The Burden of a Masterpiece Hardest to Bear!

I think I'll just cut to the chase as I have a bit to say on this week's arrivals.


Monday, supermart_usa, I received My-Otome 0~S.ifr~.

Another OVA like Mai-Otome Zwei, but this one is a prequel set in the days where Arika's mother, Lena, was an active serving Otome (just before she received the Blue Sky Sapphire Gem).

This also completes my collection of the entire Mai-HiME/Mai-Otome franchise on DVD (unless of course they decide bring out something else later down the line).


Tuesday, Fan2Fan, I received Masterpiece MP-9 Rodimus Convoy.

I've heard the horror stories of the experiences people have had with this guy be it from stress marks, broken tabs, snapped off shin panels, cocked-up foot springs and the trailer scraping the paint on the spoiler wing fins. I tried to not let that affect me once I got mine, I really did, but after handling him for a bit I can say I'm actually terrified of even attempting to transform him into vehicle mode in case something goes irreversibly wrong (just changing him from Hot Rodimus to Rodimus Convoy in robot mode made me feel somewhat nervous).

Then you have the issue with his guns which feel like they were made of cheap plastic and also can't be held properly in his hands (c'mon, even Masterpiece Convoy with his finicky hands can hold a gun better than this!).

I think the saddest part in all this is that I find myself liking the trailer more than the figure itself... Unlike the figure this is a sturdy piece of construction that'll no doubt stand the trails of prolonged fiddling.


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

• Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac
• Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II
• S.H.Figuarts Cure Black
• S.H.Figuarts Cure White
  

In truth, I only bought the Almanacs on a whim while browsing on Amazon the other day, but once I received them I was genuinely shocked at the quality that has been poured into these books.

Then we have the S.H.Figuarts of Cure Black and Cure White, the two that began the PreCure (a.k.a. Pretty Cure) franchise and also the two that led yours truly into watching other PreCure series such as PreCure Splash Star, Yes! PreCure 5, Fresh PreCure, HeartCatch PreCure and Suite PreCure.

The figures themselves put me more in mind of a figma in its design than your standard Figuart. If I was to bring up a bad point about them (apart from the stands), it would be those small fragile looking ball joints and wrist pegs (it makes trying to change the faces and hands more scary than it should be).

Joes, Otomes and even a Runaway

I've just about got over my cold, but the real life shit is continuing to hound me (just my fucking luck, huh?).

Negative shit aside (for now at least), here's this week's purchases.


Monday, argos-clearancebargains, I received G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra Nightbird with Aero Viper.

This is only the second G.I. Joe vehicle I've bought (the first was that bloody H.I.S.S. tank), and damn its impressive (even more so at the price I paid for it)!

It really is quite big; bigger than I expected in fact, but the thing I like about it most is the cocking revolver action when launching the missiles.

I don't care much for the Aero Viper, as his job is to sit his ass in the cockpit like a good little lackey.


Thursday, Play.com, I received Runaway Train.

I'm kinda annoyed about this one cos I decided to buy it after I couldn't locate my Anchor Bay release of the film; and take a guess what I find the very next day?

Nevertheless, Runaway Train is a film that deserves more attention than it gets (and if you're one of those people who haven't seen it yet, SHAME. ON. YOU!) cos there's more going for it than simply a story of a bunch of runaway locomotives in snowy Alaska.

The ending in particular still brings a tear to my eye and left a mighty big impression on Nemmy back when he watched it for first time at the age of 9 (even though I didn't fully understand the meaning behind it back then).


Friday, supermart_usa, I received My-Otome Complete Collection.

Mai-Otome, it wasn't quite as striking to me as Mai-HiME, but it did have some interesting things going for it (like all the unique Robes) and against it (like Nina and her umm... you know... questionable intentions).

Although I was more pissed at the fact Mai Tokiha wasn't in it until the final few episodes!


