#spotto's merch

[nostalgic-blood]

so i went to california a few weeks ago and...

No, I didn’t go ham. I had friends who were like “HERE HAVE THIS” and then I had this thing, and later went to a convention and THEN I went ham. 

Also this was my first non-family trip so I sort of bought a souvenir anywhere I deemed important enough to do so... America, you took a lot of my money. Oh and Disneyland too. 

...also I couldn’t fit some things and forgot others in that top pic.

this wall scroll my cat is trying to destroy

a backpack I bought solely so I was able to even bring all this back, and the posters/prints I STILL needed a friend to ship back anyway...

and this cute koishi i bought, all of three of which were from fanime, yes...

Disneyland souvenirs! A friend (Souless) bought the one of the left. You may have noticed Minnie Mouse ears on the first photo! I didn’t actually get them from Disneyland itself, t’was a gift from our Disneyland veteran who led us to many-a-ride and the least amount of waittime possible, Souless’ fiance Kat. :)

And yes Inside Out is my favourite Pixar movie. Watched Coco recently which was really good, but it’s only second to Inside Out. P:

Let’s start off with my ridiculous friends who decided I needed to own more merch:

All of this was bought by my friend Cannibalfood AKA Akira who went to cons and saw stuff I might like but never got around to actually shipping them to me.. and then, came with me to California and brought this stuff. This is why Negima is on there. It’s been that long.

Oh the non-weeb stuff is souvenirs I got with her while we were in San Fran, including Alcatraz touristy photos since we have few pictures together, a taxidermy place where we each got matching stingray barbs, how romantic. The rock was my very first souvenir. I wasn’t expecting on buying anything else in that shop, so it is the most boring thing here.

Here’s a look at the Touhou artbooks!

One of two CDs, this one with best 2hu on it. I recall from reading the back that one of these has some TAMUSIC on it, which has lovely classical pieces. 

Here’s a semi-random page with some artwork. I recognize some of the artists!

The other one! I cannot read anything in these books, and yes there’s plenty of text as well as the art.

Some sample of the art! I’ll have to revisit these books later but from first glance I think I prefer the art of the first book? Idk.

Next is stuff given to me by various people. The gacha is from Magus, the guy who I stayed at for about half the trip and spent the entire trip WITH since he also went down to SLO and I also shared hotels with him for Fanime. Awesome host, will do again. 10/10. I have another button from someone else but I accidentally included it wit my fanime merch pile photos, so it’ll be along shortly.

The dreamcatcher was made by SlimeMush’s friend who I paid $10 for, and for some mysterious reason it kept being returned to him every time he tried to send it to me. I couldn’t get a good pic of it alone because my cat kept attacking the feathers. SlimeMush also gave me the Flareon button! Apparently all the Eeveelutions he had went to those whose favourite was so-and-so, and apparently there’s equal amounts of love for all of them except for the two he kept himself because he loved them the most. Yes. Flareon is my favourite. :D

The gacha is a ditto + a ditto version of Sableye. 

This Monster Hunter blindbox was given to me by Wolfe, whom I’ve had a few MonHun merch exchanges with so far. I also gave him a MonHun figure from another line, which I’ll elaborate further (because I gave them all out similar to SlimeMush giving out the Eeveelution buttons) and kept whichever was left behind. This is Monoblos! I didn’t fight him all too often so I don’t have much impression of it as a monster, also I thought he was white but w/e, still very cool looking to add to my collection!

Now of all my loot THIS is the stuff I really could have done without in terms of when and where I spent my money. I bought that Incineroar evolution line figure sort of on a whim at a random city in the middle of nowhere, California while on the long drive down to SLO. The Touhou blindboxes, Digimon CD, and RWBY manga came from Kinokuniya in Japantown. Just wanted to buy them because. Even if the Tri series was mediocre in the end the nostalgia still has a strong grip on my heart, especially that music with Kouji Wada. ;_;

And the most touristy thing was buying this wind chime at a gift shop in a spa that I really didn’t need but it was pretty so w/e.

See? Pretty.

The results of the blindboxes. Not the luckiest result as I wanted other characters but you CANNOT SAY NO TO WEEB MERCH!

As much as I have been distancing myself from the show, RWBY’s manga has wondrous art. It also decided to focus on some random unknown side character named Ruby instead of the main characters, which I thought while was quite the bold move, was rather refreshing. 

DELICIOUS WEISS BACKSTORY. I recall posting something about this particular chapter on here before. YEEEEE!

So yeah I went to the island prison in San Francisco where AAAAAALL the tourists go. In my defence I have a genuine interest in prisons. Just ask my 300k RWBY fanfiction in which the first quarter of it is set in a prison. It is also not my first prison fic. I put lots of research in that setting to write that kind of shit. 

Also all the souvenirs were the most gimmicky things possible that I didn’t think I’d ever use or would just be paperweight. Except this bag! I may actually use this bag! I know!

And excluding the stuff that is too big or I forgot to take a pic of near the beginning of the post, THIS was the Fanime loot! Magus got me the Monokuma onesie which was extremely nice of him and now I am no longer perpetually cold. Ah yes the warmth of the hide of a psychotic bear. So good.

