I Was Fascinated By Showa Rider Toys As A Child But Lost Interest In Their Shows In My Adult Years

My preferences for old school and new school stuff will always be a mixed bag. It's known that I usually prefer old school Super Sentai over the new school Super Sentai. All the while, I end up preferring the new school Kamen Rider series over the new school Super Sentai. The more I watch the Heisei era Kamen Riders -- I realized that's probably the only old-school Kamen Rider that I'd watch! Then I'd like to write a flashback of sorts with old-school Kamen Rider. Yup, that was the 90s when Kamen Rider was on an indefinite hiatus until I'd turn 15 years old!

I remembered those toys being spread there all the while the only Kamen Rider series I got familiar with was Kamen Rider Black followed up by its rather underperforming sequel Kamen Rider Black RX. I always looked at the toys in the toy store and I wanted them all. Not all of them had really cool features. Some of them were probably old stock such as the Kamen Rider vinyl figures. I remembered collecting free trading cards found in candy products without understanding a word. I really got fascinated by them and wished I could see them all.

Then it happened -- the Heisei era Riders were reborn in the 2000s. At first, I felt biased about it because I was more interested in what I missed as a child than watching what's new for children in this day and age. Then I started watching some badly-dubbed Kamen Rider on ABS-CBN and GMA-7 though I was more interested in other stuff. Then I started watching more Heisei-era Kamen Rider when I started getting bored with Super Sentai and Taiwanese TV dramas. The more I watched the Heisei era Kamen Rider series -- the more the Showa era Kamen Riders just felt boring to me. I ended up preferring the more grown-up feel that the Heisei era Kamen Riders have -- even if said shows tend to be lighthearted instead of the dark feel that Kamen Rider Kuuga started with. 

Is it my age or is it a change in preference? Personally, I do still feel like I want to grab a Kamen Rider Black action figure even if I don't feel like rewatching the said show. I still want to appeal to my inner child. However, the Heisei-era Kamen Rider series just don't do that. Sure, they may be a show that's primarily aimed at children but they just don't touch my inner child. The Showa era just bores me especially when I discover Kamen Rider got overshadowed by Super Sentai and Metal Hero (which is now long dead) back then. Fortunately, the Heisei era allowed the show to have an entirely new facelift that gave it the success it didn't have back then. 

Somehow, I wonder if I would still spend leisure time with old-school Kamen Rider. I watched Kamen Rider Amazon, Kamen Rider Super-1, Kamen Rider Stronger -- I just found them BORING in contrast to the Heisei era Kamen Riders. I wonder if I'll even watch more Showa-era Kamen Riders since I'm no longer interested in them. Plus, there's other new school stuff and other decent old school stuff worth checking out for me.