Saturday, January 26, 2008

Revoltech 2008

Kaiyodo's releasing some real awesomesauce Revoltechs this year!

Revoltech Hot Rod(imus) and Starscream-scheduled for release this March


I'm not afraid to admit that I'm a Starscream and Hot Rod fangirl, and as a Revoltech fan, I think it's compulsory for me to get them (as long as I don't get sidetracked by other toylines again, of course)

Gurren Lagann (out in May)

Never seen the anime, only heard of it. But he looks kick-robo-ass awesome enough to warrant an instant purchase.

Pocco-April

The problem with most female anime figurines is that all they do is sit on your desk, looking pretty with their boobs hanging out. Not that I mind that, but they're usually, more often than not, not articulated. The only way I would buy a statue is if it's cheap and really detailed. And those two rarely come hand in hand. Pocco's nicely sculpted with plenty of details (maybe not as detailed as some anime sculptures, but she's definitely cheaper than most) and with articulation to boot. This Pocco could sit on my table with her boobs hanging out and look pretty. As long as the final product looks as good as this sample, o' course.

Full Metal Panic
A robot with a ponytail! How much cooler can it get?

Pictures from: http://www.flickr.com/groups/revoltech/discuss/72157603343169067/

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Shinki'd

Just got myself a Busou Shinki through e-bay yesterday (at RM150, RM20 cheaper than retail price, yahoo!).

Front of the box (this is what she'll more or less look like once I assemble her armour)

Side of the box (this is her bike mode)


The box has a cover that can be opened to reveal the box's content


Well, what are Busou Shinkis, you may ask? Busou Shinki is a line of female action figures that feature different themes and each wave is designed by different artists. The base of the figurines however are all the same, designed by Asai Masaki. They're really poseable and you can actually mix and match their accesories to customize them. Plus, they come with an access code that you input in an online game called Battle Rondo where you then get a virtual version of your figurine which you can train and send to battles (kinda like Angelic Layer, if I'm not wrong) and also pose them in various virtual settings in the Diorama Studio.

The openings for Battle Rondo featuring the first few waves:




I fell in love with Xiphos and Benio the moment I saw the 2nd video D: Oohh, and Fort Bragg is like a cool weapon nerd.
Obviously Busou Shinki plays on the "moe" and cute girls that still can kick serious ass theme

Back then, I would have snorted at the thought of collecting this sort of figurine (skinny, vulnerable looking girls with big googly eyes) but after constant exposure to them in online shops and various webcomics, I slowly warmed up to them. If you're not a big fan of most animes like me, it takes awhile to get used to them.

Right now I can't have her armors and what nots assembled (if I start, I won't stop till a few hours later and I'll be toast when I have to pass up my assignments), so I've only toyed with the figurine so far.



Her dainty fingers are made of some bendable plastic, probably to prevent them from breaking.


First impressions: I'm reminded of a grid girl or a racer when I look at her. She's very poseable and despite being all skinny, she can stand pretty well. I find it rather unfortunate that her hair is pink though (I usually dislike characters with pink hair). I would have liked it better if her hair was yellow, or green! Nothing beats the watermelon/strawberry combination.

I like her expression though, it's one of determine and strength. Her mouth is nearly invisible.

So far, I like what I see, and I am yet to test her to her full potential. I think I'm hooked. (oh noes)
Yeah, Ach's feeling rather smug about it.

Sunday, January 6, 2008

Yotsuba

Spring cleaning for the new year. Cleaning out old crap. Apparently, Yotsuba-chan likes old crap.

After reading Yotsuba&!, I felt remorse for giving her naive and wildly enthusiastic personality such a twist, so I decided to show her sweeter side.

Jealousy towards her more popular twin sister finally took its toll.

...but it didn't last for long.

More photos of Revy

Revy could be holding the gun wrongly for all I know :P

Awooga!

Revy can't move her legs up without them starting to open up after a certain level. Cheeky devils.

Calendar girl 2008.

Encore, encore!


Promotional photoshoot for her anime series. But if you see the same cover in a shop, stay away from it like a disease. It'll give you a high blood pressure (if you're not Chinese educated like me anyway). I kid you not.

