A Shogun Warrior Christmas? By Felix Serrano – Robot Dialog #13

December 21, 2010 Felix Serrano 0 Comments

Howdy all, Sorry we missed a week here. SOOOO much is going on, it’s hard to keep track of the days. Between getting my 13yr olds art portfolio ready for her audition to a specialized art high school here in NYC, finishing up and pitching in colors on a few books so they can meet their Diamond deadlines and ship on time, I kinda muted that internal voice that makes me smirk for a little bit. I’m still under pressure with a surprise cover I’ll be doing with 2 huge artists and finishing up my own project, but that wretched holiday is approaching where everyone asks you the question –

WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR CHRISTMAS?

This was so easy to answer when I was between 5 and 16. WTF happened. Do I not know what I want anymore? Or is it that everything that comes to mind is above a reasonable price point or just purely unattainable (like world peace, a starship and the power to turn people into monkeys). Or Maybe it was utter disappointment in the unveiling of gifts, like the one year I was hoping for every one of the Shogun Warriors. GiaKing, Great Mazinga and Raydeen were at the top of the list. Two days before Christmas, I noticed 2 huge boxes with my name on them under the tree. The excitement was bubbling out of my ears. I didn’t sleep much the next two nights as I was choreographing fights between Raydeen and Great Mazinga, down to the finishing move. Christmas eve came and the traditional dinner followed by the mandatory family argument ensued. I couldn’t trouble myself with these adult nuances; there were robots under the tree that needed my help.

As a result of adult guilt I got to open a few gifts – shirts, weird made in Taiwan toys that you’d find at the Korean shop down the block that had silver and lights and did nothing but spin it’s torso, so far no Shogun.

Midnight hit.

Dad gave me the nod and green lit my frenzy. I went for the smaller of the large boxes first. I shredded the paper that had Santa’s face printed all over it. I was an animal! I caught a glimpse of the familiar Shogun Warriors logo and ripped faster with a smile on my face, and then I felt the first sting. Godzilla…WTF!?!? Don’t get me wrong, I love Godzilla, I’ve always loved the movies, but this just wasn’t Godzilla to me. His friggin hand shot off for God’s sake. I never saw that in the movies and it’s stretching even my suspension of disbelief to have him shoot a hand. I shook it off and focused on the other box, then reevaluated the situation; At least one of the other guys has someone to fight now. This could work. I grabbed box #2 it was heavier. “Missiles”, I thought.

I got to the core of the paper and instantly I knew…this isn’t a toy. Years later my father (god rest his soul) described the look on my face as if I had just seen Santa murdered in front of me… underneath the green red and white candy cane paper was a pair of boots. Not just any pair of boots… rubber cowboy boots. Merry Christmas were not the two words I wanted to mutter underneath my breath. I was tormented by the girls in my class that year for having to wear those damn boot. Godzilla proved to be worth more than I imagined. He and I had many adventures, eventually GaiKing came into the picture and gave my neighbor a black eye with that humongous fist he launched.

A few years later I experience a similar situation with the 12” Star Wars figures. Instead of a Storm Trooper, Darth Vader or Boba Fett, I got R2 D2. It wasn’t always bad… Santa did surprise me one year when he blessed me with ROM : The Space Knight.

Happy Holidays everyone!

-F