Anime Figurines Thread

[Azuma Denton]

Well, you can be creative using Nendoroids for things like this...


Mostly now I buy nendos for their faceplate or equipment...

[Revan21]

I never play with my nendos or switch their faces, just display them in the pose that I like the most.

Then again, I only got ten of them, and around 50 petites
Petites are the best.
They have the same form and cuteness, take up less space and if you don't need the accessories, it's affordable to buy a lot more of them.
Where I live, you can get six petites for the price of one larger nendo.

I'm definitely picking up the Girls und Panzer set this year

Originally Posted by risingstar3110

Didn't even notice it till you pointed it out. So not really attentive. But what do i know, still a noob on this ^^
But when you said prize figure. Other than the scale, does it means the plastic or paint quality are also not as good or something?

Sure, you can feel that the plastic of a prize figure is usually not that sturdy compared to the ones made by the top manufacturers, but the sculpting and the painthing could still be great. Even the scales are the same, you can easily find 1/7 or 1/6 prize figures nowdays. Check out Banpresto's SQ and Sega's PM figures, those are usually the best you can find in this category.

Originally Posted by risingstar3110

I don't know, really sitting on the fence on this. It just that I looked at that figure, which look really really good with all those shield and sword ( i never collect figure, but played a lot with mecha toys like transformers and stuffs when i was young, so it probably rubbed a bit on me). With quite a big discount. Then with Rakuten having a 2,500Y discount promotion on international shipping (when you pay 10,000Y or more). It just begged me on making a purchase (of that Nanoha and another one).

Anyone have their own story about how they struggled (or not) with collecting figures? Probably would help me a bit on here

Speaking from personal experience, figure collecting is just as addictive as any other collecting hobby. Once you got one and you are satisfied with it, you will easily buy more and build up a collection, depending on your financial circumstances and your self restraint.

When it comes to me, I usually buy only two high-end figures in a quarter of a year, because I do not want to dump all my money on just this one hobby (I also buy BluRays, PC games, books, etc).
It can also be a very good restraint to only buy figures of characters that you know and like. That's how I do it, thus I do not need to think long and hard about getting random figures that happen to look great but other than that I do not know a thing about the character it displays.

As for displaying them, just buy a cheap glass cabinet and set it up in a corner of your room. You'll have to get around two or three dozen figures before you run out from space

[Azuma Denton]

Buy Chris Yukine nendoroid on impulse because of local store sale.
Definitely worth it...
Got lots and lots of weapon and equipment.
Took me half an hour to assemble the full equipment (minus the beam rifle)...

[risingstar3110]

Originally Posted by Revan21

Speaking from personal experience, figure collecting is just as addictive as any other collecting hobby. Once you got one and you are satisfied with it, you will easily buy more and build up a collection, depending on your financial circumstances and your self restraint.

When it comes to me, I usually buy only two high-end figures in a quarter of a year, because I do not want to dump all my money on just this one hobby (I also buy BluRays, PC games, books, etc).
It can also be a very good restraint to only buy figures of characters that you know and like. That's how I do it, thus I do not need to think long and hard about getting random figures that happen to look great but other than that I do not know a thing about the character it displays.

As for displaying them, just buy a cheap glass cabinet and set it up in a corner of your room. You'll have to get around two or three dozen figures before you run out from space

In my case, it seems to be more on: "God look how nice it is and how much it was discounted. Have to get it." kinda thing. But it's strange because i don't decorate my place as mentioned. No poster, no picture frame, not even desktop wallpaper.

Well i guess one like this would look nice. But it does not fit my room at all. Like just think a very dull and slightly messy room, then suddenly at corner rise up a figure display column....

[Azuma Denton]

Originally Posted by risingstar3110

In my case, it seems to be more on: "God look how nice it is and how much it was discounted. Have to get it." kinda thing. But it's strange because i don't decorate my place as mentioned. No poster, no picture frame, not even desktop wallpaper.

Well i guess one like this would look nice. But it does not fit my room at all. Like just think a very dull and slightly messy room, then suddenly at corner rise up a figure display column....

I currently use that in my room. Quite nice for a start...
Due watchout for some mold in the wood on the top shelf if your room isnt dry enough.

[risingstar3110]

Btw, anyone knows if that Rakuten offer valid/ can be trusted (This one: http://global.rakuten.com/en/help/se...warding.html)?