Revoltech Revy/Levy



Before I start, Revy's from an anime called Black Lagoon, I have the dvds, but the English subtitle stinks so bad, I gave up trying to decrypt what they're saying 5 minutes into the show and went off to bully my hamsters instead.

Here, this is a few samples for you:




Despite being a girl and everything, I find Revy very sexy. The sculptor did a nice job on her face (with her eyes looking towards her right and her mouth slightly open) and gave her an athletic physique while maintaining her feminity and sexyness. I don't know much about Revy but I do know she's supposed to be some rough and tumble, foul mouthed chick so maybe her rather "soft" expression might not suit her that well after all.



Revy comes with 4 guns, I know nothing about guns, so after checking the net, they are-two hands double pistol, a grenade launcher and a WZ63 machine gun, a head without her hair tied and a display stand. I wish Megatron came with a display stand too.


Another cool thing is that her hair is articulated, but it's irritating how it keeps popping off.

Her sculpting's not bad, maybe a bit rough on some parts, but the worst was her thighs.

This is Revy, after make up and airbrushed.

This is her unedited.
Ouch. You can't see much here, but the lines and uneven markings on her legs remind me of cellulite, the bane of womankind. Don't worry Revy, nobody's perfect. But compared to Yotsuba, Yotsuba's sculpt is much better (to the point she looks edible), but then again, Yotsuba doesn't have the curves Revy does, so maybe it's easier to sculpt her.

Revoltech Yotsuba

Last Wednesday I went to XL Shop at Midvalley, wanting to get Kaiyodo Revoltech Revy (Black Lagoon). But in a moment of impulsiveness, I ended up with an extra figure I didn't quite expect I would buy: Revoltech Yotsuba. In case you're wondering, Yotsuba&! is a manga (by Kiyohiko Azuma) about a 5 year old girl's antics as she discovers the world around her (no, really, it's a really enjoyable manga, its just that my description doesn't do it any justice). I have to admit I've never read the manga before I got this fig (I just found her expressions too cute and the fact that she reminds me of dough, I love eating and messing around with dough). I've only read the first volume so far and I have to say, she looks like a well,


...a bug.

Albeit a really cute bug, probably a beetle or a lady bug. In the beginning, I found myself wondering why there isn't a neutral expression for her instead (she comes with two interchangeable head, one has an expression of enthusiasm, while the other looks pissed), and now I know why:

The many expressions of Yotsuba...all in one chapter (except for 1 or 2 of the pics)

Constant delirium is her default expression. And you'll hardly ever find her with her mouth closed, she's constantly flapping her lips over one thing or another.

Aside from the 2 heads, she also comes an ice cream, a water pistol, 2 extra fists (one's to hold her ice cream, the other is for the water pistol) and a spare joint for her waist (that's what I read on the web, not that it would do her much good, her shirt restricts her waist movement too much). I have to say, I find her interchangeable heads a bit too convenient:

"A mental asylum escapee held Megatron, leader of the decepticons, hostage at an abandoned power station last Tuesday. All Megatron’s subordinates, however, were nowhere to be found during the whole fiasco. It took the police 3 hours to get the situation well under control and Megatron freed. Yotsuba was finally packed up and carted back to her padded cell. When contacted, Megatron’s representative, Soundwave, refused to answer any of the reporter's questions."

One moment she's just a "normal" badass gangsta, and the next she looks like a lunatic. This whole hostage situation thing was totally inspired by a funny review on Revoltech Yotsuba. In case you're wondering, she's holding one of Revy's gun.

Photos of Yotsuba "playing" with Revy:

"Not so fast, sista"


I sure hope Kaiyodo will release some sort of expansion pack for her, with extra expressions and what nots.

Saturday, January 5, 2008

A new start

Hohoho, I just realized that my old blog name "Orange Plastic" would have been the perfect place for me to throw all the photos I ever took or will ever take of my figurines. My old blog was no more than a jumble of random posts about Youtube videos and hamsters and rants. Hardly raves. Well, hopefully no more randomness (much).