Night's Corner

January Hauls: Miku and The Transformers

noreply@blogger.com (Murakami Night) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 13:32:00 +0000

Last wave of hauls for January!

And this sums up my hauls from today til 2 weeks ago.

So yeah, first of the 4 is actually Jazz, from two weeks ago, lol. With the help of my friend, I was able to win United Jazz for a very cheap price despite the fact that he used to be rare and still quite expensive right now. I've tried the RTS version but UN really wins it for me for some reason, maybe the whiteness of it and the non existent rubsign which I don't really dig.

Next is my hauls from last week, figma Racing Miku finally arrived and yessss she also marks as my 36th Miku in the collection. >:) I'm actually surprised that her price right now is batsh*t expensive and luckily I got mine for quite a friendly price. :) Also, Maketoy's Battle Tanker upgrade also arrived last week so I got it and I immediately assembled it to get rid of derpy ol' Laser Prime.

And from today's Lazer Tag session with JPToysPH, I grabbed up Cyclonus from the 3-pack since I've always wanted it and not rodimus and galvatron since I have other targets for their molds. I got it loose for 600php which is a pretty neat price and the joints are also tight. :D

Anyway, here ends my current haul post!

Good Smile Company's Upcoming Nendoroid Snow Miku -Fluffy Coat version-

noreply@blogger.com (Murakami Night) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 04:41:00 +0000

Hnghhhhhhhhhh

It just screams cute doesn't it? *A*

As part of an annual wonder fest winter, we are yet again getting another event item in the form of a Snow Miku, this time based from the winner of the Snow Miku 2012 design contest held in pixiv (correct me if I'm wrong) last year. While still incorporating the Snow Miku we know, this time she gets quite a new look because of the new outfit and the headband with a jewel and ribbon in it. Additionally from the cute smiling face, she also comes with two more cute faces that's so adorable, you'll just have to see it to believe it XD

Aside from the mic and stand and shovel seen above, one Snow Miku 2012's main feature is a snow base with LED lights in it as well as a pucchi sized ice sculpture of Miku herself!

Priced at 4000 yen, she is another event exclusive but again, like the rest of the wonder fest goodies, has alternatives on how to get her; read on at GSC's product page for the details!

Good Smile Company's Upcoming Nendoroid Akemi Homura -School Uniform version-

noreply@blogger.com (Murakami Night) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:29:00 +0000

Another Moemura!

And this time in nendoroid form! ^^

While having a default smile, Nendo Moemura comes packed with loads of accessories; she comes with a blanket, a golf club, sitting parts and a very low spirited face plate.

Additionally, she also comes with a bag, and a new head for the present Homura, as well as arms that will allow you to recreate her signature pose in the main visual poster of Madoka Magica.

Lastly, similary to the figma, she comes with Madoka's ribbon, a bow and an arrow. But the most surprising thing is they included that witch wings she grew at the last few minutes of the show.

Like the figma, she will be part of Good Smile's offering for wonder fest winter 2012 and there's also alternate ways you can get it which you can look in here. She's priced at 3500 yen.

Max Factory's Upcoming Figma Akemi Homura -School Uniform version-

noreply@blogger.com (Murakami Night) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:20:00 +0000

Another figma EX coming our way~

And here's the start of a bunch of late news...

And so, we have more moemura coming our way! While equipped with her default shy expression, she also comes with a closed eye face. Of course, as an added bonus, you can always use the body frame to recreate the present Homura in school uniform.

But wait, if you think it's easy to pass on, you might regret it... She also comes with a hairpiece with Madoka's ribbon it! As well as an additional serious face for mahou shoujo Homura.

Additionally from the bow and arrow she's using in the epilogue (which also comes with the package), she also comes with two new firearms! A really surprising move.

Figma Moemura here will be part of Max Factory's offerings for the upcoming Wonder Festival Winter 2012, of course, it will have an online release as well. Figma Homura school uniform is priced at 3000 yen. And since there are quite a number of ways to get her, you can read on at GSC's product page.

Good Smile Company's Upcoming Nendoroid Cordelia Glauca

noreply@blogger.com (Murakami Night) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:08:00 +0000

The 4th and final member of Milky Holmes is here~

That crazy Cordelia is so adorable in nendoroid form X3

Cordelia comes with a number of different arms, even one for when she uses her toys. Aside from the default face seen above, she comes with a closed eye face which goes perfectly with her toys arms and, of course, she's not really that crazy girl we all love and know if she doesn't have her daydreaming crazy but veeeeeeery cute face. :))

Like Elly and Nero, Cordelia comes with her possessed state, raised hair included, a different body (I think) as well as a serious face which perfectly recreates her "Cordelia Gray" state. XD

This jam packed nendoroid is scheduled for a May release for 3800 yen. Images and info from GSC's product page.

