Flaming Hot Black Leg, Coming Up!

About three weeks ago, we broke the news about this upcoming Figuarts ZERO - Sanji (Diable Jambe Flambage Shot - Battle ver.). And after much anticipation, this morning, Bandai Tamashii Nations finally made its official promotional photos available on their official website Tamashii Web. And we're not disappointed.

It turns out to be a post-timeskip battle ver as we expected. It looks insanely cool and its really a lot better than the pre-timeskip Figuarts ZERO - Sanji (Battle ver.) which was earlier released. It may look a bit simpler next to Luffy's Red Hawk - Battle ver and Zoro's Rengoku Onigiri - Battle ver. Figuarts ZEROs, but hey, it's Sanji, and this will complete the monster-trio.

Its flaming effect parts with different color tones really made it look fantastic. Both legs are flaming and the pose is just what we expect for Sanji in this new breed of battle versions. It's looks a little weird on some angles but totally rocks on some. I can't wait to have the monster-trio on my display shelf. Or better yet, have all mugiwaras in their post-timeskip battle versions.

Details are as below:

Figuarts ZERO - Sanji (Diable Jambe Flambage Shot - Battle ver.)

• Price: 3,675 yen
• Release Date: December 2013

No preorder schedule announcement yet, but I'm assuming that it will be next Monday, 2nd of September 2013 at its usual time of 16:00 (JST). Take note that this just an assumption so keep an eye on this blog or on my Facebook Page for future updates.

Update: We just got a confirmation news that the preorders for this Figuarts ZERO will indeed start on Monday, 2nd of September 2013 at 16:00 (JST).

The Celestial Gates Won't Be Opened Yet

Yes, we've already guessed it. This is a normal announcement for Good Smile Company anyway. The much awaited first Fairy Tail figure from GSC - Lucy Heartfilia's release date has been pushed from August 2013 to September 2013. But that's not final, GSC is known to have been announcing delays of certain figures repeatedly in the past, that means the September release date may be pushed further this year on their later announcements.

Well, I'm not surprised anyway, that's the reputation that GSC has made recently, so all we have to do is wait 'till Lucy has made it to store shelves and eventually on our display shelves. As I always say, I'd rather wait for a well made figure than to get a crappy rushed figure at their promised release date.

Want to Take a Bubble Bath with this Sexy Secretary?

Again, my apologies for the delay of this post for reasons I mentioned earlier in my last two posts. But this sexy CP9 member has to be given a place in my blog. POP LIMITED - Kalifa has already been out for preorder for quite sometime now, and here are the official promo images.

Well, she was initially offered as a store exclusives at Megatrea Shop and Premium Bandai but was eventually offered on international markets as a regular release along with POP Edition-Z - Aokiji Kuzan and POP MAS - Rob Lucci (Leopard Kami-e Bushin Ver.), more like POP SA-Maximum - Armored Franky and other LIMITED POPs availability.

I usually avoid these Japan limited items since it's normally too expensive and order the international distributions if it becomes available, but I was so excited and have already placed an order for the Japan limited edition before the international version has been announced. Geesh! Anyway, not too sorry about it since the Japanese distributions usually comes earlier than the international ones, so with that, I can get my hands on this sexy figure a little earlier.

Let's get down to these official images. As we have seen before during the past exhibits, Kalifa comes with two facial expressions, one with a little smile on her face on one serious, and two left arms, one reaching herright shoulder and on holding her glasses. But as you can see here in these official images, there is nothing new here. That's all the optional parts that she comes with. But for the price of 7,980 yen, it is a good deal since it's the figure itself is lovable.

I'm not a huge fan of that pose actually. I thought she would really look a lot nicer if she is simply standing with one arm on her hips, more like POP Sailing Again - Nami, but with lesser pin-up girl style pose. That way, she wouldn't look awkward next to POP LIMITED - Rob Lucci ver. 1.5. But don't get me wrong, this figure isn't bad. In fact, I love the details of her outfit, especially those fishnet shirt and stockings, not to mention the addition of those bubble effect parts.

As a huge fan of CP9 and female One Piece characters, this is a must get for me, adding to the list of my post-Christmas loot-bag. For those who wanted her but wasn't able to secure a preorder yet, she's still available for preorder at Megatrea Shop and Premium Bandai until 2nd of September 2013. For international release, check out these sites, Figmation, Animarket and Hobby Frontier.

