the Star Excursions trip automobile I used to be after. This one regarded a bit of totally different, although, and had an indication subsequent to it that mentioned one thing about “330.” I requested the worker for extra data.

Seems, this specific piece wasn’t 330 yen, nor was it 3300 yen. It was 330,000 yen, the U.S. equal to about $2,300. Based on a translation of the signal, it was some discontinued model of the automobile and, clearly, very uncommon and priceless. “Do you continue to need it?” she requested. The reply, in fact, was sure, however I couldn’t afford it, so I mentioned “No, thanks.” She then took the signal and wrote on it, making it clearer what the piece price.

That was the second, although. Within the two minutes earlier than realizing how costly that piece was, but additionally understanding it was going to be costlier than those within the park, I used to be prepared. If it had been $200 or one thing, I might’ve pulled the set off. I used to be on trip! I wished Star Excursions for my assortment! After all, I didn’t purchase it, however I did notice I had formally added mini trip autos to my lengthy record of amassing obsessions.

Need extra io9 information? Take a look at when to count on the most recent Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s subsequent for the DC Universe on film and TV, and every part it’s essential to find out about the way forward for Doctor Who.