The King Lives in Elvis Presley Be@rbricks By Medicom Toys

For the latest highlights on figurines and collectibles, head over to the brand new www.nineoverten.com.

The King Lives! Albeit in Be@rbrick form. Medicom Toys has released the Elvis Presley Be@rbrick figure in 100% and 400% sizes.

These official Be@rbrick figures measure 60mm and 27 centimeters(!) for the 100% and 400% sizes respectively. Here are some photos on how these collector items look like:


Play-Asia is currently selling both figurines, click here for purchase details for the Elvis Presley Be@rbrick 100% and here for the Elvis Presley Be@rbrick 400%.

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.

Mario Kart DS Gashapon Figurines Back In Stock!

These Mario Kart DS Gashapon figurines are now back in stock at Play-Asia. The Mario Kart DS Racing Collection EX from Yujin consists of Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Wario, Bowser, Donkey Kong and Princess Peach.


Retailing at USD 2.90 each, Play-Asia ships the figurines randomly, so you wouldn't know what you'll be getting, although previously specifying 7 figurines in an order would yield a full and complete set (no duplicates).

Interested? Check them out over at Play-Asia. Check out my gashapon section for my completed collection.

Gun Collection Gashapon featuring AK-47

Gashapon, or capsule toys come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. The most common ones that you can find, are figurines of video game or anime characters or genre related merchandize. But the Japanese, being Japanese, just won't stop at that.

Where else in the world can you find 6 to 10 centimeter scale models of guns? The Gun Collection 5 Gashapon by Good Smile consists of 4 guns, the Avtomat Kalashnikova 1947, the Howa Heavy Industry Type 89 Assault Rifle, the Heckler & Koch Mark 23 Mod 0 and the Ingram Mac-11.

This collection also comes with a "secret"/"chase" gun which comes equipped with a laser pointer.


Interested? Click here to purchase at Play-Asia.com.

Capcom Classics Ending Collection DVD and Other Stuff

My package from Play-Asia arrived not too long ago, bringing in goodies such as games, Star Wars Titanium Series figurines (they are very cheap) and a DVD!

Geometry Wars Galaxies

Nodame Cantabile

Capcom Classics Ending Collection DVD

Star Wars Titanium Series Die Cast - Obi-Wan's Jedi Starfighter

Star Wars Titanium Series Die Cast - Darth Vader's Sith Starfighter.

The highlight of this purchase is definately the Capcom Classics Ending Collection DVD which fetures a total of 41 endings from classic Capcom video games released from 1985 to 2001. These games are:

• Senjou no Ookami / Commando
• Senjou no Ookami II / Mercs
• Maikaimura
• DaiMakaimura
• Section Z
• Tatakai no Banka
• Rush & Crash
• Ales no Tsubasa: The Legendary Soldiers / Legendary Wings
• Side Arms
• Top Secret
• Tora e no Michi / Tiger Road
• Lost Worlds / Forgotten Worlds
• Capcom World
• US Navy
• 1941
• 19XX
• Knights of the Round
• Magic Sword
• The King of Dragons
• Captain Commando
• Cyberbots
• Vampire
• Vampire Hunter
• Vampire Hunter 2
• Vampire Savior
• Vampire Savior 2
• Star Gladiator
• Star Gladiator 2 -Nightmare of Bilstein-
• Strider
• Strider 2
• Tenchi o Kurau / Dynasty Wars
• Final Fight
• Street Fighter Zero 2
• Street Fighter EX plus
• Street Fighter III -New Generation-
• Street Fighter III 2nd Impact -Giant Attack-
• Shiritsu Justice Gakuen: Legion of Heroes / Rival Schools: United By Fate
• Moero! Justice Gakuen / Project Justice
• Giga Wing
• Giga Wing 2
• Progear: Storm of Progia

Another highlight would also be the cheap Star Wars Titanium Series figurines being sold at Play-Asia, and I duly bought a couple of them. Read this earlier post of mine for more details (click here)

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass Figure Collection Gashapon

For all you Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass fans, here's a chance for you to own some more game related merchandise with the release of Yujin's The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass Figure Collection Gashapon.


Featuring characters from the game, this set of 5 is available at USD 2.99 each with free shipping at Play-Asia (click for details). Pretty cheap considering it's gashapon.

I ordered a total quantity of 5; ordering the total amount of figurines in a collection usually gets me the full set without duplicates. For the rest of my gashapon collection, click on the button you see on the picture you see on the right (it's also on the left side of my blog, in the navigation pane)

Own The Fella On The Cover of That Video Game...Literally

Video games are generally a part of a mixed-media industry. There's the game, there's the website that promotes the game, there are the YouTube spots, posters, flyers, advertisement and finally, and probably most interesting other than the game itself, are the figurines.

Figurines range from mundane bean bags to highly detailed PVC constructs, and are considered a dime a dozen these days. Fancy owning one of those characters on the cover of your favourite video games? This is the guide for you, and will the first of many in a series.



First up is the cover for Final Fantasy XII (NTSC U/C) By the way, the Greatest Hits version (a.k.a budget-priced version) is now available at Play-Asia, click here for details.

