Damn man. I went through a lot of paper drawing Dragon Ball Z characters growing up. One of the few people's works that acted as a bridge between age ranges, cultures, and language barriers. You could have an hour long conversation with someone you just met just talking Dragon Ball. One of the franchises responsible for inspiring so many people to use their talents to be a parts of something they loved. Whether in the art world, game design, action figures collecting and production, and ect, people have built careers off of wanting to be more than just a fan. People got off of their asses became a part the legacy of Dragon Ball because him and his work.
The first time I learned how to order something from somewhere outside of the country was in the 90's when Dragon Ball Z was on cartoon Network before the toys came out for that run in the states. And when they came out, I was on Toys R Us' ass. The one that used to be off of Candler Rd on I-20. The first time I had folks go to the back to check for shit. I'll never forget the day when that guy brought out an unopened case for the first wave of figures and opened it up. That's how I learned about conversion rates and ordering stuff from Japan. And that's when I learned about how far were really behind in the states with the Dragon Ball franchise.
Even though the toys were here in the late 80's when I saw them in a Lionel's Playworld, I had no idea who they were. So when Dragon Ball Z started air in the states before Cartoon Network days, it triggered a memory form that day I saw them in the store. Then the floodgates opened once I began to learn about the VHS dubs, the movies and the manga. Had me driving all around the white areas to find little spots that had comics/anime/import specialty stores.
And for people that weren't as familiar, you became the ambassador. That's why people so passionate about it. It's creations like this that opens your eyes up to the world around you and it sticks with you.
I know I've told this story before on here somewhere before. But It hits different now.