An update to my Shinki feelings

After some more research, I've changed my mind on a few things. Looks like I might get Arnvel 2 and skip Werkstra. For the extra 1,300 yen, you not only get the updated Arnvel set but the Werkstra stuff as well so I might as well just go for it. I've reversed my opinion on Eukrante and Vespelio; I'd rather get Eukrante instead. Not that it matters much: I'm passing both of them. :p So my want list for the stuff that's already out is Arnvel 2, one of the bike sisters, Murmeltier and/or Asuka, and Graffias.

Should I get more Busou Shinki?

My comments on the lineup so far. I had Brightfeather from late last year and got Maochao, Benio, Juvisy, and Ianeira this month from Amiami. I only opened up Brightfeater late Jan and regret not checking her out sooner otherwise I might have been able to snag Graffias and others that interested me before they sold out from Amiami since they were at clearance prices at the time. Anyways here's my comments on the lineup so far. It's pretty long so click when ready.

Big package!

To the few people that may read this blog, apologies for not updating for 2 weeks. I finally got around to opening up my Brightfeather Busou Shinki. To make it short, I fell in love with it and decided to buy some more so I searched for more info on the other Shinki models and ran across a TF board that had webcomics featuring them and before I knew it, I was staying up well past bedtime reading them each night and that's what I've been doing for the past 2 weeks. ^^;; Anyways, moving on...

I got a package on Wednesday from Amiami.

And it contained my newest Shinkis and Figmas!

Item & cost breakdown:
Busou Shinki Maochao | 1,650
Busou Shinki Benio | 1,250
Busou Shinki Juvisy | 1,615
Busou Shinki IANEIRA | 1,635
figma Len Kagamine Character Vocal Series 02 | 1,870
figma Mikuru Asahina Fighting Waitress Version | 1,870
figma Tsuruya-san Culture Festival Maid Ver. | 1,870

I also got a couple di:stages as well as a lighted figure display base. Not sure if I'm just wasting my money or not. There were other Busou Shinkis that I wanted but Amiami have been putting them on clearance price for a while now and the one I really wanted, Graffias, was long gone. Rather unfortunate as she was at a very good price too. But back then, I haven't tried a Shinki yet so couldn't tell if it would be worth it or not. At least now I know. :p Amiami's pretty much cleared out all of their old stock and on top of that have retired the item pages so it seems they won't be restocking the old ones anymore. That's too bad. :(

It seems the face have fallen off the Tsuruya Figma. I'll have to check to see if there's any damage or not. Also the Figmas are part of GSC's winter campaign program where you get a limited edition gloves and scarves that will fit Figmas or Nendos. I'll have to try those out with Tsuruya-san as soon as I make sure she's okay.

Free GPS on iPod Touch?

Well, not quite. What I've discovered is that when you're in iPod Touch's Maps app with the wi-fi on and just drive around on the streets, the app will grab whatever wifi signals it can find and triangulate your position on the map based on them. This assumes you've preloaded a map with your position on it earlier and what it'll do is pinpoint your position when you're near a strong wifi signal or area with several signals. The caveat is that you might lose your map information unless you pass by an open hotspot so it's definitely not something to rely on. Nonetheless, it's pretty cool in a cool geek factor kinda way. Of course, if you have an iPhone, the Maps app will just use the 3G signals to triangulate your position and you won't lose your map either. If you're a pizza delivery guy or have a job that requires driving, the iPhone's a nice thing to have.

While I'm on the subject, another reason to love my iPod: I was dating some Chinese girl who can't speak English worth squat. She mentions some Chinese thing that I don't know about so I switched to the Notes app and switched on the character recognition Chinese input and just told her to draw the Chinese characters so I can ask my parents about it later. This is her first time handling my iPod but she had no problems entering the characters since all she had to do was literally draw the characters with her finger and hit the Chinese equivalent of "enter". Later I showed the notes to each of my parents whom each had their own take on what she wrote. :p But back to the point, the iPod can help you cross language barriers. Cool stuff, ne?

New figures from Amazon Jp

I had forgotten to post about a package I got a little over a week ago. I'm lazy to rewrite this so a quick copy&paste...



Excellent Model Queen's Blade Alein
1/4 scale swimsuit Fate
Fireball DVD Winter package
Bought from Amazon.jp and shipped through Tenso.

This was a "spur of the moment" purchase when I happened upon an article saying Fate's at 6783 yen. My mind got hit by a virtual frying pan and before I knew it, I placed one in the cart already even though I wasn't sure I really want one. In the end I went ahead with the purchase while adding a couple more stuff just for the heck of it. I think this might be my last figure purchase for a while. I spent more money during the last few months than in the last few years with a big chunk of that coming from figures & toys so I need to reign in the spending. I didn't take Fate out since I don't have a place to put her but damn she looks gorgeous. Looks a lot better in person than in the pics. I'm glad I got her after all.

Cost breakdown:
Queen's Blade Alein 3968 yen
1/4 scale Fate 6783 yen
Fireball Winter pkg 4351 yen
Amazon total: 15,102 yen = $162.95 + $8.14 tax (they charge tax on anything shipped to local address)(yen to $ conversion made by Amazon)
EMS shipping fee: 5400 yen
Tenso service fee: 980 yen
Tenso total: 6380 yen = $70.26 (yen to $ conversion by Paypal)
Final total: $241.35

That total really ballooned real quick due to me adding a couple stuff there. Fireball I've been on the fence for a while now and Alein was also kinda spur of the moment. I probably could have done without Alein but I wanted to get at least something else other than just 2 items.

OTBK2!!

Otome ha Boku ni Koishiteru 2 has been announced by CaramelBox. I'm a huge fan of the first game and really looking forward to the 2nd one. The main character and heroine looks reversed as the main character looks like the heroine and vice versa. The main male character looking like a heroine is nothing new but having a main heroine who's definitely more like the male protagonist than the actual protagonist is definitely not something you see often in eroge.

Official website: http://otbk2.com/

I took some pictures over the weekend. Some during the late afternoon/evening on Saturday and morning/early afternoon on Sunday. I haven't had time to check the results yet so I'll have to do it during the weekdays.

Canon PowerShot SD780IS

I picked the PowerShot SD780IS and bought it from Amazon. Currently they have it for $199 until maybe Jan 16. Plus I got a free 4GB class 4 Kingston SDHC card. See the product page for details if you're interested.



Actually I first saw the SD780IS at a holiday dinner party held by the company I work at. They gave out prizes and stuff and one of the coworkers nearby won the camera and she asked me to check it out and confirm for her it's a digital camera (she's middle-aged :p). My first impression at the time was "DAMN, it's small!" and not surprisingly enough, that's still my first impression on taking my camera out of the box. I'll be testing it out over the weekend even though it's chilly and all because of the cold snap hitting much of the US right now. Hopefully I won't break it right off the bat. ^^;