Past News Archive: January 2006
January 25, 2006
Just in case I miss this, Gong Hei Fat Choi everyone! Happy Chinese New Year! In case you don't know, it will be the year of the dog on Jan. 29. I got relatives coming over for a week starting from that day. So, I won't be doing much stuff here. But you can catch me at my web store's forums. I'll probably drop by there time from time.
Speaking of my web store, I've been making animated banners for people wanting to help spread the word about tamago toys. Starting to get a hang of it. Here's a special banner I made for this site to advertise my company:
Neat, huh? If you want to add this banner to your website, go ahead. Helps spread the word about my store & benefit the anime community in getting anime goods. A CK web site exclusive banner! =Þ I've added this banner to my Links page.
Also, I made a small banner for my website. If you want to put a banner on your website to link to mine's, here it is:
The pics are from my collection. Not the best since I'm still learning about animated gifs. If you are wondering, the 1st pic is the Kotobukiya AIR Misuzu Kamio PVC figurine & it's still in the box sealed. I took that pic as it was still inside. Have a look:
I'm pretty surprised how that pic turned out. I never had taken a pic of a product inside a windowed box that good. Not only that, it tells you why I wanted this PVC right away. Misuzu is coming out of the box someday, but I don't know when. My Toys Planning version of Misuzu is still bubble wrapped as well.
Since I'm gone for awhile, I've decided to put a lot of updates to make up for lost time this month:
In the Anime section, got some reviews of some of the new anime out recently:
Complete review of Paradise Kiss
Updated review of Sousei no Aquarion
Updated review of Shakugan no SHANA
Brief review of Kagihime Monogatari - Eikyuu Alice Rondo
Updated review of Fate/stay night
Brief review of Magikano
Brief review of Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora: looking up at the half-moon
Updated review of Rozen Maiden Träumend
Complete review of Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito
In the Downloads section, items from:
This should be more than enough stuff for the time being.
January 24, 2006
Recently our web store, tamago toys, have launched a forum to interact with the anime community. You can access it here. I was thinking about getting a forum for this site, but I guess I'll piggyback on that one since it still talks about anime stuff. Also, it's mine's too. I've included it in the Links page.
Also at that web store, we are working it's layout. I'll be spending more time there than doing things here for a while. So, I'll probably won't get the Downloads section done this week as I mentioned. Since Chinese New Year is coming, we will be having a 1 week sale.
In anime news, BLOOD+ has been licensed by Sony Entertainment. Sony licensing it is kind of a surprise since Sony rarely licenses any TV based anime. It's licensed not only in North America, but parts of Asia, Australia, New Zealand, & I think parts of Europe. Currently, Sony is working out something to get BLOOD+ on TV networks. Another anime series that got licensed is Green Green by Media Blasters. Personally, I think Green Green is the only anime show that stretches the limits of TV censorship in Japan in terms of sexual content. I'm surprised that it will be coming to North America.
In PSP news, it turns out that the emulator rumour that allows you to run it on 2.50 & above versions are false. However, an Eboot Loader is almost complete in terms of running it on 2.01 systems. Big news for people with this PSP version. Also more PSP news, EB games in Canada (at least in my area) seems to be clearing out some of its PSP game inventory. I've heard some games are priced between CDN$9.99 to CDN$19.99. I haven't seen it myself, but I heard a lot of people benefiting from this deal. Check it out when you have the time!
Hopefully before the week ends I can get some stuff up here.
January 19, 2006
In progress of moving web pages around, so continue to expect some broken links. Probably won't do any updates for awhile until I get this all sorted out. However, I added in the Collectables section a review of the MOVIC Gundam Seed Destiny Stellar Loussie Mini Cushion in the Gundam section. That's probably the only update you will see in awhile.
January 18, 2006
Recently this week, I received my Pinky St. Fruits Basket Tohru Honda. Playing around with it a bit, I say it's pretty well built than most of my current Pinky collection. Today, I got my DX Saber event figurine. After putting my Pinky & Kimi ga Nozomu Eien Diorama trading figurines on display, I figure that I've got too much stuff as it is. I still got more crap unopened in & near my closet. Cleaning will be a hassle in the future. Right now, I'm thinking of leaving my Saber figure in it's mailing packaging. It's just protected with bubble wrap & bamboo-like paper. Unless I'm wrong due to the thickness of the packaging materials, the DX figure box is bigger than I thought.
