Valentine's Day Greetings

If you have a deviantArt account and would like to send a Valentine greeting to someone there, I submitted these two pictures under the "Valentine Exchange" category so you can consider sending them to your special someone or to your friends there:

"Forever and Always" (link)

"Valentine Date" (link)

deviantArt's Valentine's Day Art Exchange runs from February 12 until the 19th.

Learn more about Valentine's Day Art Exchange on deviantArt here.

Winter Wonfes 2014: Figures That I Want

Winter Wonder Festival 2014 is over! But before I continue with this entry, let us have a few moments of silence for the souls of the wallets of fellow figure collectors who want a lot of figures from the event.

My wallet was on life support for a few hours before we finally pulled the plug.

And now let's proceed. :p

Winter Wonfes was held on February 9, 2014 from 10:00AM to 5:00PM. Wonder Festival is a bi-annual event that is usually held in Chiba, Japan. It aims to sell and display garage kits made by independent sculptors, but it is also a place where figure collectors can find/view upcoming/available figures of their favourite anime, game, mecha, science fiction, and super hero characters made by various manufacturers and companies.

Since Sunday morning, I've been keeping tabs on pictures of figures that have been showcased there. The figure that I wanted to see the most was Good Smile Company Nendoroid Fate/Stay Night Gilgamesh.

Imagine this cutie patootie calling you a "mongrel". (Source: AkibaHobby.Net)

 He comes with a Gate of Babylon and his angry face doesn't look so scary anymore in Nendoroid form!

"B-baka! It's not like I'm showing my treasures to you because I like you or anything!...Seiba no baka! DX" --an inaccurate dialogue
 (Source:  Wonderful Hobby Life For You 19)

Aww you're cuter when you're angry. :p
(Source: earlbox)

I thought Nendoroid Gilgamesh would be the only figure that I'd like to buy from this event, but apparently, I wasn't safe until WonFes 2014 was over. Behold these four other figures that captured my fancy:

Max Factory figma Fate/Stay Night Saber 2.0

There's already a figma Saber, but this is the upgraded version. figma 2.0 figures have newly designed joints. This means better articulation or movement for better poses that look more natural.

If she comes with this pretty base, then  *drool*
(Source: Animate.TV)

A closer look at figma Saber 2.0
(Source: Animate.TV)

Aniplex 1/6 Fate/Zero Saber

Source: earlbox

I have the small version of this figure and it came with a Fate/Zero vol. 3 manga and a set of post cards.  In my opinion, the smaller version doesn't look too great (particularly the face), so I'm glad there's finally a 1/6-scale figure of it.

SH Figuarts Ringu Sadako

I need a creepy figure in my life.
(Source: MyFigureCollection.Net)

Ring is one of my most favorite horror movies. Having a figure of Sadako would be fun. Just imagine the pictures you can take with Sadako scaring your other figures, or how you could probably try to freak out some of your friends and family when you place Sadako in your display cabinet, right behind one of your best figures that are sure to capture anyone's attention. :p

Megahouse Kuroko no Basuke 1/8 Ryouta Kise

Source: Animate.TV

I ignored all the Ryouta Kise prize figures and the Bandai Figuarts ZERO figure of him just for this. I said that if I'm going to have one Ryouta Kise figure in my life, this will be it.

Source: Animate.TV

Source: Animate.TV

Medicom Real Action Heroes Fate/Zero Saber suit ver.

Source: Amiami

This is the most expensive figure that I want from Winter Wonder Festival 2014.   She's a Winter Wonfes 2014 exclusive and there are only 500 pieces available. According to MyFigureCollection.Net, she costs ¥19,000.

She's also the reason why my wallet died today. :p
(Source: MedicomToy.Co.Jp)

And that's it for this post. If you're a figure collector, how much damage did your wallet take from Winter Wonfes 2014? :')

Nendoroid Gilgamesh by Good Smile Company

We first heard about Nendoroid Gilgamesh in mid 2013 during Summer WonFes 2013. Back then, we were only shown this teaser:

*insert rabid fangirl scream here* (Source)

Just that mere image made avid Gilgamesh fans excited (including yours truly). I'm surprised that they're actually making a Nendoroid of him when he's one of the villains in Fate/Stay Night. I was even nervous and hoped they'd follow through and actually make one because I expected MegaHouse to finish making the 1/8 Gilgamesh scale figure for their MMS Collection line but now we don't know if it's still going to be continued. Until now, it's still a prototype.

Then last month (January 2014), I checked out the page for Nendoroid Gilgamesh on My Figure Collection and saw this:

Yep, they're already working on him. :) (Source)

Winter WonFes 2014 is on Sunday, February 9, 2014. Kahotan posted a blog entry that talks about the busy atmosphere in their office (Good Smile Company) in preparation for Winter Wonder Festival this year. There were pictures, too, and this is one of them:

Le prototype (Source)

Yep, finally there's a prototype of Nendoroid Gilgamesh! :) I have been waiting for this Nendoroid since last year, so seeing this prototype really made me feel super excited. I can't wait to see actual images of him from  WonFes this Sunday!

