The Energon Pub

[wilcosu35]

Quite the minifig army you got there. Do you have a big wall full of official display cases or are they stored away?
Or even better yet, a huge diaporama?

I plan to have them in small display cases on the wall. That's going to take a while because i just moved into this house a month ago and basically everything needs a heavy renovation. I'm starting at the first floor so my bedroom and collection room will be the first to be mostly done.
I'm not sure yet where i'm going to have the display for these guys however. I'm currently storing them per series in food preservation boxes

[Emerje]

It's been a busy week so I haven't had time to post and no time for photos, but I got two things in from AmiAmi.

First was Super Mini-Pla GaoGaiGar Goldy Marg and StealthGao 2.



Second was figma Hatsune Miku V4X. Might have some of my favorite Miku faces. Getting kinda tired of the same mic stand so many times (especially coming with a character with a headphone mic) and the same guitar that came with Miku 2.0 (and the mic again). The figure is nice, but two recycled accessories as the only thing in the box is a bummer. What's also a bummer is Miku 2.0 came with a lot more stuff and cost nearly half the price only 5 years ago (3,714JPY 11/2013 vs. 6,944JPY 10/2018). They're really trying to price me out of collecting these.



Emerje

[-Kanrabat-]

They talk about this on 4chan's /toy/ as well. Figma's prices went up like crazy. Number of accessories decreasing AT THE SAME as the price go 1/3 more expensive.

It's becoming even more scammy as time go by.
Going for oldies on Mandrake is becoming more and more as the only viable option.

[-Kanrabat-]

I was pretty late to the game and when I finally decided to take a Pullip Hatsune Miku, she was gone everywhere safe scalpy Ebay. So when she was back in stock at Groove, I jumped on her despite her full 140$US plus ship price. That's my most expensive Pullip doll to date.



However, the party quickly ended when I noticed a huge splash of paint on her belly.



I had to mail Groove about this and a few days later, I got a partial refund of 30$US. Better than nothing I guess. I used acetone and 2000 grit ultra fine sandpaper to remove the stain.

Now Miku can sing with Rin!



Now to find Pullip Megurine Luka at the right price....

[wilcosu35]

Smaller box this time

[wilcosu35]

Even smaller box today

[Emerje]

They talk about this on 4chan's /toy/ as well. Figma's prices went up like crazy. Number of accessories decreasing AT THE SAME as the price go 1/3 more expensive.

It's becoming even more scammy as time go by.
Going for oldies on Mandrake is becoming more and more as the only viable option.

Yeah, but the problem is trying to predict what's going to be cheap later and what's going to be ridiculously expensive is difficult. Rather than debate it I hit the pre-order button. I have cut back from my old buying habits of basically buying everything I had a little interest in, but since I've dedicated myself to completing the Fate sub lines and them making soooo many of them, plus a step up in SMT/Persona characters and the occasional Miku, I'm buying more of these than I have in a while. Good thing Hasbro and Takara Tomy are releasing the same figures these days to save me money for all this stuff.

Emerje

[-Kanrabat-]

Yeah, but the problem is trying to predict what's going to be cheap later and what's going to be ridiculously expensive is difficult. Rather than debate it I hit the pre-order button.
Emerje

I don't pre-order anything anymore. Too often, it cast chains on some impulse purchase.... a Damocles sword that will strike MONTHS after the fact. 3/4 of the time, I wonder why the hell did I pre-order the thing and I end up having to pay some expensive crap I never really wanted. Like Digivolving Angewomon. Due to Hobbylink site redesign, I was able to cancel my Nendoroid Little Witch Academia Nendo preorders. That's almost 100$ saved. As for the Nendo Kizuna Ai and Teesping's Lucas the Spider, those were preorders that were paid up front. However, I will have no recourse with Paypal in case of troubles because those were paid 6 freaking months ago. Kizuna is slowly on her way but Lucas is still not shipped. That Spider only brought me a constant flow of spam Emails from Teesping.


From now on, I'll treat preorders as I treat ALL my other purchases. And I'll ask myself those 4 questions:

1) Do I REALLY want the thing?
2) Will the thing actually fit and be relevant in one of my collections?
3) Will the thing be in my main display space and not in "no mans land" room nor in storage?
4) Do I have the CASH right NOW to buy the thing?

If any of ONE of those question is answered by "no", then I wont buy nor preorder the thing. No matter how great the deal is and no matter how extraordinary the thing might be.

[Emerje]

What can I say, I'm weak. I pre-ordered the Good Smile SSSS Gridman set because it's bigger and better looking than the MegaHouse version in some ways and costs a little less. Scary thing about pre-ordering something that's based on a show that's currently airing is you hope it doesn't betray your interest at some point and hope you still want it when it comes out.

Emerje

[-Kanrabat-]

Got some nice Japanese stuff from Mandrake and Anime Export.



First the Sega Premium statue of Kagamine Rin. Look pretty nice despite being a cheap 1K yen figure.




