What better way to get started on Blu-ray than with Akira?

Some of my arrivals this week are Blu-ray related as this is first opportunity I've had to actually watch anything on that format thanks to my new PC (it might not be the fanciest method around, but it's all I've got for now).


Tuesday (last week), Amazon.co.uk, I received Summer Wars / The Girl Who Leapt Through Time.

I had no intention of getting these movies on Blu-ray as I already own the DVD releases of both, but if you saw Amazon selling this double pack for as little as £7.47 you'd be forgiven for succumbing to the urge of purchasing it there and then without thinking twice about it.


Wednesday, Amazon.co.uk, I received...

• Gurren Lagann Complete Collection
• Akira The Collector's Edition
  

I've wanted to own Gurren Lagann on DVD for a long time, but I was not prepared to splash out roughly £75 for the three box sets that were originally available. Hence why I bided my time for the inevitable Anime Legends release that was more agreeable to the wallet.

Akira is a film I first came across when I was still at school and was able to see roughly half of it when some of the older kids happened to watch it one evening. But when it came to seeing the of it I was told no cos it was a 15 which annoyed me as I was really getting into it.

As the years went on I was finally able to get it on DVD for myself (the version I had was the one with both the original and rerecorded English dubs). However, I seem to have misplaced it somewhere since then and that's where this version comes in. I knew they were doing an HD remaster of Akira, but I had little interest in it until the new PC came and thought "why not test it out with that?" and proceeded to order the Collector's Edition (it was the same price as the standard Blu-ray release and included a booklet, DVD and steelbook case to sweeten the deal).

This is truly a day for Masterpieces

Welcome to another day's worth of bragging from yours truly.


The first parcel to arrive was from Fan2Fan, and it contained the following.

• Masterpiece MP-8X King Grimlock
• Masterpiece MP-1B Convoy Black Ver. x2
• Masterpiece MP-1B Convoy Black Ver. e-Hobby comic Vol.01 x2
• figma Mikuru Asahina Fighting Waitress Ver.
• figma Tsuruya-san Culture Festival Maid Ver.
• figma Canaan
• Revoltech Gurren & Lagann
  

Then a few hours later I got this G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra Baroness Attack on the G.I. Joe Pit from Helgy toYs.

Compared to the Baroness I got yesterday, I'm liking this one a bit more (but I'm still not sold on these G.I. Joe figures entirely yet).


Oh, and before Nemmy goes, he may as well show that someone's prediction in him owning four Masterpiece Black Convoys finally came true.

Which means Nemmy can now have one in vehicle mode, one in robot mode, one to keep MISB, and another as a spare just for the hell of it!

Another load of toys fresh from Japan

Today brought me another delivery of toys from Fan2Fan.


Most of the items were of the figma and Revoltech variety.

• Revoltech SFO He Tai Shou
• figma Makina Hoshimura
• figma Haruhi Suzumiya Cheerleader Ver.
• figma Mikuru Asahina Cheerleader Ver.
• figma Haruhi Suzumiya Summer Clothes Ver.
• Revoltech Revolution Jagi
• Revoltech SFO Chun-Li
• Revoltech Fraulein Yoko Movie ver.
• figma Signum
• figma Saber Casual Ver.
• figma Shirou Emiya
• S.H.Figarts Masked Rider Gaoh
  

But I did get a couple of anime figures too.

Max Factory 1/8 Haruhi Suzumiya Gekisou Ver.
Alter 1/7 Fate T. Harlaown Shin Sonic Form

This will probably be the last of my 'big' hauls for 2009, and it was a pretty decent one at that.

Nemmy has returned with another load of toys

It has been a couple of months since I last posted here but never-mind; having a lack of motivation in-between getting distracted by other things isn't the best thing to have when thinking of stuff to write for a blog.

So once again I'll just be putting more of what I've been buying.


First we have some Animated repaints I got from a sale on Play.com.

• Animated Shadow Blade Megatron
• Animated Blazing Lockdown
  

Next we have the DX Ixa gear I was lucky to get on clearance from HobbyLink Japan.

• DX Ixa Belt
• DX Ixa Calibur
• DX IxaRiser
  

Then to further complete my need for black repaints I went to Kapow Toys and picked-up this little beauty.

• Alternity A-01 Convoy Super Black
  

Now we come to the first part of the latest haul I received from Fan2Fan.

• Griffon 1/7 Mikuru Asahina Gothic Punk ver.
• Alter 1/8 Haruhi Suzumiya Uniform Ver.
• Kotobukiya 1/8 Tomoyo Sakagami
• Alter 1/8 Haruhi Suzumiya Chara-Ani Uniform Ver.
  

Now here's the second part of that haul from Fan2Fan.

