I has Speed Racer's Mach 6 on mah desk!

I saw these Hot Wheels Mach 6 cars being sold at the local supermarket and I can't help but get one of them. I haven't gone about watching Speed Racer at the cinema yet, but that should be solved tomorrow :).

Here are some pictures of the Mach 6:


Have you gotten your's yet?

One Piece Key Chains - Featuring Chopper!

Here's something for all you One Piece fans out there, One Piece Key Chain figurines from Cube, featuring Chopper in various facial expressions!


This set features 7 different variations and 1 secret figure, and each of these 6 centimeter tall figures go for USD 4.90 each. Head over to Play-Asia to collect them all. For more details, click here for the product page.

This is not Potty Training

I don't think I have a PC Engine emulator on the Nintendo DS, even if I did have one, I wouldn't want to check out this dubiously titled game...Toilet Kids.

Japan is probably the number one offender for producing games with utterly silly or ridiculous names... but Toilet Kids? Come on.


Anyways, it's a vertical shooter, and you can read the reviews on Destructoid and PC Engine Software Bible. On the plus point, this might be a collector's item. If you think the prices on Ebay for this game are exorbitant (here), check out Play-Asia's over here. It comes along with free shipping too.

Halo 3 - Master Chief ArtFX Statue Re-issued!

This bit of news is surely gonna have Halo fans jumping for joy. Kotobukiya has now issued a re-run for the Halo 3 - Master Chief ArtFX non-scale prepainted statue!

I've previously blogged about this for the first batch, but no harm doing it again. This approximately 300 mm tall statue is made out of PVC and ABS, and resides inside window packaging.


Here's a write up of the merchandize from Play-Asia:

The Covenant control Earth. The Flood is unleashed. With the fate of the galaxy hanging in the balance, only Master Chief stands ready turn the tide as the Human-Covenant war comes to is shattering climax in Halo 3!

Clad in MJOLNIR Mark VI combat armor, the genetically engineered Spartan II super soldiers are the elite fighting force for the United Nations Space Command. This fabulously detailed ARTFX Statue perfectly replicates every detail of the armored battle suit as seen in the smash-hit game.

As a special bonus, this PVC figure includes multiple bonus parts for a variety of posing options. You can choose to display him armed with deadly Energy Sword, or with dual Magnum handguns.

One of the highest quality Japanese collectibles ever produced from the Halo universe, the Master Chief ARTFX Statue measures a whopping foot tall (including the base, which even has the armor of a fallen Brute)!

Interested? Click here for purchase details. Be mindful that it is the Chinese New Year season over at this part of the world. Since Play-Asia is based in Hong Kong, postal services might be disrupted or slowed down during this holiday season, so opt for courier services instead!

Spotlight: Zelda Sound Drops Gashapon Collectibles

First, we had Yujin's The Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass Figure Collection Gashapon, and now, Bandai has released the The Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass Sound Drops Gashapon collection.


What's a sound drop? Basically these key chains sized collectibles have a button each, whereby pressing it will emit a unique sound from The Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass video game. There are 6 different designs to collect, and like most gashapon (capsule toys), these are limited in availability.

Interested? Zelda fans wouldn't want to miss out on this. Click here for purchase details at Play-Asia.

Are You Sure That's Spelt Correctly?

These Nonohon guys probably pay a fortune in licensing fees to produce merchandise such as the Hello Kitty Nonohon and the Stich Nonohon. What's a nonohon you ask? These are figurines that bob when exposed to sunlight.

There's even a new one for Pokemon fans in the form of Nonohon Pikachu. Now, if only my Paypal account didn't look as anemic as it is now. For the rest of the nonohon collection on Play-Asia, click here.

Beady Eyed and Too Big To Dangle Outside

Quirky title and even quirkier items through the post. The Super Mario Character keychains arrived today and I'm impressed with the size of these things (the tallest keychain is as tall as a Series 13 Be@rbrick).

Unlike other Mario keychains that are made of cloth/vinyl, these are made entirely out of plastic. The built quality is rather good; while you get 180 degrees of movement for each character's arms, the heads and legs are allowed a little room to "wiggle and wobble". I'm guessing that either the designer spent some time starring at Hula dolls, like the one below, or he was trying to make these keychains earthquake proof.


