Traces of 'The Drifting Crow'....

The Gossip Reporter And The Cute Little Mistress

2011-02-22T12:52:00.068+07:00

Yesterday evening, I went to pick up yet another shipment of mine. It takes quite awhile for the both of them to be ready, but at least they arrive undamaged.

The two mentioned should be obvious for Touhou fans: A figma of Shameimaru Aya, and a nendoroid of Flandre Scarlet.

Let's take a look at them:

The Said 'Gossip Reporter'

First, we have Aya. She looks great, with her reporter-specific faceplates and those extra accessories. We sure could have some good shots with the fan and crow...

The cute sadist?

Next is Flandre. She's the young mistress of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, famous for ~~destroying stuff and~~ being cute. Wow, check out her wings... Done with great detail, I must say. Details aside, from the looks of it, I'd say that extra caution is in order when putting her on display. You won't want to break her wings, right? >_<

Touhou figures are abundant, and the fan-made garage kits are also everywhere. Sadly, not every single one of them are worth buying. Some are poorly detailed, some have strange limbs, some have weird expressions, and I guess you should know the rest - if you follow updates on Touhou figures. I sure am thankful at least the figma and nendoroid series keeps up a good standard. I sure hope they'd release my favourite character - Yakumo Yukari, soon.... *crosses fingers*

The Sakurakou Keion-bu members are here!!

2011-02-09T13:55:00.004+07:00

Yesterday evening, I went to pick up my latest shipments, which arrive a while ago. After a two and a half hour driving trip there and back, 2 re-issue PVCs, a Dead Master nendoroid, and a box of K-ON! puchi nendoroid trading figure are obtained.

It's quite a shame, really, that shipments to my place are so slow, it takes at least 1 month for new released figures to arrive. To top it off, customs (and their taxes, of course) are a pain, and the postal/delivery handling are so-so at best. Actually, there are other options for faster shipment, such as direct online orders or express shipment services. But, we all know that this option is only for the filthy rich. Sadly, I can't afford that kind of money.... yet.

The above, my friends, result in anxiety and unrest when waiting for shipments - and rage when you find damages on your box / figures due to sluggish handling. I sure wish I was born in Japan. And I think many of us thought alike.

These are the snapshots of the new arrivals:

Dead Master Nendoroid

Here's the Dead Master Nendoroid. Her face is a bit too pointy - especially her nose. But hey, that's quite befitting for a cute S-type character nendoroid, rii~ght? Right!

The K-ON! Nendoroid Puchi Trading Figure Box Set

The Opened Box

This set has 12 variants in all. 5 (1 for each of the band members) for their school uniform, 6 for their swimsuit getup (Azusa gets 2 - a normal version and a tanned version), and 1 secret variant.

The Secret Variant

While I was opening the boxes, I thought that the secret variant is Ui, Yui's ever-so-dependable little sister. Well, that's usually what the manufacturers do, anyway. But, it's actually Mio! She comes in a maid outfit, doing her famous Moe☆Moe☆Kyun♡ pose. How wonderful! Nice job, GSC! Thumbs up to them, for making this box worth waiting. Oh, and good news for those who wondered about the contents - If you buy the whole 12-pieces box, you're guaranteed to get every variant, including the secret!

Her facial expression is too cute...

2010-10-23T20:47:00.072+07:00

Today, a package arrived at my place. It's the one I've been expecting since the start of this month - Alter's 1/8-scale School Festival version Akiyama Mio from K-ON!. A bit late due to customs and postal issues, but the seller tried his best. At least, he packed it neatly, and picked a good delivery service. No damages were found, so I'd say he has done a great job.

And, here she is:

Ugh... too... cute >__<

Aww, mann... take a look at her. That expression is too cute, it's almost a crime. Just take a look - it's as if she's too shy to even pose as a figure.

That being said, I think this is a marvelous piece, as expected. Her face, pose, and costume matches perfectly. She's also sculpted with good precision and detail. As expected of Alter, they almost never disappoint you when it comes to quality.

A dose of Yuri keeps the Fujoshis away...

2010-10-15T22:00:00.000+07:00

I've been a big fan of Yuri. Always have been, and it seems like I always will be. Why, you ask? Imagine this: Two (yeah, two. Not one, but two!!) cute and/or pretty girls, flirting with each other. How sweet can that be? I bet you jawbreakers, lollipops, or even chocolate fountains can't beat that... Or at least, that's my personal opinion, anyway.

Why suddenly talk about Yuri? Because I just got hold of a great stash of Yuri goods. Artbooks, doujins, mangas, a tote bag, and character goods. Too much? Nay! One can never have too much Yuri sweetness (^_^)

Without further ado, here are the shots:

Alice Quartet Artbook: Dolce

An artbook of Alice Quartet, titled "Dolce" - Illustrated by my favorite Yuri artist: Fujieda Miyabi.

Senkou Banshi

Another artbook by Fujieda Miyabi. It's titled "Senkou Banshi" which literally translates into "A thousand Crimson, Ten thousand Violet". It's a collection of Fujieda-sensei's artworks from several titles.

