Kintaro

For those who read my last post know that I’m leaving the figure blogging to the pro’s and closing down mine, after my next figure arrives (Tuesday)

However I’ll still be taking photos and buying figures, and I plan on posting these images on Picasa.

Thanks again for reading, it has been fun.

My Picasa Page

Hello again. Another impulse buy has arrived, this time it’s Fraulein’s Rin from Fate Stay Night.

There will be a larger write up later when I can take some better photos.

It’s a bit tiring to hear these days, but I’m closing down the shop, throwing in the towel so to speak, very soon. I thought blogging would be fun, but in the end the only fun part was the photography of the figures, good or bad. The lack of comments is a little disheartening, but it’s apart of the blogging world I suppose. I just can’t find the time to blog anymore, and it’s especially not worth it without others’ input, which is all I wanted.

After this I’ll probably start a weekly webcomic, or practice photography minus the blog.

Thanks to the few who commented.

(size comparison)

Figma Rin is looking a ton better IMO, but I plan on buying both series anyhow.

Not really a fan of Halo (I know..it’s shocking!), but I really enjoy their designs, especially Master Chief.

The figure is nice, some odd articulation involving his hips (they’re not ball jointed like in the photos..) Master Chief came with the MA5C Assault Rifle, as his only accessory. The packaging said he was supposed to come with a grenade, but mine didn’t have one for some reason ^^;

Paint job is your average Mcfarlane deal. The panel lines in the armor IMO are too thick, probably because it might have been done with a wash so I’m not too bothered by it. The paint app is nice for an action figure, I don’t feel guilty posing it often.

Size wise, it’s a good decision on Mcfarlane’s part. Master Chief is around the same size as Revoltech Revy. I’ve never owned the big and chunky Halo figures from JoyRide, but I like this new scale. I would like to think Revoltech influenced Mcfarlane to go small.

Overall, good figure, a nice detailed sculpt with an ok paint app. At $10 dollars, it’s nice and cheap, and repainting shouldn’t be too hard of a task. I’m going to pick up more soon before they all sell out.

(ATTACK PIRATES ATTACK!) Who will win? ^^

It’s been a few days since my Rei has come, and I haven’t had much time to even look at her! Sculpted by the talented REFLECT, and designed by spectacular Shunya Yamashita… probably one of the best combos I’ve seen. There are some major issues however and it’s the paint app. The sculpt makes up for much of the lousy paintwork, but more on that later.

First Impressions: Since pretty much everything from Yamashita and REFLECT are beautiful, that was the initial thought. At first glance it’s a beautiful figure, sexy, and looks like a grown up Rei.

Upon further inspection, I noticed terrible paint application, which from what I understand is typical of Yamato. I can’t blame anyone else for me buying this figure, I expected as much. This is my first figure from Yamato, so I’m not sure what flaws are common for the company. Most of the paint issues are sharpness, pieces that are two seperate colors like the silver bars on her hips or the black lines on her legs. The one thing that gets me the most is the paint (or lack of) on her chest. Definitely looks like there was a paint shortage or something in one spot, showing a dull color underneath. Not sure what it is about the paint on her butt cheeks, in a certain light it gets wavy, making it look like she’s got cellulite. It’s only noticable in harsh lighting, so it didn’t show up in the pictures. Overall skintones are really weird, especially in her cleavage area.

Enough complaining! All is not lost! The figure itself is not that bad. The sculpt really pulls it out from the dirge. The seam line on her head is pretty basic, but attention is directed towards her hands, so it’s not such a big deal. Her body proportions are perfect, REFLECT has a nack for beautiful women. Her rear just looks so real! While some would agree he didn’t quite capture the hotness of Yamashita’s drawings, he came pretty damn close. In a league of her own, this Rei is perhaps my favorite figure based off of Yamashita’s work.

(My most viewed picture from this batch at the moment ^^;)

(Although it comes with a basic blue base with fancy lettering, it beats Alter in terms of quality.)

While I’ve seen HobbySearch sold out of this figure since it came out, it doesn’t seem to be selling out in America…Makes me wonder if it’s the Yamato name.

As a sidenote, a postcard came with the figure, with another, more suggestive Rei Ayanami, courtesy of Yamashita ^^

(sooo blurrry)

Manufacturer: Yamato Creators Labo
Series: Neon Genesis Evangelion
Scale: 1/6th
Sculptor: REFLECT
Released: Late December 2007 (Japan)
American Price: Around $60.00+
Japanese Price: Around 6500+ Yen

(Available in America now via KidNemo)

Kidnemo
HobbySearch

Woo not much time to type today, but I just found out about Alter’s rendition of Mitsuru Kirijo, one of my favorite characters. I’ll edit more to the post later today.

hobbysearch

kidnemo

Edit:

So about the figure, comparing it to the Koto version that I have, she looks a lot thicker around the midsection, a lot more realistic IMO. Though being so used to how my rendition looks, ALTER’s looks almost too thick. It doesn’t look bad at all actually, the legs seem thicker, which is a plus for me.

