Neon Genesis Evangelion / K-ON! / Dr. Who Photoshoots

ALA8 was The Con of Photog Bombs, lol.

Besides the photographer who actually wound up being in my Misato × Vash photos poolside, I managed to participate in other people’s shoots as well — though nowhere near as intrusively. XP

So, even though I did take a bunch of the Dr. Who stuff independently, I hesitate to call these three events photoshoots since I was basically just taking pictures while the shoot was under someone else’s control. Then again, I don’t really call the shots at my private shoots either, so maybe the distinction doesn’t matter. ^^;

The first of the three shoots was on Saturday with Radiio Kittee as Misato Katsuragi from Neon Genesis Evangelion! I guess it was technically what’s known as Golden Hour (last hour of natural light), but the artificial lighting outside was pretty terribad. The main shooter on this one was her boyfriend Nos Ferous.

I met RK and Nos at Anime Expo 2011 and we kept in touch on Facebook. So good to meet up again and spend some time together! RK and Nos had never been to Anime LA before and didn’t know what to expect. They decided to make it a chill day, so she didn’t bring her wig this time.

RK said she wasn’t used to posing for photos, but I think she did a good job of making the character her own! Besides being the responsible adult most of the time, Misato also had her fun and goofy (drunk) side.

The second shoot was in the latter part of Sunday, with Aoi Mizuno as K-ON!‘s Yui Hirasawa! I was so sad I didn’t get to hang out with Aoi all con until I wandered out onto the pool deck and there she was in the middle of an epic shoot! Including me, there were 8 photographers there! :O The lead shooter this time was kimihirokun.

Aoi took the time to look in each camera’s direction, even mine! It made me feel special, and like I actually belonged there! ♥ I understand that all the other guys who were there are pretty much the top cosplay photographers working in the scene today. Every one of them is super-talented and I’m honored and privileged that they let this newb hack join in on the fun. ^^;

Yui is one of my K-ON! waifus, but I didn’t know there was a “Let’s Go!” version until Aoi told me about it!

Aoi had mentioned she’d gotten a new guitar for Yui, so I was glad I got to see it. It looks great! Aoi always does a great job making her costumes and embodying the characters she cosplays. Even with so many shooters, Aoi took it all in stride. She is the consummate pro!

The third and final shoot was later Sunday evening with Star Cat as the Eleventh Doctor and Liz as River Song from Dr. Who! Inoli Shiba did a shoot with them on the bridge (in the background), then went off to do some other things, which is when we did a few of these (what I like to call) “movie poster” shots!

Inoli returned later and there was more shooting to be done! Here she joins Star and Liz as the Tenth Doctor.

Afterwards, we hung out in the cabana a bit and were just goofing around. Yep, I stole this angle from Star herself, who used it during her shoot of Tora-rin at PMX 2011! ^^;

This photo, one of a sequence where River takes her book back from the Doctor who then tries to reclaim it, just randomly happened. It was great fun (and rather difficult) to shoot! Everything happened so fast — they were really fighting for the book during a lot of this and I had to keep telling them to try to hold still! But for once, my focusing fail actually kind of works! xD;

It was great fun watching other folks who are waaay more advanced than I am work. Thanks again to Nos, kimihirokun, and Inoli for letting me watch, learn, and take shots of my own! ^_^

See more photos via the link below!

2012 01 07-08 Sat-Sun: Neon Genesis Evangelion / K-ON! / Dr. Who

Anime LA 8

First con of 2012 was Anime Los Angeles and it was awesome sauce! It’s a small con (less than 5000 attendees), but it’s mainly about hanging out with friends!

I totally missed the Disney Cosplay Gathering. -_-; Of course, I did show up like at 3pm, lol. I found my friends Nos and Radiio, who had never been to ALA before, and we eventually made it over to the pool deck, where most of the cosplay gatherings are held.

I did catch a little bit of the Mortal Kombat one, though! These guys must’ve been crazy cold! :O

There was a photog nearby running an Ariel and Eric photoshoot and he graciously let me take some shots!

I have to admit that in all the cons I’ve been to, including D23 Expo, I don’t ever remember seeing an Eric nor this version of Ariel!

Mermaid ahoy! Not sure if this was from a particular series, but she was swimming around in the pool like it was a normal thing to do, lol.

