I love the ideas behind the Try-GK line from Volks. They are designed to help the builder as much as possible and to try and minimise any problem areas to give the builder a smooth ride through all the various processes of building a kit. Also, having purchased the last 2 regular releases, I can also say that they don't slack on the design or details either! If someone wanted to have a try at doing a resin kit but was afraid of how it would turn out and needed a little push, the Try-GK kits would be my first choice for them.
And now, Volks have expanded the line with Rio as their next release! Rio is pretty much the mascot for Tecmo. She isn't too well known in the west as she has only appeared in a number of casino games which were only released in Japan but her name is pretty much synonymous with Tecmo over there, along with Kasumi from the dead or alive series (I'm more of an Ayane fan though). Rio will also be appearing in the new Dead or Alive Paradise game for the PSP, albeit after being hit by the ugly stick several times. Luckily, the Try-GK kit doesn't have such problems and Rio gets to keep her good looks. Unfortunately, Volks are being rather stingy with the colour shots at the moment so we only have an uncoloured prototype image for now, but I will update the post when colour shots become available.
For those of you who think they may want to have a try at making this GK, she is available for preorder on the volks online store, with orders getting shipped at the end of April. But be aware that while Volks are happy to accept a number of international payment types (including paypal, I think) they will not ship Rio internationally, so you will need to provide a Japanese address to ship to before forwarding it to your main address.
There are several sites which can help you with that, such as ShoppingMall Japan and Tenso. Alternatively, you can ask Tokyohunter for help with the whole process.
It's common that Tamaki is there to steal the spotlight when it comes to popular eroge ToHeart2. So it's refreshing to see other characters get a chance in the spotlight. Kotobukiya recongnizes this and has revealed the 1/6 scale Four Leaves "Yuzuhara Konomi -Innocence-" figure.
Interestingly, Konomi is actually the main heroine of ToHeart2 but then that hussy Tamaki comes along and uses her talents to woo the boys. But look at Konomi here. Is she not cute? And she's trying really hard to be sexy as she teases you by lifting her bikini top. So, why don't you put down that Tamaki and play with Konomi instead?
Preorders are set to start next week with an estimated date of March 17th. Pricing and release date have yet to be announced. Kotobukiya has also announced that their next preview will be the upcoming 1/8 scale Senjougahara Hitagi from Bakemonogatari that was revealed at Wonder Festival 2010 Winter.
I saw this pirate movie once, and it didn't have the least bit of scurvy in it, but there were ghost pirates! One thing that bothers me is that the pirates never raped anything. Imagine pirate fiction without rape! Well, now you can make those dreams come true with Sideshow Collectibles Johnny Depp Captain Jack Sparrow! He's got the outfit, the headdress, a sword and pistol, and something in his hand too! Just like the movies!
One thing I just want to point out that I noticed -- his dreadlocks. It takes time to get dreads. I imagine being on a boat, you'll have some free time. But take a closer look at this figure or the pirate movies. He has a braided beard. His beard has been deadlocked! That's a commitment.
This figure will be available for preorder as of March 19th, 2010. The only information available is that and that the image is a prototype pending approval. I can only speculate on the price. One could assume a price similarto other Sideshow Collectibles pieces. Is it worth it? I guess that depends on how much you like Jack Sparrow. Personally, no amount of money is too much for Johnny. I mean, Jack Sparrow. Honest!
You know that at this point, if we post a figure of Kanu Unchou, it's pretty much just to make fun of the fact that there are a billion figures of Kanu Unchou. We really don't take them seriously. Maybe it's because of that reason that when a figure of her that is actually kind of attractive comes along, I actually feel like someone's spiked my morning coffee -- it's a crazy new twist on life!
Or maybe I just like gothy-looking maids.
Anyway, This Black Maid version of Kanu by Griffon (as sculpted by Masahiro Yamamato) isn't half bad looking, and I really like the way the hair twists behind her creating depth to the overall presentation. This is a 1/7 figure, so it's a little larger than the usual, and retails for about $80 if you want to reserve her through Hobby Search. Amiami has her for just a little less, but don't forget that if you order through them, you cannot cancel your reservation!
If it's one thing we're seeing more and more of, it's Touhou Project. Things don't seem to be slowing down either with Max Factory and Good Smile Company teasing a couple of new figures.