Japanese Toy Collectors Philippines Launched!

noreply@blogger.com (Murakami Night) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 14:26:00 +0000

Unveiling Team Onii-chan's next step on its campaign...

A new/additional home for collectors, figure admirers and whatnot is here!

As part of Team Onii-chan's plans for 2012, we are glad to present to you, Japanese Toy Collectors Philippines!

What is Japanese Toy Collectors Philippines?

Basically, it's a new place for the ones mentioned above; of course, it's not limited to those, anyone is welcome to register and join in the newly established community. We and the members of the community will be providing and sharing the latest bits of figures news whether it be articulated figures, chibis, scaled figures, trading figures, even tokusatsu products such as Riders, Sentai, Kaijus and whatnot! Of course, we won't leave out the merchandises such as plushies and stuff. Even western characters are tackled so long as they are from the japanese manufacturers.

It's basically a new community for hobbyists, fanatics and the like. We also have the chill boards, otaku media boards and many more in store for our members. So, what are you waiting for? Visit http://jptoyph.org/, take a look and help us in making the community better!

For international readers, you guys are also free to join but bear with us since our target is local oriented, you might not understand some of the discussions but still, feel free to join, post in a universal language like english and we'll try do our very best to make you guys feel welcomed as well.

While the forums are just starting, we will be sure not to let the members and the future members down; hope you all will find it a very comfy place. ^^ Hope to see you guys soon in there and I'm pretty sure you guys will recognize me immediately if you join XD

Bandai's Upcoming S.H.Figuarts Kamen Rider OOO Super TaToBa Combo

noreply@blogger.com (Murakami Night) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 03:09:00 +0000

Ja-Mai-Ca! JaMaiCa, JAMAICA! lololololol

It's the usual movie form = exclusive release XD

Hailing from the recent movie war megamax, this is somewhat OOO's Ultimate form utilizing medals from the future hence the Super prefix added in it (who looks like a Jamaican flag lol). Anyway, according to Tamashii Web Shop product page, Super TaToBa has 3 extra right hands and 2 for the left, additionally, like the TaToBa itself, the Tora Claws comes in an opened and an unopened versions. Lastly, he also possesses the O Scanner. Well, the design certainly would be something that would grow on people, I kinda like this SHF rendition for some reason. XD

Super TaToBa is scheduled for a May release for 3,150 yen.

Good Smile Company's Upcoming Nendoroid Megurine Luka -Cheerful version-

noreply@blogger.com (Murakami Night) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 02:56:00 +0000

And now we have Luka as the latest offering!

Orders went up on Wednesday but it slipped my mind to post it but anyway, a wonderful cheerful release IMO!

Like all cheerful releases from before, Luka still comes with all of the ones included in the original release of the nendoroid. The cheerful bonus comes in the form of the usual pompoms, a new and really pretty ponytail hairstyle for Luka as well as a cap for the very cute Tako Luka XD I seriously think this is a wonderful release since I never really like the original Luka release (it's the ponytail, loool)

Cheerful Luka is scheduled for a May release for 3500 yen. As usual, 1000 yen from every purchase goes to the relief funds. Images and info from GSC's product page.

Bandai's Upcoming S.H.Figuarts Kamen Rider Fourze Fire States

noreply@blogger.com (Murakami Night) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 02:37:00 +0000

It's my favorite form so far!

The page finally went up when I checked it last night XD

Anyway, coming after the Elek States is the 2nd alternate form, the fire states which debuted in the Lunar Witch arc. Basically he comes with the fries foodroid, the spike leg accessory, two types of "hose" for the Hihack Gun and of course, the gun itself. Additionally, he comes with some switches as well as the Fire switch of course. Nothing is mentioned for the number of hands as of now, so, let it be a surprise. XD

Fire States is slated for another April release for 3,360 yen. Images and info from Tamashii's product page.

Review: [Max Factory] Figma SP-16: Kamen Rider Wing Knight

noreply@blogger.com (Murakami Night) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 18:00:00 +0000

Figure Information
Manufacturer:	Max Factory
Origin Series:	Kamen Rider Dragon Knight
Scale:	Non-Scale
Height:	Approximately 14cm tall
Original Price:	3,200 Yen

Before I begin with anything else, as Wing Knight's the very first review for 2012, I'd be revamping the usual review by a little and this will be the standard until I decide to change again. :3

Figure Packaging:

So... to start off, Wing Knight's box dimensions are the same as any standard small figma boxes. The design of the box is quite weird, or maybe because I didn't watch Dragon Knight since well... it's a US version of one of my favorites, Ryuki, so I didn't bother. The design is a tall building with a lot of mirrors in it; while the mirror works for me, the building just doesn't make any sense to me, lol.

