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.

Figuarts Zero: Smoker and Tashigi

I promised a smoker shoot for summer, and while it's late, here I have one of the cooler marines from One Piece with a bonus! I caved and got a Tashigi to go with him.  So is the duo worth it for the One Piece figure fan? Here are box shots so you know what to look for:

I don't understand the brick pattern, but it's clean and follows the typical figuarts box motif. Smoker First:

Smoker's action pose is the reason I bought this figure.  I freaken love this effect, it's well molded and looks fantastic in the light.  I'm already of the opinion that these figures are well designed, sculpted and painted.  Smoker lives up to my expectations.  His weapon pose is also quite nice, and intimidating.

Just a base and perspective shot to finish up Smoker.

But Wait! There is more, I couldn't help finally picking up a new girl, the adorable and intelligent sword expert Tashigi:

Her Normal pose is pretty cute, I love how she is holding up her glasses and the details on the sword.  the twist in her body makes it interesting without looking awkward.

While her clothes and her Katana look amazing from all angles, the glasses can look odd in some shots.  like making her forehead look huge, or seeming too low on her face. It all depends on how you display her I guess.

And with their powers combined:

Sadly, unlike Coby and Helmeppo, they cannot be placed on the same base, despite looking really good together.

 Maaaaan Tashigi, Smoker is Judging you.

Ultimately this is how they are displayed right now, until I unpack the rest of my collection. I'm very very pleased with these two.  They are a fantastic pair of figures for anyone who is a fan of these characters.  Especially since they are on sale on most sites right now (like amiami, where I got these two.)  So if you need to buff up the marine side of your figuarts zero one piece figures I suggest Smoker and Tashigi~

Persona 4 One Coin Grande figures from Kotobukiya

Happy August Everyone!  With the return of internet after my stressful move, I bring photos of the adorable Persona 4 One Coin set from Kotobukiya.  It's such a pleasure to finally have this set.  I love the PS2 game and all of the characters, so this times here is a full set review.

The box is large, bright, and has little designs from the game itself, like the cool arcane cards on the back.

Here is a shot of the mini boxes inside in case people are interested, but instead lets get onto the figures!  I was very interested in seeing which set I would receive, because one set has the main cast with their glasses while the other set is glasses free. 

Here we have the main cast (glasses free set), and I couldn't recommend them more.  No breaks, nicks or missed paint, in fact they are splendid in design and execution.  A couple have trouble staying on the base, but I do enjoy the magnet/pole set up for the bases (which mimic the school emblem from the game and look very classy).

The secrets were not what I was expecting at all.  I was wondering if the Dojima family would make an mini debut, seeing how Nanako has been pretty popular, but instead we have a little crossdressing instead.  I'm all for it, as it comes from one of the best events in the game, though I would love the monroe kanji with these two, haha.

A perfect mini set for any persona fan, and I know these are hard to come by, but if you can find a set, or the characters you want out of it, they are a delight for any collection.