More Dollfies!?

Nia and Yoko

MORE DOLLFIES~?!
BUT THEY JUST ANNOUNCED TWO ALREADY~!
NOW THERE’S ANOTHER TWO~!?

Oh my, as soon as they announce Nanoha and Illya, out comes Nia and Yoko!

For those that don’t know, most of the Dollfie Dreams that Volks releases are derived from eroge, such as the recently announced Illya and Nanoha. However Volks have seemed to have a deal with Gainax as well; re-releasing Rei and bringing Asuka to the Dollfie world.

Now Yoko will be coming out fitted with the new Volks line of bodies, the Dollfie Dream Dynamite, which Ikkitousen has already put to use. Nia will be coming out in a standard Dollfie Dream II body, prolly with a S or M sized bust hehe.

I’m very curious to see how Nia will look… I’d imagine it’d be quite a pain to get her hair to look right, especially with the colours. Yoko seems to be more feasible, and I wonder if the Sniper Rifle will be available too.

Gaaah! I hope Nia DOESN’T look great, otherwise I’d have to count my pennies again *grumble*

For more info (in moonspeak) you can visit their official site:

Here’s a wallpaper for you guys, I recently acquired a new camera, Nikon D40, but the shot was taken with the kit lens ^^;

For those who don’t like the photoshop look, the original one can be downloaded here. None other than Gwendolyn from Odin Sphere is featured, awesome game for those who haven’t gotten around to playing it.

Newish stuff

Figures everywhere!

Since this blog was inactive for quite some time, I think it’s a good idea to show off some of the new figure additions! This also gives me a chance to ask you guys which figures you would like to see featured in future photo shoots as well. Some of these figures can be classified as “old”, but I did receive them within the last few months ^^;;

Before I start I’d like to take this time to thank pp of Otakurean for sending me this lovely clearfile of Yoake Mae yori Ruriiro na (The bright blue light before the dawn). I know it’s been months since I actually got this prize, and it’s been a looooooooong time coming. So, thank you pp~ :3

Figure Acquisitions

Since I have some spare time, I decided to show you guys the new stuff I’ve gotten over the past few months. Surprisingly I’ve managed to keep the figure purchases steady, I had to cancel a few figures since I was running low on cash and not to mention the falling Aussie dollar =/

Mikumikumiku, I snagged the Max Factory and Volks figures of Miku, but in the end I parted with the Volks to a friend of mine. I still hope that Max Factory could make a Haku Yowane figure ;_;

Blanc Neige was kind of an impulse buy for me, but her hips are…are just so distracting! She accompanies the old Max Factory Kureha on my shelf. Seriously… look at those hips! *drools*

One of the most expensive and biggest figure in my collection, second only to my Dollfie. Asakura is part of the FREEing 1/4 scale bunny girl set of The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi series. She was shipped, and subsequently paid for on the day that the Aussie dollar fell to 55 Japanese yen… ;_; paincakes were had.

Griffon figures can be hit and miss for me, so this Sasara was a pleasant surprise to me when she arrived in her school swimsuit and maid apron. Her delicious pose just makes my skin tingle with anticipation….of…something… o_O

Nekomimi Nono Nekomiya in mizugi. I just LOVE cats, and thus nekomimi has a special place in my heart, so I couldn’t resist this figure. Now, some of you may notice a school swimsuit trend, but I assure you it isn’t a huge fetish of mine XD

Shana’s first appearance in my figure collection! With this particular figure, they released a regular version, and two store exclusive versions. The regular was the black haired beauty, one was a pink haired and blue uniform with striped stockings which has a resemblance to Alice in Wonderland. This version you see is the Strawberry Version exclusive to the GEE! online store. Not sure why strawberry as it could prolly be more appropriately be called Cherry or Peach…. but oh well~

iDOLM@STER

Alter released the second half of the FA4 iM@S trading figures a while back, so now I managed to grab myself a full set of the girls! Well, at least the black version of the set ^^; These trading figures are quite the build, and I must say Alter has done an excellent job on these.