Anyway, the as you can see above, his window bears Knight's insignia which is cool and is the one thing I totally liked about the box. And to prove he's a rather common Rider than a Kamen Rider, aside from the Dragon Knight logo beside, his name also reads as "Kamen Raida Winggu Naito" and as indicated, in the english text, Kamen Rider Wing Knight. Also note that Medicom bears a logo at the top next to Max Factory, it's a collab between the two which was also the reason why Wing Knight falls in the SP line.

Pulling out the clamshell reveals the di:stage cover, which is his insignia yet again, this time covered in gold and having this lightning thing, which was their effects for the Henshin or rather as they say when they transform: "~~COMMON~~ KAMEN RIDER!".

Figure Details:

One of Wing Knight's strongest points would be his detail; it's not perfect, that's a given but the overall build of the body frame, the proportions are very very well made, heck, I'd say that the proportions are even godly. This is what the Knight suit looks like, no doubts about it.

What Max focused on was actually the detailing, the seamless hips was one of the best things to note on this fine piece of plastic (and rubber). The choice of colors and whatnot are also very very spot on. Wing Knight even has the sheath on his belt for the Dark Visor.

Of course, not everything is praise worthy, his head visor particularly stands out as what can be called a mess of work, as the black lines and whatnot are obviously messy in terms of the finish as there would be some minor blots and whatnot in there.

Accessories:

Wing Knight doesn't really come with much but he does come with a good enough set of accessories. He comes with 4 extra right and left hands, particularly a good thing to check once obtained would be the right hand for holding the final vent (which is also included here) and the left hand built especially for holding the dark visor, other hands comes in pairs to it's fairly easy to check.

Additionally from what's been mentioned already, he also comes with his sword vent, the Wing Lancer, and the cape formed by Dark Wing; the one thing worth noting is that the cape is actual cloth with some hidden wire by the lower edge of the cape, thus allowing to manipulate its "waves" when shooting for action poses. Lastly, we have the generic yet very sturdy figma stand that comes with all figma releases.

Articulation Points:

While basically powered by mostly figma joints, the capabilities are pretty much different from one another due to certain conditions such as the design and whatnot; I'll keep this part short and straight to the point so, I'll start with the neck; neck articulation's hinging ability is pretty limited, you can only extend his view upwards or downwards by a bit (see picture below for reference) but the swiveling ability is very very free allowing one to rotate it on a 360 degrees basis with ease.

The abdominal joint would always remain a mystery to me as I would never want to open it up (since I might break it lol); however, Knight does bend downwards on to a fairly good extent as well as bend to the opposite direction. Of course, you can also swivel his body sidewards as you desire.

Arms retain the same usage of figma joints for the shoulders and the elbows; while the shoulder joints have an almost perfect range, the elbow joint fairly makes it to an extent of 90 degree bending ability. The wrists remains as a hinge with a fully rotatable connector with them.

For the legs, they're basically the same jointage as the arms but the ranges are pretty different. Now, depending on how you want that rubber part on the hips to work, splitting or raising the legs via the hip might distort its looks and thus, resulting in a pretty ugly look but still, the hip joint is a little limited but the range is good enough to pull off decent poses and whatnot. The knee joint on the other hand provides a very good range almost near to that of the double jointed goodness that recent SICs have.

The ankle joints are basically the weakest of all points since it's pretty much jammed in there, very very minor tweaks can be done to adjust it. It's pretty sad since moving the feet plays a pretty darn important role on dynamic poses.

Of course, as mentioned on the body articulation section. You can basically swivel a lot of things because the figma joint connectors would allow to swivel the connection points so yeah, dance Wing Knight, DANCE!

Poseability:

Given the right combination of hands and accessories, Wing Knight can certainly pull off quite a number of badass poses. Playing around with him is pretty fun but it does get annoying when you try to do super dynamic ones. His cape is a little tricky to pose but once you get the hang of it, you'll find it a pretty ingenious gimmick.

One of the major problems with Wing Knight is having him hold his Wing Lancer with two hands; his hands tend to pop off easily when doing so. Another thing is when kneeling, it might prove pretty hard to make him do good kneeling poses. But still a decent playability with this figma. ^^

Final Thoughts:

Well, all those said, Wing Knight is a pretty decent articulated figure; certainly not the best in terms of playability but the details does make up for the flaws. And if you're actually not affected by the fact that he is common, then as the Kamen Rider Knight suit representation, this one's actually pretty good even if something of a more worth version is out already. This review is made possible by my good sister, ShadowBladez. ^^

I do give it a grade of 3.5 out of 5.

