SteC's Pokémon Figure Collection
We highlight an impressive Aron collection from SteC, learn about how it all started, and his advice to other collectors
Throughout the years, a huge range of Pokémon merchandise has been made available, and some Pokémon fans have amassed some impressive collections! Sometimes, these collections can focus exclusively on a single Pokémon character and their evolution line. SteC happens to be a pretty huge fan of Aron, and his collection certainly proves it! In this feature, we learn about how Stephen (SteC) started collecting, take a look at the cool items he owns, and hear advice he has for fellow collectors.
Hi, there! I am Stephen, a lifelong Pokémon fan since the phenomenon arrived in the UK in 1999. My interest in this wonderful series began from reading countless gaming magazines that suddenly mentioned what was then called Pocket Monsters. As more information was covered towards the new millennium, I wondered how long it would take for the craze from the East to reach Western shores, and lo and behold, I caught glimpses of the first anime episode on SkyOne and had a taste of the Red Version on the Game Boy. Just in time for my twelfth birthday.
I never knew it would bring me and my friends so much joy and adventure like nothing else before it. Eventually, some of them would 'grow up' and move on to further challenges in their lives while I clung on to mine with Pokémon and still enjoy the challenges life throws at me, which brings us to the present day.
Like many youngsters, I had my hand in everything the series provided: the games, anime, cards, and, of course, the merchandise, ranging from clothing and books to stationery and candy. So even when I got tired of one aspect of Pokémon, there were plenty of avenues I could go down. I've had a strong interest in the 'other' collectible cards (Topps) that I bought with my allowance (or 'pocket money' for some of you) at my village corner shop. That was when my hobby of casual collecting began. Often I collected anything I liked rather than discard it, [and] a large portion of [those items is] still kept safe in my parents' home. Now a little more mature and independent with my finances, I began a specific collection of Pokémon #304, #305, and #306: Aron, Lairon, and Aggron, the darlings that stole my heart not from Gen 3 [where they originated], but Gen 4, with an attempt to hatch a shiny Aron egg in HeartGold in 2011. That never happened as I misplaced the cartridge months after I started, but I took pity on the iron armour monsters and adopted them as my own.
Before I relocated to Japan in 2017, my dedicated Aron family started with acquiring the metal charms in 2015. Back then I considered the merchandise a novelty while my mind was more into completing the in-game Pokédex between Black, X and Sun versions. A couple years later, I decided to switch jobs from graphic design and merchandising to teach English in Osaka where I currently reside, and to be honest, it [had] nothing to do with seeking the lion's share of Pokémon products!
Hunting for these products has been very satisfying when I can find what I'm looking for, but I try to not rely on online stores as much to make my collecting experience as enriching as possible. Retail shops such as Mandarake and Surugaya tend to have [better] success rates than the actual Pokémon Center because of personal tastes, but in case I do search online, I make use of the following sites to focus on specific items: eBay for cards and stickers, Etsy for customs, and Yahoo! Auctions for just about anything else. I do this only a couple of days a month so as not to make much of a habit of it.
My collection, also known as the ‘Granite grotto’, [includes] all kinds of official products and also custom ones, either created, gifted or commissioned by myself, or made by someone else. Dolls, figures, books, trinkets, and flats (anything printed from card or flat paper) make [up] the bulk of my inventory. Given the extremely high volume of TCG cards in the wild, they are my lowest priority: [I buy them] only when nothing else is available during one of my hunting days.
Fan books come in the form of art illustrations and lengthy anthologies from several artists. The fan-made pieces are included to show more affection for the Steel lads who are often overlooked by the bigwigs. As a creative type, there are those I made myself like a framed origami Aron and a two-foot-tall needle felt Aggron assembled with foam and magnets!
It's disheartening that the demand for Aron products has always been small to make way for the popular heavy hitters that everyone knows so well (which must be absolutely taxing for the diehard collector's wallet!)... but there is a bright side to this. Without being blinded by an abundance of items by the week, I get to pick and choose what I look for and have all the time I can afford to build my collection.
My absolute favourite item has to be the 64 card sleeve pack titled ‘Steven's Holiday’, featuring Hoenn Trainer Steven Stone and an assortment of cavern Pokémon with the goshdarned happiest Aron I've ever seen right in front. Look at it! It's beside itself with joy upon discovering a valuable gem in the rocks!
As for value and scarcity, the Hasbro range of action figures in their sealed packaging painted a picture of how cool it would have been to interact with those toys in the Advanced Generation that I missed out on. If we're talking about the games, then finally hatching my shiny Aron baby in Sword was a ten-year dream come true! I even remember purchasing the Japanese Ruby and Emerald cartridges exclusively to hunt for shinies. If I chose a favourite by relevance, then maybe the Terrarium Aron from Collection 13, because it showed that a couple years back there were people who cared enough to give this Pokémon a break into retail which thrilled me to bits.
If there was one item that tested my impulsiveness, however, it was the Aggron resin statue produced by PC House Studio. This is a purely unofficial and limited line of resin models with a higher quality than the Pokémon Center could ever [live] up to. It was $399 in American dollars, [which included] putting down a $50 deposit. Ye-eah, not doing that again. It was interesting, but I won't be heading down that direction.
To wrap this up, I have never been so fortunate [as] to reveal my love for collecting this Pokémon on a grander stage outside my website, Granite Grotto. In return, a huge thank you to all readers who have taken the time to read why I have been doing this for so long!
Now, for advice, I'm not sure what to tell you except for these little pointers: keep a cool head, and remind yourself why you are/have started collecting Pokémon. Is it your ideal hobby, or do you want to make a statement? What are your tastes or areas of interest, and what resources will you intend to use? Do you want to make a community to support you or go solo? Maybe what I have said a few paragraphs above has sparked the drive to get you started on your own physical journey that goes beyond the handheld devices you use to catch your favourite monsters. Don't let it drain you, but invigorate you, and decide for yourself how long you plan on pursuing your collection before the passion burns up. And above all, it's important that you never lose the part of yourself that makes you unique in the first place!
SteC, you have an amazing Pokémon collection and probably one of the biggest collections of Aron merchandise we are likely to ever see! Thanks for sharing them with us, and good luck on hunting down even more cool items in the future!