Max Factory has also released Miki Hoshii in two versions, the blonde in green, and the brunette in blue. I opted for the blonde since I’m a sucker for Miki in blonde. The friend who has been supplying me with most of these figures went for the brunette, so if we ever get bored we could always trade XD

Kaiyodo’s latest iM@S Fraulein girl to take the stage is also Miki Hoshii. I had to grab her to produce the various poses I had imagined. She comes with an additional head for those who love the brown, and since they are using the Revoltech joints I used a spare Saber Alter body XD

Nanoha StrikerS

Reinforce Zwei! I love this lil figure and it’s mini-ness. It’s like a 1/1 scale of her XD I’m not a huge fan of the StrikerS season, but Reinforce is so cute!

Hayate has recently come out as a figure as well, and in my opinion she’s aged the best >.> She also comes with a mini-mini-boss! Reinforce is even smaller now. Alter has done a nice job of sculpting and painting the really tiny figure, it’s about the same size of those Warhammer miniatures! Hayate’s box is also a force to be reckoned with. It’s even bigger than the massive Fate Testarossa box!! Now where to find space to put the box…

Alice in ???

Alter has been doing the 3D incarnations of the POP Wonderland series, and I decided to pick one up! The photo is a lil bland so it does little to bring out the wonder~

Alice from Queen’s Blade was love at first sight, I remember picking up the Hobby Japan magazine…or was it Dengeki Hobby… and seeing the first unpainted prototype. That point on I was watching the pre-order scene with the eyes of an eagle. And here she is.

Queen’s Figures

Speaking of Queen’s Blade, Ymir has been released as a black coloured princess now. I couldn’t resist at the time, so I had to pay for her presence. As like the regular version, she can undress nearly everything, even her pantsu! o_o

Next up is the Hobby Japan magazine exclusive Queen’s Gate Ink-tan from Moetan! I had to cut a tiny lil stamp out from the Hobby Japan magazine and send it to a friend of mine in Japan….express…since the cut off date was approaching. Which means that huge envelope in the background with ALL THOSE STAMPS was used to deliver a stamp the size of my thumb…

Queen’s Gate Ink-tan is awesome! Lots of her armour is cast off and it shows, her armour was practically falling off when I try to get her to grip those button batons. It’s highly distracting trying to do something when you get constant mune flashes @_@

Mecha Musume

Aaah, how I love Mecha Musume~ I just had to buy these two figures when I saw them, not to mention they’re both based on Shimada Fumikane’s artwork of Sky Girls/Strike Witches fame.

The M4A1 Early Type Sherman “Elizabeth” has a lot of accessories, you can even de-mechanise her but…why would I do that? o_O Her nonchalant expression is big boon for me :3

The Kawasaki Ki-100 Type 5 Fighter, the main appeal was admittedly the cast off feature >.> BUT her fierce gaze was also appealing for me :3

Blackout

A few months ago my apartment had a blackout and I had nothing to do… so I decided to take a few photos for the hell of it. My room has changed a bit since then…more figures…less ceiling space for posters… I also took a few photos of Saber, and it turned out somewhat ok, so I decided to share it here too~

Photo shoot choice

With all these bland photos, I was wondering which of these figures you people would really like to see in a photo shoot, mind you, I tend to do outdoor ones XD
I’ve updated the poll which should appear shortly on the blog as well, so please have your say :3
I’ll see which figures on the poll have a higher demand so I’ll place a higher priority on them when I decide to go on a photo shoot~

Again, thanks to those who visit regularly too~ :3

Peace@Pieces

Death Sensei

Super big large huge delay! It’s been a while since I updated this site with actual content. But I digress, today I’m bringing you Death Sensei! I received her a while ago as some of you may remember from an earlier post, and I felt that it was a good idea to keep up to date with the Peace@Pieces series of figures from Alter.

So, after a long wait, a new photo shoot!

Death Sensei, one of the characters that I find appealing, if only for her name. There’s something that I can’t put my finger on, but this type of character really tingles my moé senses. Perhaps the way she looks at people? Maybe the elaborate hair? I can’t really tell… Whatever it is, I like what I see XD

Location

This will sound somewhat vague, but I took Death to one of the buildings in Southbank, which is across the Yarra River, opposite of Flinders Street Train Station. As it was some sort of business building, it was quite modern, with large window panes and somewhat post modern decor. The ground floor was the place of interest, having a lounge area next to a cafe :3

Setup

Everything was fairly straight forward, though I did forget to bring a reflector. I had to make do with scrap pieces of paper ^^;

There was a small problem with the camera position though, the seats are squishy so it was hard to keep the tripod balanced.