I actually spent most of Saturday afternoon with Nos and Radiio, whom I met at AX11! We were just goofing around and I was randomly taking pictures; this one magically came in in-focus and everything. It represents all the fun times I got to have with friends at this con! ♥

… such as this epic duel between Misato from Neon Genesis Evangelion and Vash the Stampede from Trigun! Of course, it never fails — when I get an idea and start shooting, somebody will always come in and nuke my shots. :/

Cheated this one by cropping a bit, but everything’s better in widescreen.

Caught a little bit of the Homestuck Gathering. It was huge! I had no idea what Homestuck even was until I read an article about Homestuck fans throwing things at people. Dx

We hung around the little patch of grass in front of the hotel, where it seems like everyone was doing photoshoots! Of course, we did one, too. xD Post coming soon! (EDIT: Post here!)

Ran into my friend Aoi Mizuno, who was cosplaying Kuroneko from Oreimo! So bummed I didn’t get to see Sai Rei, though. In fact, I didn’t get to see her all con. :<

Snuck this shot of a Celty (Durarara!!) cosplayer while hanging out. I didn’t have a badge this time so I wound up being a creeper most of the con, fufufu.

Finally got to see Super Saki, who is cosplaying PMX’s mascot! Wish I’d been able to get a better shot of her Jolly Roger guitar pick earrings; they were awesome!

Gekisou/Extravaganza versions of Yuki Nagato and Haruhi Suzumiya! Too bad there was no Mikuru… or Kyon or Itsuki or Tsuruya. (Mmm… Tsuruya…)

Another Kim Possible at an anime con! Hasn’t the series been off the air for a while? This is the second Kim I’ve seen at the second con in a row (the first was at PMX 2011). Not that I’m complaining, I love Kim Possible! Glad to see her getting some cosplay love!

I don’t think you want to sit on that chair… your ass might belong to Kyubey afterwards! I love that ALA has all these cool benches kicking around for you to lounge about on. And even though I’ve been spoiled, I still want to watch Puella Magi Madoka Magica!

For Sunday, I convinced my friend sanitynevermore to drive up and hang out. While we were upstairs, I interrupted the conversation to take this picture of Meltdown Rin, lol. You can’t blame me, this was an awesome rendition!

Later on, I managed to find Aoi, who was in the middle of a mass photoshoot with seven other photographers! :O I saw Psylocke, who’s one of my favorite X-Men, so I had to run over and take a picture before she left. Aoi was like, “Where are you going??” (d’awww ♥ ) But she was being pew-pewed by much better photogs than I, so I think it was okay. Photos from that shoot coming soon also! (EDIT: Photos here!)

As the day wound down and I was waiting for my friend Star Cat, I was hanging outside Con Suite when I decided to take some shots of the lovely sky. Yes, photos of Star Cat coming soon also! xD (EDIT: Photos here!)

Loots from a con I didn’t get a badge to?? lol.. I won the Cosplay in America book in an OCAG raffle during AX11 and was finally able to pick it up at ALA. It’s signed by Ejen, and I’ll have to work on getting my friends Aoi and Maridah to sign it too, since they’re in it! ♥ Also got the ribbon from OCAG and oddly enough got the AX09 lanyard from the ALA Info Booth when Ashi-chan and I went over there to ask about a panel, lol.

Spent some quality time with folks I hadn't seen in a while, finally put some names and faces together, and even got to participate in a few multi-photog photoshoots (still have so much to learn orz )!

Be sure to check out the complete set of photos via the link below!

2012 01 07-08 Sat-Sun: Anime Los Angeles, Days 2-3

Christmas Geekation

Today is Singles Awareness Day in the United States, otherwise known as Valentine’s Day. But rather than remind you of how alone you are, I’m going to close out all the fun adventures I had in 2011 with a quick recap of my Christmas vacation and also a little tour of my room! ^_^

I went home for Christmas, as I usually do, and of course I am free to be thoroughly geeky there! I managed to take in a showing of Disney On Ice: Mickey & Minnie’s Amazing Journey. I used to go to Disney On Ice all the time as a kid. This time, my aunt had an extra ticket and invited me along. Of course, I took no stills during Ariel’s part b/c I was shooting video instead. xD

Some of my Christmas loots! The aunt who took me to Disney On Ice got me the Calvin and Hobbes × Back to the Future shirt and Snoopy plaque. It’s hard to tell if the aunt who gave me all the stuff in the top section is starting to run out of ideas or if she’s just mocking me now, since this is the second year in a row she got me mostly Ariel stuffs. In either case, I don’t really care b/c I love Ariel! ♥ My bad influence cousin got me Luka, and his sister got me the Donald shirt. The quote seemed pretty racy for a Disney item!