Out of all the characters in the cover, I managed to find 3 in Play-Asia's Bargain Bin, each of them priced at USD 29.90:

• Ashe (click here for purchase details)
  
  
  
• Vaan (click here for purchase details)
  
  
  
• Balthier (click here for purchase details)
  
  
  

Moving now to the cover of Assassin's Creed. This is a new game, a highly anticipated one from Ubisoft which should be coming out anytime soon this November.


The main protagonist, Altair, featured on the cover of the game, is available as a highly detailed 7 inch figurine at Play-Asia, for a bargain bin price of USD 16.90! Click here for purchase details.


Stay tuned for future installments of "Own The Fella On The Cover of That Video Game".

Weapons Set for Final Fantasy Play Arts

Final Fantasy fans, are you tired of collecting figurines, how about collecting WEAPONS instead? Yeah, you read that right, the "Weapons Set for Final Fantasy Play Arts" is now available at Play-Asia.


This set consists of 5 different weapons featured in 2 different Final Fantasy games. The weapons are:

• Lion Heart (Squall Leonhart) - FFVIII
  
• Strange Vision (Selpie Tilmit) - FFVIII
  
• Caladcolg (Tidus) - FFX
• Nirvana (Yuna) - FFX
  
• Masamune (Auron) - FFX
  

The good thing is that this set is not gashapon. Click here for purchase details

Aren't We Supposed To Talk About Mechs? Hey!

We interrupt Mech Week for an important sales announcement. Those of you who are still looking out for Mario Kart figurines and Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess figurines can do so at Play-Asia.

The Mario Kart DS Racing Collection EX by Yujin looks to be a re-release of the Nintendo Mario Kart DS Racing Collection Series 1 and 2 figurines, minus the duplicates. This re-release consists of Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Wario, Bowser, Donkey Kong and Princess Peach. Purchase details can be found here.

I've two full sets, one each for Series 1 and 2. Here are some pictures of them:


Play-Asia also has in-stock the Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess Figure Collection Gashapon. I've a full set of this, here's a picture of Link, in wolf form:

Interested? Purchase details are available here.

Having Another Go At Link, Zelda, and Friends

For Zelda fans out there, the Legend of Zelda Minish Cap Figurine Gashapon collection is now back in stock in Play-Asia.

Unlike the latest collection which features characters from the game Twillight Princess (my review here), this collection features Link and other characters from the GBA game and consists of 6 + 1 secret figurine.

For more information and purchase details, head over here.

Figurine/Gashapon Collection Photo Shoot - DSLR Ed. Part 2

A picture is worth a thousand words. So here are several of them, all from the re-shoot earlier of my entire figurine/gashapon collection.

Kazon Raider from Star Trek

Armored Veritech in Battroid Form (Macross)

Phoenix from Star Trek: First Contact

Optimus Prime (needs no introduction :))

Nintendo Family - Part 2

Stuff for Sale

I just ordered an entire set of Mario Kart DS Racing Collection Part 2 Gashapon from Play-Asia for USD 14.94 earlier today (details here). Some of you may have recalled that I've ordered the same set from eBay on behalf of a friend for double that price several weeks back. I guess the wait finally pulled off.

This new set consists of Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Wario, Bowser and Donkey Kong. This purchase, however, will leave me with duplicates of Mario, Luigi and Bowser, as they already exist in Collection Part 1. I'm putting up Mario and Luigi for sale at RM 8 each and I would preferably sell them off as a pair. Afterall, they are brothers, aren't they?

Since I've already got the ball rolling, I'm also putting up my duplicate set from my Animal Crossing Houses collection for sale. The items for this duplicate set are still under wraps but which set am I refering to? Answer: The set on the lower left corner boxed in Red (otherwise known as the PMS Mole, I mean, Resetti set):

This set is going for RM 10, but please note that all prices quoted here are do not include the shipping price. Or maybe I should sell these guys on eBay...hmm.

New Header

I finally got to change my blog's header background image. Instead of the default background (with its hideous three dots), you now see 2 Be@rbricks instead. As a primer for new visitors, links to my reviews of Nintendo DS games, collectible items (such as gashapon), books and other miscellaneous items can be found on the left side bar.

Gashapon

Aside from games, there are quite a lot of Nintendo related merchandise out in the market, ranging from small figurines and plush toys to tumblers and lunch boxes. I'm more of a figurine (gashapon) fan and that was why I quickly made an order for the "Animal Crossing Houses, Figures or Accessories Gashapon (Theater Version)" collection when I received news that it was up for sale.

Basically the third in a series, this gashapon collection has 6 sets, consisting of figurines of characters from the game with the addition of houses and accessories such as beds, TVs, tables, et cetera. Because of this, each set sells for a higher price compared to the ones I got earlier (here).

Another gashapon collection that I've set my eyes on is the Gameboy Advance Cartridge Rubber Gashapon collection. Unlike the Animal Crossing collection, I have not made an order for this collection but experience has shown that these sort of stuff sell very fast.


Basically there are 9 gashapon in this collection; these are miniature versions of popular GBA game cartridges and are made out of rubber. It is fascinating how miniaturization works and at the same time retaining a respectable amount of detail to these gashapon.

If you are interested, click on the respective names above for purchase details at Play-Asia.com.

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.