For more, see the post over at Japanator. Now that I have that out of my system, it’s time to move on. Yesterday, I went to the post office to pick up a package from Japan. Since AmiAmi is offering half off international shipping on all orders shipped in February, I put in an order for some of the di:stage figma display stands. Since my collection of figma is growing, I wanted to create a more dynamic display for them. This would require a decent number of basic sets…

…so I ordered 10 of them.

The packaging itself is pretty simple, showing pretty much all the pieces in the set. Each set contains a base, end caps, base connector piece, one figma mount, and several mounts for speech bubbles.

Assembly is extremely easy. If only one base is used, the four end caps can cover up each side for a clean look. Two bases can also be linked together either horizontally or at a right angle. I discovered that my existing figma shelf could hold 7 bases linked horizontally, leaving 3 that I can mount vertically.

Here’s a quick reminder of how the girls were lined up before…

And here they are after! I decided to give Shana and Haruhi more dynamic poses, with Drossel and Kagamiku looking up. What color panties are Shana and Haruhi wearing? I’ll probably tweak the poses of the Lucky Star girls on either side, but this will have to do for now.

The black bases don’t look too bad on the shelf, though I think I still would have preferred the clear version to allow light to filter through. Sadly, it’s the popular one of the two and AmiAmi is out of stock. I’m very happy with the purchase and look forward to doing more arranging when more figma arrive.

Now, what do I do with all these leftover parts…? >.<

The latest addition to the family include the Summer uniform versions of Kagami, Tsukasa, and Miyuki. They’d arrived from AmiAmi, “The biggest internet FIGURE shop in Japan.”

Unfortunately, Kagami came in damaged and one of her twin tails arrived detached. It seems that the joint there is somewhat flimsy and prone to breaking.

Fortunately, a quick email to AmiAmi support explaining the situation got me a good result. They’ll be sending me a replacement! Kagami is overjoyed at the news, but still mourns the loss…

With Kagami taken care of, I set to the task of opening the other two boxes. I’ve learned to check each joint on new figma for stiffness and make sure each one moves properly. Past experience has shown that some joints (shoulders in particular), require loosening up before they can be safely moved. In this latest batch, Miyuki’s shoulder joints needed some work.

I’ve learned that a short soak in warm water works wonders in loosening up those stubborn joints. After a few minutes, Miyuki was good to go!

It’s a joyous occasion as the three get acquainted, though Kagami is still a bit distraught over the loss of her twin tail. This was the first time I’d ordered from AmiAmi since their English site was launched and I’m happy to report that the experience was positive. They were quick to ship after payment was delivered, though there was a bit of a delay once it reached the US. It took a little over a week for the shipment to arrive from Japan, however it spent the next month in a half somewhere in the US Postal system before it was delivered.

Since the experience was positive, I’ll be glad to do business with them again in the future. Unfortunately for me, they’re offering half off on international shipping for all orders shipped in February. As a result, I’ve placed an order for several Di:Stage sets so I can better organize and display my figma. Hopefully this shipment will arrive faster than the previous one!

For the most part, spam comments on my blog are uninteresting or just plain gibberish. Most aren’t worth anything more than just emptying out the folder and moving on. Every once in awhile though, something comes along and just makes me laugh…

Oh jesus you’ll not belief this. Our stupid puppy actually farted on my ankle!? I mean what’s the matter with this!? I nourish this thing and I end up with that in exchange. I even now can not really belief that. Anyway, you have several useful facts there in your posting. I knew Yahoo are going to take me to a few fascinating stuff today . Alright should search for that pet now! Have a good evening you all!

It’s still a bunch of gibberish, but it’s funny gibberish. Kinda like that picture of spam musubi. Makes me want to go to Hawaii…

Character themed displays

The most common arrangement I have are shelves that are dedicated to one particular character. This sort of happened by accident, as I started to acquire multiple figures of the same individual.

Rin was my first attempt at arranging by character, given that Dollfie Rin was the perfect centerpiece to surround the others with. Of all the figures I own, Rin will probably always be my favorite.

Following Rin, I decided that Belldandy needed her display. Most of the figures came to me within the past year as a result of various sales from HLJ. The oldest of the bunch is the one in the very middle, which was one of the first figures I’d ever bought. I guess you can say that Belldandy is where it all began.

The Saber shelf was another shelf that happened by accident. After picking up Saber Lily and Saber Lily figma from Japan, I decided to rearrange and place them all in one place. I also tried to match the figma poses with their full-sized counterparts. The only thing that’s missing from this display is a Dollfie…

The Yoko shelf is another Dollfie-centered display. I’d actually planned this display in advance, starting with the Kotobukiya Yoko. Since Real Image Yoko was on preorder, I figured I’d stage the shelf before she arrived. Dollfie Yoko was a bit of an unexpected addition.