A run to Dunkin’ Donuts is always required if there’s one within a 50 mile radius! :9 I love Dunkin’s, especially Munchkins; too bad there aren’t any Dunkin’s on the west coast. :<

Welcome to my room! I’m not really a Goofy fan; this was actually the only poster I left behind when I moved, lol. I do love Snoopy, though! I need a quality figure of him.

Quick! Which Fab Five character and which Disney Princess do I love the most? xD;;

Here are a few of the things you’ll see on these shelves: There’s the dealer exclusive Walt Disney Classics Collection lead crystal promoting The Little Mermaid line of figures. Boxed up in the corner is an original Ariel artwork watch I got in Walt Disney World and a Scrooge McDuck watch I got for graduation. There’s also the very first Ariel doll by Tyco and Happy Meal toys from the original release! Scrooge was actually my favorite duck b/c I luffles DuckTales, so there are a few figures of him — yep, before I collected animu figurehs, I collected Disney ones! xD You can also see in the corner the Goofy that inspired/was inspired by the poster behind my door.

.. and I’m pretty sure those gumballs are no longer edible. xD;;

Cupboard full of treasures untold. Looky, Gunbuster and Witchblade trading cards along with LEGOs and Back to the Future Kids’ Meal toys!

More Ariels along with original and Powermaster Optimus Primes! I have a ridiculous number of TransFormers downstairs in our toy room and need to somehow bring them all back with me. xD;;

My first artbooks were Robotech ones, and I also took a class on Disney in school. Kids at heart may remember Oh, the Places You’ll Go!, while scholars will recognize the many many Cliffs and Monarch Notes. xD;;

Mirror, Mirror was one of my fave TOS episodes so I had to get The Next Generation‘s sequel. The Voyage Home was my favorite Star Trek film so that was another must-have tie-in. I also love the Back to the Future trilogy, but I never was able to track down the first film’s novelization.

Moar Ariel-related stuffs!

I somehow wound up with two sets of those Disney Channel TLM mugs! You can also barely see the comic adaptation of TLM on top of the binders and boxes.

Gambit is one of my favorite X-Men, but I haven’t been able to find decent action figures of two of my other favorites — Kitty Pryde and Nightcrawler. :/

I used to want to be a Disney animator. You can barely make out the Ariel I drew on my shelf due to dusty. orz

Collectors Edition VHS sets, binders full of trading cards, and assorted CDs and artbooks! Yup, that’s the original VHS release of TLM and several volumes of the manga series Gon in the corner!

I told you I went to Disney On Ice a lot when I was a kid! I went so often that I became a Knight of the Magic Kingdom! xD

This Donald plushie is huge! He’s also ridiculously heavy! @_@ I included the full door to my closet so you could get a sense of scale.

I have tons of Ariel dolls so you’d think I’d have a Dollfie by now, but thankfully they don’t make an Ariel DD (yet)! … or even an Eliza Doolittle one; I love Audrey Hepburn and My Fair Lady is one of my favorites! xD And yup, that’s an original Megatron sitting on top of The Hunchback of Notre Dame‘s Quasimodo!

So many ZOIDS and LEGOs that need assembled! Need to lug them back with me at some point too.

I was once a captain in Starfleet! My one and only ever cosplay, unless you count the time I put on a yellow raincoat and called myself Doc Brown. xD

Desk drawer of Ariel and other goodies. Used to be a huge Sandra Bullock fan.

Drawer of action figures, mostly Witchblade and Natalie Portman. Yep, I also used to be a Natty P. fan; as you may have gathered, I don’t really like Star Wars. :p

It’s okay, you can admit my sheets are cooler than yours! I also have TLM sheets but my mom didn’t use them this time, bwaha.

Concluding the room tour by going under the bed! No dust bunnies, just more LEGOs!

While my room isn’t nearly as stuffed-to-the-gills as Dancing Queen’s, I also only spend one week out of the year here nowadays. Most of my things are either boxed up or on the other side of the country. Still, I do believe I have a crapton more of the original redhead’s stuff than DQ does. I once wanted to collect all things Ariel, but of course with the merchandising machine known as Disney involved, I soon realized it was an unattainable goal. :/

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this quick look into my 2011 holidays! Next week, it’s on to 2012 adventures!

