Toy Fair Treasures: Azusa Nakano gashapon from K-On!

My Azusa Nakano gashapon photographed in low-light

Azusa and her famous Fender Mustang

The anime K-On! was probably one of the last anime series that I got to watch in its entirety on TV courtesy of Animax for which Fairy Tail came in second on my list, but sadly never got to finish the first season’s few remaining episodes since my dad decided to switch cable providers and Animax was non-existent in their channel line-up… as I was beginning to like Erza Scarlet and her cool set of armor during transformation… phooey! Anyways, K-On! is your typical in-your-face, no-preservatives-added kind of anime series that is just oozing with 100% unadulterated kawaii-ness from start to finish. It’s one straight out cutesy anime about the girls of Sakuragaoka Girl’s High School who joined the Light Music Club until they decided to form a band they named Ho-kago Tea Time (or After School Tea Time) which also became their launching pad to be recognized as one of the best girl bands around. Though there were interesting factors injected into the series and one of them was the precise detailing (whether physical or verbal) of the musical instruments they used which included historical or factual details. If I’m not mistaken they even got to mention in one of the dialogues the names of legendary musicians Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page who also got to play the iconic Heritage Cherry Sunburst Gibson Les Paul Yui Hirasawa was using… So with this in mind, K-On! wasn’t just pure kawaii for kawaii’s sake… it also had substance as well.

Toy Fair Treasures: Kamen Rider 2 Nigo gashapon

One of the legendary pioneers of Henshin: Kamen Rider 2 (Nigo)

Belated Happy New Year to all of you folks… For my very first blog entry for 2012, I would like to share to all of you another great find that I’ve purchased last December during the 6th Christmas Toy Fair held at the SM Megamall. And it’s none other than a gashapon figure of the legendary Kamen Rider 2 (Nigo). Just to give you a brief background history of Kamen Rider 2: The birth of the Henshin superheroes (Henshin meaning ‘transformation’ in English) came about in 1971 when Kamen Rider was conceptualized for television as a Japanese tokusatsu series by manga artist Shotaro Ishinomori, and Nigo is the second protagonist to appear from the tokusatsu programme franchise. Like his predecessor, they both shared almost the same outfit but with different color schemes and that prominent headgear which was modeled after a grasshopper. Kamen Rider and Kamen Rider 2 both rode on these really cool motorcycles and with their kick-ass moves and cinematic martial arts expertise, they vow to protect Japan and the entire world from the clutches of Shocker, a terror organization who was, in a way, responsible in creating these superheroes that luckily escaped the ‘final brainwashing‘, and with their moral conscience and sanity intact, the two Kamen heroes fought Shocker and its minions either side-by-side or on solo missions.

Toy Fair treasures: Miniature diorama of Tetsujin 28

The little, rare finds that you get to discover out of the blue… and this miniature diorama of Tetsujin 28 is one of them!

December 18, Sunday… It was the last day of the 6th Toy Fair 2011 held at the Megatrade Hall 1 of  SM Megamall and I was able to survive the impending Yuletide traffic that was starting to build up on my way to the said place. Though the crowd that greeted me during the event was not as intense and annoying, in some way, like that of the annual Philippine Toy Convention (ToyCon) being held also at the same venue. I managed to go about my business in taking snapshots for my blogs before I went straight right away in getting hold of some toy goodies that I’ll be using for work and at the same time add them to my collection. Anyways, the photo you’re seeing right now above is one of those great finds that I have managed to purchase from one of the toy stalls during the event, it took me a lot of rounds checking the stalls and their stuff before I got to discover this one and with its miniature size and all, you’ll definitely miss out on this one if you just do a quick scan and jump to the next stall.

Going to Greenbelt and discovering CSCENTRL.COM

Yesterday I was Makati bound to drop by my friend’s place and help him work on the light box I have promised, and since he still lacks a couple of things needed to make one, we went directly to Greenbelt One and buy most of the stuff at National Bookstore. As soon as we’re done with our task, we decided to hang out for a while since leaving Greenbelt that soon would be such a waste of opportunity since I rarely go to Makati and Greenbelt as well. Of course one of the things listed on my agenda is to check out the toy shops there and since my pal Adi knows the place by heart, he led the way and it wasn’t for long that we landed first at Great Toys, there were a lot of good stuff in store but of course I wasn’t able to find anything that would fit my budget though I was literally drooling at all the figures and collectibles on display. Next stop, he showed me this other toy shop called CSCENTRL.COM and as soon as we entered, I immediately got this insatiable feeling that I’m into something good… and I even whispered to Adi that I might be able to leave this joint with a small stash of goodies in tow, and so it was time to switch on my radar and do some serious toy hunting ladies and gentlemen!