In anime news, FUNimation has recently licensed the XXXHolic/Tsubasa movie & Tsubasa TV series. I'm not sure if FUNimation has licensed the 2nd season of Tsubasa as well.
Some updates on this site now. Here's what's I've put up:
In the Downloads section:
I have more, but I decided to save those for the future.
For the Collectables section, I've got up are:
Small update on the Fate/stay night section listing the DX Saber event figurine
Also, I've cleaned up the Anime & Collectables section. Now you can navigate around those pages easier. You may notice that there are times you will enter into dead links. I'm currently sorting out my Geocities web space into folders when I have the time. All the anime reviews will go to the anime folder, PSP game reviews into the PSP games folder, collectables items inside subfolders of the collectables folder, etc. Doing this will also help me save the hassle of figuring out which links that FrontPage broke when I moved my pages around on my computer. The ones not affected are the Downloads & Pia Carrot!! 3 special sections. Plus, I've redone the Downloads section by titles than types. I've removed the Fanart section since I got none at the moment. If you see any dead links, let me know. It will help me a lot.
For my mail order business web store, tamago toys, we've cut the prices on our stock today. These are permanent price drops. So check out our store if you got time. By the way, no need to mention about seeing the price cuts from my site now since it's now implemented. But you viewers are 1st to know that we are getting a small new shipment later this month.
January 15, 2006
Got my remaining items from my favourite local Japanese hobby store. Managed to get a full set of the Negi Vol. 2 trading figurines. I felt bad when the owner allowed me to open the boxes cause I nearly opened all 2 of his inner boxes.
Because of my web store operations due to slow business, my sister & I made a bold move. You viewers are the 1st read about this. We plan to make price cuts on some of our stock. Most of it is PVC figures & the Final Fantasy trading figures. There will be price cuts on trading figures as well. Currently, I'm working out what items to cut at what prices. Expect to see them soon. If you order now, we will give you the new prices on the items we have in mind even though the prices haven't changed yet. Mentioned that you know about the price cuts from my site in order to get them. We are also expecting some new items later this month. Check out our store here.
For this site's news, I've noticed that there are some dead links here & there due to wrong link locations. I blame this on FrontPage. Because I tend to move my pages to folders when they are uploaded, the program automatically changes the pathnames. I don't know it affects the uploads to this web space, so it gets dead links. I need to sit down some time in the future to fix all this up.
Anyways, I've added some more anime reviews in the Anime section:
For the Collectable section, I added some stuff:
Hopefully for the next update I have most of these bugs fixed & get some download goodies up.
January 13, 2006
In the past anime news, Full Moon wo Sagashite was announced to be released by Viz on June 27, 2006. This news came from The Right Stuf. Recently, the Vol.1 DVD has now been listed as discontinued on TRF's site. At this point, there is no further news about this situation.
In collectable news, I recently learned today about a Rozen Maiden Super Dollfie of Shinku. The doll is made by Valico & is, I think, 30cm tall. Almost a 1/1 scale. The materials used to make the doll & the clothing are very high quality. Are you ready for the price? It's ¥102,900 (approx. US$901) with tax included!!!! Sadly, it doesn't come with a case like in the series. You can see the doll here. I don't think it's on sale until later this month. The sad thing about this doll is that it doesn't resemble the same appearance as the manga or anime. Luckily for me, I'm not buying it. The Suigintou doll that's already on sale is cheaper at a price of ¥15,000 (approx. US$132), but I don't know the maker of it. Same size, but it looks better. Personally, I would like to get it. I'll snatch it right away if it came with a case.
In my personal collectable news, I did it again. Today, I went to my local Japanese hobby store & found a lot of things I like. Because I didn't have enough cash on me, the owner was nice enough to hold the items I wanted. I plan to go back there a couple of days later to pick them up. They are the Kaiyodo Xenosaga KOS-MOS PVC figurine, the Kotobukiya AIR Misuzu PVC figurine, & a set of the Figmate Negi Vol. 2 trading figurines. Today, I brought the Rumbling Hearts Diorama that I thought I should have given up hope for. That's a nice funny set. Currently, I still got my DearS Ren & Toys Planning AIR Misuzu in bubble wrap, plus some small gashapons & trading figurines unopened.
