Then just today, I stumbled upon a WALL-E Revoltech. I love WALL-E! I looked for more photos and this definitely is in my wishlist. I’m sure the Little TP will love this too. ^^

Don’t you just love this robot? In the movie he’s programmed to clean up the planet and after so many years he developed his own personality. And such great personality it is! I hope they’ll come up with an EVE Revoltech real soon so WALL-E will be happy.

Then there’s Lightning McQueen Revoltech. This is actually something that you can play with since this is also a pull back toy car. With the accessories included, you can change Lightning McQueen’s expressions and recreate scenes from Cars.

Nemo, on the other hand, comes with a miniature Dory and a coral reef stand. I’m not excited with this figure though. Sure, Nemo is cute and you can also change his facial expressions, but for some reason it gives me that outdated vibe like those those decorative ceramic pieces that you see in your Grandma’s house or something. ^^;

Previously released Revoltech Pixar items were Woody and Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story and Mike and Sully from Monsters Inc.

Little TP loves robots and I’m pleasantly surprised that Revoltech has a lot to offer. I guess I just didn’t choose my previous Revoltechs well. In my opinion, those Revoltech joints are not exactly suited for female figures, in this case the Fraulein collection, but they look good with their Yamaguchi and Tokusatsu series. Displaying them is another issue though, I hope they have better display options with their newer figures.

Images via www.kaiyodo.co.jp and Hobby Search.

Often described as MISB, MIB, loose, displayed in smoke-free home, etc. these pre-loved items are priced based on their condition. Another factor is if it is a chase/limited item and I guess the edition (or issue?) matters as well.

If ever I’ll buy secondhand toys, I’ll get it from someone who has his or her own website so at least I know something about them and how they take care of their collection. I’ll also ask for a lot of photos so I’ll know what to expect. An honest seller will mention even the tiniest of flaw on what they’re selling.

What are your thoughts on pre-loved figures? Ever tried purchasing one?

Image via zerochan.net

When I got home, I excitedly opened her box. I was happy with Revoltech Haruhi but after a while, that joint of her won’t budge and suddenly I’m not liking her articulated parts very much. And that stand included in the package was rather unyielding, obtrusive, stubborn. Her guitar kept on falling off her arms. I’m still okay with the Haruhi purchase, her endearing expressions and the quality of material that Kaiyodo Revoltech used somewhat made up for my list of complaints about her.

I think I started a bit late in the toy collecting scene. I’m not an expert and I don’t have a huge collection but I guess what I can advise first time buyers is to research a bit first before buying something so you’ll know what to expect. This hobby is shared by a lot of people today so access to information like reviews, photos of figs is easier and more extensive. Be mindful and have a discerning eye so you’ll know if it’s the real deal. I was also eyeing some scale figs that day but I decided to hold-off a bit since I’m not really sure which one to get and which manufacturer will meet my expectation. I also knew there were bootlegs during that con, I guess it’s quite easy to tell the genuine apart from the fakes. Just look closely and if your gut tells you something’s wrong, then walk away.

I also wrote about how to spot fake nendoroids and other figures before and HHT 03 was all about shopping for figures online, any other tips to first time buyers and new toy collectors that you’d like to add?

I normally visit AmiAmi for smaller items like figmas and Nendoroids and pre-order from them. That figma on the cover photo arrived at my doorstep, err, lobby, September 6, it was shipped September 2 (Friday), pretty fast in my opinion, since that’s just about 2 business days. I’ve never had a bad experience with AmiAmi and they have been prompt when answering emails. They mark their items with a certain percentage off and some say that it’s actually lower than other online shops. I also have a Hobby Search account but I have yet to try ordering from them.

I’m too chicken to buy scale figures online because of the horrendous stories I hear about our local customs’ fees. I’ve actually been a victim once with their rather dubious, top of head computations of taxes and surcharges. It’s a good thing that after that incident, I found a reputable seller locally. Even though some items arrive a few weeks after its release, I don’t have to worry that I have to make that trip to the post office and spend extra just to get the item that they are holding hostage. 0_o

I hope you’ll tell your stories about where you get your figures, games, merchandise, etc. online. Do you have to deal with problems regarding your orders with local customs? You can share them all here. ^^

Most toy collectors have money allotted for their hobby, of course there are those lucky ones with more money to burn. But was there ever a time that you wanted a toy oh so badly to complete a series or a line that you dip those fingers into your savings because you have already exceeded your budget? If I were still single and younger and don’t know any better, I guess I would have. ^^; I’m suppressing the completist in me because of budget constraints but if I had the means, I’ll probably buy the entire Vocaloid series faster than you can say Hatsune Miku Nendoroid.

