You guys are so lucky

[Gohanhx]

Hey, so I am teenager living in Pakistan, a country where most people have forgotten Dragon Ball. We don't have Dragon Ball airing on TV anymore, don't have the TV series or manga lisenced here, don't have any guidebooks or toys brought here, don't get any anime conventions here.. It's pretty much dry when it comes to Dragon Ball and anime in general.
To make matters worse, I'm still only 16 years old and don't have money to import Dragon Ball stuff. It's pathetic, really.
Every now and then, cool Dragon Ball stuff comes out like the new guidebooks, home releases and stuff and all I can do is to see other people on the internet buying them. I seriously envy you guys.
Anyway, the purpose of this thread was not to cry about my unfortunate situation but to gather you folks' opinions and to ask if anyone of you have ever been in a similar situation?
Have you?

[Polyphase Avatron]

I think there are worse problems in Pakistan than a lack of DB media, unfortunately...

[Kamiccolo9]

I didn't have internet for 3 months. It was awful.

[Iberian_Saiyan]

I didn't have internet for 3 months. It was awful.

Sarcastic comment?

I've lived in a rural area without access to internet and I was perfectly happy without it as I didn't read the internet drama people get into or being hyped for a new game. I did miss having access to watch the weekly shows I'd gotten used to so there's that but it wasn't a dealbreaker.

[FortuneSSJ]

Well, I've been in that kinda situation...You make Portugal look like a paradise for an anime fan.

I think there are worse problems in Pakistan than a lack of DB media, unfortunately...

Different people, different priorities.
No DB stuff for some hardcore fans is a serious matter.

[Iberian_Saiyan]

Well, I've been in that situation kinda... You make Portugal look like a paradise for an anime fan.

The country's broke but the food, weather and living cost less than others. Also, I have a whole pile of Dragon Ball merchandise of Funi/Toei/Selecta/etc that I haven't touched for years and I've began thinking if I should sell it or just leave it gathering dust.

[Kamiccolo9]

I didn't have internet for 3 months. It was awful.

Sarcastic comment?

I've lived in a rural area without access to internet and I was perfectly happy without it as I didn't read the internet drama people get into or being hyped for a new game. I did miss having access to watch the weekly shows I'd gotten used to so there's that but it wasn't a dealbreaker.

You aren't a college teacher trying to finish his doctorate and make deadlines.

But yes, it was mostly sarcastic.

[apex_pretador]

I think there are worse problems in Pakistan than a lack of DB media, unfortunately...

^^^What I thought when I read the OP.

[Vijay]

Lol

At least you get "occasional" guidebooks, while here in Malaysia such words are alien terminology.

While I understand your situation of supremely restricted access to DBZ-related stuffs, you have to reaoize being alive is your no 1 priority

Not tryin to preach or anything. But when you think about it, dats what matters.

You can watch DBZ, read manga, access online informations even when your 30,60 or 2 days before you turn 80

What you do with your life is what matters most

[Pokewhiz7]

Yeah, besides maybe Japan, Americans pretty much have it made when it comes to Dragon Ball, and in some respects even have it better than the Japanese, mostly because DVDs and such in Japan are way more expensive in general.

[Enigmo]

huh? didn't countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and India have Dragon Ball Kai air regularly on their Cartoon Network? I heard they even still had Toonami when it wasn't on anywhere else in the world.

And I do know how you feel. Ever since DBZ stopped airing in the UK Toonami back in 2005, DBZ's presence, other than video games, was almost non-existent. We had no DVDs; no merchandise of any sort, as far as I could tell. This was until 2012, when Manga UK got the rights to distribute DB/DBZ/GT/Kai in the UK (also the 2 new movies). But, we still haven't got the other 13 movies and we don't have the DBZ Season Blurays. In 2012, also, DBZ Kai (nicktoons edit) started airing in a UK kid's channel, which was appreciated because we were finally getting DBZ on tv again. But, it's stopped airing there, even though the channel still has DB Kai listed on their website. But yeah, since 2005-2012, it felt like DBZ was banned in the UK lol. And it's really weird because back in the day, we did have DBZ toys and trading cards. The trading cards were extremely popular; they were sold in most convenient stores and in my school a lot of us would show off what we got. Heck, this one time when I went to the sea-side, I found someone had left a few DBZ cards lying around and I--being like 7 years old, at the time--took them, with no remorse lol

Speaking of which, is anyone here from the UK? If so, do you recall those trading cards that were commonly sold? They had a foil-wrapping I think and inside the pack were (i think) 2 cards, with 1 or 2 small stickers and a piece of strawberry gum. The cards themselves, I can only vaguely remember how they look (but can't describe), since I lost them all before 2005 lol, but I for some reason vividly remember almost every one of them having a picture of future trunks in the back. For some reason, no matter how hard I look, I can't find any trace of them on the internet, and I'm starting to believe the description I'm giving is more a figment of inaccurate memory, rather than what I actually had lol

[Ajay]

Heck, this one time when I went to the sea-side, I found someone had left a few DBZ cards lying around and I--being like 7 years old, at the time--took them, with no remorse lol

Haha, I was unfortunate enough to live in an area that had literally zero Dragon Ball merchandise, so this post just reminded me of something. I must have been like 7 or 8 years old at the time, but I remember it so well. We were on a family holiday to Spain and there were these kids playing with Dragon Ball-themed balls in the pool. They'd gone back to their rooms and had forgotten to take the balls back with them, so I decided it was totally appropriate to go steal them for myself. I've still got them, funnily enough. Turns out they were Dragon Ball GT themed... I should have left them.