If you have been to my web store & saw that I have the Kotobukiya AIR Misuzu
listed there, you are probably wondering why I didn't get it from my stock
instead. If you read in our past news at my web store, you may remember
that 1 of my suppliers have problems shipping items here. That is the supplier
that I have ordered those Misuzu PVC figurines from. Currently, I've been
following up on their situation & they haven't got back to me about it.
Hopefully they get back to me cause I requested a lot of stock from them.
January 12, 2006
Going to my local Japanese bookstore, I felt disappointed on 1 thing. Looking at the Japanese magazines with their bonuses, I wished that the North American magazines followed the same approach as the Japanese. The Japanese throw in a lot of unique bonuses such as figures, model kits, & a lot of weird stuff. Some of the stuff include cell straps, puzzles, & pillow/cushion covers. The North American magazines only give you DVDs, posters, & stickers. Although the North American magazines are thicker in terms of the magazine contents comparing to the Japanese, I would still like the North American companies to follow this approach. Personally, I think most people will be the Japanese magazines for the bonuses. At least I would.
Recently, I received my Fate/Stay Night Saber & Rin Tohsaka name cases (another name for business card cases). Although it's not stated on the packaging, which looks kind of cheap, these are made by COSPA & have the official TYPE-MOON logo product sticker. I'll be using them with my sister in handing out business cards of our web store company.
Speaking of our web store, tamago-toys, our tamago's Product of the Month will now offer a 10% discount. Now our Product of the Month will rotate every 1st Friday on the month. tamago's Product of the Month is the Fate/Stay Night trading figures by Good Smile Company. Perfect timing to celebrate the anime release! If you don't know about this product, check out my review of it here since I got an 'almost ' complete set of it. I highly recommend getting them & this is from my personal reference as a fan of the series, not a selling approach.
In anime news (pretty old really), there will be a FullMetal Alchemist OVA coming in March in Japan. The OVA is contain 4 episodes (1 of them will have all the cast from the FMA theatrical movie in SD form) & an extended version of the movie that is shown at the FMA attraction at Universal Studios Japan. For those wondering what this FMA attraction is, I heard it's just an attraction tour site. You get to see the setting of the anime such Winry's workshop & Mustang's office. The tour ends at the 5th lab with the short version of the movie in the OVA shown.
In old PSP news, 1 fellow homebrew developer seems to have successfully got emulators running in 2.50 & 2.60 firmwares. This is considered as a big breakthrough in the PSP world since the last firmware version is 2.60 at the moment. Some of the new upcoming PSP will have a 2.50 firmware requirement as well. Also, this will be a warning flag to Sony to develop the next update quickly. Possibly a version 2.61 first.
For this website, I've uploaded some reviews:
In the Anime section:
In the Collectables section:
Hopefully, I plan to get some more collectable reviews next week & maybe put up some stuff in the Downloads section.
January 9, 2006
Recently, I've been blowing my money like it was Christmas or Boxing Day shopping. I rarely spent any money during that time. But now, just barely a week gone from the New Year, I've been on a shopping spree. I think I've blown over US$300 on personal things alone!
Not too long ago, I brought the DX Fate/stay night Saber 9.25.2005 Event Special Version action figurine by Spring from an online hobby store. For those of you that don't know or haven't read about it from my September news, this figurine was sold out from pre-orders alone. In fact, you can only get it at the All Japan Plamodel Radicon Show (aka Tokyo Hobby Show) which was held on September 25, 2005 for 1 day in Tokyo. To get the figurine, you needed to go the convention or have pre-ordered from Spring's website but that required you to go to the convention either way. The retail price for it is ¥8,000 & it's 14cm tall after assembling it. The market price for it has now skyrocketed because of it's limited production. It roughly goes for US$200 on online auctions. That's without the shipping cost. I got mine's for that same amount with the shipping included. Personally, it's very expensive since it's almost 3 times more than what the retail price is, but it's considered a good deal during this time. Since the anime is now out, this can probably go more higher; depending how well the anime does. Personally, I think I should stop with the heavy spending this month.
In anime news, you may or may not heard of this going around the web. Not too long ago, a fansub group received a C&D letter from Geneon Entertainment USA. In the letter they claim that they have licensed Amenaideyo! & wanted the fansub group to stop distributing it on the web or else legal action will take place. It turns out that it's a fake. Geneon doesn't have the license to that anime & there was a lot of legal & contact information missing. To me, it's makes no difference since I didn't like the anime. By the way, a 2nd season of Amenaideyo! is currently airing in Japan.