One thing I think really makes this figure stand out from the Koto version (aside from the more realistic wrinkles and movement in the skirt) is her hair. We all know Koto’s had some funky stylish hair, but Alter has a knack for awesome hair sculpts, so this one is no exception.

Overall I believe Alter just one-upped Kotobukiya, but that’s no surprise honestly, after seeing the price difference of about $20. I’m considering buying both this version and as well as Alter’s Aegis if I can find her.

Right now she’s going for $51.99 at KNC, and will be out in July.

I really wish I were one of those otaku that haul bunches and bunches of figures… but that’s not the case ^^; I think over time as an otaku-with-little-money, I’ve grown selective, almost too selective, of what to buy.

Here’s a list of things I’ve ordered recently:

- Anime Legends : Big O, Complete Collection 1

- Mighty Muggs : Han Solo x2

- Creators’ Labo : Rei Ayanami 1/6th Scale Yamato

Being a long time fan of Big O and all of Roger’s shenanigans, I felt nostalgic after seeing this sweet new Big O figure of some sort at one of Danny Choo’s festival coverages. After receiving a gift card last month without anything to buy, I decided to get the 1st season of Big O. While I’m sure it’s much too late to cover each episode like my failed Outlaw Star attempt, I’ll probably mention it here and there until I finish the 13 or so episodes.

Hmm…..Mighty Muggs…I still don’t know exactly why the hell I bought these. The package was nice and stylish, similar size to Revoltech boxes, and the figures looked.. well… I don’t know. To be honest it was mostly an impulse buy, I only saw 2 Han Solo’s and 1 Chewbacca. I didn’t want to spend all of my cash on 3 figures, so I bought 2 Han’s, 1 of which will be on Ebay soon. I’ll probably end up selling the opened one too if anyone’s interested. Please leave a message if you’re interested.

Ah, Rei Ayanami. One of the most beautiful characters placed in a violent and disturbing atmosphere. I’ve loved everything about Rei since I watched Evangelion. I’m still waiting for the Kotobukiya “You Are Not Alone” Rei figure (the good stuff via Mukyaa), but I decided to go ahead and order the REFLECT version first. This is why I love the otakusphere, it’s very common that bloggers in Japan etc. will already have the figures I want, and so it’s easy for me to decide whether or not the quality is worth the price, yadda yadda. However, what I found with Yamato’s Ayanami was that no one has her… I’ve looked high and low for pictures but to no avail. I found one flickr account with some pics but no real review. I assume everyones just either disappointed in their figure or just avoiding the Yamato name in general. I took the stab to contribute to the otakusphere by buying my own figure. I’m crossing my fingers for an above average figure, but I realize that might not be the case. I ordered Rei from the wonderful KidNemoCompany. Hopefully via USPS Priority, I’ll have her within the week.

I have a feeling no one will answer this question ^^; but I’ll throw it out there anyway : what do you fellow otakus enjoy about the otakusphere?

Here’s some kooky photos of my Mighty Muggs Han Solo. (I’m practicing to get the black background but it’s not good enough. -_-)

REFLECT is known for his quality sculpts, and this rendition of Shunya Yamashita’s envisionment of Rei Ayanami from Evangelion is no exception. Absolutely gorgeous and stunningly beautiful, it is perhaps in my opinion one of the best non-anime versions of Rei yet. The question is, could Yamato pull it off? Don’t get me wrong, Yamato is a solid company, but after seeing the shoddy work on Final Fight’s Poison, my opinion strayed off a bit.

Looking at the pictures from Hobbysearch, the paint seems decent. Since her hair is shorter I wouldn’t expect any noticeable paint flaws. Overall, the added bonus of being 1/6th scale, I think this figure is well worth the $60 dollar tag.

Rei Ayanami has been out in Japan since late December, and is around ¥6,460

For those of us in America, I believe Ayanami is available now at Kidnemo for $60.89

(Image courtesy of AnimeXing, who has the figure for preorder.)

What do you guys think about her? I haven’t seen any posts on her yet, so the only pictures I have to judge are the ones taken at HobbySearch.

Kotobukiya does it again. Another figure with a great sculpt and pretty standard paint application. This time, of Belldandy from Ah! My Goddess! It’s one of those shows I’ve never really sat down to watch. I  remember seeing a few parts back when my brother had it on VCD ^^; Is it recommended? Character designs look great.

The figure itself looks good, according to HobbySearch, it’s been done by the same guy (Hiroshi Inagaki) who sculpted C.C. from Code Geass for Alpha Omega, and Alvis from Last Exile for Alter, to name a few. I’ve always noticed that Kotobukiya paint is just plain acceptable. It’s never really outstanding, it’s just clean application.

