John Arturo - When did you start collecting and how did you get into the hobby?
Jon@UnCanny - I've been collecting since I can remember. As a kid, action figures comprised my entire toy collection. I've been a massive Godzilla, Marvel, TMNT, and Star Wars fan my entire life - and have collected each respectively for a good 20 years! As I've gotten older, my collecting has narrowed to Godzilla and Japanese Kaiju vinyls - as the Big G is my primary love!
My mother is a Sci-Fi nut, and I'm sure she got me into the whole mess. I've always been fascinated with super heroes and monsters, though - so it may as well have been my own crazy little mind that drew me toward comic books and action figures.
John Arturo - Your collection features lots of Godzilla. What draws you to the character of Godzilla?
Jon@UnCanny - That's a damn good question! I would say it spawns from my love of dinosaurs as a kid, but I've loved Godzilla for as long as I have dinosaurs - so who knows? I do, however, study Ornithology (study of birds) and ancient life/paleontology, so perhaps there is something deep within my subconscious that just draws me to all these scaly beasts!
John Arturo - Do you collect anything else?
Jon@UnCanny - Like I said, I am a Marvel nut, as well as a Star Wars and TMNT nut. Batman is a passion of mine as well, and represents the only part of the DC universe that I collect. I also make costumes for myself and others, and have created some pretty rad versions of modern Wolverine, Spiderman, Venom, WWII Cap, and several others!
John Arturo - What are your favorite collectible companies?
Jon@UnCanny - Hands down Bandai and Marmit, followed closely by Marusan and M1. These are all, of course, companies that make Japanese vinyls of Godzilla, Gamera, Ultraman, and all of their rogues galleries! As far as other companies go outside of Japanese vinyls, I was a huge fan of the Marvel Legends series back in the day (before it spiraled down hill into a pitiful shadow of its former self).
John Arturo - What is your favorite part of collecting?
Jon@UnCanny - I just love it in general. With the Godzilla fandom especially, its been a tremendous joy to collect online. The Kaiju fandom is much, much smaller than the other big Sci Fi genre fandoms like Marvel, Star Wars, and even Star Trek - so theres sort of a family atmosphere to it all. The internet has really brought us all together, and its amazing how passionate the Godzilla fandom is. You think Marvelites are bad, you have no idea! All of this lead to me creating my own site, Skreeonk.com, which has become tremendously successful. My favorite part of collecting now would definitely be the Kaiju Fan Marketplace Ive created, hosted at Skreeonk.com. The Marketplace is an online 'Craigslist' type store, where members of the fandom send me their for sale items. I list them for free, and others in the fandom can buy from each other with no hassle! Its a blast, for sure.
John Arturo - What is the key thing you look for in an item you want to add to your collection?
Jon@UnCanny - For me, especially recently, I've really gotten into older looking and extremely colorful depictions of my favorite monsters and characters. For the longest time, I only collected realistic interpretations of my favorite kaiju and heroes, but as I've matured as a collector, I really look for the more lively and vibrant sculpts and paint jobs. They sure brighten up a room!
John Arturo - What does your significant other think of your collection?
Jon@UnCanny - She adores it, actually. We've been together for almost five years, and if she was going to be jealous of Godzilla it would have happened by now! Actually, for my last birthday, she bought me a good five or six really lovely Japanese Vinyls. Now thats true love.
John Arturo - What is your favorite movie?
Jon@UnCanny - I literally have too many to name. Recently, the Avengers was just superb. I absolutely love Captain America: The First Avenger, and X-Men: First Class. Others would have to be the entire original Star Wars Trilogy, King Kong vs Godzilla, Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All Out Attack, X-Men 2, The Dark Knight, Spiderman, Jurrasic Park, The Austin Powers Trilogy, aaaand I could go on for hours...
John Arturo - What is your favorite piece from your collection?
Jon@UnCanny - My Gigabrain King Ghidorah. He is a gigantic, absolutely amazingly sculpted Japanese Vinyl. I'll definitely include some pictures of him. Another would have to be my Force FX Obi-Wan Episode III Lightsaber. Besides from Ewan McGregor's Obi-Wan in Episode III being my favorite Star Wars character, its also my favorite lightsaber design.
John Arturo - What are some items you are most looking forward to adding to your collection?
Jon@UnCanny - I would really like to add a Marusan Ebirah and a ton of Marmits to my collection. But to most people on this site, I'd imagine that just sounds like gibberish!
John Arturo - Finally, what is your favorite aspect of ComicBookMovie.com?
Jon@UnCanny - I used to check multiple sites a day for comic book movie news, like superherohype and IGN and AintItCool, and still do sometimes... but ComicBookMovie.com is always, and I mean ALWAYS, the first to break news now thanks to their fan networking system. I honestly don't have a reason to check anywhere else, its all right here. I'm pretty sure I spend more time reading on this site than I do any other, which is saying quite a bit!
John Arturo - Is there anything else you would like people to know about your collection?
Jon@UnCanny - If any of you guys are into Japanese Monsters and the likes, check out Skreeonk.com and the Kaiju Fan Marketplace! Its a great place to get started!
If you have a collection (don't worry about the size, it could be 4-5 items and that is still a collection right?) and want me to showcase it on the site, then shoot me an email by clicking the "Contact Me" link here. I will shoot you a few questions to answer to go along with the images and once a week we will showcase a users collection on here.