Hobby Search half-price shipping, Sept. 21-30th!

Hobby Search is having a half-off shipping sale when paying with paypal. This might not sound like alot, but now would be a great time to order inexpensive items that come in large packages - for instance, sega prize figures.  Sadly, Hobby Search doesn't stock many prize figures like HLJ or Mandarake, but you may find a few items you like. You might also think about ordering something large, as well.

Kuroneko pureneemo XS

 

Here she is, Ruri Gokou Azone Doll.

Let me say first, this is a nice doll. When I originally received the packaged and viewed the production model I was not pleased. It was not the same as the pre-order photos. Sure, many figures do not have the same attention to detail and variety of paint colors as their prototype, but what I enjoyed most about this figure was how her face was so accurate and faithful to the original. Not so, with the production model I received. Her face is chubby. Oh well, it's grown on me now and not so bad. 

 

The quality of her clothing is exceptional. There is no velcro, fabric hooks have been sewn in to the pieces. Her stockings are sewn together and have a wonderful texture feeling that stretches. 

The Azone packaging itself is so bland. They seem to have generic boxes that they place stickers on and send them off from the factory. I think collectors would not mind paying a little more for something more intricate. 

I did have two problems with the figure. The first, I don't believe this was caused by settling during shipping... Why do I always get the broken figures? Thankfully her foot just came out of the joint. Let's not be careless during packaging!

The second is, her arm would not bend. Someone on flickr recommended I tried the blow dryer trick and it worked. Just use a blow dryer to warm up the plastic and gently bend the arm and the joint at the same time. 

What's really great about dolls is their clothing is fluid. That means she can be posed in anyway a real human would be able to. It makes posing figures in a sitting position easy as pie.

Overall, I am very pleased. Sadly I now have to collect all sorts of doll clothes for dress up time. I had a few nekomimi maid outfits selected but I think I may need to revise more items before I make the final order. 

btw, today is Hatsune Miku's birthday! The 100th figma production has been delayed and did not make release today but it should be out soon. 

for some reason, Touhou ibuki figma did make final production and I have her coming to me in the mail as we speak.

Ika-musume Season 2 starts on Sept. 26th!

Ika-musume Season 2 starting!
I hope it follows some of the comic, my favorite chapter hasn't been done yet.
news from ANN

if you have a crunchyroll account, join the group

Obitsu multistand, get you one!

 Obitsubody Multi-stand is a great item to have. This costs about 300yen 

and is easily available for about 8$ USD including shipping.

The item comes in a bag and  needs to be assembled like a plastic model

gundam kit. There are various colors to choose from but I prefer clear.

Here we have a typical revoltech stand. It works great with the revoltechs

but it is a little wobbly and it doesnt hold the figures tight so they tend to lean forward.

On the plus side, the stand is quite invisible as it fits snugly around the revoltechs' waists.

Here is the obitsu multistand. It is a little bit more intrusive but it does

grasp the figure firmly and allows for greater pose-ability.

The stand is rebuildable and can cater to most any of your display needs.

It can hold robots and airplanes though it was mainly designed for dolls. 

I purchased this item for my Azone doll I have incoming. 

 

As you can see, the stand is visible as it grasps small figures such as this revoltech.

However, it does allow for far great flexibility and on larger figures it is not so pronounced. 

 

As I mentioned before, the stand can be adjusted to different sizes and shapes.

The typical V-stand as included with most figmas, but it can also be 

rebuilt with dual claws to hold fighter jets upright.

 

For the amazing low price, I highly recommend this as a must have if you own

various dolls and pose-able figures.

Nichijou is Great-oh! anime

Ok!

Now that the second half of the series has started it all makes sense. I am glad I stuck with this show because it definitely has something to offer that you cannot find anywhere else. Nano goes to school. How did I not see this coming? Every maid robo goes to school. Without a doubt, I used to think Nano and the professor were just a side story that detracted from the main appeal of the show, but now I am totally on the other side of the fence. I love Nano in her school girl outfit. It is just so darn cute I cannot get enough of it. These four characters together is like a match made in heaven. I kid you not, the opportunity here is golden.

  

Did I mention how cute Nano is? She is really cute. She is so cute. The cuteness is like really cute. It is exploding cuteness. 