• Revoltech VF-1J Hobby Japan Milia Ver.
• S.H.Figuarts Masked Rider 2
• figma Saber Lily (with PS2 game)
• figma Ryoko Asakura
• Revoltech Revolution Rei
• S.H.Figuarts Masked Rider Decade
• figma Yuki Nagato Evil Witch Ver.
• figma Fate T. Harlaown
• Revoltech Fraulein Haruhi Suzumiya (with Wii game)
• S.H.Figuarts Masked Rider DiEnd
• Nendoroid Yoko
• Revoltech Fraulein Yoko Animate Movie Ver.
  

And finally today from Play.com, we have the repaints of the only RotF toys I own.

• Revenge of the Fallen Swerve
• Revenge of the Fallen Dead End

I think that's everything covered now. I don't think there's anything major missing, but knowing me I've probably forgotten something along the way.

I never thought this haul would arrive today!

I got myself quite the unexpected haul from Fan2Fan today.

The reason it was unexpected is because I didn't even know that Ryan had sent it until the Parcelfarce guy arrived with them.

More importantly though, here are all the wonderful toys that were in those parcels.


These were the Revoltech, figma and S.I.C. items I received.

• Revoltech Fraulein Haruka Hasegawa
• Revoltech Fraulein Miki Hoshii Noel Angelic Ver.
• S.I.C. Masked Rider Shadow Moon & Black
• figma Miyuki Takara Winter Uniform ver.
• figma Sun Seto
• figma Sakura Hime JPWA Tag Tournament ver.

These were the Nendoroid and freebie items I received.

• Nendoroid Miku Hatsune
• Nendoroid Rin Kagamine
• Nendoroid Len Kagamine
• Nendoroid Shana Epatsu-Shakugan Ver.
• Nendoroid Saber Lion
• Some gashapon-esque Masked Rider Zanki figure
  

This was (by far) the largest item I received.

• Alter 1/7 Hayate Yagami

And finally, these were the anime figure items I received.

• Good Smile Company 1/7 Shiki Ryougi Garannodou
• Alpha x Omega 1/8 Kallen Kouzuki Bunny Girl Ver.
• Wave 1/8 Yoko Space-Look Ver.
• Alter 1/8 Asa Shigure
• Resinya 1/6 Kudryavka Noumi Wafu pose ver.
• Kotobukiya 1/8 Kyou Fujibayashi

Personally, I think the biggest shocker inside this haul for me was the Hayate figure cos the box for her was so fucking huge she needed her own damn photo!

Dai Guren-hen Lagann Impact!

I'm sure most of you know of the awesomeness that is Gurren Lagann. And if you're one of those who doesn't, shame on you! As you're missing out on a truly great mecha series that rivals the awesomeness of GaoGaiGar!

If you can't be arsed to watch the series, watch the movies instead! There's no excuse now that Guren-hen has been subbed for all to see!


Guren-hen is the first of the Gurren Lagann movies, and it covers roughly a third of the anime in the space of two hours! So where's the problem now?!

Oh, and for everyone that has seen the series already, Guren-hen is still a must see for the newly done battle that serves as the ultimate climax to this movie!

Bounty Hunter Yoko Littner is a must have figure

See, this is exactly what I meant about the downfall of liking character cash cows.

Along with the Yoko we saw yesterday, we now have Alter giving us their take on Yoko Littner in her awesome looking bounty hunter gear from episode 26 of Gurren Lagann.


I may complain about the constant milking Yoko has had at the expense of the other characters in the show. But I'll probably buy this figure anyway because I really do like the character.

Hell, I think I might have started collecting more figures of her than Saber.

Who'll say no to more figures of Asuka and Yoko?

It's tough liking characters that are popular cash cows, cos you never know when figure companies will spring another release on you.

Gainax and this practice go hand in hand perfectly, especially when it concerns two of the biggest properties, Evangelion and Gurren Lagann.

And these pre-order listings for Kotobukiya's newest offerings will either have you saying either awesome or dammit.

First we have Asuka Langley Sohryu dressed as a maid which will come in mass market and limited exclusive flavours, and it goes without saying these will complement the mass market and limited exclusive flavours of their Rei Ayanami in a maid uniform.

Next we have another Yoko, although this one is meant to be a representation of her appearance in the movie.

A fresh twist on the usual milking of Yoko

Why can't we get cool movie exclusives like these? Seriously, it'd encourage me to see more films at the cinema than just waiting for the inevitable home release.

But that's enough about that, cos we're here for this sweet looking variation of Revoltech Fraulein Yoko who isn't afraid to let her hair down.


Obtaining her is going to be a pain, as she'll only be available with advanced ticket sales for the Gurren Lagann: Face Chapter movie (due for release on April 25th) via Animate.

There are of course options of importing her through a proxy, but our lousy exchange rates will drive the overall price up (much to my never-ending annoyance).

UPDATE 17/02/2009 - Trust me to not notice this simple fact sooner.

After checking the Fraulein section of Kaiyodo's Revoltech website, I now know there'll be two versions of this Movie Ver. Yoko. The exclusive Animate one I mentioned above, and another for the mass market without Boota lodged in her cleavage.