All good things do come to an end.
I remember first finding out about the store through a link on the Joecustoms. I remember seeing pictures of the store's interior, finding walls of vintage Joe vehicles still in their boxes, figures in their cards and I was blown away that this store was only a half an hour away from my place. The first time I entered the store and introduced myself to Mike, I had a hard time keeping a conversation and listening to what he was saying because I was just blown away in awe, staring at the stuff around me: a massive amount of GIJoes on one wall, a 90% complete USS Flagg on display at the front window, Terror DromeS, etc.
Further on my visits, Mike and I started to become friends. I'd make orders to be picked-up the next day, come by the store and chat with Mike about Joes, Star Wars, wrestling, whatever or even playing Smackdown. Sometimes, I would order something just for the sake of making a visit. It is a great place to hang out.
Since I have family in Hamilton and me visiting the store sometimes once a week (or at least once a month), it got me closer to my aunt and uncle, my cousin and nieces when I paid them a visit, after I paid Mike a visit.
It was great finding stuff at his store that I thought about getting on Ebay.
A place this great, I had to tell my friends about it, and they would sometimes make regular visits along with me. Back when I went to school at Sheridan in Oakville, me and one of my studiomates would skip life drawing class to visit Mike and his store.
I feel honoured and grateful for Mike to give me some involvement with his store/projects, like the drawing of Mike on his splash page and banners, the Joe Canuck design/sculpt, and the Black Ice drawing. He was also supportive by plugging my comics (it's funny at a convention when a person comes up to me and says 'I've heard about your comic on Mike's site') as well as sending prayers to me on his site when I had cancer.
Unlike other online toy stores, there is a face and a social personality in Bounty Hunter Toys.
I salute you, Mike, for you have also established a toy collector community that neither of us would have tapped into without you and your store.