iCollect: Gloomy Bear
For this week's iCollect blog feature-series, we shine a spotlight on a collector of Mori Chack's GLOOMY BEAR! From stuffed / plush toys, to collectible figurines, to apparel, stationery and memorabilia - I initially did not know this about Lekky since I met and knew her a few years back, until she shared a snap of her "Gloomy Shelf", and I KNEW I had to bug her about the bloodied pinkness in her life!
Find out about her fav pieces, what's her Holy-Gloomy-Grail, and how "chain mail" got her started down this path! Read-ON!
TOYSREVIL: What's your name and age? Sorry to ask a lady the "age" question tho … Forgive me? :p
LEKKY: People called me “Lekky” and also “Peck” I prefer “Lekky” instead and I am 26 going to be 27 this year Y_Y feeling so old already...
TOYSREVIL: Hey, who are you calling "OLD"??? Just kiddin'! What do you do for a living, Lekky?
LEKKY: I’m doing a variety of works here. I primarily work in real estate as a sales representative, sometimes accounting and paper works in the office. In addition, I am also an Assistant as a consultation for apartment constructions on my family’s project, so typically, I will have to attend meetings most of the time … I’m new to this field so I am catching up bit by bit, but I’m going to do my best to try something new in life.
Unfortunately my studied field is in total contrast to what I am doing now - I was a Major in Animation when I was in Lasalle College of Art and Design before, which has nothing to do with Real Estate at all…
TOYSREVIL: When friends ask you, how do you describe to them, or what do you call what you collect?
LEKKY: As "special Hobby" ^_^ … My perception of collecting toys and stuff toy are different than others ... I find the “toys” so appealing and attractive with the uniqueness characteristic in each of them ... I find it inspirational and the creativity which I lack in my art work (I also do drawing, graphic design and illustration) - it’s like finding a pieces to complete your desire and finding the puzzle to complete your aspiration. Finds joy for your life!
TOYSREVIL: Could you share with us whereabouts you stay/live? Do you buy the items in person at stores? Or Online? Or both?
LEKKY: My Hometown is Thailand, Bangkok. For the collections I usually buy them in the stores so that I can see them in real life first then decide if it is worth getting them to put them on my shelf … but sometimes if I can’t really find them in the store or if the item I had wanted are "limited", then buying them online would be last choice … so my answer would be both :p
TOYSREVIL: WHY collect Gloomy Bear? How did it all start? Which was the first?
LEKKY: It started when I was around 18 years old. It begun with this chain email which was sent to me, and all they had was all these animated-gif art works, and I fell in love with the bear character at first sight. Initial I had no idea about the character at all, so I went online and searched for the name of this character. The character was a pink bear with blood pouring out from his mouth … and trying to kill this little guy name "Pity" … and that’s all I had known about gloomy bear …
LEKKY: … I did not know who made it or where to buy it or what name is it in the first place! But I didn’t give up hope. Since I only had the Gifs on my hard disk, I did’t really know how to Google them online with the picture that I had ... So it was really difficult for me. So I kept on typing on Google as “Pink bear”, “Pink bear killing boy” etc, until one time it said something about the word "gloomy", but I didn’t realized and could not recognize the name … until I came across the name “Mori Chack”.
He is the artist / Japanese Graphic designer and he made GLOOMY BEAR. Then, I saw one picture on Google, of a stuffed toy named "gloomy bear" … And it looked so adorable! But that wasn't the first time I had wanted to assemble them as my collection though...
LEKKY: The first time was when I was 20 and I visited the mall called Wheelock Place in Singapore which was along Orchard Road. The shop was on the second floor and I remember I used to love going into toys stores looking at toys and stuff toys… it was like a paradise for me! I was looking around the shop, discovering toys that I didn’t know the name of … and I came across a gloomy bear toy for the first time!
When a person sees something they dreamt of for the first time, it felt like a "miracle"! I screamed and ran around the shop like a mad person or you can say - like a kid who had gotten her first toy for the very first time - the happiness was running through my blood and the adrenaline was rushing through my veins … but unexpectedly I did not buy it on the spot … as I stopped and concentrated on the toy in front of me, thinking if it was an "original"? as it made from Chax Studio?
I looked at the toy intently, and it was the gloomy bear holding the little guy’s head hanging around and the toy was also moveable where if I pushed the button on his left hand, he would automatically shake the right hand where he holding the little guy’s head! And I was so happy :)
LEKKY: Gradually I stared at the tag and turning it around to see the price … it was considered "high" as I’m a student who still can’t afford the money for my own…I felt disappointed and was deeply saddened … I was holding the toy for like 20 minutes and walking around the shop as if I was going to buy them but still looking around for other stuffs … and in the end I walked out of the shop, without gloomy bear in my hand … and thinking that I would try really hard to collect some of my pocket money and get them before it goes off the market ...
Fortunately, my colleagues in my college got a part time job for all of us, and it took me a while, but I finally bought it with my own income and I was so happppppppy!!!!!!!!