Half-man Half-Leopard for the First Motion Ability Statue

It's quite embarrassing that this blog post comes a bit late. Sorry about that. As I have mentioned on my previous post, I just went out on vacation and I'm a little busy lately. But again, this figure deserve some special treatment on my blog. You probably have seen this from other stores and sites but it's time to talk about this here on my blog. May I present the official promo images of POP MAS - Rob Lucci (Leopard Kami-e Bushin Ver.).

I hope you didn't miss the preorder announcement (see here) and you were able to secure one for you, as well as the POP Edition-Z - Aokiji Kuzan, because even before these promo images went out, those photos that we've seen during the exhibits left us in awe which made us decide to include it on our Christmas loot-bag.

Unlike POP Edition-Z - Aokiji Kuzan, this leopard Rob Lucci does not come with any optional parts. It is plain but quite fantastic figure with killer pose, ready to jump on you anytime. And based on these images, the colors really looks great and details were sharp. The figure really gives life to a vicious half-human half-leopard predator. It may look more of a leopard but you can still see the features of Rob Lucci with those curly hair and unique beard giving it a personality.

This is the first POP MAS (Motion Ability Statue) to be released. I love MegaHouse's creativity of giving classifications to new kind of POPs. It left us excited on what are about to come on these unique product line. I hope we can see more POP MAS in the future aside for the upcoming POP MAS - Tony Tony Chopper (Horn Point).

I can't wait to get my hands on this one and display it next to my POP LIMITED - Rob Lucci ver. 1.5. With a tag price of 7,980 yen, it will be released along with POP Edition-Z - Aokiji Kuzan on late-December 2013. Another late-Christmas present for all of us. How I wish this will be given to me as a gift. Oh well, I'll just have to make sure that I will be having it by securing a preorder and paying for it myslf. For those who haven't done it yet, check out these links, HLJ, Hobby Search, Amiami, Animarket, Hobby Frontier and Figmation.

Grandline Freezes Over This Coming Winter

This might be a little too late to feature on my blog as I have been on vacation and quite busy lately. But an awesome figure deserves a special attention. So here it is, the official promo images of POP Edition-Z - Aokiji Kuzan. It'll be winter indeed, as the Grandline freezes over this coming December.

It went out for preorder starting 7th of August (check-out preorder announcements here) along with POP MAS - Rob Lucci (Leopard Kami-e Bushin Ver.). We've seen a lot of photos of this one during the previous exhibits, but we haven't clear seen what are the option parts that comes with it before these promo images were released.

This figure was earlier announced with a price of 7,980 yen, but turns out that it's actual retail price is 9,240 yen. With pricing like that, I has to come with some interesting optional parts, and we weren't disappointed. I have mentioned earlier that he will come with two right arms as what was seen during event exhibits, one with his hand inside his pocket and one with ice effect. It was confirmed by these images and we can see a third right arm holding a sword made of ice, more like the one that comes with the POP Neo-DX version, but with some more icy effect parts.

A tote bag is clearly visible here and it is removable. The right hand can be replaced with another one that can hold the an iconic item in the film - the wine bottle. It's really cool for MegaHouse to include that. But there's one option part that I'm not really satisfied - the alternate head without the sunglasses and headgear (bandana). Yes, it's really nice that we can have this option and display him without the sunglasses and headgear, but I'm kinda not satisfied with his facial expression. Those frowny eyebrows does not really in Aokiji's personality.

We haven't seen him look really look mad even under pressure. He always has this cool personality, and maintains serious but calm emotion all the time. I'm not sure if it's only the expression or the sculpt but I'm not really seeing Aokiji Kuzan here with sunglasses off. So I would rather keep the one with his sunglasses and headgear on when I display him on my shelf, he looks a lot cooler with that.

Aside from that minor issue for me (thanks to the sunglasses), every detail totally rocks. This is really a must have for every POP collector so better secure that preorder of yours while it's still available. Preorders may still be available at HLJ, Hobby Search, Amiami, Animarket, Hobby Frontier and Figmation.

POP MAS - Rob Lucci (Leopard Kami-e Bushin Ver.)

POP MAS - Rob Lucci (Leopard Kami-e Bushin Ver.)

POP MAS - Rob Lucci (Leopard Kami-e Bushin Ver.)

Get a Taste of Sanji's Flaming Recipe for Christmas

Get ready for another one of Sanji's flaming attack in a form of Figuarts ZERO Battle ver. Announced to be released on September is the second battle ver of Sanji - the Figuarts ZERO - Sanji (Diable Jambe Flambage Shot - Battle ver.)

