On February 14 2011 13:14 asianskill wrote: there's just too much loli for me to enjoy collecting these figures
Actually there's nothing 'loli' about most of them as you put it. There are lots of male figures, as well as mecha, monsters and other things that aren't classed as human or even humanoid. I just choose to collect the cute types (and I'm not male either.) Goodsmile alone is responsible for a line of Kamen Rider figmas as well as many other non-cute girl products.
@Vek: Konata is so adorable. I love that they kept her animated style faithful to the series. Figma is really good at achieving those types of things. As for her stand - is it the typical plug into the back on a plastic tube with one joint attatched to a base style? I had similar issues with my Mugi figma because her hair is so long.
I went to collect Mio...and yeah...oops. I'm now broke;
You're also right about the hair being too long for it to work the way I assumed it did.
Don't worry too much about going for one thing and leaving with many... happens alllll the time =D Nothing better than free gifts as a bonus. I was so happy when I got given a random little figure from one of my ebay friends after buying quite a bit from him. No idea who she is though but that's alright because Konata is her friend now ^^
Love the new Lyrical Nanoha figmas you got too, they look really nice. I think the hair is the most noticable difference in regards to the older figmas. The newer ones just look so much more detailed. Mikuru still looks pretty cute though.
Her stand insertion point is just cleverly disguised ^_^
I went and bought this little cutie (http://www.goodsmile.info/product/en/2842/Nendoroid+Manaka+Takane.html ) yesterday along with another one of the Phat Nendoroid Playset 03: Culture Festival A Set. I made a long classroom using the new set, but in March I'm planning to buy another Nendoroid Playset 03: Culture Festival B Set and make it into a two storey one for displaying all my school uniformed Nendoroids.
The only issue right now is that I've almost bought everything the two stores have >.< I was checking and this is what's left for me to buy;
The most frustrating thing for me is that at the Seoul Station store they have both a Black Rock Shooter figma and a 2007 Yuki Nendoroid on display (de-boxed) but apparently they can't sell them to me >.< I guess it's shops policy, but I'd totally buy them both at full price since I don't care about them being de-boxed.
When I go in in March to buy the last of the products I'm going to give them a note in Korean plus my number and ask them to call if they get in any new stock. It'll save me the time/subway fare of checking back each month.
Her stand insertion point is just cleverly disguised ^_^
I went and bought this little cutie (http://www.goodsmile.info/product/en/2842/Nendoroid+Manaka+Takane.html ) yesterday along with another one of the Phat Nendoroid Playset 03: Culture Festival A Set. I made a long classroom using the new set, but in March I'm planning to buy another Nendoroid Playset 03: Culture Festival B Set and make it into a two storey one for displaying all my school uniformed Nendoroids.
The only issue right now is that I've almost bought everything the two stores have >.< I was checking and this is what's left for me to buy;
The most frustrating thing for me is that at the Seoul Station store they have both a Black Rock Shooter figma and a 2007 Yuki Nendoroid on display (de-boxed) but apparently they can't sell them to me >.< I guess it's shops policy, but I'd totally buy them both at full price since I don't care about them being de-boxed.
When I go in in March to buy the last of the products I'm going to give them a note in Korean plus my number and ask them to call if they get in any new stock. It'll save me the time/subway fare of checking back each month.
Churuya-san is one of my favorite Nendoroids. I am a fan of Tsuruya-san, so Churuya was a must-have for me *nyoron~~*.
Figmas are Nendoroids have no sign of slowing down. At the current rate there are like five releases a month for each line. So yeah, don't worry about the well drying up
Her stand insertion point is just cleverly disguised ^_^
I feel like such an idiot now for not noticing that haha. Here I was trying to get the stand to sit under her hair somehow... It all makes sense now.
I went and bought this little cutie (http://www.goodsmile.info/product/en/2842/Nendoroid+Manaka+Takane.html ) yesterday along with another one of the Phat Nendoroid Playset 03: Culture Festival A Set. I made a long classroom using the new set, but in March I'm planning to buy another Nendoroid Playset 03: Culture Festival B Set and make it into a two storey one for displaying all my school uniformed Nendoroids.
Those eyes... melt worthy.
