Valentine’s day is just around the corner and these Hello Kitty items are perfect presents if your friend or significant other is Hello Kitty crazy.

When I was a kid I used to have Hello Kitty bags, pencils, shirts and plushies. I also have lots of stationery from Sanrio. I remember I even collected a bunch of Hello Kitty plush toys from McDonald’s Happy Meal years back. I still find Hello Kitty adorable but right now I only own a small black pouch for my travel accessories and the huge Hello Kitty plush in my parents’ house.

No Hello Kitty purchases were ever made since I had Little TP. It’s now robots, trucks and puzzles and toys that he has fun hitting.

But this Sakura Hello Kitty keychain and those key caps above are really cute, perhaps I can get them and it won’t disrupt anything in our Hello Kitty-free home. ^^;

Visit Sanrio.com now and get a free Hello Kitty Kimono plush with your $45 purchase!

Wishing you peace, joy, prosperity and love this 2012!

The Little TP just turned one, thus, the lack of posts the past few weeks. He had a blast at his party. Zero tantrums. ^^ I’ll find time to review some of the toys he received as gifts.

I don’t have a list of resolutions for the new year. I’m still a work in progress and I guess I’ll just do my best to improve in whatever way I can.

I’m truly blessed to have awesome friends like you, thank you all so much! Cheers!

P.S. The little girl in the photo is my niece, isn’t she adorable? ^^

I previously wrote about the first Revoltech that I bought and how I feel about their articulated joints. I’m not a fan but I just realized that I have 6 Revoltechs, (Pocco, Rin, Rei, Haruhi from the Fraulein series, Yotsuba and Protect Gear). Except for Pocco, which is only figure displayed on the computer table at home, all of them are stored in their boxes somewhere. I never really bothered with Revoltechs after that.

Then just today, I stumbled upon a WALL-E Revoltech. I love WALL-E! I looked for more photos and this definitely is in my wishlist. I’m sure the Little TP will love this too. ^^

Don’t you just love this robot? In the movie he’s programmed to clean up the planet and after so many years he developed his own personality. And such great personality it is! I hope they’ll come up with an EVE Revoltech real soon so WALL-E will be happy.

Then there’s Lightning McQueen Revoltech. This is actually something that you can play with since this is also a pull back toy car. With the accessories included, you can change Lightning McQueen’s expressions and recreate scenes from Cars.

Nemo, on the other hand, comes with a miniature Dory and a coral reef stand. I’m not excited with this figure though. Sure, Nemo is cute and you can also change his facial expressions, but for some reason it gives me that outdated vibe like those those decorative ceramic pieces that you see in your Grandma’s house or something. ^^;

Previously released Revoltech Pixar items were Woody and Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story and Mike and Sully from Monsters Inc.

Little TP loves robots and I’m pleasantly surprised that Revoltech has a lot to offer. I guess I just didn’t choose my previous Revoltechs well. In my opinion, those Revoltech joints are not exactly suited for female figures, in this case the Fraulein collection, but they look good with their Yamaguchi and Tokusatsu series. Displaying them is another issue though, I hope they have better display options with their newer figures.

Images via www.kaiyodo.co.jp and Hobby Search.

Along with ‘Mama’ and ‘Daddy’, one of Little TP’s first words (or mumbles) was ‘botbotbot’. I didn’t know what it was at first since we hardly show him any robots. We’re afraid he might swallow those small parts.

We were so amused when he looked at the direction where a couple of SDs were displayed and said ‘botbot’ (which now became ‘wobot’, sometimes just ‘bot’). He then gave us a look as if to say That’s what I’ve been telling you these past few days, I’d like to play with those robots please… At an early age, I guess our the Little TP is as fascinated at robots as I am.

So… we’re getting him a new robot and this time they’re from the WWRp (World War Robot portable) series. I’ve talked about WWR or World War Robot from threeA before and I’m so happy that I’ll have the chance to pre-order even the portable version. Well I’m sure the Little TP would be happy to have this as well.

