Sakuracon 2015- Good Smile Company Booth

Sakura-con 2015 was an amazing year; there was lots of fun stuff to do.

On the first day of the con we actually got to our hotel at a little bit past 9am and we were able to check in already also a huge thanks to Henry and the staff at the Roosevelt as always for giving great service; which goes above and beyond expectations.

Anyway the dealers hall opened at 10am and I made sure that with my group of friends that we went to the GSC booth before anything else. And we were one of probably the first 30 people in line. And all of us were able to get everything that we wanted. But what was even great was the area that they were in had lots of toys and displays that they brought with them for even more fun.

Snow Miku was a popular purchase for most people though I was in there to get the nendoroid Sayaka and Kyoko. Though when I went to make my purchase I noticed they had the Shimakaze nendoroid and purchased that as well. From what I had overheard by the time I picked up my nendoroids they were almost out of the Kyoko/Sayaka pack. Which would make sense, because c'mon they're together and cute.

Besides that there were toys and figures all over. And some of them made me greatly regret that I don't like Figma.

I remember watching Big O on TV, and recall fondly the dub of the series and my overall love of the series. I remember when I got heavy into collecting toys and figures, the orders for Roger Smith were just closed. I did though enjoy looking at them, and I am pretty sure I stared at them for a good couple of minutes.

All the Kill la Kill that they had. Also the Ryuko is actually pretty badass looking in real life. Though I'm not too keen on the prototypes legs being like that with only one grounded while the other is just hanging there. But still looks cool none the less.

On the side, of their booth is were the face drawing challenge was, and for only $2 you can make your own nendoroid faceplate and keep it.

It wasn't available at the beginning of the day for obvious reasons, but I didn't have time to do it due to scheduling problems. But luckily enough Mamitan let us buy one so that I could paint it at home. And yes, I will hopefully be doing that soon, if not I have a nopperabo face just for fun. But in all seriousness I'll probably have the face painted within a couple of months because I already have paint, I just lack brushes for small scale and finite detail. Though at the area where the expression drawing was, they were using gundam markers.

Overall the GSC booth was amazing and a blast like last year. I hope they come back to Sakura-con again, not only because they bring some of the best toys and figures with them. But because the events that they had were amazing.

More Sakura-con Fun from Good Smile Company

Today I was bombarded with all sorts of information from Good Smile Company about what they were bringing for Sakura-con. We only have the images of the limited items that they're bringing for sure, but that's enough to know I will have to be there early, as soon as the dealers hall opens.

They're bringing the Snow Miku again. Even though I have already the nendoroid on preorder, if they're avaliable I will so be getting another one, because I really think she's a cutie. Also for sure want those capsule toys and the Kyoko and Sayaka from Madoka Magica. I mean I already have three different Madoka nendoroids, but I really like that Kyoko, because it is what we see her wearing for most of the series. Also those cute capsule toys, I just want to line up all the cuties on top of my monitor or near my bed because cuties being cute.

Also we're getting the whole faceplate drawing thing, and that's going to be fun. I can't remember where I saw this at, but I remember seeing a video from Japan with this; it may have been something about Wonfes but I am not sure. Anyway super stoked for this little event, as it should be a lot of fun. I mean who doesn't love drawing on blank faces.

I just checked the Sakura-con website and found that there's a link to a video that GSC has put out for it, so here it is.   

 I am really excited for all the events from GSC and will be looking forward to the live sculpting event which is followed by a Q&A about the Japanese collectibles industry.

Really stoked and barely over a week left before the fun.

Hatsune Miku V3 1/4 Figure Impressions

I was browsing the Good Smile Company website when I saw another Miku figure out. I thought it looked really pretty and have not ordered any sort of default looking Miku figure before, so I thought this one looked really nice from the thumbnail. I was more surprised when I clicked the link.

Miku is HUGE, 1/4 the size of a human or also standing at 43cm or almost 17 inches tall. The fact that Good Smile put a CD next to her so that you can see the difference in size is a really good thing if you're not sure what the measurements actually meant. But having such a bigger figure can do much more for the actual design more than anything else. The details are very well sculpted so far the actual details that we can see so far, they're very meticulous. I really love how much detail they've put into the hair, as Miku's hair usually looks rather static sometimes, now it looks free flowing and rather whimsical.

Costing about 27,000 yen after tax and before shipping it's probably not something that much people would purchase unless they're a huge fan of Miku's. For me I purchased it because I do enjoy bigger figures and Miku but also the details in the hair is just something that amazes me. I am all about simple things with attention to detail as much as I like cute things. 

With a base price of 25,741 yen from Good Smile directly, with tax being about 27,000 it doesn't mainly differ between purchasing it from them directly or going to Amiami.

I ended up going with Amiami for a few reasons. The sale price of the item is 21,360 yen though with shipping it will most likely end up being about the same as ordering it from Good Smile. But mainly the reason for me going with Amiami has to deal with points. Receiving points from prior purchases, I can use it to make Miku cheaper and also the points I get from purchasing Miku as well. It may not seem like a good reason for most people, but I do shop at Amiami almost every month for my otaku needs.