I also wanted to buy all the Hyakka Ryoran Samurai Girls but I missed out on Sanada Yukimura and Senhime (which I really regret) but I lost interest in the upcoming figures except for Naoe which I PO’d already. I think the only set that I completed was the school uniform version of the K-On! Nendoroid, oh wait, I don’t have Ui so yeah I haven’t completed anything. Lol. I have this thing though that I want to get at least two of my favorite characters from the same series for display purposes. You wouldn’t want to have one odd and lonely figure in your display shelf now, would you? Well at least, that’s just how I feel about it. ^^;

So, if you have just one chance to complete a set of figures, which series would you choose and why? Don’t forget to insert world peace to your answer, okay? Lol.

Images via Hobby Search, Good Smile and Alter websites.

So why Thursday, you ask? Well, Thursday gets me excited since it’s the day when you can almost taste the weekend. Once a week, I’ll post something which hopefully excites you as well and perhaps stimulates a bit of discussion with all of you. This will also help me get a bit more consistent with my posts. ^^;

The first topic that came to my mind was, what characteristics of a figure make you press that buy button? I’m talking about that strong urge that you get when you see something in a toy and you feel like you really, really have to get it. I guess my penchant for zettai ryouiki is no secret but I haven’t mentioned that I’m a sucker for twintails too. Below are some figs that made that cut.

This 1/6 scale Nasca was the first figure that I bought. Since she’s not wearing a skirt, I guess that’s not exactly zettai ryouiki but the thighhighs make up for it, right?

Twintails. I actually like Black Rock Shooter’s hair and her weapons so I got 3 figures of her plus a figma and a Nendo. Not sure if I still want to get more BRS stuff in the future though.

I just saw this Hatsune Miku Love is War fig from the GSC website and I must say I’m quite impressed with this version. I’m not liking her face that much though. But the dynamic pose, the hair, the base, very nice.

This version of Rin is perhaps the epitome of my ideal figure. I’m still regretting why I didn’t get her. Perfect twintails, Grade A zettai ryouiki plus that endearing tsun tsun pout, what more could I ask for!

This young Alice by Alter has been in my wishlist since forever. Sans the skirt, I guess there’s no zettai ryouiki here but like Nasca, the thighhighs plus the cute face make more than enough for it. ^^

Permission to preorder her was granted! I’m so happy! Naoe Kanetsugu is just awesome.

There are a lot of other figs that fit my description of a must-get which makes just makes my wishlist longer. Lol. Everybody has some sort of preference, right? So tell me, what’s yours?

Images from Good Smile, Alter and Hobby Search websites.

I’ve been curious about threeA Toys and their WWR line since I saw it on the Good Smile website early this year. Then when I read again about the DTAs, I found out that threeA won the Manufacturer of the Year award and Ashley Wood, the co-owner and designer won the Artist of the Year award. That piqued my curiosity even more and thought that I’d stop living under a rock for a while and learn more about this cool company who makes awesome wobots.

After a bit of browsing, I found out that threeA is a Hong Kong based company founded in 2008 by Ashley Wood and Kim Fung Wong. threeA develops and manufactures designer toys, posters, books, prints and clothing based on characters and paintings usually created and designed by Ashley Wood.

Then there’s WWR which stands for World War Robot. The WWR figures are 1/6th scale toys of the various bots and humans of the WWR Universe, while their smaller WWRp (World War Robot portable) counterparts are at 1/12th scale. These figs are based on the WWR graphic novel illustrated and written by Ashley Wood and TP Louise about a fictional war in the 1980-1990s.

The details in these customs are amazing! I’m a huge fan of weathering and battle damaged effects and they have all that and more. But I tell ya, these babies are not cheap, they cost hundreds of dollars and the Squares (cover photo), in blind boxes cost around $35 a pop. Check out the threeA catalog here.

