Daybreak's Bell

Revoltech Reycal Orichalcum preview

2009-07-18T16:15:00.005+08:00

It looks like that I may fall for another little action figurine next month -_-;;

Meet Reycal Orichalcum, from a relatively new manga series of the same name.

She will be released by Kaiyodo Revoltech on 15th August so these pictures are from a preview by Hobby Stock.

Reycal will be released under Kaiyodo Revoltech's Yamaguchi line (not Fräulein or Queen's Blade line). Standing at about 13cm, she will be around the same size as figmas, which is good news for me ^^

As for the manga, here's a sypnosis from Baka-Updates Manga:

Sakugi Mitsuaki is a poor college student who gets hooked on figure modeling. In return for helping his class he receives some special putty -- but the figure he builds with it suddenly comes to life. The figure is a life force called Orichalcum ("Oriharukon") that fulfills the wish of its creator. Their strange life together begins

I'm sure that an inanimate girl coming into life is not the first time for a manga/anime series already, but I hope this will be a good series should I decide to continue it after the first chapter.

Number of accessories (optional hands, faces, armour parts for Knight Reycal mode, and stand) looks fairly good. The Knight Eagle is not included here.

Hair has joints so you can fan them out for more dynamic poses, but I personally prefer the ones in figma Shana, which are a bit more subtle.

Hole-in-the-back like figmas. Judging from the fact that the Revoltech joints are pretty universal and my experience with Revoltech Airi, Reycal should also be compatible with the figma stands.

Reycal's bird-shaped armour Knight Eagle. Haven't come across this yet as I've only read the first chapter. Gotta say that the head doesn't look like that of a bird's though ^^;

Knight Eagle can combine with Reycal to form "Knight Reycal"

Action pose as Knight Reycal. Hope the stand can hold the figure just as well when the real product comes out.

Reycal holding an art knife...

... Which is to simulate this particular scene.
Manga extract from AnimeA

デレデレ ("dere dere", i.e. lovestruck)

Retail price for this will be 2400 Yen, which is just 100 yen cheaper than regular figmas. Both Hobby Search and HLJ has her up on pre-order.

First noticed this from Ngee Khiong, which is a little ironic as he mainly focuses on Gundams and mechas ^^; What's interesting though is that it's not mentioned much in many other places. Being roughly at the same size and price with figma, I'd say that it looks promising and a fair deal, but let's hope the real thing is as good as I hope.

Anyone planning on getting this? It could be just me, but she somehow looks a little broad at some angles, and some people even complained about her "thunder thighs", but nevertheless I think I might get this when it comes within a month's time :o

All images are from Hobby Stock

As for what I've got with the same price recently, here it is:

3 HGUC 1/144 GM Commands (800 Yen each)

"3? Have you gone nuts buying 3 of the same models?" Well, I tend to like grunt machines a bit more, so I've wanted to build at least 1 team of them (3 units) to get to match with the Zakus from Ground War Set, which I've got 2 of them sometime back in April. But hey, 3 cheap gunpla for the price of a figma isn't bad though (well at least for me ^^;)

Have been building the 4 tanks from the Ground War Set at the moment, and they are surprisingly detailed and a pain to panel line; perhaps reaching that of a MG gunpla XD This would surely require quite a bit of patience to get them all done, and I still have quite a backlog of other gunpla to do ^^;

Yokohama and Ramen Museum

2009-07-13T23:41:00.001+08:00

Back to the Japan trip last month:

After spending the first night eating and staying overnight in Manyo Club, we spent the second day looking around department stores as well as the Ramen Museum in Yokohama.

A lot of people waiting on the final minute before the department store opens.

Gundam pens, along with Ultramen pens on the left XD

For Gundam-related pens I see Zaku, Hyaku Shiki, Quebeley, and RX-78-2. However, they are too expensive (around 5000 Yen each) so I didn't consider getting one.

Kinokuniya book store, which took up a large portion of one of the department store's floor. T'is here where I got the Element Girls periodic table book for a friend of mine.

Banana case so you can safely put your precious banana in your bag without having to worry getting it crushed.

Seriously, Japan has all sorts of stuff there ^^;

We took a JR line and got off at Shin-Yokohama station, which is actually underneath a Bic Camera department store.

Heading out for the Ramen Museum.

Here it is, the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum (新横浜ラーメン博物館). It's perhaps worth noting that the English name there intentionally spells ramen as "raumen".

Went into the lower section of the museum, which takes you back in time and appreciate how Tokyo looks like in the late 50s.

Map showing the old Tokyo / lower section of the Ramen Museum

A blackboard notice with Astro Boy drawing saying that the smoking area is nearby

The central area of the old Tokyo. Other than ramen shops out there, there are also game stalls for little kids to play, as well as decorational shops and people dressed in that time to bring that nostalgic atmosphere.

Ice lollies of various flavours.

There are at least 9 famous ramen shops you can try out yourself in the museum. For those who want to fully appreciate different ramens from different regions, please do come in with a very, very hungry stomach ^^;

Different flavours of ramune are available, but what's with the odd ones such as curry flavour, kimchi flavour, and wasabi flavour on the bottom right?! XD

Ramen croquette - tried one in miso flavour, and it sort of has some taste of ramen, but sort of not ^^;

On the upper floor (which is the ground floor), there are displays and educational information all about ramen. Here is part of the history of ramen.

A touchscreen interaction shows that the Japanese up north eats a larger amount of ramen than those in the south.

Diagram showing various flavours of ramen used in Japan. The brown colour shows that shouyu (soy sauce) is the most common one of all.

There are displays of different kinds of ramen bowls in terms of shapes and artwork

History and development of instant noodles.

Instant noodles all over the world. Recognise any that appears in your region?

Babystar ramen - we have these in Hong Kong too, where they are known as 童星點心麵

Older packages of the said snack noodles. I did see them briefly back in the old days before getting replaced with the one above.

Neko Rahmen merchandise. According to Wikipedia, Neko Rahmen is a Japanese flash anime series based on a yonkoma, which revolves around a cat and his encounters running a ramen shop.

Yummy pudding we've bought in a pudding stand on the first floor of SOGO. The pyrex glasses can be used as measuring cups as it has markings on them. My sister got a limited Yokohama 150th anniversary version :o

We went back to Ikebukuro by nightfall, which is where we stayed for the hotel. Here is a small dish of chicken which is cooked with charcoal. Can't remember the name but in Chinese it's known as 炭燒雞.