Nano in her school uniform, it is like a whole new world of cuteness waiting to be explored.  I want her. I must have her. I need to be a part of her world. Me and the professor, we are on the same wave length. Because great minds think alike. 

Anyone seen Hanaukyo Maid Tai? 

reminds me of ikuyo's denki-kuns

Let's not forget the supporting cast. They are magnificent in their own right. So many interesting characters. So much is going on that I cannot even remember most of their names. Normally that would be a bad thing, but in this case the sheer greatness of the Nichijou world is just overwhelming. I think we are on the express train because there are no signs of stopping. 

Disheveled! Great-oh!

Let's get one more Tsun-tsun in!

Good Smile Akashiya Moka

Look what I got! 

Rosario and Vampire figure Moka. this was released two years ago, or so. For whatever reason, I passed on most of the Rosario figures, I'm not sure why I made that choice...  Now it is quite hard to get them. I recently bought this one second hand, though it is still sealed. I am trying to determine if this is authentic? Does anyone know how to tell the difference for this particular figure? There are lots of counterfeits of this item going around. The seller assured me he bought it from a reputable store which I am familiar with and from touching the outer box I believe it is authentic. Oh, well. Time will tell, I won't be opening it anytime soon.

Plum Konomi Magic User Review

 

 愛佳でいくの！！柚原このみ マジックユーザー 1/7 PVC フィギュア

Edit: AmiAmi has sent a replacement wand and I have received it!

I ordered a large package from AmiAmi on Mon and it arrived here today, on Thur!  That was fast, and the shipping fee only cost me about 4000￥which is currently about 50$ USD, Ouch!

So as I collect alot of To Heart 2 stuff, I keep an eye out for any new items in the market. And here we have Konomi magic user by PLUM. As you might think, this statue resembles the konomi witch figure closely. The good news is if you passed on the konomi witch, the magic user figure is attainable at half the price! 

So what about this company PLUM? Who are they? Well, PLUM stands for Pretty Lovely Unique Mechanism. Sounds like a recipe for magic to me! They seem to dabble in all sorts of things. Have you every played G-Darius? You know, the old shooting game where you fire at big robotic fish on the sega genesis? Yeah, I loved that game. Well, PLUM makes a plastic model of the space ship. They also seem to make plastic model kits of Japanese temples... I guess bandai does that too, so we are cool here. I think this is their official blog link.

side of the box

back of the box

The first thing I noticed when I opened the package was, "Phew! What a smell!"

This thing just came off the presses, you could smell that polyurethane smell everywhere.

The packaging is good and similar to Kotobukiya, but the plastic is thin and flimsy,

but that is fine as it does the job

However, there was a sinister event waiting for me around the corner

Wha... I just opened this, where are the whiskers!

OH NOEZ, my product is DEFECTIVE!

Much sadness thus henceforth ensued. I'm just kidding. I love all my figures unconditionally. Now, if I had dropped the figure and broke it, then I would be crying.

Yes, I checked the box. Yes, I checked it again it is not there.

I contacted amiami to see what they know but they are probably still sleeping at this hour.

So let's talk about the quality of this figure. Bottom line: Good but could have been excellent. You see, What PLUM tried to do is make something modern but very affordable at the same time. What I love about this figure is that the hat is magnetic! I have always advocated that Figmas should have magnetic accessories. Hats, scarfs, whatever. I even thought about patenting my own figure magnetic system, wouldn't that be cool! But alas, reality states that adding a magnet increases costs and that is not good with the modern exchange rates.

The figure has been glued together. You cannot separate her at the waist as is common with most figures. Also, her little bag has been glued to the skirt. Why did they do this? Probably because it is cheap, but they should have used more magnets! The paint job is good and the pvc material is decent. But the other big issue with this figure is the scale. This is marked as 1/7 which is true compared to other figures, but not so if you compare Konomi's size to other To heart 2 figures. Konomi is supposed to small and petite. PLUM's magic user is a little thick. I would have preferred it a bit smaller and thinner or maybe list the scale as 1/6th.

 

Overall, I am pleased with the figure but I would like PLUM to take more care in production. As with all new companies sometimes you have to work out the bugs. I too have received defective Figmas when Good smile first started making them. Quality control is a standard you strive to live up to, not something to check off on a list.