CSCENTRL.COM's wonderful line-up of gashapons

Another shot of CSCENTRL.COM's large glass display of anime figures

As soon as you enter CSCENTRL.COM you’ll be greeted with a tower-like glass display on the left loaded with gashapons and other toys, but once you get inside, there’s this even bigger glass display behind the shop’s counter stuffed with literally a sea of gashapon figures, and the neat thing about it is that you can get to buy the figs individually… Olleh! Since I’m a random toy collector and buying toy figures in sets was never really my cup of tea,  it was a good thing this awesome joint sells some, if not all of their anime figures by the piece! Adi was eyeing on several items there and for me, I have spotted a couple of possible candidates to be added to my growing collection of toys. The owner, Raymond, was there at that time and he was so friendly and accommodating that he treats his walk-in customers like his buddies, a plus factor for me since shop owners with good and commendable customer-relation skills can make or break one’s impression as a first-time customer walking into their respective stores. I left CSCENTRL.COM with two gashapons on hand and went back to Adi’s place and worked on his light box the rest of the evening. Though I may not be able to go there regularly since I live in Quezon City but I will definitely drop by that cool toy shop as soon as I get the chance to visit Adi’s place once more… or if by fate that I strangely find myself wandering within the Makati area.

CSCENTRL.COM is located at the 2nd floor of Greenbelt One, Ayala Commercial Center, Makati City or you can visit their official website at cscentrl.com

ToyCon souvenirs: Amon gashapon from ‘Devilman’

Though I may not have truly enjoyed doing some serious toy hunting during the 10th Philippine Toy Convention held at the SM Megamall last June 18 to 19, I still managed to purchase several items during the second and last day of the event, but I could have continued my booth-hopping spree and went home with a bigger stash of goodies if it weren’t for my tired and weary legs that were on the verge of collapsing! Knowing is half the battle, and for sure come ToyCon 2012 I’m more prepared and focused on what to do. As soon as I was done with the first half of my task in taking snapshots for my blog and Facebook page, I chanced upon this particular toy booth that was selling loose item figures (mostly gashapons), and on their display was this cool 3 to 4 inch figure of Devilman that was selling for Php 100 (roughly around $2.00) I asked the kind lady if they had other Devilman items on sale and she said there’s this other one mixed inside this fairly huge plastic container which was literally flooded with other anime figures and gashapons. As I sifted through the items looking for it, one of the ladies tending their stall was kind enough to help me look for the other Devilman item and it didn’t take long before she found the figure and handed it to me. As I looked closer, it turns out that it was this badass-looking figure of another Devilman character, the ruthless and powerful demon known as Amon. Since I already have a Devilman figure in my collection, having to purchase an Amon figure would somehow make my collection complete and so I immediately bought it and tucked it away inside my bag.

The Lord of War Amon figure from Go Nagai's 'Devilman'

For those who are not that familiar with Devilman, it first came out as a Japanese manga series which was written and illustrated by renowned manga pioneer Go Nagai (creator of Mazinger Z, Getta Robo, Violence Jack and Kekko Kamen.) The anime series was first developed by Toei in 1972 and since then the series spawned numerous manga, novels, OVAs (Original Video Animation) and films. Amon is one of the most powerful demons and is known in Hell as the Lord of War, he is also the source of Akira Fudo‘s (the main protagonist of Devilman) incredible demonic strength and abilities. Amon was fully featured in the 2000 animation ‘Amon: The Apocalypse of Devilman‘, which depicted a more graphic and violent interpretation of the last chapters taken from the original Devilman manga.

An unexpected Harley Quinn gift from a friend

A close-up shot of the Harley Quinn figure I got from a friend

I guess this was one of the best gifts I got in recent times and it was truly unexpected. I was never a big fan of Harley Quinn but when I got this gashapon figure as a gift, I immediately fell in love with the entire 3-inch figure which was beautifully molded and detailed from top to bottom.

A few days after receiving this nice figure, I had a blast taking snapshots of Harley inside the lightbox and one of ’em photos is the one you’re seeing above. Things like this don’t come by so often and this one will be personally cherished as one of my best figure pieces in my collection.

Another Paula Atsuko Ebner figure discovered!

After going through the tedious process of searching for its identity on the internet, the mysterious mini bust figure of a female Japanese/anime personality soon had a name and its origins were finally revealed!… Paula Atsuko Ebner, a character played by Japanese actress Yuu Kashii in the 2005 movie ‘Lorelei: The Witch of the Pacific Ocean.’ Discovering her identity took months and I was almost on the verge of giving up when an accidental search on Google led me to a website that bagged all the information I needed, and I was one happy mother-effer!