Series themed displays

In addition to grouping by character, the next category I like to use is a “sort by series” approach. This generally means grouping all the figures from the same series and/or manufacturer.

There’s no better example of this than the two shelves dedicated to my ARIA figures. People often ask me why there’s some obvious empty space on both of these shelves. The answer is pretty simple… I’m reserving the space for the other two figures in the series, in case I’m able to eventually track them down. Given that they’re several years old at this point, I’m starting to lose hope on finding the girls from Orange Planet…

The 1/4 scale Haruhi bunnies from FREEing are a prime candidates for being arranged together. Due to their size, it’s hard to fit all of them on one shelf. Mikuru has unfortunately been relegated to living on the shelf below with some other unrelated figures.

Misc figures

…and here’s Mikuru, sitting by herself away from the others. The expression on her face is pretty fitting for her circumstance… At least she gets to hang out with Shana (x2), Nadie, Haruka, and Iori. I don’t think they’d force her to do weird things like Haruhi would.

Here’s an interesting cross between a miscellaneous shelf, character shelf, and series shelf. The dominating presence is several different renditions of Narusegawa, but along side her are Haruka and Mitsuki from KimiNozo, Lena Sayers from Mai-Otome S.Ifr, an Sakura from Fate/Stay Night. I guess you could say there’s also a swimsuit theme going here…

…which brings me to the swimsuit shelf. There’s more Love Hina here, with Naru and Mutsumi representing. Kokoro and Kasumi from DOA and Fuuka from Yotsuba round out the bunch. The only figure that doesn’t fit is the figma of Konata…

…because she’s a duplicate and wouldn’t fit on the shelf with the rest of them. I guess you could say that Lucky Star is the dominant force here. The recent acquisition of the Summer Uniform set brings my figma count to 17.

Last but not least, here are the truly miscellaneous shelves. There really isn’t any real rhyme or reason as to why these figures are where they are, other than “that’s where I could find space for them.”

A couple of older figures, aside from Rose. I got her for a decent price from Play-Asia when they were clearing out stock.

Poor Holo, she’s by herself… for now.

A truly miscellaneous bunch. Most of these are probably too small to be in a display case (at least efficiently). If you’re wondering what those things are behind them, they’re laserdiscs of the original Tenchi Muyo! OVA.

Shana really is everywhere, isn’t she? I also like the uniqueness of the Onda Aka figure in the back, I found her at a convention and decided to bring her home.

I don’t even know how to describe this picture. Ropponmatsu is a bit top heavy and will lean forward. Eventually, she’ll fall on her face. If I leave her like that for awhile, she goes back to her original shape and can be stood up once again. That probably can’t be good for he figure…

There we have it, a complete tour of the figures currently in my collection. I may have a couple older figures in storage, but those would be far and few between. Dollfies will also eat up a significant amount of display real estate due to their height. I’ve had to remove one shelf out of each case where there’s a Dollfie, just so they can stand. The results are pretty satisfying, though!

I got two packages in earlier on, one from HLJ and one from AmiAmi. It was my first order from the latter, so was curious to check out their service level. So without further ado, let’s get to the goodies!

First up is a brand new Yoko figure from Max Factory. Called the “Real Image Ver.,” this is a 1/6 scale representation of everyone’s favorite sniper from Gurren lagann. Unlike the figures that came before, this one is a reimagination of Yoko and shows us what she might look like if she were a real person. The sculptor really did a good job with it and I’m very impressed with the details that were included.

I’m still not quite sure if she’s proportioned properly, but you just can’t say no to those eyes. She also comes with an interchangeable front hairpiece so she can be displayed with or without her sniper goggles.

I don’t know about you, but there’s something sinful about that gaze… Finish on the figure is excellent and I haven’t been able to find any noticeable seams or imperfections in the cast. Even the joint where the hair piece meets the head is extremely well hidden.

Details on the gun are pretty good as well, though nothing will approach the level of detail found in the one provided with Kotobukiya’s rendition of Yoko released last year. That one had interchangeable clips, required assembly, and a moving bolt!

I do have one slight complaint about the figure though; it is incredibly shiny. Yoko’s skin is the nice matte finish I’ve come to expect, however most of her clothing has an odd luster to it. While I can see that making some sense for the leather bits, even her stockings, arm guard, gloves, and bracelets are shiny. If translating this to an actual material, I’d say it would look most like vinyl or pleather. Last I checked, Yoko didn’t wear vinyl or pleather… it wouldn’t be easy enough to move in. It looks a bit tacky, to be honest.