First is a Nendoroid of Remilia Scarlet and she is quite the cute little devil. Her face is so squishy with her adorable "I'm going to get you" pose. The second tease is just that. A mosaic tease of what is obviously Izayoi Sakuya as she will be the next to join Reimu and Marisa in Max Factory's Figma line.
In conjunction with Gift, Good Smile Company will have both figures at the upcoming Touhou only convention, Reitaisai, on March 14. Anyone here looking to get their hands on either of these ladies?
I'm guessing those Kotobukiya Strike Witches figures must be doing pretty well, because they keep on coming. That combo of good quality and good pricing gets us collectors every time! This time around, the focus is on Eila, the fifteen year old top ace of the Suomus Air Force 24th Unit with the rank of Pilot Officer. I have to admit I'm a wee bit disappointed she doesn't come with a pack of tarot cards, but she looks to be in full battle mode and maybe that's not the best time for divining anyway.
Her preorder has just opened over at Hobby Search and she'll be due out this June, retailing for roughly $64 US. Seems like a pretty good deal. Does anyone have all the previous figures and planning to pick up this one as well?
Breaking the usual trend of not showing more than a shoulder, Sideshow Toys is giving us a decent teaser image of the 1:6 scale War Machine figure from the upcoming Iron Man 2 film. Here we can see some potential light-up features like his chest, and see a smattering of the many firearms that make War Machine a real... well, war machine.
No price or release date came with the teaser image, but it can not be too far away from the date of the movies release. There are so many Iron Man products coming out this year, including hot new Minimates, and some statues from Kotobukiya that make me drool. How much money do you plan on spending to get all these goodies?
I'm so embarassed. I liked seeing that happy R2D2 graphic up at the top of the page so much that I completely forgot to end this contest on time. Or even remotely on time -- I'm nearly two weeks late. NICE WORK, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF. I think I need to hire an assistant.
Anyway! Our chosen winner is stee23, who composed the following winning haiku:
Asuka is sexy. I would ride in her cockpit. Crap, she's not eighteen.
Nice job! We will drop you an email so we can mail you your swag. I've also got several boxes of Final Fantasy figures as well as some goodies kindly donated by Kidrobot sitting around here, so look to see a contest for those in the next couple of weeks. Thank you for participating and for reading Tomopop!
DrilOne is by far my favorite vinyl artist, something I've personally mentioned before, and it's things like this that are the reason why. For the Bic Buddy Custom Show at Crewest, DrilOne has put together a custom Bic Buddy that doesn't look like E.T. ... it is E.T.
Why do I say that? Look, Drils could have stopped with the amazing E.T. design that looks near-perfect. But that is not what he did: he went one step further and wired E.T. up so his finger glows, exactly as it did in the film. The first time I read that, I about fell over on the floor and started doing one of these numbers. It is just a beautiful piece in so many ways and it's certainly now my favorite custom vinyl piece ever made. And I am serious when I say that.
Seriously, I saved this for last so Southerndrawl and Lou Pimentel would not have their awesome Bic Buddies overlooked. I don't know if there's going to be a fan favorite vote at the Bic Buddy Custom Show's opening on March 27 at Crewest (110 Winston St., Los Angeles, Calif.), but if there is, it's pretty much over now. Oh, and check out all of Drils' custom works on his Flickr page!
As far as I can remember, FLCL (or Fooly Cooly) was the most influential anime of my life. It opened me up not only to the other adult-themed anime, but it introduced me to The Pillows, the first Japanese band I had ever listened to. It was because of FLCL that I had started playing the guitar and The Pillows' music with it.
I have always been a big collector of anime plushies, namely because unlike figures, they have a longer, general lifespan and they look better hung up on a wall than figures would. Being an already big FLCL fan, I knew I had to have Brocolli/Synch-Point's Canti and Naota plushies.
Hit the jump to see two of my favorite items in my collection!
Collectible toys, vinyl, vintage, papercraft, oddities, and more: Tomopop is a place where people of all ages can all enjoy our inability to grow up when it comes to our toy collections! If you're new to Tomopop check out a note from our editor.
CONTEST! And our Fancy Pants Gangsters t-shirt winner is...