Belldandy was released in mid November in Japan for around ¥4,350

She is now available at KidNemo and Toyslogic for under $30.00

(Image linked from Sector 6. Thanks!)

I’m really considering this figure afterall. Standard Kotobukiya quality, with a great Kotobukiya pricetag. The only thing holding me back is the REFLECT Rei Ayanami from Yamato… preview = next post.

Rei Tachibana from Pani Poni Dash!, is perhaps the most overlooked Alter figure in my opinion. I’ve seen no one blog about it, whether it’s a figure review or even mentioning her! Maybe I’m looking in the wrong places but I just can’t understand this… Is Pani Poni Dash! not very popular? I haven’t seen any episodes or anything, so essentially Rei is as foreign to me as an eroge character.

Someone mind explaining? Is it her giant spectacles? Her kinda ‘meh’ sweater? Oh well, more on that after the photos!

If anyone’s keeping up with my photography they can tell every picture set is pretty different. I try new lighting techniques and variations every time I do a shoot. This one was more of my habit of over-photoshopping, and I think all the pictures look too bright after editing.

About the figure:

The paint application is phenomenal. It’s a standard for Alter, which is way above many figure companies in terms of quality. The sculpt is also great, if I’m not mistaken it’s done by the same guy who sculpted Alter’s Meg from Burst Angel. While Alter got all the shading and what not right, it should be noted that a part of her hair seemed to block a crevice of her hair from being painted, so theres a white streak. It’s not bad, I didn’t notice it until maybe a week of owning Rei.

That being said, I’m kind of confused why she hasn’t shown up in the blog world. I’m ashamed to say I’m probably the first one to post her. I’ve been told that her shirt is an ugly color, but I can understand that. It’s a kooky “would only work in anime” color anyway.

Figure - Rei Tachibana from Pani Poni Dash!
Manufacturer - Alter
Lowest Price Found - $30.00 +
Readily available at most online stores.

I should be called “the old figure hunter.” It seems the only ones I get at the moment are… old. -_-’

It’s hard to believe that it has been 6 years since I’ve first seen this anime. With New Years coming up, it’s only necessary to revisit the things we love, since they’re gonna be a year older.

I believe good anime never gets old, and in this case, Outlaw Star most definitely does not. Since I only have a few days left for Winter Break, I figured why not bring out some old DVD’s. I’ve had this dvd set for quite a while, and it was well worth the money! I plan to talk about all the episodes, more important or what I consider interesting episodes I’ll have more than 1 mini screencap. Less important episodes will get 1 cap and probably be bundled together in single posts. I’ll probably end up doing key episodes only. But.. here’s episode 1 to start us off. (Hope the nostalgic feeling is unbearable! ^^) I apologize for the crappy screencaps, I formatted them kinda small.

Episode 1 - Outlaw World

The episode opens with Gene Starwind and his partner Jim aboard the Outlaw Star, the most advanced Grappler Ship in the galaxy. An intense battle between the crew and some unidentified ships shortly follows while Gene explains how he wanted to be in space. After the snazzy intro, Gene is shown watching a space shuttle lifting off. He only spoke one word. “Space.”

The next scene is a chase. “Ice” Hilda has apparently stolen from space pirates, with them on hot pursuit. After a slight struggle, Hilda’s ship blasts away, obliterating the Grappler Ships behind her. She says, “To stay here is death. To go, is death.”

Forward to Gene and Jim’s quite formal introduction, playing cards in a friendly bar, being attacked by a revengeful brother, all while looking very, very cool.

A rather pointless scene, where Gene gets a girl, though it does explain his desire to go to space. I don’t remember this scene on Toonami; it was most likely omitted.

It’s not too long until our two main characters Hilda and Gene are connected. The pirates tracked Hilda down to Sentinel III, Gene’s hometown of Locust. Disguised as “Rachel,” Hilda designates Gene as a bodyguard, and takes them to an abandoned building.

The trip however is not a joyride, as a few encounters with these powerful pirates using “Tao Magic” force Gene to use his Caster gun. According to Wikipedia, it is a “magic pistol effective against Tao priests and other things of supernatural origin.” Things start to heat up after Gene takes down one of the pirates.

Arriving at the site, Hilda shoots Gene and takes Jim inside to retrieve a case. Gene blocked the bullet and was not hurt, which quickly turned the tables on Hilda. With a gun to the back of her head she is forced to say the password to the case, and Jim opens it.

Inside, is a girl. And..thats where the episode stops.
———————————–

Not as much a review as it was a summary ^^; Hopefully you didn’t read all of this, but rather was reminded of how great this show is, and.. gone out of your way to watch it again by now.

To fully satisfy my nostalgic feeling I’m watching it in English again, as that’s how I first saw it. I love how after each “next episode” preview Gene says “You better get ready!”

Thanks for reading!