Still Alive

It has been more than a month since my last entry. I really missed blogging. I've been quite busy with work, and most of my weekends were spent going out.

I'm pretty excited about the upcoming movie of The Watchmen, which was recognized as one of Time Magazine's 100 Best Novels. This one is a graphic novel, to be exact. The movie is coming out March 2009, and I think the guys behind the big screen adaptation of 300 are also the ones behind this movie. The pic above is the trade paperback version which contains all 12 issues/chapters. I read this before I go to sleep, whenever I'm not super tired/sleepy. Is there a Manga out there that you think has a good potential to be a Hollywood flick? My vote is Death Note.

Still not done with my HG GN-X. The lower half of the body still requires my attention. That is why I decided not to buy any more kits until this one is finished. The good thing is I now have the capacity to acquire another kit if I want to =)

HG Exia

Finished building and taking pics of HG Exia weeks ago. Been really busy the past few days.

I didn't get the 1/100 model, still waiting and hoping for an MG release.

I was supposed to color the chest orb with a green pen, but I think I gave it away already. I didn't want to use the foil sticker so I looked for a better alternative. I saw this shiny green sponge in the kitchen cabinet, then I decided to use it inside the clear chest plastic.

Then, I painted the shield. I ditched the white sticker, didn't really settle well on top of the blue shield.

Inking some parts and application of top coat were done for the finishing touches.

I hand-painted the cheeks yellow, and inked the face plate with black pen.

This kit has very good quality. A few details were missing as expected, but still a good kit that can also do a lot of poses.

I also used the green sponge inside the leg parts.

I wonder if the Double 0 HG is as good, or even better =)

Nendoroid Tsuruya Pics

It has been more than two months since I bought my Nendoroid Tsuruya. I took her photos a few days back but I wasn't able to post it right away. I have been really busy taking care of some stuff. Blogging wouldn't be that often too since I now have a job (Yey!).

I really love the cheerful and goofy faces that came with this nendoroid. The fang made her even cuter.

Actually, my first nendoroid (so it seemed) is L from Death Note. I wasn't able to tell that it was a bootleg figure before. I might post something about that some time, to share and help others spot the difference between a fake and original figure.

Another Plastic Obsession

The picture below is a box of a vinyl toy called Dunny. It is a collectible figure similar to the Japanese "Gashapon". These toys are what they call "Designer Toys" because popular grapic artists/designers are commissioned to design the toys with their own distinct style. Dunnies are made by the company Kidrobot.

The side shows the designs, and its probability ratio to determine how rare the design is.

I started collecting them last summer, around march I guess. I've always been fascinated with vinyl toys because of their cool designs. I started buying some when I visited a special store here in Manila which sells almost all kinds of designer toys from abroad.

This is already the Fifth Series of the 3-inch Dunny, although they released some other lines, like the French (which was the first series I bought) and Azteca. The Dunny also comes in 8-inch and even 20 inch varities. They come in identical boxes so you can't tell which toy is inside. And the toy is wrapped in foil bags so that scanning machines can't detect it too. The company makes sure that buyers can't cheat. Thing is, some designs are so rare that the price goes way up, and die-hard (and RICH) collectors are ready to spend that much just to acquire that special figure. Is that similar to Jap Gashapon, or even statues/PVC models?

Here is the first one I opened, and I think this is the first time that the figure is wrapped in plastic inside the foil bag.

The first three designs I got from the Fifth Series.

Some figures come with their own accessories.

The pink pirate has a sword, the ice cream serves as a hat =)

It also comes with a sticker. Collectors are also hunting the Golden Ticket which entitles you to claim a rare figure for free. Which can also be converted to mega bucks if you decide to sell it.

Here is my incomplete French Dunny series collection. This hobby can cause serious injuries to your pocket. There is a big tendency to get the same toy more than once. It's a good thing if the store (or another collector) can offer you to swap with a figure you don't have yet. You can also buy an entire boxed set which has 25 individual Dunny boxes. It is exciting to choose a random box, then hope that the foil bag contains a special figure or the golden ticket. There are so many good designer toys other than the cute Dunny, and they are also pretty pricey.

Pantsu shot! =)

Dunny Series 5 mainpage: http://www.kidrobot.com/2008/ds5/

HGUC Ex-S Gundam

Here is HGUC Ex-S, my first kit that entered a gunpla contest.

It is bigger than a normal 1/144 kit. The box is as big as a common 1/100 kit.

Adding the details into this kit was quite challenging but definitely a good pratice for me.

I slapped on as much decal as possible, trying to make it look very detailed. Kinda looks like a GFF figure in my opinion.

Some small details were hand-painted. Most of the model was painted with spray cans. Can't wait to get myself a basic airbrush and compressor.

I was able to make it stand on its own, without the backpack =)

Mobile Suit Rant

Ngee Khiong posted this pic of an upcoming MG Zaku featured in Hobby Japan October issue.

I really like the design of the Zaku. I guess the gundam universe wouldn't be complete without the Zaku. An MG Zaku is on my To Buy List, probably the red version 2.0

But I'm kinda wondering if all these Zaku variations did come out in the classic anime, or in some manga series. There are so many, like the black and purple Trinity version, then the recently released Jhonny Ridden custom. Is this the money milking scheme of Bandai that other bloggers are talking about? Is it really necessary to release each and every Zaku variation with a different gun, backpack, color scheme, etc as an MG kit? I think that there are so many other MS designs that can be released as a plastic model kit.

The first gundam series I fell in love with was Gundam Wing. There are so many good MS designs there and I would really like some of them to be released as an MG. One for example is the Mobile Aries



It looks like a jet, and I remember that Ms. Raine/Rein (whatever) piloted one of these. Another MS I really really liked from the series is the Mobile Doll Virgo


The red disks on its shoulder launches to gives out some sort of protective energy shield. If I remember it right, Virgo doesn't need pilots because they are remote-controlled by that other girl character who has the splitted eyebrows. And that beam rifle is much bigger from the animation.

I really think it would be cool if Bandai would shift its attention to other MS designs from the other gundam storylines. It wouldn't be bad too if they can release a Mercurius and Vayeate two-in-one pack MG. That tag-team between Trowa and Heero was legendary =)

Images of Aries and Virgo from Gundam Wiki.

Upcoming Projects

Went to Greenhills (where you can find all the otaku stuff here) last friday. Spent some time walking around then ended up buying two 1/144 gundam kits.

I've always wanted to have an Exia but I'm still praying for Bandai to release the MG version really really soon. I decided to get the 1/144 scale instead of the 1/100.

I'm currently watching Gundam 00. I'm in episode 10(?)now so I haven't seen the GN-X in action yet. When I saw the announcements of its upcoming release from other gundam blogs, I was really impressed with the design and thought of getting one some day.

I will post pics of HGUC Ex-S soon, then get to work on these two new tiny ones.