Christmas presents

A bit late, but this is the otaku related presents that I received for Christmas:

• Weiss Schwarz Melty Blood Trial Deck
• Weiss Schwarz Fate/stay night Booster Box
• Weiss Schwarz Fate/hollow ataraxia Extra Booster Box
• Final Fantasy IV for NDS
• Odin Sphere for PS2

Final Fantasy IV is a remake of the original FFIV, but with the same graphics used for the remake of FFIII . Next year they will release another port of FFIV for the PSP, but I think I'll pass this time....

Odin Sphere was a totally unexpected gift! I recall saying to the person that gave it to me that Odin Sphere was the spiritual successor of Princess Crown (a game that I never had the chance to play but I liked the visuals a lot) and I would like to play Odin Sphere sometime... but I wasn't begging for it or anything!

Unlike the games, WS cards were pretty much expected (I asked specifically for them).

The Melty Blood Trial Deck contains "5 trial deck only cards" (the last 5 in the pic) unlike the other Trial Decks that I purchased, that only had 2.

The parallel card that I got from the Fate/stay night Booster Box was the triple R "Kishi Ou Saber", and I'm missing 7 cards for a full set.

Illustrated by Fujima Takuya, the author of Idolm@ster Break!

I didn't have the same luck with the Fate/hollow ataraxia Extra Booster Box. Even with the box that I bought last year, I have only 30 out of 45 of the normal ones and 17 out of 45 of the parallel ones. For Weiß Schwarz trades, please visit this post.


Is late to wish for a Merry Christmas, so Happy New Year!

Nendoroid Saber Super Movable Edition by GSC

In mid November I received Nendoroid Saber Super Movable Edition by Good Smile Company, but I didn't open the box until today.

Nendoroid Saber: Super Movable Edition is different from a regular nendoroid figure because has articulation points throughout the body. Neck, shoulders, elbows, waist, knees, feet... a total of 21 points of articulation puts this at the poseability level of a figma. Also, part of the hair and the front part of the skirt are of soft material that can be bended, adding more moveability.

Not counting Saber Lion and Saber Lily, this is the first Fate/stay night nendoroid that doesn't have the SD style from the game. The sculpt job on nendoroids is getting better and better, and out of the 11 nendoroids that I have this is easily the best looking one.

The extra parts included are 3 faces (smiling, yelling and angry), 3 pairs of hands, 3 swords (Excalibur, Invisible Air Excalibur and Caliburn) and 2 scabbards (Avalon and Caliburn's scabbard).
The base is new in the nendoroid line. Is quite ugly but does it's job better than most of the bases (specially the awful saddle-like one of Saber Lion).

Even with all the articulation points, is hard as hell to pose properly due to the enormous head and the tiny arms (the picture is an attempt to do the Triumphant Excalibur pose). The joints (specially the shoulders ones) are extremely loose and tend to pop out at every movement.

The third face is a SD face from the game, officially called Hetare Saber (good-for-nothing Saber). Here is how appears in Fate/hollow ataraxia Illya's Castle mini-game:

Chogokin Drossel by Bandai

One of the figures that I wanted to purchase at the beginning of the year but I gave up because I was short of money was the Chogokin Drossel by Bandai. Once I got money, it was massively overpriced, but I managed to get one from Archonia at more or less the suggested retail price (8,000 yen).

Chogokin Drossel is very similar to the Figma counterpart (both are jointed figures based from the same jointed character, after all) but much bigger (18 cm) and with the inner frame (and some of the external parts as well) made of metal.

Comparison shot with the Figma version.

They have other little differences, some of them because of the much larger scale of the Chogokin Drossel (the written labels and the black paint in the hands), but some of them structural, like the extra points of articulation in the stomach and in the toes.
The base is a single piece of plastic with a single peg to firm the figure, simulating the flooring of the Tempest Tower.

The other main difference between the Chogokin version and the Figma version is the face, much rounder in the Chogokin version. This face is supposed to be more faithful to the original design because the original character designer Fukuchi Hitoshi, was consulted for the production of the Chogokin version, but I prefer the Figma face.
Since the default face contains internal lighting for the eyes, it lacks that cool shinny blue effect, and a noticeable gap between the forehead faceplate (that is removable) and the nose and mouth faceplate.

The light-up eyes are activated via a switch hidden in the forehead faceplate.

The other two faces included have a better eye color, and because the forehead faceplate are not detachable they don't have any intrusive seam-lines. Here is the Obruchev face...

And this is the Belinda face.

Sadly, in some angles even the non light-up eyes are a bit ugly. Compare the eyes in this pose with the figma version.

Like the Figma version, the fingers are not movable but includes 6 pairs of hands, some of them usable only for specific poses from the series.

I don't like to "play" with my articulated figures, but this version is really a blessing for those who want to. The joints are sturdy and since are made of metal there is no risk to break them easily in the process.

The Obruchev unit, includes parts to put it in flight mode.

Back shot.

And in a related note, a second season of Fireball was announced for the 2011, and for now a single image was shown:

A robot that clearly is not Drossel, or she had a massive face-lift...