My other concern is the way the figure is mounted and positioned. As you can see from the shot of the base, it’s only attached in one point. Given Yoko’s…top heavy stature and pose, I’m curious as to if this figure will suffer from leaning. I would have felt a little better if she had another support somehow, though that may have compromised the dynamics of the figure.

On a positive note, Real Image Yoko looks good alongside her counterparts on the “Yoko shelf.”

I quite like these real image version figures that have been coming out as of late. For me, it started off with the Saber figure from Gift. I still much prefer the realistic style head that she came with. To me they just feel a bit warmer than the traditional anime style. It seems that Max Factory is doing more experimenting with their upcoming Kagamine Rin and Hatsune Miku, which will undoubtedly be hits. Even though I’m mostly impartial to the Vocaloids, the Miku one quite strikes my fancy.

Also, I broke out a new piece of equipment for this session. I received a portable photo studio for Christmas and finally decided to try it out.

It’s a pretty simple set and comes with a collapsible light box, two high output daylight fluorescent lamps, and a tripod. I’ve only just started experimenting with it and you can still see the remnants of my previous lighting setup, though I hope to be able to add some color for future shoots. Sadly, I don’t think a Dollfie would fit in there…

The biggest change of late has been that I’ve finally retired Belldandy from service. After nearly 7 years of duties ranging from gaming machine to media PC to home server, it was time for her to be sent to greener pastures. The day I parted with her was pretty emotional, though I know someone will put her to good use.

In her place, I welcome Tsukasa into my home network as the bedroom HTPC. Sporting the same case used by Konata, her beginnings were conceived when I bought an Athlon x2 7750BE from someone at the office for $20.

After pairing the CPU with a Gigabyte GA-MA785GM-US2H motherboard, 2GB of RAM, and a Lite-on Blu-ray reader, she was ready to go into service serving up movies, music, and high definition content.

In addition to adding Tsukasa, I’d also decided to mount the TV to the wall and add an XBOX360 to the bedroom. The wall mount allowed me a bit extra space on the dresser to put things and generally tidy things up. I also have a wire management plate, however I’ve yet to install that and neaten things up.

I think the next step here will be to drop some CAT 5e to the bedroom. Currently, the XBOX is not connected to the network (PC is 802.11n), but I’m thinking it will be cheaper and better in the long run to have it hard wired.

On the Windows Home Server front, Kagami got a slight upgrade in drive space, now sporting 3 1.5TB hard drives and 1 750GB drive. At this point, I’ll probably wait for the 2TB drives to come down in price before adding any more.

Microsoft had also released Power Pack 3 for Windows Home Server. This update introduces a couple nice new features, some of which were previously handled by 3rd party add-ins.

Windows Home Server Power Pack 3 improves the Windows Home Server experience with Windows 7 and Windows Media Center by providing the following features: Backup and restore of computers running Windows 7, Windows 7 Libraries integration, enhancements for Windows Media Center, and better support for netbook computers.

I particularly like the integration with recorded TV, as Media Center will now automatically move recordings over to the Home Server, making it easier for all PCs in the house to access them. The integration of the console into Media Center is nice as well, however it isn’t a feature I use much.

So to take stock, here’s what I have on my home network…

Everything (with the exception of Kagami) is running some flavor of Windows 7 (either Ultimate or Home Premium). For media integration, I’m also using Media Browser and Arcsoft’s Total Media 3 Platinum. For anyone looking to use a Windows-based PC as a Blu-Ray player, I’d highly recommend paying for TMT3. Compared to PowerDVD (which is typically bundled with drives), it is a much better product and also features decent integration with Windows Media Center. It also comes with the SimHD plugin, which does a decent job upscaling standard definition DVDs.

I’m pretty happy I decided to bring her, as I got to meet other folks in the area that were collectors. It also gave me a chance to see what other folks do with their dolls. They’ve put a lot of work into the hobby!

I was a bit surprised when I showed up that other folks had decided to bring their dolls in to show off. When I arrived, the panel moderator was setting up her own two and another audience member was unpacking hers.

Eventually, several other people filed in and added to the collection on the table, all of which were custom designs. One was even an early vintage Volks SD doll. It seems that Dollfie Dreams aren’t quite as popular in this space as Rin was the only one representing that line. Looking back, I should have packed up Yoko as well for display. As it stood, Rin was the only doll based on an anime character…

I particularly liked this doll’s outfit. I was talking to her owner and mentioned that the outfit reminded me of Haiji from Tsukuyomi. Then she mentioned the whole look was pretty similar to Himeko from Kannazuki no Miko. I got a couple compliments on Rin and her default outfit. Being as unmodified as she was, she looked really close to the original character.

