The True Price of a Rare Toy

July 2009. Times are tough. Real tough. This economy is making secure folks not so secure. I have a great job that seems to be very reliable, even in times like these. However, my wife's job is another matter. She was a new teacher this past year, and the County decided to make massive cuts in teaching, and basically all new teachers were layed off. Covering bills has become difficult, and I had to make a statement that I would stop buying robots. Although it was a tough statement to make, I said it. And I meant it.

HOWEVER...

I should have stopped surfing the auction sites if I truly meant to keep my word. As luck (or unluck) would have it, something caught my eye. Something I had never seen before and would likely never see again. Something so amazing, yet so insane. I knew I was in trouble. My mouse hovered over the "watch this item" link, and before you knew it, it was added to my watch list.

What could be so rare, so unbelievable, that I would break my word? Well, let me ask you this...

What do you get when you cross three of your favorite bots, specifically Grendizer, Daitarn, and Zambot?

Ponder that for awhile as I continue my story. Time was passing, and the auction ending was drawing closer. I told myself that I would just save the photo and move on. I could live without it. I really could. But the more I told myself that, the more I just had to have it. I tried to rationalize things by saying that it was an international seller and the shipping cost was low (i.e., by a not very secure method). Also, there were two toys included in this auction, but the description focused only on the other. Would this really be included?

The auction end was coming closer. I just happened to log onto ebay shortly before it ended. There was a bidder, but the price was close to the listing price. I told myself that I would only enter a low bid, and if I lost, then so be it. At least I could know that I made the effort. Well, guess what - I won the auction. AWESOME! Oh wait, now I have to pay for it. Hmm...

Well, I had just sold something in order to cover bills, but my wife would definitely be counting on that money. But what could I do? I bid, so I HAD to pay. I did so, and hoped that it would be overlooked. Pretty foolish to think that would happen.

Two days later, my wife came up to me and was pissed. I mean, outright furious! I had made a promise and I broke it. Was I wrong? Of course. But I had too many regrets from past auctions that I never forgot, and I did not want to let this one become a new addition to that list.

She was angry for quite some time, all the while I was anxiously watching the mail for this package to come in. Finally, the day arrived. The box was a little crushed, and I began to get nervous. But when I opened it, all was AOK!

On to the toy iteself...

From the pictures in the auction, I was hoping that this was diecast. Unfortunately, that was not the case. But on the other hand, it was much larger than I anticipated.

So let's revisit my initial question. What do you get when you cross Grendizer, Daitarn, and Zambot? This...

truly crazy design. The body of Grendizer, and the basic head sculpt too (not the face, though). But then it adds the forehead design of Daitarn. And the head rotates to reveal a different face with a Zambot design. Note the crazy Frank LLoyd Wright-inspired leg stickers. Is this a model? I don't think so, considering the chromed head emblems. Plus it has screws in the back