My camera is giving me a hard time, I’m finding that I’ve been post editing the photos more and more these days. I’m starting to feel that my camera is showing its age…. I would like to get a DSLR but right now I’m still low on money with spendings, but that’s a story for another post ^^

Figure

Mysterious Death~ I haven’t played Peace@Pieces before so I’m not sure on the whole story of any of the characters, Death included. Morikawa Hiromitsu has done an excellent job of depicting Death. Her pose gives off a nice elegance and the paint work of Alter is top notch. There are a few seamlines but they are mostly kept out of way whenever possible. The detailing of the model is not too overly complex in style which keeps it in tune with the game, which I think fits very well.

Thoughts

Frustration. That word sums it all up. I was frustrated that it took so long to get another photo shoot, frustrated that it took so long to process it, and frustrated that it required so much work. However the photos turned out decently I think. I had to colour correct quite a bit more than normal but hopefully it looks ok for you people~

Also, I am a lil worried about the noise I can see in the images, I guess this new LCD screen is good for something at least o_o;

Summary

A great figure to have. If you already have the previous Hikaru and Nagi, then this Death is a must have XD Just like the other two figures by Alter, she’s superbly done and deserves to be in anyone’s collection of Peace@Pieces figures. I’m hoping that Alter will do more of the characters from Peace@Pieces, but only time will tell.

I had a fairly relaxed time while taking the photos, the lounge area had carpet floors, and it was quite cool inside compared to the heat outside (yes…it was back when the weather was hot).

So, after a long wait, I hope you guys enjoy this photo shoot. It was taken a long time ago as well, so the delay was a really long one @_@

Details – Photo shoot

Camera
Nikon Coolpix P2
Date
23th May 2008
Location
Southbank, Melbourne

Details – Figure

Name
Death Sensei
Series
Peace@Pieces
Maker
Alter
Sculptor
Morikawa Hiromitsu
Scale
1/8
Release date
December 2007
Place of purchase
HobbyLink Japan
Retail price
6,300 yen
Bought it for
$63.00 AU
Availability – HLJ (at time of writing)
Discontinued :(
Links
HappySoda’s entry ENG
lu-k’s entry ENG
Shinohai’s entry ENG

End Note:
Ok~ Time for a lil update chat since I’m currently on my last day of trimester break @_@

Otakurean owner, pp, has sent me an August soft/Aria clearfile folder as a giveaway prize. I recieved this MONTHS ago but had no time to take a good picture of it yet. I’ll try to update this asap as I feel somewhat guilty of not doing so.

As most of the regular readers would know, my update frequency is low as ever, going as low as 1 per month, and those posts aren’t even proper ones! I’ve been super busy with my studies so far as this is a fast tracked course (3 year studies into 2 years) so I’ve been doing most of the work >.< Perhaps I’ll show you the 2D/3D work one day?

Also, I’ve updated WordPress, which has given me a lil more trouble but so far so good… except for IE 6 users, the right-right sidebar seems to be …down further than usual ^^; I’m not sure how to fix this, and right now I don’t have time to fix it @_@ So I’ll see what I can do within the coming weeks (the earlier weeks in a trimester are usually less loaded with work…usually…)

I’m going to have to say that I’ll prolly won’t be updating this blog as much as when I first started. This isn’t due to my lack of interest, on the contrary, I would rather be updating my blog, but uni work takes priority, and unfortunately, it takes a lot of my spare time… So I apologise to the regular readers who may be disappointed with the less updates >.<

Old Package

Smoked Cheese?