Saeko Busujima (HOTD) × Holo (Spice and Wolf) Photoshoot(s)

I met Star Cat at Comikaze and we agreed to set something up for PMX the following weekend. That Sunday, she introduced me to her friend Tora-rin and we spent the subsequent three hours just hanging out and taking pictures!

This was such a fun shoot! Spice and Wolf and Highschool of the Dead are totally unrelated series, but we were just having some fun warming up with these shots.

Saeko loves living on the edge! I’m at a loss for who would win a fight between these two. :O Thoughts?

It turns out that Star is a photographer also, and we wound up passing the camera around. I learned quite a bit just by watching her work!

So much went on during those three epic hours that, including Star’s stuff, I think we wound up doing half a dozen different shoots!

There was way too much head space in this shot and I didn’t want to lose anything off the sides, hence the weird image shape. :/ Should’ve had Tora-rin scootch up a bit, but we kept getting hassled by hotel staff so we had to get out of there.

Tora-rin plays with her sword, which she had recently purchased. Saeko really loves that sword!

If this picture makes you feel uneasy, then I did it right. Otherwise… :/

Hnnnnng. Stole this angle from Star Cat! Highschool of the Dead was one of my favorite series of 2010 and the cool and collected Saeko was definitely my favorite character from that show. Tora-rin did a great job bringing her to life!

Star Cat cosplayed the haughty wolf harvest deity Holo from Spice and Wolf. Having not seen the series yet (it’s on the list), I needed Star to tell me about the character. Apparently, Holo loves apples!

Star doesn’t generally cosplay female characters so she said she had problems doing “cute” poses. I thought this one was pretty nice!

Holo loves her apples almost as much as Saeko loves her sword. It took many attempts to get that apple to stay still. xD

It was great fun getting to know these two very talented and lovely ladies, and I learned a lot! Let’s get together again soon!

See more photos here!

The Gentlemen’s Alliance Cross (Countdown Ver.) Photoshoot

My first ever photoshoot was with Aoi Mizuno and shyot when they cosplayed Ushio and Maora from The Gentlemen’s Alliance Cross (Shinshi Dōmei Kurosu) at Fanime.

I was bummed that Sai Rei had already headed home, and it wasn’t until PMX 2011 that I finally got to meet her. She was every bit as nice as I expected her to be, and equally patient!

I called this the Countdown Ver. since this marks my:

4th ever photoshoot,
3rd time shooting with Aoi Mizuno,
2nd time with shyot, and
1st time with Sai Rei, who cosplays Haine Otomiya!

Once again, these experienced pros picked the locations and came up with their poses and expressions. Luckily there were no ISO snafus like at Fanime, but the lighting was horrible so I still had to use Noiseware to de-noise the photos. On top of that, I had to liberally apply Photoshop’s cooling filters to un-orange everything. D: We had a great time shooting, though, and I hope you can see the fun we had.

I told them to just interact as if they were having an actual student council meeting and shyot amazed us with his impressive knowledge of trivia. Even more amazing was that Aoi managed to stay in character while the rest of us kept cracking up!

Maora: Did you know that dolphins –
Ushio: Just shut up and get me some cake.

D’awwwww. Aoi and Sai Rei are besties IRL so these types of moments always popped up. ^______^

Ushio smiled! Happens every once in a while.

shyot came up with this idea to use the mirrored wall and they all did their own poses!

After the student council meeting, Maora needs to use the restroom. However…

Not realizing she’s a he, the girls try to get Maora to use the ladies’ room! What will happen next? Check out the full set of photos here!

Pacific Media Expo 2011

Pacific Media Expo 2011. Wow, what a difference a year makes!

Last year, PMX was in Pasadena, which was great b/c I could roll over there, park for free on the street, and find food within walking distance. This year, it was back at the Hilton LAX, which I wasn’t all that crazy about, but at least I was able to find some cheap-o parking next door since the Hilton had filled up and started doing Valet Only by the time I’d arrived. Dx

Last year I went with a buddy of mine and started really meeting folks. I met some awesome members of OCAG and the AX Forums, Aoi Mizuno and shyot, Dancing Queen, Hidekowin, Super Saki, and so so many others! This year, I actually got to spend some quality time with many of them! (In between stalking cosplays and meeting even more friends, of course!)

And finally, even though I was there a lot longer last year, I ended up taking far fewer photos. This year, I was there for less time and wound up with a crapton of pictures as well as a bunch of photoshoots! (Photoshoots coming soon!)