First Wave of 2012 Hauls

noreply@blogger.com (Murakami Night) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 01:21:00 +0000

More articulateds... More figures on the backlog

But eeee, I will get there eventually XD

These were my hauls back in the weekends, while Miku arrived already late last month, it was only last weekend that I was able to pick her up along with Dark Precure. While all of my articulated hauls have no double hands and whatnot problem, the sad and slightly annoying part is that my Dark Precure, which is also a Tamashii Web exclusive, got hit with some serious QC paint issues, having quite a ridiculous amount of out of place silver on her hair which homerunchan noticed while I was checking the joints. XD

Anyway, the last of my hauls is actually an impulse buy in the form of Banpresto's prize figure of Miki Sayaka. While the initial impressions had that derpy look, banpresto managed to pull it off by improving on it for the final product which looked nice after seeing some pics and thus, lead to getting it.

Wave's Upcoming Beach Queens 1/10 Aiba Ruri

noreply@blogger.com (Murakami Night) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 12:50:00 +0000

The will giver to Arma... in her swimsuit to boot!

I'm quite surprised that Wave added Sacred Seven to their list XD

It was pretty eyecatching that it would be wave to open the first(?) figure pre order for the series of Sacred Seven since I've been hyped and wishing that Bandai would somehow make SHFs for them but anyways, back to the topic.

I can't remember pretty well if Ruri did wear such in the series but it's pretty cute although not really that amazing XD It would be a good addition to any BQ line collectors though and aside from the ingenius neck joint Wave's been producing, Ruri also comes with hair ponytail untied.

Ruri is scheduled for a July release and is priced at 4,400 yen. Images and info from wave's product page.

Max Factory's Upcoming 1/7 Holy Angel Kamineko

noreply@blogger.com (Murakami Night) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 12:32:00 +0000

If those of you could the remember the figma, then here's the scaled version

It's none other than Kuroneko wearing an unusual outfit as seen back in the novel.

I've never really became a fan of Kuroneko for the entire anime series' duration but I must say that unlike Kirino, Kuroneko already had figure releases that actually passes for me as best of the best and currently, this Kamineko is the best of the best for me (previously was Kotobukiya memories version) Sculpted beautifully by my favorite, YOSHI, Kuroneko retains that proud expression while having an optional Mask to be placed on her right hand. The light colors actually does suit her pretty well, even better than her usual dark goth loli dress IMO XD

Kamineko comes to our japanese stores by May and is priced at a tax inclusive value of 8,800 yen. Images and info from GSC's product page.

Bandai's Upcoming S.H.Figuarts Kamen Rider Zolda

noreply@blogger.com (Murakami Night) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 05:49:00 +0000

Alas my favorite character from the show!

And he is not common this time around... :p

Following the release of Ouja comes Zolda, my favorite money making attorney from the series. Seeing as he is covered in metallic paint yet again, he looks ridiculously osom and to top off with that aside from his shoot vent 1, he also comes with his other shoot vent.

Zolda is said to come with a total of 5 pairs of extra hands, his visor, the shoot vents and 4 different cards.

As part of Bandai's monthly wave of releases, Zolda will also be released on April for 3675 yen. Images and info from Tamashii's product page.

Bandai's Upcoming S.I.C. Kiwami Tamashii Horse Orphnoch

noreply@blogger.com (Murakami Night) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 04:26:00 +0000

Yuji Kiba... in his humanoid Horse Orphnoch form...

I seriously despise KT for having Horse Orphnoch >.<

Despite being announced since last month, it was only sometime last week that the orders went up as well as its corresponding product page in tamashii's website. Following the release of Wolf Orphnoch, comes the Horse, another one of the main characters in the show; Horse Orphnoch will come along with his sword and shield as well as 2 extra right hands and one for the left for hand swapping.

As it seems Bandai is going all out on Faiz, I won't be surprised if even a riotrooper is made soon but anyway, Yuji here is scheduled to be released on April for 1575 yen.

The Newest Magical Girl Team Enters with a Smile

noreply@blogger.com (Murakami Night) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 01:10:00 +0000

We'll be missing Suite that's for sure.

A new team of 5 PreCures are coming to give us another year of dbz-like fightscenes and kid oriented values! XD

With 3 more episodes left, another cure series comes to an end. While Suite has been a good series, it certainly wasn't as addicting as Heartcatch or Futari wa for me XD But still a pretty good series (and not to mention a double colored Cure who's also the youngest one so far). I haven't been catching up with Suite for around 6 episodes now I think but yeah, I'll get back to that soon enough. XD

While Melody, Rhythm, Beat and Muse are saying goodbye, like our favorite Rider and Sentai series, the PreCure series already has a new one incoming entitled "Smile Precure". While not much info is known yet, wiki says the theme will be fairy tales; Smile Precure will be another 5 team Precure which was last seen in the Yes Precure series. The team will be composed of Cure Happy, Cure Sunny, Cure Peace, Cure March and Cure Beauty whose colors would be Pink, Orange, Yellow, Green and Blue respectively.