I couldn’t blog about this the day I got it since I was really busy with an assessment (which was due today!), so here it is. Received this on the 13th, which is a while since it was released before then. You may of heard I had some troubles with HLJ’s shipping as it was supposed to be shipped with another figure for a friend of mine, but it was sold out =/

Where’s Tsuruya??
Well, she’s here, being played with Evelyn (the Yuki Dollfie…yes, I named her…yes, I scare myself sometimes)

Tsuruya by Max Factory is quite nice, it even comes with cat ears, tail and a extra hand. I’ll talk about this figure in detail with the photo shoot, which I may be a while with the way my workload is at the moment >.<

Here’s a comparison shot with the Alter version of Tsuruya:

So ya, I’m sorry about the slow updates, especially since the updates aren’t even outdoor photo shoots ^^;
Hopefully I can do something about it over the coming weeks, I’ll try to squeeze in time for it. I do however, have some photos of Evelyn, tho they are somewhat….ecchi , but not that ecchi. Here’s a preview anyway:

I dunno if I should do this like a glamour photo shoot, the original photos aren’t too great since they’re taken indoors, and knowing my horrible indoor lighting it isn’t a surprise ^^; But I think I might be overdoing it a lil…. any comments?

Other news, there’s going to be TWO new iDOLM@STER releases for Ace Combat 6, Mirage 2000-5 “Yayoi” and F-22 “Haruka“….there goes 800 M$ points >.<

New Package

Figure-Game Combo

Slow updates, I know, I’m working hard at uni so apologies for the stagnating boredom lingering around this cobweb clad blog ^^;

Anyway, a treat, figure and game package arrived today~

So today I got two packages, I’ll get straight to the point:

First up is C.C. of Code Geass, figure by alpha x omega (Alter collaboration project)

She is one fine figure :3
I don’t really have a location in mind for a photo shoot with her, since I don’t think she really fits outdoors…
Perhaps I’ll get something in mind one day? ^^;
If anyone has suggestions then please, by all means tell me.

The figure itself is great, I’m quite pleased with it. Now if only they could bring out a figure of Kaguya-hime as well.

Second up is something I’ve been waiting for a while, THE iDOLM@STER: Live For You! for the Xbox 360. This is one of my more anticipated games, and so far I’m loving the gameplay, and of course, being able to see and hear Kotori talk to you :3

I snapped up the Limited Edition iM@S:L4U game package, comes with a special animation DVD, of iDOLM@STER…ANIME OF iDOLM@STER, ANIME!, iDOLM@STER!, NOT XENOGLOSSIA, THANK THE HEAVENS!
There’s a subbed version of the anime out, go search for it if you’re interested.
This package also came with a “Shiny Smile” card, which has a code on the back that allows you to download the new song for the game for free…once the song is available later this month (26 March).
Another item was the Live Pamphlet Book, which in my opinion is AWESOME, WITH AN AWESOME CAPITAL A.
The book has the storyboards for the animation DVD, and also some character sheets along with some lil tidbits within the first few pages.

The game itself is fairly fresh. iDOLM@STER is a simulation, where you raise an idol to stardom, taking into account issues such as her training, promotional image, her personal time, auditions and such. This can be very tiring (especially when you aren’t fluent in Japanese) so Live For You! is actually a very nice addition. Live For You! starts you off as a fan who has been tasked with selecting the idols’ clothes, performance stage, song and such. You basically play as either in photo mode where you…well, take photos, or in the other rhythm game mode, this is where you play the game much like Taiko no Tatsujin, or the Bemani games. There’s even remixes of the old favourite songs! Overall it’s great for a quick pick up and play game :3

So, I’m busy with Uni…is what I’d like to say, but with iM@S:L4U, along with the iM@S planes in Ace Combat 6, I should worry.

Yakitate!! Japan

Tsukino Azusagawa

Okie dokie, this is the last set of photos I have yet to post. Today we’ll be featuring delicious Tsukino on the beaches of Phillip Island~

For those that don’t know, Yakitate!! Japan is an manga/anime about bread making…
Making bread may not seems so fun at first, but as with most manga/anime, it’ll make you want to become a baker in a moment’s notice.
Now to stop the urges of puns regarding Tsukino’s buns…

So without further delay, I present Tsukino~

Location

As mentioned, lovely Tsukino sits on the north beach of Phillip Island, an island popular for it’s resort houses and race track among other things. It sits about 60km away from central Melbourne, though getting there will be longer than that.

The beach has yellow sand and also some red rocky areas that houses an abundance of sealife. Behind the beach are shrubs and trees which hide the beach houses.