The paint job is rather good (despite a slight mistake on Luigi's cap) and it's probably the main factor for retaining the characters' look and feel from the video games. My least favourite of the characters, Yoshi, retains his beady-eyed factor and the Jar Jar Binks look (I loath both), which pretty much is a testament to the work put into designing these keychains.

SInce they are rather big, I'm better off leaving them at home, on my workstation or hooking one up to my messenger bag or perhaps a new bag. I doubt Mario would look out of place on a brand new messenger bag from The Gap or Kipling..but on second thought, maybe not. You guys are staying at home.

These keychains are still available at Play-Asia.com, click here for further details.

Nintendo Collectibles

It's a pretty interesting month for Nintendo related collectibles but I've yet to get any of them. First up is the Animal Crossing Character Keychain (Theater Version) collection. Released by Banpresto and featuring 8 characters from the game, it's pretty expensive (USD 4.99 each) compared to whatever Yujin has released in relation to Animal Crossing. Details on purchasing are available at Play-Asia (click here).

Next up is the nostalgia inducing Super Mario Bros keychain collection. These are by Nintendo and are selling for USD 4.99 each. Details on purchasing are available at Play Asia (click here)
I learned the meaning of a new term today while looking up the following item. The Japanese word "sofubi" stands for "soft vinyl" in English and it's used to describe the Nintendo Super Mario Bros. Sofubi Figure collection. This collection consists of the mushrooms featured in the game and while the Super mushroom is sold separate from this collection, the rest are selling for USD 2.49 each (note that they measure 3 to 5 cm in height).

Purchase details for the Sofubi collection can be found at PA (click here)
Pokemon fans would probably take notice of the Pocket Monster Diamond & Pearl Nintendo DS Card Case by Banpresto.They are pretty unique as these card cases take the form of pokeballs which open up to show the card slot and a pokemon inside! Purchase details, as usual, are available at Play-Asia (click here)

Jump! The Postcard Book

When it comes to my postcard collection, nothing beats the latest addition that is the Jump! Ultimate Stars postcard book. Featuring various characters from the Weekly Shonen Jump manga that appear in the Nintendo DS game of the same title, this postcard book comes in form of a mangaka volume.

Inside, there are 41 postcards, featuring characters from 41 manga series. Among the notable ones are:

• Black Cat
• Bleach
• Death Note
  
• Dragon Ball
• Hokuto no Ken (Fist of the North Star)
• Hunter X Hunter
• Naruto
• One Piece
• Rurouni Kenshin
• Slamdunk
• YuYu Hakusho

The overall quality of the postcard boook is impressive, but I wished that the producers released in binder form. The thickness of each individual postcard makes it a tad difficult to admire the postcards without damaging the spine.

The art quality is great as well, the two stand-outs being the Death Note postcard and my personal favourite, the Slam Dunk group potrait.


You know you want one :). But the sad part is this postcard book is sold out on Play-Asia. The next best thing? Go ahead and purchase the game, here.

A Visit to the Toy Shop

My current interest with collectible figurines have resulted in several online purchases, the latest being the full set of Animal Crossing figures (USD 1.99 each X 8 = USD 15.92). Yesterday's purchase of a Be@rbrick marked the first time I've bought a collectible figurine from a physical shop.

The shop in question is Shioktoys.com, located next to Gamers Hideout at Cineleisure, Mutiara Damansara. The shop has a website of the same name as well and like most collectible toy shops, rather cool as well.

Produced by Medicom Toy Corporation, Be@rbricks are collectible figurines in the shape of bears. According to its Wikipedia article, Be@rbricks are release in series with each series consisting of 18 figures in 10 different themes with the themes not differing from series to series. The Be@rbrick that I purchased is from Series 13 and has the flag theme, with the England flag on it. For comparison, the Be@rbrick from Series 11 with the flag theme has the the German flag on it.

The design of a Be@rbrick allows for quite a bit of articulation, even the hips have joints that allow you not only to move the legs front and back but also left and right.

In terms of rarity, each theme has a certain percentage of occuring in a Series and because Be@rbricks are not reprinted, they are pretty much bonafide collectible items. If you were to ask me why would I purchase them, I would say that I've a soft spot for small toys.

Here's a picture of my Be@rbrick standing next to a pirated Be@rbrick (on the right) which I bought at the Chatuchak weekend market while I was on holiday in Bangkok last year.

