The GoBot, The Bootleg and The Chaos Bringer

You may have noticed a few of the changes I've made to this blog (and to The Nerdsphere as well) in the last few weeks like the implemented jump break that can be seen in this very post (I'm planning on using this quite a bit from on), the new numbered page navigation, the use of LinkWithin for related posts (it gives more varied results than the previous method did) and the switching to dlvr.it for posting updates to both Twitter and Facebook (which saves me from needing to use Twitterfeed and RSS Graffiti to achieve the same result).

These changes should make the blog both easier to browse (especially if you're viewing this on a mobile as I've now enabled the template for it, but it currently lacks the options to customise it to my liking) and less problematic to maintain on the social networking front.

Other than that, I've played and completed Rin ga Utau, Mirai no Neiro and I'm currently working my way through Go! Go! Nippon! (which reuses BGM tracks and background images from Edelweiss and Kira☆Kira to a rather shocking degree). And I also have the fully translated YU-NO to play when I find the time (it might be a rather old game, but I've heard good things about it).

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Clearing another backlog of arrivals!

Welcome to yet another very delayed post from yours truly!

Again, I've been very engrossed in playing various visual novels such as Little Busters! (just waiting on the Rin2 and Refrain patch so I can finish this awesome game), We Love Master!, Princess Eris and MangaGamer's new re-translation of Edelweiss (I'm also replaying Edelweiss Eiden Fantasia for total completion sake).

And that's not counting the patches for Hanabira 5 (I haven't even finished Hanabira 3 and Hanabira 4 yet), Shikkoku no Sharnoth and Muv-Luv Alternative (I originally finished it using the leaked patch) which have been released and waiting to be played.

Hell, I even managed to play and complete the highly controversial R***Lay (it should be bloody obvious WHY I'm partially censoring the name of this particular game) in my spare time.


Friday (August 12th), newtownvideo, I received Angel Beats! Complete Collection.


Saturday (August 20th), HobbyLink Japan and junkshopu.s.a., I received...

• chibi-arts Eas
• Dark of the Moon EZ Collection Darkside Optimus Prime

Wednesday (August 31th), AmiAmi, I received...

• S.H.Figuarts Masked Rider Ixa
• S.H.Figuarts Cure Moonlight
• Revoltech Muv-Luv Alternative Takemikaduchi Type-00R
• Super Robot Chogokin GaoGaiGar (with bonus Overload Effect)
• Super Robot Chogokin Key Of Victory Set 1
  

Friday (September 2nd), envywolfe, I received Timelines Side Burn.


Tuesday (September 6th), the_unbelievable_store, I received Hunt for the Decepticons Tomahawk.


Saturday (September 10th), Yokatta Shipping Service, I received...

• Revoltech Muv-Luv Alternative Takemikaduchi Type-00F
• S.H.Figuarts Shinken Red Kaoru Shiba
• S.H.Figuarts Kamen Rider OOO TaJaDol Combo Effect Parts Set

Nemmy is back with a backlog of arrivals!

It has been awhile since I last posted anything on this blog, and the reason for that was mostly a combination of laziness and getting distracted by other things like playing Koihime Musou (which I finally finished), Imouto Ijime (short, but fun) and Yukkuri Panic: Escalation (how the fuck do I get that last scenario unlocked on the 'Qix' based game? I completed the main story mode already!).

Other than that, I've been getting used to TheTF.Net's new forum (the old forum has now been locked and archived) that went live to the masses last week. It's a bit of a bummer having to start over from scratch again, but there is fun to had in doing that I think.

Oh, and I'm now on Google+ too (thanks to Fudgecrumpet sending me an invite).


Monday (three weeks ago), Zavvi.com, I received Claymore The Complete Series.


Thursday (three weeks ago), Argos (Lewes), I received Dark of the Moon Sentinel Prime.


Tuesday (two weeks ago), 276470, I received Dark of the Moon Shockwave.


Friday (two weeks ago), gzoop, I received Death Note Complete Series.


Friday (last week), Toyz And Gamez, I received Dark of the Moon Jetwing Optimus Prime


Friday, TFsource and figure_house, I received...

• Casuality Thundershred
• S.H.Figuarts Kamen Rider Birth

Saturday, Yokatta Shopping Service, I received S.H.Figuarts Masked Rider Faiz Axel Form.

This is all I'm posting here for now, but I'll be further editing this post with better descriptions for the above items later.

More robots should come with a trident

There's one thing I'm gonna have to consider real soon, and that's buying myself a new PC. My current PC has served me well these last 7 years (I originally got it in the tail-end of 2005), but it has now got to the point where it can't even handle what I usually do on it effectively as before without giving me some serious gripes.


