[Kotobukiya 1/10 Masaomi Arikawa; Artstorm 1/7 Canal and 1/7 Nasca]
Round 2 of some more stuff that arrived in March that has been forgotten for a multitude of reasons.
This is one of the rare instances where I have a male as part of my haul. Masaomi Arikawa hails from Harukanaru Toki no Naka de 3 franchise which is published by Koei – makers of the Dynasty Warriors franchise. Now, I haven’t the slightest bit of information about the background of this the franchise that Masaomi is from without having to resort to a google search. All I know is that he resembles feudal/ancient historic Asia where I am absolutely in love with the clothing style. Plus, he is a male and a good-looking male figure is not unheard of, but often seldom encountered within the pvc realm. I wouldn’t be opposed to being familiar with the background of this franchise, but at the moment, pure aesthetics will have to do for now.
The packaging on the box is very nice and features some of the artistic style for the series. I believe that all of the figures are meant to be connected to one another through their bases, but I wouldn’t count me on that. What I don’t like is that these figures are only 1/10 scale, making them a bit expensive for that scale. I refuse to pay retail MSRP on a figure for something that small in scale, so I always wait for a really good deal to go and pick these figures up. I bought Masaomi for around $40 during a sale.
I don’t remember, but I think there are at least 6 figures from this franchise done by Kotobukiya. I’ll have to wait for the opportune moment to go and pick up the rest of the guys. A girl could never have too many hot men in her collection.
Initially, I preordered both of these figures under two sole driving factors : 1) Shunya Yamashita art 2) Prototypes were beautiful. Upon seeing the prototype pictures at one of many Japanese hobby events that remains a blur in my mind, I was definitely impressed with both Nasca and Canal. One of the first things that I noticed about Nasca was her sexy, fanged underwear. Yes, you heard me correctly. The design was very unique and was reminiscent of what Revoltech’s Shunya Yamashita Pocco might have looked like if she was of age and was given a full-scaled pvc treatment. As a girl, I am also particular about the wardrobe and things such as clothing, accessories and even shoes can catch my fancy. In Nasca’s example, I really like her metal strapped shoes and the thigh-high lingerie stockings given to her. Many people might be turned off to the obvious gratuitous nature of her pose, but I see nothing wrong with it as it could possibly be a lot worse. ahem*Gigapulse*ahem.
Canal or Canaru is another figure whose expectations were fairly high after seeing the prototype pictures. She is also a prime example as to why I don’t give other non-reputable figure manufacturers a chance to rape my bank account. Prototypes are a very misleading thing and very much like a demo or a trailer, nothing is ever set in stone. There is no concrete way of knowing whether or not an end product will be the same or even if the company will be able to deliver on a mass-produced scale.
So, I really like Canal’s shoes and wouldn’t min downing a pair myself. I actually prefer the style of her entire outfit over Nasca’s. I also preferred her pose over Nasca as Canal is giving you a very shy over-the-shoulder look. So, much to my dismay, when I read consistent accounts of how much of a disappointment Canal was to many collectors. The problem with Canal is her paint job around her face and arse. Her face appears sunburned or one you’d typically see from a woman who buys cheap, mismatched foundation for her face. The arse appears to have varying shades of pink to red as if she was paddled during some sorority initiation rites. I also hate it when companies outline the inside of a character’s mouth with black paint to cheaply give off the illusion of depth. The Goodsmile Human Mage figure does this as well.
Even though I’m not very happy about the paint treatment for specific sections of her body, this figure still has excellent sculpt. I don’t know if I’ll go in and modify the paint on the problematic areas, but I severely doubt that I’ll be buying from Artstorm again without looking at the actual released product. Still, nothing beats the sheer ugliness of ebcraft Rider and I paid waaaaay less for Canal XD
So, all I need is Part 3 of the Forgotten Hauls before moving onto some more hauls that were severely delayed, but not necessarily forgotten in any way.
Very good choice for the 2 figures of Shunya Yamashita;) I am true a addict of his illustrations and thus of the figures which are inspired by it.
Ah Kanaru…You know my opinion about her ^^
Despite the negative experience with ArtStorm and their Shunya Yamashita Line I grabbed Nasca on the HLJ Sale.
Im a too big Yamashita Whore to pass on the offer.Theres just something about his Artworks that make me wanna drool all over the Girls.
I especially like her pose and cant see anything offending about it.My exposure to Anime could have desensibilized me though
Their are way too few nice Male figures out there.Kudos to Megahouse and their Gem Line.