Different kinds of yakitori, great to go with alcoholic drinks

親子飯 (oyakodon), rice bowl with egg and chicken

Sashimi rice bowl of some kind, forgot what it's called

Sorry if it seems a little rushed, but will get the food captions sorted by Wednesday night as my sister knows them better than I do.

Lots of food again here and there. Got any you like there? I really wished that I could eat a few more bowls of ramen before leaving the ramen museum. By the time we finished our dinner and got into our hotel rooms in Ikebukuro we pretty much crashed out; we didn't sleep on a proper bed for 2 nights with a fair amount of trekking here and there in Yokohama.

That's it for now. Will get this post sorted out a bit more tomorrow night!

One Year of Daybreak

2009-07-08T23:24:00.004+08:00

Sometime this day last year, a new blog was born, just like any other daybreak one would see in a typical morning.

To the new visitors, I welcome you and thank you for stopping by.

To the returning readers, I thank you for coming back to my humble blog.

Not surprisingly, this is one of those "anniversary" post thats you may have seen on some other blogs already. Personally, I am not into the milestone or statistics, so rather than going into the numbers why not just sit back and know how all this got started?

Like many fellow bloggers with similar interests, I have started blogging in the summer last year. Due to the fact that I do have an interest towards a variety of things, I have decided to narrow my blog's focus to Gundam, figures, Hong Kong (where I live), Japan, and the otaku subculture in general. It may still seem a little varied for some, but for me I am happy with what I am blogging about already.

Originally there was a blog before this with the same URL known as Q's Random Journal, which I had around for about 4 years but I didn't do much blogging on it, and the stuff I did blog about were woefully varied, as if there's no sense of focus or direction at all.

How my blog used to look like

When it came to July last year, I gave some more serious thought about blogging after following a few blogs that offered me some inspirations, namely Ngee Khiong and Danny Choo. At the end I have decided to delete the old blog but start a new one under the same URL. However it took me a while to come up with a new blog name.

Although hardly ever mentioned in my blog, the band L'arc~en~Ciel was where I got the blog's name from

Those who know what Daybreak's Bell is would know that it is an opening theme song from a J-Rock band called L'arc~en~Ciel for the anime series Gundam 00. Other than listening to Japanese songs from various anime series, they're the only artists whose songs that I would actually focus and listen to. Having the oppurtunity to attend their only concert performance in Hong Kong, I ended up naming my blog Daybreak's Bell. For me the title (not the song itself) was symbolising a new start, as if with light shimmering from utter darkness it gives me a new direction to head out for, unlike what I have done with my old blog which was like poking around in a state of astray.

Getting back into blogging is quite interesting. Over this timespan of one year I have met a lot of fellow bloggers, exchanged links with some, as well as maintaining contact with them. I have met blogs that specialise on the Gundam franchise, those who solely focus on PVC figures, some who share a bit of both or even be blogging a lot about various Japanese things. There's been quite a lot of colours I have witnessed in the blogosphere, and it is overall a positive experience.

Kotobukiya's Candy Bikini Shana was my first ever PVC figure

As for how the blog is heading now, I will still focus on what I am blogging on at the moment, but with one more thing: to get people to understand and appreciate Hong Kong more than they used to so they don't find it more foreign than, say Japan, which is where a lot of my hobby and interests are influenced from.

I am not looking for "hits" or "popularity" particularly, but just sharing my common interest with others (anime, figures, Gundams), perhaps showing them in a different perspective or opinion, is what I want to do. However, each comment that you have given me has mean so much to me, and I want to thank you for your support all this time!

Last but not least, I want to thank those who helped inspired me to resume blogging, as well as those who have continued to support me throughout this year (in no particular order):

Ngee Khiong, Apt-1B, GunStray, zenical, Lightning Sabre, gordon, Otaku Dan, Blowfish, konadora, Roy, Saku, valho, Willie, Optic, seven6398, Jacques, James, meronpan, RyoBase, Danny Choo, T.I.P., radiant, Snark, persocom, vixion, blood on the mirror, Z, gndynames, AstrayP03, suki, and many more

Great apologies if I have miss anyone out there, but you can inform me should I have carelessly forgotten you so I can add it on the credits.

To finish off, and let's celebrate with a birthday cake, the 08th MS Team's way!

Revoltech Airi

2009-07-06T18:52:00.001+08:00

Got this from a shop last Friday, but didn't have the time to open it until last night. Anyway, let's have a look how Revoltech's Queen's Blade acion figure Airi fare, and whether it is worth me spending 195HKD on it.

(Note: This is NOT a full review due to the erotic nature of the figure, as well as the lack of time recently)

Revoltech's Airi is the second figure in the Queen's Blade line, which is just released on 1st July. Perhaps not surprisingly, she is much more popular than Reina (released last month), as she's sold out in many shops already. Hongkongers surely are quick and ruthless on these things o_o;;;

Standing side-by-side next to figma Shana and Haruhi. Unlike the Fräulein line, the similarity in height between the 2 different lines make them more playable with each other. Definitely a good thing there ^^

The ghostly flame parts can be attached to her ponytails. Took me some time to push it in though. The hole for attaching the flame part can be seen on the left.

Each ponytail has a revoltech joint just like the rest of the joints. You can actually take the ponytail off so you can attach or remove the flame parts easier. Additionally you can twist the ponytails so the unsightly hole can be twisted out of sight when not using the flame parts.

Changing the faces is pretty simple. Lift the front piece of the hair and change the face pieces. Due to the fact that the front piece is not a removable but moves like a flap, some people don't like the T-shaped seamlines on top of the head.

The hands for holding the scythe seem rather natural-looking (unlike figma's hole-in-the-hands), so you have to somehow push the scythe into the hands and hope it won't fall off.

Airi's legs seem a little loose (apparently it is the case for others who bought her too), but she can still stand straight alright.

The stand requires assembly, but it is pretty easy to set up and it uses the same joints as the figure itself.

Airi with all the flame parts (including the alternate scythe blade) attached.

The arm can hold the figure alright, though I somehow find it not as sturdy as the figma counterpart as it can sway left and right a bit.

Revoltech action figures revolves around revoltech joints. Which means most many joints use common parts (e.g. all leg joints, waist, and neck joints etc. are all the same; ponytail and wrists joints use smaller ones). The joints can be pulled out easily (well nearly all of them for me), supposedly for easy swapping should one get damaged or worn out, but according to Ngee Khiong, who has a Revoltech SFO Chun-Li, revoltech joints are pretty durable even if you play with one for a lot.