I was actually thinking of getting this Wonfes Summer exclusive WWRp JDF Large Martin and Square but I wasn’t able to hit the order button since the toy budget cut. ^^;

The robots are actually evolving if you’ll take a look at the Square MK2, which is the newer set, they actually have extended legs. I would definitely buy at least one or two of the Squares when I get the chance someday. I like those with shorter ‘legs’ better because they look cuter. Lol. I wonder if threeA will come up with DIY WWR…

So there you have it, awesome robots by threeA. Care to share your robot stories?

Images via threeawiki.com and Good Smile

I found this today at wcloudxkumo.com and I couldn’t believe I didn’t see previews of Naoe Kanetsugu last year.

I got two figs from the Hyakka Ryoran series, Yagyu Jubei and Hattori Hanzo. I wanted to get Yakimura Sanada but she was an exclusive and I didn’t want to spend a lot of money for her. Senhime‘s naginata and zettai ryouiki appealed to me but for some reason, I passed on the pre-order.

Now it’s Naoe’s turn to get the figure treatment from Alter and I’m excited to see how she’ll turn out. I like twin tails and huge weapons so she instantly became my favorite among all the Samurai Girls. I’m just kinda worried about her smile though. The amount of teeth figures are showing could be an issue to me. ^^; Another thing to consider is if she’ll be an exclusive. With Hattori Hanzo they released both exclusive and a non-exclusive versions with weapons as the difference. I hope they’ll do the same with Naoe in case that happens. I wonder if she’s a castoffable fig, there’s this tiny photo on the lower right portion which makes me think that she is? 0_o

I’m not supposed to spend a lot on figures but I only have 2 items on pre-order (Nendoroid Snow Miku – Playtime edition and figma Miku Append) so perhaps this could be the third? How about you, what’s new on your wish list?

This play set has very nice details. Love the furniture.

Can’t wait to see Ciel Phantomhive. As for Sebastian, I think I only have one picture of him here. Will definitely take more pictures when Ciel arrives. ^^

Let’s see some pictures of these cuties, shall we? Ali helped me with the photos. I didn’t actually get the effect that I wanted to get from this shoot because we still don’t have enough lighting but here you go.

One thing I noticed about this Nendoroid is it is made of a softer plastic. Compared to older Nendoroids, I think Black Rock Shooter’s face is a bit softer as well as the other parts like the arms and legs which makes it more flexible I guess. I accidentally dropped the hair piece twice but it didn’t break or anything considering it has thin parts. I also trimmed parts of the hair since it looked uneven to me, something like an excess sprue, so I used my Tamiya diamond file to fix it.

I really like the blue streaks on her hair. It even looks better when the light hits it. It’s actually easy to pose this Nendoroid and her parts fit nicely with each other.

Here she is sitting calmly on her cannon. Her scars appear a bit more red than her figma version.

I didn’t use the extra stand for the cannon because she can actually hold it with ease since it’s quite light. It’s really nice that I can recreate various fighting positions with this Nendo.

Here’s another angle of BRS holding the cannon.

Bandaged Nendo BRS. Lol. This one’s my favorite expression of the bunch. She’s actually displayed this way on my shelf right now. I bet it would be nice to get at least a couple more BRS Nendos so I can display her in various ways. ^^

Now here are some photos of figma Black Rock Shooter.

I think her face is looks gentler than the other BRS figs. I really like the blue flame on her eye, it looks like a pretty crystal. ^^ My only complaint with this figma is it’s kind of difficult to fit that stand on her back. I managed to put the stand but at first it’s a bit loose and I even scratched a portion of her jacket when I was trying to place it in. I’m sometimes clumsy with these things though, fortunately I haven’t broken anything yet. ^^;

That cannon is a little heavy so I really have to use the extra figma stand and holder. I’ve always admired figmas’ articulation and with BRS you can really recreate wonderful poses.

Since this figma also comes with chains, I tried to pose her like the first Black Rock Shooter fig that came out but I couldn’t get her arms to the correct position. ^^; There was even an angle that she looks like she’s scratching her head. Lol.

I forgot to take a photo of her sitting on her cannon, but here she is sitting on her box. Oh, speaking of the box, I like how they have better flaps now, I think it’s easier to open and less prone to dents.

Both Nendo and figma come with the 50-minute Original Animation BRS DVD.

I’m sure most of you are already enjoying your BRS figs. I think they’re pretty awesome. I would have gotten doubles or maybe even triples of these if I had the budget. ^^;