The only issue right now is that I've almost bought everything the two stores have >.< I was checking and this is what's left for me to buy;
I really like the Nendoroid Nao, such a cute expression and I love the pose where she's holding her hands over her chest.
Saber Figma is awesome. I don't think I've ever seen a bad Saber figure. Speaking of which, my Nendoroid Saber shipped today according to my emails so yay. I think it's the same as the one you have already.
The most frustrating thing for me is that at the Seoul Station store they have both a Black Rock Shooter figma and a 2007 Yuki Nendoroid on display (de-boxed) but apparently they can't sell them to me >.< I guess it's shops policy, but I'd totally buy them both at full price since I don't care about them being de-boxed.
When I go in in March to buy the last of the products I'm going to give them a note in Korean plus my number and ask them to call if they get in any new stock. It'll save me the time/subway fare of checking back each month.
That's odd. You'd think most stores would jump at the chance to sell things on display at full price.. Maybe someone at the store owns them hehe.
Also, I love the face on the Azusa Figma. It's just so adorable. I hope they can stock her, Yui and Ui so I can complete the band some time soon;
I was reading Danny Choo's blog/site over the past few days. I love the photography, and it's really interesting to learn about Goodsmile and related companies through his posts. I saw the K-On!! van in his posts about Itasha vehicles. I can't drive, but I'd love to own something like that >.>
Those Itasha cars are incredible. I think the Black Rock Shooter one was my favourite though some of the Vocaloid ones were really good too. The scooter with Hachune on the seat making a mad face made me laugh.
Gal gun was nice to see too. Played the demo on the weekend and it was quite amusing. Couldn't really work out what was going on but that just added to the challenge lol.
Agreed on the BRS Itasha. That, and some of the red/white Haruhi ones are pretty much the only ones that I liked. They were pretty much the only ones that didn't have a color theme that made my eyes bleed ^^;;
Funny thing today. I just checked my February preorders, and after all the GoodSmile/Alter delays, my monthly shipment got reduced to two Nendoroids and two Kotobukiya figures.
I haven't bought Kotobukiya in a while. IMO Kotobukiya's weakness has always been relatively bland design compared to the big 3. But it looks like they have improved in the past year. Their Kirino looks real cute:
On February 21 2011 14:26 vek wrote: Those Itasha cars are incredible.
Not a figure modeller and just browsing but OMG.
Do not buy any car scale models that are not made by TAMIYA unless you have the effort, time and skill to make the kit look good. Avoid FUJIIMI like the plague if you are new, the parts dont fit together, theres no detail and the moulding job is horrible. (I am spoilt by bandais microscopic accuracy). AOSHIMA are supposedly ok but not as good as Tamiya to work with.
@VManOfMana: The NGE Asuka and Rei ones were the most amusing to me. I just kept thinking - When you drive doesn't everything inside the fall over? It's a funny image to think of some poor NGE otaku having to tidy up a totally wrecked interior after every single trip.
Please post some photos when you get your latest haul :D
@T0fuuu - Thanks for the tips. I'm so tempted to find a car kit and then get my friend in Japan to buy me the new Goodsmile decals so I can decorate it.
Speaking of projects, Vek suggested I do a step by step on a model kit, but I'm still waiting on the Kamen Rider ones (and payday) so I just decorated my Phat classroom playsets;
I kept all the leftovers from the magazines for decorating the second floor. I'm not sure how stable it will be, but I'm planning to buy 3 more play sets and create a three set long two storey 'school' for my school uniform Nendoroids. I wish they had the other classroom sets, but I'm going to populate it with the festival set props, self-decoration and then go to Myeongdong to see if I can find some phone-straps/keychains with to-scale props for dismantling.
(You can buy tiny soju bottles and cigarettes, but that's not entirely appropriate lol.)
The drooly face one is my favorite. I love those so much. This is making me lose my battle not to cave and buy one of those Elite Banana plushies now >.<
P.S. The new Nendoroids are so cute! I'd love to own this one;
I promised a step by step, but I'll add the other videos later on tonight. Here's the finished Kamen Rider Double/W Fangjoker MG Figure Rise kit. It took 4.5 hours :D
Random update - I fixed my camera (but I've no access to photoshop so my photos suck ;_;) Also managed to finish the Kamen Rider W MG Figurerise Heat/Metal model kit. I'm almost finished on the Kamen Rider W MG Figurerise Accel. Then it's just a case of waiting for payday, and for the Luna/Trigger and Cyclone/Joker kits to come into stock at my two branches of Hobby Square.
