They say today is Figure Friday. So, let's go to a tiny figure I have on my desk.
When I graduated kindergarten, this little puppy was sitting on the top of the cake. All through my childhood and into college, it followed me on my dresser the entire time.
Since I entered the workforce after graduating with my Masters, it has been on my desk since. It's a good reminder, I totally was a "Super Grad" from kindergarten. I could tie my shoes and everything.
So, here's a Mr. Potato Head figure from the 1970s. It looks so very different than the current Mr. Potato head.
Oh, and that canon next to it I made when I was in college. Where I went to undergrad, all freshman engineering majors had to take a metal shop class and their final project was to make either a canon or a catapult. I thought the canon looked cooler.
I didn't grow up with Dragon Ball or Dragon Ball Z. I stopped having cable at home in the early 90s. So, my first real experience with Dragon Ball Z was in college. I had a roommate who would watch subtitled episodes late at night really loud, which annoyed me. I avoided the franchise for that reason for a long while.
In 2019, I picked up a copy of Dragon Ball FighterZ because of how highly it was rated. I fell in love with it immediately. Such an amazing fighting game. In December, Viz's Shonen Jump service dropped and allowed you access to their full archive of manga for certain series. Dragon Ball was among them. I decided to read the manga to get the backstory of these characters. I became enthralled and within three months had read all of Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball Super.
Since then, I have plowed through so much manga from Akira Toriyama. From Cowa to Sandland to a ton of stuff in between. His influence on the anime and manga industry will be felt for generations to come.
Here's a picture of a few of the Bandai model kits I have of Goku and Vegeta in their Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan forms.
Rest in Peace, Toriyama. Thank you for all you have given us over the years. May your family and fans be comforted following your passing.