The two different chest piece (each has 4 pegs) for the maid's top. You can have neither piece on Airi so you try to appreciate her exposed chest in full glory, but at the same time you will have to cope with the 4 unsightly holes around it.

Here is the M mode (負け Mode / Defeat mode?) with the burst chest piece visually covered by the hand

Tried to exchange the damaged kneesock leg parts too for the M mode, but couldn't remove the joint on the thigh from the original leg, and I didn't want to force it so I gave up -_-

All Revoltech action figures now come with a little box for storing small parts. Even the leg can fit inside there, but there's no home for the alternate scythe blade to reside -_-

Funny enough, figma stands are compatible with Revoltech Airi - definitely a good thing there~ ^^

The exposable chest aside, the other thing I have not mentioned (confirmed on forums) is that the lower undergarment can be removed, and in addition to that the details beneath it are there too... I have seen some cast-offables figures before, but having the lower part of the body being exposable too is one of the firsts for me, much to my surprise. Without a doubt this is one erotic figure to have, should you decide to go all hell on it. o_o;;

Overall, good articulations, good proportions and look as well as the fair price (retail price is only slightly more expensive than regular figmas), Revoltech's Airi is a good buy for me. The new size makes it playable with the figmas too. It looks like that Revoltech is slowly competing in the bishoujo action figure market. The upcoming Reycal Orichalcum (not from Queen's Blade) looks quite attractive too, even though I know nothing about the character or the manga.

Might add a few more pictures later but that will do for now :o

Chilling in Yokohama

2009-06-30T23:59:00.000+08:00

Sorry for taking so long to get this, but there's a lot of photos to comb out. Without delay, let's get into the first day of my trip to Japan this year.

Surprisingly, our first stop is not anywhere in Tokyo, but in Yokohama. So we took a bus straight from the airport (Haneda) to Yokohama.

Charging the Suica card. We keep them from the previous journey last year (and the year before) so we don't have to purchase individual tickets all the time. Another good thing is that Suica cards don't seem to have expiry dates, therefore we can keep them for future trips.

We planned not to spend our first night in a hotel, so we stored our suitcases in the lockers inside the train station.

Close the door, confirm the locker number, present the Suica card to pay for the fee and voila, it's done. A receipt appears afterwards for reference. To open it, just present the Suica card. There will be extra charge for storing items longer than 1 day.

Alternatively, there are coin lockers, which means instead of using Suica card to pay you insert a coin and take the key out after locking your content inside. My sister used them often for storing her shopping stuff so she can shop some more without having to carry them around.

World Porters, a huge mall that we have spent inside for the afternoon.

A panda with scary glowing eyes XD

Lunch: Omurice (オムライス) - literally rice within a huge omelette.

Dog sculptures made out of charcoal. These are surely impressive! Apparently having charcoal in your room is good for absorbing odours, but I am not sure.

Yokohama is celebrating its 150th anniversary of opening of its port, and therefore there are various souvenir and goods here and there. Here are the starwberry cheesecake flavour KitKats.

A quick picture of the mall's ground floor

Dinner in Manyo Club (part 1 - Tonkatsu + Curry

Dinner part 2 - I think was a little hungry that night

Dessert - An ice-cream of matcha (抹茶) and vanilla flavour

Tuna roll - even though I am not really into seafood, I somehow really like tuna and salmon sushi

Hot spring egg, or onsen tamago (温泉卵) - which are semi boiled eggs.

Looking at the Cosmo Clock 21 ferris wheel from the roof of Manyo Club. It normally displays its lights like a clock, but does some fancy light 'performance' every 15 minutes. A great sight at the nighttime I gotta say~

Well, that ends the first day of my trip to Japan. It was the first time we didn't spend in a hotel for the first day of a trip. We arrived pretty early that day and didn't sleep much as it was a late flight and around 4 hours of flight, so we didn't do much and spent most of the time relaxing in Manyo Club. Hope you like the photos so far. Will get around to day 2 sometime next week.

Inside a Shokugan Shop

2009-06-25T23:00:00.002+08:00

Here it is: the shokugan shop that I've mentioned before in the previous post. As promised, I will show you what a shokugan shop looks like (what is a shokugan?), and to a small extent, how it is like to bump into a small trendy shop in Hong Kong. Ready to have look?

Entering the shop, one will notice the small but typical size of the shop, usually less than 3m in width or length. Shopkeepers have to make really good use of the space to stuff in as much stuff as possible but still make good display for the items.

On the left there's a huge shelf of many sorts of shokugans, ranging from weapons, trucks, warplanes, down to guitars, and trading figures too.

Dragon Ball stuff. Despite it being one of the most watched anime out there I didn't really watch much of it.

A 1/400 Big Zam surrounded by many little Magella Attack tanks. When it comes to Gundams he's a fan of grunts of the grunts, namely Magella Attack and Ball ^^;

Various trading figures. How many do you recognise there?

The red robot at the back is Robocon from a Japanese TV series Ganbare!! Robocon. It was pretty popular in Hong Kong as well, where it is known as 小露寶.

A closer look on some of the shokugans on the shelf. Closely packed together we see different kinds of shokugans here. Didn't notice that there's one for Peter Pan until I was blogging this. o_o

Various Kamen Rider (aka Masked Rider) action figures on top of the shelves.

Various Gundam and mecha stuff, as well as 2 antique High Complete Model (HCM) of Nu Gundam and Auge at the back.

More antique toys from anime series including Casshern, Blocker Army/Corps, and Combat Mecha Xabungle. I seriously know nothing about them ^^;

The vintage Gundam Mk II, ZZ Gundam, and Z Gundam. While nothing compared to MGs today, they awere some of the earliest (completed) action models out there when the series came out, and are very rare now.

As for the shopkeeper himself, I know him several years ago as military shokugans were much more popular back then, and I always came back to his shop for more releases. Yep, and this means more than half of my 1/144 tank collection (and most aircrafts) are purchased from him. Soon we knew each other and became friends.

Even though there are far fewer shokugan releases related to military now, I still come by and visit his shop to have a chat now and then. Running a small shop by himself isn't easy; having to decide what to stock in and sell them at competitive prices yet enough to keep the cash flow steady is not easy, and he admits that he doesn't earn much daily. One mistake and you can have a lot of surplus goods left behind and no one wants them even for a price that you'll not earn a profit. Nevertheless he continues to do his job as he likes the hobbies he sells, and there's a demand for them afterall. I was happy that the stuff I've bought for him from my trip really satisfied him, and such little things mean a lot to him already.