Little TP’s Dad already pre-ordered this Linkin Park exclusive MK2 Gatling. I think he’ll add this to his set of robots to lure the Little TP. Little TP sometimes just wants his Mommy and nobody else so the Dad has to get help from some SDs to get his attention. I’m sure the MK2 will do the job just as well. Lol. Will trade Mommy for wobots ^^;

Just look at those details. Though much smaller than their WWR counterparts, they sure didn’t scrimp on the awesome factor on this WWRp. This collaboration of Linkin Park and threeA is actually a charity project, 10% of the proceeds will go to the relief efforts for Japan. It is available from the Good Smile Online Shop for ¥6,800 including shipping. I was hoping we could get this before Christmas but delivery will start January 2012.

We’re also planning to get another WWRp just so the MK2 will not feel out of place. ^^; The Heavy Bramble is also available for pre-order but I’m not sure which one to get. I’ve narrowed them down to three colorways. African Def was actually my first choice before we got the Linkin Park MK2 but both of them are yellow so I thought I should look into other colors.

Heavy Bramble JEA Marine (same as the cover photo) seems to be a good choice but I’m still not that convinced.

Then there’s also Cydonia Def which has a camouflage-like design. Which one do you suggest I should get?

WWRp Heavy Bramble retails for ¥5600 and will be released in March 2012.

Images via www.goodsmile.info.

I started collecting toys sometime in 2009 and there are a lot of previously released figures that I would like to have. I’ve seen a lot of sellers online but I haven’t really considered buying pre-loved or secondhand figures.

Often described as MISB, MIB, loose, displayed in smoke-free home, etc. these pre-loved items are priced based on their condition. Another factor is if it is a chase/limited item and I guess the edition (or issue?) matters as well.

If ever I’ll buy secondhand toys, I’ll get it from someone who has his or her own website so at least I know something about them and how they take care of their collection. I’ll also ask for a lot of photos so I’ll know what to expect. An honest seller will mention even the tiniest of flaw on what they’re selling.

What are your thoughts on pre-loved figures? Ever tried purchasing one?

Image via zerochan.net

It was a stormy Saturday but we decided to check out Cosplay Mania since we already have the tickets. It’s the Little Toy Pusher’s first time to attend a cosplay event. He was dressed as Lelouch. ^^ He readily smiles at everyone and I think he had fun watching all the colorful costumes of the participants there.

I can’t really say much about Cosmania, we left the event after a couple of hours or so. There weren’t a lot of people when we arrived but I think people started coming in during the afternoon since that’s when the competition is scheduled and international cosplayers will have a meet and greet and stuff. We were just worried that it might rain harder and we don’t want to risk it since we have the Little Toy Pusher in tow. We also mostly stayed outside the convention hall for the baby’s safety. I know it’s not advisable to bring the Little TP there since he’s practically an infant but he’s super okay, he didn’t catch anything not even a cold or something so please don’t judge. ^^;

My Mom was the one who took care of the Little TP’s costume and she was so supportive and she loves him to bits. (Thanks, Mom!) The costume is actually for Halloween. So there might be another chibi Lelouch sighting during the latter part of the month (if I stay lazy and cheap to find him a new costume to wear).

So that’s what happened when the Little TP went to a con. I hope his photos made you smile. Happy Monday, everyone!

I got my first articulated toy on a whim. We were attending a local con early 2009 and there it was, a cute Haruhi in bunny costume smiling at me. She was cheap and she’s I think the last piece so I went ahead and bought her. She’s a Revoltech, the man selling a bunch of various other toys tells me. I don’t even have an idea what it was, and I don’t even care. I got a cute girl action figure in bunny costume with a nice looking guitar to take home with me. I’m good with that. Lol.