[NitroEX]

Speaking of which, is anyone here from the UK? If so, do you recall those trading cards that were commonly sold? They had a foil-wrapping I think and inside the pack were (i think) 2 cards, with 1 or 2 small stickers and a piece of strawberry gum. The cards themselves, I can only vaguely remember how they look (but can't describe), since I lost them all before 2005 lol, but I for some reason vividly remember almost every one of them having a picture of future trunks in the back. For some reason, no matter how hard I look, I can't find any trace of them on the internet, and I'm starting to believe the description I'm giving is more a figment of inaccurate memory, rather than what I actually had lol

I totally know the ones you're talking about! I had a stack of those as a kid but unfortunately they're long gone now due to moving around.

In hindsight they were really poorly made and it wouldn't surprise me if they were manufactured by some bootleg company. I remember them being much thicker than Pokemon or Yugioh cards and the power levels were all over the place, certain transformed characters would be shown as weaker than their preceding forms which made no sense to anyone who actually watched the show.

Something else I remember about them is that the Chi-chi card was literally named "Milk". Thought it was hilarious at the time.

While on the subject of UK merchandise, I used to enjoy collecting Dragonball Z stickers. Despite essentially just being screenshots from the show they grew quite popular in my school. I remember trading them with others and filling out the official sticker book. The book was actually the first time I saw the name Mr. Satan, being used to Hercule I had no idea who that was at the time.

With DBZ, Pokemon, Digimon and Yugioh fads that were around at the time, stickers and cards pretty much were the currency of my youth.

[Avery]

I'm a 16-year old girl who lives in the worst possible place on the planet, surrounded by cruel social traditions. I, too, get jealous whenever viewing the "show-off your DB crap" thread. I hate the fact that all the "posters" on my wall are things I drew. I hate the fact that I have to rely on piracy. I hate that I don't and will probably never own even a single chapter of the manga, let alone a Dragon Box but, well, c'est la vie.

Of course, that's just because I love DB so much. Otherwise, my life is not that bad...I guess.

[Bardo117]

They just won't release the Spanish Dub over here in Mexico on DVD/Blu-Ray

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

Wasn't the Spanish dub released on the Ultimate Uncut? I know they're incomplete, but they can be tracked down if you look hard enough.

[Enigmo]

I've actually managed to find the UK cards I was talking about. Here are what they looked like and the ones I remember having:

Spoiler:

Haha, I was unfortunate enough to live in an area that had literally zero Dragon Ball merchandise

didn't you ever see those?

In hindsight they were really poorly made and it wouldn't surprise me if they were manufactured by some bootleg company.

Yeah man....in my memory those cards were held with great esteem, but looking at them now, they're really meh lol....

and as for the book, I think I have the sticker book you're talking about (though I remember there being more than 1)

Spoiler:

But yeah, going back to the OP, who knows man maybe DBZ could rise again in Pakistan. A few years ago, who'd have thought there'd be a true sequel series to Dragon Ball Z?

[NitroEX]

Wow, I'm impressed you managed to track down those old cards. They look worse than I remember

and as for the book, I think I have the sticker book you're talking about (though I remember there being more than 1)

Spoiler:

Huh, don't think I've seen that one before. I recall mine being blue but then again my memories of it are really fuzzy at this point.

[Iberian_Saiyan]

Wasn't the Spanish dub released on the Ultimate Uncut? I know they're incomplete, but they can be tracked down if you look hard enough.

Latin American Spanish dub. The Spanish dub from Spain has been released in its entirety by Selecta Visión.

Edit: A few weeks ago I bought a batch of Funimation DBZ trading cards for a relatively cheap price.

Spoiler:

The eBay seller was great and very friendly.

[gregoryluis09]

And i thought Brazil wasn't lucky with DB content. At least we have DB airing on Tooncast and Kai on Bandeirantes (it's with the Yamamoto score but it is the Nicktoons censored version, it's completely out of order and without the Cell arc), and Home releases... only some cancelled DB, DBZ, and Kai DVD's, at least all Z movies were released on DVD (although movies 3 and 14 and the TV specials got released with some shitty dubs), and DB movies on VHS (again with shitty dubs and without "Path of Power").