@Jem-chan: Hahaha, once again, u always seem to pull out the most-colorful comments for me. But yeah, of the anime titles mentioned in the post and in the comments, I’d recommend the gothloli-horror “Petite Cossette” as well as”Ef”. Unfortunately, there aren’t many guns in either title. Maybe a knife, but not guns, lol… {Nods} Hehe, yeah, pretty fun experience! {Laughs} Haha, staring into the camera! Yup, exactly! We did 3 different takes for that “stoic businessman” shot. And I think I laughed after each take. One close-up stare. Another even *closer-up* stare with a mild head tilt and a few eyebrow and lip twitches, lol. Then the last one sitting back with my chin resting in my fist (like the photo above). Which is funny, because that chin post was impromptu, as we were waiting for Kelly to finish a phone call. When he came back, they liked the chin pose and we shot it! Afterwards, we all looked at the recorded playback of all 3 takes in his camera viewfinder. {Laughs} Haha, we were all laughing! So now we’ll see how he inter-cuts my different shots together with those shots of the yellow-helmetted salesman guy, dohhh… Heyyy, u too? Actually, I think the only way to be an extra is to get casted for *fun*. Like I mentioned above, it’s definitely a lot of “hurry up and wait” (in Kelly’s words). Not the easiest thing to do. But beach-going spirituality? Sounds like some modern-day hippies, eh? Although I wouldn’t mind folks telling me I have the “energy of a seventeen year old”. Then again, with my treadmill and foosball, I think sometimes I do!… Ah yes, never forget the food! Wouldn’t mind that again either, lol. Did I mention that the deli sandwiches and spinach dip were awesome? Mmmm, spinach dip.
P.S. LOL, forgotten hauls, fanged underwear, freaky Gigapulse figures, facial sunburns, and sorority arse-paddlings? Yeah, commitment is commitment, so I’m glad you’re sticking with Canal. But to flip around your harem quote: “A guy can never have too many hot girls in his collection.” Hmm, could that apply to blogrolls too?
P.P.S. Almost forgot! It wasn’t me, I didn’t take all those on-the-set photos! It was either Charisma or probably Denise (I think she’s one of the writers). I thought it would’ve been awkward, wouldn’t it? But if I did, I would’ve added my “xJAYMANx_toybox” logo in the corner, lol. ^_^
@Lylibellule: Yes, I love Shunya Yamashita, too. He’s made some great character designs for video games as well. I wish the imperfections for Canal could be corrected, but the sculpt of the figure is lovely.
@Blowfish: The only problem I see with Kanaru is the paint job in certain areas, but the sculpt looks to be very good. I think you will be much happier with Nasca. A lot of people don’t like Nasca’s pose because it is showing a lot of pantsu and can be considered gratuitous for some. I, on the other hand, thought it was very sexy. Fanged pantsu ftw!
@Jay: How on earth are you doing that? Teach me how to post a comment so that it shows up on your blog post. By the way, I don’t think you realize the sexual implications behind that seventeen year old comment. I’m glad you weren’t the creep talking all those pictures on the set.
@Jem-chan: Haha, nahhh, actually, I’m double-posting. Here’s the story: It all started with Meimi132-chan. Instead of replying to comments on her own post, she’d hop over to the commenter’s blog and reply there. Her reasoning was that she felt guilty about keeping all the activity to herself. So she shared it. Just an odd but refreshingly unique habit she had. Which I’ve now been borrowing. With the added step of duplicating my comment on my post, in order to keep the continuity of the conversation, lol. Funny that Coco-chan’s been duplicating too. That’s all. Nothing fancy. Just sharing the blog love.
Oh crap! Didn’t realize those hippy-wannabes were implying anything sexual! My bad… But I wouldn’t call Charisma or Denise “creeps”, hehe. They’re part of the crew after all! And Charisma is the director’s wife too, lol.
@Jay: HAHA, yes, it was definitely meant to have a sexual vibe to it. Well, I am fairly picky in what I buy – which amounts to just having excellent quality among other things -, so I am very unlikely to go through phases where I no longer “like” my figure because I got bored or don’t “appreciate” it as much. Whatever diction helps soothe people’s minds, I say. Unless, I get “tricked” because the prototype is just horrible and comes off as bootleg-gish, then I am sticking my guns for my decisions. I realize not all collectors behave in that fashion, either.
@Jem-chan: Hey, gotta question for the “unofficial Toybox idol”. When did WordPress.com (not just your blog but Coco-chan and others) start setting these “threaded or nested comments” as the default? Maybe in the last couple weeks? Just curious…
LOL, and now, I shall try and intertwine our last couple threads into one reply! Shall I succeed?… Hmm, “sexual vibe”, I guess that *some* energetic personalities attract *those”* particular resonant frequencies, don’t they? {Hint, hint}… Yeah, I don’t doubt your ironclad selection process. Almost like the “survival of the fittest” figures, lol. Thus, the fittest shall endure in your grasp. Whether or not Murata-sensei designed them. Heyyy, nice segue, eh? Well, adolescent or not, fan-service-based or not, then his girls probably aren’t as shocking as *you* IRL, if what u say is true, lol. Now I’m curious. I think I’m gonna have to test those so-called “scare a person” limitations. Risky. Yup, I know. But what the heck. Sounds rather intriguing… Anything to spit in the metaphorical eye of Lady Boredom, eh?