K-ON! Doujins

Left: A doujin centered around Mugi and how she likes Yuri. It's titled "Mugi-time"

Right: A compilation doujin, consisting all 3 released volumes of the Houkago Tea-time doujin.


Love Plus Doujins

A set of Love plus doujins. One book for each of the 3 heroines from Love Plus: Manaka, Rinko, and Nene.

MDP - Miyabi's Daughter Party

MDP - Opened

MDP - short for 'Miyabi's Daughter Party' - goodies collection (including the opaque illustrated holder in the picture above) of original characters created by Fujieda-sensei.

And it comes with this wonderfully cute Twinkle Saber Nove tote bag:

Twinkle Saber Nova tote bag

This time, all of my Yuri stash comes from Fujieda Miyabi-sensei's circle: Atelier Miyabi. I'll give you three reasons why I like Fujieda-sensei's works so much:

First: The characters are cute. And of course, they come with equally cute fashion. Hooray for Fujieda-sensei's character fashion design.

Second: The story is refreshing, unique, and mostly relaxed. Somehow, it gives you a peaceful, wonderful feeling.

Third: The relationship between the girls are so sweet, you could die from nosebleed.

In the next comiket come this December, I'll be definitely paying Fujieda-sensei's booth a visit. Hopefully, I'd be able to meet sensei in person.

A visit to the 'Toxic Lair'

2010-09-30T14:09:00.072+07:00

In these parts where I live in, we have our own way of addressing 'new information', or pictures of figures and all other character / otaku-related goods. We call it 'poison' - because it produces the same effects as the real thing - in the sense that once consumed, you can't return, and you'll pay for it with your life... Or in our case, your CASH.

A few days ago, I went to visit my friend's place. He's a figure reseller, and quite famous if I must say. He gets purchase orders from many people, even from out of town. That's why, we call his place The 'Toxic Lair' - cos' you're bound to see piles and stacks of figures in-stock, boxes of goods, and all other kinds of treasure you can think of.

From the said piles of treasure, I found lots of good stuff to loot... err.... buy. And out of them all, I must say that the greatest find has to be this:

Galett Fey Sowauge

To those who don't recognize her, try googling "Shina Dark". It's a unique manga with an interesting plot. Too bad it ended so soon, and so far I haven't found a continuation to it. Also a pity, I can't seem to find Christina. Maybe I should just buy her online or from auction sites...

I can't decide whether to buy her or not at first, but I was reminded of a famous motto: "When in doubt, BUY IT!" - Thanks(?) to a certain campaign. Well, there she is, now sitting on my shelf.

Remember, folks. Beware of Toxic Lairs. Once you step in, there's bound to be screams of agony - be it from finding treasure (which is too irresistible to NOT buy), or worse - realizing that you've got insufficient funds...

A birthday present for me??

2010-09-12T19:55:00.010+07:00

I'm celebrating my birthday a few days back. As a "present", I was told that the SoftBank Creative Online Shop Limited Feena Fam Earthlight Figure I pre-ordered has arrived! She arrived in a beautiful box, and I'm so glad there are no damages on her.

Here's a snapshot of her:

The whole SBCr Online Shop Limited Package

Even though people said that she's expensive (￥12000 Taxed in), I'd say that depends on people's taste, budget, and the quality of the figure itself. At least, to me, she's sooo~ worth waiting. Why, you ask?

First: There aren't that many Feena PVC figures released, especially when compared to the number of figures of popular characters from Big titles such as Ayanami Rei from Evangelion, or Kousaka Tamaki from To Heart 2.

Second: Out of those few released figures, even fewer are worth buying and of great quality.

Third: I like her character, and I think this is more than reason enough for me to get her.

Well, that's that... If you guys will excuse me, I have an appointment with the Moon Princess - if you know what I mean XD

There's no way my little sister figure is already here!

2010-09-03T13:31:00.010+07:00

This just in yesterday evening – A PVC of Kirino, the tsundere protagonist from “Ore no Imouto ga konna ni kawaii wake ga nai”. After almost 6 months waiting since its pre-order date, it has finally arrived.

With no further ado, here she is:

It's not like I'm posing for you!

She’s a bit different from her prototype model, though…

The Said Prototype

To those who don't notice, they added a blush effect on her already cute face. Oh well, it doesn’t give a bad feeling to it, and I certainly don’t mind her being a bit dere.... at all !!

To hell with delivery services…

2010-09-01T20:44:00.015+07:00

Today, one of my figures arrive… It’s a garage kit of Yakumo Yukari from the Touhou Series, a danmaku shooting game created by the legendary ZUN. Everything’s good, and it’s a very happy day. Of course, that’s only until I discovered that a part of my very anticipated figure was broken....


Damn those delivery guys!!

Y’know what? Those guys might as well go to hell, since they can’t even do a simple task right, namely “handling packages with care”.... The word “FRAGILE” is written all over it, you scumbags!! Oh well, I guess it’s back to the hunting grounds.... And I need to repair it ASAP, too... *sighs*....