Gintama 6.3". Manufacturer: Odeobukan Bandai

Gimtama is a "historic" animation set before the Meiji modernsation of Japan. "Historic" has to be taken very lightly in this case, as the whole anime series is a spoof of historic facts and unapologetically pokes fun at other animes around today. Instead of Commodore Perry arriving in his Black ship you have a federation of aliens descending onto Tokyo in spaceships. The 19th century is mixed in with flying cars, television, electronics, idol worship, giving a weird mix of people in traditional attire and living in old fashioned kominkas. 

I've stumbled across these 6.3" figurines from Anime At Abbotsford two weeks ago. Having considered that a) its selling at quite a decent price compared to your typical 6.3" and b) the manufacturer, id made the impulse decision to buy.

Sets in its box. Gintoki and Shiroyasha (two on left) make up a complete set in a series, but Shinsuke belong to a series set with an additional 3 characters.

Unpacked

Gintoki Sakata - Main Character

The details are impressive, but most of them appear to be plastic decals chemically stuck onto the plastic surface.

Shiroyasha

Shinsuke Takasugu - Which was quite a letdown in terms of the quality. The use of decals overpowers the finer details. Some particles lodged into the plastic mould also.

Overall - Nice value for money. Decals are used for details instead of plastic mouldings or paints, therefore letting down the overall quality.

Toby's Home

So...

This time I'm introducing Toby's Home. 

I bought his cage online from Enfield Produce. I told them its urgent and they send it the next day! Very helpful and friendly.

and then,

We tried to find a way so Toby's pee wont get caught on his fur. We went to Bunnings and got some net and water pipes.

Jacky did the framing while I clean Toby.

and the net.

Fits perfectly!

We placed the cage at the corner between dining and back door, facing the living room.

Straw bedding on top of the mesh, and hays.
Food and water included.

With fleece blanket as his bed and his favourite hiding shell.
If you're wondering, the mirror is his "toy"

We put him in and he shit at 4 corners to mark his territory, and run around his new home.

This is his favourite corner. Its high and I guess he felt safe there?

We can tell that he is happy because he did "popcorning".

and, Jacky thought he is sick... because he look retarded.

Go you tube "guinea pig popcorning" and you will know what I'm talking about.

Meet Toby

Hi All. 

Jacky has been complaining that I did not update "our" blog.

And finally here it is, my first blog post after his constant nagging.

 This is Toby at the pet store. Apparently it was his first day at the store and he was very scared. He did not let anyone touch him and refuse to come out from the shell.

 

This is his box where we transport him from the pet store.  

 

Meet Toby!

We got almost everything for him except the cage. Because the cage was $179.90!!! at the pet store. We bought a laundry basket but it was too small.

 

So, we decided to put him temporarily in the bath tub.

He froze for hours because he was very scared.

 

Until Jacky cut some kiwi fruits for him. He got very excited and finish everything in the bowl.

More updates soon!

He is very noisy now...

Capsule Q - Biblia Koshodou no Jiken Techou, Shinokawa Shioriko (Set of 4)

Biblia Koshodou no Jiken Techou is a story about an antique second-hand bookstore owner who spends her time playing detective on her distressed customers. Think House MD, but instead of a satrical over-confident protagonist you have a shy introvert. Instead of drawing conclusions by piecing together different symptoms you have a character who combines knowledge of books and stories with psychoanalytical tendencies towards her customers. Yes - very Japanese indeed.

Unboxing - Fortunately it didnt come in parts. Just imagine how one would GIF a kinder surprise.

I came across these figurine set during my trip to Japan this year and what caught my attention was the amount of detail packed into this thing for a capsule collectible. My experience of capsule collectibles is either one of the two. You can end up with a set of miniature novel items that's fixed to a keychain and highly susceptible to the slightest scratch or wear. Or you end up with something that tries to pack more than the size of the packaging, resulting in a 5 inch model cut into parts, squeezed into something a little less than a tennis ball, and reassemble into a flimsy model with eye twitching joint lines and parts bent out of shape.

The Biblia Koshodou no Jiken Techou series exceeds both accounts. The integrity of the model is maintained by its virtue as a full unbroken plastic figure matching the size of a capsule. This set - which comprises 4 designs of the main character Shinokawa Shioriko - packs one of the most impressive displays of sculptural attention which places these on the range of your typical 8 inch collectibles.

The set adopts a pyramid composition. A lot of attention is paid to Shioriko's hair and posture, but the real bang comes at the base of the models where objects overflow and envelope the character - books painted with spine and covers leaning and tipping over, miniature details such as floral bases, picture frames, tea cups etc, all sharply crafted and produced to a high standard with minimal bleeding of paintwork (made in China - not bad!).

The back of the models spots as much detail as there is on the front.

Coffee Cup stacked on books, notice the frame piece sticking out.

Two different plastic materials are used here for the tea cup.

Conclusion: Awesome collectible set with the quality of a 8 inch model for something that comes out of a capsule.

PS: Many thanks for Anime at Abbotsford who are stocking these at the moment. All hope was lost for completing this set after taking 3 of the 4 from Japan - until i've found the kimono figure at their store!

Tamiya 1/700 Waterline Series: LST-4002 Shimokita (Unboxing)

Another Gif-fing taken to the next level!

My Neighbour Totoro Papercraft Kit

This is a origami kit i stumbled across whilst on my Japan trip last month. Whilst bumming through a tamiya model shop in kyoto looking for any cheap ship kits (they were cheap!), this one caught my eye for 840 Yen. 

Contents:

Box and stage - Without the shrink wrap

Unboxing.

Origami Paper and folding instructions. Each set of character has one lined origami (as a reference) also also three spare sheets in case you cock up your first fold. Very considerate.

Origami Contents - Explained in a GIF animation. There are three background sheets, of which im not sure what we are meant to do with.

Folding the characters - according to the instructions.

Final Images

Tamiya 1/700 Waterline - YAMATO Finished

Since today was a public holiday ive decided to take some time to construct the worlds most dodgiest light stage so nobody has to see my clothes in the shots anymore. Luckily i managed to salvage some offcuts and spare materials from my uni days for this. Not so bad i might say.

Since there was more time to blow on this today, i decided to test the NX1000 out and get to the bottom of this lighting issues. After a fustrating one hour, ive accepted that the tinted light in my room doesn't really help the shots, so i ended up photoshopping each of these images to get them to the levels and contrasts that best represent the model. So here goes. 

Firstly, some overall views

Front 'ish

Back 'ish

Fighter Deck and Catapult

Believe it or not those are actually two slingshots on either side used to launch the scout/fighter planes on either side. From what i can tell from the diagrams, these planes then land on the water and the crane in the middle would then pick them up and dunk them back into the hangar below. 

47mm Main Guns

Back in the days these were actually built in secret, where international armament treaty capped guns like these at 40mm. 

More Photos

Next kit: a 1/350 full series with hull!