In my long life as a collector, there are some items that I regret not having bought, even if it meant going to great lengths. The first of these memorable items was the series of prehistoric creatures made by the French company STARLUX, which I am introducing today. Incidentally, the most recent painful loss was a dinosaur fossil put up for auction online, which I missed just a few hours ago... so I am writing this in a state of dejection.

One day in the late 70s, not long after I started collecting dinosaurs, I found about 50 small prehistoric creatures, each around 10cm, selling for a few hundred yen apiece at a model shop called "Post Hobby" in Ikebukuro. I debated for a long time whether to buy them all, and in the end, I only bought half of them, choosing the ones I liked most. Who knew that this momentary weakness would evoke regret every time I look at that collection (Photos 1, 2... that's all there is!) a quarter of a century later! A few days later, when I went back to the store, desperately wanting the rest, they were all gone without a trace. Did someone like me buy them all up? I haven't seen them since. "If you're wondering whether to buy it, buy it!" is the lesson I learned from this, but I have repeated the same mistake many times since.

I learned that this series of prehistoric creatures was made by the French company STARLUX from the collector's book I introduced last time. According to that list, it was an enormous series of 100 different creatures, ranging from trilobites to fossilized humans. Until Kaiyodo's "Choco Lazarus Series" (about 90 types) and Australia's "Yowie Lost Kingdom Series" (116 types - Photo 3) appeared in recent years, it was a unique scale. I would love to be able to line up all 100 of them in front of me before I die. Well, perhaps it's a good thing that I still have such collecting pleasures remaining.