Bootlegos & Me - TOYSREVIL's Top Ten Toys For 2014 #9
I remembered the days when I would "hide" my comicbook collecting habits from my "friends" in school, for fear of ridicule - and it was not an intangible fear as I had seen how other folks who had "come out" reading comics were treated by the masses … and even if I did find fellow comicbook collectors, everyone had their own opinions about what each other read, which to me is quite ironic given the judgement we receive from other folks.
Fast forward to me entering typical adulthood (AKA earning a monthly wage), I had spent a ridiculous amount of time and money, on toys - first 1/6th-scale, then "urban vinyls" (where do you think the nick "TOYSREVIL" came from? LOL), and even then, I had to be careful straddling specific toy forums, careful not to "reveal" my eclectic tastes, as I too was judged by fellow forumers.
Such irony seeped thru my toylife, and frankly a faint shroud of unhappiness prevailed for years.
And while the TOYSREVIL-blog was not the first online locale I begun to geek out openly on toys (there was the now defunct "Multiply"), but when I decided to go full-on TOYS on the blog, the feeling of FREEDOM was overwhelming! Rather than let people determine/judge my value in toy-collecting, I decided to celebrate them on my own terms, and I relished the notion and experience!
And for years (well, it has been a decade since the launch of the blog), I had FUN! Sharing my toy-joy, and living vicariously thru other folks collections too! Funnily, I forgo all involvement with toy forums as well - although ironically I even started a TOYSREVIL-forum years ago, but never published it "live" for the world to see hahahaha
It was not too long ago, I begun to feel the discomfort in being judged for my toy-collecting habits, more specifically, with regards to me collecting "Bootleg Legos" - which someone on my IG term as "BOOTLEGO" (bless you for that :p) - essentially Made in China unlicensed knock-offs of LEGO mini figures found in licensed playlets.
The comments from folks (both publicly and privately online) mostly questioned "why" I would "support" buying bootlegs, instead of buying the "real deal".
And while I do not fault them for their rationale - everybody has a right to their own opinions - but in lieu of receiving near-constant judgmental commentary, I chose instead to post pics of my bootlegos only on my Instagram, and avoid blogging about them, more than I already have.
And that has not sat right with me.
The thing was - and this is the crux of why BOOTLEGOS rank in my 2014 Top Ten Toys - was that the sheer joy they brought me, both collecting and "playing" with them - especially this tough year 2014 (both financially and emotionally) - and have provided me an enormous amount toy-joy that I had not experienced for some years now! And while I am not promoting nor advocating purchasing of bootlegs (who am I to judge you in the first place?), I can no longer deny my joy in collecting them :)
I can give you folks - readers and naysayers both - a dozen "reasons" WHY I enjoy them, and that will happen thru time and future posts, but for the purposes of THIS list, they rank #9! I am ALL about the TOY-JOY, folks LOL
In yet another cruel twist of toy-fate, my local stationary shop (which provided me bootlegos galore) has since stopped stocking them, and the shelves cleared of all traces (and the shop assistants act as if they never sold "such things" before - guess who got busted? LOL) … and frankly, I refuse to pay a higher price for them at other locales (*cough-CSC-cough*), which essentially means my bootlego-odyssey has since but ended as 2015 has started … Pity.