I want to thank him for kindly allowing me to take pictures of his shop, and you for stopping by and reading about this. Really do hope that you'll get to appreciate how the shops are like and how it is not easy to run one! Do you have shops like that in your area or in a trip, and if you've met them before how's your experience on them?

Back from Japan

2009-06-21T16:27:00.004+08:00

ただいま, 我回來了, I'm back.

It's a long week, and I was pretty exhausted after the trip. Came back really early this morning, and finally got time to settle down and blog.

Not surprisingly, anybody who would have returned from a trip, an expo, or an event etc will usually come back with something. The "loot", as we commonly call these days, is shown here on my bed. However a huge portion of the right are not mine but are for friends of mine.

No PVC figures? That's right, but you may or may not know that I am not much of a figure collector anyway, and there weren't any that are in my mind at the moment so haven't bought one (if you don't count the figmas in that is).

Star Wars Vehicle Collection 2 - 1/144 scale shokugan toys I have bought for a friend who runs a shokugan shop (in fact he's the guy who I got a lot of my tanks from). Will talk about his shop one day.

For those who do not know what shokugans are, you can have a quick read right here.

Another one for him: JWings Navy & Marines Freak secret item - F/A-18 Hornet Top Gun version. Really hard to find as this one is not only a secret item, but can originally only be bought and randomly picked in Circle K Sunkus convenience stores, making it even rarer than other hobby items (including figures).

One for my friend who studies chemistry: Element Girls - a chemistry book with each element represented by a moe looking girl. Maybe those who hate science will now give it a second chance somehow? (laughs)

For more info, you can check out what it is about on Trends in Japan.

My stuff from here on. Second hand PS2 games: AEUG vs Titans and Gundam vs Z Gundam. The latter could be an enhanced version of the first game, so making the first one redundant, but I will have to check. Not a big problem as they are pretty cheap anyway.

Gunpla parts: GN Launcher parts for 1/100 Astraea, Zaku weapons parts for 1/144 HGUC models, and a kit of battle axe and some long rifle from Kotobukiya for any mecha models (looks cool and cheap so I bought one for fun).

Now I can have double GN Launchers for my Astraea~ ^^

Couldn't find the head parts for HG 1/144 Slaughter Dagger as the horn/fin of one of mine broke a while ago. Oh while he can live with a compromised one I've given him which looks kinda weird though...

Discrimination among the gunpla. And yes I do have 3 of these guys.

figma Haruhi (summer uniform ver.) and figma Fate T Harlaown. Fate is ridiculously rare in Hong Kong for some silly reasons of distribution issue so I've decided to buy another one just in case. As for Haruhi, well, I can't resist a good price and a ponytail (laughs), and I got a blue schoolbag too.

1/100 Gundam Exia Roll Out Colour ver, an event limited item that I kinda wanted for a while. Cost me an arm to acquire though o_o...

And finally, Ex Model 1/144 Hildolfr. This one is huge (!), and it costs me another arm to purchase! This strange looking hybrid between a Mobile Suit and a tank is from the second episode of MS IGLOO: The Hidden One Year War. Never quite caught the reason why Ex Models are so much more expensive than other gunpla models though...

Maybe this gets slightly closer to what I want mentioned in my random post about this secret ambition thing a few days ago. ^^;

That's it for now. I did take some photos, and it will take a while to sort out. Meanwhile I still have quite a backlog of blogs to read, as well as anime to watch, and gunpla to build (not at least to say I have to do some betatesting for a mod too!). It looks like that I will have a heck of a time on the catchup right now

Secret Ambition

2009-06-16T12:00:00.003+08:00

Secret Ambition by Nana Mizuki for Nanoha StrikerS opening theme

Hey, lemme tell you a little secret while I am away: My biggest ambition in terms of what I would love to get one day.

A figure? No.

A Gundam? Nope.

Hmph... Tanks? Close, but not quite.

Then what will it be?

This:

What on earth is that, you may ask. It's the Schwerer Gustav by - a German railway gun back in World War Two. It was the biggest gun ever made in history, and only 2 were made. This is a 1/144 scale replica of the gigantic weapon by the Hong Kong company "Metal Troops", well known for their highly detailed yet pricey completed military miniatures, as well as their limited quanitity per production. ^^;

HLJ has an item page for it, and it was at a whooping 72000 Yen~ Long sold out too ^^;

Item description from HLJ below:

"The incredibly massive German Dora rail gun of WWII featured a huge 80cm cannon, but was only used for a total of 13 days, with only 48 shells being fired. It took 25 trainloads of equipment, 2,000 men, and six weeks to assemble the monstrous gun at the firing location.

Previously offered as a plastic assembly kit, this Dora is now available from Fujimi as a fully assembled and expertly painted display model, complete with base and clear acrylic case. The detail is amazing, the finish is astounding, and the size is impressive!"

With its gun elevated, the whole gun's height can put even a Gundam of the same scale to shame, seriously o_o

Fujimi's plastic model kit is cheaper at a regular price of 8000 Yen (which is just as hard to find), but still it would require a lot of materials and skill to assemble it and make it look good - definitely not something for casual modelers, perhaps even to some military modelers.

Image from Hobby Search

Why so expensive? It's a resin kit, and the level of details for vehicles and machines are different to those for figurines; they're quite different form of arts afterall.

But the problem is, even if I am willing to spend so much on this, I wonder where I can have the space to put it. To be honest I don't even have a clue where to put the upcoming 1/7 Alter Fate when that comes in August (hopefully without delay)... @_@

Appreciating different kinds of things is nice, as I can understand what more and more about people's hobbies and tastes rather than alienating them. It's not easy to have a wide interest and yet to be equally focused on them, but it's doable. Looking at these metallic beasts reminded me that although I have shifted my collection towards other stuff these days, I am still and have always been a military enthusiast of some degree. ^^

Sounds ambitious, doesn't it? ^^;

Anyway, that shall end my random scheduled post. What will your most wanted and ambitious item be? Or is it not something physical?

All images are from ACITOYS unless otherwise stated

Off to Japan

2009-06-13T01:15:00.000+08:00

From a MG Acguy promotional poster

By the time you've read this, I should be on my way to Japan. The chance of me getting access to Internet is pretty slim, so I will be probably out of touch until 20th or 21st. Who knows, I might make a mysterious appearance somehow while I am away.