I did seem to notice that the art style is very similar to that of Heartcatch and yesssss, they're back to looking like lolis (which I like since I like cute characters more XD) since IMO Suite had quite mature designs for Hibiki, Kanade and Ellen. XD Anyway, here's the teaser commercial of the newest magical girls that'll get stuck in my mind starting on February 5!

2011 Year End Hauls

noreply@blogger.com (Murakami Night) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 14:44:00 +0000

These are basically my hauls from the Ozine Anime Figure Special as well XD

Free Tarp wooooo~

As mentioned in the previous post, we had touhou as one of the major series lineups for our display and each series received certain tarps and unfortunately, the Touhou tarps weren't used but was still up for grabs and thanks to Sensei, I got this touhou nendo tarp featuring a mind bending "you know me so well" character lineup since my top 2 favorites are there, Cirno and Sakuya, hahaha. Youmu's the other one BTW XD

Anyway, the Racing Miku straps would be the sponsor item for the figma RQ Miku which is yet to arrive here, figma Ayase also finally arrived and since I'm back to normal blogging phase for a while, expect her review to go up very soon. Lastly, you might remember that I got Aku no Musume Rin already before but I still didn't like Rin back then... so... I sold it and I finally managed to get it back after a year lol. So yeah, these 2 figures are my final hauls of 2011. XD A bunch of reviews would come soon since I can't shoot right now due to low battery of the camera. XD

A Look Back into Ozine Festival Anime Figure Special

noreply@blogger.com (Murakami Night) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 02:55:00 +0000

So here it is!

Like my previous Onii-chan event posts I won't be covering everything but I'll still provide links where you can actually view more pictures taken on the event. XD

And before we start, kudos to the Team Onii-chan members and lenders for their hard work and dedication for setting up around 3/4 of what we had on the final display count during the ingress which was a day before the event. XD

Again, this is the first japanese figure-centered convention (not to mention 2011's last and biggest display for the team) here in the Philippines so it is quite an honor as both an admin and a member of Team Onii-chan to have participated in it!

One of my main focuses here would be the number of Touhou figures present which we actually pushed for even though it's a game and not really an anime. XD

The ingress was actually my first time to open this gorgeous Alice by Ques Q.

My good friend, Onii-chan, also brought along his newly acquired Remilia and it proved to be one of the biggest highlights of the event especially for Touhou fans who dropped by. XD

Fellow Touhou fanatic, Chevreuse, also brought along quite a number of Touhou Scaled Figures around. (Thanks for bringing along Keine as well! I've decided to get her finally XD)

Andddd as I promised in my Yukari review, I lent her for the display!

Most of the Nendos for Touhou was lent by homerunchan. XD

Of course, aside from Touhou, there's the usual K-On!, BRS, Vocaloid displays and additionally there's also one for Bakemonogatari and Fate/ series (unfornately I wasn't able to take photos of the Fate/ series >.<)

Vocaloid figmas up and almost complete! (lacking cheerful Miku)

The K-On petites, this is probably the best shot I took on the event's duration.

Dat Azusa... really a lolicious figure I must say and I'm tempted to get one for myself! D:

GSC Mayoi looking sexy and all, makes you want to be Araragi huh? And maybe the owner, Alex, had already entered Araragi mode? XDDD

Many thanks to Zykes for lending this marvelous masterpiece of a loli named Strength. I definitely will get one once I have the funds.

And of course, we had a general lineup of scaled figures, chibis and articulateds in store for the event goers as well.

Alter's KOS-MOS version 4 makes a first (I think) in our displays as lent by our very own GK master, vhayste.

An array of male figures were also present in the form of Kenshin, Ichigo and the bishies of Hakuoki. XD

Once piece also makes a comeback on this event!

One of the most eyecatching thing for the display was the sea of pink in the form of several Madoka nendoroids with different faceplates and also of the cute (and dame dame) detective, Sharo in the form of her game version nendoroid.

Homura also comes in two different versions, her past and present appearances.

There's also Jehuty, notable for being the only revoltech AND full mecha in the display.

Also being the only two figuarts would be Wild Tiger and Barnaby from Tiger and Bunny! Le gasp, I haven't watched but I can't help but find Barnaby's design to be cool. DX

That's about it for my short coverage. XD The event was only two days but it was very much worth the time as it won't be successful without the help of friends, members, lenders and, of course, those who went to the event. As part of the Team Onii-chan admin, a big "Thank You!" to all the participants of the event for making our year end display a huge success! :D

Of course, you can always view my album uploaded at my facebook fan page for more pictures, or the different albums of other members from Team Onii-chan's fanpage. I'd also like to share our friend, Duqs' very own coverage of the event. ^^

And before I end the post, remember Sasuke Mcdo? Look what I balanced on top during the event, HAHAHAHAHA!