Sad to say, I was one of a handful of guys in the room. I was the only guy that actually brought a doll with me… ^.^;;

Given that this was a startup, I didn’t set my expectations very high. The venue itself wasn’t extremely large, so space and attendance would be limited. With that in mind, I set off last night after work to sample the offerings.

The Great Wolf Lodge is actually a family resort/indoor water park. It has a hotel, restaurant, and caters to families with younger children. The con itself was contained in the conference area of the resort, meaning there was minimal disruption to the lodge’s normal activities. There were two smaller rooms for panels, a large room for main events, and a vendor area. There was also a small nook set aside for various game systems.

The above photo was what greeted us when we went through the front door. Registration was in the main lobby and was run pretty efficiently. The organizers must have had some experience in the past, or had figured out how to handle the traffic.

While the lobby remained mostly clear on the first day, it quickly became the center point of any mass cosplay photo op. It was the only space large enough that could hold people. Going outside was pretty much out of the question, as temperatures in Charlotte hovered around the 40 degree mark during the day and dipping below freezing after the sun went down.

The vendor area had about a dozen different sellers peddling various wares from swords to clothing. One seller had a small stock of bootleg CDs and DVDs, which was a bit disappointing. At bigger conventions this is usually more common, but with a smaller group like this, I wonder if it’s possible (or feasible) to police such things? Only one seller really had a selection of figures, although not extremely large. One thing that struck me as odd was the types of merchandise being sold. While there was your typical Shonen Jump and Final Fantasy paraphernalia, there was also a surprising amount of Sailor Moon goods. For a series that hasn’t been on air in almost a decade, that’s pretty odd.

Since there wasn’t a huge variety of newer stock, not much caught my eye. I did score one figure for my collection… Holo from Spice and Wolf.

At first I was wondering why she came with an extra set of arms. Once I got the box open, I realized that she was completely cast off-able, and could be displayed nekkid. Not quite sure about that…

In all, the first year of Ichibancon was a great effort. Hopefully, this year’s success will lead to future growth and return in subsequent years. One thing the organizers may want to consider is having a dedicated cosplay meet up area. That way, crowds don’t gather in the central area and cause trouble for folks trying to get from one side to the other.

I’ll be going back tomorrow afternoon for the last bit of the event. There is an Asian BJD panel at noon, and Rin will be attending it with me. Hopefully she’ll have the opportunity to meet others like her and share stories!

Merry Christmas from Charlotte, North Carolina! Sadly, no snow here today, only rain. As with last year, some coworkers and I went to the Daniel Stowe Botanical garden to see the holiday light displays. I keep saying that I’ll bring a tripod or something with me to steady the camera, but alas, I forgot. It’s a step forward from last year, however, when I forgot the camera all together…. >.<

We decided to get to the garden a bit earlier this time, so the sun hadn’t quite set. We’d attempted coming the night before, however there was an extremely long line to get in…

Most of the lights were just hung on the trees and plants, but there were some festive displays like this one.

Even the fountains and orchid house were lit up!

Sadly, one thing I need to remember for next time is a fresh set of batteries. Partway through the walk, the dreaded battery light came on and my camera shut off soon after that.

Black Friday also came and went, and while I didn’t actually go out, I did score a couple interesting items. The first of which came in the week before Thanksgiving…

Yes, that is a brand new DLP television in my living room. Just how big is it and how much did I pay? Keep reading…

Prior to the upgrade, I had a 42in LCD from Vizio in the living room (the whole setup looked like this). The new display is a whopping 60in DLP from Mitsubishi. After some prodding from a coworker, I went to check it out at a local store. Since DLP TVs are slowly being phased out of the market (Mitsubishi is the only company still making them), the price was already marked down. On top of that, the store was running a coupon for $250 off any HDTV bigger than 52in. Final price was ~$750 with taxes. Not bad, eh?

Since the TV was much bigger, some new furniture was required. This meant several runs to IKEA and I ended up with a LACK TV stand and two EXPEDIT shelving units. Combined with the existing decor and lamps, the whole room has really filled up and looks extremely nice!

Going back a bit further, I’d also done some upgrades to my home computer setups. Chikane now sports two separate drives, with the primary disk being a 300 GB Western Digital Velociraptor. The secondary disk remains the same with a 750GB Samsung SpinPoint F1, though I have noticed a slight performance increase by installing the high performance drive. Additionally, Kagami got a space upgrade in the form of a 1.5 TB hard drive. This replaced one of the 750 GB drives already in service, bringing total drive space up to 5.25 TB (4.78 TB according to the computer).

Well, at this point, that’s really about it! Thanksgiving was full of family visits and Christmas is just around the corner! I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday!