Blog 084 > Shana & Himekuri Girl, Finally!

A-ha! Finally! Sorry about the last two teasers, but no more! After more than a month since my last photoshoot, here’s the full photoshoot of my 1/8-scale “Gothloli Shana” and 1/7-scale “Himekuri Girl” figures!

Manufactured by Toys Works, this flaming-haired blazing-eyed gothic-lolita PVC version of Shana — from the anime Shakugan no Shana (4 of 5 stars) — features her smiling in a white short-sleeved top with a black skirt and stockings. She bends forward with her orange-wrapped sword behind her, and her trusty companion Alastor hanging as a pendant from her neck. Fiery yet proper, haha!… Meanwhile, designed by Yoshizaki Mine — of Sgt. Frog (Keroro Gunso) fame — for the cover of the Japanese magazine Comic Himekuri, sculpted by Tomohide Enoki, and manufactured by Kaiyodo, this purple-and-black gothic-lolita PVC version of this cute cover girl portrays her kneeling in a skimpier top, a more-colorful and elaborate hair adornment, and a longer more-flowing skirt. On top of that, while not apparent in the photos, the intriguing paint scheme is embedded with tiny dust-sized sparkles, like a glistening sheen of rainbow mist. Wow, glad I got her!

For this Canon photoshoot, I saved 73 shots, then narrowed it down to these 60 shots. (For 10 of the 60, I Photoshop-enhanced the poor lighting by duplicating the image layer and applying a “Screen” blend at 50% opacity). Now, without further ado, enjoy the photoshoot!

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Click for Full Photoshoot (60) >>

Blog 079 > Anime Dilemma!

LOL, dammit Danny, damn you! ^_^ Tonight, I was all ready to immerse myself into a full photoshoot of my 1/8-scale “Gothloli Shana” and 1/7-scale “Himekuri Girl” figures, but then I stumble across your latest blog post — more Mirai and Kako fanart! And guess what? After seeing the latest art and answering your “bedroom or battle” pose question, now I wanna postpone the shoot for a week or two, and continue constructing my next Mirai piece — battle pose! Damn you! But I forgive you, lol… So instead, I’ll post the new wallpaper background I’ve designed for this upcoming “red-and-purple-haired gothloli” photoshoot. Nice, eh?

Blog 078 > Will Figures Never End?

Ah, finally! My first figure-collection update in ages! Finally moved out the boring 8-year-old vases from the stepped wall in the living area, and replaced them with my collection of still-boxed anime (and Lara Croft) figures! Jeez, 17 figures still boxed! For those who don’t yet know, with the exception of some of my earliest figures, I don’t open boxes until I’m ready to do a full photoshoot. Then once I’ve finished the photoshoot, I display them in the ever-rising shelves above my laptop setup. Only 37 figures opened! And yesterday, I just bought and added a third tier of shelves to make room for new post-photoshoot figures. Argh, will it never end? But now, more pics…

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Blog 072 > Gothloli Melancholy!

Yup! It was bound to happen! A “Gothic Lolita” version of Haruhi from the wildly popular anime The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. At $130.00 USD, this pre-painted 1/7-scale resin figure features Haruhi in a gothic black-and-white dress, adorned with red roses and red shoes, and featuring her optional musical attachment: Her electric guitar! And according to this accompanying link, Mikuru and Yuki are soon to follow! Gotta have them! But damn, too pricey. Maybe I’ll wait for the PVC versions, lol.

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Blog 066 > Ikki Lolitas!

Finally, a new figure photoshoot! Nearly a month since my last photoshoot! This time, I’m presenting my 1/7-scale gothic-lolita “Ryomou” (standing) delivered back on January 1st, 2007, and my 1/7-scale gothic-lolita “Kanu” (kneeling) delivered back on December 5th, 2006. Both characters appear in the sexy martial-arts anime series Ikki Tousen (4 of 5 stars, my maximum for half-season!).

While the 9-inch-standing Ryomou was sculpted by Hiroman, and the 4.5-inch-kneeling Kanu by Satoshi Ishiyama, both PVC figures were manufactured by Orchid Seed in the frilly black-and-white “Gothic Lolita” style. (Additional recolored versions are available in the pink or striped “Alice Lolita” style.) As an added bonus, Kanu’s white top is detachable to reveal her fullness. I haven’t detached it yet, lol. For this Canon photoshoot, I saved 50 shots, then narrowed it down to these 35 shots. Enjoy!

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Click for Full Photoshoot (35) >>

Blog 054 > Colorfully Cute!

