I've finally received one of my most anticipated figures of 2009, TOKIAME's Marisa with a LED Star base. She is gorgeous, and I must share her with you. She went above and beyond my expectations.
To start off, Marisa herself is beautifully sculpted. I don't pick up and flaws on her, and the way her dress perfectly bends around her broom is expertly crafted. The peg she attaches to on the star is a bit flimsy, so actually connecting to was pretty damn scary. Scares of ruining a figure I paid 100+ dollars for aside, once she's on top of the star everything just seems right in the world.
One of the best features of this figure is that her hat attaches magnetically to the top of her head. I have quite a few other Marisa figures where the hat is incredibly difficult to stay put, so I hope other companies take note and start using a magnet for her hat more often. Now that I think about it, magnets should be used more often for figures, especially when it comes to attaching different accessories onto it. It's a really useful feature.
Now, the only thing I'm disappointed in about this figure is the LED light inside the star. It's sad to say that one of the things that I was most excited about this figure actually turned out to disappoint, but yeah, it really does. For starts, you can barely tell if the star is shining unless you are in a very, very darkly lit place. The light is just much more weaker than what I was expecting it to be. Even when you do find a place that's suitable enough for it to shine, it just doesn't look as good as it does in the promo shots. Which, sadly, is something that happens way to often in the figure collecting world. It glows in a lighter blue color than the vibrant blue that Tokiame led us to believe it was capable of doing.
Despite this flaw, I am very happy to finally own her, and she is one of my favorite pieces in my collection. This figure brings up my Touhou Project figure/plush collection to a total of 47 figures, a number that certainly will be increasing more in the future!
*note - sorry if the pics are cut off, this blog was copied from my Dtoid one
I'm sure everyone here is familiar with FanGamer, the awesome indie-shop who caters to fans of the Mother series with awesome things ranging from awesome t-shirts, to awesome custom-made guide books, to awesome handcrafted figures. This post is about one such awesome figure, the Minus Man(also known as Negative Man) figure released by FanGamer, and hand-sculpted by Camille Young (a.k.a. Meeellla). Only 20 of them were made, and I was able to swipe one up before they sold out.
Now, aside from the misspelling of my name, I am very happy that I plopped down the 60-something dollars for this figure. He may not be the tallest in stature, but the detail and top-notch craftsmanship Meeellla put into this is has made it all a worthwhile purchase.
Since only 20 of these were made, each one was individually numbered. Mine being #19.
Not to mention the box he came in is a work of art itself. Featuring a whacked-out illustration that strangely fits him perfectly on the inside, a caricature of his face on the back, and the details of the figure on the side. Also, as usual for a FanGamer purchase, they threw in some extras, including an Earthbound Central and Sun pin.
Overall a great buy for the money, and a perfect acquisition for any fan of the Mother series. If you've missed the first run of these figures, I heard FanGamer will be releasing some more soon, but I'm guessing that no more then 20 will be made again, so don't sleep when(and if) they become available again! I'll close this post off with a few more pics.
Trying to recount my fascination with figure collecting is kind of a hazy subject, mainly because everything went off to a slow start. What made it really pick-up can actually be broken down into three parts.
1. Toy collecting coming from a different hobby of mine 2. Tomopop 3. A choice encounter with someone on Twitter
My first figure was a Haruhi Bunny Girl one bought in December of 2008. This is kind of an odd choice for me, since I have absolutely no fondness for the series at all. But I really liked how well it was made, and the pose she strikes really caught my eye. It's kind of funny though, since I just found out a few weeks ago that I have the bootleg version... but that's a different story.
During that same month I didn't purchase much. I added one Bulma and a Nami figure to the collection, bringing my total to a measly three figures. This small set began my appreciation for how well-crafted these figures can be, but I was still hesitant on starting a real collection because I knew how costly such a hobby could be. By the time 2009 rolled around though, everything changed.
The video game collecting scene saw a trend of plushies/figures being released with special editions in 2009. While this is really nothing new, this particular year has seen quite a few being released stateside. The first being the Prinny plush that came with the special edition of Prinny: Can I Really Be The Hero?! There was also a Kuma(Teddy, whatever) plush released in late December of '08 as part of the Persona 4 Social Link Expansion Pack, but the Prinny plush for some reason got me more into the toy collecting scene. Probably because of all the other toy related video game extras that came out this year. 2009 so far saw the Jack Frost Raidou cosplay plush coupled with Devil Summoner 2, two figures with a pre-order of Hammerin' Hero at GameStop, a Chris Redfield mini-fig with Resident Evil 5, a Afro Samurai with a pre-order of his game, and either Ryu or C. Viper depending on which console you bought SFIV for. Even with all this, we still have the two figures to look forward to that come with the Atelier Annie SE. I'm not even going to mention all the Japan-only released figures released with an accompanying game.
