A World Through Lenses

The Toys Story Collection – Part 2

phoenix — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 06:44:23 +0000

Continues from The Toy Story Collection – Part 1, this is part 2 of my Toy Story Collection post. In Part 1 I covered my recent acquisition of Thinkway Toys’ Toy Story Collection’s Woody and Buzz Lightyear. These two are the characters from the first movie Toy Story. Now in Toy Story 2 two new characters are introduce as part of the “Woody’s Roundup” gang – Jessie the Yodeling Cowgirl and Woody’s Horse Bullseye.

Let me start with Jessie. Just like Woody and Buzz, Jessie carries a price tag of $60 CAD at my local Toys R Us. I’d like to reiterate that the price tag is definitely more justifiable as a “collectable toy” than a simple child’s play thing. There are other Jessie dolls that does similar things that are priced at $30 CAD or below. The whole selling point of Toy Story Collection is that this is supposed to be a premium quality exact replica of the toys in the films.

Let’s hope that Jessie will bring me some joy where Woody and Buzz have failed…

Continue reading 'The Toys Story Collection – Part 2' »

Permalink | Tags: Toy Story | Categories: Figure, Toys | No comment

The Toy Story Collection – Part 1

phoenix — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 22:05:38 +0000

In my previous post ‘Tribute To Steve Jobs‘, I’ve mentioned that I really love Pixar Studio’s animated movies. And I’s also posted that I think Toy Story (1995) and Toy Story 2 (1999) are two of the best animated films that Pixar has ever made. So one would expected me to own some Toy Story collectable toys. But, in reality, it is not the case. The main reason, as I look back, is because Disney kept on putting out toys that looks like they are some bootleg figures from hell. For example below to the left is an authentic Disney’s Talking Sheriff Woody doll. While to the right is a screen shot of what Woody looks like in Toy Story 2. Now as you can see the resemblance is remote at the best. Disney’s toys look like something coming out of a horrible Halloween costume party.

Well no wonder while I was a fan of Toy Story and Toy Story 2, I’ve never purchased any Toy Story merchandise. But all that was about to change…

Continue reading 'The Toy Story Collection – Part 1' »

Permalink | Tags: Toy Story | Categories: Figure, Toys | No comment

Diecast cars – Something old, something new, something terrible, something wonderful

phoenix — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 02:44:52 +0000

I wasn’t really a diecast model car collector, but ever since I bought those Porsche Boxster models, I started to buy more 1:18 scale model cars. So here’s some of the new additions.

First let me start with something old. This is a 1936 Mercedes Benz 500K Roadster diecast replica made by Bburago. I like these old cars because I like the smooth curved designs these car has. These days most of the cars are very angular and very mechanical, while in the old days cards are much more organic with smooth curves.

Continue reading 'Diecast cars – Something old, something new, something terrible, something wonderful' »

Permalink | Tags: Koenigsegg, Mercedes, Metal Toys | Categories: Automotive, Toys | No comment

Tribute to Steve Jobs

phoenix — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 03:16:07 +0000

This past Monday 2011/10/24, is the release date of the official Steve Jobs’s biography by Walter Isaacson. After receiving the book, I decided to put together a few bits and piece in memory of a great man.

Continue reading 'Tribute to Steve Jobs' »

Permalink | Tags: iPad, iPhone, iPod, Saber | Categories: Miscellaneous | One comment

Two more Saber dollfies on the way…

phoenix — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 23:11:41 +0000

With the addition of Saber Fate/Extra Version and Saber Alter 2nd Version banner on the side of the web site, you can probably guess that this is coming: Yes, I have ordered everything Volks has to offer from this TYPE-MOON x Dollfie Dream project.

Dollfie Dream Saber Fate/Extra Version, Dollfie Dream Saber Alter 2nd Version, Saber Alter’s Training Jacket Set, and Saber Alter’s Swimsuit Set, one of each will be coming to me from Volks USA by April of 2012. The total of the spending spree came out to be 1,569 USD + 91.75 USD for shipping to Canada. Expensive indeed, but consider that Dollfie Dream Saber Lily was 1,045 USD, the price for these two dolls are much reasonable. The pre-order closes on October 30, 2001, so there’s still just over a month to place your order.