The lighting was terrible, as is usual for this location, but I figured out how to use cooling filters in Photoshop so I abused the crap out of them. xD;;

I ran into my friend Ashi-chan (left) and she saved my con by hooking me up with a badge! ♥ She’s super-awesome and talented! Go Like her Facebook Page!

After I made my way into the Dealers Hall, I ran into my friend Star Cat! I'd met her the weekend before at Comikaze and we wound up doing a photoshoot with her as Holo from Spice and Wolf on Sunday here at PMX! Photos soon! (EDIT: They’re here!)

Welcome to the Dealers Hall! It’s obviously not going to be as big as AX’s, but since PMX focuses on more than just anime, you will find an interesting variety of loots here!

Some of the goodies you could buy in the Dealers Hall.

Everyone stalks cosplays, not just me! xD

ABCToy4Me had a pretty good-sized booth! My friend Dancing Queen got a good deal on the Lat-type Ver. Miku Hatsune figure here!

After finishing up at the Dealers Hall, I roamed around a bit and found this Ranka and Sheryl! I still need to watch all the Macrosses that aren't DYRL or Robotech. ^^;

Making my way downstairs, I saw this fellow from, I think, Assassin's Creed? There were a couple of these guys walking around being shadowy and mysterious… @_@

Ran into my friend Vensy in the lobby and followed her to a photoshoot, but we got shooed away from the room and then she ditched meh. ._.

Before the shooing and ditching, we found one of Vensy’s million friends! We were in the room where they were prepping the Swap Meet, which is why we were shooed. I love anime swap meets, and I wish more cons had them! To be honest, I’ve bought more things from swap meets than dealers halls the last few cons I’ve been to. xD;;

I made my way to Artists Alley since my friend Hidekowin had a booth there and that’s where I saw this awesome cosplay! No idea where it’s from, but that's one cool outfit!

Artists Alley! I saw a Chun-Li and Cammy here and I wanted to take a picture of my two favorite Street Fighter girls, but I didn't get to. :<

I only really started hanging out in Artists Alleys after I set up a deviantART account and realized a lot of my favorite artists could be found in them!

I’m not really into Vocaloids, but I’d have to say that Luka is my favorite. These two cosplayers were obviously good friends and it was fun chatting with them, if only briefly.

One of the coolest things about PMX is the fact that they have a Pocky and Ramune Tasting Room! You can buy tickets and then use those tickets to sample the many many many different varieties of Pocky and Ramune — many of which aren’t readily available here in the States! It’s a snack connoisseur’s dream!

In the Tasting Room they also had a silent charity auction going on. Many original and signed artverks from some of your favorite artists!

Here’s a photo of folks getting their photo taken. I apparently stalk other photographers, too! xD;

Small space, many shoots. The lobby is always alive with activity during PMX!

I managed to check out one panel, and of course it was my friend Ashi-chan's Chocolate Covered Cosplay panel! Video of the entire presentation on my YouTube Channel!

I met Ichigo Anyhoodle, who was honoring a couple of different series with her creative cosplay! There's a fez from Dr. Who and a red shirt from Star Trek. Do you see any others?

What’s the sitch? Was Shego trying to take over PMX? So not the drama — Kim Possible to the rescue!

Last year, I met so many wonderful and awesome and talented people, and they in turn have introduced me to others. Over the course of the past year I’ve gotten to know all of them better and I’m so very happy and proud to call each of them a friend. What a difference a year makes, indeed. ♥

Be sure to check out the complete set of photos via the link below; for video, be sure to visit my YouTube Channel!

2011 11 12-13 Sat-Sun: Pacific Media Expo 2011, Days 2-3

Black Friday 2011 Reviews Part II: Remote Loots Peddlers!

So much blathering that it couldn’t be contained in just one blog post! Here’s the second part of my reviews of the stores I bought stuff from during my Thanksgiving Weekend buying binge! Be sure to read the first part, which covers retailers of the more local (to me, natch) variety!

I placed an order with Hobbyfan.com for a bunch of figures late Friday night (technically the morning of Saturday 11/26) and I received the confirmation by e-mail pretty quickly, as was the case for the other two e-tailers below. However, much to my chagrin, I received a notice the evening of Tuesday 11/29 telling me that The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Yuki Nagato Disappearance Ver. Nendoroid was out of stock and therefore canceled. TAT

On Thursday 12/1 I got an email saying my order had shipped. Woohoo! New figurehs to look forward to! But then, to my extreme disappointment, another e-mail came on Friday 12/2 refunding me for the Ui Hirasawa K-ON! Nendoroid. Wh-what? They got my hopes up by charging me and telling me the order shipped, then crushed me after the fact? Nuuuuuuu!!

