Nendoroid Maiko Madoka & Kuonji Alice: pkg impressions

My most recent Japanese related purchase would be Nendoroid Kaname Madoka Maiko ver and Nendoroid Kuonji Alice, both bought from Crunchyroll last week. I've been interested in Maiko Madoka however only noticed her after her preorder had passed; she was roughly twice the cost of Alice. :/ The one good thing is that shipping was free for both so it wasn't all bad. They came from separate venders BTW; Madoka came from Yes Anime while Alice came direct from GSC. Both came within a few days which means they shipped from within the US.

Alice looks nice in the box. I already get the impression that I'm going to like her. I'm not quite so sure about Madoka however. I decided to get her since I already have other similar Nendoroids like Yune and Snow Miku 2013. I don't see it ever likely that I'll get around to playing Alice's source material but it would be nice. Come to think of it, I've yet to throughly play any of Type-Moon's games. *sweatdrop*

My first Touhou Nendoroid!

Got my first Touhou Project nendoroid this weekend, Alice Margatroid! Like everything else, it'll be a while before I open her... orz

I kinda wish myfigurecollection.net had a way to track which of your figures are open like how shmax.com does with your Transformer figures.

Nendoroid Inami Mahiru is offical!

So I already had the Nendoroid Popura and Wagnaria sets preordered although I'm not sure if I want add another cafe set (I'm kinda tempted). When word that Inami was coming out as well, I wasn't sure from the initial picture that I wanted her.



But then I saw the below pic and that changed everything. I had to have her just for that.


Inami also comes with the Magic Hand used by Takanashi Souta which makes me wonder if they have any plans to release Takanashi as a Nendoroid. Would be nice especially if they release him with a crossdressed version like with Nendoroid Ayasaki Hermione.



Speaking of Wagnaria, I've finished watching the first season and will watch the second season sometime later. I've been busy with learning my new job last week and that will likely interfere with my hobby activities for the near future although hopefully it'll get better once I get used to the work.

On a different topic, I've been considering whether I want to put up a Twitter or Facebook feed for reporting deals I find either online or the Houston area. A local Walmart has reduced the Lego Cars 2 Mack Truck to $19 and Hero Factory Rocka XL (3.0) to $13 both of which are a very nice deal. I've picked up both of them but unsure if I'll keep the Mack Truck since I already have 2 full-sized brick trucks (Kre-o Optimus and Lego TRU truck). They take quite a bit of space and I've yet to get started on them.

Note: All posted pics are from Mikatan Blog.

Cheerful Nendoroids, to get or not to get

Shortly after Mikatan blog updated with photos of the finished Cheerful Lin and Len, I started regretting not getting them, especially Len. I got over it however. :P One reason I had my regrets was because the new cheerful parts can be used by other Nendos. My other reason is because Len would have been nice to pair up with Kaito since I've put in an order for him. XD Ah well, I might snag Len if he shows up cheap enough on Mandarake but it's unlikely.



On a related subject, Cheerful Luka is also proving to be a tough sell for me. I already have a Luka and this version is 500 yen more than the previous Cheerful releases even though she doesn't seem to offer that much more parts than the other Nendoroids. Biggest reason for me to get her would be her new arm parts which would give her much more posability as her old arms are definitely quite limiting. I just wish there was something more, something that would give that extra "oomph!" No, that ponytail just isn't enough... orz

It seems unlikely that Meiko would get a Cheerful treatment as she's too recent of a release. I personally think GSC should have just made her a Cheerful release from the start.

edit 1/29: Names corrected! XD

Nendoroid Elsie

Nendoroid Elsie from The World God Only Knows. Only one word to describe that smiling face: HNNNG!!
Releasing in a few days from now. I've been considering getting her for some time now and the newest Mikatan update just re-affirms that.



Elsie's accessories have a lot of cross-compatibility especially her faces. Speaking of which, 4 faces! And they're all very cute and useful. And then there's the comical arm shaking and leg running parts. Very fun stuff. GJ, Max Factory!

And some blatant advertising. Help me buy a Nendoroid Elsie. XD


Buy Nendoroid The World God Only Knows Non Scale Pre-Painted PVC Figure: Elsie at Play-Asia.com

Speaking of advertising, if anyone knows of an affiliate program that allows me to put up specific stuff like the Amazon button above, let me know. Even better if someone can teach me an easy way to put up a Play-Asia link similar to that Amazon link because text only links suck. :P

Ouen Miku to be sold outside Japan

It's old news that GSC wants to open their shop for foreign collectors but this is new.


