How to make a ghetto spotlight

(photo taken under spotlight)

The best feature of any bishoujo figure is the face. Adding lights to your figure can really make your idol shine. The problem is there really is no affordable solution that is easily manageable, at least none that I have found. I have looked at various spot lights and most have been rather bulky. LED lighting in the past has always looked pretty cheap to me, although that has changed in the past four years. Regardless of what method you choose, one thing does not change: What the light should be illuminating. 

Most people place a light at the top of their case pointing downwards. This is easy to install, cheap and manageable. It also illuminates the whole case. The problem with this is, it creates many shadows such as seen in the figure photo below. Half of her face is covered by a black shadow. 

By using a properly adjusted spotlight, you can illuminate the whole front of the figure, such as in the photo above. The problem with that is it can be bulky and finding a cheap light that is adjustable is almost impossible. 

(photo taken with light directly above)

(causing shadows)

So I have decided to let you know about the ghetto spotlight system. You will need a 50 cent wood brace found in any home improvement shop or something similar that is bendable and bend it into a V shape. Then you will need some mounting tape. That's it. 

Keep in mind, halogen lights get very hot and may cause the mounting tape to lose it's grip, so don't put anything valuable directly under the lights. I recommend you switch to LED G4 lights when you have the chance. Just bend the metal as much as you want and mount in in a corner, one side to the top of the case and one side to the light as in the figure below. You may be amazed at how much more brilliant your figures look and wonder at all the extra light no longer going to waste.

Time to upgrade your IKEA cabinet halogen lights for your anime figures

Alot of people have IKEA glass cases to store their anime figures. They are a great value. But the lighting, is a different issue. many people use LED light strips, which in the past, although functional, looked like a pocket pen light bulb and gave off a white/blue hue. 

Personally, I always preferred the brightness and color intensity of Halogen lights. But the two huge flaws have always been the large power draw and the dangerous amount of heat produced. Touching a Halogen light, even these little bulbs can seriously burn you and it only takes a minute or two for them to fully heat up. Three of the biggest dangers I would say to anime figures are HEAT, UV light and moisture. In an enclosed glass case with the lights left on frequently, we definitely want to get rid of as much heat as possible. 

The good news, is over the last 5 years, LED technology has improved vastly and is very affordable, now. If you are still using Halogen G4 light bulbs you should consider upgrading to these little LED discs. The light intensisty is almost exactly the same and they use less wattage. They do still get rather warm, but they won't scald you like a halogen. 

Left is LED disc, Right is Halogen G4

*IMPORTANT Safety Information*

if your new lights are making a small buzzing sound
it could be because your light box transformer is inadequate
this is common on the IKEA grundtal if you have the white plastic box
Try leaving one halogen in a light and the others LED and see if the buzzing stops
the LED buzzing sound is the capacitors being overworked
and they can fail and make smoke or maybe even start a fire
PLEASE check your LED lights if they can be used with A/C current if your lights plug into the wall. 
Some are made specifically to run off a car battery like in a mobile camper.

Love Live! Solo Live! collection Memorial Box II 2

Side A

 Side B

Back

 Front

Includes a small book with character profiles

and all the song lyrics

μ's Best Album Best Live! collection Limited will be re-released this summer

now available for pre-order

amiami

CDjapan

Originally released in January 2013, over a year ago, the highly coveted limited edition box is scheduled for a reprinting during the next few months.

The pre-order deadline will be 7/9/2014.

Expect your favorite importer to start taking reservations towards the end of April.

 image by lashinbang.com

The limited edition includes the μ's Best Album greatest hits release but is stored in a large display box includes a tote and can badge and space to store your other audio CDs.

image by maplestorm

The limited edition will cost around 80$.
However, if you do not want the shiny box, you can get the regular release for about 50$.



The μ's Best Album Best Live! collection is a 3 DISC set.
It includes 2 Audio CDs of the greatest hits and one Blu-ray which includes the FIRST FIVE animation releases.

DISC 3

1	[Disc 3] BOKURA NO LIVE KIMI TO NO LIFE [Disc 3] 僕らのLIVE 君とのLIFE (アニメーションショートフィルム)
2	[Disc 3] SNOW HALATION [Disc 3] Snow halation (アニメーションショートフィルム)
3	[Disc 3] NATSU IRO EGAO DE 1.2.JUMP! [Disc 3] 夏色えがおで1,2,Jump! (アニメーションショートフィルム)
4	[Disc 3] MOGYUTTO`LOVE`DE SEKKIN CHUU! [Disc 3] もぎゅっと“love”で接近中! (アニメーションショートフィルム)
5	[Disc 3] WONDERFUL RUSH [Disc 3] Wonderful Rush (アニメーションショートフィルム)

There is one SIXTH animation not included that was released this past winter: Music S.T.A.R.T!!

 

Below, only the Best Album is included 

but there is space to hold the rest of your collection

13 other discs in total

Official Site in Japanese
ミューズベストアルバム ベストライブコレクション

Senran kagura Ikaruga griffon enterprises

This figure has quite a few quality issues.

Why is there a hair mold right down the middle of her head?

The bikini top is castoff-able.

however, it literally is a little plastic notch holding it together and will break easily.

Once you take it off, it is almost impossible to get back on.

Here is a tip, flip the front of the bikini top over and you will see two small holes.

I'm sure you can figure out what goes in there, after that the rear can be snapped together much easier.

Griffon Enterprises uses these black stands and chrome name plates for elegance.

