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10 Years at ADC/TNI!


TommyGoth

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Well guys tomorrow is my 10 year anniversary here. It's hard to believe that 10 years passed that quickly. I remember when I first came to the American Dream Comics forums. I was a college student who was floundering financially because I'd moved out of my parents' house. The sheer number of incredible toys being released at the time caused a conflict in my finances. I could buy toys or pay my rent. The choice was obvious. I never missed out on a toy. Because of those immature decisions I ruined my credit for 7 years. It was one of the worst mistakes of my life. I posted like crazy in those days. I'd stay up late playing Yahoo pool and posting my every thought on the forums. I'd found a place where countless people just like me went wild for toys. It was here that I learned that, if done responsibly, there is nothing wrong with being an adult toy collector. Back in those days GI Joe vs. Cobra, Marvel Legends, and the 200x He-Man line consumed my every spare thought. It was here that I listened to the complaints about JvC, posted my elation at finding new Marvel Legends, and shared the sorrow of every He-Man fan when Mattel bungled the 200x line.

 

Fast forward 5 years. I had finished college and met Amber, the woman I would marry. I was as financially stable as a bachelor could be, even though my income at the time would only support me. I had plenty of money for toys but what was there to collect? The sting of losing the 200x MOTU line still hung in the air but at the same time seemed like a distant memory. Marvel Legends were now made by Hasbro and the distribution was poor at best. This felt like the moment I'd long feared. It seemed as if there would soon be no more toys left to collect. And then from the darkness appeared the GI Joe 25th Anniversary line. It was then that Amber got a taste of the mania that is toy collecting. Luckily distribution was good on this line and I didn't spend every spare moment running around the Charleston area looking for the things. I was also collecting WWE Classic Superstars at the time. The 2 lines together kept me very busy. And then in 2008 an atomic bomb was dropped on the toy collecting community in the form of Masters of the Universe Classics. I've told the story of Amber, then 6 months pregnant with our daughter Kaylee, sitting online trying very hard to buy King Grayskull for me the day it went on sale. She was successful and later that year she bought me several great presents including He-Man and Beast Man. (She also bought me the Marvel Select Red and Green Hulks, the GI Joe Target Exclusive Ultimate Battle Pack, and a replica WWF Championship belt.) My life was so busy at the time that I didn't post here as much as I should have. I would check in every month or so but I rarely posted. I sort of regret that now but that's how life is sometimes.

 

Fast forward to today. We bought our house last year. Our daughter Kaylee is very much into princesses, her dance class, and all things girly. But she also loves to spend time with her daddy. When we found out she was going to be a girl I had several friends and family tell me that I couldn't share my hobbies with her because she wouldn't be interested. A few weeks ago I was watching the 90s X-Men series on Netflix and she came and laid down beside me. She was very interested in the show and I looked down at her and told her how everyone told me she wouldn't be interested in what daddy likes. Of course this wasn't the first time she's shown interest in my hobbies. She loves to watch He-Man, play with my Marvel Universe toys, and do Bengals touchdown dances during football season. After I told her what everyone said she told me, "Daddy, you don't need a boy. I like all the stuff you like. You can watch your shows with me and we'll play with your toys later." Amber and I area talking about having another kid in the near future. It's definitely not because I need a boy to share my hobbies with. As a matter of fact I wouldn't mind having another girl.

 

I obviously don't need to update you all on the status of toy collecting these days. I'm glad to be a regular here again after years of sparse posting. I'm also happy that I've been able to share the better part of my journey with all of the wonderful people here. We all need that outlet to express ourselves and geek out in front of people that won't give us weird looks. I've been around here for 1/3 of my life. I'd like to say thank you to JayC and all you guys for making this a great place to talk about toys.

 

I plan to post some pics of my collection a little later today.

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Great post Tommy! One of the best I've read in a long time. It made me think of the changes in my own life and how long I've been on here too. I've had a lot of fun with you guys over the years.

 

And speaking of your little girl, I can definitely relate. Mine's two years old now, and she loves to go out to my little storage building I had finished-out, where I keep all of my stuff, and she loves, as she puts it, to "look at toys with Daddy." I'll tell her the names, and she'll repeat them back to me perfectly. she says she likes Superman, Batman, Iron Man, but she loves Spider-Man. (lol) I still ain't figured that one out...

 

It brings me great joy to begin with to just be a daddy, but to be able to share my hobby with my baby...it's priceless. Anyway, congrats on the milestone Tommy. I'm looking forward to at least thirty more. (lol)

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Tommy! That was a fantastic post man!

 

It's really weird to think that it's been so long, isn't it? ADC was the very first forum I ever joined as well. This place was my first entrance into the online world of toy collecting. Like you, I sppent all of my free time on here back then. That was also 10 years ago for me, when I was 20 years old. Crazy to think how much has changed in all of that time.

 

While I was in New York with Jay a few weeks ago, I said the same thing to him over dinner. Told him it was a weird thought that I meet him 10 years ago when I was just nothing more than a kid with the user name "Mandalorian30" on here talking about toys and spamming the forums with nonsense posts. Somehow from that, I even had a brief run as a moderator here. Heh.

 

I'm really glad I popped on here today and saw your post. Really put a smile on my face!

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Tommy! That was a fantastic post man!

 

It's really weird to think that it's been so long, isn't it? ADC was the very first forum I ever joined as well. This place was my first entrance into the online world of toy collecting. Like you, I sppent all of my free time on here back then. That was also 10 years ago for me, when I was 20 years old. Crazy to think how much has changed in all of that time.

 

While I was in New York with Jay a few weeks ago, I said the same thing to him over dinner. Told him it was a weird thought that I meet him 10 years ago when I was just nothing more than a kid with the user name "Mandalorian30" on here talking about toys and spamming the forums with nonsense posts. Somehow from that, I even had a brief run as a moderator here. Heh.

 

I'm really glad I popped on here today and saw your post. Really put a smile on my face!

 

Thanks Dan! Last year I sent you an email telling you my Moss Man story (I was scared of him at first, ended up with 3). I remember your nonsense posts! We all did that. It's cool how you've evolved into the face of the online collecting community. Keep up the good work!

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Thanks Dan! Last year I sent you an email telling you my Moss Man story (I was scared of him at first, ended up with 3). I remember your nonsense posts! We all did that. It's cool how you've evolved into the face of the online collecting community. Keep up the good work!

 

Oh yeah, I remmeber your Moss Man e-mail! Cool! :-D

 

Hehe...yeah, if you were to go back in time and tell me what I would end up doing, I wouldn't believe you. ;-) Like I said, weird how things have really changed! But awesome to see so many familiar faces (err...user names) here! :-D

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  • 4 months later...
  • 4 weeks later...

this is a great place! i'm going 9th year here this october...crazy to think its been that long already. i remember lurking the boards for a while before i even joined like it was yesterday, lol.

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  • 4 weeks later...

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