Thursday, November 25, 2010

1/8 Alphard by Good Smile Company

The Companion figure of Canaan figure is 1/8 Alphard also by Good Smile Company.

Also sculpted by Iwamoto Kunihiro, displays Alphard in mid-air bending the body to the right. The highly dynamic feeling is again worth of praise.

Alphard, unlike Canaan, doesn't have any remarkable fault. The hair is well done and correctly shaded. I don't like the face sculpt as much as I like Canaan's one, but is close enough to the character.

There are tons of nice little details like the zipper or the subtle abdominal muscles.

And the sculpt is not really perfect: the trench pockets doesn't look like pockets at all.

The rear is also well detailed. There is a suspender strap on her back under the coat, but is hard to photograph without doing an awkward angle.

Overall is a better figure than Canaan, with a great dynamic pose and a more than acceptable paint job.

1/8 Canaan by Good Smile Company

I pre-ordered the figures of Canaan and Alphard months before were released, but I canceled them in late February because I ran out of money... At the beginning of the month I purchased them in a sale at Hobby Link Japan, with a 40% discount for Canaan and a 25% discount for Alphard, so at the end I got a great deal for waiting!

1/8 Canaan by Good Smile Company was a highly anticipated figure (I did an entry about it about 10 months before the release date), but CANAAN anime was not that popular at the end, and several quality issues made a lot of people cancel their orders. Is true that the final quality doesn't match the promotional shots from the prototype, but is not that bad as people said.

First of all, the highly dynamic sculpt by Iwamoto Kunihiro is stunning, showing Canaan jumping mid-air, dropping the cape in the process. I don't have any problem with Iwamoto's sculpt, Canaan face is good looking and there are tons of cool detail like her bracelet and pendant, but there are problems with the painting quality of the cape and the base, and the hair molding is not very good.

The cape painting job is not really that great if seen in a not optimum angle, and there are several white spots of what I suspect is glue. You must actively search for defects to see the problems because overall the figure is still good looking.

The external surface of the cape is better painted, but you can see the glue spots there...
The base isn’t quite as detailed as the official shots, but it gets the job done so I won't complain.

The other main problem can't be overlooked so easily, and is the molding of the hair with very visible seam lines and an almost lack of shading. Again, is not that bad with the correct light and in the correct angle but in an unfavorable light the result is pretty bad.
If you can overlook the hair problems, the rest of the sculpt is gorgeous.

You can display it without the cape, but them is a bit plain looking... also note the lack of shading in the hair compared with the rest of the body.

Overall, is a must figure for CANAAN fans (after all, there are not so many figures), and a great looking figure if you can oversee the overall minor faults.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

1/10 Hoshii Miki by Wave

Along with Saber and Sakura, I also purchased 1/10 Hoshii Miki by Wave.

Surprisingly, there are not many completed models based in iM@S characters. There are 2 versions of Miki by Max Factory (I have the blond version), the elusive Miura Azusa in wedding dress by Good Smile Company and the ugly faced Brilliant Stage collection by Megahouse.

This is my third iM@S figure and is already my second Miki figure, despite being one of my least favorite characters (mostly because is non playable in The IDOLM@STER SP and her intelligence seems to be downgraded for that port).

The sculpt is by Hokusoh, and displays a cheerful Miki doing a kira pose dressed with her bikini.
The face seems way, way off for some reason; compared with the original artwork, the cheeks are too edgy shaped and the space between the eyes and mouth is too wide... Again, I don't like Miki as a character that much and perhaps I'm biased here, but I still prefer the Max Factory version by far.

There's extra hair parts to display her as awakened Miki, with short brown hair. I prefer the blond version.


Back shot.

Wave already announced Haruka and Azusa in the Beach Queens series, so it's seems that all the girls will be released.

1/10 Matou Sakura by Wave

And to complete the trio of heroines from Fate, I also purchased 1/10 Matou Sakura by Wave.

