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

Au au au~

Upcoming stuff

Okie dokie. This is a post about stuff that I’m getting, might get, and decided not to get. Reason for this was because I needed to evaluate my monetary standing and the possibility of the Japan trip at the end of 2008.

This is a basically my shopping list of such in terms of figures and possibly dolls, so if you don’t want to pry into this, just ignore the post ^^;

But if you like to see some new upcoming stuff that you may be interested in, go on ahead and continue.

Possible Purchases

Yes, first thing on the “maybe” list is a Dollfie. It’s been a long time since I first saw Dollfies, and it’s always been on my mind about bringing one home. Recently it’s been really tempting to get one, since I have a friend in Japan who could help. For those not versed in asian ball-joint dolls, check the previous post: Dollfie Euphoria

Dolpa 18, or known as Doll’s Party 18 will be happening this Christmas like clockwork. For those who don’t know what Dolpa is, it’s an event much like Comiket, held twice a year in May and December. Volks, a major Japanese doll maker, basically hold the show. They sell their limited edition dolls at these events which require a lottery system for the order of the purchasing line ^^; Other shops also sell custom made clothes, accessories and parts.

New additions to the SOS Dollfie Dream line! Haruhi was release a while back and two new additions will be coming to Dolpa 18 and Comiket 73. Yuki and Mikuru look great, and for some reason the Yuki is really warming up to me. Now, I’m not a huge Yuki fan, but this Dollfie Dream is really uh, calling for me…o_O

I’m seriously considering Yuki as my first Dollfie, but it does depend on a number of things. Most important of which is availability, my friend may be able to get her at Comiket, but she could be all sold out by the time he gets to her >.< Not to mention she’s over 50,000 yen, which is about $500 AU…

Yuki and Mikuru are based on the Dollfie Dream II (DDII) base body with normal skin tone, only difference with the two bodies is that Yuki uses M sized erm, bust and Mikuru uses L size.

The next two is the Suigintou and Hinaichigo & Kunkun nano~! Oh GOD I want Suigintou, unfortunately she costs over 100,000 yen, which is well over my budget in a sane state of mind. These two will also be available at Dolpa 18, but I don’t see anything about Comiket 73 =/

Links

Dollfie Dream
Yuki Nagato — 50,400 yen (with tax), and the idea of grabbing her is still in the air.
Mikuru Asahina — 50,400 yen (with tax)
Super Dollfie
Suigintou — 102,900 yen (with tax)
Hinaichigo & Kunkun — 60,900 yen (with tax)

Definite Purchases

Image from Akibablog.net

During the recent Revoltech Expo where all the new and exciting developments of the Revoltech series are shown, they showcased their Fraulein series, the latest addition to the Revoltech family. What makes teh Fraulein different from the others is that it features an extremely feminine figure that has both the asthetics of bishoujo and poseability of the Revoltech line. Rei Ayanami was their first, with Rin Tousaka their second. Haruka Amami and Ami Futami…or was it Mami? No, I think it was Ami…I think…

Anyway, I’ll be grabbing at least one of the iDOLM@STER girls (can you guess which one?) when they are announced. Right now I’ve pre-ordered the Rin tho, she has this mind blowing flexible skirt, or at least is to me.

Links

Revoltech
Official Fraulein site
Akibablog’s review of the Expo
Lyrical Spark’s iM@S Revoltech entry

Image from Hobbystock.jp

Miku <3
I’ll be grabbing this Nendoroid as well. I’m not a huge fan of nendoroids, the only one I have is the limited edition Black Saber. I’ve made a few exceptions to this, one being Miku, for the sole reason of being a Vocaloid, and the Nekomimi version of Konata, which is currently being ordered by the friend of mine in Japan. It was a little difficult for him to order since it was only available through a magazine order.

Both of these will come with extra parts such as different faces and accessories, prolly my fav is Konata’s （＝ω＝） face and Miku’s (´ﾟДﾟ`) face with the leek.