However, they are made from the cheapest plastic crap and are disgraceful. 

Just give us a clear plastic stand that doesn't break.

This one literally broke the very first time I tried to get the figure off by 'pulling up'.

Overall, I cannot recommend this figure. 

As of now, there are quite a few different versions of Ikaruga to choose from.

You may want to check out Chara-ani's version or Vertex.

Love Live! School Idol Project

Love Live! is not over yet! Brand new season 2 starting in April 2014.
The anime will be released in America by NIS America. In case you do not know, Love Live! has been releasing music singles for some time now that include video footage not shown in the anime. Here are the previews released by Lantis on their official youtube channel. I also included some unofficial links, don't miss out!

If you are wondering where the recent bathing suit figures are coming from, it's from the 3rd single.


love live! μ's 6th single



love live! μ's 5th

unofficial full link


love live! μ's 4th single

unofficial full link


love live! μ's 3rd single

unofficial full link


love live! μ's 2nd single

unofficial full link


love live! μ's 1st single

unofficial full link

Railgun S

shoop da woop

I'm a chargin' mah lazer

Mashiroiro Symphony Sena Airi Volks figure

hand painted though it's a recast

Volks does not sell it's figures outside of Japan and only at conventions

such a shame, oh well

Airi is my favorite character followed by Sakuno, the sister who wears the blue dress. What I like most about this series is the very beginning where they all first meet. The anime is good in regards that it tries to cover all the routes in the PC game. However, in america it was released as a down-scaled DVD so I recommend you not buy it. There is a PSP game you can buy and lots of other official merchandise.

different angle

瀬名 愛理

NIS America Hansaku Iroha blu-ray release BD

This is the back of the box.

MgRonald

Watch The Devil is a Part-Timer! Immediately!

You can watch this show on Funimation network for free.

Watch it NOW!

Vividred Operation Impression and Review

Yep.

Murphy's Law and shipping from JAPAN

My accel world collection is growing.

I do not have a silver crow figma yet, maybe I should get one to hold the other characters.

scarlet rain and black lotus I had purchased earlier.

the two kuroyukihime's and a few other nendroids arrived today.

anyway, the turth is, this is how the box arrived

this was shipped EMS and it cost almost 60$!

I expect the random SAL shipment to be crushed, but EMS? idk.

of course, out of all 6 items inside, the damage happened right where you would expect it.

According to Murphy's Law, the most expensive item in your shipment from Japan will always be damaged.

the big crack in the shipping box was right there on the bottom right corner.

middle center right is also caved in.

bottom right corner is far more damaged than pictures shows.

middle left again, caved in.

everything inside seems to be Ok, though.

*phew!

Haiyore! Nyaruko-san is BEST figma

anime transcends recessions.

at least, until I can't pay my cable bill and my internet is turned off.

Here we have two rare figmas.

Kamineko, a special order

and Nyaruko-san

I don't know why the nyaruko figma is so rare. You think they would have known it would be a high seller. Why did they print so few of them in the initial run? I do not know. One thing is obvious, they released way too many items this past winter, so it could be they were just in a rush. If that is the case, perhaps we will see a second printing soon. With the second season announced, I had a gut feeling I should have bought more... oh well.

For some unexplained reason, after the To aru Majutsu movie came out this spring, there has been a run on the misaka imouto figma. The asking price is now double the MSRP, lol.

the mawaru penguindrum figma is a BEHEMOTH.

I cannot think of a bigger figma box, it is even larger than the strike witches.

sadly, it is not a very fun figma.

Girls und Panzer survey

View Results Here!

what makes imouto "best" imouto?

aniplex of america

that's what she said.

JDM anime

trick it out, yo.

tengen toppa gurren lagann

more rinne no lagrange nendoroid

Rinne no Lagrange

crazy faces

why Lagrange: The Flower of Rin-ne is best nendoroid

輪廻のラグランジェ

Good smile nendoroid more clip is bad and suction cup update

Why buy a nendoroid more good smile clip? 

well, to put a figma on your computer monitor, of course!

but the problem is, they don't fit! At least they don't fit a standard size monitor. I have tested it out on my old gaming monitor 245bw and my work monitor, which is well respected as one of the best monitors, a dell U2410. the nendoroid clip fits neither. Considering that newer monitors now come in a 'slim version' perhaps this is no longer an issue. I wish they would have taken this into consideration.

this is the top of the monitor

doesn't quite fit

side view

shows just how big the gap is

honestly, even if the clip did 'fit' I would have second thoughts about using it. The clip spring is seriously tight. I mean like hercules tight!

By the way, the suction cup in the top image is not stuck on the monitor, it is just there for counter balance. Kirino is free floating and there is a chance she could fall off. I would also like interchangeable suction cup sizes. I do not wish to stick the suction cup onto the LCD panel, but if it was half the size it would easily stick to the side of the monitor. 

_____ Suction cup update! ____

Akemi has had no problems floating since I stuck her on!

flying like a champ!

I forgot to mention when using the suction cup DO NOT stick the cup directly into the figma~!

take the end off your figma stand

and place it on the end of the suction cup, before attaching your figma!

if you do not do this, there is a chance you will damage the figmas mounting hole in her body making it loose when using the regular stand in the future. 

____ random items arrived!____

Got some more figmas in, but I sold them 

Guilty Crown figma

Dog days Leonmitchelli Galette des Rois

strike witches Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen

nyaruko nendoroid

Rise Kujikawa Persona 4 beach queens wave