More backlog clearing and a belated birthday present

I really need to get back into the habit of doing this more regularly, but I can't see it happening just yet.

In the meantime I've played and completed Bible Black -The Infection- (sadly, it was nowhere near as good as the original) and started Harem☆Party which I now can't being myself to finish (the only route left for me do is Sofie's, but her stupid antics and grating voice really piss me off). So instead of that I finally managed to finish the trial for Aiyoku no Eustia (I do hope the full version of this gets translated at some point).

And as part of a dlvr.it test I'm doing I've also created a blog for myself on Tumblr.

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Getting stung takes the fun out of collecting

Even though I planned on prioritising my anime and toku backlog I still ended up getting engrossed in a few visual novels...

I started and completed Conquering the Queen (the Dark Chapter was fun), finally got the good ending for Satoru's Chapter in Remember11 (seriously, how could they end it like that?) and finished the current translation patch for Fate/hollow ataraxia (oh I how wish there was a voice patch for this game).

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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.

Here's two more black repaints for the collection

I guess my visual novel habit has taken a firm hold of me once again cos for the last week or so I've been rather engrossed in playing Koihime Musou (I still have my anime and toku backlog to get through dammit!). I did try starting the game on my old PC originally, but unfortunately that was around the same time the damn thing was beginning to give me various problems.

We then had another long ass power cut on Tuesday that lasted for over six hours (you can probably imagine how pissed off I was at that) which delayed my write-up on posting about the following items.


Monday (last week), AmiAmi and Amazon.co.uk, I received...

• S.H.Figuarts Kamen Rider OOO TaJaDol Combo
• S.H.Figuarts Cure Sunshine
• Evangelion: 2.22 You Can (Not) Advance

The TaJaDor Combo (I'm more used to seeing it spelt that way in the fansub I watch) was the one form of Kamen Rider OOO that made me want the Figuart after it made its début in the show. But having said that I do think it's bloody annoying that Bandai are selling the wings and other accessories as a Tamashii Web Store exclusive.

Cure Sunshine was the next PreCure to appear in HeartCatch PreCure after Cure Blossom and Cure Marine. Like I said when I got those two, I have the urge to get every character they release as a Figuart from this show (I already have Cure Moonlight on pre-order).

I've seen the second Rebuild of Evangelion movie a few times already thanks to it being fansubbed when it was released on Blu-ray in Japan (although I had to wait for a SD encode of the movie before I could watch it properly as that old PC of mine absolutely sucked when it came to watching stuff in HD), but I did plan on buying the DVD release of the film as soon as it was available for purchase in the UK anyway.


Tuesday (last week), HobbyLink Japan and BigBadToyStore.com, I received...

• S.H.Figuarts Masked Rider Black
  
• S.H.Figuarts Masked Rider Black RX
  
• S.H.Figuarts Shadow Moon
• Clear Protector

I do own the original Shouchaku Henshin figures of Kamen Rider Black, Kamen Rider Black RX and Shadow Moon, but these Figuarts don't really feel like much of an vast improvement when compared to them to be honest. Even so, they do look a hell of a lot better than before, but apart from their appearance there isn't that much of a drastic difference in the actual design of the figure.

I pre-ordered the Clear Protector (I don't get why they're calling it clear, its crystal dammit!) soon after it was announced as I feared at the time that might be as limited as Shadow Scythe, but from looks of things now that doesn't appear to the case.

Luckily I already had a Henkei Sons of Cybertron Rodimus ready to attach the armour onto before it arrived so I didn't need to face any unnecessary hassle in trying to obtain one now.


Saturday, ehobbybase, I received United Darkside Optimus Prime & Darkside Megatron.

War for Cybertron Optimus Prime getting a black repaint was something I had been wanting since I first got the toy, but I wasn't that interested in the black repaint of War for Cybertron Megatron until I saw images of the finalised product.

Darkside Optimus Prime has more of a Black Convoy colour scheme than the Nemesis Prime colour scheme Hasbro uses, but unlike a lot of Black Convoy repaints Takara-Tomy have done lately this one is actually a Decepticon instead of an Autobot.

As for Darkside Megatron, holy shit! The colour scheme here is pretty similar to that of Animated Shadow Blade Megatron and it looks bloody awesome.

Out with the old PC and in with the new PC

I made the decision last week to replace my 7 year old PC and I did just that as I'm now in procession of a brand new Acer Aspire M3400 (which cost me £400, but it had to be done really). Unlike my old PC this one is vastly more powerful and has no problem meeting my current computing requirements (another reason for choosing it was the fact it can play Blu-ray discs).


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

• S.H.Figuarts Masked Rider Faiz Blaster Form
• figma Kamen Rider Onyx
• Revoltech Danboard Yoku Dekimashita Ver.
  

