Another week's worth of DVDs and S.H.Figuarts

I seem to be getting later and later in writing these updates. I used to do them whenever an item arrived on that given day, but that soon dwindled down to once a week and now I'm struggling to get motivated to manage even that (I do actually like keeping a record of what I get like this).


Monday (last week), supermart_usa, I received GunBuster.

This should have been the prefect DVD release for one of my favourite anime series, but this is not the case here due to one very significant change to the music during the first episode's training scene. To some this might be considered minor, but to me this is taking something I have fond memories of and fucking with it for whatever reason (copyright apparently) they deemed appropriate.

Apart from that though, this set is very nice indeed. It has a real sturdy cardboard case which puts the one DieBuster had to shame for starters.


Wednesday, kcmanhk, I received S.H.Figuarts Kamen Rider Double CycloneJoker.

Now this is what originally started my 'Figuarts Tuesday' plan back in the beginning of February, yet it ended up being the last to arrive because it somehow took over six weeks to make its way from Hong Kong to the UK (and trying to get information from the seller about it was a right pain in the ass).


Thursday, AmiAmi, I received S.H.Figuarts Shinken Red (with Kuroko).

ShinkenRed is the first Super Sentai character to get an S.H.Figuarts release and a brilliant one at that. This Figuart far surpasses any of the Power Rangers figures I own (including the Super Legends)! The detail on him is outstanding and he has all the articulation you'd expect from a Figuart (even with the new shoulder joint design).

He comes with a variety of accessories such as the Shodo Phone (in Brush Mode), Sisi Origami, Shinkenmaru and the big ass Rekka Daizantou. I currently have mine holding the Rekka Daizantou ready to cause some serious damage!


Saturday, AmiAmi and Amazon.co.uk, I received...

• S.H.Figuarts Cure Blossom
• S.H.Figuarts Cure Marine
• Summer Wars
  

Cure Blossom and Cure Marine quickly became a favourite of mine (Marine even more so) during the course of watching HeartCatch PreCure. The series was a real joy to watch (especially when compared to the rather boring Goseiger) and when I discovered these two were getting S.H.Figuarts, I just had to get them (the same can be said for the other Cures from this series).

Summer Wars, the film that made me seek out TokiKake after I watched it fansubbed last year (was it really long ago?). It was another one of those things I had seen mentioned, yet knew very little about at the time.

The change in cameras is now complete

This week's update suffered an unfortunate delay because the digital camera (which originally belonged to a friend until they gave it to me a couple of years back) I've been using since the creation of this blog will no longer take photos (the lens on it essentially died).

Thus this entry will be both a final salute to the Kodak EasyShare DX4330 that has served me well (its last photo being this photo I took of DaiGoyou using GoGo Drill and GoGo Shovel) and an introduction to the Samsung PL201 I have bought to replace it (you'll see the first of its photos beginning with Cure Passion).

The new camera even has HD video recording capabilities, so you may get a video from me one of these days if you're lucky (it all depends on if I can be arsed to do one really).


Monday (last week), Amazon.co.uk, I received 5 Centimeters Per Second.

This was totally bought on a whim at the same time I pre-ordered Summer Wars (cos it seemed like a really good deal considering it was listed for £8.99, not to mention I've been noticing its name quite a bit lately and wanted to know more about it).

I knew very little about the film beforehand, so when I watched it for the first time that same day it ended up leaving quite the impression. Its definitely worthy of a recommendation if you have yet to watch it (even if it's only the once).


Wednesday (last week), perfect-finds, I received Betterman Complete Collection.

Tracking down this set for a price that wasn't fucking ridiculous was one hell of a chore, but that joy was short-lived thanks to my having to pay more money to those thieving fuckers at Customs (wasn't the charge for this enough?!).

Betterman was a series I first got interested in seeing due to the same world setting ties it shares with GaoGaiGar (the now cancelled GaoGaiGar Project Z would have served as a means of bringing the two closer together, but the only evidence left of that now is the toys of GaoGaiGo). That being said, I actually appreciate it more as a series by its own merits now, but the plot of it does also boggle the mind at times.


Friday, HobbyLink Japan and zoverstocks, I received Hiden Chouchin DaiGoyou and The End of Evangelion.

DaiGoyou was a character I liked in the show, but I wasn't interested in owning the toy until HLJ were selling him at 70% off. Seriously, who'd say no to a quirky paper lantern mecha going for roughly £14 (or nearer £30 if you include the shipping costs).

The toy itself is very simplistic in design, but lots of fun. The fact you can attach a variety of arms from other Sentai mecha on him (see photo link above for an example) increases his play value in my opinion.

The End of Evangelion, probably one of the more fucked up things I seen in anime, but that's also probably why I keep coming back to it whenever I watch the series. Finding a copy of it on DVD took awhile cos I was unwilling to pay the high prices I'd seen it listed for second-hand, but then I happened to chance upon one being sold at a price I considered fair and got it as you can see.


Saturday, AmiAmi, I received S.H.Figuarts Cure Passion.

What led me into getting Cure Passion was finally seeing the fansubbed episodes of how she came to be in Fresh PreCure (that, and seeing AmiAmi selling it heavily discounted). I already knew that Eas became Cure Passion long ago, and that was about it (All-Stars DX2 made that fact clear as day). I had to endure a wait of over two years before witnessing her origin for myself (you could say the idea behind Eas' change of heart is pretty similar to that of Kaoru and Michiru from PreCure Splash Star).