Hatsune Miku V3 1/4 Figure is sculpted by FREEing and distributed by Good Smile Company, slated for a release of September 2015 for the base price of 25,741 yen.

Dollfie Dream-Snow Miku Pre-order

This year starting on February 14 through April 12, Volks USA and Volks Japan is having preorders for the Snow Miku limited edition Dollfie Dream.

If you're not into ball joint dolls, Volks is a hobby company that has a huge hand in the doll department, and up until recently were known for their doll line called Super Dollfie. They then came out with a more stylized doll with more idealistic proportions of anime girls that became hugely popular especially among men, called Dollfie Dream.

Most of the time, the best Dollfie Dreams come in the form of limited editions that usually can only be bought at a Dolpa (Doll Party hosted by Volks) or by getting them second hand at an exuberant price. But luckily for us Volks decided to start the Limited Dollfie Dream Pre-order Project which means that if you order during the pre-order period you're guaranteed the doll when it is released.

When you pre-order through Volks USA you have a choice between making a deposit of $50 or paying for everything at once. Though keep in mind if you do pay for everything at once your doll still won't get to you till shipping time. The production period is from May 2015-Spring 2016 with shipping at the end of June 2016 for Japan and September for the US for the first batch of orders. With the regular limited Miku's the shipping was divided in batches because of the vast amount of people who decided to pre-order.

The price for the Miku fullset is 64,000 yen + any fees and if you preorder from the US site it is $650 but no fees though we don't know if there is shipping charges, and if you live in California you'll have to pay the sales tax as well.

I did pre-order one Snow Miku through the Volks US site mainly since the $50 deposit was just easy to reserve my place since I did it once pre-orders opened up. But also because once she's here, shipping from California to my house is easy compared to the wait for EMS and the prices behind that because of the dimensions of the box.

September 2016 cannot come fast enough.

Project Mirai Release Date & Vocaloid Talk

In case you aren't one of the many people who enjoy Vocaloid, or if you're like me and can't wait for the next Vocaloid based game to come out to the US. Well Sega has the answer depending on what country you are in. But for sure... Project Mirai is being released late May this year.

Project Mirai's Cover from Japan

From the article from Niche Gamer North America is getting it on May 26th while Europe is going to be having it on the 29th. While there is no date for preorders yet, this is good news and a rather promising outlook with Miku and the Vocaloids.

The reason why this is promising is because Sega of Japan and Crypton are realizing that Vocaloid is a world-wide phenomenon. While some people may not like it, the ones that do, will buy the merchandise and go out to see her, as shown with the Mikunopolis and the Miku Expo 2014. Otaku culture has spread out from Japan, and in the US we're known to be fans of something regardless if it's the thing that is in or not.

Hopefully in the future this will lead to even more US Vocaloid concerts or just even more events or screenings for anime movies and such.

Senbonzakura- Rin and Len Kagamine Scale Figure Impressions

FREEing had just released for preorder today the twins from the Senbonzakura video. I've honestly been waiting for these two to come out along with Kaito since the Senbonzakura is one of my favorite songs that has been written but even more so I loved the character designs. But I accidentally missed the Miku version of this, so when the twins came out for preorder today I jumped on the chance to order them.

Rin's design is super lovely dealing with the sepia tones in her outfit and the ruffles on her billowing sleeves and her sailor tippet is so adorable. I've always loved how she looked in the video... But seeing how gently they colored her, it makes the figure feel really nice.

The koppori she wears looks very amazing as well and looks like it has a traditional lacquer finish to them, even though I know it's plastic. Overall I do love the feeling it encases between western and eastern fashion.

Len is also cute with his traditional military school uniform on along with is cape. The type of gakuran Len wears was popular during the time of war up until the 1990's when they ended up being for middle school students while high schools wear blazers and ties.

FREEing has the initial release for June 2015 and each figure is 1/8th scale and is about 10,800 yen roughly (depending on where you order). Also since these are the Kagamine twins FREEing does give you the option of purchasing them together and giving you a slight discount so it would be 19,800 yen (again depending on where you order) for both.

Snow Miku 2015 Finalists and Winner

If you weren't able to check out the stream via Nico Nico Douga, there was a livestreaming of Snow Miku 2015 and her rabbit companion Yukine. The theme for the contest was "Plant life in Hokkaido".

Here is a compilation of the finalists:

Snow Miku 2015 finalists

The Mikus in question are super cute but honestly my personal favorite was 1, mainly because of the combination of the adorable European-styled dress and braids. While all the designs were cute there could only be one winner and that is...

Snow Miku 2015 winner-Illustration by Taran

It seemed that a lot of the contestants drew from the Lilly of the Valley plant for inspiration, heck there's even two of them in the finalists. I do have to admit she's quite a cutie, and I love the flowers in her hair and the more gentle colors in style that she picked for her illustration.

Now all we have to see is how Good Smile Company will take this design and make a nendoriod out of it. And the other limited edition goods that will come from it.

The Snow Miku contest is one of the things I look forward to since now people can generate their own content and vote on which one they like. Even if you don't like Miku, the yearly Snow Miku series is something to collect.