I'll probably post some videos of my finished two storey classroom this weekend once I've decorated the lower floor, stablized the second floor and made some moderations to my general set up.
I also did a little inventory of my collection. I decided to send all my Tokusatsu gashapons and figures home along with the figures marked * to make more room for my core collection of Goodsmile company Figma/Nendoroids and related figures. (It frees up two whole shelves :D)
Nendoroid Black Rock Shooter. Series: Black Rock Shooter.
Nendoroid Dead Master. Series: Black Rock Shooter.
Nendoroid Manaka Takane. Series: Love Plus.
Nendoroid Reina. Series: Queen's Blade.
Nendoroid Tooko Amano. Series: Bungaku Shoujo: The Movie.
Nendoroid Saber: Super Movable Edition. Series: Fate/stay Night.
Nendoroid Luka Megurine. Series: Character Vocal Series 03: Luka Megurine.
Nendoroid Playsets:
Nendoroid Playset 03: Culture Festival A Set Series: Nendoroid. (x2)
Nendoroid Playset 03: Culture Festival B Set Series: Nendoroid. (x2)
Nendoroid Puchis:
Blind-boxed:
Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Nendoroid Petite #02 (Missing 2 puchis.) Nendoroid Petite: Fate/stay night. (Missing 8 puchis ;_;) Nendoroid Petite: Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha: The MOVIE 1st. (Full set!)
Non-blind-boxed:
Nendoroid Petite: Bakemonogatari Set #1. Nendoroid Petite: Bakemonogatari Set #2. Nendoroid Petite: Bakemonogatari Set #3. Nendoroid Petite: Lucky Star x Street Fighter Set.
Figma Ritsu Tainaka: School Uniform version. Series: K-ON!
Figma Saber Alter. Series: Fate/stay night.
Figma Yuu Kawamura: School Uniform version. Series: Sekirara.
Figma Aya Kagura: School Uniform version. Series: Sekirara.
Figma Metis. Series: Person 3 Fes.
Non Goodsmile Trading Figures:
R-Style Puchi EVA (x2)* EVA Portraits (x2)* Kotobukiya 쯔부코레 사기 (Missing 3 figures.)
Non/Goodsmile figures/statues:
Kamen Rider W MG figurerise Skull Model Kit. Kamen Rider W MG figurerise FangJoker Model Kit. Kamen Rider W MG figurerise HeatMetal Model Kit. Kamen Rider W MG figurerise Accel Model Kit. Black Rock Shooter Black Blade Version. Luts Miyu Dollfie. 3 Prop Petit Plus (Not sure of the series.)* Revoltech figures (x2)* A lot of random food-based rements for Figma props.
Core Wish List:
Guuuuh please come into stock!
Ricchan Nendoroid. Yui figma. Sebastian nendoroid. Ciel nendoroid. Black Rock Shooter Gold Saw nendoroid/figma. Black Rock Shooter figma. Black Rock Shooter Dead Master figma.
I made this post in the Anime Discussion thread, but I think its pretty relevant for this thread. A little intro on figure purchasing and what I use to get my items. Hope its useful.
On March 12 2011 07:01 Latham wrote: Damn it, I was just drooling over some GitS and F/SN figures for kicks and giggles and I've grown depressed. How hard can it be to get yourself a figure? Well apparently, very hard outside of Japan.
First thing: Amazon.com has figures. Amazon.co.uk doesn't. Second thing: All the good/well made/nice figures are always ALWAYS on backorder/out of stock/preorder closed. FML threefold. Third thing: Online shops (mostly american ones) don't want to ship to Europe.
The prices range from like 40$ to 200$ and sometimes the 40$ ones look 10x better than the 200$ ones.
Do you guys buy figures? Would buying a figure classify me as an otaku? D: If you buy them, where from? Got any suggestions where I can acquire 1 or more with shipping to EU?
On March 12 2011 07:26 Latham wrote: Well the highest I saw was 189.00$ USD(was some limited edition, I think...) and if you add shipping it'll probably add 20+ more.