Setup

No need for tripod ^^
The day was a nice sunny beach weather one, slight cool breeze with minimal clouds in the sky.
There was a few people but none of them came to ask what I was doing.
FLIES, freaking flies, I had to keep shooing them away with my hand before a photo, since they love to land on Tsukino’s buns >.<

Figure

This is my only Yakitate!! Japan figure, and my only swimsuit one to boot (unless you count Mahou SHoujo Neko X…). I must say I’m pretty impressed by this figure, but I guess it isn’t a surprised since it’s a product of Alter. Saito Fumiko has done a excellent job on sculpting a sexy yet..innocent? pose with Tsukino; from her arm under her hair, the lean of her hips, the high position of the older shoulder and her frilly swimwear~

The paintjob is also nice, with only slight overpaint on the swimsuit frills if you look real real close. Her skin blush is also very nicely done.

Thoughts

Was a decent day shooting, with this batch of photos I had to make it a lil more bright as the originals were a lil bland. Overall I like the outcome, but what do you think?

Summary

Delicious? Lickable? Delectable? Whatever the description is, Tsukino is indeed an eye pleaser. I’m not a fan of swimsuit figures as I find them mostly boring, though this one did catch my eye, be it the look in her eyes, her pose or simply the low price lol. Whatever it is, I do recommend this to fans of swimsuits.

Details – Photo shoot

Camera
Nikon Coolpix P2
Date
1st January 2008
Location
North beaches of Phillip Island

Details – Figure

Name
Tsukino Azusagawa (梓川月乃)
Series
Yakitate!! Japan (焼きたて!! ジャぱん)
Maker
Alter
Sculptor
Saito Fumiki
Scale
1/8
Release date
September 2007
Place of purchase
That’s a secret~♥
Retail price
4,980 yen
Bought it for
$20.00 AU
Availability – HLJ (at time of writing)
Discontinued :(
Links
HappySoda’s entry ENG

Today’s package

De@th Sensei

Just a small post today.

Went to dentist this morning, now I can’t feel my mouth =/. The good thing tho, is that I picked up my latest figure, De@th Sensei.

I’m still thinking of where the potential spots for a photo shoot, but I still need to post Pachira and Tsukino~
Look forward to those!

And a small pic of Yuki posing on my bed, innocently of course…

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A’s

Fate Testarossa

Ah~ The second last photo shoot from Manifest 2007, the other being Pachira. I know I know, I’m slower than a sloth on sleeping pills climbing up a steep slippery slope.

Anyway, I’ll try to get up to date with my photos during this month, as I’ll be pretty busy once I go back to Uni >.<
Next photo shoot will be Pachira, before moving onto Tsukino~

I won’t keep you waiting, Fate awaits~!

Location

This was between the old Arts Building where Saber/Irisviel were and the quad area where Princess/Pachira were. There were a few people who walked by but generally it wasn’t too busy, mostly people for the Manifest festivities.

Setup

No mini-tripod, which could of helped quite a bit. I noticed quite a bit of blurring with most of the pictures and had to dump them. In the sun it was ok, but it was a pretty harsh sun. The shaded areas were decent but that’s where the blurring was at it’s worse. Excuse the crappy photography with this photo shoot ^^;

Figure

Now this figure isn’t actually mine, it belongs to the friend of mine who managed to get the Yuki Dollfie for me. Moé Bless his Soul. So, while he’s in Japan, he entrusted some of his figures to me, and I thoguht it’d be the perfect opportunity to take photos of them.
As most of you already know, this Fate is excellent, nuff said.

Thoughts

Mini-tripod, never leave home without it…
I’m not so happy about this photo shoot but oh well, Fate’s ass makes it up *stare*
I’ve notice that this is prolly the only photo shoot that has more than a few “pantsu” shots.

Summary

I’d buy myself one of these figures but I don’t have the space…her box is larger than my Xbox360′s box @_@; Hell, it’s larger than my Dollfie’s box!
Any Fate fan should have this figure, and if they don’t, go and order one, there’s a restock happening soon~

Details – Photo shoot

Camera
Nikon Coolpix P2
Date
15th September 2007
Location
Near the Old Arts Building – Melbourne University

Details – Figure

Name
Fate Testarossa
Series
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A’s
Maker
Alter
Sculptor
Hiroyuki Tsumezuka
Scale
1/8
Release date
December 2006
Place of purchase
Tamarket
Retail price
6,476 yen
Friend Bought it for
About $90.00 AU
Availability – HLJ (at time of writing)
May Restock
Links
HappySoda’s entry ENG
Moé Moé Rabu’s entry ENG
Otadesho’s entry ENG
Toys Workz entry ENG

What the…

Notes

Oh GOD updating my blog while my internet connection is capped (shaped, throttled down, limited) is HELL. 64kbps is NOT fun, stupid Australian internet…I’m going to go cry in the corner.