Speaking of Eas, I did also manage to luck out and win an S.H.Figuarts Eas as well, but I'm still waiting on that to arrive at the moment.

The trials of wanting a Shattered Glass Rodimus!

Before I start on this week's hauls, I think I should point out that Nemmy is now on Facebook! I had actually been thinking of signing up to it for awhile but it never really went beyond that until a few days ago (again, thoughts go out to those affected by the earthquake in Japan) when I just thought "might as well" and did so on a whim (you should know by now that whims come very naturally to me).


Monday, transformersera, I received...

• Timelines Shattered Glass Rodimus
• Timelines Shattered Glass Megatron
• Timelines Shattered Glass Divebomb
  

You wouldn't believe the hassles I had in trying to get a Shattered Glass Rodimus.

First I win a auction for Shattered Glass Rodimus at the beginning of January which ultimately never arrived after weeks and weeks and weeks of waiting, then I was being messed around by the seller (who shall remain nameless) when trying to get the refund that he himself promised and was getting nothing but excuse after excuse after excuse, so finally I had no other option except to report the guy in order to resolve the issue (thankfully for me eBay ruled in my favour and was able to get my money back).

After that I used said refund to help fund my winning these three guys (most notably for the Shattered Glass Rodimus). Only trouble I had here was with the amount declared on the parcel as it was for the total sum I paid for them on eBay, which means those thieving fuckers at Customs (and Parcelfarce) had a good ol' field day in stinging me with charges totalling £120.77 (seriously, I shit you not).


The only good thing I can say about all the whole sorry ordeal is that I'm finally able to complete my Shadow Scythe with a Shattered Glass Rodimus!

The total combined cost once you factor in all the Customs charges I had to pay for both this guy and the armour is probably enough to make some out there feint, but in a positive light he's also a proud standing personified achievement in showing how much shit I went through to obtain it and succeeding in the end!

Shattered Glass Megatron is a mighty fine toy in its own right too. Even though I own several versions of the mould (both Hasbro and Takara) already, I still rate it quite favourably.


Wednesday, CSToys International, I received S.H.Figuarts Masked Rider DiEnd Complete Form.

This was purchased after the 'Figuarts Tuesday' plan had officially come to an end in a special one week extension.

After I got Decade in his Complete Form, getting DiEnd in his Complete Form became the next logical choice. There's no real deeper or significant meaning behind this one.


Friday, animeking_inc, I received S.H.Figuarts Masked Rider Dark Kiva.

This was also bought in the special one week extension to the 'Figuarts Tuesday' plan.

Dark Kiva was a Rider I originally wanted a Souchaku Henshin figure of back when he first appeared in Kamen Rider Kiva. Yeah, his design is practically a slightly altered version of Kiva's Emperor Form, but he looks incredibly sinister (I really dig that colour scheme).

He even comes packaged with the Zanvat Sword and the Jacorder (cos Saga needs love too) for weapons (I currently have mine wielding both!).


Saturday, zoverstocks, I received Macross Plus The Ultimate Edition.

After listening to a certain podcast (which I've already mentioned) I thought I'd take a look on Amazon to see how much the DVD was currently going for. Well, I found it on there for £4.50 (including shipping) and pretty much snapped it up on the spot!

The joys of the Joker, an Eternal and a Hinagiku!

Things are finally starting to work out in regards to certain matters, but I think I'll just focus on the following items for now.


Tuesday, Yokatta Shopping Service, people4toy and kcmanhk, I received...

• Rider Goods Collection 2010 with T2 Memory Joker
• S.H.Figuarts Kamen Rider Accel
• S.H.Figuarts Kamen Rider Eternal
  

The magazine basically covers every bit of Kamen Rider W merchandise (and a lot more besides) that was released at the time it was published. However, the reason for my wanting it wasn't so much for the magazine itself but the T2 Joker Memory that accompanied it.

After getting my Lost Driver and seeing those rather teasing images of it highlighting the belt's shared use with Kamen Rider Skull (whose Skull Magnum I already own) and Kamen Rider Joker on the back of the box was the deciding factor in me wanting all the Gaia Memories associated with it.

S.H.Figuarts Accel and Eternal were also purchases of the 'Figuarts Tuesday' plan.

Accel was the 'bargain' purchase of the two and also the only version of him I'm likely to get (I totally missed the boat with Accel Trial and the current secondary market prices were rather high last I checked).

Eternal on the other hand was one I wanted to pre-order but was too late in doing so, thus I had no choice but to acquire him on the secondary market. You could call me crazy for wanting a character from a movie I haven't actually seen yet (I'm still waiting on a certain fansub group to sub it), but I just happened to like the design of this Rider wearing a cape (even if on the toy it doesn't work out so well in execution).


Thursday, tm08120tzeming, I received Nendoroid Hinagiku Katsura.

Now this was purchased not long after I started re-watching Hayate no Gotoku! and Hayate no Gotoku!!. Through doing that I was once again reminded of the reason why I watched this show in the first place, that being the lovely Hinagiku Katsura. I knew there was a Nendoroid version of her available, but I didn't feel compelled to buy it until now.

I was planning on keeping her MISB like my other Nendoroids, but the temptation to open it is growing...