Is there any difference between figures and figurines? As I googled around both, google didn't seem to make a distinction between the two.
Seems like figurines are released on commemorative occasions. Like the UBW Rin Tohsaka figurine or the Ghost in the Shell: Major Kusonagi Motoko 2nd GIG figure for their respective shows and if you're not a fan at that time and know, you're fucked for all eternity.
For stores, I'd recommend Hobby Search[1], Hobby Link Japan[2] and AmiAmi[3]. AFAIK they all ship worldwide. Amazon.jp does carry figures, but they do not ship overseas; same for software and other items. Some proxy services like Tokyo Hunter[4] and Big In Japan[5] also help with exclusive releases.
As you noticed the figure market is heavily driven by preorders; I guess it keeps the market fresh and prevents overstock flooding. Most popular/high quality figures sell out on preorder, and if the figure is out for more than a month it can be pretty hard to find. Companies do make re-releases every so and then, but once stores are sold out, your other choice is auctions[6] or second hand stores like Mandarake[7] (they do ship overseas). For auctions you need the help of a proxy service. Celga[8] is my main, and someone mentioned Tenso[9].
Price is driven by many factors: quality and complexity, material, scale, etc. Figures from the S-class brands (Alter[10], Max Factory[11] and Good Smile Company[12]) are in the expensive side, not only because of higher QC standards, but they also have more intrincate designs and big accessories (Alter is pretty good at this[13][14]). Resin and ABS is more expensive than PVC. Bigger figures (1/6 and 1/4) tend to be more expensive than standard sized figures (1/8).
The standard price nowadays for PVC is in the 6500–8000 yen, with smaller/simpler figures on the 4500–6000 range and larger/more complex figures on the 9000+ range. Alter's catalogue can give you a good idea. Aftermarket price can vary a lot depending on the case. Some figures become cheaper, other multiply in their prize. It all depends on supply and demand. Resin kits are a whole different story, so I'll skip.
I do buy figures. Otaku? I don't think it will make you more of an otaku than watching anime and discussing it in a Starcraft forum. I learned the hard way to keep my hobby separate from other things of my life, but its all really up to you. I buy primarily from HobbySearch, exclusives from Celga/Tokyo Hunter and auctions as backup when necessary. Pretty sure the stores I mentioned ship to EU, and Hobby Search and AmiAmi allow combining preorders up to a month. If shipping cost is an issue, try SAL instead of EMS.
"Figure" and "figure" are used interchangeably. I prefer the term "figure" myself.
UBW Rin is a standard release by Good Smile[15]. Preorder is closed, so be on the lookout when its released in May. Its not that figures are commemorative but rather they make sure to release things related to popular shows and franchises.
I can't buy things online (thank goodness!) but thanks for the links anyway. I really love looking at the sites anyway. (I'm addicted to Mikatan's blog over at Good Smile and reading those 'A Week in Tokyo' posts Danny Choo makes.)
'Do you guys buy figures? Would buying a figure classify me as an otaku?'
As I've said before I buy figures, but I'm trying to stick to specific ranges or series (preferably ones I've actually watched like K-On!! and Black Rock Shooter.) I don't have the space to diversify too much and personally the cute SD designs of Nendoroids appeal to me the most right now. I also really love playing the game of chance that is blind-box buying.
I think for a foreigner living in SK this is a really weird hobby (both in the minds of domestic Koreans and other foreigners.) The model kitting is apparently less strange because Korean people are often aware of celebrities who've expressed their fondness for it (according to a Korean friend that's what set the trend off along with the popularity of series such as One Piece, Gundam and Dragonball.)
However, a lot of people seem to think it's not something older (non-Asian) women (or even women in general) would be interested in. Whenever people see my collection they're usually pretty interested/confused by it at first. I get quite a lot of attention for photographing figures outside (I'm yet to go on a full blown shoot in a public place, but I've done it on the roof of my onetel, and people looked totally confused when they came outside to smoke there. Having said this - it was mainly middle-aged men, so it makes perfect sense.) I'm kind of excited to see the reaction when I finally do go shooting in Children's Grand Park sometime soon.
I don't really care if people view me as an otaku, or a weeaboo in the negative sense, since I know that I'm being creative, and enjoying myself whilst not harming myself, or others. To each their own :3
EPT
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