It sounds really awesome and I can't wait to see how it will look like (no photos available yet). Sanji's "Diable Jambe Flambage Shot" was first seen being used to finish off Jabra, meaning, during pre-timeskip. In that case we're not sure if this figure will be a pre-timeskip or post-timeskip. But since the first Figuarts ZERO Battle ver treatment for Sanji was a pre-timeskip (Water 7 outfit), I'm assuming this to be a post-timeskip figure for Sanji, following Luffy's Red Hawk - Battle ver and Zoro's Rengoku Onigiri - Battle ver. Figuarts ZEROs.

Check out the details below

Figuarts ZERO - Sanji (Diable Jambe Flambage Shot - Battle ver.)

• Price: 3,675 yen
• Release Date: December 2013

Great to see this battle ver line-up continues. We may probably see all the Mugiwara's post-timeskip battle ver. treatment. I'm really thrilled about this news, but please take note that this is just a tentative release announcement and may change before the it is officially announced for preorder.

Keep an eye on this blog, or on my Facebook page for further announcement.

Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist and Mechanic.... Wait, What?

Hot Toys added another collectible to their Iron Man 3 line-up. For the second time around, it's not about the armors, it's just Tony Stark as a Mechanic. This is Hot Toys Iron Man 3 - 1/6th Scale Tony Stark (The Mechanic) Movie Masterpiece. I don't know about you guys but the title "The Mechanic" doesn't really makes sense to me.

Initially, this was announced as "Mandarin Mansion Assault Version", but for some licensor's comment, it was renamed lamely to "The Mechanic". Why not give it some more appealing title, like "One Man Army", or "Against the Extremis", or "Rescue and Revenge", or "With Dora Limited Edition Watch", something that rings a bell whenever fans read it.

A Classic Suit Design to Touch a Fanboy's Heart

Iron Man 3 maybe a slap to the face of fanboys by messing up with the Mandarin's character (spoiler?... duh!). But there is one suit in the film that pays tribute to a classic Iron Man armor - The Silver Centurion. I'm not your usual follower of Iron Man comics, but I do know that the Silver Centurion has a place on every Iron Man fanboy's heart. So giving the Hot Toys treatment to this armor just makes sense. Presenting, the Hot Toys Iron Man 3 - 1/6th Scale Mark XXXIII Silver Centurion MMS.

This was one of the armor that Tony actually used during the final battle against the extremists in the film, probably why it includes a Tony Stark headsculpt unlike the Heartbreaker and Red Snapper. The design is based on the classic Silver Centurion on the comics which is a departure from the traditional red and gold color scheme. It has a triangular chest beam and a pointed shoulder pads which pays homage to the original design. Another thing that makes this suit unique is that it has hidden blades on both arms, making it a close combat armor. It is also commonly referred to as an enhanced energy suit, though it's abilities wasn't made obvious in the film.

A Fiery New Year for Figuarts ZERO

This has been announced by Bandai for some time now, but I had to make this awesome Figuarts ZERO seen on my blog. Figuarts ZERO - Portgas D. Ace (Cross-fire - Battle ver) is expected to be released sometime around January 2014. This is the first announced Figuarts ZERO to be released after New Year.

Earlier, I announced this as a November release along with Figuarts ZERO - Aokiji Kuzan (Battle ver.) and Figuarts ZERO - Akainu Sakazuki (Battle ver.), but Bandai decided to make it a Premium Bandai web exclusive which will be released on January 2014. Preorders are already open at the time of writing this blogpost, which started last week, 25th of September 2013, only at Premium Bandai that is. For us outside Japan, we'll just have to look for the best third party re-seller offer.

This will be the third time Bandai gave Ace the Figuarts ZERO treatment, the first one being Figuarts ZERO - Portgas D. Ace, and the 2nd one is also a battle ver. - Figuarts ZERO Portgas D. Ace (Battle ver.). It seems like Ace's figures are really bankable for figure manufacturers.

This figure looks really awesome. Capturing his Cross-fire attack with his index fingers together in a cross shape, launching a cross-shaped column of fire. There's a lot of fire effect parts in this figure. But I prefer the first Ace Battle ver. than this one. It wouldn't hurt that much to get another battle version of Ace though. But do take note that this is a limited edition. Price is only 3,675 yen at Premium Bandai, but I'm expecting it to be about almost double the price outside Japan, just about the same price as an average POP. Can't help it though, since I'm a huge fan, I hafta include it on my must-have list.