The One That Got Away

The year was 2007 and the place...AnimeExpo. I was walking alongside the dealer's room, 200 dollars in cold hard cash waiting to be distributed amongst the various vendors that set up shop in these hallowed halls. I thought of 1/6 scale figures and a few gashapons that were just waiting to be blind bought. As I traverse the vast sea of rabid otaku, I spot a booth nestled in the far corners of the hall. This is where I saw her for the first time...and the last.

Sitting above the top shelf of the convention hall sat a box, its clear plastic sheet revealing a damsel in distress. Upon further inspection, I let out a huge gasp and walk closer to the object. It was an authentic 1/1 scale Midori hand puppet from the series Midori no Hibi (Midori Days). I had just finished the series recently and was surfing online for merchandise from this underrated series. I ease my hand into my back pocket, ready to purchase the object until I saw the white sheet of paper plastered on the box reading "$200."

All the money I had allocated to purchasing at that year's convention would amount to a single hand puppet. I thought it would be a foolish purchase, that the amount of money required to obtain that treasure is far too great. So I settled on returning for that item if I did not come across any other goodie that I wanted.



Flash forward to today, and here I am with a pile of figures and nick-nacks almost forgetting where I obtained each one. I have no clue what I used that 200 dollars on three years ago, but I most certainly regret not biting the bullet and purchasing Midori. Each year I go to AX hoping to find that fabled booth, praying that fellow fans had the same mentality that I had back then and passing up on an extremely rare artifact. I set aside two hundred dollars every year at AnimeExpo with a faint hope that one day she'll be resting on that top shelf. And if I do see her, without any hesitation, the two Benjamins in my wallet will be dropped and I will carry her home telling my new trinket "Thank you for waiting for me."