In more anime news, Viz has licensed Full Moon wo Sagashite. Volume 1 DVD is scheduled to be released on June 27, 2006. Although it's a kid-lie anime show gears towards a female audience, I strongly recommend watching it; even the guys. If you don't know what it's about, it's about a young girl in elementary school who has a disease in her throat. Because she wanted to be a singer, her dreams were crushed. What makes things more worse is that she gets visited by 2 death gods who tell her that she will die (I think) in a year. One of the death gods honour her wish in becoming a singer by transforming her into a 16 year old teenager without vocal problems. It looks into her singer career & the music/idol business. Although it's so childish with some comedy on the side, it's quite a deep drama story.
More anime news, if you watched Fate/Stay Night recently & thought it was slow, you probably don't need to worry. Originally a 13 episode show, there are some speculations that it will have 24 episodes now. It was even reported that one of the staff members working on the show proclaims that it will run for half a year; thus making it a 20 something episode show. After watching the 1st episode, I think I would suggest people that haven't played the game or know some background on the series to look up some brief information about it before watching it. It seems you can get lost easily if you don't know what's going on.
Still doing some cleaning from my closet & shelves. Recently asked my sister to help me sell off my Banpresto UFO Price Catcher Item Gundam Seed Real Figure Strike Gundam at the moment. You can find that listing here. I added my sister's eBay selling listings to the Links page. If you are looking for some rare stuff or junk that my sister or I are getting rid of, take a look there.
As for the website, I plan to get some more anime reviews up here this week. Probably at the weekend.
January 5, 2006
Went for a job interview today since I didn't like my current job at the moment. The interviewer was a bit tough on me & I think I didn't do a good job on my end. She said that she will call me back tomorrow for the results. Although she told me what lies ahead in terms of career for working in this company, I don't think I'll get the job. Learning more about the company, I'm thinking it's no big loss if I don't get it. My current job pays more than what this company does & I have to drive 30 minutes & up some mountains to get to the office. Again, no big loss if I don't score the job.
Recently, I heard some nice news in the gaming world which is about a month old now. One of my favourite games, Valkyrie Profile, will have a new installment coming soon! There will be 2 Valkyrie Profile games: Valkyrie Profile: Silmeria for PS2 & Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth for PSP. The PS2 version is new & will be a prequel to the original Valkyrie Profile PSX game. The PSP is a port of the PSX game with the face portraits & animation scenes being redone. I have the game for PSX, so I probably won't get it. However, I would strongly recommend getting this game if you haven't played it before. It doesn't disappoint. It's beautiful & the game play & non-linear storylines are terrific. Personally, I would liked it if it was a port of the PS2 version, but this still won't stop people from buying it. The original game is valued at least US$200 from what I heard, so this is a good chance to get this game. Both games are produced by the same company again, tri-ace, & will be published by Square-Enix. Both games will come out this year; March 2 for the PSP one & end of the year for the PS2 one.
January 4, 2006
Today, I managed to find a PopoloCrois at my local EB Games store & brought it for CDN$49.99. For some reason, the game wasn't seal wrapped. The sales associate got the game from the back & put the "trade in" sticker to seal it. I rarely buy games from EB so I thought it was strange. Since I never heard of any complaints about how the games aren't wrapped, I didn't question about it. This is the first time I ever seen the game box in real life. I know my local Toys R Us had the game, but I missed out on it when it was sold out on Boxing Day. After that, they took out the price label from the shelves. Now, I need to find Legend of Heroes. I'll play PopoloCrois once I finish my current game save of Dynasty Warriors. I got 2 more stages to clear to finish my current character. Got 194 officers now, so I have 6 more to go. YAY!
Since I'm still talking about PSP games, I went to the EB Games website & found out the price for Ys. I was shocked when I saw it. Although it isn't out yet, the game is priced at US$29.99 (CDN$39.99 roughly). To me, that's cheap & I'm definitely going to get it once it comes out at that price. Besides, I was planning to get it anyways.
I forgot to mention this yesterday, but for all you people who like Pinkys, I saw yesterday, when I was purchasing my display case from a hobby store, a Pinky behind the counter. It's the Hobby Japan limited version & I know I've seen it before on the web. However, I don't remember it. The box is narrow & quite high; probably the height of the Hobby Japan magazine. It doesn't look like a Pinky based on it's hands, but it is according to the box & the pics of it I seen on the web. It's pretty expensive too at CDN$69 if I read it right.