I heard that rakuten.com got really bad review. But global.rakuten.com was not as bad?

Cause if i buy that Nanoha figure, it will have to go by EMS. And the ~$25 discount in shipping fee would definitely save me a fair bit

[risingstar3110]

It seems my profound hobby has died it has the chance to cast its wing.

Got it back from AmiAmi that the figure is slightly above the small packet limit, making EMS to be compulsory. Once again it's just $10-20 different. But if put it in context, do i want to buy things that costs 60% extra just on shipping fee....? And it gonna be like this every time?

I guess i have to rethink on all these

[iceyfw]

Originally Posted by risingstar3110

It seems my profound hobby has died it has the chance to cast its wing.

Got it back from AmiAmi that the figure is slightly above the small packet limit, making EMS to be compulsory. Once again it's just $10-20 different. But if put it in context, do i want to buy things that costs 60% extra just on shipping fee....? And it gonna be like this every time?

I guess i have to rethink on all these

you could use the amiami combined shipping they have. the figures have to be in stock the same month though. so an example would be you -could- order your nanoha in the month of july with some other figure preorder that is set to be released in july also. that way you don't pay twice for shipping for each figure.

annnd crunchyroll has shiro from No Game No Life for 79.99 for their daily special. deal expires in 5 hours as of this posts time. SHINJI75 promo code makes it free shipping in the U.S. i'm trying to decide if i should cave in or not. that's a great price compared to japans price + shipping.

[risingstar3110]

Is the package normally that much heavy comparing to the figure itself?

And that deal is really worth it, so go for it. I means the shipping cost alone save you tons (i hope it's not unregistered shipping through). Man it's almost irrelevant for me here, unless Crunchy Roll add Australia into their free shipping special offer list soon.


Edit: have to say that unlike popular belief, old/ pre-owned figures do flies off the shelves. I spend Saturday night browsing through AmiAmi and put those i 'may want in the future' into watch list. By today, not even 3 days later, half of it has disappeared from my watch list. One of them had 4 copies and it all gone over the weekend.

[Robotech Master]

Got the Wendy Marvell Fairy Tail figure today to add to my small collection. Pretty good quality actually, with some surprising detail: they even painted her toenails.

[BaronNoir]

Hi, two questions.

I'm somewhat liking Black Bullet and I saw this http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/NEOBK-1606183. Is the kind of figurine in those magazines of an half-decent quality ?

To display figurines of a Nendoroid size, what would you say about boxes like that ? http://www.containerstore.com/shop/c...uctId=10001593

[Revan21]

Originally Posted by BaronNoir

I'm somewhat liking Black Bullet and I saw this http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/NEOBK-1606183. Is the kind of figurine in those magazines of an half-decent quality ?

Niitengo figures are good quality (at least in the recent years, they were only average before 2010), not as great as a petite nendoroid though.

Here is the figure itself

[BaronNoir]

Is there something in Degenki Magazine that could be problematic at customs ? (AKA, porn)

[roxybudgy]

Australian figurine collector here *waves* o/

My order for the Wolf Children figurine and another Madoka figurine arrived this week, yay!

Current collection: http://myfigurecollection.net/collection/roxybudgy



My mobile phone doesn't really take good pictures, especially at night under slightly dim down lights... http://blog.roxybudgy.com/posts/figu...play-may-2014/

When I started collecting, I bought a lot of stuff off eBay and websites such as YesAsia, PlayAsia and HLJ, with Volk's Holo and Alter's Yoko (from Gurren Lagann) being my most expensive purchases at around $300 or $350 each off eBay, and yes, they were the real deal in awesome condition, not bootlegs.

But seeing how much Volk's Holo now costs on eBay, I'm glad I bought her when I did. Of course, if I could buy her much earlier at a much cheaper price, I would have been even happier, but I started my figure collecting quite some time after she was released.

Which brings me to my question: to pre-order or not to pre-order?

After buying just about everything I wanted and could afford off eBay and Play Asia, all my purchases have been pre-orders. I worry that a figurine I like will sell out and end up costing much more than if I had pre-ordered (for example, Holo and Yoko). So by pre-ordering, not only do I get the figurine I want, I save myself the trouble of wading through the second-hand market (with their damaged boxes and non-pristine figurines) or scrounging the dark alleys of the Internet.

