Alter's Amane Suzuha Can't Be Ignored

Last Wonder Festival 2012 Summer, Alter showed their upcoming 1/8 Amane Suzuha of Steins;Gate. It already caught my eyes at first glance but I didn't pay much attention to it as I'm not into collecting Steins;Gate character figures. Steins;Gate is a very nice and interesting series but the character designs are just too plain for me. But looking back on this one, the figure itself might not be that much interesting, but the bike details are just too amazing to be ignored.

Official Photos: Max Factory - Medaka Kurokami

Max Faxtory's Medaka Kurokami has now been officially announced from the site of Good Smile Company, the official distributor of Max Factory. It will be released on January 2013 for 7800 yen, preorders will be opened soon at major online retailers so be on the lookout if you don't want to miss her.

Update: Preorders have now opened at HLJ, Amiami, Hobby Search and Otacute

Update: Release date was moved to February 2013

Update (2013-01-24): Release date was moved to March 2013

Announcement: Max Factory - Medaka Kurokami

I didn't knew about this one until the recently. I thought the MegaHouse version that was shown in the recently held Wonder Festival 2012 Summer looks nice but this one is a lot better. Max Factory's Medaka Kurokami will be available for preorder from the 30th of August. There's no word for the exact release date yet but it was earlier announced for 2013 release, so probably January.

Event Photos: Chara Hobby 2012 - MG 1/100 Aegis & Buster

There are lots of new Gundam Model kits that were showcased during the recently held Chara Hobby 2012, but what I am excited about are the MG models kits from Gundam SEED. Earlier, the official full color photos of the MG 1/100 Buster Gundam were released, but this is the first time that we can view MG 1/100 Aegis Buster Gundam up close in full color.

Event Photos: Chara Hobby 2012 - POP

Last weekend, 25th and 26th of August, the Chara Hobby (C3 X Hobby) 2012 was held in Japan. This event was sponsored by Dengenki Hobby and Hobby Japan. And as usual, there are lots of new model kits and anime figures on display, but what caught my attention the most are the MegaHouse's new POPs, particularly Eustass Kidd.

Official Photos: MG 1/100 Buster Gundam

Finally, the box art and the official promotional photos of the of the MG 1/100 Blitz Gundam has been released. We have first seen the uncolored prototype model at the Shizuoka Hobby Show 2012, but this is the first time that we see this model in color. The details looks very sharp. I can't wait to complete all the first five Gundams of Gundam SEED in Master Grade form.

Official Photos: ArtFX+ The Flash (The New 52 Edition)

Kotobukiya announced the next addition to the "New 52" line-up in their official facebook page, The Flash, following the earlier announced Superman and Green Lantern. This figure wasn't shown on the Kotobukiya booth at the previously held SDCC 2012, but only an uncompleted figure of Wonder Woman. I thought Wonder Woman will be next, but surprisingly it's the Flash.

Update: Preorders are now opened at Amiami, HLJ and Hobby Search

POP Sailing Again - Sanji

The second addition to my POP collection, the fighting chef of the Straw Hat Pirates - "Black Leg Sanji". This figure is a part of the "Sailing Again" series of the Portrait of Pirates product line. And as all the characters under "Sailing Again", Sanji is depicted in his appearance after the two-year timeskip.

Official Photos: POP Sailing Again - Tony Tony Chopper (Kung Fu Point)

The official photos of POP Sailing Again - Tony Tony Chopper (Kung Fu Point) has been released by MegaHouse. And as I am writing this, preorders for this cute figure has just been opened, but unfortunately, Amiami, Hobby Search and HLJ has already closed their reservations. Same is true with POP SA - Sanji (re-release). But don't lose hope, there are still a lot of online stores that hasn't closed or hasn't offered this yet, so keep an eye on those.

Announcement: Figuarts ZERO Based on One Piece Film Z

More and more companies are jumping to the One Piece Film Z merchandise bandwagon. One of them is Bandai and their Figuarts ZERO product line. They have already announced that they will be releasing Figuarts ZERO based on the character design of One Piece Film Z starting with Luffy and Ain.

Event Photos: Wonder Festival 2012 Summer - Megahouse

Its been more than a week now since the Wonder Festival Summer 2012, but these images of the figures that we're presented by MegaHouse still lingers on my head. I used to follow only certain figure product lines but most MegaHouse products always amazes me. And during the Wonder Festival Summer 2012 event, MegaHouse has just announced some new figures of characters that I am familiar with. I still wanted to resist them, but who knows, I might end up getting them all.

New Release Photo Review: Figuarts ZERO - Nami (Battle ver.)

The fourth addition to the Figuarts ZERO Battle version series has been released already. Figuarts ZERO - Nami (Battle ver.) was released Saturday, 4th of August. Here are some early photos courtesy of http://blog.livedoor.jp/onepiece_figure/. These photos were shots of an actual mass production release, and sad to say, it does not look a nice as the prototype that was used for promotion.

1000 Words: Nami and Sanji

This is a shot that I have taken with my POP Sailing Again - Nami and POP Sailing Again - Sanji. I was just playing with some shots using a dark background. I used a dark blue paper for the backdrop, not black because I wanted to bleed out a bit of color. On the left side is a diffused light and on the right side is a white reflector. I used another board to cover the light and prevent it on shining onto the background. Of course I needed my camera to be on a tripod to pull-off this low light shot as it is going to need a long exposure. A simple but very nice outcome.

POP Sailing Again - Nami

May I present my first Portrait of Pirates, the POP Sailing Again - Nami. Well what can I say, a One Piece figure collection isn't complete without this sexy character. So what's better way to kick-start a POP collection than to get a POP Nami, especially this particular version where Eiichiro Oda redesigned her to look even more sexier, and Megahouse managed to capture every detail of that essence.

Announcement: POP Sailing Again - Tony Tony Chopper (Kung Fu Point) Preorders

POP Sailing Again - Tony Tony Chopper (Kung Fu Point) has officially been announced by Megahouse today. This figure will be released on November 2012 for 3,150 yen. Preorders will be opened next Wednesday, 8th of August 2012 at 18:00 JST (Japan time). At the same time Megahouse will also be accepting preorders for POP Sailing Again - Sanji re-release. So if you missed the first production run of Sanji, this will be a good opportunity.