One time I was at Greenhills checking out some new stuff at this toy shop that I frequent to where I got the surprise of my life when I saw this three-figure set of Paula Atsuko Ebners on display! It comprised of two mini bust figures, the one that I got from Metrowalk while the other is a crystal/transparent version of the same kind… but what really got me literally jumping with excitement is the other figure of Paula that was so small yet intricately detailed, and below is the photo of that miniature figure:

The miniature figure of Paula Atsuko Ebner focusing her energies to engage the enemy in 'Lorelei: The Witch of the Pacific Ocean'

I got to purchase it for only Php 75 (around $1.60 something), which was Php 20 cheaper than the mini bust figure I got from that toy shop at Metrowalk, but nonetheless I had to buy it no matter what since it was a memorabilia from the Lorelei movie and I’m pretty sure that this is the real deal from Japan and not some knock-off fig. The miniature figure is just plain awesome to look at and I can say that it was indeed another good find and a good steal altogether.

The closest thing I’ll ever get to owning a Getter Robo figure (for now)

This, I guess, would be one of my biggest frustrations in life and after waiting so long for that right opportunity to come by, I have finally found one for myself though it may not be what I really wanted to have, still this is more than enough for me… a classic super mecha hero that you loved watching on TV during your growing up years… it’s none other than good ol’ Getter Robo!

I never got the chance to own a diecast version of it nor those big and stiff plastic figures that you get to buy at a public market or from a sidewalk vendor that sold plastic toys straight from China. It was in this one store in Greenhills that I have finally found a Getter Robo plastic figure and thought to myself that, almost three decades of depriving myself in owning a Getter Robo toy was enough and since I can’t afford to buy the diecast versions (Ban Dai and Revoltech) from toy specialty shops , this one will do just fine.

My one and only Getter Robo figure in my collection

I still have a lot of other Super Robot Hero figures to collect as part of my mission to catch up with my so-called “lost childhood fun” and I’m just taking things one day at a time, and I’m sure I’ll be able to complete my mission someday soon.

BDSM hentai babe: tied and willing

Finding those 12-inch hentai figures can be easily available to purchase yet they are a bit heavy on the budget, unlike its gashapon counterparts that are way more affordable to buy yet difficult to purchase if your sole purpose is to buy a figure or two since most of them are sold in sets. It’s a good thing that I’ve found several toy shops that are selling these hentai figures individually and it was around early this year that I got to buy myself another babe that is just oozing with ecchi-ness… And this time she’s all tied up and very much willing to share herself to all of you.

I’m not too keen on this hentai babe’s identity though I’ve seen the entire set and it looks like they came from a particular hentai series that dealt with BDSM or something, even the ones tending the shop don’t have the slightest idea who they are or from what hentai series did they come from… all they know is that they are called “hentai babes” or “hentai figures”… period. Moving along, I went on with my business and just bought her for Php 150.00 (around $3.00++) and went home. A couple of months later, I took her out from my toy cabinet and took some snapshots of her one afternoon… and here she is folks!

My tied and willing BDSM hentai babe figure

Front view of my BDSM hentai babe figure

Major Motoko Kusanagi figure (Ghost in The Shell)

Here is another good toy find I would like to share to all of you and it was a couple of months back when I was doing my usual rounds in Greenhills searching for toys to purchase when it was in this one toy shop that I got to see this awesome monochrome trading figure of Major Motoko Kusanagi from the hit anime Ghost in The Shell. Though I was hoping I could find the fully painted version of it (though I’m not sure if there was one that really existed) tucked away somewhere inside the shop but according to the shopkeeper, it was the only Major Motoko Kusanagi they have in their inventory and for only Php 100 (roughly more than $2.00), I never took my chances and bought it right away.

Monochrome trading figure of Major Motoko Kusanagi (Ghost in The Shell)

Though I have to be honest with you guys that I never got to fully understand the concept and the story of Ghost in The Shell but I was very much aware of its existence through my friends and classmates who were into the second wave of anime ages ago, and unlike today where stuff about anime can be accessed and purchased almost anywhere, back then anime was considered to be a specialty, a novelty. And I can remember a friend of mine who had to go to Binondo (in Quiapo) to rent (or sometimes buy) anime movies and series in VHS format from several shops in that area… Oh well, that’s the gist of it, and somehow having this monochrome trading figure of Major Kusanagi was a steal and hopefully one day I can sit down and give my full attention to the storyline of Ghost in The Shell (God-forbid I don’t get too lazy to work on it.) Well anyways, I’ll see you guys around and ’till next time, happy toy hunting and Happy Mother’s Day to all moms out there!