Links

Nendoroid
Official Site

Now here’s the killer, my wallet’s worst nightmare, in no particular order:

The list of financial doom

Alice — POP Wonderland: Alice in Wonderland by Alter
Yuki Nagato Swimsuit Ver. — The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi by Alter
Reinforce Zwei — Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS by Alter
Death Teacher — Peace@Pieces by Alter
Tsuruya Cafe Ver. — The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi by Alter (On it’s way)
THE iDOLM@STER Trading Figure pt2 — THE iDOLM@STER by Alter
C.C. — Code Geass by alpha x omega (Alter collaboration)
Rin Tousaka Revoltech Fraulein — Fate/Stay Night by Kaiyodo
Tsuruya Cafe Ver. — The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi by Max Factory
Black Saber — Fate/Stay Night by Solid Theatre
Rin Kokonoe Snowglobe — Kodomo no Jikan by Pinkco
Moetan — Moetan by Goodsmile Company
Konata Nekomimi Nendoroid — Lucky Star by Goodsmile Company
Miku Hatsune Nendoroid — Crypton’s Vocaloid2 family by Goodsmile Company
Liu MeiFeng — Shuraki series figures by Goodsmile Company (On it’s way….hopefully)

I do NOT want to think about how much that all costs at the moment, but it’ll prolly be enough to support a girlfriend if I had one (hah hah, bad joke…)

But look! I’m no addict boy, no addict! I actually cancelled some items since I realised that I needed to spend less, here’s that list, perhaps it’ll suit your fancy?

Cancelled Items

Kagamine Rin/Len — Crypton’s Vocaloid2 CV series 02
I had a hard time cancelling this, I LOVE the idolisation of a piece of software but for the cost of it, I had to pass as my musical skills aren’t up for the challenge =/
T-Elos — Xenosaga III by Alter
Ikuno Komaki — ToHeart2 by Kotobukiya
The last two figures I had to let go, not because of any inferiority, but because my friend is also purchasing them, and with my constraints, I had to make the decision.
Kureha — Shining Wind by Kotobukiya
Another Kureha figure that lives up to the other recent release. As beautiful as she is, I had to resist her on the basis that I already have another Kureha Figure. You might be thinking, “But Aya, you’re already buying TWO Tsuruyas” and my explination is that it’s Tsuruya…’nuff said

I’ll be constantly reassessing the value of each figure to see if I can cut any from the list since I am trying to save, as hard as that seems…
Anyway, hoped you like seeing some things that interest me, and that some of it may interest you as well :3
Oh, for the Miki picture up the top, I have no idea who drew it, but whoever it is, it’s a lovely pic :3

Hmm, this post is prolly too text heavy?
Anyone else have that mountain of pre-orders that they’re looking forward to?

…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

Preview

Pachira & Saber

Well, I collected my package today :3 In it was my 1/7 Pachira from 錬金３級　まじかる？ぽか～ん (Magipoka for short) by Max Factory and four Saber Revoltech 2G by Kaiyodo. Four!? you ask? 3 of them are ordered by my friends, and there’s another on the way (cause he ordered late…).

Anyway, I intend to eventually get a photo shoot with Pachira as she’s definitely one of my favs, I’ll prolly take Yuuma along with her on the future photo shoot. So this post is just my thoughts on the figures and a preview of future photo shoots…I guess preview is a lil misleading as I don’t actually take photos of the place, think of this as a “Hey! I got these awesome figures, wanna see them when I take photos of them in broad daylight~!?”

Pachira, absolutely fantastic, I couldn’t of dreamed of a better pose and sculpt. Everything is magnificent except for a few things, one being a very slight under/overpaint of the lingerie lines on one area, and also the roughened up part where you insert her clothes, I can see it rubbing off the paint should I get too fidgety with taking off and on her clothes…which is hard to resist (´・ω・)つ|・ ・

600×800 – There’s your delicious panty shot teaser~

Saber is a good poseable figure, the face and head is nice but she seems to stick her neck out front quite a bit, makes it a lil odd when standing still, unless you like the whole hunchback thing. Poseability is great tho, she’s my first Revoltech so I’m still quite amazed at how flexible they are compared to traditional action figures. Comes with two swords, Caliburn and Excalibur with Invisible Air Noble Phantasm, which is pretty cool I guess.

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I’ll post details of these when I get around to the photo shoot, until then, feast your eyes on the crappy preview pics I posted :3

moda Nero

Himekuri Image Girl

Eighth post! This time it’s one of my friend’s figure revisited, welcome back Himekuri :3
These photos were actually taken a day after the previous Himekuri post along with Saber and Mizuho. Since this is a set of new photos of an already existing subject matter, I’ll skip the petty details and continue with the locale and photography topics.

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Location

Once again, the photos were taken at the same location as Mizuho, I liked the flowers, especially the colours and the Royal Exhibition Building as well. Too bad the fountain wasn’t active =/

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Setup

I tried to take photos of Himekuri on the box to give a lil height to get the flowers into view, I also tried taking photos of her while she was on the grass, which turned out great in my opinion. Then I also tried placing her INTO the flowers, that didn’t turn out so well with the reflecting light off the petals.