About the pre-order for these two Saber dollfies…

Continue reading 'Two more Saber dollfies on the way…' »

Permalink | Tags: Fate, Saber, Type-Moon | Categories: Dollfie, Toys | 9 comments

Volks Saber Alter 2nd Version Project Start…

phoenix — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 16:22:09 +0000

As part of TYPE-MOON founding 10 years celebration, Volks is working on a new pre-order Dollfie Dream project. And surprise surprise, Saber Alter is getting a 2nd release together with Saber Nero.

Continue reading 'Volks Saber Alter 2nd Version Project Start…' »

Permalink | Tags: Fate, Saber, Type-Moon | Categories: Dollfie, Toys | No comment

An American Robin Under The Porch

phoenix — Sun, 22 May 2011 18:58:49 +0000

A pair of American Robin (Turdus migratorius) has built its nest under my neighbour’s porch. It wasn’t high and I can get a good leveled view if I climb up on a ladder. So that created the perfect opportunity for me to take some good photos of the nesting bird. American Robin is probably the earliest bird to lay eggs. Due to the weather, I didn’t have a chance to take photo when the bird just hatched. But now that the week worth of raining weather is over, I can take some photo of the now much bigger juveniles.

So here’s the nest, I can see four beaks there.

Continue reading 'An American Robin Under The Porch' »

Permalink | Tags: American Robin, Robin | Categories: Nature, Photography | One comment

Revoltech Danboard & Danboard Mini

phoenix — Wed, 11 May 2011 04:19:50 +0000

Kaiyodo (海洋堂) made a lot of action figures in the Revoltech lines. At the end of 2007, one of those series being produced as a line of Revoltech toys is Yotsuba&!. There was a few character action figures in that series as well as Danboard (or in Japanese it’s Danbo ( ダンボー)). Danboard is a cardboard box robot costume wore by Hayasaka Miura in the Yotsuba&! manga. When the Revoltech Danboard action figure was released, I thought it looked a bit plain. Then comes the amazon.co.jp box version which has amazon.co.jp prints on all the cardboard boxes and that made Danboard looked like made out of Amazon Japan’s shipping boxes. That was really interesting since I do buy things from Amazon and from time to time have Amazon’s boxes lying around the house. But since Amazon Japan does not ship toys internationally and I didn’t want to pay deputy service’s high purchase service fees, I didn’t get my hand on it back then. One day while casually browsing through Amazon Japan, I saw the amazon.co.jp version of Danboard and Danboard Mini is marked as pre-order again. Apparently Danboard and Danboard Mini is being re-released. So now with Tenso package forwarding service at my disposal with their much cheaper fees, I placed order on Amazon Japan for the amazon.co.jp version of the Danboard and Danboard Mini. And so now, three and half years later, I finally have my very own Danboard and Danboard Mini.

Kaiyodo Revoltech Yotsuba&! Danboard amazon.co.jp Box Version. Original sculptor 榎木ともひで. Re-released on April 2011 with a price of ¥3,980.

Here’s the box for Danboard. Since Danboard is a cardboard box robot, its container also looked kind of like a cardboard box.

Continue reading 'Revoltech Danboard & Danboard Mini' »

Permalink | Tags: Danboard, Yotsuba&! | Categories: Mecha, Toys | 5 comments

Nendoroid Sengoku Basara Date Masamune

phoenix — Mon, 09 May 2011 02:01:28 +0000

Date Masamune (伊達政宗) is a regional lord in Japan’s Sengoku period. He’s named the one-eyed dragon because of his missing right eye. In this case, however, I’m refering to the character from Capcom game Sengoku Basara series as well as the anime series Sengoku Basara which was aired in 2009 with a second season Sengoku Basara 2 aired in 2010. I wasn’t too happy with the figure when I saw the decoration master, even less so when I see it is made by Phay! instead of Good Smile Company. But since my girlfriend likes this character, I ordered it anyway.

Nendoroid Date Masamune by Good Smile Company. (ねんどろいど伊達政宗). Original sculptor M.I.C., Yaichi (やいち). Released on April 2011 with MSRP of ¥3,500.

Here’s the typical nendoroid box. Sengoku Basara’s logo is printed in the middle. Also shows the 6 drawn swords and the 6 sheathed sword in the clear window. You might have guesses that this nendoroid comes with a LOT of swords.