Yesterday, oddbanana, I received G.I. Joe: Resolute.

Seeing as I've been getting into G.I. Joe more and more (how vexing), I thought I'd watch this 'mature' take on it (and when I did, I was amazed by it).

What sold it to me more than anything was Cobra Commander and his methods of motivating the troops.

Trust me to catch a cold in the summer

It has been a rather shitty week this week what with having a (summer) cold, moments of pain in my left thigh and coping with annoying real life shit on top of that (how fucking wonderful!), but at least it wasn't all bad from a collecting standpoint (also, there were those new patches for SWAN SONG and Muv-Luv too!).


Monday, Amazon.co.uk, I received My-HiME Complete Collection.

Mai-HiME (that's the spelling of 'Mai' I'm going with) was a series I found out about purely by chance a years ago and been a fan of it ever since.

It had somewhat innocent beginnings until the shit (well and truly) hit the fan and got better once the characters were suffering more and more (in my twisted opinion anyway).

The only thing I (still) hold against the series is the ending, cos c'mon, after everything that went down the bloody thing ended on a extremely happy note!


Wednesday, Kapow Toys, I received Headrobots Cobra, Revenge of the Fallen Divebomb, RD-13 Ravage and Hunt for the Decepticons Sea Spray.

The Cobra Headmaster is cool, but nothing special (it didn't connect too well on my Brave). Divebomb is a victim of the stupid monkeys giving him two left landing gears (WHY, DAMMIT! WHY?!). Ravage is okay, but that alt mode is shit. And Sea Spray is stunning, simple, and oh so very awesome.


Thursday, all your music, I received My-Otome Zwei.

I'll save most of my thoughts on Mai-Otome until the complete series DVD I ordered arrives (which I'm hoping will be soon).

As for the Mai-Otome Zwei sequel, it wasn't bad, but it wasn't that great in the end either.

Personally, I preferred the Mai-Otome 0~S.ifr~ prequel that came after this (it was just way more interesting to watch Arika's mother in her time as an Otome).


Friday, comics-and-toys, I received Transformers Crossovers Black Costume Spider-Man.

I already had Crossovers Venom and the black bike Spider-Man, so I thought why not?

Yeah, I know these Crossovers make for shitty toys, but I couldn't resist the black repaint.


Yesterday, coolqueenyc, I received Transformers Animated TA-12 Arcee.

I was planning to keep this MOSC, but the plastic bubble was crushed so servilely that it made more sense for me to open it.

Unlike my Hasbro Arcee, this Takara-Tomy Arcee has minor QC issues like the feet popping off after the slightest bloody movement.


Yesterday also brought me a surprise gift in the form of Star Wars Transformers Clone Commander Cody, which I got from friends that paid the family a visit (well, yesterday was my mum's birthday).

The Turbo Tank mode is very nice, but the robot mode is a clusterfuck of hampering kibble.

Snow won't keep Nemmy from his toys

The weather outside may look like a winter wonderland, and the temperature bloody freezing. But luckily for me that didn't stop Parcelfarce from delivering my newest goodies from Japan.

The first needs no introduction. It's the DX Decadriver from the new Kamen Rider Decade series, which I got from toy-wholesaler.jp for roughly £80 including EMS shipping. Pricey, but it was worth every penny to this Heisei Rider fan.


Next up is my haul from Ryan a.k.a. Fan2Fan.

This shipment from him contained Enterbrain's Rider figure from Fate/stay night, Alter's Signum figure from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, both versions of Wave's Lena Sayers figure from Mai-Otome, the Dengeki Daioh Ver. of Nendoroid Shana from Shakugan no Shana, and Revoltech Ricky from Doko Demo Issyo.


And if that weren't enough, I even got this transforming beetle robot as a free gift. Haven't got a clue as to which range it comes from though.


Well, I'd say today was a good day for receiving toys. You could almost call it a second Christmas for me with all the snow we've had.