Have been busy recently so wasn't able to keep up with the blogroll. Will try and keep up with it once I come back! Oh btw don't expect me to be back with tons of loots like you see in dannychoo.com as I am usually not much of a spender, but we shall see.

Well then, it's time to stop writing. Time to go!

Japan Trip Confirmed

2009-06-09T14:04:00.001+08:00

A very short post, but just to say that my trip with my family to Japan is confirmed - I will be in Tokyo from 13th to 20th of June.

While Akihabara and the 1:1 Gundam ~~under construction~~ completed in Odaiba will definitely be on my list, we are still planning where else we will go together as a group. My sister said that we will spend the first day in Yokohama, and they will also spend some time shopping in Shibuya and Harajuku (which can be an excuse for me to go to Akihabara by myself). For those who know other places worth visiting, please do let me know as suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Terrific Impulse Purchase

2009-06-03T23:16:00.002+08:00

I know there's a lot of us who do quite a bit of impulse purchase (or more colloquially "impulse buy"), but have you seen someone spending this much in a short period of time?

(Btw this crazy loot is NOT mine >_<;)

Someone on ToysDaily forum has made a thread saying that his wife is away from Hong Kong for an undisclosed period of time, therefore he's been using this oppurtunity to buy whatever he wants. Without a doubt of all kinds, he's on impulse shopping spree. I thought Blowfish's recent big parcel of doom was impressive enough already, but I was wrong - this one here is a Terrific Impulsive Purchase (TIP):

(I have tried to track down as many items there as possible with Hobby Search, but some are unknown to me or are limited items)

Masked Rider I & Cyclone

2 Masked Rider (aka Kamen Rider) Deluxe Type figures

Transformers Masterpiece MP8 Grimlock

Transformers Disney Label Mickey Mouse

Transformers Alternity Nissan GTR (Vibrant Red) - thanks to darkie13 for pointing it out

Volks Dollfie Dream Saber

figma Seto

figma Konata

figma Kagami

figma Saber Lily + Fate/Unlimited Code PS2 Game x2 (2 of them!)

Revoltech Gurren Lagann

Revoltech Enki

Revoltech Ingram

Revoltech King-Gainer

GFFMC Z Plus (Red)

GFFMC Z Plus (Blue, limited)

GFFMC Z II

GFFMC Psycho Gundam Hong Kong Night ver. (Tamashii Nation 2009 limited item)

Brave Gohkin AV-98 Ingram 1 & 2 (Movie Version) (Sale on HLJ right now)

Macross 1/60 25th Anniversary YF-19

2 Saint Seiya figures - need someone to help me on this orz

I've pretty much lost count on how much he has spent on this TIP - it's definitely somewhere on 6 digit in Yen (the Dollfie is definitely the biggest contributer to such hefty number). One commented on the forum that what he spent is probably some white collar's monthly salary already, if not more... o_O

The effect of impulse purchase can be scary; the longer one has tried to refrain from shopping and/or being in a low mood beforehand, the greater the effect. The greater the effect, the less resistant one becomes when facing an item s/he wants.

Now I wonder how he will try and explain this to his wife when she comes back ^^;

All images are from ToysDaily Forum

End of May

2009-05-30T22:52:00.002+08:00

It's end of May, and the two Zakus pestering me... I mean real life stuff that got me all occupied this month are finally gone!

So much for a David and Goliath thing...

Kinda felt that I am a little behind on blog posts, but that's ok as I have foretold it in the beginning of May. Now I just have to take my time catching up with the rest of the blogroll, as well as a bit of the anime backlog.

As promised, I will get started on Toradora! tonight. Didn't watch it while it was being aired as I was occupied with Gundam 00 and Clannad After Story already. While Danny Choo didn't seem to like it upon first impression, lots of people seem to like the whole series very much, so I need to see it myself how well the Kugimiya disease does this time round... ^^;

On the other hand, I kinda feel anticipated to the Kyou chapter for Clannad, which will be out on 1st July. Both Fujibayashi sisters look quite solemn there, and Kyou seems to look older than usual in the screencaps.

Image from Moetron - the scan is about one month old though

That's it for now. I'm going home in a week, so I will be much more active with gunpla and things back in Hong Kong. Who knows, I might be going to Tokyo sometime next month with my family as well, but that's not confirmed at the moment. Will keep things updated from now onwards :o

PhotoFunia

2009-05-25T23:27:00.001+08:00

Recently ToysDaily forum is having a craze with PhotoFunia, an online photo editing tool that allows you to upload a photo or picture and get it blended with an existing template to make it look as if your picture is in a real life photo.

I too have made a few for fun. Making one is really easy (just choose an effect and upload a picture), so now you don't have to be amazing with Photoshop and get something result as good as using one~

A Haruhi puzzle - should see her in long hair sometime in this new season. Speaking of the new Haruhi anime series what do you think about it?

I personally really like how this one came out ^^
Brownie points for those who find the original picture in my blog~

All hail Lelouch!

The MG boxart of Strike Noir blends in quite well with the background.
The location here is actually Ximending (西門町) of Taipei

DON'T ask me what the girl on the right is doing there o_O;;;

I need to start watching Toradora! once this hectic month's over.
For those who are curious, this screenshot is actually from a PSP game I've mentioned some time ago.

An exclusive figma for upcoming PSP game Queen's Blade Spiral Chaos. The character is an original character called Cute (キュート). Not the most original name for a character though ^^;

Making good and/or funny pictures require good selection of pictures and some creativity. Mine are just a few random examples, and there are a lot of good examples at ToysDaily forum as well. So what are you waiting for? Get some done now as I want to see yours too! ^^

Japanese Food from Kumamoto

2009-05-19T22:18:00.004+08:00

Closing the stage for my sister's Kumamoto trip, here I am showing the lovely food she's been having back in December... In pain.

Why in pain, you may ask? That's because I wasn't there with her, so now I can only look at them (along with you) and wish I can go back home asap orz.

This post will again be predominantly pictures with very little to no captions. If you do wanna know what certain food is I can try and ask my sister when I have the time.

1. Larger view of the sashimi bowl above

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9. This katsudon looks great even for a ready meal...

10. That package on the bottom right are some chicken nuggets from convenient store Lawson (which means that the katsudon is likely from the same place too). Oh and yes my sister is a big fan of NEWS, mainly Yamashita Tomohisa.