Continue reading 'Nendoroid Sengoku Basara Date Masamune' »

Permalink | Tags: Date Masamune, Sengoku Basara | Categories: Nendoroid, Toys | One comment

Cute little mischievious vampire x2 – Nendoroid Flandre Scarlet

phoenix — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 07:42:52 +0000

After the release of Nendoroid Remilia Scarlet, Remilia’s little sister Flandre also got her nendoroid release. And since they are sisters, and that I’ve got Remilia already, I will just have to get Flandre as well to complete the pair. Just like Nendoroid Remilia Scarlet, it was only available from four different shops Niconico Chokuhan, Animate, Gamers, and Tora No Ana. And just like Remilia, I ordered from Animate and got it forwarded to me by Tenso. Now I’ve got two Scarlets with twice the vampire power!

Nendoroid Flandre Scarlet by Good Smile Company. (ねんどろいどフランドール・スカーレット). Original sculptor JUN (E.V.). Released on January 2011 with MSRP of ¥3,000.

Continue reading 'Cute little mischievious vampire x2 – Nendoroid Flandre Scarlet' »

Permalink | Tags: Flandre Scarlet, Remilia Scarlet, Touhou | Categories: Nendoroid, Toys | No comment

The Disapperance of Suzumiya Haruhi Nendoroids

phoenix — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 15:14:56 +0000

Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu (涼宮ハルヒの消失) or The Disappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi movie was released in theaters in Japan on February 6, 2010. It was released on Blu-ray and DVD on December 19, 2010 and that was when I finally had a chance to watch it. Now of course together with the movie, there are merchandises released such as nendoroids from Good Smile Company. So far two nendoroids are released from the Disappearance movie – Nagato Yuki and Suzumiya Haruhi and I’ve got them both.

First is the main character of The Disappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi. As much as the title say Suzumiya Haruhi, the main focus of the movie is actually on Nagato Yuki.

Nendoroid Nagato Yuki Disapperance Version by Good Smile Company (ねんどろいど長門有希消失Ver.) Original sculptor Ageta Yukiwo (あげたゆきを (マックスファクトリー)). Released on November 2010 with MSRP of ¥3,500.

Here’s the box Nagato Yuki comes in.

Continue reading 'The Disapperance of Suzumiya Haruhi Nendoroids' »

Permalink | Tags: Nagato Yuki, Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu, Suzumiya Haurhi | Categories: Nendoroid, Toys | No comment

Kara No Kyoukai – Garden Of Sinners Complete Blu-ray Box

phoenix — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 05:20:51 +0000

I have to admit that I really like Kara no Kyoukai (空の境界). I’ve spent $565 USD to purchase all volumes of the Kara no Kyoukai Limited Edition DVD just about a year ago. Yet on hearing the news that on February 2, 2011, a complete Blu-ray box was released in Japan containing all 7 films and a new bonus chapter, I eagerly place my order on Amazon.co.jp. At the time Amazon.co.jp was listing it at 36,664 JPY + 2,000 JPY shipping making it a total of about $470 USD. Expensive, certainly. But it is definitely cheaper than the $565 USD I spent to get the complete set of limited edition DVDs. And since I should get better picture quality from the Blu-ray discs plus a nice Visual Chronical Book. I though it was a pretty good deal. Luckily it only gets better. Soon after, Aniplex of America announced that they are going to do a North America release of it. Right Stuf listed the item at $398.98 USD with free shipping. After looking at all the release information and compared pictures, I believed that the North America version will be identical to that of the Japanese release. So being adventurous here, I cancelled my Amazon.co.jp order and placed the order with Right Stuf for a $80 USD saving. Right Stuf shipped the item on February 8th, the North America release date. Unfortunately being out side of USA, I only got the item at the beginning of March. And now finally I’ve found some time to take some pictures of it.

Here’s the shipping box of the Kara no Kyoukai Blu-ray box. The box is identical to that of the Japanese version. The text and all that on the box are all Japanese. Seeing that, I finally can relax. I saved $80 USD and I got the same thing as the Japanese release. Great!

