Doraemon Mania! Featured collector #4: Raphus
Our hunts for the coolest collections continue and today they led us to chance upon a very unique Doraemon collection. Imagine waking up each morning to find yourself in a room where almost every conceivable item is Doraemon-themed. It certainly sounds like some otherworldly dream, but it is pretty much a reality for passionate Doraemon collector Raphus, who has been building his Doraemon collection for the past 15 years.
Raphus' extensive Doraemon collection ranges from clocks and portable fans to toothpaste, shampoo and even UHT milk/yogurt bottles.
For the uninitiated, Doraemon is a Japanese Manga and television series that tells the heart-warming tale of friendship between Doraemon, a robotic cat from the future, and a young boy named Nobita Nobi.
Interestingly though, Raphus's motivation to begin his Doraemon collection did not stem from the desire to relive the lovable cartoon characters from his childhood era. In fact, the 28 year-old admits that he was never a big fan of the childhood series. What then prompted him to embark on his collecting journey? Read our exclusive interview below to find out!
1. Do you catalog your Doraemon collection in any way?
No, I keep a mental note of what I have. I have a slight impression for each of the item. So when I see something I want to buy, I will ask myself “Do I have something like this?”
(Things are about to get easier for collectors like Raphus with ever-expanding collections, who can now use Collectibly to organise and keep track of the items in their collection online!)
2. Where do you buy your Doraemon items from?
I find them mostly while I do window shopping. It is a popular character and you can easily see it anywhere. A regular shop that I go to buy in Singapore is Seimon-cho. The other shop is MyDora. They bring in stuffs from Japan and they allow for pre-orders. One only need to refer to their magazine catalogue.
3. How is your Doraemon collection meaningful to you?
My friends gave me the nickname "Doraemon" back when I was in secondary school. This started when one day my friend said: "You look like and walk like Doraemon." And that stuck ever since. I guess that is what got me started collecting Doraemon in the first place.
4. Do you watch the Doraemon TV series or read the comic?
The funny thing is I don't. Out of all my Doraemon collection I don’t even have the comics or the anime.
5. Can you tell us a story behind your first Doraemon toy?
My first one was very ugly. It was simply "Jian bu de guang" (A Chinese proverb that means "Should not be shown to other people because by doing so it will only embarrass him") and old that I could not even remember how I got it.
6. Tell us more about your collection. Do you have a favourite item among your collection?
No, I can't say I have a favourite as I cherish each of them equally. These ones (in the picture below) are from the movie editions, which I will try to collect every year since 2010. What I like about these movie editions is the different looks from year to year. (Notice the different designs for Doraemon’s mouth.)
Here's my Mcdonald's Singapore Doraemon Zodiac series which I mass-ordered from Hardwarezone. There was quite a controversy around this series. They replaced the pig one with a Valentine version which did not make much sense considering it was, after all, the Zodiac series.
Ox Doraemon from the Macdonald's Zodiac series.
And these are from the Doraemon original stories. Did you know that he used to be yellow colour and have ears? But the mouse ate his ears and out of sorrow, he cried himself blue. That is why his sister Dorami is yellow, not blue like him. And to not hurt her brother's feelings, she modified her ears into a bow.
(OMG we totally did not know that!)
And here's the popular 7-11 Doraemon 2008 Euro Stars magnet collection that was quite the rage back then.
7. How much money do you think you have spent on your Doraemon collection?
(ponders for a while) If I buy every item from the upcoming Variarts series from 1980 to 2013 and each costs 30 bucks, can you imagine how much money I am going to spend? Maybe around a few thousands. The plush toys alone already cost around $500.
8. Do you intend to continue building your collection?
Most definitely. But due to limited space, I will probably slow down. At the moment, they are placed inside zip-locked bags and stored in the dark and scary container. I'm also shifting towards smaller stuff that do not take up too much space, but I'll still continue to collect one of the movie edition plushies that comes out every year.
9. What do you eventually hope to do with your collection?
Build a Doraemon shrine! (laughs) If I move out eventually I will dedicate a room just to house them.
Are you a collector looking for a place to catalog your own collections and connect with other collectors who share the same interests? Then you might want to check out Collectibly at http://www.collectib.ly or follow us for the latest developments on Collectibly.
