Haul pics - 29 March 2007

Two Motoko Kusanagi resin kits by RC Berg ordered for clients just arrived today. Check out the original post here for more info.

Click here for the picture gallery.

Client testimonial #37

Testimonial from client #81:

Potential clients of Joseph beware. With a service that is so affordable and so easy to use, one can easily be entranced into utilising it more often than your bank manager would like. I received my order within 2 weeks of placing it, hassle free. The product was so well packed it made me think it was his full time job. This experience has been so favourable I have already started making more orders after the first arrived. So if there is a Japanese, hobby related, item not available through HLJ do consider a certain 'hunter' from Tokyo to be your first port of call. I thoroughly recommend it.

Item purchased: Alter Fate/hollow ataraxia 1/8 scale Rider swinsuit PVC Hobby Japan exclusive

Client testimonial #36

Testimonial from client #79:

Original French testimonial:

Je remercie chaleureusement Joseph pour son service. Il répond toujours aux questions posées trés rapidement et de façon détaillée. Il fait preuve de beaucoup d'empathie et cherche à satisfaire le client au mieux. Faire des affaires est un plaisir puisque tout est transparent. L'envoi que j'ai reçu était parfaitement emballé. Je suis enchanté et je le recommande vivement !

Babel Fish translated version:

I cordially thank Joseph for his service. It always answers the put questions trés quickly and in a detailed way. It shows much empathy and seeks to satisfy the customer as well as possible. To make deals is a pleasure since all is transparent. The sending that I received was packed perfectly. I am enchanted and I recommend it highly!

Item purchased: ebCraft Sengoku Blade Koyori

Tokyo International Anime Fair 2007

Just got back from my first Tokyo International Anime Fair today with lots of interesting handouts and bags. Tons of awesome trailers shown there that got me really excited over the upcoming anime series like Toward The Terra, Kissdum, Skullman, Devil May Cry, Gurren Lagann, Claymore, Darker Than Black, and Highlander, just to name a few. My coverage of the event will be up on HobbyLink Japan sometime next week.

16th Tokyo Toy Festival coverage

I attended the 16th Tokyo Toy Festival held at Tokyo Big Sight on March 18th and met up with a couple of guys from Tformers.com. I got the opportunity to shake hands with Masato Uchiyama (TheBee & PunchHopper actor from Kamen Rider Kabuto show) and got him to sign a TheBee Rider Form soft vinyl figure I got for 300 yen at one of the sellers there. The guy sure has soft and warm hands! About 95% of the people lining up to get his signature were female from teenagers to married women in their 40s. Some of them even cried after getting to talk to the guy and shook his hands!

Check out my coverage of the event on HobbyLink Japan. Next up, Tokyo International Anime Fair!

Harajuku pics - 17 March 2007

After I bought the S.I.C. exclusives on my first entry on Day 2 of the S.I.C. Imagination Works exhibition, I had a couple of hours to spare before I reenter the exhibition again to purchase some more of the exclusives for my clients. So, I spent the time taking some pics of Harajuku to give you all a pictorial tour of the area. Click here for the picture gallery and click here for last year's Harajuku pics. Enjoy!

Haul pics - 17 March 2007

Got slightly bigger haul today from Day 2 of the S.I.C. Imagination Works exhibition. All items were purchased for clients except for one S.I.C. neck strap & plate, which is for myself that I didn't manage to get on Day 1.

Four pieces Kamen Rider Hibiki Maziora color version - 6,000 yen each

One piece Kamen Rider Ryuga [Dragblacker] - 5,500 yen

One S.I.C. Imaginaiton Works Limited plate - 500 yen

Two S.I.C. Imaginaiton Works Limited neck strap & plate - 800 yen each

Four Kikaider clear ver. trading figure - free with each entrance ticket

This came in the mail yesterday for clients:
Three piece Busou Shinki MMS Naked White Body - 1,800 yen per piece

And I bought these two for my clients after the S.I.C. Imagination Works exhibition yesterday:
Alter Fate/hollow ataraxia 1/8 scale Rider swinsuit PVC Hobby Japan exclusive - 8,190 yen

Bandai Kamen Rider Blade helmet - 1,000 yen

Click here for the picture gallery.