Continue reading 'Kara No Kyoukai – Garden Of Sinners Complete Blu-ray Box' »

Permalink | Tags: Kara no Kyoukai | Categories: Merchandise | 3 comments

Volks Dollfie Dream Sister Kirisame Marisa

phoenix — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 05:54:16 +0000

Volks’ new Dollfie Dream body is named Dollfie Dream Sister (DDS) and it’s 50cm in height compared to Dollfie Dream Base Body II’s height of 60cm. The first two dolls release in this body is Touhou Project’s (東方Project) Hakurei Reimu (博麗霊夢) and Kirisame Marisa (霧雨魔理沙). I’ve been sportting Marisa’s DDS banner on my blog for some time now and of course I had Marisa ordered last year. The order for the Touhou DDs started on September 19, 2010 all the way to October 24, 2010. The doll is only being produced based on the orders placed. The price for the doll is ¥58,800. There’s also a short wig for Marisa at ¥5,040 and a Touhou Accessories Set at ¥4,725 available to be ordered during the ordering period. The Touhou dolls started shipping on February 25, 2011 and mine is among the first batches being shipped out. And after a week worth of waiting for the package to be delivered in Japan and then forwarded from Japan to North America, I finally got my first Dollfie Dream Sister doll.

So here it is, my quick unboxing of Touhou Project Dollfie Dream Sister Kirisame Marisa. Here’s what the box look like. Apparently the pair of ribbons that secures the doll to the cardboard carrier are both broken presumably during transport. But the doll is pretty tough. I don’t see any significant damage, so all is well.

Continue reading 'Volks Dollfie Dream Sister Kirisame Marisa' »

Permalink | Tags: Kirisame Marisa, Touhou | Categories: Dollfie, Nendoroid, Toys | 5 comments

Japanese “Collectible?” Knives

phoenix — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 06:03:48 +0000

While this site is filled with a lot of Japanese collectible toys, I’ve got some other merchandises that’s made in Japan and is of a little collectible value (to some). I’m talking about Japanese knives. Now I’m not a knife enthusiast, but I do like a sharp knife may it be on the cutting board for cooking, for craft, or any other things that I do with the help of a blade. And of course I wouldn’t mind if the knife also happens to look good. Why Japanese knives? Well because Japanese knives are harder and retains their edge sharpness better than your typical knives like Wusthof or Henckels from Germany. Although I think German manufacturers are playing catch up with their product lines and have recently introduced new products with features previously seen only in Japanese knives. But like I said, I’m not a knife enthusiast, so I just stick with what I know and what I know that works. The other reason why I choose Japanese knives is that these Japanese knives that I purchased are all hand made by relatively small blacksmiths. This makes me really appreciate the art of making knives by hand rather than machine stamped production from large manufacturers. And I’ve always appreciated fine craftsmanship.

This first knife is a Tenmi-Jyuraku (天味寿楽) Damascus Santoku 180mm by Hiromoto. Santoku, or in Japanese 三徳 (loosely translated into Three Virtues), can be considered as a small version of the chef’s knife. I bought this one online from Japanese Chef’s Knife a long time ago. Today Japanese Chef’s Knife with their fast and cheap flat rate shipping service directly from Seki City – Japan’s knife capital, is still one of the places that I go to for Japanese knives. In fact I looked around in the local shops and on the Internet, buying from Japanese Chef’s Knife is still one of the cheapest and sometimes fastest way to get these Japanese knives.

Continue reading 'Japanese “Collectible?” Knives' »

Permalink | Tags: Knife | Categories: Food, Miscellaneous | No comment

Itazura Bank

phoenix — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 06:34:10 +0000

This is Itazura Bank (いたずらBANK) made by Shine. Itazura (いたずら or 悪戯 in Japanese) simply means mischief or prank, but I am going to call this Naughty Kitty Coin Bank in English. It’s been out for a while now, I think I first seen it just as the year 2010 arrives. Now as much as it looked interesting back then, I never got my hand on one. A few weeks ago Hobby Link Japan listed for a price of 1,530 JPY, which I think is pretty cheap, so I bought it. There are four different models of Naughty Kitty Coin Bank and there are four models of Naughty Puppy Coin Bank. Each model has a different box print and a different cat/dog. The item is since sold out from Hobby Link Japan. However, another trusted shop J-List still has it in stock for a slightly higher price of $28 USD. J-List ships some item from USA while some from Japan so those of you in North America might pay slightly cheaper shipping than directly from Japan.

Well here we go. The coin bank came in a transparent box which allow you to see pretty much the entire coin bank clearly.

Continue reading 'Itazura Bank' »

Permalink | Tags: Cat, Fate, Saber | Categories: Merchandise, Toys | No comment