This ends my a bit late coverage of the event and as the new year strikes, hopefully, we'll have more displays as the year goes and hint hint... the next one might be soon ;)

Murakami's Miku Collection (As of Year End 2011)

noreply@blogger.com (Murakami Night) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 05:29:00 +0000

Ever wondered how many Mikus I have? XD

And thankfully during my annual cab/figure/room cleaning I thought of capturing this!

And so with roughly 2 and 1/2 years into collecting, this is the green (well not really full green since there are Snow Mikus) utopia I've managed to build and is probably what can define me as a collector.

Even though I still lack a few more Mikus to date, presented in the picture above would be all my 34 Miku figures right now with the ones in boxes still unopened and also included would be the PSP Game Project Diva, a cospa Mug and the Mixing Box package. So yeah, with only 5 more remaining before it reaches 39, I wonder who will be the 39th Miku in my collection. XD

My friend would usually refer to me as the biggest Miku collector in the Philippines but I'm pretty sure I'm one of but not really the biggest in the country though XD I personally don't take doubles of a single figure so, my goal is just to try and collect all the different Miku figures to date as long as it's not a keychain and the pvc itself is different at least just in color (since there are cases like World is Mine and the Music Boxes where the Miku figure didn't change, only the base). And that's it for this post! XD Hauls, Event ender and the usual Top 10 would follow soon XD

Hello 2012!

noreply@blogger.com (Murakami Night) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 01:18:00 +0000

I know I'm 1 day late to greeting here in our country but still...

A Happy New Year to all you readers out there~

Well, first thing's first, a little recap of 2011; for starters, the blog certain had reached its peak so far during the recently ended year of 2011 as it was the most active year especially in between March to October since the figure reviews kept on coming and coming as well as certain news and even some reports from some of Team Onii-chan's figure displays.

While the posting had significantly reduced back in the latter half of October to December due to my Dad's unfortunate passing and thanks to an MMORPG called Dragon Nest, rest assured that the blog will still go on as the love for figures definitely won't die and those news, reviews and time to time update on the Eternal Song will keep on coming for this brand new year!

As I've already introduced last month, as another part of my reviews, I'll be featuring special reviews (revoltech Optimus Prime being the first) which would be reviews of figures that I do not own, these figures are borrowed from friends and family members and have gone through my own photoshoot session and then reviewed by yours truly. As I'll also be busy with work, dragon nest, some rare admin roles at Team Onii-chan and the usual displays, I'll make to a point that I post at least 2 reviews a month XD And also, I'm thinking of changing my usual review sections (although it still will be text heavy) so more points will tackled accordingly and I might also eliminate the scoring since... well, if you noticed I always give high scores for my reviews so it's pretty useless I guess XD

I'll also be changing the visuals soon and hopefully the layout as well for more friendly reading and more actual space for the entries since I do think that the post space is rather small considering I've been using the normal size text recently. But anyway, I'll be ending my post here and more 2011 recaps (Team Onii-chan's biggest display yet, hauls and whatnot) will come along after this post so stay tuned and once again, a Happy New Year to all of you!

Review: [Good Smile Company] Nendoroid 141 Youmu Konpaku

noreply@blogger.com (Murakami Night) — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 04:05:00 +0000

Figure Information
Manufacturer:	Good Smile Company
Origin Series:	Touhou Project
Scale:	Non-Scale
Height:	Approximately 10cm tall
Original Price:	3,000 Yen

Figure Box:

Pretty similar to all nendo packaging, Youmu comes with approximately the same dimensions as that of your common nendo box. Similarly designed to her master's packaging (and she was actually released first), her box is colored in light green and instead of the sakura petals that Yuyuko bears in her box design, Youmu has the spirit symbols instead, which we can find (and see later on) on her outfit. Again, I'm not much a fan of boxes but hey, their pretty much fun to discuss (and sometimes criticize or praise) during reviews. But that's about it and let's proceed with the main dish, the figure itself!

Figure Details:

Youmu comes in a fine nendoroid representation; capturing her simple yet adorable green and white outfit down to the buttons, bow tie and her trademark spitit symbols who looks like her ghost half, Myon, actually. XD

Of course, there's also her two katanas plugged on her back and even the sheaths themselves actually differ in detail as well as the handle with one having the feather/fur/brush/whatever it is detail at the tip. XD

The choices of colors aren't something that totally amazed me but they are indeed spot on as well; if there's something I would nitpick on Youmu, it's to be her hair actually since GSC made it in a way that it looks like her hair is being blown by the wind and there aren't any other hairpiece available but still, like I said it's only nitpicking XD since I'm definitely sure Youmu's hair isn't always like that (correct me if I'm wrong though).

Of course, no Youmu is complete without her ghost half, Myon, and this nendo definitely comes along with it. Myon is made up of a bulk of clear plastic although unlike Yuyuko's spirit, I am not sure if Myon also glows in the dark.

