Sentai in the City Year Draws to a Close. Burgeoning Bulletin Board Bolsters Y2.4K
Welcome to New Year 2004. Greetings from the outskirts of "The City", New York. Year two thousand and three was a deliciously busy period for robot-japan, and I am delighted that our toy community grew by leaps and bounds. Thanks to a partnership with collectiondx.com, spacebridge, World Wide Gundam Network, the collector community, associates, and friends; we have a thriving bulletin board of over 600 registered users and whopping web site of 750 MB.
Foremost on my mind is the highly successful drawing contest this winter season. The event has progressed extraordinarily well; numerous entries from around the world have demonstrated innovation and shown us dazzling artistry. We had a stellar group of advertisers that assisted judging and provided free prizes. Thank you Rynkia, Marcia's locker, Super 7 Magazine, Bandai, Steve Agin's Vintage Toys, Big Bad Toy Store, and ToyWiz. Thank you robot fans for participating.
Last year's goals were met thanks to assistance from fellow collectors and friends. We now have a new search engine to assist with your queries. The bulletin board is thriving and helping us network. Now you can visualize robots sold in Korea, get a report on the Japanese market, trade with Italy, and then swap Sentai in the States.
Mark Nagata of Super 7 has helped get the word out on the site. His magazine has been most generous in supporting our contest and assisting with advertising. Plans are also in the works to publish a Super 7 article. Muchas Gracias Mark.
Then let me send a special thank you to Bandai America and their advertising staff Mark Morse, Cliff, Angela, and the entire staff has given us incredible help with the drawing contest and continue to donate new products for reviews. We now have new Gundam, Superior Defenders, and Sentai Series reviews (Power Rangers robots). Then there is that new mascot in red spandex. (Article). I have enjoyed the visits at the New York toy fare and then look forward to your next city-bound sojourn.
Most importantly, members continue to send in their toy reviews and contribute. Thank you all for the encouraging e-mails and positive feedback. I especially value the bulletin board "quick reviews", the collection pictures, and your detailed articles. Your work can be submitted to articles@robot-japan.com .
Looking Forward to the Future
We have numerous events to look forward to this year. ToyFare 2004, Sculptures, Bulletin board growth, more networking abroad, content improvement, and another contest are planned this upcoming year.
Plans are now being finalized to meet with Bandai this ToyFare. If luck is on our side we'll be able to visit Hasbro and meet with other toy distributors. Expect pictures from this Toyfare 2004. I look forward to meeting Josh B and crew in the city.
Then we may create an award based on the drawing contest designs. My hope is to cast some "RJ's" for future awards. My hope is to couple a robot design with a sculptor and let the liquid metal flow. This will be a challenging goal.
Site content will continue to grow in size and quality. At the moment we have over 3500 robot pictures to pour through. My goal is to fill out the categories of toys with more prose, pictorials, and details to assist your research.
Let us continue the explosive growth of the bulletin board. I would like to build the community and enjoy the nuances of the hobby. My goal is to help other collectors and build up the database of quality content.
One difficult aspiration is to reach more Japanese collectors and appear in search engines in Nippon. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Wouldn't it be great to reach "old school" collectors that have personal accounts for the 70's and 80's. Josh B and I would love to see robot collections of Japanese hobbyist.
Let us not forget other collectors from Asia and around the world. Please assist us with networking, sharing the site with friends, and linking www.robot-japan.com on your home pages. I welcome ideas. Feel free to send me an e-mail.
Another goal is to diversify the site's content. From time to time we will continue to cover robots that aren't diecast or Japanese. For instance I received positive feedback about the Korean 3-D Styrofoam robot review. Others enjoyed the comics from JWM and his Jiggypuff. Shaxper's comics have been great too. Let me know what content and photo layouts you enjoy the most. Your feedback helps determine upcoming content.
Finally, I would like to seek more corporate assistance in getting new products. Possibly we can develop stronger relationships with Tomy, Takara, or Hasbro and then review toys at a minimum cost. It is great to preview new topics and get the inside story on upcoming toys.
Thank you all for contributing your time and interest to the site. My sincere gratitude goes out to the photographers, toy companies, writers, advertisers, and individuals that have contributed site content. Robot-Japan will continue to grow into a detailed picture encyclopedia in addition to offering detailed robot previews. The continual improvement and fun continues!
Happy New Year 2004!
Warmest Robot Regards,
Edward S.
Editor of Robot-Japan |