Like Rin, the sculpt is by Okumura Yukio (circle the poppy puppet) and also is displaying her Fate/hollow ataraxia bikini.
Sakura is the least reproduced character in PVC figures out of the main heroines, and half of the time is with that bikini...

Again like Rin, the face is not 100% faithful to the character but is not really bad. The hand in front of her face seems oddly shaped in the pictures, but is cutely bended. The overall pose is very Sakura-ish, so I can't complain.

Back photo.

It would be nice if Wave releases all the other girls that also appeared in swimsuit in Fate/hollow ataraxia: Rider, Illya, Sella and Leysritt. Rider and Illya in bikini are plausible because there are already figures of them (even 2 versions in the case of Rider), but sadly Sella and Leys chances are zero to none.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

1/10 Saber by Wave

A bit late to do the reviews of the last batch of figures that I received at the beginning of this month because of an unexpected return to my job as a postman...

The first one is 1/10 Saber by Wave.

Like the previously released Rin, is part of the Beach Queens Treasure Figure Collection, so is wearing her Fate/hollow ataraxia bikini.

The sculpt is by the veteran Ogawa Yozo, inspired by this illustration by Takeuchi displaying an unusual Saber with her hair down.
The face is a bit too roundish and is not the best looking Saber by Ogawa, but I think is more a problem of the small scale of the figure rather than a sculptor's fault.

Alternately, you can display Saber with her usual bun.

Rear shot.

Like the previous Queens Treasure Figures, the quality is good for the price (available right now for less than 3,000 yen at AmiAmi), but lacking when compared with full priced figures

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Weiβ Schwarz cards: Buy, trade and sell

UPDATED: May 2012 Since I didn't find any place to buy-trade-sell Weiß Schwarz cards, I'll do it by myself.

I will use the prices of orenoturn.com as a reference.
  • In case of trade, the full price is the trading value (negotiable).
  • In the case of sell, I'll sell the cards at the same price (negotiable).
  • I'll buy the cards that I want at the full price listed (negotiable).
I'll pay or receive payments via Paypal only. I have good references as buyer-seller at eBay.
For shipping costs, offers and other questions, leave a comment!

Willing to Buy or Trade: 
Melty Blood:

I'm not listing the trial deck cards and the booster cards that are worth less than 100 yen to avoid excessive flooding. If you are interested in those, please inquire me for availability.
I have cards from Fate/stay night, Fate/Zero, MELTY BLOOD, THE iDOLM@STER and THE iDOLM@STER 2.

Fate/stay night:
FS/S03-046 U 桜の看病
Fate/Zero
FZ/S17-103 TD 最優のクラス セイバー
FZ/S17-104 TD カムランの丘
MELTY BLOOD
MB/S10-062 U G秋葉
THE iDOLM@STER
IM/S07-030 R 四条 貴音
IM/S07-033 U 浮世離れ貴音
THE iDOLM@STER 2
IM/S14-103 TD ユニットメンバー やよい
IM/S14-104 TD 正統派アイドル!春香

IM/S14-096 U 765プロ地獄の特訓

Extra Booster Cards:


Fate/hollow ataraxia:
FH/SE03-001 R 守護者セイバー
FH/SE03-003 R “この世すべての悪”アヴェンジャー
FH/SE03-005 C 蛍塚 音子
FH/SE03-009 C 決戦!デッドブリッジ
FH/SE03-010 C 天地乖離す開闢の星
FH/SE03-014 R 別れを惜しむバゼット
FH/SE03-017 C 水着の桜
FH/SE03-018 C バゼット・フラガ・マクレミッツ
FH/SE03-023 C エスコート

Fate/hollow ataraxia:
FH/SE03-024 C 大切な場所
FH/SE03-025 C 斬り抉る戦神の剣
FH/SE03-030 C 遠坂神社の巫女 凛
FH/SE03-031 C 遠坂神社の神主アーチャー
FH/SE03-032 C 水着の凛
FH/SE03-035 R 謎の少女カレン
FH/SE03-037 R 葛木メディア
FH/SE03-039 C カレン・オルテンシ
FH/SE03-040 C マグダラの聖骸布カレン