TOYSREVIL: Thanks for sharing your story with us Lekky! Am so happy for you that you finally bought your first Gloomy with your own hard-earned money too! Which is your "most expensive" single piece in the collection? Based on how valuable they are now in the aftermarket, or how expensive you bought them for in the first place?
LEKKY: If you are one of the gloomy bear fans, you would realize that all their products are not so affordable or you can say it always "pricey" … there is this one piece I brought from Akihabara, Japan and it was around 3000 yen which is around 40 SG dollars, which I personal considered it as "expensive".
I never really check the market prices for toys online since I thought if I really like the toy on the spot why do I have to compare the price online or on the market? The toy is right in front of me and its LIMITED EDITION … why don’t I just get them itself no matter how much is it right?
Gloomy Bear toys always have their toys as a "limited edition" especially when they are 'collaboration projects' with other character such as Hello kitty, Super Sonico and recently gloomy bear product had collaborated with racing car project, where they used the name "GRG" - which stands for “Gloomy Racing Genus”.
TOYSREVIL: Which singular item is your most treasured/cherish? And why?
LEKKY: There are these two pieces of gloomy products which I treasure a lot. They are actually two t-shirts with gloomy prints on them and they were amazing just to look at it. I was gifted them from my sister since 2011 for my birthday. She was living in Kyoto during that period of time for her post doc degree and I know that she had olds of work to do, and she had been busy all the time … and I usually don’t get presents on my birthday coz I don’t tell people much about it …
Anyway, she had planned ahead and set the delivery date posting it from Kyoto to Thailand and had it reach me on the exact date for my birthday. When I opened her parcel, I was crying with tears of happiness … the two pieces that make it more valuable and precious just to think of it and there is no other toy can be replaced with these two t-shirts, at all.
TOYSREVIL: Any particular piece you think not many folks have seen before?
LEKKY: There is this gloomy toy mouse pad I had gotten from the shop in Akihabara,Japan. I do not think I had ever see it online or anywhere else … I’m not sure if gloomy bear’s folk has seen it already but it looked so cool at first when I got them from the shop.
TOYSREVIL: Love the (severed) Gloomy Paw Mouse LOL ! What's your next piece you are hunting/waiting for, Lekky? Is there a "Holy Toy Grail" for you?
LEKKY: My next piece … would be gloomy bear suit jump, I wish I could have gotten them when I was in Japan few years back, but I was so broke at that time from shopping, and I wish if I could turn back time I would have absolutely got them for sure!
LEKKY: I will always want to buy more Gloomy Bear toys … I find them fascinating and appealing … I will continue to collect them and I will keep wanting them and finding them and buying them till I’m broke. I wish I could meet Mori Chack and have his signature on one of my gloomy bear products ^^ and take a picture with him. I always try to find time to attend STGCC in Singapore because I know the first year he came … I went to the second year's and he wasn’t there … I went many times but I never get a chance to meet him at all Y_Y
TOYSREVIL: Here's wishing you'll get to meet Mori Chack one day, Lekky! And much thanks for sharing with us your Gloomy Bear Adventures!
Find out about her fav pieces, what's her Holy-Gloomy-Grail, and how "chain mail" got her started down this path! Read-ON!
TOYSREVIL: What's your name and age? Sorry to ask a lady the "age" question tho … Forgive me? :p
LEKKY: People called me “Lekky” and also “Peck” I prefer “Lekky” instead and I am 26 going to be 27 this year Y_Y feeling so old already...
TOYSREVIL: Hey, who are you calling "OLD"??? Just kiddin'! What do you do for a living, Lekky?
LEKKY: I’m doing a variety of works here. I primarily work in real estate as a sales representative, sometimes accounting and paper works in the office. In addition, I am also an Assistant as a consultation for apartment constructions on my family’s project, so typically, I will have to attend meetings most of the time … I’m new to this field so I am catching up bit by bit, but I’m going to do my best to try something new in life.
Unfortunately my studied field is in total contrast to what I am doing now - I was a Major in Animation when I was in Lasalle College of Art and Design before, which has nothing to do with Real Estate at all…
TOYSREVIL: When friends ask you, how do you describe to them, or what do you call what you collect?
LEKKY: As "special Hobby" ^_^ … My perception of collecting toys and stuff toy are different than others ... I find the “toys” so appealing and attractive with the uniqueness characteristic in each of them ... I find it inspirational and the creativity which I lack in my art work (I also do drawing, graphic design and illustration) - it’s like finding a pieces to complete your desire and finding the puzzle to complete your aspiration. Finds joy for your life!
TOYSREVIL: Could you share with us whereabouts you stay/live? Do you buy the items in person at stores? Or Online? Or both?
LEKKY: My Hometown is Thailand, Bangkok. For the collections I usually buy them in the stores so that I can see them in real life first then decide if it is worth getting them to put them on my shelf … but sometimes if I can’t really find them in the store or if the item I had wanted are "limited", then buying them online would be last choice … so my answer would be both :p
TOYSREVIL: WHY collect Gloomy Bear? How did it all start? Which was the first?