Accessories:

Basically Youmu comes with a stand, like you've seen above, two types of sheathed katana with the brush-like material, and also a sheathed version of her other katana as well as the actual katanas themselves. Myon serves as her accessory if you want to put it at that; there are also a bunch of extra arms which can be used for dynamic poses (to be discussed later on) and what not.

Lastly, she comes with a two additional face plates; a serious one and an embarrassed/angry one which can be perfect for the anger nerve decals that comes with her (and I cannot use it since this special review of Youmu means it is not mine XD)

Now the reason why there are two types of the one of the katanas' sheathed version is because the other has a hole in it which you can insert onto the other's peg before attaching it to Youmu's back so that GSC can recreate her double sheath at the back perfectly. Also note that these sheathed versions have removable handles which can greatly help Youmu in making dynamic poses.

Lastly, her base is identical to Yuyuko's just in a different color however she use a rather old (and distasteful) clamp and a stand with a ball tip which can hold Myon.

Articulation:

Possessing the same types of joints as most nendos (nendo joints on the neck and hips and shoulder/waist swivels) Youmu is pretty much your average nendo in the general articulation BUT there's a catch to it, her base.

While having the very ability to be posed dynamically thanks to her arms and complimentary face, the stand just ruins the wonders of Youmu, basically, whenever you put Myon around (and which I did the entire shoot of this figure) Youmu's movement becomes soooo restricted and whenever you try to have her in a slashing or attacking pose, her lower half would always look pretty awkward because of the clamp and once she isn't properly supported by the old clamp, you won't be able to make her do mid air stuff.

So, ridiculously, it was her base that ruined the articulation factor. Not to mention that her sheath's peg is pretty darn thin it becomes a scary thought to do a wrong move as it might snap off without proper care. But again, if Myon proves too much of an annoyance, you can always get it out of the picture to enjoy a more decent play level.

Final Thoughts:

Had GSC used a stand similar to Yuyuko's or Cirno's or even made a different and more poseability friendly one since Myon is included, then Youmu would've been such a decent nendo as a stand alone. But still, again if you have Yuyuko, then better get Youmu for sure however, if you're not affected by it, I guess, I leave the choice to you since I really have mixed opinions on nendo Youmu. And that's about it, many thanks to my dear, homerunchan, for making this review possible. ^^

Rating (Out of 10)
Details	9.5
Accessories	10
Articulation	7.5
Price	9
Overall:	9

A Merry Christmas To All of You!

noreply@blogger.com (Murakami Night) — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 13:38:00 +0000

Santa lolis? How I wish they really exist!

I was out the house almost the entire day so here's a late greeting XD

I would say Xmas isn't so alive this year in our country for some reason, it's like a normal day and top it off since we can't put xmas decors due to tradition because as you might (or not) remember, my Dad died a few months ago. But hey, Xmas is still Xmas, a time of lovin and all XD So, to my fellow collectors, readers, friends and whatnot, a merry merry Xmas to all of you! I sure went pig mode today lololol! So, yeah, that's it for the greeting but... as the song says, there are 12 days of Xmas, so, let's enjoy it shall we and 2011 is soon ending as well. Whether the 2012 prophecy is true or not, let's just enjoy life as we know it and I sure am thanks to a certain Homerun-chan XP

Anyway, I guess I'll punch these in for my last Xmas wave and the actual Xmas gifts since they aren't orders, one of them is a gift from my sis (wooooot) while two others are bought by me since they're on ridiculous clearance. So yeah, that's it and a Merry Xmas again! XDDD

Good Smile Company's Upcoming 1/8 Saber and Saber Motored Cuirassier

noreply@blogger.com (Murakami Night) — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 13:04:00 +0000

God damn awesomeness

Am back from my Christmas joy, I know it's late but yeaaaah, I have to post it XD

So finally the first (correct me if I'm wrong) Fate/Zero scaled figure from GSC is here in the form of none other than Saber herself, rider an armored motorbike, while at the same time so full of win and dynamism. While single-handedly running the Cuirassier, her other arm holds the excaliburm definitely a full of win preview from GSC as the same with their recent 1/7 series works.

This dashing Saber comes dashing to retail stores on May 2012 for 13800 yen. Images and info from GSC's product page.

Review: [Kaiyodo] Sci-fi Revoltech no. 30 Optimus Prime

noreply@blogger.com (Murakami Night) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 16:45:00 +0000

Figure Information
Manufacturer:	Kaiyodo
Origin Series:	Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Scale:	Non-Scale
Height:	Approximately 14cm tall
Original Price:	3,800 Yen

Figure Box:

Remember my first sci-fi review? Well, yeah, the box size remains the same and it is pretty impressive how they manage to maintain the box dimensions for most of their releases. Anyway, going to the cover, while my previous reviews have a very cool box pose, I can't help but say that Optimus here has a rather non-impressive pose for his cover BUT like what subtext accompanies the Transformers for the beings they are, this certain Optimus Prime is more than meets the eye.

