Figure Friday Feedback Edition.

This is not actually a Figure Friday post, but a post where I talk about Figure Friday a bit and ask for your input.

As you may have noticed, the last time a Figure Friday post was written covered October 16th-22nd, and there had been a couple of major causes for that, which can be summed in one simple word. Time.

There’s an upside and a downside to this being an issue of time: The downside is that I am a full-time student, and if I have a busy semester or busy week at school there simply cannot be a Figure Friday, and even before we sometimes had the post delayed (ok, after a certain point it was almost always delayed). The upside is that should I find ample time again, I could just go back to writing these posts. I expect the upcoming semester to be slightly easier on my time, BTW.

The other point is that I doubt most of you understand how much time it takes to write a Figure Friday post. While I love having these posts written (and not just for the number of comments and views, which is much higher than usual for this blog), but I liked the accomplishment of having completed such a post. But how long does it take to get a Figure Friday post up, you want to know? From the time I begin working on it until it is published, well, let’s call it about 6 hours.

Six hours. I go to Neko Magic and Kumo’s blog, and find and open all the interesting figure pages, then I try to whittle it down to the best and the worst, and sometimes the most interesting, I try to limit the number of pictures I use for each figure, so there’s more indecision and option-weighing going on. I write down my thoughts on each figure and then I try to find a place for you guys to reserve it, sometimes adding notes on how to go with special stores and deputy services, etc.

And of course, the adding of the images. After I finished everything else, adding the images from Flickr… it used to take me about 3 hours or so, but I found a way to take it down to “only” an hour, an hour and a half. Getting the images to be about the same size, not too big, centered properly, etc. It’s such a headache, it’d truly be easier if I were to only post one or two images…

And after it all, I go over the figure sales I find on eBay, various sites, the restocks, the new releases, the news of conventions, and this takes some time as well. Not as much as other things, but it all adds up.

Options:
So now, here comes my musing about the options, things I could be doing to help get Figure Friday more on track. And yes, I know I promised Figure Monthly and it’s not out yet… I hope to get at least November and December, if not also October, next weekend (semester break begins, and I have a relatively small number of tests, on account of having numerous large assignments instead, whee!).

Figure Friday October 16th-22nd.

This is the weekly Figure Friday post, covering the figures released, announced and such during the past week. There will be the best figures of the week and the worst, as well as news, delays, releases and re-stocks.

As always, click on the first picture to go to a site with more information on the figures, and the pictures after the description for the Flickr page (you must be logged in, due to some photos in the set being R18), where bigger photos can be had. As always, post is NOT entirely safe for work, be advised.

Five Hot:

1.

Polyphonica Corticarte Apa Lagranges 1/7 PVC figure by Orchid Seed

I’m growing rather fond of Orchid Seed.
Really like this figure’s garters, and her face is nice, the skirt has some dynamism. It’s not a great figure from any perspective, except how she’s dressed under the skirt, and yet, the gestalt is bigger than each of the individual components. Her skirt does reach a bit too high for me, waist-line wise. For those who dislike over-brown figures, at least the shock of red hair and the powder-blue wrist-ribbons offset it.
January 2010, 220mm, 7,429 yen. Reserve.

  

Follow the “More” tag for more figures!

Figure Friday Addendum – October 2nd-15th.

As promised in the main post, this post will cover the amazingly large number of news, re-stocks, delays and such that had occured within the span of the two weeks from the 2nd of October to the 15th.

News:

• MegaHouse’s Mega Hobby Expo 2009 autumn. I really liked the Gintama pucchi school setup, which sometimes appears in the series.
• Tokyo Game Show 2009. Slightly too many figures from Square Enix of the upcoming FF XIII action figures, but I like the angel-winged girl and the samurai armour next to her.
• Dengeki Character Festival 2009, wherein the Dengeki magazine characters are shown.
  • In part 1, we see many cute nendoroids, Black Rock Shooter with her cape off, and other neat figures recently announced.
  • Part 2 seems to have many HoiHoi based Plamos, some anime-painted cars, and some art, for the most part.