I think these special released figures and plushies played an important role in getting me into the toy collecting scene because it provided a smooth transition from my main hobby at the time, video game collecting, to my current top-spot obsession with figures.
So now I have a few figures and plushies in my collection now. So where do I go from here? Well, I didn't really know, but somehow I ended up here at Tomopop. I think I have Destructoid to thank for this. Since Tomopop is under the Modern Method network, the transition from video games to figure collecting was made that much more smoother. When I first made my way to Tomopop, the randomly-generated banner was still up, and that banner led me to my first two impulse-buys. Coincidentally they were both Nendoroids; Lion Saber and Kemeko DX.
I also have Tomopop to thank for really propelling me into a hardcore collector. To be more specific, it was fellow Tomopopper(?) ReyJ and his post concerning his Nida Schueltich figure he got as a birthday present. I was absolutely floored by her beauty, and his post gave me my first absolute "DO WANT" figure. The first thing I did after reading his post was go out and hunt for Nida. Fortunately I found her at a great price, and to this day she remains as one of my most favorite pieces in my collection.
Without Tomopop often getting linked from Destructoid, I would probably never have found out about this site, nor would my collection be growing more every day. So for that, I am truly grateful.
Through my gaming roots and informal introduction to Tomopop, I've become an avid collector of figures. What I wasn't expecting though is that this appreciation for the figure scene would spill over into an obsession. This was thanks to a good internet friend I've met through Twitter, one who has had a profound effect on my wallet since our out-of-the-ordinary encounter some 2 to 3 months ago.
So the basic jist of it is, we meet, we clicked, my bank account starts depleting. I'm not complaining though. He's been an avid figure collector for much longer then I have, so he was able to introduce me to many of the releases I've missed, as well as give me a broader taste for different figures(BusouShinkis for example, a brand of figures I wouldn't have been interested in if it wasn't for him). He's become a true internet bro to me, and he's usually the first person I go to when I want to talk about figures.
That's pretty much how everything started for me, with three different levels of appreciation being blown over into total obsession. If you're wondering how far my love has gone, my pre-orders for the end of September up until the end of December total to nearly 4,000 dollars. My collection(50 strong right now) is expected to nearly triple by the time the New Year rolls around.
I'm surprised this hasn't been discussed here yet. Griffon Enterprises recently announced their new line of poseable figures called Figutto. Their first release in this line will be of Tamaki Kousaka from To Heart 2 fame. As you can see, she's sporting a bikini, which is a very bold move on Griffon Enterprises part, as there's less clothing to hide the joints.
As you can see, the joints are quite articulate. Figutto might be a worthy contender to Max Factory's Figma. The first four series featuring a character to be made into a Figutto will be To Heart 2(Tamaki), Ikkie Tousen, Queen's Blade, and Touhou Project. And just which Touhou girl will be made into a Figutto? Why, it's waki goddess Reimu of course.
All four figures will be released sometime in 2010 with no price tag set yet. I'm really interested how much competition the Figutto line will give to other mainstays of the poseable figure market, namely Figma and Revoltech. Although, from the prototype photos, they look pretty high quality to me. I'm also interested to see how many Touhou girls will be featured in this line. Anyone else excited for Figutto?
So yeah, I just got the best damn package ever in the mail today. When I went to check the mail this morning, I saw a box with the Hobby Link Japan logo on it and thought "I didn't order anything from there!", but once I flipped it right side up, the first thing I noticed was that ADORABLE Cirno sketch and it came to me; "Oh shit! My figures from Stella!" I eagerly opened the box and was greeted with much more than what I was expecting.
Along with the Kagami Miku Nendoroid and Miku Mixing Box I bought from her. I got three pieces of melon flavored hard candy and a Japanese kitkat bar, which I can only assume is better than an American kitkat bar.
I also got a letter in this cute envelope sealed with a Miku sticker and a second ADORABLE sketch of Patchouli. A love letter perhaps?
Nope! But it is a very cute thank you note along with a third ADORABLE sketch featuring Reimu. I swear I went through Touhou love overload today.
Talk about going the extra mile for someone else. As I stated above, I purchased both the Kagamin Miku cosplay nendoroid and the Miku Mixing Box from her Tomopop sale. Both items I got were in perfect condition and I'm very glad I purchased them from her. Not to mention she covered more than half of the shipping cost. How many people do you know who would do that?
