SMK
This August, 36 Styles will have existed for 11 years. In those 11 years, our primary focus has been on apparel, from t-shirts to hoodies. It is our pleasure to announce a new product line …
36 Styles consist of designs either I’ve created using Photoshop along with other graphic tools, as well as designs that were hand-drawn by Kung Fu Bob O’Brien. After seeing some …
SMK
Collecting big box and clamshell VHS has always been one of my favorite things to collect (and I collect a lot of different things). As a DJ that travels the globe, it’s always mandatory that I take a day or two in between gigs to find the local shops where I can dig for records, VHS, vintage toys, posters and other cool stuff.
SMK
When 36 Styles revealed one of their latest designs would be bringing the kung fu classic, The Challenger, to the masses, it brought to my attention that – oddly enough, I had not seen this film.
SMK
Collecting big box and clamshell VHS has always been one of my favorite things to collect (and I collect a lot of different things). As a DJ that travels the globe, it’s always mandatory that I take a day or two in between gigs to find the local shops where I can dig for records, VHS, vintage toys, posters and other cool stuff. With the recently launched Kung Fu Movie Collectors Club line with 36 Styles, I’ve decided to give a play by play account of where I scored the tapes featured on the shirt which have come from various places across. Hope you enjoy the read!
99 Cycling Swords
Ocean Shores is one of the most collectible Kung Fu VHS brands within the scene and has released a catalog’s worth of sought after pieces that make fine additions to any collection. This tape I actually scored locally here in Philly from a video rental store that was going out of business. It’s always great to find things locally in the wild that you can add to your collection.
Daggers 8
There’s nothing better than waking up at 6 am to be at the flea market by 7 to see what dealers have brought out. For me, the best-sellers are always the ones that don’t price things based on secondary eBay markets but what they have invested in it or how much or little they care about it. In the case of Daggers 8, this was a cheap $5 score because the seller was more into cashing in Disney clamshells and wrestling tapes. Can’t beat that!
Eagle’s Claw & The Butterfly Palm
Another Ocean Shores gem and one that I bought while on tour doing my Hot Peas & Butta party back in 2012. While in Seattle with the homie and fellow DJ / collector Supreme La Rock, we would usually hit all the record and collectible shops to see what we could find. Seattle was really a hotbed for cool collectible stuff during that time. You could find just about anything from records to vintage art, old school Schwinn bikes, and everything in between. Second-hand video stores were always a stop and there always seemed to be a selection of Kung Fu tapes. Maybe that’s because of the proximity of Chinatown but hey, any day to score an Ocean Shores clamshell is a good day.
The Iron Monkey
This is actually a 2-for-1 double feature score here! While in San Antonio, TX playing the Alamo City Soul Club party, the homie Rambo who was a serious VHS and movie poster collector took me to a shop that was owned by someone famous that played in a rock band (his name escapes me at the moment) but dude owned a collectibles store. The shop was filled with vintage toys and video games, posters, lunch boxes, magazines, and VHS tapes, and Iron Monkey was a score from there. After I got back home, I got an email from a poster dealer who was also in Texas who said he had a storage full of movie posters that came from local drive-in theaters and he wanted to send me a list to see if there was anything that I wanted. I picked up a few things from him but it was an original Iron Monkey poster that really sealed the deal. I love not only to have the VHS of things but also the poster or other movie ephemera that goes with it.
Hapkido
This was a fun trip and digging excursion that happened while in Seoul Korea. I usually base all my tours around places that I want to eat, drink good beers and dig for records or other vintage collectibles and Seoul is one of my favorite places. During my Japan tour, I booked 3 days in Korea which is only a 2hr flight away because a collector friend had told me about a VHS seller who had a shop in an underground market that was virtually untouched inventory. Of course, my excitement was high and after arriving at the shop, I couldn’t contain my excitement or my wallet. The shop had clamshells of just about every Kung Fu movie that was never released on VHS here in the states. I travel to Korea every year as with Japan and whenever I buy way too much I usually leave my clothes there and carry my finds home with me which was the case this time. My duffle bag was extremely heavy on the flight back to Japan but well worth it!
Born Invincible
Although the thrill is in the hunt and I love real-world digging and the patience it takes to find something, I’ll never pass up a nice deal or trade from a fellow collector. In this case, it was more of a gift from a good friend about 15 years ago who knew that I was looking for a copy and they just happened to have a spare. Being in a circle of fellow collectors is always a good thing unless you’re out on the hunt for the same things then it’s a healthy competition to see who can score what. Some of my best scores have come from trades or gifts from others in the scene which continues to still exist today as tapes become even more scarce.
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