Read on to discover why this picture of my cat is here!

More news, restocks, etc. after the “More” tag!

Figure Friday – October 2nd-15th.

This is the weekly Figure Friday post, covering the figures released, announced and such during the past two weeks. There will be the best figures of the week and the worst, as well as news, delays, releases and re-stocks.

As always, click on the first picture to go to a site with more information on the figures, and the pictures after the description for the Flickr page (you must be logged in, due to some photos in the set being R18), where bigger photos can be had. As always, post is NOT entirely safe for work, be advised.

In personal news, felt crummy yesterday, thus no post, and tomorrow I’m beginning the final year of my B.A.!

Five Hot:

1.

Touhou Project Hakurei Reimu figma 055 action figure by Max Factory

Best figma ever. The joints are not too noticeable behind the skirt, poseable, good quality looking. GREAT faces, and the drunk face is so priceless.
It’s a minor hassle to obtain; while not a limited edition, you have to order it from one of several stores that will sell it exclusively, so you’ll have to use some sort of deputy service, but it’s not a limited release, at least.
I am so getting it :D
January 2010, 140mm, 2,800 yen with tax.
Get her from NicoNico where you can also get the Reimu and Marisa nendoroids. Direct Reimu figma link.

 
 

 Follow the “more” tag to see the rest of the figures, again, not all safe for work.

Figure Monthly: September 2009.

This post will cover the figures of September 2009 most worthy of getting another mention. The best, the worst, and the most interesting. There will be a custom category in most places for the figure most-deserving it, and you shouldn’t count or bet on seeing the same categories appear again.

If you’re wondering why there’s no “Figure Friday” this week it’s because even on a preliminary check, only 6 figures caught my eyes, and it doesn’t seem too crazy they can’t wait another week. So next week will have a big post covering two weeks’ worth of figures.

As always, this post is not entirely Safe For Work. Each figure will receive one photo, which will link to a page with more coverage of the figure, and after that a link to the weekly post where it was covered. Thank you.

Best Ikkitousen Figure of the Month:

Ikkitousen (Dragon Destiny) Ryomou Shimei Shunya Yamashita Ver. 1/6 PVC figure by Daiki Kougyou

September 18th-24th post.
Because Ikkitousen gets such an awful treatment from Taki Corporation, I thought it’d be only fair to mention when they actually get a nice figure, if an expensive one.
January 2009, 275mm, 14,800 yen.

Click the “More” tag for more figures!

Figure Friday – September 25th-October 1st.

This is the weekly Figure Friday post, covering the figures released, announced and such during the past week. There will be the best figures of the week and the worst, as well as news, delays, releases and re-stocks.

As always, click on the first picture to go to a site with more information on the figures, and the pictures after the description for the Flickr page, where bigger photos can be had. As always, post is not entirely safe for work, be advised.

Five Hot:

1.

 

Baldr Sky Dive1 Kirishima Rain 1/8 GK by Volks Turn A-brand

Another Volks GK A-brand, after the “La campanella della benedizione” figures from some time back. This figure looks nice, has a simple yet elegant dress, a nice amount of details. The right flow and creases of clothings, etc. I just wish she had the other figure’s face, to make her perfect.
October 26th, 2009, 12,00 yen, unassembled and unpainted. Volks Web Site Store only  no direct link to the item, sorry.

Click the “More” tag for more photos and figures! 

Figure Friday – September 18th to 24th.

Figure Friday is back on track, covering the figures announced and released during the past week. Since it had been the Silver Week in Japan from the 19th to the 23rd, there was a relative dearth of figures.

I did not skip this installment, though it is slightly smaller, because some of the good figures were really great, and already on this Friday (which goes to next week’s post) I’ve seen two really lovely figures, and I couldn’t handle next week’s post otherwise, so here goes :)
UPDATE: More re-stock items.

As always, click on the first picture to go to a site with more information on the figures, and the pictures after the description for the Flickr page, where bigger photos can be had. As always, post is not entirely safe for work, be advised.

