My childhood wouldn't be as awesome lol Dragon Ball (Z) was a huge social topic in my school. Growing up with the primitive internet and limited accessibility to the series outside of the 55 or so episodes we saw, built up the mystique and intrigue of the series. Kids who came across Japanese manga at some local book store or had some random action figure, would pass them around for others to see. It was really an incredible time that will never be reproduced again (because everyone has everything at their fingertips now, so that's no mystique to anything).
Pokémon was coming into its own and Yu-Gi-Oh a couple of years after, but Dragon Ball Z was very unique.
Otherwise, I don't think that I would be as fascinated by the Japanese language, etc. This really was my gateway into seeing the Japanese culture. I'm not much of an amine fan, but I've given some a shot on the off-chance that I get that DBZ feeling again.
Oh, and I'd also have a lot more money (probably having spent it all by now) from not collecting so much of it.