Blog 046 > Backwards & Forwards

Backwards & Forwards [Saturday, March 31, 2007] Guess what? For the first time in years, I’ve thrown a bunch of 80s-90s CDs (Alice In Chains, Tori Amos’ Little Earthquakes, Billy Idol’s Cyberpunk, Def Leppard, Erasure, Garbage, Guns N Roses, Heart) into my ancient SONY 100-CD changer, and pumped up the volume on my stereo. Is it nostalgia for my rosier college days? A return to my 20s? Haha, who knows, but I just felt like it, lol. :)))

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Blog 045 > Sexy Cyberpunks!

Okay, enough with the high-school childishness, lol. Bring on the full-figured women of cyberpunk sci-fi! For this post, I introduce one of my newest and rarest pieces, the raven-haired 1/6-scale “Motoko Kusanagi Hard Disk” (in resin) based on the original 1991 sci-fi manga Ghost in the Shell by Masamune Shirow. Sculpted by Yoshimasa Nakao and released by ALPHA, Motoko stretches to a towering 13-inches tall.

In addition, I welcome the return of one of my earliest pieces in May 2006, the lavender-haired 1/8-scale “Galhound” (in PVC) from the 2002 poster series Galgrease, also by Masamune Shirow. Released by Yamato, Galhound stands about 7 inches tall. One background note: While Galhound wasn’t the first figure I acquired, she was the first figure that caught my eye before I ever thought of starting a collection. You could even say she planted the idea in my head!

As of this post, both figures are pretty rare on eBay or otherwise. Furthermore, it’s interesting to note Masamune’s fascination with black, silver, and purple color schemes. Not that I mind. LOL!… In this Canon photoshoot, I saved 45 shots, then narrowed it down to 35 shots.

Otakurl it!

Click for all 35 >>

Blog 044 > Fateful Circumstances!

Ah, springtime! Quite fitting for another sunny light-hearted photoshoot! This time, from another top-favorite romantic-comedy series, and one of the most-beloved love stories in anime history, Kare Kano (or His & Her Circumstances; here’s my review), we introduce the unforgettable boy-and-girl 1/8-scale “Arima & Yukino” (in resin), released by the now-defunct Tsukuda Hobby back in the late ’90s.

In January 2007, by sheer luck in the Amazon Marketplace, I stumbled upon this rare figure! After several months of waiting for the right time, I finally used three Amazon gift certificates to reduce the price enough to get it! Clearly, the rarest piece of my collection!

Also, we welcome back, from Fate Stay Night and Fate Hollow Ataraxia, the blonde-haired 1/8-scale “Saber in Brown Dress” (in PVC), released by Alter. She’s the first-ever figure to arrive at my doorstep last year in May 2006! In fact, after checking all of my favorite figure sites plus eBay, she’s pretty rare herself, LOL!

For this Canon photoshoot, I saved 50 shots, then narrowed it down to 47 shots, 4 of which I used Photoshop to increase the lighting by 10 and contrast by 10. I tried to create some interaction between the blonde Saber and the black-haired Arima, along the lines of a random attraction. Did it work? Hehehe ^_^

Otakurl it!

Click for all 47 >>

Blog 043 > More Twins Please!

From one of my favorite romantic-comedy series Please Twins!, comes the unforgettable 1/8-scale “Karen” and “Miina”, released in January 2006. Both the green-haired Karen and red-haired Miina were sculpted by Zero-Clamzi Craft and manufactured by Yamato with an affordable PVC price-tag of $25-30 USD.

For this Canon photoshoot, I saved 60 shots, then narrowed it down to 40 shots. Finally, some of you may notice that the background is an actual shot of Lake Kizaki, the beautiful setting for the anime series. Nice, huh?

Otakurl it!

Click for all 40 >>