Anyway, I received the package a few days later on Monday 12/5. I like that they included this bit of cardboard on top. Not a whole lot of places do it, and it might seem kind of pointless, but even with some shifting around it’s just enough to add an extra layer of protection from errant box cutters!

They could’ve used a few more packing peanuts, though. :p

I’d bought from Hobbyfan before and one of the complaints I had was that sometimes the price for an item varies depending on which page you see it on. :/ I didn’t notice that issue this time, but my other gripe still stands: their inventory system doesn’t operate in real-time.

I know a lot of these stores don’t have real-time inventory, but not telling you something is out of stock until after the order ships nearly a week later is kind of lame. Someone from ABCToy4Me told me once that Hobbyfan doesn’t always pick up their shipments in a timely fashion… which has led to ABCToy4Me picking up Hobbyfan’s shipments for them! I don’t know how that’s even possible, but I’ll be pretty peeved if I ever find out that ABCToy4Me poached my Nendos! >:(

Next up is Robert’s Anime Corner Store (RACS). I’d never bought from them before, but my cousin has and he had a good experience, so I decided to give them a try. While I’d apparently missed their 15% off coupon on Black Friday, they had a 10% off coupon and always offer free shipping on orders over $49 so I decided to go for it.

I placed my order late Saturday night (okay, okay — the morning of Sunday 11/27). If I’d known I wasn’t going to get Yuki from Hobbyfan, I prolly wouldn’t have ordered Kyon and Haruhi. :< Anyway, the order confirmation came in right away, and I got another e-mail on Monday 11/28 saying my order had already shipped! That’s fast! :O I sent them an e-mail saying so and that I’d mentioned their sale in a post here. Imagine my surprise when I received a reply from Robert himself thanking me! That was some great service, I thought, but I should’ve read that shipping confirmation more closely.

I received the package on Monday 12/5 and noticed the Fragile sticker on it. You don’t see that too often, and now I was even more impressed. However, the box seemed a bit small for all the figures I’d ordered. Hmmmm.

I opened up the box, and ahhhhhhh. Completely filled with packing peanuts! Nice! But looking at the packing list, I realized that one of the figures I’d ordered, Alter’s Houmei from Shining Wind, was no longer available. :< I'll admit that she was a (very expensive) impulse buy that I thought would look nice paired up with my Momohime from Oboro Muramasa by Alter and that I didn’t really need her, but I was pretty bummed nonetheless. While the shipping e-mail did say she’d shipped quantity 0, I wish the notice would’ve come in a separate e-mail. Who reads those shipping e-mails that closely anyway? :p But aside from missing the mark on their fill ratio, RACS managed hit all the other customer service goals they state on their website!

The last package I opened was from Kotobukiya’s US store. They had a 30% off coupon code which was allegedly good on in-stock items, but there were reports that the coupon code did not work on any of the Bishoujo line of figures.

Anyway, I’d ordered Tamaki Kousaka from To Heart 2 and an Ayumu “Osaka” Kasuga from Azumanga Daioh right after my order at RACS and I received the confirmation by e-mail immediately. Unfortunately, I received a phone call almost a week later on Friday 12/2 telling me Osaka was out of stock and not expected back in. I tried to verify the new price, but the rep seemed to be pretty clueless. I eventually okayed the one figure for shipment, but after I hung up I realized that the new amount the rep had quoted me didn’t include tax. I e-mailed them about it b/c I didn’t want to spend that much on a figure I didn’t actually need, but they shipped without ever replying.

I received the package on the following Monday 12/5. As you can see here, they did not include enough packing peanuts, but thankfully she didn’t have to go very far to get to me. The packing list/invoice still included Osaka, so I had no idea what the actual cost was for this order (due to shipping charges) until they finally robo-e-mailed a refund notification on Thursday 12/22, nearly 3 weeks after they’d shipped! :< While I do like some of Koto’s figures, their service left little to be desired so I think I’ll be sticking to buying from dealers rather than directly through their on-line store for now.