But the pitfall of pre-ordering everything is that I generally have to pay for my orders when they get released, which makes budgeting difficult, and now that I live with my partner in a house we bought together on a mortgage, good financial planning is more important than ever (when I started collecting, I lived with my parents and never had to pay bills). In fact, this is why I ordered the standard GSC Mikasa, instead of the limited edition one, man that base looks gorgeous but it won't be mine T.T

Then there's also the chance that the figurine can be found cheaper after it is released, in which case pre-ordering means you lost the gamble.

If I put my collecting on hold until the mortgage is paid off in 10-20 years time, then all the figurines I wanted would potentially be super expensive, rare, or worse yet... totally no longer available :O

So, how do you decide whether or not to pre-order? For those of you with adult responsibilities (such as a mortgage, maybe some of you have kids?), how do you handle your collecting hobby?

GSC's Arin (from PangYa) is on my wishlist and I saw her at a local anime convention, second hand in a damaged box. The seller wanted $70, I offered $50 but seller refused. At the end of the convention, she was still unsold but I wasn't going to pay $70 for a dusty second-hand Arin in a damaged box.

[BaronNoir]

Roxy, nice SAO set.

For my part, Asuna Koto have been as pretty as a nightmare-the first one I bought fell from the bookshelve (my fault) and I could not put the rings on the second. Still, very pretty. I have a Leafa still in her box, are the wings as hard to put as people said on my figurine ?

[roxybudgy]

Originally Posted by BaronNoir

Roxy, nice SAO set.

Thanks :3 Since I have very little shelf space, I decided to display my figurines in rotating themed sets. My first/previous display set were my "big" figurines. Now it's SAO, and maybe I'll do either Fate/Stay Night or Madoka next.

Originally Posted by BaronNoir

I have a Leafa still in her box, are the wings as hard to put as people said on my figurine ?

Oh yes, I did struggle with the wings. The bits that stick in her back are different sizes so you know which wing goes in which hole, but sometimes it feels like the pieces don't quite fit and it makes you wonder if maybe you're sticking the wrong wing in the wrong hole, plus the pointy ends on the wing keep pricking your hands, and you keep checking the picture on the box to make sure you're not going crazy. In the end, I just shoved them in as far as I could without breaking them.

[Revan21]

Originally Posted by BaronNoir

Is there something in Degenki Magazine that could be problematic at customs ? (AKA, porn)

No, not even nudity.

Originally Posted by roxybudgy

Current collection: http://myfigurecollection.net/collection/roxybudgy

Very nice collection.
Personally I do not care about SAO, but I love to see more Holo And Luka is also my favourite Vocaloid.

[BaronNoir]

Any good soul willing to explain me the différences between SAL and EMS ?

Also, is this the corect magazine for the BB figurine ?

http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E9%9B%BB%E6...%83%B3%29+2014 )(Obviously, I did not read japanese)

[risingstar3110]

Originally Posted by BaronNoir

Any good soul willing to explain me the différences between SAL and EMS ?

Also, is this the corect magazine for the BB figurine ?

http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E9%9B%BB%E6...%83%B3%29+2014 )(Obviously, I did not read japanese)

As i understand, one is more expensive but took longer to arrive (means possibly more risks on transporting). And i assume you can't track SAL as easy as EMS

Originally Posted by roxybudgy

Australian figurine collector here *waves* o/

My order for the Wolf Children figurine and another Madoka figurine arrived this week, yay!

Current collection: http://myfigurecollection.net/collection/roxybudgy

Which one is the one that costed you $300?

Man, it's probably will take some major development if i want to become devoted as you. The shipping costs has been my biggest worry, so only hopes that there would be a myfigurecollection network in Australia any time soon.

[Lord of Fire]

Originally Posted by BaronNoir

Any good soul willing to explain me the différences between SAL and EMS ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_Air_Lifted

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Express_Mail_Service

In a nutshell:
- SAL is cheaper, but takes longer to arrive due to it involving more than one postal service, and you can't track items with it.
- EMS is more expensive, but is faster, and you can track items with it.

In the end, though, your stuff can still arrive late if customs are reluctant to process it quickly. And I don't really think it truly matters which option you choose when ordering figurines anyway. You might risk stuff being more damaged using SAL, but I haven't had any trouble with it as far as I know.