The Fool on the Hillside.

When kidnapped by my computer expert, I was briefly released to visit Hillside Mall in the suburb, Nishikigaoka. There was a little festival going on where I ate a banana otherwise not much else to see. Inside though...

First stop, a new shop called Candy Land. It's an offshoot of "From USA" and deals in lots of retro goods from disembowelled Snoopy books to Rat Fink rip offs. I bought a set of 10 Peanuts pages on the hope that I receive a Great Pumpkin page and two stickers depicting a zooming Creature from the Black Lagoon and a sexy Alien with a decapitated C-3PO. 

(Update, no Great Pumpkin. Alas.)

Next stop was Kamoriya Bunkadou Shoten, a fancy name for a 5 & Dime shop that sells old toys and sweets. Best variety and cheapest prices of any that I've seen.

I bought a couple of candies because they depicted monsters and because I get a stamp with them. 

It turns out that the candy IS the stamp!

Very crunchy!

I also bought 4 Conan eggs at half price. 

Oops, they're series 1 and I have the complete set. Oh well, the chocolate is still tasty.

Yay! A pair of Gegege stickers!

Boo! I only got humans, no Yokai!

I bought some puffy stickers because they're Halloween themed (duh) and because I need some to put on the back of my phone so it doesn't slide around.

 

I also picked up a Pez because why not?

In the past I have occasionally discovered some cool Menko here. Oooh, this one has a dragon...

Doh! It's a samurai with a Dragon helmet. Still cool nonetheless.

I have no idea what to do with the obverse of these discs.

Best score though is this Boar mask used by a character from a popular manga/anime whose name eludes me.

I think the frizzled hair and scruffy beard adds to the look. Unfortunately, this will have to be a gift for a child because the elastic is too taut for my fat head.

Then the most dangerous store in the mall, Toy Store Warehouse. Some DC Domez featuring the Batman family including a few doubles for presents. Alas, I didn't get the secret one though I did complete the basic set.

Hmm. I suspect there's an intruder in the Batcave.

Also some Moji that I don't already have a SW helmet.

How could I resist this guy? He's Smoaking!

A set of five mini-towels for under 3 bucks.

And on the first day of the Countdown, I vowed that if I were to find a Backbeard for sale, I'd grab one. Lo and behold!

Here are the first few pages of my Yokai book including the index entry for World Yokai.

My kidnap adventure did not end here but now it's bedtime...

I'm Baa-aack!

I suspect it would be more expensive to repair my camera than to get a new one, so that's what I did. Well, a used one actually but it appears to be functioning properly.

Since most of my blogposts of late have been on the maudlin side, I had no idea how to get back into the swing of things. Inspired by the 面子/Menko cards featured in the Go-Go-Godzilla blog, I dug up a few cards. Like a wacky mix of cards, baseball, dice and pogs, Menko cards are played by smacking your card onto your opponents card in the hopes of flipping it over and thus winning it.

Here are a few Dragonball cards. I bought 2 packs and the collation is horrid! I got 5 doubles, 2 triples and one other single card. On one side is a picture from the anime (very old-school Dragonball) and on the obverse is a combination of a baseball pitch (ストライク・ボール・ヒット=strike, ball, hit), a random 5-digit number, & a dice roll. The Kamen Rider cards (showcased here) I have show playing cards, symbols & a mode of flight.) Obviously there is more to this game than simply flipping it over, but darned if I can decipher it!

Kicking around here somewhere, my pride and joy is a Batman Menko from the 60s. When I find it, I'll show it off.