I found it amusing that even though I placed these orders with e-tailers in different locations (RACS is clear across the country) over a long holiday weekend, they all arrived at my door on the same day. It’s disappointing that each one of these sellers managed to ship incomplete orders, but I’m just glad that I got my Max Factory Mari Makinami, since she’s the one I wanted the most. I was actually waiting for Anime King to run their crazy 30% off sale like they did in 2010 to get her, but they decided not to do it this year. Oh well, their loss is RACS’s gain!

I would have to say that in terms of service, My-D Pins & Collectibles and Robert’s Anime Corner Store were my two favorites! My-D Pins has a helpful, friendly staff and RACS is quick and responsive. Both are class acts!

Toylet.net is also a winner with the option of local pick-up. Additionally, in my experience, they enjoy the advantage of an inventory system that errs on the conservative side rather than crushes your hopes and dreams! (In 2009, an item I wanted was out-of-stock, but they let me order it when I e-mailed them about it — yays!) Next time, though, I’ll be sure to check their eBay auctions for even better deals!

Hobbyfan.com does what it does at decent prices, but canceling items like they did seems to be the norm for them. Crossing your fingers when ordering might help. :/ And Kotobukiya, I don’t know. If you were Alter or even Good Smile, I might put up with that kind of hapless service, but come on… you’re Kotobukiya. You really should be trying harder. :p

EDIT: Received a couple of e-mails from Henry at Hobbyfan on 1/23 and 1/24 after I told them about my review. He apologized for the cancellations and mentioned that some of the items in the sale were directly from their supplier and not based on current stock, since not carrying extra stock is the best way to pass the savings on to their customers. In that case, it’s quite possible that their rate of cancellation is much lower during the rest of the year.

EDIT: Received an e-mail from Bob at RACS on 1/24 thanking me for the review and reminding me that they use environmentally-friendly cornstarch packing peanuts. One more reason to buy from them! However, I would not recommend eating them instead of ramen when trying to save for more figurehs. ^^; Also, from the e-mail it sounded like they manage their inventory manually! :O They worked full shifts over the weekend in order to take things down as they sold out.

Be sure to check back next week, when we’ll go slightly further back into 2011 to relive some memories from PMX!

Black Friday 2011 Reviews Part I: Local Loots Peddlers!

Happy 2012! Hope your holidays were festive! ^____^

Talky Tuesdays™ resume with some reviews of B&M/on-line stores! As you may remember from my posts here and here, I went on a bit of a spending spree during Thanksgiving weekend. ^^;

Pictured is everything I boughted! Of course, the Ui and Yuki nendos I’d wanted so much didn’t make it to me. :<

Here are the first things I did get my grubby little mitts on, since they were from an actual B&M: two pins I picked up at My-D Pins & Collectibles. My-D Pins is like an indoor swap meet/yard sale; people rent showcases and put their goodies in them, and then you buy their stuff! I took a ride down there on Small Business Saturday (11/26), when you could get a $25 statement credit just by buying $25 worth of merchandise at a small business with your American Express Card!

The Donald Duck pin is one of nine limited edition D23 pins released at D23 Expo 2011. They’re so limited, I didn’t even see them when I was at D23! The series has Donald dressed up as several different characters, but I couldn’t resist this pin of Donald cosplaying Aladdin because Donald is my favorite of the Fab Five and Aladdin is one of my favorite Disney movies! It doesn’t hurt that Aladdin was also designed by Glen Keane, who is Ariel’s designer as well. The Donald pin was on sale b/c the owner of the showcase was doing 15% off during Thanksgiving weekend, so I needed to get something else to get to the $25 minimum.

Wait, the Ariel pin wasn’t my first choice? :O Did I have too much turkey and the tryptophan affected my brain? Of course not! (I didn’t even have turkey on Thanksgiving! ._. ) I had seen The Little Mermaid pin the last time I was down there and I’d been considering it, but when I finally took a closer look this time, there was damage to the box and it was obvious that it had been used. Plus, the price had been marked up 25%! But I finally caved and picked up this limited edition pin as well. It comes with a reproduction of the artwork that the pin is based on, and Ariel is just too cute! Plus, with the $25 statement credit, the pin was technically free!

The people working at My-D Pins were great! They were friendly and helpful, and they seemed to be pretty knowledgeable as well. It really seems to be a fan-run shop, and there are many things here besides just Disney pins. Of course there is a crapton of Disneyana, both old and new, but there are also movie posters, TransFormers, action figures, and more! You should definitely check them out if you happen to be in the vicinity of Disneyland!

