blacklotus

Thanks for the links. OMG! The Sheryl's prototype has her hot pants so tight that I can see her cameltoe. Then again, so was May Nakabayashi's (May'N) hot pants during her mini-concert promotion in Singapore last year. And yeah, she was wearing a black pair too. So yeah, art is a reflection of real life after all.

I'm not referring to STD viruses. I'm worried about the lead content and other hazardous organic chemical stuff in the paint and plastics manufacturers used in their "Above 15 years old" collector's toys. Sorry if I wasn't clear earlier. When a toy is made for 15 years and above, it generally means these toys don't have to pass the more stringent testings for toys made for children. And FDA (in USA) won't bother checking them. Remember the serious fiasco with Mattel Thomas toy trains? Yup. That's why most Japanese toys based on anime are rated 15 years and above, even though toys based on, for example, Doreamon the robot cat are generally bought and given to younger kids. So be careful, and wash your hands after handling these toys, for your own health's sake.

The Singapore and Thai newspapers reported on the issue, including pictures. It was definitely bad PR for BMW, especially when the breakdown is a 7 series model. Probably a top end 7 series too. I don't think a Thai Finance Minister will drive anything less. And no, I don't own a car. Haven't yet and never will if I stay in Singapore. A car here cost about 2.5 cars in other countries. One pays for the price of the car, + 110% tax on the import price of the car + US$10000 (approximate only since this is balloted every month, so it can go up or down) to buy a piece of paper that says "You can own this car for 10 years only". It's called a Certificate of Entitlement or COE in short. The paper is valid for 10 years only. After 10 years, you have to go buy another piece of paper from the govt again.

Oh, I didn't notice the Transformer in your photo. I was just commenting on the new line of Transformer toys from Hasbro: how even after having transformed to a jet plane, it doesn't look like a jet plane from the underside. The topside is good. But turn it over and .... Tis too bad, cause I really like the SR71A Blackbird and Jetfire in the movie.

I think a former Thai Finance Minister can give you a testimony on How BAD BMW is. He was in his 7 series when the electronics fail. And his bodyguards have to break to windscreen from the outside to free him from suffocation. This incident was actually reported in the papers a few years ago.

Rating over 15 years old is for financial reasons. By doing so, Yamato doesn't have to send the toys to labs to certify them to be children friendly. And Yamato can stick to using China factories with their fishy standards of QC and product safety. As a friendly reminder, please, for your own health, remember to wash your hands after handling these toys. Especially if one collects nekkid figures.

Have you tried getting Convention Exclusives? They're even worse. And all the Japanese manufacturers do them. Heck, even for REAL cars. I believe the Mazda RX7 in lightning blue colour scheme was a limited colour model for promo with X-Men 2. Anyway, I'm off exclusives. I'm not paying more than SRP. And even then, I consider myself pretty generous, since all Japanese do get these items at 20% or more off the SRP prices from their local shops. And we don't even get discounts for being loyal customers. e.g. I just found out Hobbysearch is having a 15% (in stock) to 20% (pre-order) sale for their 10th Anniversary in August. But this only applies to their Japanese customers. No offers or discounts for their overseas customers like me. And to think I buy about US$2000 worth of toys and stuff from them every month. I tried ordering the discounted stuff from their Japanese website and keying in my regular account. It doesn't accept the order, saying that my account isn't Japanese.

A Japanese did a good job for the 1/48 scale version of missiles launching out of the GBP by using clear bendable plastic rods, some cotton wool, and a can of red paint. I think I saved the pictures somewhere. Too bad I don't have it on hand. Definitely looks better than this Yamato "Tamashii" exclusive GBP. Anyway, I still want a pair of mechanical hands. Else, I'm not buying.

I asked for immediate delivery from my regular webshop as soon as it's out. But it's still in the packing stage. Can't wait to examine the figure in person. Back to playing with my armored Ozma while waiting.

I guess it's a Decepticon. I will treat the face dropping as a bonus. At least the VF22S is a better looking 'Transformer' than the official Hasbro stuff with all the fibbles.