11. Ajisen Ramen, a chain ramen restaurant. It is based in Kumamoto in Kyushu, therefore my sister managed to have the chance to visit the original store.

12.

13.

14.

More noodles:

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20. Some tea to finish things off (was the first pic of this post)

Got any you like, or rather got a favourite out of all those meals? I personally am a sucker for ramen, so I won't hesitate to have at least 2 bowls of them any moment ^^;

Previous postings on Kumamoto:

Mount Aso

Kumamoto Castle

Kumamoto Trip

Gundam OYW Gallery

2009-05-14T23:00:00.002+08:00

A knock to Otaku Dan's 2D girls galleries (outbound link slightly NFSW), here instead of presenting pretty girls partially unclothed or posing in a seductive way, I present you some Gundam related pictures based on the One Year War (OYW) of Universal Century, where anime series such as Mobile Suit Gundam, The 08th MS Team, and Gundam 0080 took place.

Well, having something different won't hurt right? ^^;

Anyway, click on the images to view them in full size~

And last but not least, a classic scene to finish it off:

Hope you like the pictures~ ^^

Ahoge

2009-05-10T10:20:00.004+08:00

Finishing off an old post before heading back into the mud...

Nekomimi Shana and her huge ahoge on her head

Ahoge (アホ毛), aka silly hair or foolish hair, is a lock of hair that sticks out on an anime character's head.

It is a visual cue to identify/symbolise silliness, clumsiness, carefreeness or other similar character traits. A lot of characters (usually girls) have them across a lot of series, so I will just list a few examples here:

Saber from Fate/Stay Night

Konata Izumi from Lucky Star

Shana from Shakugan no Shana
(Different hair style and attire but it's still Shana there)

Other characters that have ahoge in the series include ~~loser~~ Yuuji and Ogata.

Nakajima Subaru (right),

And Reinforce II from Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS, showing different shapes of ahoge

Other characters such as Vita and Caro have them too.

Furukawa Naigsa from CLANNAD

Nagisa's ahoge is usually known as "hair antennae", as she has more than one lock of hair and are like those antennae of an ant. Her parents have them as well (i.e. hereditary ^^;)

Yukine (right) has an ahoge too - nearly forgot about hers too.

Minami Chiaki from Minami-ke

Chiaki's is rather special as it is shaped rather differently, and moreso it can move as if it's alive... o_O

Ahoge are not limited to girls only; guys can have them too (~~loser~~ Yuuji was briefly mentioned above):

Edward Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist, the ahoge can be seen on him and his chbi version on the club ^^;

There are too many characters with ahoge, and I may have even missed some from the anime series I have mentioned above (do tell me if I do). Do you like characters with ahoge, or is it something that hasn't bothered you much?

I feel that while ahoges can sometimes be insignificant as a physical cue to character apperance, they sometimes do add some characteristics and become part of the character. Imagine seeing Nagisa without her hair antennae for example, one may think that something missing around her (if you know what I mean).

Oh and an omake to finish off:

Konata door hanger, from げんれい工房

All anime screencaps are from Random Curiosity

Mayday

2009-05-04T23:47:00.002+08:00

It's May, and things will get a bit hectic for me this month.

"What? You're asking me to take down the two Zakus all by myself?!"

Which means I will have to spend less time on blogs for the time being (i.e. this month, hence the title).

I will still continue to blog whenever I am free and the time is right for me.

But if I do happen to have disappeared, you will now know that I am trying my best fending off the Zakus at this moment... I mean getting things focused and sorted in real life.

If I have 200 dollars...

2009-04-30T23:00:00.001+08:00

... Hong Kong dollars, that is. ^^;

Hong Kong dollar (HKD) is pegged by the United States dollar (i.e. fixed exchange rate), so 200HKD roughly equals to 25USD. So what can I get with that amount of money, or rather what did I get with such amount for each purchase?

A figma?

Most 2500 Yen figma such as Shana cost about that price or slightly lower in Hong Kong, unless it's a hard-to-find one.

Or 4 light novels that Shana is sitting on right now?

I've started reading Shakugan no Shana novels sometime last year, but as I am a slow reader, my progress on it is slower than a snail at the moment... ^^;;

Or some gunpla?

The price of gunpla varies from scale and date (bigger and/or newer ones are more expensive, and vice versa), but generally I can grab around 2-3 1/144 or one 1/100 (non Master Grade) and one 1/144 with that amount of money.

Or even some military stuff?

I buy fewer military models now as there are fewer releases these days. But something like this WWII beach landing diorama as shown abobe was quite a good get for me. I have yet to open mine as I was seriously distracted by this back then... -_-

As you can see, what I can/did buy with 200 dollars can be quite varied (from figma to gunpla to military), which kinda shows how my interest starts to get a bit more diverse these days.

Getting diverse at what I like can be good, as I can start understand different people with different hobbies more and more. On the other hand, getting too diverse can also be... A little dangerous, as I am prone to even more temptations than I used to be. @_@

What will you get if you have 200HKD or 25USD in your hands right now? Figures? Gunpla? Manga? CDs/DVDs? Games? Or is it not enough for you to buy anything? XD

figma mods

2009-04-27T23:41:00.000+08:00

figma modding is getting better and better, and they can be so good that's it can be hard to tell that they can be easily mistakened as official ones. Let's see some of the custom figmas that are mentioned on the official figma blog~

An original character made out of Shana and Miku, now looking really dark and hardcore~ ^^

figma Ultraman. My knowledge of Ultraman is rather poor so I don't know which one this is specifically...

Shiki Ryougi from Kara no Kyoukai, a light novel series from Type-Moon that got adapted into an anime movie series

Yomi Isayama (諌山黄泉) from anime and manga series Ga-rei.

Fate in True Sonic Form!

Found this Shana familiar? Yep it's yui_style's Shana that I mentioned a while ago.

Btw the meronpan there is not real; it's actually a look-alike toy/replica. Not only does it look like a real one, it feels like one and even smells like one too! o_O

Another great work by yui_style which I've also mentioned - figma Lacus Clyne.

Some of the more well known custom figma work are from 盗賊長門の人:

Taiga Aisaka from anime and light novel series Toradora! I personally find her face a tad bit off, but it's nevertheless a great work.

Kyon's sister from the Haruhi franchise. This one looks just like her in the anime o_o......

The SOS-dan girls in their RPG attire. With Haruhi being the exception (as she comes with a PS2 game), Thief Nagato and Mage Mikuru are both custom made according to how they look like in the game!

