Monthly Archives: December 2010

My Five Favorite Figures of 2010 & Year-End Thoughts

written on December 31, 2010 by Tier

It’s the end of the year and in accordance with tradition, it is time for a list of my favorite figures of 2010. As with last year, this list only includes mass-produced PVC figures.
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Posted in Figures | Tagged buddy, Figures, momohime, Random Thoughts, tamaki kousaka, velvet, vivio takamachi, year-end review | 55 Comments

Asuka Langley Shikinami from Neon Genesis Evangelion (Test Plugsuit Version)

written on December 26, 2010 by Tier

Alter Asuka Langley Shikinami from Neon Genesis Evangelion Figure Review

Alter released their second Rei Ayanami figure back in 2008. Collectors waited for an Asuka counterpart but none was forthcoming. That was strange because when you have Rei, you have to have Asuka too. They need each other, like Mario and Luigi, peanut butter and jelly, Asians and rice, schoolgirls and tentacles. Time passed and Alter’s Rei faded from memory until they finally got around to making a movie version of Asuka. And yet, it doesn’t really feel like a counterpart to me. She’s stylistically dissimilar from Rei – she’s got a perch of stone and twisted metal rather than just a flat black plate to recline on, and from observing her, it’s easy to discern how Alter’s production quality has improved since Rei’s release.
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Posted in Figure Review | Tagged 1/8 scale, Alter, asuka langley soryu, bodysuit, epic ass, Figures, neon genesis evangelion, Review | 34 Comments

Preorder Outlook VIII

written on December 20, 2010 by Tier

It’s been a while since the last one so it’s a good time for me to collect my thoughts on some figures that I’ve either already ordered or am thinking of ordering. 2011 is looking like an excellent year for figures, and there are a few in this post that have already shot to the top of my wishlist. The pictures here are from Hobby Search, as always my favorite place to buy figures from. I don’t have any advertising on this site and I probably never will, but if I did, I’d roll with Hobby Search. Speaking of Hobby Search, they did send me my Black Rock Shooter stickers – for free, even including EMS shipping – but I haven’t gotten around to slapping one on her butt yet; when I do, I’ll get pictures up here right away.
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Posted in Preorder Outlook | Tagged Figures, Preorder Outlook, Random Thoughts | 49 Comments

Kagari from Ninja Girls

written on December 16, 2010 by Tier

Back in the day, it was all too common for US anime and video game companies to westernize Japanese titles to make them more commercially viable. Mazinger Z became Tranzor Z, Space Battleship Yamato became Star Blazers, and a whole bunch of titles were rolled into Robotech. My personal favorite title change is Kimi ga Nozomu Eien, which translates to “The Eternity You Desire” but was localized as the much less poetic and much more hilarious “Rumbling Hearts.” The first time I saw the new title, I thought it referred to a wrestling anime. Thankfully, with anime becoming more acceptable, if not mainstream, title and content changes have become much less frequent. However, Del Rey Manga reminds us of history by bringing us Hosana Tanaka’s series Rappi Rangai as “Ninja Girls.” Seriously, that’s the best title they could think of? One of the “girls” isn’t even a girl so what the hell?
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Posted in Figure Review | Tagged 1/8 scale, embrace-japan, Figures, kagari, ninja, ninja girls, Review, shorts | 19 Comments

The Ideas That Didn’t Work

written on December 8, 2010 by Tier

When I started doing figure photographs, I stuck with plain-colored backgrounds: first a hideous blue curtain and then a lot of black and white. I got pretty bored of doing that so now I try to do weird stuff. However, being that I’m not a very experienced photographer, a lot of my ideas don’t turn out very well. Some of them are salvageable with some modifications or liberal Photoshopping, some of them require some re-thinking before becoming viable, and some of them are just so bad that I look back at them and wonder what in the world I was thinking in the first place. They say that there’s no teacher like failure, so this post is a tribute to the value of education.
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Posted in Photography | Tagged Figures, photography, Random Thoughts | 45 Comments

Asuka Langley Soryu from Neon Genesis Evangelion (Creator’s Labo Version)

written on December 2, 2010 by Tier

Yamato Asuka Langley Soryu from Neon Genesis Evangelion Figure Review

For years it’s seemed like Rei Ayanami was the it-girl of the Evangelion franchise, particularly when it comes to figures, and Asuka has been a bit overshadowed in comparison. Alter never bothered following up their movie Rei figure with an Asuka, and Mari has gotten a lot of love in recent times. Yamato also did not look like they were going to follow up their own Creator’s Labo Rei figure, leading E2046 to roll out their own version as part of their ORI line. However, there’s been something of a resurgence in Asuka’s popularity – at least in figure form – as Kotobukiya and Alter announced versions of her in her test suit and Yamato finally decided to give their grown-up Rei a counterpart. It’s a good time to be an Asuka fan, though this Asuka is a bit different than the usual redheaded fireball we are accustomed to.
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