GSC has set a specific date to sell this outside Japan?? Σ(ﾟДﾟ；)
I wonder how they will work this out...

More toy pics!

Random toy pics.

Megurine Luka and iPod Touch

Got some stuff lately. I post pics of the first few.


Nendo and figma Megurine Luka and a pink Hayabusa. Luka's figma articulation is rather hampered by her stiff skirt and lack of a hair joint. She looks nice though and she comes with a big fish which I'll post later. :D The Nendo is standard Nendo; not much as far as arm variety but it's got Tako-Luka which by itself is worth half the price of getting the set. The Hayabusa is part of series 2 minifigs. I'm only interested in this one and maybe the red one. I don't really have much of an interest in the other figures.


I also got a new 32GB iPod Touch 4 (left) to replace my old one (right), a 2nd gen 8GB. The lack of space has been an annoyance so the extra space was much needed. Another major factor was the improved performance as the 2nd gen was showing frequent hiccups with some apps under iOS4. Everything else is just gravy although it's very nice gravy. An unexpected bonus was that you can get a free version of a MobileMe account so that you can use the iPod Touch version of the "Find My iPhone" feature (only available with 4th gen Touch).

We are riding, riding, riding...

Lots of pictures to show off. Shinkis on their rides, BRS figma and Nendo, fun stuff. If you visit my other haunts, you've probably seen them already.

First up is Partio and Pomock on the 3-wheeler Ex:ride.


More pics below!

And it's here!

As expected, the package arrived this morning. Here's the package contents.



Sega prize figures Sawatari Izumi and Karauchi Anna, Nendoroid Japanese Life Set A & B, Re-ment Our House's Kotatsu, MiniPla Ke-tai Sousakan 7 01 Arrives 1-4, Se.Kirara w/ Aya Morning Coffee figma, and (the main breadwinner for me) Otoboku The 2 Elders 1st run edition w/ Softbank extras.



The Softbank extras are a shitajiki of Awayuki and a bedsheet featuring Chihaya and Kaoruko.

(edit 3/4/12: OTBK2 contents have been moved to ecchi-ism.)

Latest loot pics

This is from end of June.



Re-ment Cafe Table, Re-ment Sushi Meguri, Bushou Shinki EX Tsugaru, Revoltech Layton, and G's Festival Comic vol.12.

Unposted toys & figures from May

Some stuff I got last month but didn't post.



Ignis from Tengai Makyou. 1/8 scale from Yamato. Easy castoff but she looks better with her clothes on. Looks very good and sexy. Sword is too delicate though. It broke when my hand bumped into it. Fixed with superglue.


Akihiko from Persona 3. 1/10 scale by Kotobukiya. I needed a guy figure so I chose him. Comes with 9 minute drama CD.


Saki DVD vol 7 w/ dakimakura. Box contains DVD & Dakimakura. I also have DVD vol 2 with dakimakura. I'll showcase the dakimakuras at a later time but they probably rank on the lower end of my dakimakura collection because the image it's based on is fairly low res. I personally don't mind that much but it's very obvious when compared to most other dakimakuras which are usually based on a high resolution image due to the size of dakimakuras.


Figma Subaru from Nanoha Strikers. I've been spoiled by the acsta Subaru as the figma looks fairly weak in comparison. It's not a bad figma but it has its weaknesses.


Nendo Drossel from Fireball. Haven't really had much chance to play with her. I will say she has a much better implemented light up gimmick compared to Chogokin Drossel. I also prefer her more solid clear bands on her Belinda helmet to the Chogokin's softy bands.

Nendo Fate, Otoboku2 demo

My main complaint on her is the cloak which comes off to easily and hinders movement. She comes with a lot of arm parts so you can have her wield Baldiche in all sorts of ways.


The Otoboku 2 demo came out this weekend. I played it and liked what I've seen so far. It seems a bit darker than the last game but it's still the same Otoboku atmosphere so you won't feel too down. Plus everyone is the cute especially the main heroine character Chihaya. To most fully enjoy the game, it's best if you've already played the first game and read the light novel "Sakura no Sono no Etoile". However if you're completely new, you won't really notice I think. I'm definitely picking this game up when it comes out.