…than never

Upcoming Stuff!

OTL Sorry guys about the lack of updates, been busy yadda yadda~ Point is, I got a whole bunch of stuff to show you guys soon, and just in time for the xmas holiday :D Wanna know what’s going to happen? Read on!

Basically what I have lined up are the photos that I’ve still to post, some other nifty items of otaku interest from soundtracks to video games, and I’ll be starting the simple weathering tutorial for newbies as well! The current poll seems to indicate that the Soviet T-34 is in the lead at the time of this writing, which is great as I got lots of them…living up to their name of the most numerous tank in WWII. The poll will be open to the moment I start, which may be into late November, or early December.

Here’s some previews of the photo shoots I’ve still to post, in no particular order:

For those interested, I’ve been busy with final assignments with my study for the year, also I’ve been sucked into the grinding world of Lineage 2 again, along with games occupying me on PC, Xbox360 and PS2. I’ve gotten into the interview stage of my studies for next year so hopefully they’ll turn out well, otherwise it’s job hunting for me! :D

Fate/Zero

Irisviel von Einzbern

Second in the pack!
Packaged with Saber, they were a limited Wondefest ’07 summer special available from the Alter booth. 2,500 of these were available on the day, and another 2,500 of these were available for online ordering through Goodsmile Online Shop.

Irisviel von Einzbern (NOT Illyasviel von Einzbern) is the mother of Illyasviel von Einzbern, who were b- wait, anymore and I’ll prolly spoil it a bit =/

Not much else to say other than I’m happy that I managed to grab this, onto the photos!

Location

Exactly at the same place as Saber, although Irisviel was being photographed after Saber.
Not much else to say… ^^;

Setup

*sigh* Mini tripod really helps in these lower light conditions, if only I had brought it along…

Figure

Ok, onto business. Irisviel was packaged with Saber so I had expected the same level of detail, which was true enough. While Saber was sculpted by Adachi Satoru, Irisviel was actually done by Numakura Toshiaki. I’ll be honest, I have no idea who those two are ^^; Irisviel’s pose is one of grace with a hint of assertiveness, something I like.

Just like Saber, Irisviel is non-scale but is about 14cm in height. The actual sculpt is nicely done, just as much attention to detail to the clothing creases and seams. Her hair is beautifully done as well, flowing in the imaginary wind. Speaking of that, her skirt is also flowing in the direction. By the way, her skirt is also removable and she has a shapely behind :3

The paint is just as well done as Saber’s. The different shades they used are perfect in assisting the mould convey it’s depth in the creases. Her boots are also done nicely, a semi-gloss coat of paint that has a pearlescent shine. Irisviel’s hair on the other hand seems to be just one colour but if you look closely it actually has a similar effect of Saber’s in terms of the gradual paint. However I feel it wasn’t as well done as Saber’s.

Thoughts

Just like Saber, I had to scrap most of the photos due to an insane blur factor.
Taking photos of her without the skirt was ok, it was hard to tell that she had a skirt removed if you just glanced and see a figure ^^;

Summary

Like with Saber, Irisviel has a certain sexiness that I find charming. I know I say it a bit but I am glad I could get this set of figures, I’m totally satisfied with the purchase XD
Now if only they could make more Irisviel figures, I love her elegance~

Details – Photo shoot

Camera
Nikon Coolpix P2
Date
15th September 2007
Location
Old Arts Building – Melbourne University

Details – Figure

Name
Irisviel von Einzbern
Series
Fate/Zero
Maker
Alter
Sculptor
Numakura Toshiaki
Scale
non-scale
Release date
August 2007
Place of purchase
Wonderfest ’07
Retail price
3,000 yen
Bought it for
$33.00 AU approx
Availability
Uh, rare? Can only be acquired through 2nd hand

Original illustration of Irisviel von Einzbern