Aside from the height and flag, the difference is pretty clear between the two. The pirated Be@rbrick is not as articulate in movement as the original one and for the price of only RM 8 (versus RM 14.80 for the smaller, original one), you get what you pay for.

Got to Get 'Em All?

Gashapon (Capsule Toys)...once you buy one, you'll want to continue to collect them all. Previously I made the mistake of purchasing a single gashapon from the Animal Crossing collection only to find out that the collection sold out a couple of days later, preventing me from completing my collection.

So, when word got out last Sunday that gashapons from a new Animal Crossing collection were available for sale, I made an order for all 8 figures. Play-Asia's free shipping option is pretty fast as I received the package this morning.

These figures come in the same size and in the same stackable display cases as those from the previous collection (review available here). The difference is that the figures from this new collection are a tie-in to the new Animal Crossing movie released in Japan.

Out of the 8 figures, I can only identify several familiar faces, such as Tom Nook, Redd, Blathers and the cab driver. The quality of the gashapon is high and the figurines themselves are well painted, capturing the look and feel from their video game (or perhaps, movie) counterparts. My only gripe is that some of the figurines don't stay stuck to their display case bases. I use a tiny amount of water soluble glue to resolve this problem.

That minor issue aside, these figurines do look cool stacked together. There are nine in the picture as I included my previous gashapon with the rest of the set:

Get your own set of Animal Crossing Gashapons from Play-Asia (here)

What Came Karting Through the Mail?

I like Mario Kart DS just as the next Nintendo DS owner does. I may not race as well as WFC regulars but I sure love the game for its amazing racing experience and replayability. So when I bumped into Mario Kart gashapon on sale at Play-Asia, I quickly jumped at the opportunity to own the whole set.

The "Nintendo BOX Figure Collection Part 6: Mario Kart DS Racing Collection", as it is called, is produced by Yujin and consists of 4 different characters which are Bowser, Peach, Mario and Luigi. I managed to get the complete set and having seen the figurines up close, I must say I am pretty impressed with the attention to detail with Bowser and his thorny shell being an excellent testament to their quality.


These figurines come on wind-up karts with rubber wheels; push them backwards to make them go forward.

Each figurine costs USD 2.90 and it tooked a week to arrive at my place via free shipment. Ordering four figures does not gurantee a full set, unlike my case, as figurines are random. Get your very own set at Play-Asia.com (here)

Connect the Pegs

Trust the Land of the Rising Sun to come up with something quirky. Some call it a puzzle, some call it weird, some call it "some more Japanese stuff", just what are they referring to? These are some comments I got for a push-peg puzzle which I purchased just recently with my copy of Winning Eleven DS (review here).

Produced by Tomytec of Japan, the push-peg puzzle that I purchased is one part of 6 puzzles that make up the Dot-S Collection Nintendo Version. This Nintendo licensed collection commemorates characters from notable game franchises such as Mario, Zelda and Donkey Kong.

Each push-peg puzzle comes with a push peg board and quite a number of pegs for you to recreate the pixelated form of a particular video game character. The one that I've got features Link from the Zelda series. I was provided with enough pegs to depict Link in two different kinds of poses, one from the front and the other from the side.


Additional "recipes" can be found at the Dot-S website, although you may need pegs from more than one puzzle to actually accomplish some.

To get your very own push-peg puzzle at Play-Asia.com, click here!

Short Stuff

According to its Wikipedia article, a gashapon translates as a "trading toy". It's also commonly known as capsule toy due to the nature that they come in capsule dispensed from vending machines. Capsule toys have been around for as long as I've known and even when I was a kid, the neighbourhood sundry store used to have vending machines at the store front to entice kids to spent 20 to 50 cents a capsule.

Japanese capsule toys differ in a sense that the capsule toys are of higher quality and the price per capsule is certainly more expensive, ranging from RM 4 to RM 8 and more often than not, the contents are collectible items in a series. The vending machines can be found not in sundry shops, but in shopping centres, Japanese supermarket chains such as Jusco or toy stores such as Toys 'r' Us.

This little fella came along with my Electroplankton package and basically this is an example of how a gashapon looks like outside its capsule.

The reason for it being added to my package was that I needed to bring my order price to slightly above USD 50 (Electroplankton by itself was USD 48.90) in order to qualify for a USD 5 discount. This little fella cost USD 1.99.

This gashapon is part of a series featuring characters from the game Animal Crossing. All together they are 7 of them to collect.