I'm sure the release of this Gilgamesh Nendoroid will be timely because there will be a remake of the Fate/Stay Night anime, which will premier in fall 2014. This time, Ufotable is the studio in charge of producing the show. Ufotable also handled Fate/Zero, I'm expecting Fate/Stay Night to be more interesting with better art and a better script.

Apart from Good Smile Company's Nendoroid Fate/Stay Night Gilgamesh, I'm also anticipating Medicom Real Action Heroes #655 Fate/Zero Saber Suit ver. She is set for release on Sunday at Winter WonFes, and I read that she's a limited and exclusive figure and that there will only be 500 pieces available. I still hope that I can get a chance to order her. Her price is ¥19000.

Unboxing & Quick Review of Two Banpresto Saber Prize Figures

There are two Saber prize figures that I thought I wouldn't buy soon: Banpresto SQ Fate/Stay Night Saber Lily and Banpresto DXF Fate/Zero Saber. SQ Saber Lily was released on November 2013, while DXF Saber was released on November 2012. I didn't buy DXF Saber at first because back then, I prioritized the other servants like Gilgamesh, Lancer, and Berserker. As for SQ Saber, I refused to buy her at first because the face looks off on pictures and overall, it just looked derpy.

And suddenly, I bought them on January 25 because I had time on my hands to roam around and then they're cheap. I got these two girls from Great Toys Online's store in Shoppesville, Greenhills.

You could probably say that I also bought these out of boredom

But before anything else, prize what?

If you're new to figure collecting or if you're not really into figure collecting at all but you're still here reading this and you're wondering what a prize figure is, I'll attempt to explain: They're called, "prize figures" because in Japan, you can win them from convenience store lotteries and crane games. If you're not very anal or obsessed with the details and the finest quality on the face, clothes, and overall construction of the figure, or if you want a figure of your favorite character but don't have enough money to afford a scale figure, then prize figures might suffice.

I'm from Manila, Philippines, and there's no such thing as winning prize figures from your friendly neighborhood convenience store. I'm not even sure if there are already crane games where you can fish out a prize figure of a character that isn't from Naruto or One Piece, so if I want to get a prize figure from a series like Kuroko no Basuke, Fate/Stay Night, or Neon Genesis Evangelion, I'd have to look elsewhere. Fortunately, there are reputable local figure stores that are selling authentic prize figures imported from Japan.

Banpresto makes some of the better prize figures around, and most of them are affordable, too. SQ and DXF are some of Banpresto's lines of prize figures.

Banpresto DXF Fate/Zero Saber

Again, an obligatory picture of all sides of the box

This figure is part of Banpresto DXF's line of figures featuring Fate/Zero servants. Two Sabers were released: an armored and non-armored one. The non-armored Saber was released on February 2013.

I also bought this figure because I pre-ordered Banpresto DXF Fate/Zero Kiritsugu Emiya (yep, Banpresto also released a Masters line of DXF figures, starting with Kayneth and Waver in 2013) and I thought he needed a servant to go with him.

DXF Saber was packaged neatly, with some parts packed individually. I think this is a great way to pack the figure to prevent scratches, paint transfer, and of course, to prevent fragile parts from breaking or snapping.

Banpresto DXF Saber is very easy to assemble. If you find yourself unable to make her hold Excalibur, check the palm of her right hand. There's a circular dent there where the pommel (or the topmost part of the sword's grip/handle) goes to be supported, so Excalibur won't slip off.

One problem I found with her: the back portion of her blue skirt had moisture stains on them. Even when she's packaged well, humidity can cause the figure to be sticky. I was able to get rid of the stains by wiping it off with a wet washcloth.

Banpresto SQ Fate/Stay Night Saber Lily

She doesn't look very nice on the photo

I didn't find her face that attractive on the photo of the box. I also checked out some user pictures of her from MyFigureCollection.Net and found her face derpy. When I inspected the figure myself, it looked much better in person than it did on the pictures.

Sides, back, and top of the box

Not really a box within a box

It looks like they just stuffed her inside the packaging, but she came with bubble wrap and the parts were individually wrapped.

From left to right: ahoge, Caliburn's grip, and  the rest of Caliburn

Nope, not broken. Just needs assembly

The base

AAAAAAH

Nope, this is not how the figure should be assembled

There's a reason why the sword comes in two parts: you need to make them connect inside Saber Lily's fist. It can be tricky, and you're probably lucky if you can get it right in one try. It took me three tries before I finally managed to make the parts connect, but before I show you the finished product, let me show you how Caliburn looks like once assembled:

It looks bent

And then I finally managed to make her hold Caliburn without making it look too bent:

The ahoge is easy to place on her head, so you shouldn't have any problems with that. Just be careful when making her stand on her base, and beware of paint transfer, which unfortunately happened in my case when one of her feet slipped from the peg:

Gerdemmet -_-'

More pictures

Banpresto DXF Saber with DXF Lancer and Gilgamesh (and Berserker behind Lancer)

Size comparison between Banpresto DXF Saber and SQ Saber Lily

Size comparison between Good Smile Company 1/7 Saber Lily Golden Caliburn and Banpresto SQ Saber Lily

Kinda rough on some parts, but hardly noticeable when you don't care about the details