Second is another cheap 1K yen Sega Premium figure (lol. cheap premium) Of the virtual youtuber Kizuna Ai!
Some assembly was required. (The blank screen stand will remain boxed)



Sure she don't have the level of details of a 150$ figure, but she's good enough for the price. I love her.

Finally the Kizuna Ai Nendoroid, shown OVER HERE.

[wilcosu35]

I has a small bag

[wilcosu35]

I've got a box

[Emerje]

Got a small box with a lot in it.

figma Persona 5 Panther



Super Mini-Pla Gridman and God Zenon



Neko Buso Scottish Fold



Emerje

[-Kanrabat-]

Figma Panther look pretty sweet.
Will you get the whole P5 crew?

[Burn]

Neko Buso Scottish Fold

I've been eyeing this line off, I don't need it, but I want it, but apparently repaying a mortgage or two is a bigger priority.

[Fires_Of_Inferno]

For the longest time I thought I'd never get the chance to acquire the Bandai Pacific Rim Uprising Jaegers since I never saw any other than Gypsy Avenger. But a week ago I found Titan Redeemer, Guardian Bravo, and Saber Athena at Toys R' Us! They were also accidentally on sale. Meaning that the shelf had them listed for a sale price of a little more than $14 (canadian) each, when they should have been about $28 each. I basically got them for half price due to a labeling error! Also now I don't have to settle for the Diamond Select ones.

Such good figures! I'm gonna have to sniff around for Bracer Phoenix now!

[-Kanrabat-]

Damn, SCORE!
Now all you need is to get some miniature buildings to make the ultimate Pacific Rim display.

Like the ones for model trains I think.

[Emerje]

Figma Panther look pretty sweet.
Will you get the whole P5 crew?

Sure am and these are seeing crazy prices on the aftermarket so I'm definitely buying them all new. Joker is 8,000JPY, 11,000JPY for the Good Smile shop exclusive with the bonus face and 12,000JPY for the WonFest exclusive and they haven't even shipped the online orders yet (mine is coming) for "opened" boxes on Mandarake! Crazy stuff, but I expected it.

I've been eyeing this line off, I don't need it, but I want it, but apparently repaying a mortgage or two is a bigger priority.

They're pretty nice, though I'm not a huge fan of kits that are just random parts that vaguely turn into something recognizable. If it weren't for the cats I wouldn't be buying them.

Emerje

[Emerje]

Hit the salvage shop and they apparently got a big haul in from an "online collectibles store" Lots of random stuff that didn't really interest me any, mostly things from American movies and TV shows. Not a single Transformer, but I did find a Figure-Rise Standard Super Saiyan 3 Goku model for $15 (they usually go for $30-$40). Couldn't pass on that.

Emerje

[wilcosu35]

#ihasabox after waiting for a missing part.

[-Kanrabat-]

Remember the god-awful "paint vandalism" on Miku's belly?



This awarded me this adorable pair of minis from Groove!
Stika and Craziia!
Plus another freebie notepad. I just had to pay shipping.



I love those boxes much more than Jun Planning's tubes. These feel more collectable, more displayable. Everything is clear, fancy looking, I love how those minis are packaged.
So much so that I think they will remain boxed.



This way, they'll be protected from dust. Plus those boxes give a nice atmosphere and...

and....

oh....



Dat glare...

Ahem....



As I was saying, those two are adorable. Stika being my favorite. Too bad the full sized version is so expensive. Craziia was... crazy to set up. That sash was hard to install because the belt had to be undone and it was a bee-otch to put it back. Her hat is also not easy to put on and her skirt kept comically falling off. Finally a bit of static gave her some WILD frizzes. But once I finally managed to set Craziia up, she look fantastic.

[Emerje]

figma Fate/Grand Order Mash Kyrielight Casual ver. from Wonder Festival 2018 Summer via Good Smile Shop



I have no idea what GSC is thinking with their Shop distribution. Since 2016 they've been doing US distribution out of California for $9 flat rate and prior to that they shipped out of Japan for 1,000JPY flat rate, down from 2,000JPY before that, so for the past two years+ we've had very affordable and FAST shipping from Good Smile Shop. Now things are going backwards. The other half of my order, figma Persona 5 "Hero" in school uniform, is shipping out of Japan instead of California like Mash did. That doesn't change the $9 I paid to ship the pair, but it does effect the future. They've started a new shipping system out of Japan for $18 "international" and $13 SAL, the latter being nearly twice what anyone else charges for SAL since these are flat rate prices. Can't say I'm particularly thrilled with paying twice as much and waiting twice as long moving forward.

Emerje

[Ebonsaber]

Aquashooters by Bandai. The wave includes the 3 girls and 2 weapon sets(clear and non clear) and if ordered online a blind box set would include 2 sets or 10 blind boxes. I sourced mine locally individually and am only missing the non clear weapons but at a converted USD 8.17 each here, are a little expensive just for the weapons.

[-Kanrabat-]

Those 3 girls above are super nice!

[wilcosu35]

I've gotten a bag