Spoils of 2016

HOLY crack addict, Batman, that's freaking POPPIN! So yes, I am now officially a POP hoarder. A lot of these spoils are my OWN Christmas present to myself(mostly the POPs), but I was blessed this year and I got some awesome things. The reviews on some of these things will probably trickle down over the next few months, depending on my time. I might just do some POPs of the year for 2017 at this rate!

Things to review:

-Festive Asuka and Rei
-Miles Spidey
-POPS
-DuDs
-Spider-Gwen mini statue
-Harley Quinn statue (BTAS)
-Spider-Woman Tsum Tsum
-Figures of 2016

I'm going to be VERY busy in 2017... I can already see it.

Japanese Import(?): Asuka Soryu Langley

I recently received some imports from a friend of mine who just came back from Japan. So that means, full on imports from the land of the Rising Sun itself! And here we have Asuka Soryu Langley looking eerily calm and so casual. Let's jump right into the review.

As I mentioned, calm and casual, something we aren't entirely used (least not me) when it comes to the fiery Evangelion pilot! Here she is sporting a red peacoat, black leggings, and some black leather riding boots. Aside from her color scheme, obviously familiar hairstyle, and the color scheme, there is no indication that Asuka is an Eva pilot.

Oddly enough, her choice of handbag isn't as fancy as one would imagine with Asuka. Then again, it looks more like a slim briefcase used for school/work rather than a fashion statement. Function versus cosmetic, I suppose.

If anyone is wondering, she did come in a box but since she was being transported via luggage, space was an issue, so she had to be taken out. Still, there is nothing much to miss; if her box storage is anything like the other one I got (yes, I have another fresh Japanese figure from Japan) then I'm not missing much. Here's a fun fact: she came from a "vending game machine". And let me tell you as a toy collector, this kind of statue, good details, vibrant and sharp paint job, and some known characters... her just coming from a regular vending machine is something!

Since there is no articulation, I'll go ahead and tangent off to the posture. While a lot of Asuka statues are there highly capitalizes on sexuality (whether heavy or light), this one is, as I mentioned earlier, casual and neutral. Sure it's feminine, but it's not posed to be overly sexualized. Just a pretty young woman in her fashion (but functional) clothing waving to someone. Oh, and I suppose her boots are mahogany, not black. With the right lighting, one can see that.

What little dynamic is given in this figure still provides us with a very lively piece. Her outfit dancing with her movements, her hair slightly waving out due to her movements, it's still a rather satisfying piece.

Speaking of lively and other Asuka's, here she is next to my other statue based Asuka's; with the sexualized Asuka(kotobukiya) being a winner for 2014 statue. While all four are imports, two are given to me directly as an import 'present'. This particular Asuka was also brought back as a present from a friend.

All in all, this Asuka is a nice little touch to my Evangelion(Asuka) collection. She's fun, casual, a bit out of character, but still follows the theme that makes Asuka recognizable. I am very happy to have her and definitely will consider her in my growing number of statue catch for this year. 

Top 10's

Video Game gals - Playable or non playable, gameplay or personality, and there myriad of other reasons I can't all list makes these ladies part of my top 10 for the video game world. 

Anime gals - Admittedly, I don't watch a whole hell of a lot of anime anymore and the ones I do are pretty recent and the ones I do still has some pretty memorable femme fatales.

Comic Book Gals - Both Marvel and DC have a pretty good roster of femme fatales. These are the gals that made it to my favorite list!

So that's it! My … Harem favorites I suppose! This might get updated in the future or maybe not, but so far, these are my favorite female characters! Now there are a lot others who fit in this list and it was a hard battle on who would actually be on the list(especially in the video game section), but I based it a lot on who I think of the most and of course just how how hott they are. Yes, I was being vain, more or less. But… one more recognition since I didn't know where to put her…

So that's it for now! 

20000 HITS!!!!

I decided to take some inspiration from a source I don't usually take from(the game, not the genre). If no one gets the reference, play a little Mortal Kombat and try to figure it out!

As you can tell, it's a bit more of a scene from my preference and everything like that! So, here's to 40000 then?!

Asuka Figma
Mari Figma
Rikku Kachima pic

Bandai Tamashii Stand (act 5)

It took a bit of time for me to give in into finally purchasing one of these. As a collector who is very fervent about displaying my collection, sometimes the dull 'standing' pose gets boring no MATTER how articulated the figures are so sometimes depending on stands is a given. So this is my VERY first purchase that is just a stand(pun) alone Display stands. From Bandai, this Tamashii display stand is more or less directed for imports. Suffice to say, there was a bit of a gambit when I decided to get it for the sake of my Marvel Legends. But that gamble paid off well enough and for the price, it comes with three so more or less the purchase is a success.

