Hey everyone! Tim here, just wanted to take a moment to give you all a much overdue status update concerning Collect Jurassic. If you haven’t noticed, things have been pretty quiet with the website and our social media accounts since early March — when the now ubiquitous ‘Coronavurus’ / Covid-19 began to take hold here in the US. As I’m sure it’s been for all of you, this last month has been a trying time as me and my family navigate the ups, downs and unknowns of a state-wide lockdown due to the virus. During that time, I’ve struggled with how to even approach Collect Jurassic’s subject matter and content in light of all the very real problems occurring the world. What’s appropriate for a platform devoted to toy hunting and collecting when stores are closed and so many of us face an uncertain financial future? Does something so frivolous have a place in this ‘new normal’ we’re all grappling with across the globe?
Leave it to the Jurassic community to set me straight — in these difficult times dinosaur toys are anything BUT frivolous to the devoted fans and collectors who use our shared passion to still connect with others, to take a mental break from all the scary headlines, to simply remember that not everything is closed and cancelled. The park *is* open. And Collect Jurassic is getting back to it.
While I personally feel it’s not responsible to post store finds with the current lockdowns in place, there is still plenty of great Jurassic toy content to share with our amazing community in the comings days/weeks/months — however long it takes. We’ll get through it. So if you are fortunate enough, please stay home. Wash your hands. Practice social distancing. Don’t head to the store to look for the latest toy release, as there’s plenty of Jurassic enjoyment to be had right here on the good old’ internet thanks to some wonderful, inspiring initiatives I want to share here:
#StaySafeStayJurassic started by our friends at Jurassic Park Podcast is generating some of the most fun Jurassic-related content this side of a movie release. Definitely check it out, there’s new ways every day to connect to our mega-creative community.
#CollectAtHome was a hashtag I first saw on the always-inspiring @toyshiz’s feed, and to me it is really the quintessential way us die-hard collectors can see our way through this lockdown. Physical, in-store toy hunts may not be possible, but there’s still so many ways to keep our favorite pastime alive while supporting websites like Entertainment Earth, Big Bad Toy Store, various small business and even Amazon (for the moment). I’m not here to debate what’s essential to folks during this objectively stressful ordeal, so whatever gets you through it mentally healthy is OK in my book.
That’s it, that’s my “status update” — if you made it this far then thank you for hearing me out. I think I needed to do this more for myself than anything. Collect Jurassic might be just another toy website / social media account to most, but to me it’s a very personal passion project. I actually feel relieved to have a path forward with it after a month of being paralyzed with uncertainty. Stay tuned for some exciting community content (and maybe a few new product reveals?) soon, right here on Collect Jurassic!