Fate/hollow ataraxia:
FH/SE03-042 C 破城槌 イリヤ&バーサーカー
FH/SE03-043 C おやすみの夜
FH/SE03-045 C 魔女の鉄槌

Parallel (Holo, Foil) Cards:


Fate/hollow ataraxia:
FH/SE03-018 C バゼット・フラガ・マクレミッツ
FH/SE03-041 C 悪魔憑きカレン

CANAAN
CN/SE02-02 SR “宝物”カナン&マリア
CN/SE02-09 SC 破壊工作員カナン
CN/SE02-13 SC 蛇の天敵
CN/SE02-14 SC 親愛なる友人
CN/SE02-15 SR 心に咲いた花ハッコー 
CN/SE02-24 SC アルファルド&リャン・チー
CN/SE02-25 SC ダイダラ社社長カミングズ
CN/SE02-26 SC カナンの名を持つ存在
CN/SE02-27 SC 空を舞う蛇

THE iDOLM@STER Dearly Stars
IM/SE04-07 R 夢をあきらめない涼
IM/SE04-07 R 夢をあきらめない涼 (SIGNED)
IM/SE04-08 C 石川社長
IM/SE04-12 C 歌への自信 美希
IM/SE04-14 C Dazzling World
IM/SE04-17 R “限界にチャレンジ”愛
IM/SE04-20 C 明るい親子 愛&舞
IM/SE04-24 C アイドルとしての才能 愛

IM/SE04-30 C プロデューサー尾崎
IM/SE04-31 C 合同レッスン絵理
IM/SE04-35 C 受け継いだ夢 絵理


 Promo Cards:

THE iDOLM@STER 
IM/S07-103 PR 765プロ
IM/S07-105 PR 天真爛漫な春香
IM/S07-120 PR レッドスパンコール 春香
The King of Fighters 
KF/S05-104 PR 永遠のサイキックアイドル アテナ 
Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom~
PT/W07-104 PR パートナー アイン&ツヴァイ 
CANAAN
CN/SE02-28 PR “守るべき絆”カナン&マリア
Tantei Opera Milky Holmes
MK/S11-123 PR とっても元気 シャロ
Gekijouban Macross F
MF/S13-116 PR 思い出の歌 ランカ

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Valkyria Chronicles 2 World Artworks

Valkyria Chronicles 2 World Artworks was released a couple of weeks ago and is now in my hands.

Following the tradition set with Valkyria Chronicles Development Artworks, the dust cover features a RAITA drawing with all the main characters:

The book is 304 pages long, and is heavily focused in the visuals of the game instead of the world setting like the previous one.

The contents are divided in a similar fashion. First of all there's a gallery section with original color illustrations by RAITA:

Voluptuous Juliana and Audrey.

Character section includes information for every character in the game, except the cameo ones from the first Valkyria Chronicles.

Obviously, the main characters features several more pages than the normal ones because they have more event graphics.

Also includes draft designs by RAITA. Aliasse battle suit was done with a bunny girl image in head.

More deigns. Juliana was supposed to be male at first...

And more. If is not clear yet, Juliana, Aliasse and Audrey are my favorite characters in the game..

The not main characters have two pages for each, much more than Valkyria Chronicles Development Artworks, that used the same amount of pages to cover up to 6 characters.

The weapons and mechanics section includes every weapon and vehicle that appears in-game. In the photo, Audrey's Geirolul and the post-game foe Ghost Tank.

The settings for the school and the rest of the background.

The Insert Movie section consist in screen-shots from the cut scenes compared with the storyboard. I omitted the adjacent page to avoid massive spoilers..

And finally, the last part shows early designs for the class G members. In the photo, Sophia and Magari.