Welcome to My Toy Chest. As anybody who knows me can attest, my office, room and garage are overflowing with toys. So, it would be wrong not to have a part of my Web site devoted to them.
Right now, I'm still in the process of building this section of my site, but I have been able to build one of two special toy chest sections: The Asian Pacific American Toy Chest (although, it's also a work in progress). I had always picked up toys that had some connection to Asia or the Pacific Islands. Then, after reading an article that talked about Peter J. Chen's Asian-American Action Figure Homepage, I was inspired to create a tribute to my own collection.
The second special section will be on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender toys. Believe me, at this point, it's a very, very small collection. So, I'm trying to research more before I try to put it all up.
In addition to these special sections, look for my Pillsbury Doughboy collection, my Micronauts/Microman collection, my dog beanie babies and much, much more. So, please come back and see if more progress has been made. But, please be patient.
Places To Start Your Collection
Here are a few places that you can go start your collection:
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eBay
This is a great place to find hard to find items. Just be careful if you've never participated in an online auction. Be sure to check the seller's ratings and only bid on what you feel comfortable paying.
Yahoo! Auctions
Yahoo! Auctions is not as big as eBay which can be a good and bad thing. On one hand, they don't have quite the selection as eBay (although, it is decent)...but, on the other hand, you have fewer people bidding against you. I've won a bunch of stuff without having to go through a bidding war.
Kaybee Toys
Kaybee often gets exclusives and so you should keep an eye out for them...
NextPlanetOver.com
Since many Asian Pacific American toys come from movies, anime, comic books or other forms of entertainment, the majority of them come in action figure form. NextPlanetOver.com offers a good selection of action figures.
Hasbro Collectors
This site specializes in collectibles put out by the Hasbro toy company. You can find little gems here and there. This is where I purchased by G.I. Joe 442nd Nisei Soldier.
These are some really cool sitea:
Asian-American Action Figure Homepage
I'm going to keep singing it to the hills, this was a really inspirational site for me. Loaded with great information about Asian-Americans in action figure form.
YoJoe.Com
This is the best Web site I've seen on the 3 3/4" G.I. Joe collection. It's got a great database of file cards, complete listings and lots of great pictures. Simply a must if you're a Joe fan.
Grrrl Dollz
Grrrl Dollz is a great site dedicated to women in action figure form. Again, lots of great pictures accompanied by commentary.
Action Girl's Guide to Female Figures
Another great site dedicated to women in toy form. This site actually goes beyond the action figure. It's very nicely designed and has news and information about figures either announced that didn't end up coming out or those that never made it to the shelf.
The African-American non-Super and Super Heroes FAQ and Database Toylist
A comprehensive list of African-American hero based action figures. While the list is pretty much text based, the site on a whole has some really great information on it.
In search of dolls that look like us
This is a resource from blackfamilies.com that has information on African-American toys.
The Micronaut Homepage
This site has some really great information about one of the greatest toylines to come out in the 70s and 80s - The Micronauts. Displays pictures and commentary on the heroes and villains of the Microverse.
Microman Forever
This site is dedicated to Microman, the Japanese toyline that bore the Micronauts. Lots of great pictures and detailed commentary as well as news and information about upcoming releases.
They Came From Inner Space
Another great Micronaut site. This page is really graphically pleasing and easy to navigate. Really nicely done!
Star Wars Collectors Archive
This is a really great Web site which contains all kinds of information on Star Wars collectibles.
Kevin Lentz's 3*-inch Action Figure Archives
A very informative site on the 3 3/4" action figure that was introduced in the 70s and has been a standard ever since.
He-man.org
The definitive site on all things "He-Man" (and She-Ra). It contains collector's guides for the He-Man, She-Ra and New Adventures of He-Man toy lines.
loren.javier.com | Loren Javier's Toy Chest | The Asian Pacific American Toy Chest | | The LGBT Toy Chest