Damn! Almost a full month since my last photoshoot! But I’m back with the green-haired 1/8-scale “Solty Revant” and golden-haired 1/8-scale “Rose Anderson” from the colorful retro-sci-fi anime series Solty Rei (5 of 5 stars!). Both sculpted by Kouichi Katsushima (Mine) and manufactured by Organic, Solty kneels to a modest 5-inch height, while Rose smiles at a playful 7-inch height. As an added bonus, Solty’s red top is removable to reveal her black skin-tight undershirt, while both Rose’s pistol and skirt are removable to fully reveal her white cotton panties.

As of this post, Rose is still readily available, while Solty is a bit more difficult to find outside of eBay. In this Canon photoshoot, I saved 31 shots, then narrowed it down to these 25 shots. On April 22nd, decided to take 5 more, narrowed it down to 3 more shots.

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Click for all 28 >>

Blog 053 > Getting Framed!

Ringo from Air Gear
Ringo from Air Gear | Image from Google Search > HappySoda.com

Well, as a follow-up of my eyeglass frames post, I went to my eye appointment yesterday (Tuesday) morning. To make a long story short, got there 9:30am and left about 11:30pm without much waiting at all! The visit could be broken down into three parts as follows.

(1) Took my visual field (or optical coherence tomography “OCT”) test. Basically, I stuck my head in front of a white semi-spherical projector contraption, and while I focused my eye on the central point of yellow light, I’d click the clicker for each time I detected another dim point of light anywhere else in that semi-sphere. Then after 5 minutes, the other eye.

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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.

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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 ^_^

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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?

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Click for all 40 >>

Blog 042 > Evangelion Lolitas!

Ah, finally, an Evangelion gothic-lolita figure photoshoot! Here, we welcome 1/6-scale “Gothloli Rei” and 1/7-scale “Gothloli Asuka” from the psychological post-apocalyptic classic Neon Genesis Evangelion. While the blue-haired Rei Ayanami was sculpted by Suzu (Atomic-bom) and manufactured by Amie-Grand with a polystone-resin price-tag of $110-120 USD, the red-haired Asuka Langley was sculpted by Naoki Nishimura and manufactured by Kotobukiya with a PVC price-tag of $30-40 USD.

Note that resin is harder heavier less-deformable and more-detailable, but also less-flexible more-brittle and more-expensive than PVC. Luckily, you can’t tell that both of Rei’s index fingers were superglued back on, lol. So for this two-hour photoshoot, I saved about 65 shots, then narrowed it down to the 50 shots you see here. Enjoy!

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Click for all 50 >>

Blog 040 > Think Inside the Box!

Boxed Anime Figures
Photo 01 by xJAYMANx | Click to enlarge

WOW! Been almost a month!… Well, got three new figures over the past few days (Photo 02). So I decided to take a few photos of the 10 figures I haven’t opened yet… Photo 01: Gothloli Rei and Gothloli Asuka from EvangelionPhoto 02: Natsuki from Mai-Hime, Motoko from Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, and Bunny Girl Haruhi from Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Photo 03: Chii from Chobits, and Gothloli Kanu and Gothloli Ryomou from Ikki Tousen… and lastly, Photo 04: Gothloli Ryomou from Ikki Tousen (once again), Battle Damaged Ryofu from Ikki Tousen, and Ritsuko from Kujibiki Unbalance… Gotta find time to do a new photoshoot! See ya soon!

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Blog 036 > Gateway to Chaos! Part 1 of 4

Remember when I first received her back on November 30th? Well, I finally took my photoshoot on Jan 7th and 8th! And they keep getting bigger and bigger! Even larger than my previous “Cosplaying Genshiken” or “Bloody Hell” sets, here’s my largest photoshoot thus far, taken of 1/7-scale “Igunis” from the Chaos Gate Jingai Makyo hentai/erotic videogame. With just over 150 shots, I surprisingly managed to narrow it down to the best 100 shots (hopefully, my maximum limit from now on, lol), which also keeps it down to four posts (of 25 shots each). So enjoy the photos!

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Click for all 100 >>

Blog 032 > Hmmm, Under Where?


Kaze from Chaos Gate Jingai Makyo | Image from Hobby Search

Whoa, hahaha!… Since this 1/10-scale “Kaze” figure (coming in April 2007) is too small (maybe 6 inches tall) for my usual 1/8-scale minimum, she’s not a likely candidate for my “Wish List”… Actually, her full name is Kaze no Ushiro wo Ayumumono (The Thing That Walks Behind the Wind)… But I thought her playfully ecchi/erotic style deserved some mention… After all, like my 1/7-scale “Ignis” figure, she’s from the same hentai/erotic videogame Chaos Gate Jingai Makyo… So we shouldn’t be surprised by her pose, right?

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