It's the Little Things - Zelda and Monster Hunter Airou

I'm still adjusting to my new space, and don't have a shooting space for figures like before.  Currently, I am working on it since I have a couple of exciting new figures to share, but not until later.

So, for tonight, I just wanted to collect the pictures of the little things I've picked up, and photographed, since I started this blog, but never had the chance to put them up.  So here's a start to a new section, It's the Little Things!

These little guys have been in previous shots, mostly for size comparison things.  The Zelda Phantom Hourglass Tomy Gashapon figures were a random pickup from my local target store for 5 bucks each.  I was really lucky to end up with the two I wanted out of the set, the adorable toon Link, and the hilariously selfish Linebeck.  (I love the word Gashapon by the by)

The figures are really well modeled; more so than I was expecting for the small size. They do suffer from what most Gashapons suffer from: tiny missed paint spots, bends in weapons, and weird bases.  These didn't have bends and the missed paint spots are minor enough to ignore.  The bases have extra holes for no reason though, it's a little annoying to myself, but probably not an issue to others.  I do love the extra item they give you with each character, Link has the actual Hourglass, while Linebeck has a green rupee.

These are pretty popular in the states.  After finding mine in Target, I later saw some for sale in a walmart, and a MicroCenter.  You can also pick them up online prices ranging from 5 to 9 bucks (plus or minus shipping)  With these I have no need for any of future iterations of toon link, since I enjoy this these guys so much they hang out by my desk.  Others may be interested in the Ultra detail figure of toon link coming up http://www.amiami.com/top/detail/detail?gcode=FIG-IPN-5007&page=top

Onto a convention pickup, another random box! This time the adorable Airous from Monster Hunter (Portable 3 this time) caught my eye.  These are adorable, and look pretty perfect in my opinion.  love the little decals you can attach as well.  This one was an 8 dollar splurge at a convention dealer's room.

 Another dealer's room item at another convention (sorry I don't have photos from either convention to cover them) were these adorable bobble head cats!My friend Lechau and I went ahead and got these and traded each other for the ones we wanted.  Love a trading figure where I can actually TRADE with someone.  I got the panic cat (the one I really really wanted) and the sympathetic cat. A perfect pair.

 These are far more glossy and bright compared to other monster hunter Airou items, which may turn people off, but makes them fresh an new for me. They do have a few missed paint spot but they are too minor to be a bother.  They come with a card to show you the possible bobbles you can get.  I may or may not pick up more.....depends if I can find them again because these little guys are kinda hard to find.  prices seem to be 8 to 10 bucks at conventions.

 So here are the buddies keeping me company right now, and they look pretty nice together.

Hope this was a nice post to keep everyone entertained until some larger post come down the line.  I'm preparing for a trip to Canada in the near future, so hopefully I can find a couple of cool stores or goods from that trip to share.

Big Old' Cat Friends

As promised in a previous post, right over here http://collectink.blogspot.com/2011/11/big-ol-cat-face.html I did end up picking up a couple more of of the Monster Hunter X Touma Airou trading cats.  They were such a good deal and quickly selling out from the shop I was picking them up from (yes they are sadly sold out, but ebay still has a few) So what did I get in my new boxes?

Having a trio of these little guys is really satisfying! I was fortunate enough to open a sushi chef cat and a battle cat (In the colors I wanted no less).  While I did have to assemble and can swap parts on my new chef, my battle cat is a solid piece.  But given that I like them as they are with their full accessories, it's not a big issue.  So only the chefs really swap clothing, hats, heads and arms on my chefs, but they look best in their own garb.  I do love the little touch of the headband being removable from the hat on sushi cat. 

They really are a delight and even fit really well into a corner of my room.  I also have the feeling these guys won't be my last Monster Hunter Cat figures. Nerd Away~

Short Post with Short Figures

I promise future posts will have more variety of nerd merch, but I'm still on a figure kick.  Specifically Monster Hunter figures.  These are the typical airuo and I was lucky enough to get no repeats.  I wanted a little trio (I like groups of figures) and each has a specific color scheme and expression, so I'm pleased with the variety in these random boxes.

This is the box for the 1st series of Airuo by capcom, and basically they are really noticible at conventions.  They show the variety of the figures, and even tease at a mystery one (which is really cute by the way). As for my three:

Like I said, I ended up with a nice variety.  My favorite is the white one, but the other two are so pleasent that I really can't deny their charms either.  Now these do tend to go between nine and twelve dollars per random box.  It's a lot for a figure thats slightly over an inch tall.  If the size turns you off, then I don't recommend them.  If you do however want a really detailed miniature, with expressive faces and well sculpted details, I don't know of any other minis that are this nice.  For such a small size, they really pack a lot in their accesories, the terrain base, and the extra elements.  The flower alone on angry airuo is amazing.  Plus these are really easy to keep out.  Mine stay by a lamp in my room and fit into the scenery rather well:

Would I consider getting more of these in the future? Yes.  The second series is out and has even more variety (more costumes and colors) so I may just wait for one of those at the next convention. For now I'll settle for the ones I have.  Nerd awaaay~

Big Ol' Cat Face

I really can't help myself when it comes to monster hunter cats.  Why do they keep making such adorable figures of them?  I Confess, I never played a Monster Hunter Game ._.  I LOVE the monster designs, and the concept does seem like something I would be into, but I have two fears.  One would be I would hate the game, and two would be I would like it too much and lose even more time.  So I stay in a safe zone of the figures they bring, one of which I may get more of in the future.  So here are some shots of my Monster Hunter X  Touma Airou trading figure:

My random box got me a yellow chef! Adorable.  The boxes have a nice layout but some of the pictures are fuzzy.  But anyway, it doesn't matter! I got me a chef, and man is he cool, I totally want to spring for another one of these.  They aren't hard to find, and most anime figure shops online have them for nine to twelve dollars. 

These guys come in parts and need assembly.  It's straightforward since each part can only fit into one hole and they don't have any points of articulation.  Naked Airou is sporting some nice painted designs if you prefer that, and his sculpt is nice and balanced.  It better be too, since the head is solid.  Their design using the tail as a tripod puts some people off, but I find it very clever. The Paint is REALLY good on this one as well.

The clothing literally slips on when the arms and head aren't attached.  It's quite easy to do, and it allows you to mix and match the outfit.  (the green sash fits on other figures too which is cute)  Honestly with so many little complete parts it looks best all put together, especially my favorite part: that big paw hat.

Chef Airou is really fun to mess around with.  If you dig this design and want a nice solid 3 to 4 inch figure I say take a chance with one of these random boxes. If I end up getting another one soon I'll be sure to post the pics!