Now You Can Lick Astro Boy - Again

As a collector, my hobby is hobbies. If I purchase something, my addictive personality takes over and I have to have them all. It's a sickness, but one I refuse to be cured of.

I collect comic books, coins, stamps, sports cards, art (oil and pastel and line ink), LEGO (just for fun), tobacco cards about aviation (but only WWI and earlier), books, Big Little Books, Japanese pretty much everything. I also have about 32 HO scale trains, nearly four digits of Hot Wheels (yes, I have many from the first series as well as Corgi cars, Match Box and Husky), fossils (dinosaur and plant, so far), video game systems, video games (to play) - essentially, I cater to the old adage that 'whomever has the most toys, wins.'

Right now, because of financial reasons - being the act that in the past eight years, I've been the sole provider for seven - so times have become tough enough where I've been forced to sell things, and have even stopped collecting damn near everything except the LEGO... though I will dabble in old hobbies when the urge gets too strong.

Oh, don't cry for me, Argentina... I'm not broke. Hardly. But with a son, I tend to spend more on him than on me now. He's already eying my comic books telling me that they will all be his when I die. He's right of course, but I don't like the way he is thinking.

Anyhow... you saw that wacky title up above and probably wondering just what the hell old, crazy Andrew is talking about.

How about a mix of several of my hobbies?

Comic books. Stamps. Japan.

Japan Post has announced it will release three sets of stamps that will honor the manga (comic books) and anime (animation) work of Tezuka Osamu (surname first).

Some of you just got a woody, while other are going 'huh?' Well, Tezuka was the creator of Japanese icon Testsuwan Atomu, which the non-Japanese (English speakers, actually) probably know better as Astro Boy, the childlike robot who first made his/its debut in 1963 - 50 years ago. Of course, 50 years ago Japan was not yet renowned for its robotics, and some pundits wonder if Japan's interest in robotic innovation was due to the popularity of Astro Boy.

Sixty years ago (1953), Tezuka created his manga Ribon No Kishi (some may know it as Princess Knight), another manga that was geared mainly to younger girls, and was an adventure-based comic book. The story deals with Princess Sapphire who pretends to be a male prince so she can inherit the throne. Believe it or not, conspiracy theorists suggest that Elizabeth I (British monarch) may also have been a man. I don't believe that, and has nothing to do with a woman pretending to be a man. Anyhow... this work is credited with having inspired generations of female artists in the manga field, and for that alone I think its a great piece of fiction. It was fiction, right? You never know with Japan.

In 1973 (40 years ago), Tezuka released his Black Jack manga - a medical adventure series starring Doctor Black Jack. Hunh. I named one of my rottweiler dogs BlackJack, but he was mostly named after the Bugs Bunny villain Blaque Jacque Shellacque. No one knows that. Shhhh.

Each one of these three sets will cost you ¥3,150 (an equivalent of about US/Cdn $34.70), so it's not cheap! The stamp set comes with a display case, paper, envelopes, stickers and postcard, all specially illustrated with some of the characters from each series.

Years ago, Canada Post released a set of its great comic book creations (including a 1995 day of issue of all five stamps, postcards, a mouse pad, and, of course, a set of 10 stamps), featuring: Superman, Johnny Canuck, Nelvana, Fleur de Lys and Captain Canuck. It sold for a grand total of $16.95 Cdn or ¥1,538.68. I know all this because I am looking at  them right now as I type this. 

The Japanese Tezuka set of manga stamps can also be purchased in a premium set for ¥8,650 (~ Cdn/US $95.32), and includes a special original letter-size postcard featuring characters from all three series.

If anyone wants to be nice and send me a set (I am more of an Astro Boy fan), you can stand in line at the Post Office until April 30 to place an order, OR you can do so online until May 6 HERE - but you better know Japanese!.

The sets will be delivered as they appear beginning June 3, 2013.

Cheers to my buddy Vincent for the heads up for the story.

Cheers
Andrew Joseph
PS: And just so you know, the stamp at the very top - that was released many, many years ago, and, if you look at the stamp on the left, it shows Tezuka and his creations (from top) Black Jack, Princess Knight, Kimba the White Lion (who is screwed out from the new stamp series) and, of course, Astro Boy.