Got inFamous 3 days before official release date.

Went out yesterday to buy a couple of things when my boyfriend spotted inFamous on a store shelf. My reaction was “oh, it’s out already?” (I didn’t know the release date, as far as I knew, it could have been today, yesterday or next month), his was to pick it up immediately and go to the cashiers. Apparently the release date is on Tusday, May 26. He bought it yesterday, May 23. I will have to wait for Tuesday for my copy since there was only one left on the shelf.

inFamous on new set-up

We tested it the moment we got back to my place. I didn’t play it, but it looked really fun. From the looks of it, it’s how I expected Assassin’s Creed to be ¹. I tried the demo later on that evening after my boyfriend went home and I can’t wait until I get my own copy.

Basically, I find how Cole moves around more dynamic than Altair. Don’t get me wrong though — Assassin’s Creed is one of my all time favorite games. inFamous looks like it will join that list… but we’ll see! ^_^

Brown Rice Tea with Tsuruya~

Caught the seasonal flu over the weekend. Still recovering now but I feel much better. The first day was horrible. I think that was the first time I ever had the flu (not counting stomach flu). I’ll spare you the details though. When I was strong enough, my parents took me to the walk-in clinic nearby. That was when I found out that I had a minor case of flu. I was told to drink lots of fluids so I am now drinking obscene amounts of Gatorade and Japanese Brown Rice Tea <3

I really want a Japanese tea set but this will do for  now. Guh, I just realized while typing this that I chose a picture where Tsuruya’s blocking my tea cup XD Bought the cup in a Japanese store in the Philippines. Got the tea “pot” from Atlantic Superstore here in Canada. It uses a plastic draining thingy instead of a wired one which makes it really easy to clean ^_^

Lucky Star Main Cast

On another note, I haven’t been posting here lately since I’ve been very busy with school work. During that time 4 additions to my collection arrived, including a Figma (GoodSmile) Takara Miyuki of Lucky Star.My Lucky Star Figma collection is now complete~ ^o^ They were all ordered from KidNemo.

Currently, they are the only figures on my computer desk. All my figures used to be here too but it left me with very little desk space which I really needed once the school year started XD

Now, in order of arrival:

Konata

Konata was my first Figma. She’s my favorite among the 4 Figmas, though she and Kagami are both my favorite characters in Lucky Star. One of the reasons is because I find her the easiest to pose. My only problem is that her hair always gets in the way and limits the poses she can do. Otherwise, I think she, and the other girls, were made very well.

Now on to the Hiiragi twins who arrived together:

Kagami

Saddly I didn’t think of taking pictures of the two of them in their shipping box. I found it really cute that they were coincidentally shipped together. I ordered them separately but Kid Nemo contacted me and said that they could ship the twins together for a cheaper price. Yay!

Kagami is my other favorite character in the series. Don’t get me wrong though, I love the entire cast ^^ I usually have a character I dislike in every series, but not this one.

The Kagami Figma is just about as easy to pose as the Konata one but there’s just something off about it that I can’t put my finger on. She is also the least stable on a stand. If I shake the computer table they’re on, she shakes the most… even when I’m typing. Her pigtails makes gives her a wide range of possible poses compared to Konata though!

Tsukasa

Tsukasa’s joints are a bit more stiff than the latter two. I don’t know if it is by design or it’s a random occurence during production. Either way, I don’t really care since the overall quality is really good. Besides, when I think about it, the more I pose the Figmas, the more likely outcome is that the joints will loosen rather than tighten. I hardly move them though XD I’ve had them in this pose ever since they arrived. It’s not as uniformed now since I moved them around for this post ^^’

Miyuki

Finally, we have Miyuki. I find her really really sweet and affable. As for the Figma, I like this one the least. Maybe it’s because she has larger opai that her blouse is shorter than the rest, but I think it should have been lengthened a bit. There’s just something a bit off about her proportions compared to the other three. The dark pink parts of her uniform are darker than the rest (then again, all of their pink “ties” are of different shades, except for the twins). Maybe it’s intentional though… my uniform wasn’t exactly the same as my classmates’ ^^’

Overall though, I’m still happy with how she was made. Maybe it would have been nice if her glasses could be removed but I’d rather have it fixed like this than have it constantly falling off her face.

Ta-daaa~!