@Jay: I would be inclined to say that it was within the last couple of weeks. I still don’t know how to do it. I can’t even get some space in-between the blog banner pictures on the right side.
Yes, this is true. I’d have to say it’s easier to be more shallow and superficial with figures because it’s quality that I’m looking for and these girls aren’t exactly cheap. I can’t carry over the same criteria to the same extreme for individuals in real life. If I ever met a gorgeous girl who had an attitude that was worse than pig manure, then I’d definitely not want anything to do with her. Well, anything serious or long-term, I suppose.
I think people, especially men, are shocked by the things that come out of my mouth or my mannerisms. Guess, they aren’t all that used to a girl like me XD
@Jem-chan: Hmm, not even the [br] tag works as a spacing?
Ahh, haha, my clever hints and nudges don’t seem to budge your shield. I’m curious about specific examples of those shocking words or mannerisms. Cuz after all this time, I still haven’t been too “shocked” by u yet, have I? Including your mythical “cyber lemons”, lol.
“All I know is that he resembles feudal/ancient historic Asia where I am absolutely in love with the clothing style. Plus, he is a male and a good-looking male figure is not unheard of, but often seldom encountered within the pvc realm.”
I was really drawn to those figures for that reason, but I really couldn’t handle that they were 1/10th and at the pricetag you mentioned. In the end I decided to skip them entirely and save my hunting time for other figures of characters I knew and loved.
I really adore Pocco quite a bit, I LOVE my Pocco Revoltech and if there was a PVC figure of her I’d surely snatch her up. I like Shunya but I don’t collect all his figures, as of right now I believe I only own 2 with 2 on pre-order.
@duckie: I am a big fan of that artistic and historic period, so I will indiscriminately buy figures with that criteria given that the quality and manufacturer are both satisfactory to me. They normally go for anywhere from $75-90, so $40 was pretty awesome. While I am not familiar with the series, I have a feeling that I would enjoy the franchise because it is in line with genres that I enjoy. I love handsome men and he’s a great addition to keep my hot women some company.
I think Pocco is nice, but it was mainly the hubby who wanted her. I’m not all that into articulated figures of such small scale as the revoltechs or figmas. I prefer them to be a sizable scale. Shunya Yamashita is great at making gorgeous looking women. I’ve got at least 9 figures with 2 pre’d. I was thinking about preordering some more, but I’ll have to see.
@Jay: I can’t reply to your post directly. The [br] tag hates me :{ Hahaha, yes. I’m well aware of the subtle hints. I have a dry erase board at work to put my tasks or any other relevant things on it. At the very top, I drew a chibi devil with the label “Jem’s buddy”. My boss seems highly amused with the way I do things and why and how I do it such as having two internet browser windows open to simultaneously conduct and filter out searches whilst having 6 tabs on each one and not counting the numerous Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and folders that I have open in the back. I can’t really name specific things that I’ve said, but they seem to amuse others. I am also violent, crude, and am known to have a sharp tongue or intimidate some of my co-workers. I guess you’d just have to hear and hang out with me in real life to really get what I’m saying. Perhaps having stereotypically “non-feminine” attributes and hobbies have shaped who I am XD.
@Jem-chan: Awww… No worries! After all, I’m sure there are worse names than “Jem’s Buddy” or “Jem’s Devil” out there, lol. Ahh yeah, apps, files, folders, tabs and messages, I know that feeling! I’m lucky I only have one laptop screen and one side monitor at work, or I’d be filling more screens with even more crap, lol… Hmm, violent, crude, intimidating, sounds like my ex during our final fights. At least, u didn’t say “hysterical” or “paranoid”. I’m beginning to get a better idea… Of course, if u recorded an MP3 podcast, I’d be very curious… and most-likely, enlightened.
@Jay: I can be hysterical, but very very very rare. I am paranoid, but scary paranoid, I suppose. I am also quite cynical. I tried to record a podcast for a video game review and I had problems editing it, so I never revisited the idea. Despite all these seemingly negative traits, a lot of people (see Men) enjoy my company, haha. I’m guessing that they are amused with those characteristics all lumped into a single entity.
@Jem-chan: Awww. This is only a guess based on my limited experience. But my guess is that your brand of crude vocalization, stubborn intimidation and paranoid cynicism is flashier and more fiery than most. Like a hypnotizing display of blinding fireworks at night, oooh, aaah. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to couple such display with physically appealing features in the eyes of men (see Dogs) either, haha… In those cases, my strategy would be to not get blinded by her light or burned by her fire. To keep a cool head. To keep a sharp ear. But also to challenge her in return. Ah, the play of the Devil’s Advocate. Because when executed cleverly, a challenge can be quite fun. ^o^
@Jay: Sexy is all I have to say.
@Jem-chan: {Adjusts glasses} Hmm, I can’t wait for the unabridged version.