S.I.C. Imagination Works - Day 2 - 17 March 2007

Day two of the S.I.C. Imagination Works exhibition. Finally got there early this time at 8 am and was #47 in line. The queue soon grew to over 100 people within an hour. The first couple hundred people, including me, lined up outside of the Laforet shopping mall in the cold winter morning until we were directed into the museum at 11 am sharp.

I went to purchase 1 Hibiki, 1 Ryuga, 1 S.I.C. plate, and 2 S.I.C. neck strap & plate as soon as I got in. The line stretched all the way from the 5th floor down to level B5 this time. When I rejoined the line to grab another Hibiki and Ryuga for my clients, the number I received was already #411, and that was just 15 minutes after the museum opened! Several minutes later, one of the staff informed all attendees that Ryuga had all been sold out for the day. Seems like they had most of the Ryugas sold on the first day (lasted for nearly 2 hours before it was sold out on Day 1) and only allocated around 100 pieces or so for each of the remaining days. I quit the line as there's no point in lining up for at least 2 hours just to get one Hibiki figure per entry when I can easily grab one without having to wait in a long queue after 2 pm, same as yesterday. There was no line at the entrance into the museum after around 2:30 pm on Day 1, and no line at 2 pm on Day 2. There were only a handful of people still trying to buy up as many of the Hibiki figures they can carry in the afternoon. There were only 5 people at most lining in front of me to the register in the afternoon. Still plenty of Hibikis to go around before I left Harajuku at 3:30 pm on Day 1, and plenty more on Day 2 as well when I returned to buy the remaining 3 pieces of the Hibiki figures for my clients. The S.I.C. plate and neck strap sold out very fast in the morning though.

Although there will still be a small quantity of the Ryuga exclusive figure available for purchase tomorrow, I won't be attending the exhibition again to purchase the remaining quantities my other clients requested, so my apologies to clients who wanted the Ryuga figure. I only managed to get one for the first client who requested it (first come, first served basis) and I tried to get more but they're all sold out too quickly. I will be attending Tokyo Toy Festival on Sunday and I gotta work on the remaining days of the exhibition, so the first two days were the only days I could attend the exhibition.

I had a blast checking out all the amazing S.I.C. diorama sculptures during the two days I attended the exhibition. No matter how many times I get into the museum and examining each piece again and again, they still manage to take my breath away. It's totally different from looking at the pictures in the diorama stories when you get to check out the actual thing with your own eyes and examining them from every possible angle. Here's hoping they'll plan more S.I.C. exhibitions in the near future! And more S.I.C. exclusives to buy, too!

Haul pics - 16 March 2007

The following are items that I managed to purchase at today's S.I.C. Imagination Works exhibition for my clients, as well as some for my own collection. I got one Hibiki figure, one Kikaider clear ver. trading figure, pamphlet, and a V neck t-shirt for myself.

Three pieces Kamen Rider Hibiki Maziora color version - 6,000 yen each

Two L-size S.I.C. Imagination Works original black t-shirt (V neck) - 3,990 yen each

Two S.I.C. Imaginaiton Works original pamphlet - 3,000 yen each

Three Kikaider clear ver. trading figure - free with each entrance ticket

S.I.C. Imagination Works exhibition flyer - free

Click here for the picture gallery.

To clients who requested for the Ryuga figure and S.I.C. plate, don't worry, I will be attending the exhibition again tomorrow as they have allocated a limited amount for sale each day of the six-day event, and I should be able to get enough pieces to fill all orders tomorrow ... I hope. Not sleeping tonight so I can take the first train down early in the morning and be able to get at the very least, one Ryuga figure. Same goes for the Hibiki figure as I need to get three more to fill all orders. Don't keep your hopes up too high as quantities are very limited and since it's a Saturday tomorrow, there will probably be twice the number of people attending the exhibition. Check back again tomorrow for updates and hopefully some good news!