…I handle and pose the Figmas I like least the most…

…Did that make sense?

Figma Bits and Pieces Case

This is where I keep all the parts that come with the girls. I didn’t label the compartments… probably because I’m lazy. Hehe. I know which hands belongs to which character based on the face next to it XD Like I mentioned earlier, I haven’t changed their poses or parts ever since I left them in the pose in the group picture. Mostly because it’s painful to change their hands. Does anyone know a pain-free way to change their hands without damaging them?

In conclusion, I’m really happy with my Figmas. I wish that there would be a similar line in a larger size and without fixed clothing, but not too close to BJDs since I like how Figmas look nearly 100% like the anime characters.

…I bet there’ll be Figma versions of the K-On! cast soon ^_^ *prepares wallet for another round of spending*

That’s it for today. Might post tomorrow about the other 3 additions to my collection ^^ Unlike Miyuki, I haven’t even taken them out of their boxes yet.

Haruhi says no to fakes!

This post is the continuation of my previous post on signs of Bootleg Figures. I’ll be giving tips on how I avoid buying fake figures from both physical and online stores(sellers).

The figures I have now were all bought in physical stores in the Philippines I recommend WasabiToys. I think the best way to go about shopping there though is to order from their site then pick it up from their store in Shoppesville, Greenhills. As for online stores, I usually shop in PlayAsia.com. Recently I’ve also tried Hobby Search and KidNemo. However, all of the figures were pre-ordered so they haven’t arrived yet. I do know people who’ve used PlayAsia (best if you’re in Asia) and I heard of the other two from DannyChoo.com. I trust these sites so the online section here will deal with eBay and Amazon.

Now onto the tips! ^o^

For Both Types of Stores:

Miku researches herself

Research. Visit the official website of the figure’s maker if they have one and examine the photos they have there. The actual figures should not be different from the images they release. What I also like to do as an extra precaution is to choose certain details to compare when I shop.

I usually use facial features as these are, I believe, the best indicators. Facial features are probably the hardest parts to replicate since they take a lot of effort to do. It may not be very obvious, but sometimes it just stands out.

Next, check the price for the figure from more than one source (sites or stores). If the price is suspiciously low (which is common in, say, eBay), it is likely that the figure is fake. However, you should still be careful. I’ve seen bootleg figures whose price difference was just a couple of dollars. Also, some sellers are not aware that they are selling bootlegs or at least claim not to. This happened to my boyfriend and I. They were nice enough to refund us for the figure and we didn’t have to return the it either which was really nice of them.

So always check different sources, different stores and different sellers.

Online: (eBay/Amazon)

Assuming you’ve done your research…

Strong/angry pose = people will ignore my hairline (hopefully...)

• Ask for close up pictures. If I remember correctly, sellers are limited to a certain number of photos in the product description. It won’t hurt for you to confirm that the item is authentic by sending a message to the seller requesting better or more images. Also, a number of sellers simply use the official image in their product description; maybe they want to fool their customers or they simply want the best picture shown. Either way, play it safe.
• Read the feedback. Don’t be fooled by 1,000 positive and 4 negative comments. Read the negative comments. If someone says “botchy paint job!”, “pieces falling off!!” or “obviously fake!”, be suspicious.
• As I mentioned earlier, check the price.
• Check out the title/name of the figure. It should have the correct character name, maybe the series he or she came from and the company that produced the figure. If it says otherwise, for example: “Sexy Yuna figure” as opposed to Final Fantasy X-2 Yuna – 1/6 Scale Pre-Painted Figure.

Physical Stores:

Off with their heads!

• Packaging. Companies like Good Smile have really great protective packaging. Each piece has its own groove and the figures themselves also have extra sheets of plastic to protect them from their own parts. I’ve seen fake Nendroids and they do not have these sheets. And of course, always remember the printing! ^_^

Haruhi has a sticker. Mleh~! :p

• Finally, some figures have stickers of the company that made, produced, published or distributed (not really sure about the third) the original anime/manga/doujin/game. This does not apply to all figures though. My Miku doesn’t have a sticker.

[ps. I ordered Ignis by Max Factory from ebay and am waiting for the result. I'll be posting about it once it arrives ^_^ This will be a test for my theories XD I have a feeling that she might be a bootleg because right after I paid for it, there was another one up for grabs >.> ]