LEKKY: It started when I was around 18 years old. It begun with this chain email which was sent to me, and all they had was all these animated-gif art works, and I fell in love with the bear character at first sight. Initial I had no idea about the character at all, so I went online and searched for the name of this character. The character was a pink bear with blood pouring out from his mouth … and trying to kill this little guy name "Pity" … and that’s all I had known about gloomy bear …
LEKKY: … I did not know who made it or where to buy it or what name is it in the first place! But I didn’t give up hope. Since I only had the Gifs on my hard disk, I did’t really know how to Google them online with the picture that I had ... So it was really difficult for me. So I kept on typing on Google as “Pink bear”, “Pink bear killing boy” etc, until one time it said something about the word "gloomy", but I didn’t realized and could not recognize the name … until I came across the name “Mori Chack”.
He is the artist / Japanese Graphic designer and he made GLOOMY BEAR. Then, I saw one picture on Google, of a stuffed toy named "gloomy bear" … And it looked so adorable! But that wasn't the first time I had wanted to assemble them as my collection though...
LEKKY: The first time was when I was 20 and I visited the mall called Wheelock Place in Singapore which was along Orchard Road. The shop was on the second floor and I remember I used to love going into toys stores looking at toys and stuff toys… it was like a paradise for me! I was looking around the shop, discovering toys that I didn’t know the name of … and I came across a gloomy bear toy for the first time!
When a person sees something they dreamt of for the first time, it felt like a "miracle"! I screamed and ran around the shop like a mad person or you can say - like a kid who had gotten her first toy for the very first time - the happiness was running through my blood and the adrenaline was rushing through my veins … but unexpectedly I did not buy it on the spot … as I stopped and concentrated on the toy in front of me, thinking if it was an "original"? as it made from Chax Studio?
I looked at the toy intently, and it was the gloomy bear holding the little guy’s head hanging around and the toy was also moveable where if I pushed the button on his left hand, he would automatically shake the right hand where he holding the little guy’s head! And I was so happy :)
Fortunately, my colleagues in my college got a part time job for all of us, and it took me a while, but I finally bought it with my own income and I was so happppppppy!!!!!!!!
TOYSREVIL: Thanks for sharing your story with us Lekky! Am so happy for you that you finally bought your first Gloomy with your own hard-earned money too! Which is your "most expensive" single piece in the collection? Based on how valuable they are now in the aftermarket, or how expensive you bought them for in the first place?
I never really check the market prices for toys online since I thought if I really like the toy on the spot why do I have to compare the price online or on the market? The toy is right in front of me and its LIMITED EDITION … why don’t I just get them itself no matter how much is it right?
Gloomy Bear toys always have their toys as a "limited edition" especially when they are 'collaboration projects' with other character such as Hello kitty, Super Sonico and recently gloomy bear product had collaborated with racing car project, where they used the name "GRG" - which stands for “Gloomy Racing Genus”.
TOYSREVIL: Which singular item is your most treasured/cherish? And why?
LEKKY: There are these two pieces of gloomy products which I treasure a lot. They are actually two t-shirts with gloomy prints on them and they were amazing just to look at it. I was gifted them from my sister since 2011 for my birthday. She was living in Kyoto during that period of time for her post doc degree and I know that she had olds of work to do, and she had been busy all the time … and I usually don’t get presents on my birthday coz I don’t tell people much about it …
Anyway, she had planned ahead and set the delivery date posting it from Kyoto to Thailand and had it reach me on the exact date for my birthday. When I opened her parcel, I was crying with tears of happiness … the two pieces that make it more valuable and precious just to think of it and there is no other toy can be replaced with these two t-shirts, at all.
TOYSREVIL: Any particular piece you think not many folks have seen before?
LEKKY: There is this gloomy toy mouse pad I had gotten from the shop in Akihabara,Japan. I do not think I had ever see it online or anywhere else … I’m not sure if gloomy bear’s folk has seen it already but it looked so cool at first when I got them from the shop.
TOYSREVIL: Love the (severed) Gloomy Paw Mouse LOL ! What's your next piece you are hunting/waiting for, Lekky? Is there a "Holy Toy Grail" for you?
LEKKY: My next piece … would be gloomy bear suit jump, I wish I could have gotten them when I was in Japan few years back, but I was so broke at that time from shopping, and I wish if I could turn back time I would have absolutely got them for sure!
LEKKY: I will always want to buy more Gloomy Bear toys … I find them fascinating and appealing … I will continue to collect them and I will keep wanting them and finding them and buying them till I’m broke. I wish I could meet Mori Chack and have his signature on one of my gloomy bear products ^^ and take a picture with him. I always try to find time to attend STGCC in Singapore because I know the first year he came … I went to the second year's and he wasn’t there … I went many times but I never get a chance to meet him at all Y_Y
TOYSREVIL: Here's wishing you'll get to meet Mori Chack one day, Lekky! And much thanks for sharing with us your Gloomy Bear Adventures!