With so many great custom figmas out there, it can be quite hard for me to find my favourite (okay Fate in True Sonic form if I were to be biased ^^;). What will your favourite be, or is there another one out there that's yet to be mentioned? Share your thoughts!

Evolution of Game Graphics

2009-04-22T23:13:00.001+08:00

Mild digression here...

This screenshot here (not a photo) shows the lovely Wake Island portrayed in the upcoming game Battlefield 1943. Kinda feel like taking a stroll there all of a sudden ^^;

They say technologies go 一日千里, or one day thousand miles, and it is indeed the case. Below 4 sets of screenshots show how much Wake Island has changed graphically in Battlefield 1942 (released in 2002), Battlefield 2 (released in 2005), and the upcoming Battlefield 1943 (to be released this year).

Based on a real island of the same name and a real battle, this map has been very popular with the players and was remade into different games. While seeing a recurring character back in a new game is fairly common, seeing a recurring map isn't quite so ^^;

Being a Battlefield 1942 player (albeit a poorly skilled one orz), it's impressive to see how far game graphics can evolved over these years. One can imagine how 3D graphics were just starting to take off significant just over a decade ago, and now it's getting more and more breathtaking or indistinguishable with real life stuff. I sometimes do wonder, how would games look in another 10 years' time? :o

All images are from Total Gaming Network

VF-25 Fate Testarossa ver.

2009-04-18T23:50:00.006+08:00

We had Itasha, Itansha, Itachari, and even an Ita-GM, and here we have an Ita-Valkyrie (variable fighter from anime Macross Frontier) featuring Fate Testarossa from the Nanoha series.

This VF-25 plamo is made by rakigako2, a dedicated Fate fan who has shown his work on ToysDaily forum. I'll leave the pictures to do the telling, since a picture is worth a thousand words ^^

Battroid mode:
Side-by-side with 2 other Valkyries

Fighter mode:
That's where the beauty shines in my opinion~

Omake:

Beautiful custom decal sheet, and is self made too O_O

No pictures of Gerwalk mode available though.

Want to make your own?
rakigako2 has some tips for DIY decal sheet:

Buy clear decal sheet(s)

Use software to design the decals (mainly rearranging and resizing images)

Use ink jet printer to print (or laser printer if you have one)

Use at least 3 layers of top coat (a must, and first 1-2 coating should be water based)

If the model is of dark colour(s), then use white decal sheet(s) instead

As far as I know, Macross plamos are not cheap, and their decals are not easy to apply (there are a lot of them!). This one simply made my jaws dropped for a while, and it looks really nice even for an Ita-Valkyrie~

Big thumbs up for rakigako2's effort on making this Ita-Valkyrie, and his dedication towards Fate!

Speaking of Fate, I've just finished watching Nanoha StrikerS tonight, and it's nice to see her in action (albeit a little short and limited). The anime has a slow start with a lot of new characters to introduce, but it does pick up the pace later in the series. It shouldn't be regarded as a "Magical Girl" series, as it has moved on to something that seem more serious and more bureaucratic, which is a big contrast to its prequels. The big change in timeline and themes can be a little uneasy to get used to, and the sucess of A's has overshadowed this series quite a bit, but overall it's still a solid piece with some interesting characters and backstory in my humble opinion, and I do look forward to another Nanoha series should there ever be one.

Nendoroid Shana Dengeki Daioh ver.

2009-04-14T23:12:00.003+08:00

The bleeding didn't stop from last week - here comes my first and only Nendoroid I've ever bought for myself @_@

Nendoroid Shana Dengeki Daioh version, or commonly known as the Black Hair version, is the magazine exclusive Nendoroid figure of Shana by Good Smile Company (GSC). Getting one of these definitely isn't easy by now, and I got mine at a relatively hefty price

Although it's called Nendoroid (or sometimes Nendo) in English, we Chinese tend to call it a Q版 (Q-version), where "Q" is approximately shortened for "cute". Basically it's akin to chibi or super deformed.

So why did I get it? Well, I didn't plan to get this in the first place (just like the black hair figma Shana), but after seeing so pictures of this Nendoroid here and there (especially the one where Valho puts his Nendo Shana in all pictures of his loot), the cuteness overwhelmed me, and at the end I told meronpan right here that I'd get it, and I did orz

As one can see, there are a number parts to go with it beside the clear stand: Alternate arms, alternate face, alternate hair, a different skirt for sitting pose, 2 tails and her favourite meronpan~

As for that thing keeping Shana standing at the back, I'll mentioned later what it is.

What's worth noticing is that there's only one ahoge (i.e. the hair sticking out of her head) for two hair pieces. Since I don't want to break anything (and I have not seen other people changing the ahoge piece back and forth before), I've left it on the nekomimi one.

It's also worth noting that the back of the box mentioned only one tail on the list of parts, whereas there are actually two in this Nendoroid.

But again I mentioned that this isn't really gonna be a review, because things start to go off track when my 1/100 Tieren finally gives Shana her long waited meronpan...

Then her ^o^ face comes, and it's illegally cute.

The two black hair (and limited) Shanas enjoying their meronpans~

Without me noticing it, I've got that many Shana figures already. It kinda does take me by surprise as I don't own many figures, and I've not thought of Shana being the character I'd have the most figures of o_o;;

A finisher combo: Nendoroid Nekomimi Shana with Kawaii!

Okay, anymore of that and I'd go moe overload. @_@

And I've really spent too much on stuff for this break. Way too much. I probably won't spend anymore on figures for the time being until Alter Fate comes, and devote more to my gunpla backlog, but I'd have to leave those for the summer.

Meanwhile I should get myself cured/uncured by appreciating a military diorama I've bought fairly recently as well (yea more blood lost, but not as badly):

Metal Troops 1/144 US Navy Landing Craft LCM 3 WWII Diorama~

P.S. The mysterious creature holding Shana on the 3rd pic was a turtle called 小鋒 (Siu Fung). It's one of my sister's family of 4 turtles, and I'm not sure why a lot of people have mistaken them as rabbits ^^;

Proper (?) reviews of this Nendo Shana can be found on:

Meronpan

Exelica Meteor

Orange Horizons

April Purchase

2009-04-08T22:48:00.004+08:00

This is probably the week I've spent the most on merchandise so far @_@

Blogs can be very influential; I helped Ngee Khiong buying a MG G-3 Gundam OYW version a few months ago, and today I couldn't resist and bought myself one as well in the SOGO event (mentioned in previous post) that has just ended tonight orz

The two 1/144 Zaku Ground Battle Sets were bought earlier this week from a local model shop, and that together is about the same price as the MG I've just bought...