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Thoughts

This was also a decent photo shoot, but the first pic is one of my favourites out of my whole collection of photos. Hopefully I’ll be able to produce better stuff in the future if I have the time.

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Summary

I’ll try to keep myself from taking the same figures on photo shoots, unless there’s some sort of demand o_O
When I took these photos I didn’t really fully intend to actually publish them on the net, but it was a distant dream if you will. Look where I am now XD

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Details – Photo shoot

Camera
Nikon Coolpix P2
Date
12th October 2006
Location
Royal Exhibition Building

Details – Figure

Name
Himekuri Image Girl moda Nero
Series
Comic HIMeKuRI
Maker
Kaiyodo
Sculptor
Enoki Tomohide aka eyewater
Scale
1/7
Release date
December 2005
Place of purchase
Empire Toys
Retail price
3,800 yen
Bought it for
$90.00!! AU Est
Availability – HLJ (at time of writing)
moda Nero (black) – In Stock
moda Bianca (white) – Discontinued
moda Noel (X-Mas) – In Stock

moda Nero

Himekuri Image Girl

First post! Here’s my very first outdoor photo shoot with my friend’s figures. My figures were still being shipped from Japan via surface mail from my trip around Akiba and various places.

Anyway, this photo shoot is to showcase the figure, a sort of gallery of nicely taken photos, with some emphasis on reviewing it. Unfortunately with these early photos, it doesn’t look all that great, and they certainly don’t show the model to the full extent. Hopefully this will change in future photo shoots.

This particular photo shoot was taken on 11th October 2006, right now I’m going to be posting photo shoots from this date onwards.

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Location

For this Himekuri, my friend and I decided to go to the Royal Botanical Garden situated in Melbourne city. We picked a spot just outside of the gardens that had a grove of flowers (exactly which kind is a mystery). The place was relatively quite, only a handful of people passing by without a third glance.

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Setup

It was a bright and sunny day, so I tried taking the photos with a filter above the figures to lower the intensity of the light…it was a piece of tracing paper. As you can see it dodn’t turn out as well as I hoped for, trial and error I guess. I didn’t take that many photos, My guess is that I wasn’t used to taking photos of a subject, that or I was damn nervous for actually going outside and taking photos of a small girl pulling up her dress for all to see…

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Figure

Himekuri Image Girl is a nicely done product from Kaiyodo. Enoki Tomohide aka eyewater has done a superb sculpt of this young lady. The level of detail is quite impressive, with creases in the fabrics and the intricate frills, even down the details of her panties. Only thing I’m not really high on is her bellybutton, while I know some anime girls are depicted with such ones, it still goes beyond me how it comes to be that deep.

The paint job is also amazing, from the glittery dark blue heels to the translucent-like er, chestcover. For most of the clothes, the paint is of a matte finish and fits accordingly. Facial detail is also quite nice and well represented.

The pose that the sculptor has put her in is just quite questionable for some, but euphoric for others. The depiction of such innocence almost makes it questionable if she is indeed lifting up her skirt for the reasons you and I think, perhaps she’s just hot and wanted some air? We’ll prolly never know.

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Thoughts

Himekuri, quite a nice addition to my friend’s collection (who he hides from his mother with a rather elaborate system, more info maybe later). I also got one a few months back in December 2006, but it was the moda Noel – Christmas version, perhaps a photo shoot of her later.

For my first effort of outdoor photography of actual anime figures, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it’d would. For those who are still wondering if it’s such a great idea to go outside to take a photo of something that can be a lil disturbing for others, don’t fret, it’s easier once you start focusing on the photography rather than the people. Oh, and bring a friend, let them worry about people staring instead.

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Summary

The photos were decent at best, but from this I’ve learnt a lil and you’ll (hopefully) see improvements with the later photos I’ve taken which are going to be posted up once I find the time to process the photos. As for the figure itself, anyone who is even the slightest lolicon should take a serious look at this innocent yet seductive figure. Recommended!

Details – Photo shoot

Camera
Nikon Coolpix P2
Date
11th October 2006
Location
Outskirts of the Royal Botanical Gardens

Details – Figure

Name
Himekuri Image Girl moda Nero
Series
Comic HIMeKuRI
Maker
Kaiyodo
Sculptor
Enoki Tomohide aka eyewater
Scale
1/7
Release date
December 2005
Place of purchase
Empire Toys
Retail price
3,800 yen
Bought it for
$90.00!! AU Est
Availability – HLJ (at time of writing)
moda Nero (black) – In Stock
moda Bianca (white) – Discontinued
moda Noel (X-Mas) – In Stock