Four Hot:

1.

Lineage II Elf 1/7 PVC figure by Orchidseed

Images both from Nekomagic and Kumo‘s blog.
On any other week, this figure definitely would have been number 1. This week it has to share the title.
Best elf I’ve ever seen. Love the details, love the filigree, love the lace-design. Her leg isn’t too big, it’s the ankle-bone and a trick of perception. Her hair is a bit bland. And in case you worry about the seam in her arm when her top is off, there’s a nice bracelet to cover it. Now that is smart design. Just wish her arm next to her face had another configuration.
December 2009, 227mm, 7,429 yen. Reserve.
(Slightly short elf, she’d be 158 centimeters due to scale, /with/ those high heels).

Figure Friday – September 11th-17th.

This is the Figure Friday post for the dates of September 11th till September 17th. I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a happy new year (Rosh HaShana), and may you have a good year (Shana tova!) :)

This is also the source of the slight delay of this post; family gatherings, including some which got their dates moved. I even tried to post this from my family’s, but it didn’t go well. I managed to insert the first figure’s posts and then it crapped out on me.

As always, click on the first picture to go to a site with more information on the figures (usually Nekomagic), and the pictures after the description for the Flickr page, with bigger photos.

Five Hot:

1.

Toushin Toshi III Moe Collect Plus 15 Hazumi Flame 1/7 PVC figure by Volks M.O.E.

Definitely my figure for the week. Cast-offable, though it might actually require the body to be swapped out as a whole. Love the design of her dress, detailed yet dynamic. She has a pretty face and nice hair.
Also, she fulfills what I want from a cast-offable model: I like her both dressed and undressed. Though her hair might seem to be a tad big with her clothes off, but that’s life.
This also gives me hope in regards to seeing “La campanella della benedizione Chelsea Arcot 1/6 GK by Volks Turn A-brand” as a PVC figure.
Winter 2009, 220mm, 7,500 yen. Volks Web Store exclusive; preorders taken since August 25th. You’ll need to use deputy services.

More pictures after the “More” tag, not all safe for work.

Figure Friday – September 4th-10th.

This is the Figure Friday post for last week. Not much news, and we’ll keep the restocks and new releases to this week’s Figure Friday. Not entirely Safe For Work

As always, click the first photo to get taken to a page with more coverage and pictures, and the photos at the end of the description for larger versions.

Five Hot:

1.

The Devil on G-String Usami Hal 1/8 PVC figure by Toranoana

This is a very attractive figure. Cool socks, sweet face, very nicely sculpted and posed. The ears and tail seem to come on and off, perhaps magnets.
Very sexy figure, in a certain pose she might be too much for some companies. The original art is included in the phone card version for 500 yen more.
Seems to be limited.
November 209, 100mm long, 5,500 yen (tax included) for normal version, or 6,000 for phone card version.
Some NSFW post the “More” tag.
Toranora online store exclusive (use deputy services). Normal and card (limited) versions.

Figure Friday – August 28th-September 3rd in Review.

Ok, this is the post for the figures and news of the week running from the 28th of August to the 3rd of September. It is a tad late, I do realize. That week had more than its share of news, but slightly fewer figures, so we only have “Four Hot” and “Four Not”. Last week’s post will go up Monday or Tuesday.

And as for this being Monday my time and not Sunday, with such a great semi-final in the US Open between Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, what can you expect? :)
For those who wonder, I think I did pretty well on my test!

As always, click on the first photo to go to a page with more details/photos, and click on the following pictures to see a larger version.

Four Hot:

1.

Vocaloid #01 Nendoroid Petite trading figure by Good Smile Company

 Some more photos on Kumo’s blog.
CUTE overload! I especially like Megurine Luka (with the red hair), and Sakine Meiko, the bopping redhead (orange hair).
Miku Saihate, with the flower (at a funeral?) is also adorable.
Reserve, 6,000 yen. November 2009.
Update: Second shipment opened for reservation right now.