The Toy Story: South Korea

Remember how I began my Toy Story journey last year?

Yea the story of how I started to buy the real-size toys from Toy Story which I couldn't seem to be doing when I was younger. Well actually it technically began in 2015 when I got Mr Potato Head from Japan. But last year I hit the jackpot of the three main stars in just a single trip to Hong Kong and then I realized that this ritual couldn't just stop there.

And so today, I'd like to tell you the continuation of the story.

It was when I traveled to South Korea. I mean, it's Korea. I never expected myself to bump into any toys, let alone Toy Story toys, LET FVCKING ALONE real-size Toy Story toys. There's no Disneyland in Korea, not even Disney Store. So my trip was really all about nature, culture, and those travelers' actual goals. Not Vicky Amin's goals.

So it took me by surprise, and by delight, to spot a very charming, unassuming toy store nestled in the craze of food places and clothes shops of Jeju's busy city center. I stepped inside with not much expectation, only to be mindblown by the existence of one doll sitting by the corner of the shop.

Bullseye the Horse.

My hand was snatching the doll on its own command. It wasn't made of real quality leather like the one in the films. It wasn't coming with the box, nor any stand, so what it could do was just sitting around loosely or dangling helplessly. But it WAS THE REAL SIZE.

I didn't care much about anything else because it was the real size. I already have Woody, Buzz, and Jessie at home so bringing Bullseye would complete my Toy Story 2 collection. I only had just one concern, though: where was it made? Because if it was just a random toy produced in Korea, just a random doll made for girls to pick out of other unbranded bears and Sallies, I might not gonna go for it.

But then the tag was there. The tag that showed this toy's quality. The tag which confirmed that this Bullseye deserve a spot in my room with rest of the roundup. The tag that says "TOKYO DISNEY RESORT".

And that was it. Without further ado, I brought the doll to the cashier and saved Bullseye from its uncertain future.

But my Toy Story in Korea didn't end there.

Just when I was about to make the purchase, I see one other toy that caught my attention. Not one of those main toys, but important enough to make me think of buying him as well. It's

Wheezy.

It was a literal doll, not a plastic-made squeezy toy like he's supposed to be. But again, he was of the real size. And any real-size Toy Story toys would really matter to me. And on top of that, it's Wheezy.

He didn't have a nice back story in the film. He was abandoned all the way up the shelf, hidden behind the books, showered in dusts. He was about to be sold at the yard sale, but Woody saved him. So I thought, this was my call. I had to save him.

Plus, when I checked the tag, apparently he was also coming from Tokyo Disney Resort. He must have been in the same place as the Bullseye doll I was about to buy, MY Bullseye. They've been through the same journey, been through the same disappointment from not being chosen by the kids who entered the store, been through the same hardship. It'd be a sin if I separate them today, and so, with not much more consideration, I brought along this Wheezy doll.

Now you may think I'm crazy, to having such nonsense thoughts only to buy toys. Well I must say I am. I'm really sensitive about this kind of thing. Nonsense things.

As for these toys, the idea of them traveling from Tokyo to end up in a random toy store in Jeju, only to be brought to Busan and Seoul and eventually to its final home in Indonesia, it amazes me already. These toys have the stories of their own, which I would never know exactly how it went, and that alone gave me more reasons to bring them with me.

Sadly I have no proper photos of them boat. These are when we were on the
ferry to Busan, on the exact day I bought them :D

This Toy Story game is evolving to not only about me.
It also talks a lot about them