Tuesday (last week), AmiAmi and biginjap, I received...

• S.H.Figuarts Masked Rider NEW Den-O Strike Form Trilogy Ver.
• S.H.Figuarts Kamen Rider SkullCrystal
  

I've been wanting a figure of Kamen Rider NEW Den-O for quite some time (since his début appearance in fact), but the last S.H.Figuarts release of it was a Tamashii Web Store exclusive and as such commanded a high price on the secondary market.

Kamen Rider SkullCrystal is basically a re-release of Kamen Rider Skull with some minor differences and some new accessories (like the little plastic caps which aid to prevent you from scratching the paint on Skull's head when he's wearing his trademark fedora).


Thursday, kooldealz2005 and perfect_entertainment, I received...

• Hunt for the Decepticons Terradive
• Masked Rider The First

Terradive wasn't a Transformer I was too interested in getting at first, but the appeal of the trident had me looking for it on eBay and I think you can probably guess the rest.

I decided on buying Kamen Rider The First somewhat on a whim cos I saw it listed for £8.32 including shipping on Amazon, that is all.

Sometimes it's good to be a cheapskate

Since my last post here I've finished the partial patch for Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru Episode 8: Twilight of the Golden Witch, successfully added (after much customisation) a related posts widget to both this blog and The Nerdsphere's blog, and listened to the Shut Up and Watch This! commentary for Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie (I learned a few things about that film that I never knew before).

I also got a fair amount of arrivals during the week too.


Tuesday (last week), Amazon.co.uk, I received Code Geass Complete Season.

Code Geass was a series I came across mostly by word of mouth (I forget the exact details of how and where I discovered it) a few years ago. At the time I likened it to as Death Note with robots, and in some ways that impression still stands.

I had been tempted many a time to get the previous box set releases for this series, but the cost of them coupled with the fact it'd no doubt appear on the Anime Legends label at some point resulted in me waiting until now to finally have it on DVD.


Wednesday (last week), TFsource, I received...

• Timelines Dion
• Kup 02 Head Kit
  

Dion, the IRN-BRU coloured turd. I heard the Universe Classics Hot Shot mould had some problems, but damn, this shit is bad. The Mini-con, Cop-Tur, is a worthless piece of shit that can't even stand in robot mode unless you hunch it over. And Dion himself has one of the worst cases of kibble around the shoulders I've ever seen.

There's not a lot said about the Kup heads. They're the same as before, but painted to match the e-Hobby United Kup.


Thursday, theentertainertoyshop, I received Hunt for the Decepticons Starscream.

I happened to see Starscream listed at a reduced price of £25 and decided that was a good price for him.

After opening him (and injuring my finger cutting the bloody twist ties) I soon proceeded to transform him for the first time without using the instructions, and by doing so I think I have a greater appreciation for this toy. If you were to get only one movie iteration of movie Starscream, this is the one to go for in my honest opinion.


Friday, kerrisontoys, I received...

• Power Core Combiners Bombshock + Combaticons
• Power Core Combiners Crankcase + Destrons
  

I never really took that much notice at the Power Core Combiners until I saw all the attention they were generating on Twitter recently. I chanced upon an auction that was selling two of the 5-packs (using pictures of Skyburst and Stakeout that didn't match the description) for under £19 including shipping and thought why not.

Crankcase was the first to be opened and left me with a positive impression of the drone gimmick. Bombshock on the other hand has a few issues like the drones not wanting to stay attached and falling over a lot which does annoy me.

A lone Transformer for when my attention isn't drawn elsewhere

Just when I thought I was done with playing visual novels for awhile I found out a partial for Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru Episode 8: Twilight of the Golden Witch was released (and that's not even factoring in the recent release of Demonbane), but before I got started on Episode 8 I've been busy replaying Episode 7 as lead in to it (the Tea Party is still the highlight of it for me).

Other than that, there was a single arrival that came my way.


Tuesday (last week), Kapow Toys, I received Generations Warpath.

I'll admit I was that hyped about Warpath when I first saw him, but after getting the toy in-hand I'm actually quite impressed with him. I think my favourite part about him is the transformation itself, and I especially like the head reveal from pushing in the turret. There isn't anything really negative I can say about it.

I have a Transformer with my name on it!

It made a nice change to have a week where I mostly received nothing but Transformers related arrivals.


Tuesday (last week), @darkageis, I received Reveal the Shield Windcharger.

Windcharger is quite the awesome little Scout. He has a nice looking vehicle mode, a fun transformation, and a decent robot mode. Since his arrival he's been a permanent fixture besides my PC.

Hell, I wouldn't mind seeing a few repaints of this guy (I'd especially like to have Rook).