Figure Details:

Before I start with anything else, I'll immediately state that one of Sci-fi Optimus' crowning factors is the paint apps, and it's always the paint apps that I usually like in Revos and their mechas; what's even more surprising is that despite the ridiculous amounts of detail Optimus has (the flames and all), his finish is magnificently clean and spot on!

The details are intricately placed in everywhere you look at Prime and the revolver joints even hides perfectly on his entire build. I have to say that this is probably the best small scale movie Prime I've seen so far; I would nitpick on his eyes though, since they look weird at times because of the blue dot effect (especially on frontal inspection) but in this shoot, it is nothing but magnificent.

As for the height, well, he does fall short by a bit when standing next to a deluxe class of himself from the DotM toyline.

Accessories:

Optimus has a ridiculous amount of firearms, 5 different kinds actually with only 1 being the more movie accurate gun; he also comes with a pair of gripping hands and a pair of open hands. One of the biggest flaws of this pack is that he comes only with one blade, and as we all know and love this bloodlust Prime, he should've came with two. Lastly, he comes with the usual box case that comes with most revos and the nameplate that comes with all the sci-fi releases.

Prime's guns can be plugged in different parts of his body and you can obviously see it (examples on images below), there's also a hidden port on his arms where you'll need to remove the tab and shift its place.

I'd like to make use of some guns as smokestacks on his back lol but additionally, you have a lot of port holes on his guns which will allow you to create some sort of "there's no tomorrow" gun for your prime.

His blade uses a different revolver joint as it is smaller, you opt to attach it to his hidden port yet again as there is a smaller port there as well as on the back of his arm. Lastly, the hand itself can be replaced directlt by the blade as it uses the same type of revolver joint.

Articulation:

Prime is very well articulated as he has them revolver joints in a lot of parts in his body, and most of these are almost unhindered by Prime's limbs and whatnot providing Prime with a vast array of range for his posability. You can view the images below for articulation tests but two of the most noticeable points of articulation for him would be the transformed side windows on his chest and his toe joint which gives him a very very powerful ability to do a lot of dynamic poses as well as kneeling poses.

Probably the complaint I have for Prime's articulation is that his structure is pretty wobbly overall and sometimes this makes posing him a bit tricky; additionally, the piece I reviewed had loose hip joints which hinders me from doing high kicks for Prime which was advertised on his official shots, but I guess it's not a general case for the said figure.

Prime is definitely one of the most bad ass revoltechs I've encountered to date, he's very very posable and the better part? He can support dynamic poses by himself alone thanks to his toe joints which does magical feats, the guns also look cool given you don't turn them into the no tomorrow gun, lol.

As an additional feature for this review, I took 2 shots of him together with his G1 incarnate (also in revoltech rendition).

Lastly, as part of this special review (because I do not own this figure), the person owning this happens to have two pieces of Prime and so, I've done some shots featuring Prime having two blades equipped.

It's definitely a good setup and it really pains that you can only access this setup by owning two pieces of the said Revoltech.

Final Thoughts:

Optimus is definitely a highly recommended figure no doubt (and I will get one once I get extra cash to dish out). But the fact that he costs 3,800 yen at srp might not fulfill the worth accessory-wise since IMO, it's better if he had two swords instead of those extra ridiculous looking guns but aside from the accessory packing flaw, he's close to a perfect Prime figure for me. So yeah, it still depends on personal taste but yeah, if you do get one, I highly suggest getting an extra if you have cash to spare for the twin blade setup. So yeah, that's it for Prime's review and many many thanks to my sister, ShadowBladez, for making this review possible!

Rating (Out of 10)
Details	10
Accessories	9
Articulation	10
Price	9
Overall:	9.5

December Hauls: Christmas Finale

noreply@blogger.com (Murakami Night) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 03:35:00 +0000

And finally before the Xmas strikes in a few days...

Another wave of haulage 8D

I actually got these 5 last Saturday which was also Team Onii-chan's Xmas party, while I've paid for RQ and the pixtones long ago, it was only last Sat that I get to meetup with my friend who got it for me so, yeahhh, late haulage is a more appropriate term for it, lol.

As for Fei Yen, you'd probably know why I even got it in the first place, if you don't... clue: Miku?
Hahahaha, so, yeah, I finally got it from one of my suppliers and it's actually another first impression from another line.

Lastly, the Baka To Test box from Chara Ani contains Himeji XD I got from fellow collector, Mochaholic, from the xmas party's exchange gift. Thanks Mochaholic! :3

Anyway, that's it for now, hopefully there's still one more haulage left for the month XD ahaha