January 3, 2006
Recently, I brought a Fruits Basket Tohru Honda Pinky from eBay. It cost me US$49.99; US$60.99 with the shipping. Although it just came out not too long ago & is a limited release item from mail order, I personally think I paid too much for it. I'm getting the buyer's remorse now. I can't wait to see if I have to pay custom taxes on it. More pain to my wallet. Personally, I didn't know that it came out recently on December 30. I thought it came out a couple weeks ago in early to mid December. However, the seller I brought it from had a couple before at this price & they were brought within less than 4 hours. Looking around the web, it seems I got a pretty good deal; even with the shipping price included. She goes around over US$60 at the final bid. Although she should have been easily obtained by sending in a coupon from a magazine & isn't a lottery ticket, this Pinky should be considered rare since it's a one-time release. Chances are she will increase in price over time like the Gunslinger Girl Henrietta Pinky. That one went from US$50 to $120 now & I'm still looking for that Pinky. Plus, I'm looking for the Air Gear Ringo one & I haven't seen a box of it in real life. Anyways, I added the Tohru Pinky to the Pinky section of the Collectables section as a waiting for arrival item. Also, I just brought a display case as well. We'll see if I will be opening new stuff to put in there.
Not much updates, mainly some anime reviews in the Anime section. They are School Rumble & School Rumble OVA. I have partial reviews of To Heart 2 & Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito as well. Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito is an old anime from 2003, but I just started watching it recently & I thought I should do a review for it. I also updated the Sousei no Aquarion review up to episode 22.
January 1, 2006
Happy New Year, everyone! You probably have your New Year's Resolutions going at the moment, but me. I don't do those things since it feels like it restricts my life.
Recently, I was putting the December 2005 news in the Past News Archive section & notice something. A lot of the news there got screwed up for some reason! Made me look like a fool having those news put up with you viewers going "Huh?" at them. Spelling & grammar mistakes are one thing, but something like that really messes you up. I used FrontPage to make them & I didn't notice these problems before when I posted them up. They somehow changed by themselves. Another reason why I hate Microsoft!
Today, I take down my 2005 Tenjho Tenge calendar & replace it with my 2006 AIR calendar. Since it was tightly rolled up, I put some weight on each of the corners yesterday afternoon to this afternoon. Apparently, that didn't work. Now, it's hanging on my wall with the bottom part curled inwards to the wall. Since it's a tear away calendar, I felt it was a waste to tear off the cover & future pages since it's so damn nice. Also, I hate these type of calendars because I'm concern that I may accidentally rip it badly. I took pictures of it on my floor since it was pretty big & added it to the AIR section of the Collectables section. You can go here to see the calendar directly. I'm thinking replacing the calendar with my 2006 Fate stay night calendar next month & rotate them monthly.
Speaking of collectables, I haven't open a lot of my stuff that I brought such as my DearS Ren PVC figurine & Moe-Tan gashapon set. No room & too lazy about cleaning them in the future. Small stuff in sets are a hassle to clean & I'm thinking of the getting a display case in the future. By the time I open it, they will either be garbage or rare items. Since I want some room for display cases, I've asked my sister to help sell some of my stuff on eBay. Currently, my Capcom Gals Collection 2 gashapon set have been re-listed again here. The next time I'm planning to get rid of is my Banpresto UFO Price Catcher Item Gundam Seed Real Figure Strike Gundam in the future. Also, my PSP Death Jr. game is re-listed here. I'm going to see if I got any more anime crap I want to get rid of in the future. It's probably going to be some Transformers first. Anyways, I plan to get some reviews of my collection up sometime in the future.
Speaking of anime stuff, we decided to extend our Boxing Week Sale at our web store, tamago toys, until January 7; mainly to celebrate the new year. Same sale, just extended.
Since I've been finding a lot of stuff coming from C69 (I think it's a big doujin conversation in Japan), I will including them in the Downloads section some time in the future. They are mainly contents from fandiscs. Also, I have some other fandisc stuff sitting on my shelves that I may put up in the future. As a side note, if you want to put up some artwork, program skins, icons, etc on my site, feel free to email them to me.
That's enough ranting for me at the start of the new year.