Sorry man. But I just don't want everyone to get too excited and be disappointed later. I was with the Monster Ranka Lee. That was an Excellent Core series, so I thought Megahouse will sculpt her with nipples, just like all the other Core series stuff (except 1 of Tsukasa Bullet's early Core series figure which had non-removal clothing anyway - the spacegal). Unfortunately for the mass production release, they gave Ranka star-shaped nipple tape. I wonder if I can somehow "steal" the prototype which I believe to have nipples...

Yes, You Can. It slipped my mind what those 2 shells of different sizes mean. Ok, now I need to go find a MF h-doujin with Sheryl. I wonder if C76 comiket has any...

Probably just a colour change for the VF25, but the movie may add new gadgets and weapons for the VF25. Bandai will probably release them as add-ons (hopefully) or worse, re-release the VF25 with the new weapons and sell as a complete package (aka Doreamon the Movie edition with those movie only gadgets and the baby dino) Yup. I'm still angry with Bandai for pulling that stunt: not sell to owners of the Doreamon just an accessory pack but "force" us to buy another Doreamon just to get those movie only gadgets.

Bandai will release a new set of "movie" version VF25s, and probably more Tamashii Exclusives. It already has lots of practice milking fans of their Gundam line.

Woah! Isn't that like the pose on the paintjob of the MF promo van? Definitely grabbing a few of these. But I think she'll be wearing nipple tape as well, just like the Monster Ranka Lee.

Is it just me, or does the center pic looks like a Bay-former face?

Not officially, no. Only the YF21 with the fast packs have the slots for the gunpods. Non-canon, someone posted a picture in the VF22S thread that if you're lucky, 2 slots under the wings can fit the gunpods nicely. But don't force the pods in if they're not able to go in easily and smoothly, as it's really unofficial.

Just opened the box today though I received on Tue. Only had time today to do a partial inspection. 1) there is a strong paint smell coming from the box. So I open it in a well-ventilated area. 2) there are some oily patches on the leg armours on mine. So I do what I always do for these PVC toys: Give them a gentle warm water baby lotion sponge bath to remove any chemical residues. I ain't gonna catch cancer from my hobby if I can help it. They're drying up as I type here. 3) My 4 head lasers aren't 100% straight. Slightly bent and not in a parallel alignment. Probably will use a hairdryer to gently straighten them if I have some time later. 4) Reading the manual right now, since it's my first DX. And like they always say, RTFM. More later.

From the photos I've seen, I'll pass, unless I want a bunch of tiny "cheap" valks on a rectangular base for a Macross table top game. But, I'll need a bunch of mini scale Regults as well.

If it's a 1/8 and bigger figure, it's probably a GK. No news of a new Minmay figure from the big boys. They're all doing MF at the moment. CMS is the only one still releasing Macross 10cm collectible figures. I would love to have a good quality Minmay figure in a chinese dress similar to Ranka Lee. They can serve Nyan Nyan customers together.

What does that mean in practice? Retention? Not enough post workers to deliver the package? Retain for customs inspection? I'm surprised an "advanced" country like USA has such bad postal service, if the the Saturday Night Life and Seinfield jokes about post workers are to be believed.

Only 1 word to use here: WOW! These are indeed beautiful. I mean, making Valks out of LEGO bricks is impressive. But these cardboard versions are really WOW! Many Thanks for the website link. I definitely think this is indeed a better hobby to get into, not to mention, much cheaper than getting pricey toys that usually end up with QC issues. At least in this case, the QC lies in my own hands.

Any stationery shop that sells mechanical pencils will do. I personally use pilot 2B 0.3mm leads and a mechanical pencil left over from my school days 2 decades ago. I don't use a pencil at work. Heck, I hardly even use a pen now. No wonder my handwriting's gone to the dogs.

I think it's been stated many times that Breetai is huge even among Zentraedi. It's like the Rockets Yao Ming compared to typical Chinese. A typical normal Chinese isn't 7' tall either.

Off-topic but any reasons why Bandai's VF25S is bad? We're talking about the DX Chogokin version right? I just ordered 1 after Graham's positive reviews and nice pictures.