While there are a lot of characters in my collection that possess the ability to fly, certain ones can stay in the 'standing' pose because they are stable and articulated enough. For the 'flying' ones that just don't comply to the way I want them to or is just plain and ridiculous without flying(Wasp is one), then this stand came in handy! Sadly, it IS as transparent as it can get unless I have a dull white background. Suffice to say, it works well enough.

As I was saying earlier, it's more or less directed to imports so figures like Revoltech and such usually have a lighter frame to them. Luckily for the purpose I wanted it for, these stands came with two optional grip! That and their joints that are articulated are sturdy enough to hold the weight of the One I initially had in mind(Jean Grey). Wasp was also in mind to begin with but since I didn't really like the character or the toy THAT much I really contemplated whether or not she was going to get one of these stands... my decision came to the fact that Wasp has wings and well... she kind of needs to fly. I didn't bother trying them on a heavier ML like Iron Man or what not since I have this feeling it won't bode too well. Perhaps I should just to see though.

These are the stands that I have that help create the 'magic' in my game room. From left to right we have the Revoltech Eva Unit 2 stand, The Toybiz Stand(War Machine), the new stand, and of course the Square Enix playarts stand.

Eva unit 2,  War Machine, Spider-Woman, Mai Shiranui

While the first three stands are indeed made for flight and action, the playarts stands more or less are the best for neutral 'standing' stance and some limited flying pose; or jumping. Well, that's my comparison and my review. For my opinion, the stand does good and as long as I don't OVER use it, I believe it will hold its own. Might get more of these later; for three in a pack, NOT TOO bad. Amazon sells it for a decent price. I recommend it. 

Someone Was Nice This Year.

As I mentioned earlier in the 'day' that there will be some rather glorifying spoils from the day that just passed. Suffice to say, I came out with some rather enamoring stuff given to me from Santa himself! One can fathom as to who? But before I go all out and show these things, let me preface the idea that SOME will not be getting the full justice since I am not planning to take them out of the box for a full display; YET. Eventually they will get the full glory of being aesthetically pleasing outside of their confines, but again, for a few weeks, they will not.

So, enough nonsensical banters... here we are:

Eva Unit 2.0

Asuka's Eva Unit!

Ah. Eva unit 2 from the rather disturbed hit series Neon Genesis Evangelion; one that was rather disturbing since it was based on the rather distorted mindset of three teenagers who are living in a  post apocalyptic world. "Angels" swarm what is left of the world and they are nothing like the angelic beings who would be our guardians; in fact, they are the exact opposite! So... without going to far into the series since the old story is now expendable since we are now going through a reboot! With reboots, comes NEW adaptations of the toys! This is the first one in my hand, of course!

Iron Man Mark V

Oh what?!  Iron Man Mark V (Silver Centurion) from the Iron Man II movie?! Yes! Yes! I had to have him! Though admittedly, he isn't entirely what one would call as his most 'powerful' armor in the movie adaptations, it is a fact that some of the 'extremis' and the MK VII idea did come from this I would discern. That and the color scheme has grown on me! This armor is also giving love to the whole idea of the vintage notion of 'Iron Suit in a Brief Case'. Can't wait to open him, for sure!

Iron Man Mug

 

The Iron Mug. I'm not 100% sure, but I think this helmet is from the Disney's 'Avengers' T.V. series; surprisingly, it's one that I do not watch for reasons of my own, but yeah! Here we are! Truthfully, this came out of nowhere. I honestly like this whimsical thing, though using it as a mug, won't happen. It's actually going to be a decor to add in my Iron Man shelves.

Mass Effect 2013 Calendar

Front

Back

Ah. What an awesome way to have an itinerary for the year! It will massively affect my knowledge on the days to come just by looking at my calendar. Okay... that was freaking corny! But yeah!

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Suffice to say, I received a myriad of other presents that I probably won't post here. Just more accessories for my gaming/writing/music listening tandems, clothes and shoes. Hardly fitting I would say for this kind of a themed blog. Perhaps if I start an apparel blog, I just might! And once May comes, I might start another one as well (*hint*). But there are a few others on the list that will get their own kind of attention because well, I opened them already! So yeah...