Defer Toy Rounds

By Will on May 25, 2020 • ( 0 )

And just like that another month is about to end. In a few weeks it would be three months since the world has been brought to its knees, and from the look of things it would take years before we could sufficiently recover–if we don’t die first! By this time I’ve gotten used to walking up flights and flights of stairs to avoid elevators, covering myself up with layers of armor during rounds, and not eating fast food because it’s a chore to order. At least I get to avoid daily Jollibee Chickenjoy and instead feast on my mom’s home cooked meals.

Speaking of Chickenjoy, that ready-to-cook marinated version in the supermarkets is a flour-less trap that tastes like anything but Chickenjoy.

With my kumpare/besh/sizt/cyst Dan

I recently messaged my friend Dan that June is coming. By this time our wallets would be trembling, and he should already be preparing his Wonder Woman exhibit had things not been cancelledth. Dan is a rising star in the world of toy collection, and just last year he has abandoned all his clinics to dedicate himself in setting up their Wonder Woman group’s exhibit in the 2019 Toy Convention in MOA SMX. He was decked a couple of hours to man their cabinet, after which we ran to the toy stalls. His wife, Hatchett, was fortunately being kept busy by their lovable kid Dean so we had the freedom to spend his hard-earned money on toys toys toys–I mean action figures.

We went around the stalls and I felt like a total virgin beside Dan as he wheeled and dealed and bought all the Wonder Woman figures he ever needed (for the day)–Wonder Woman in a cape, Wonder Woman on a horse, Wonder Woman wielding a sword, Wonder Woman in a traje de boda etc. I finally saw my personal holy grail–the DC Direct Birds of Prey boxed set from 2003!

I first saw the Birds of Prey boxed set in Comic Odyssey in Robinson’s Place Manila when I was a med student in 2003. Comic Odyssey was then located on the second floor in the corner near the old Sbarro, after which it moved to a much bigger space on the third floor. After the digital format explosion busted many businesses the store was reduced to a tiny nook, before eventually disappearing. After class I would do my “toy rounds”, starting at the toy section of the department store and culminating in Comic Odyssey. I didn’t have money to buy anything, saving only enough for special issues like Infinite Crisis. For dinner I would get microwaved Japanese food in Asian Bites worth 65 pesos. I was surprised that Asian Bites is still alive, now located in the supermarket.

Materialism

Carrying our hauls in the spirit of materialism, we walked off to another exhibit hall. “Si Jed Madela,” I whispered to Dan and Hatchett, pointing at a guy fixing his things in a corner. Before I knew it Dan approached Jed Madela and we had our picture taken. In another corner was a flock of people taking selfies with Michael Cudlitz aka Abraham from The Walking Dead and we took selfies too. Walking further we noted some people queueing up to have a picture with someone.

“Pa-picture tayo!” I exclaimed, not even knowing who it was. Finally we saw that it was… Alan Cayetano.
“Kain na lang tayo ng shawarma,” I said.