Ikea Trip #2

Well, technically probably more like Ikea trip #30 or so, but for the intents and purposes of this blog, it's trip(post) #2. I had every intention of buying another Detolf last night, especially since they've gone down again from $79.99 to $59.99, but I honestly just couldn't envision the floor space for it. And in that vein, I did look into replacing my bed with a sofa bed (which were very, VERY nice by the way, especially for the prices of like $199-$399) to maximize floor space and those results were very comfortable as well. ^^;

Anyway, I didn't get another Detolf (which would make for boring pictures besides), I did however get 2 clocks (yeah I have a fetish for clocks), a candle and a really awesome lampshade of a Shinjuku street scene - yeah I'm just as surprised as you are. Actually, funny story about that; my friend and I were waiting in line and a Japanese couple came up and were pointing at it and I guess trying to figure out what street it was from, etc. It was really awesome/coincidentally funny. I was going to strike up a conversation, but I was a tad too hazukashii (embarrassed/shy/reticent) to do so. ><;

Wave 1/8 Furude Rika

The last (but certainly not the least) of my loot from yesterday is a 1/8 Wave version of Furude Rika from Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. Though not as ornate and flashy as Saber, nor as "action packed" as The Big O, Rika-chan is definitely a very cute (and accurate) sculpt. The only thing I didn't really like about her was her mouth. It looks sort of strange. Other than that, she looks pretty great, I would've preferred her in a kimono, but this is good as well. Rika's counterpart, Hanyuu, was also released, but at $60 Rika alone was expensive and although I like Hanyuu, I don't like her enough to spend $60 on her.

GoodSmile Saber Lily

I'm sure everyone that owns a blog that contains anything about anime/figures has reviewed her and taken 8000 pictures, so I won't bore you. I just had the camera out to take pics for my previous article on The Big O and figured I'd take a few snaps of my own Saber Lily. I was especially impressed by the box she came in, it was huge and ornate. I initially wasn't even going to buy her because of the really bad yen -> dollar exchange rate, putting her up over $100 at one point. But when pre-orders reopened 2-3 weeks before her release, on Hobby Search, I couldn't resist picking her up. My only real gripe is that my particular Saber's antenna had a little "chip" taken out of it revealing a black spot underneath (though it's barely noticeable).

Soul of Chogokin - The Big O

Times have been sorta dry as of late, and I really didn't care to update as much as I should (finding work and ebaying has taken much of my time lately), but I actually got 2 packages in one day yesterday. As most of you know HLJ was having a free shipping sale if you made a billing agreement with Paypal. I took advantage of that and bought something rather expensive that I normally wouldn't because the shipping would be like $35 for just that one item. The item in question is Soul of Chogokin - The Big O! Finally, after almost 10 years they made an excellent rendition of The Big O. There was a model before, if I recall correctly, but it was just a generic plamo mold model and it was kinda crummy. There were also toys before, but none detailed enough to be anywhere within striking distance of the awesomeness of this hunk of die-cast awesomeness.

As for the product itself, it's exactly as you'd expect the prestigious Soul of Chogokin line to be: the main body is die-cast metal, but the arms and legs and other regalia are made of plastic. Most of the action features are there, though the giant anchors that shot out of his "skirt" in the first episode of season 2 don't come out or anything. The giant pistons in his arms move, and there's a part to affix to his chest for the "Missile Party" move, and 2 attachable cannons for the "Cannon Party" move. There are 2 pairs of hands, fists and open hands, in the case of the open hands fingers may be manipulated individually. There are "garage doors" in his feet for when Roger Smith would drive in from the ground level and take an elevator up to the cockpit. Also, you can pull the collar up revealing a tiny cockpit. He also comes with an awesome display base with a name plate and I think there are magnets in the base and in the feet of the robot itself. (I felt an attraction take place when I set him down on the base the first time) My only complaint? It doesn't come with a tiny Roger Smith, or at the very least, a tiny car so you can put it into the foot of The Big O.

The design is dead on, and the package even advertises that the production was supervised by Keiichi Satou, the mecha designer for the anime series. Everything from the face to the feet is sharp and well-produced. Even the base retains that dystopic-yet-retro feel of the series.

Moar J-Snackage

Got a nice little haul of snacks and a few "wacky Japanese" items as J-List would say.

Received 4 flavors of Hi-Chew, including 2 that are "祭り" Matsuri, or festival flavors. One is Candy Apple & the other is Cotton Candy. Both taste like flavors I've already had (i.e. - apple) but the one big difference about these was the fact that they had bits of brown sugar in them!

I don't know if you can see them in the pics, but the bits of brown sugar are there, and it is definitely real, granular, sweet brown sugar. ^^
Got some Japanese Cheetos as well (regular flavor, I know I got the Salami & Cheese ones last week that I have yet to eat). Apparently Chester Cheetah was "born" February 21st 1986, to spread Cheetos across the world. If you believe Japanese packaging 100%. =P
These were "Cheetos Mix", and surprisingly there were 2 entirely different kinds of Cheeto in there. They should bring these abroad, I think they'd be quite popular. The long ones tasted like normal Cheetos, slightly spiced (both have what the package describes as "red pepper" in them) and the paw-shaped ones are actually more like a cross between a Frito and a Dorito - also "red pepper"-y.