Okay, well, I prolly just bored you all with my Disney escapade, so on to the figures! Or, in this case, UFO prizes!

Toylet.net was blowing out lots of their accessories and UFO prizes. While I don’t usually go for those types of things, I couldn’t resist the Akira Kogami plushie, especially since there are so few figures of her! And Ritsu Tainaka is one of my waifus from K-ON! (Yui Hirasawa is the other) so I had to get the muffler towel. I was originally going to use it as an actual muffler/scarf but based on the material, I think SEGA intended the accent to be on the towel part. ^^;

Anyway, I ordered these items late Saturday night (technically the morning of Sunday 11/27) and I received the confirmation by e-mail immediately. However, since I selected local pick-up to save on shipping, I didn’t get an e-mail saying my order was ready until almost a week later, early Saturday 12/3. I replied that I would be by on the next business day, Monday 12/5, and was able to pick up my items without much fuss. Of course, I saw later that Toylet included these items in its eBay holiday auctions and they sold for way less than what I paid. :< Oh, well, that's the world of collecting for you!

After I got home, I found three packages waiting for me — the rest of my Black Friday/Thanksgiving Weekend purchases! Check back for my reviews of those retailers that had to ship their stuff to me! (EDIT: Find Part II here!)

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Was trying to put something together for this week’s post, but it’s been crazy busy! @_@ So, I’d like to just simply wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! May you all get to spend some quality time with your loved ones as you reflect upon the true meaning of the season.

I do appreciate your taking the time to read my blog, and I hope you’ll join me back here in early 2012! Until then, safe journeys and bon appetit! xD

Round 1 Bowling & Amusement

Puente Hills Mall is also well-known as the Back to the Future mall, since it doubles as the Twin Pines/Lone Pine Mall where Marty begins and ends his time-traveling adventure in the first film of the trilogy.

My friends invited me to join them at Round 1, an arcade and bowling alley, for some bowling and general hanging out. Not having bowled in over a decade, I decided to tag along, if only for the company. Here is the outdoor entrance (there’s also an entrance inside the mall, but it closes when the mall closes).

Here are some signs that greet you as you enter. I… kept misreading this as “[Hello] Kitty Strapon”. xD;; These are phone straps — not health aids — that you get when you sign up for membership and whatnot.

They also do karaoke here! Not sure how the rates compare to other spots. I’ve actually never done karaoke before, and we didn’t do it this night, either.

There were a crapton of UFO catchers! Soooo many Hello Kitties here!

Hnnnng. Purikura machines. I had no idea this was a Japanese chain until I saw these. Yes, even the Hello Kitties everywhere failed to alert me to the fact. xD; I did not realize the Japanese like to bowl. ^^

Many different types of games here. So many games I’ve never seen before! But then again, I don’t frequent arcades much and I’m not really a gamer.

You can catch ice cream. Wut? There are also machines where you can win candy! No wonder we have an obesity problem! D:

This type of basketball game is a classic mainstay in any arcade. If you are good with the hoops, you can win many tickets which you can then turn in for cheap baubles that will break in half when you look at them.

Here’s where you rent a bowling lane and shoes. Remember to drop off your shoes when you are done with them so they can Lysol them up for the next group of folks.

You can whip darts at the dartboards here. Not at your friends, because they won’t give you prize tickets for that, even if you win.

You can also watch the Big Game on the Big Screen. Or Big News Stories. D: All while enjoying a brew from the snack bar!

Here are some of the loots you can trade your game-winning tickets for. You will need to feed the games quite often for some of these prizes. Some of them require tens of thousands of tickets! :O

Despite appearances to the contrary, these are not basketballs. If you try to dunk these, you will hurt yourself! There are many different colors, each indicating a different weight. As the night wore on, we found ourselves using lighter and lighter balls. xD;

These lovely static images at the ends of the lanes are all that you see until about 10pm…

… then they become screens for music videos! Back in the day, we used to call this type of thing “Rock ‘n Bowl”, except we only had the audio portion and would have to act out the video part.

The cheap price of displays now make everything, including these score-keeping screens, so high-tech! I think the last time I bowled, we had to keep score with pencil and paper. ^^; Of course, pencil and paper won’t mercilessly mock you when you muck up your toss. Your friends will, though.

Of course, I lost the game and I was pretty sore the next day, but it was quite fun to check out a new place and to hang out with friends! Hopefully, I’ll get to go again soon!

See more pictures on my Facebook!

2011 11 09 Wed: Round 1