S.I.C. Imagination Works - Day 1 - 16 March 2007

First day of the S.I.C Imagination Works exhibition opened to the public today ... and I woke up 4 hours later than I had initially planned. :-( I was supposed to take the first train down at 5 am but I didn't wake up until 8 am, even though I had an alarm clock set to wake me up at 4:30 am and the alarm on my mobile phone set to ring at every 15 minutes starting 4 am. Guess it's time I get a better alarm clock (or two!) that can actually wake me up in the morning!

Arrived at LaForet shopping mall in Harajuku and headed straight up to the 5th floor (LaForet Museum is located on the 6th floor but one can only enter through the stairs on the 5th floor) at 11 am, which is the opening time of the exhibition, and initially I thought most of the people would have entered the museum by then and the line wouldn't be too long. Unfortunately, that was not the case as I approach the entrance, there are easily over 500 people in lines of two waiting to get into the museum. The line started from the entrance as seen here on the 5th floor, winding down the stairs all the way to the B1 floor then winding up again to the 1st floor! A guy who lined up in front of me asked one of the exhibition staff when did the first group of people started lining up for the event, and the staff replied they were there since yesterday evening!

When I got to the end of the line, I was on the 1st floor that led down to the B1 floor, which the line then connects to the opposite stairs leading up to the museum entrance. The line behind me probably reached the 3rd floor or higher. It was 11:10 am when I joined the line and didn't manage to get into the museum until two hours later! Thankfully, I brought my Nintendo DS with me and played Super Robot Wars W to pass the time. I'd be bored to death without it!

Upon entering the museum, I had to join another line that led to the register to purchase the exclusives, and that took me an hour waiting in line and only managed to purchase one Hibiki, two pamphlets, and two SIC V-neck shirts. They limit customers' purchase of the Hibiki and Ryuga exclusives to one piece per person. Ryuga, SIC plate, and neck strap quantities allocated for sale on day 1 were all sold out just as I got into the museum. They allocated a certain amount per item for sale on each of the six days (16-21 March) and it seems like those three are the most popular, or that they didn't make enough of them. Customers are allowed to buy the exclusives again as long as they line up again to enter the museum and buy a new entrance ticket (600 yen) to get the purchase form. Of course, there were plenty of people who lined up again and again to buy up as many of the exclusive figures as they could carry. I actually saw a 70+ year-old grandma with a stack of over 20 bags filled with exclusives sitting near the museum exit! I regret that I didn't manage to take a pic of her with all those stuff. Truly unbelievable sight! I assume she was asked to help carry all those stuff by her son/grandson who kept reentering the museum to purchase more of the exclusives while she guards the stuff.

As with all exhibitions, no photography is allowed inside the museum so I couldn't take any pics. Here's a glimpse of how it looks like inside the museum. It was open to industry and press people yesterday and GA Graphics was there to provide a brief coverage of the event.

Even though there were only a handful of Takeya's and Ando's original S.I.C. diorama sculptures on display, the ones on showcase were truly a sight to behold! I had to pick up my jaw from the ground each time I look at the sculptures. There are no words I could think of that could best describe just how bloody detailed and life-like those sculptures are. When I first saw Gattaider in the official S.I.C. diorama story, I thought it was around the same size as the normal S.I.C. figures, but when I saw the real thing in person, man, I couldn't believe just how big it was! It stood around 15" tall and nearly three times larger than the normal S.I.C. figures! I'd buy that in a heartbeat if Bandai decides to produce a mass market version!

All the S.I.C. figures, trading figures, and exclusives ever produced were on display, along with the upcoming Blade Jack Form & Leangle, and Kikaider 01 & Double Machine. Kikaider 01 & Double Machine on display were unpainted prototypes and they look excellent from what I've seen. The set will come with a statue that Kikaider 01 broke away from as seen in the diorama story and trading figure. Can't wait to see how the final painted version will look like!

Overall, it was a fascinating exhibition and could have been perfect if only Takeya and Ando were there. I was expecting them to be there for some talks and a signing event but unfortunately, there are no public appearances planned for both of them for the exhibition. They should seriously consider opening a special museum dedicated to showcasing their masterpieces all year round and continually adding more pieces to the museum. I'd certainly go there at least once a month!