Have more pics!
All in all I want to give a big thanks to Stella for going above and beyond with this package, I can't wait for your next sale!
Another new Touhou figure is on the horizon, this time it's a 1/8 scale Hakurei Reimu PVC figure being produced by Toranoana. The price tag is 5,000 yen, which I see as being really cheap. I love Toranoanas work on the soft vinyl line of Touhou figures that I am currently in the process of collecting, so this new figure has me really excited, and I can't wait to see what other characters will be released under this line. It's expected to be released in 2009, and her miko staff(not sure on the proper term) can be switched out for a set of fortune cards. Toranoana has no plans for a soft vinyl Reimu, so maybe this PVC set will feature other characters that weren't included in their soft vinyl set.
Getting tired of all these Touhou related figures being released? Because I'm not. Seriously, anything Touhou related and I'm there.
The latest edition to my collection is the above 1/8 scale figure of Sakura Nankyoku from the Penguin Musume Heart series. I also recently got a new camera(a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28) so I thought this would be a good opportunity to take some pictures of her.
Next time I take pics it will be a better spot than my computer desk. :p I'm really glad to have her in my collection as she is very well made, detailed, and just downright adorable. There's also a inu maid version of her which I will get my hands on very soon.
The official Nendoroid site announced today that they'll be launching a new line of figures based on the Touhou series. No pictures of the future Touhou Nendoroids are available that I know of, but the teaser image above shows that Reimu will be the first Touhou girl to get the Nendoroid treatment. It's also said that these Nendoroids will be available for purchase at C76, so it's unknown whether or not it will available in the regular market. But with the massive popularity of Touhou, I don't have a doubt in my mind that they will be! As a person who put down over 600 dollars for all 6 of the upcoming 1/8 scale Griffon Enterprises Touhou PVC figures and contemplated the 300 dollar Reimu plush but wasn't sure how his parents would react to it being in his room so had to pass on it; I would gladly give Good Smile a blank check and tell them to put any amount on this paper and I will gladly pay it for these Nendoroid Touhou figures. Simply put, I WANT THEM FUCKING NOW!
Okay, so, I'll tell you what happened. I got a new computer monitor yesterday(my first LCD) and it has a HDMI port in the back. Naturally I wanted to hook it up to my PS3, as I have never had the chance to see my PS3 play back to me in a beautiful 1080p resolution. Now, I have my PS3 and 360 standing up vertically on top of my TV stand with a few games in between them, like so...
Now I'm not really sure what happened, since it all went so fast, but I think when I was trying to bring the HDMI cable to the back of the PS3, it tugged on a 360 cable which made it fall behind the TV. When it fell I heard a loud crash(I couldn't see it at this point since I was facing the side of the PS3, and had no idea the 360 was now located behind the TV) but when that 360 fell, all the games came crashing down, and, of course, the first thing I grabbed to save from falling was my Miku figure at the very top.
I was able to save most of the games falling off the stand and none of those were damaged(thank god). I didn't notice my Bulma bunny girl figure was on the floor until I went to retrieve my 360(hanging from all the wires in the back) from behind the stand. Granted, the damage isn't bad(only the single peg on her left foot was broken off), but I still feel really stupid for arranging my stuff around like this(and I still set it up the same way it was before it all fell down, I have no where to put this stuff haha). She was also located right next to the 360, so the damage could have been much greater if the 360 fell right on top of it. I'm thinking about buying another one. Sure, I can probably just super-glue the peg back onto her foot, but being an avid collector, I feel like it's just a damaged product, and that it's pretty much worthless to me now as a collector. She really is a beautiful figure, so I'm not really sure what to do. Citizens of Tomopop, what have you done in a situation like this?
I got two new figures over the course of the last two weeks. The first was a Hatsune Miku 1/8th scale painted figure by Good Smile Company, the other is a Pichi Pichi Gal figure featuring Bulma from DBZ cosplaying as a Bunny Girl. I'm not much of a photographer as I don't even own my own camera so I use my sisters, and I barely know how to use the damn thing. So bare with me here!
The Bulma figurine displayed w/ original packaging.
Miku figurine displayed w/ original packaging.
Bulma collage w/ extra oppai.
Miku collage w/ pantsu action.
Both of these figures are very well made, and am glad to have both grace my collection. The Miku figurine burned a 90 dollar hole in my wallet(damn PlayAsia shipping charges) but it was worth it!
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