I do own the Shouchaku Henshin of Faiz in his Blaster Form, but the S.H.Figuarts release a vastly improved representation of it. One notable addition is the massive pink blade of doom that you can attach to his sword to make it look far more imposing.

figma Kamen Rider Onyx (a.k.a. Kamen Rider Ryuga) is a very nice figure in its own right (I'm a bit disappointed there was no changeable head with glowing red eyes though), but for me S.H.Figuarts is still the preferred choice when it comes these type of figures (if there's a S.H.Figuarts Kamen Rider Ryuga on the horizon, I am so gonna get it). However, I do favour the figma stands over those from any of the S.H.Figuarts I've acquired.

This version of Revoltech Danboard is a re-release of the figure with a 'Very Well Done' mark slapped on both it and the base. I've had a fondness of this figure since it originally came out and even went to the trouble of getting the Amazon.co.jp and 7-Eleven versions of it too.

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.

A long awaited purchase is finally here!

I've near enough finished playing Kotori Love Ex P now (I only need to get the remaining CGs and scenes in D.C.P.C. when I can be arsed to do so). Although I do wish they added some more depth to Ayumi's involvement in KotoriPlus (I was hoping for one least one RAGE ending dammit!).

Anyway, time for this week's arrivals.


Tuesday (last week), figure_house, I received S.H.Figuarts GARO.

This Figuart of GARO really beings home the fact I've been in this collecting game for a good many years now.

The first GARO I got was the Souchaku Henshin pretty soon after I watched the series, and it was a good representation of GARO too. However, the armour pieces did have a tendency of falling off when you least wanted them to do so.


Wednesday, xxliloandstitchxx, I received Animated Blackout.

Like Lugnut before him, Blackout is a big Decepticon with a toy far smaller than he deserves. Even so, the only real let-down of it for me is the lack of outward poseability in the arms.


Friday, boomingisland, I received CLANNAD ~After Story~ Complete Collection.

The continuation of CLANNAD, and I was quite vocal about it too when the series was airing in Japan.

One thing about the set that baffles me though is they swapped the play order of the Summary Episode and Kyou Arc OVA, but the menu shows the two episodes in their correct Japanese release order.

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.

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...

I love it when a whimsical plan comes together!

Only a few items arrived this week, and all of them related to the 'Figuarts Tuesday' plan.

And I guess I should give a mention to this seeing as it got me watching the movie version of Macross Plus one more time (despite the fact I just recently watched the thing), so I'll recommend you go check out Episode 5 of Shut Up and Watch This! (even if it's so you can hear my name dropped twice).


Thursday, hobby_store_asia, I received S.H.Figuarts Masked Rider Faiz.

Another of my 'Figuarts Tuesday' purchases, but one I bought mainly for nostalgia reasons. I have a lot of sentiment towards to Faiz because I probably wouldn't be the Kamen Rider fan I am today if it wasn't for my watching of Kamen Rider 555 all those years ago.


Friday, toy_and_game, I received...

• S.H.Figuarts Masked Rider Kuuga Ultimate Form
• S.H.Figuarts Masked Rider Decade Complete Form
  

Kuuga in his Ultimate Form is my favourite Form of Kuuga, and the only one I actually own as a Souchaku Henshin. But compared to that relic of a toy, this new S.H.Figuarts incarnation is a vast improvement in almost every conceivable way imaginable (except that he doesn't come with any weapons like the Souchaku Henshin one did).

I wanted Decade in his Complete Form cos they made it appear oh so fucking awesome in the show even though the actual design of it is kinda ridiculous with the cards on his head and chest armour.

Another Burden for the Masterpiece Hardest to Bear!

Another uneventful week has passed (although I did finally manage to watch both the OVA and Movie versions of Macross Plus), but there were some notable arrivals.

I'll also give a special mention in regards to Episode 2 of Shut Up and Watch This! (which was a fan commentary for Saban's Masked Rider if you haven't checked it out) for accurately predicting the actions of yours truly so well (you're damn right Nemmy was "screaming" at that point!).


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

• Masterpiece MP-9 Rodimus Convoy gold coin
• Masterpiece MP-9 Rodimus Convoy
• Masterpiece MP-9 Rodimus Convoy display box
  

I was originally planning on only having the one Masterpiece Rodimus Convoy, but a slight oversight with my pre-orders has resulted in me now having two. However, unlike the Rodimus I received last week, this is the Hong Kong version which came with a coin and a pretty box for displaying him in (didn't get the big ass flame bag unfortunately) as additional extras.

And in case you're wondering, I will be keeping this Rodimus MISB as I see very little point in opening another.


Friday, kcmanhk and figure_house, I received...

• S.H.Figuarts Kamen Rider Double FangJoker
• S.H.Figuarts Kamen Rider Double CycloneJokerXtreme
• S.H.Figuarts One Piece Nami
  

The two Kamen Rider W S.H.Figuarts were purchased as part of my crazy 'Figuarts Tuesday' plan I started on a whim at the beginning of the month and would last throughout the course of February. I do have more on the way, but I'm currently waiting on their arrival.

As for Nami, I did have my reservations on female type S.H.Figuarts after opening my Cure Black and Cure White, but with Nami I didn't feel like I had to be as cautious in handling her as the aforementioned duo. Changing her hands was practically a breeze, and her face was only a tad trickier but still relatively easy.

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).