... Which happens to be the very first MG I've bought for myself XD

I've got a fukubukuro for purchasing the MG G-3, and inside there's a BB Senshi Sangokuden catalogue, a Sangokuden throne plamo, Ryofu Tallgeese coaster, a Gundam game card, and a Master Grade Catalogue~

A card of Astray Gold Frame Amatu (incomplete) for a card game that I cannot remember

Various things for Sangokuden series, but I haven't been a fan of it, so that's a miss for me (unfortuantely) -_-

On the other hand, the MG Catalogue is quite interesting, which includes a 'development tree' on how they decide on what MGs to release and some comments on them.

Pages of each MG gunpla up to RX-0 Unicorn Gundam, which is the 102th of the line, but we are already at number 118 or so by now ^^;

And last but not least,

Despite being a killer on all aspects, I've finally given in and preordered Alter 1/7 Fate, with a preorder receipt that Kawaii is holding on right now ^^;

To preorder something in a local shop, one usually has to pay a portion of the total price, and gets a receipt for the preorder. When the item arrives, s/he has to pay the remainder in order to acquire it with the receipt as the proof of the purchase.

Well, for a person who doesn't spend as much as other fellow otaku bloggers, this is a big hole for my wallet already. One of the Cantonese saying of spending alot is "大出血", which means "bleeding alot"...

... And that's how I look right now

Gundam Event @ SOGO

2009-04-05T14:16:00.001+08:00

To celebrate 30th annivesary of Gundam, Hong Kong's SOGO is holding a very small event selling a number of gunpla. As I live fairly close to it, I can easily come down and pay it a visit. Let's see what they've got to offer~

The event takes place on 4th floor of SOGO in Causeway Bay between 2nd to 8th April, which means it's still taking place right now. It's a only very small section next to one set of escalators, and I've missed it when I was going up the floors -_-

On a side note, a small accident occured when I was on my way to Causeway Bay, forming a big cluster of buses blocking the road in an inconvenient way.

Back to the topic, a number of gunpla on display:
1/100 Blitz Clear Colour ver.
I can't remember whether it was released before :o

1/100 Astray Blue Frame 2nd L Clear Colour ver.
Can't recall seeing this before either :\

The talk of the month: PG Astray Red Frame~

The awesome Char's Zaku II is not for sale, but the Zeon suitcase next to him is (Char's colour also available apparently).

The boxes of the said clear colour gunpla are piled together with other hard-to-get ones such as the MG Strike Freedom Extra Finish ver. and PG Gouf.

PG Astray and 1/60 Strike Freedom Lightning Edition

Boxes of PG Zaku II + weapons set (Animation Colour ver), which is a Chara Hobby event limited item, and appeared in the recent Gundam Expo Hong Kong 2008 too.

More PGs: Gundam Mk II (AEUG and Titans ver.), and RX-78-2.

Another limited item from previous events: BB Senshi DX Versal Knight Gundam (Full Colour Plated ver.)

Found these scenes familiar? They seem to be the exactly same dioramas from ACGHK 2008 and Gundam Expo Hong Kong 2008 respectively

HG 1/144 Exia Clear Colour ver, another event limited item

On the left is 1/35 Guren Mk II Full Colour Plated ver. (from anime Code Geass), the last limited plamo from previous events (I think), and MG Strike Rouge Clear Colour ver, which is apparently the limited gunpla for this small event

For those who are curious on how this Strike Rouge would look like, here it is.
Image from Giga Hobby

1/35 Jumbo Grade RX-78-2 and Char's Zaku II!

Boxes of GFFMC Z Plus mentioned in previous post.

Ngee Khiong has been longing for his MG G-3 OYW ver. since August.
Luckily, he got his early this year ^^

EMSiA G-3 Gundam and Gelgoog Herbert von Kuspan custom. For those who don't know German name and his white Gelgoog, he appeared in the OVA MS IGLOO Apocalypse 0079.

The event is open from 2nd to 8th April on 4th floor of SOGO from 10am to 10pm (extended to 10:30pm for weekends). Admission is free, and apparently you'll get some sort of fukubukuro when one spends enough money for gunpla.

All limited gunpla/plamo from Chara Hobby and Gundam Expo Hong Kong 2008 are bolded, and acutal pictures of the models themselves can be seen on Ngee Khiong's blog.

It's worth noting that the prices there are fairly expensive, so unless you are going for the event limited or other hard-to-get gunpla, I'd recommend the local model shops instead for normal gunpla.

GFFMC Z Plus = A Big Joke?

2009-03-31T22:03:00.005+08:00

While I went out today to look for places to preorder Alter Fate, I've come across quite a number of GFFMC (Gundam Fix Figuration Metal Composite) Z Plus boxes in shops, both red and the limited blue version. Each cost around 18000 Yen (ouch), and it ain't cheap at all.

To be honest, I really like the blue Gundam's colour scheme, and was really tempted to get it...

... Until I read this on ToysDaily Forum tonight.

A whole screen of rants in both Chinese and English

While I do not know much of the GFF line, the Metal Composite version of Z Plus(s) are pretty much the most expensive ones I've seen so far. Released just a few days ago for 18000 Yen (heck, that's even more expensive than Fate!), one should expect quite a bit from Bandai right?

Surprisingly, this Fix Figuration itself has received very little paintwork. All white parts are apparently left unpainted, and it's not even top-coated, leaving the Gundam looking very plastic. Leaving them exposed for long period will cause yellowing, which can look rather unsightly over time.

Areas marked with green arrows are the only parts being painted

This is the ironic part of the GFFMC Z Plus, as the GFF line are known for as fully painted, posable (albeit limited) models. Sure, it does have diecast, but how could Bandai have messed this one up that badly? I mean, this completed model isn't that bad by itself it, but definitely not worth 18000 Yen.

Seriously, rather than spending 18000 Yen for a model that looks very plastically, wouldn't it be much more feasible to get a MG Z Plus A1 or C1 for 1/6 of the price?

And heck, I've even got my sister all excited as she really likes the blue colour scheme and the big gun there -_-;;;;;

Also mentioned on Gundam@EFSF

Images from Hobby Search and ToysDaily forum