Thursday, FansProject, I (firstly) received Blesser.

Blesser is a very special addition to my collection because FansProject made it as a sign of support to those affected by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan by starting a campaign in which contributors who donated $15.00 or more to the Red Cross and provided them with proof of their donation(s) would receive a Blesser (an inverted colour Sidearm limited to 1500).

What makes this even more special is that the tech spec card was personalised to each contributor by having their name printed as the human partner of Blesser.


I decided to have Shadow Scythe wield my Blesser as I felt I should keep these treasured FansProject items together (although it does kinda go against Blesser's function as a rescuer to be paired with this corrupted Protector).


Thursday, Frankie (a.k.a. toyspark), I (secondly) received...

• United Autobot Set
• United Decepticon Set
  

What originally drew me into wanting these sets was the blue crystal Hot Rod (I have a thing about collecting that Rodimus mould), but after transforming Scrapheap (the new head mould is nice), Cyclonus (always an awesome toy no matter what colour its in) and Scourge I'm really liking the other redecos in these sets (especially Scourge, he's the highlight of the crystal Decepticon trio).


Saturday, Kapow Toys, I received...

• Generations Wheeljack
• Generations Thundercracker
• Kup 01 Head Kit
  

The main item of interest for me here was the replacement heads for Generations Kup. Once you've attached the new head it makes Kup look so much nicer than he did before with the official head.

The waiting for Eas has finally come to an end

Quite a few items arrived for me this week, a couple of which I wasn't expecting to see just yet.


Tuesday, AmiAmi, I (firstly) received S.H.Figuarts Shinken Gold (with Kuroko).

The next Super Sentai character to get a Figuart release after ShinkenRed was none other than ShinkenGold. However, I was not as blown away by him as I was with the aforementioned figure, but he does come with some cool pretty cool accessories like the Sakanamaru, DaiGoyou and the Ika and Ebi Origami.


Tuesday, Fan2Fan, I secondly received...

• Animated Optimus Prime Elite Guard Ver.
• S.H.Figuarts Kamen Rider Joker
  

This is the Elite Guard version of Optimus Prime that required the purchasing of the Animated Encyclopedia (which I bought last year) in order to obtain it. I have yet to open it cos I'm weary after what happened to the tab on my Black Optimus Prime.

There's not much to say about Kamen Rider Joker (that I haven't already mentioned on different occasions). The figure is pretty much the same as the other uses of the mould barring a few minor differences like the Lost Driver and lack of the silver striping in the middle.


Wednesday, TFsource, I received...

• Causality CA-01 Warcry
• Causality CA-02 Flameblast
  

Even though I own Explorer and Munitioner, this'll be my first proper handling of these moulds outside of using them as limbs (cos they've remained that way since the day I got them). Although when I first heard these were getting repaints I was hoping they'd come with the combiner parts so I could have attached them to my Super Link Bruticus.


After opening them and having a bit of tinker with them, I've found they're quite pleasing as standalone toys. But if I had to pick one over the other, I'd probably say Flameblast is my favourite (the dude just looks menacing as hell).


Thursday, hiro_suri, I received S.H.Figuarts Eas.

I very nearly almost gave up on ever getting Eas cos it took so damn long to get here, but to be fair the seller wasn't really at fault (for some reason it got returned to him after he originally posted it out to me).

Nevertheless, this figure was worth waiting for as it gives me the villainous version of Setsuna before she became Cure Passion.


Saturday, I received Universe Classics War of the Waves.

Now these were given to me as an Easter present by a couple of friends who popped over briefly for a visit. And even though I have the original releases of these moulds, I'm still very happy to have them.

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!

Trackers and Old Timers

Another quiet week in regards to arrivals, but I did manage to finish Quartett! (with added voice patch) in about two days (it was a short VN).

I also got to see the finale to HeartCatch PreCure, which is now the fourth PreCure series I've seen to completion.


Thursday, All The Cool Stuff, I received Generations Scourge and Generations Sergeant Kup.

Getting a Scourge that wasn't a underwhelming Titanium or an overpriced remould of Galaxy Force Noisemaze (not that I'd say no to owning either him or the Sweeps though) is a welcome addition to the collection.

His vehicle mode does look rather kinda silly, but being able to pop his head up as seen in the '86 movie is a neat little feature. The robot mode is lovely, but those wings do make him kinda back heavy. I think the only thing that could have made this guy even better is a proper Fracas Targetmaster.

Kup is also a nice toy, but that chest transformation scares me (I fear too much force here will cause breakage), and his elbow are awkward cos you can't bend it while holding the gun (using the higher swivel joint doesn't count).