[Loot] Monster Hunter Airu Trading Mascots

From Otacute today came a box of Monster Hunter Airu "Friends in the Village" Trading Mascot figures/dioramas/vignettes. I really didn't know what to expect, because Japanese companies love to make you put things together sometimes, so I thought perhaps that I'd be getting figures + a base + accessories. I was pleasantly surprised to see that, that wasn't the case. Everything was already assembled & held in place.

But, despite the fact that these were preassembled & they looked good for the most part, there were one or two figures that you can see in the pics, that had kinda messed up paint jobs. I mean, not to the point where they look terrible or anything, but there was one that looked like he'd been smeared with something brown. >.>

I usually take my time opening stuff when I buy a whole box, but since these were already put together I was kinda unceremonious about opening these. They're definitely cute, I got the whole collection of "7 + 1 Secret!" & was surprised by the awesome secret figure of the Airu with Poogie. A few of the figures look very similar, with different expressions on their faces or whatever, but overall it's a neat little collection.

Yahoo Japan Auctions: Fanta Shogun?

Simply searching Yahoo Japan auctions for the word 'mascot' yields over 20,000 results. Sifting through those results, I've found an amazing amount of "nifty", strange or otherwise wonderful-in-some-way, auctions. "Fanta Shogun" was amongst them. More about Fanta, and why it is popular outside of the United States, but not inside, here.

Hetalia Rubber Strap Collection (Or Possibly Something Less Gay Sounding)

Today's arrival (Yeah, I've had a lot of arrivals lately. I'm a weak individual.) is tiny but kinda awesome. I love Axis Powers Hetalia, especially the character design. So how could I pass these up? (I also have purchase-related impulse control issues ^^;) Not really much to speak of here, just a box of 8 straps with 8 different countries, anthropomorphized into cuteness, pigeonholing their more stereotypical qualities. (But if you've ever seen the anime/shorts, you already knew that) Anyway, on with the show. We have:

Italia

Japan

Great Britain

Doitsu

Canada

America

Russian Federation

France

The box was especially cute.

Strike Witches Francesca Lucchini Nendoroid

I ordered her on the spur of the moment because I really like the Strike Witches girls & I really love Nendos! (Also, I didn't want to decide to get her down the road & have to get her through proxy bidding & pay fees & have her marked up to 4500-5000yen or something)

I was exceptionally pleased with her because she came with a very unique stand & option parts (far better than the generic stand that comes with most Nendos that doesn't even hold them up properly due to their giant heads & tiny bodies) She comes with 2 tails, a gun, airplane leg parts, etc.

Initially, I didn't like her very much because the face that they took the advertising or "teaser" shot with, wasn't so hot looking. But when I was browsing stuff after she was released, I noticed her other 2 faces were really cute. Also, they snapped the ad pic with her regular legs, so she looked like any other Nendo if you were just browsing items on a search page or something. Also, I guess because she's Italian or whatever, she has a weird skin tone, which is fine with the 2 other faces, but with her "main face", she just looked strange. (Yeah I'm a Nendo "racist", lmao)

But yeah, I've definitely been charmed by her, and the pose that I've taken these shots in, I really enjoy. She looks really chibi with the legs installed. ^^