When I got home, I excitedly opened her box. I was happy with Revoltech Haruhi but after a while, that joint of her won’t budge and suddenly I’m not liking her articulated parts very much. And that stand included in the package was rather unyielding, obtrusive, stubborn. Her guitar kept on falling off her arms. I’m still okay with the Haruhi purchase, her endearing expressions and the quality of material that Kaiyodo Revoltech used somewhat made up for my list of complaints about her.

I think I started a bit late in the toy collecting scene. I’m not an expert and I don’t have a huge collection but I guess what I can advise first time buyers is to research a bit first before buying something so you’ll know what to expect. This hobby is shared by a lot of people today so access to information like reviews, photos of figs is easier and more extensive. Be mindful and have a discerning eye so you’ll know if it’s the real deal. I was also eyeing some scale figs that day but I decided to hold-off a bit since I’m not really sure which one to get and which manufacturer will meet my expectation. I also knew there were bootlegs during that con, I guess it’s quite easy to tell the genuine apart from the fakes. Just look closely and if your gut tells you something’s wrong, then walk away.

I also wrote about how to spot fake nendoroids and other figures before and HHT 03 was all about shopping for figures online, any other tips to first time buyers and new toy collectors that you’d like to add?

Not exactly toy-related but I just couldn’t resist posting this lovely Puella Magi Madoka Magica cosplayers. Not sure if their costumes are accurate but they sure look the part.

Cover photo is a wonderful photo of Madoka Kaname. I love the elements in this picture.

Ah, Mami Tomoe, she’s actually my favorite among the magical girls. I think this cosplayer did a nice job imitating her.

Kyoko Sakura sure is cute even in her regular clothes. ^^

The first three photos came from one set. I just looked for a Homura Akemi cosplayer because she’s my second favorite. ^^ She’s really pretty.

I think these two cosplayers will have a large audience cheering for them if ever they join a competition. Poor Mami. T_T

Anyone who’s into cosplaying?

Images via www.japanator.com, www.cosrain.com and hashihime.blogspot.com.

Pre-orders are up, which store would you recommend for a guaranteed hassle-free online shopping experience?

I normally visit AmiAmi for smaller items like figmas and Nendoroids and pre-order from them. That figma on the cover photo arrived at my doorstep, err, lobby, September 6, it was shipped September 2 (Friday), pretty fast in my opinion, since that’s just about 2 business days. I’ve never had a bad experience with AmiAmi and they have been prompt when answering emails. They mark their items with a certain percentage off and some say that it’s actually lower than other online shops. I also have a Hobby Search account but I have yet to try ordering from them.

I’m too chicken to buy scale figures online because of the horrendous stories I hear about our local customs’ fees. I’ve actually been a victim once with their rather dubious, top of head computations of taxes and surcharges. It’s a good thing that after that incident, I found a reputable seller locally. Even though some items arrive a few weeks after its release, I don’t have to worry that I have to make that trip to the post office and spend extra just to get the item that they are holding hostage. 0_o

I hope you’ll tell your stories about where you get your figures, games, merchandise, etc. online. Do you have to deal with problems regarding your orders with local customs? You can share them all here. ^^

I had quite a few Swatch watches during elementary/highschool days and I wish they had this back then. Kidrobot teams up with Swatch, so you’ll get a matching watch and 3-inch munny designed by awesome artists.

I think I can still wear the yellow one which was designed by Frank Kozik. The others have nice designs as well but they look ‘too young’ for my taste. But I’d take all the Dunnys, thank you very much. Lol.

I also found this Kidrobot set where you can get a huge Kozik Dunny along with eight Swatch watches and a matching Dunny for each. The set features artwork from MAD, Gary Baseman, SSUR, Tara McPherson, Tilt, Joe Ledbetter, Jeremyville, and Frank Kozik.

For more info, you may want to check out Kidrobot’s shop or the Swatch site.

For figure collectors and anime enthusiasts, what kind of collaboration would you like to see?

Images via Kidrobot and Swatch sites.