I could not believe the artist who made one of my favourite Aya pics EVER was at the artist alley. I COULD NOT BELIEVE IT. Obviously this was an instant purchase. This was my phone background for the longest of times. She had Touhou artbooks too but they sold in the first twenty minutes of the first day of the artist alley. Wow. My friend may try to snag me some at AX in July, so here’s hoping!

I didn’t see a lot of specifically Weiss prints there, and this was the best of the lot IMO. My only wish was that it was a brighter print, or that Weiss herself being so white would stand out more because it’s the least noticeable thing on my wall atm, which is a shame. 

I say this when I saw precisely ONE Aya print (jackpot) and one of another coming up in this bombardment of pics.

THIS IS PERHAPS THE MOST PROVOCATIVE ONE HERE LOL. But it was the only Tenko, and DRV3 merch was the most difficult of everything I was looking for to find. Unlike 95% of Tenko art SHE ACTUALLY HAS VISIBLE ABS HERE, which according to the official artbooks she’s supposed to have, so bonus points for that. I had a brief discussion with the artist too and we both agreed Tenko was the best and Ouma was overrated. He has great taste.

Overwatch on the other hand was all over the place in this con, from merch to art, to cosplayers. There were so many cosplayers they didn’t even have enough time to run through half of the tanks and all the supports at the shoot! So sad, so sad. This piece of Widowmaker is beautiful though, so I had to have it.

I saw this online a while back and really loved this image of all the Overwatch ladies being formal. There was a suit-version too, but for whatever reason I preferred this one. Sadly this print is quite small, as it probably would have benefited the most in being larger what with the many characters and thus detail.

Out of all this mess the one thing I wanted the most and hunted for the most was charms. I found NO GOOD CHARMS that fitted my taste and interest, and the closest were these buttons. Oh, and I met my good friend Raphyninja at Fanime and he gave me EXCLUSIVE RAPHYNINA MERCH! Thus that button being here and not in the friendo pile. ANYWAY. There was a deal, 3 for 5, so aside from the obvious ones I grabbed Kork. I love Kork. I didn’t think I would for that type of character, but somehow DRV3 managed it. He will of course be very far away from Tenko and Himiko though. >_>

Here’s a page from one of the Touhou doujins I got, which in hindsight I maybe should not have got? Way too late I noticed that I recognized the seller who I think showed up on a Tumblr post warning of a creeper at the Touhou shoots. He’d try to take pics of cosplayers in a private hotel room at weird, uncomfortable angles as far as I remember, so uh, oops? I was just so excited at finding Touhou doujin for the first time ever that I paid zero attention to the person selling so hopefully I am wrong and they were just someone that resembled that person.

Also I recognized this artist for their cute Satori Koishi content, but could not find any of their Koishi doujins. Sadness.

I bought two Monster Hunter blindboxes at Fanime because CLEARLY I need more, right. I got a Nargacuga, including the box left remaining in the pile I gave away and the one I already have...  I now have three Nargacugas. That’s quite a lot for something I never fought before...

I also got this tiny Zinogre. If we include my buttons I have FOUR Nargacugas now and FOUR Zinogres. The difference is I have fought Zinogre multiple times (I have no idea exactly because I have 600 hours in 4U >_>) and actually really like him! Sadly, in grand tradition like the last time I visited San Francisco (when I was five) I lost something, that being my favourite MonHun button, Zinogre. It is now in the wild with my teddy bear and my hat, forever gone in the California abyss. ):

I got this at the swap meet for 6 dollars. It may not have a stand and is rather dusty, but damn is that a bargain. My only regret is not having the GIGA DRILL BREAKAAAA model instead. I also got that Monokuma bag there too, but that was just because I went there and couldn’t find a single thing I wanted until I saw the bag, which I was on the fence on but wanted to buy SOMETHING from there and got it, thinking that was it ... but then this and the Touhou doujins showed up, soooooo...

Finally this other Nargacuga that was left behind became my monster in that line of figures, the rest in the hands of my friends. It’s actually cuter than I expected, and barely fit in this cheap crappy display case I bought at a Daiso. I moved my dresser a nudge and the Pokemon fell over, so yeah. 

You may have noticed a drop in quality in the photos and that’s because I cannot be bothered to touch up such a gargantuan amount of images anymore, not with the time I have. Would be nice tho. SO, THAT IS THE GIANT POST OF SPOTTO’S MERCH, NOW WITH 100% MORE QUANTITY THAN BEFORE! I spent too much money so I might as well get something out of it by BRAGGING about it! Right? 

Ye.

[nostalgic-blood]

Guess who watched the MLP movie and got the most show-accurate figure yet from a freakin' kids popcorn combo!

[nostalgic-blood]

some people spend their money on holidays and vacations to nice places

i decorate my room with multicoloured plastic

zoomed in shots under the read more

because my room has terrible lighting so too are the photos (no it’s not because i’m a shitty photographer i swear) i liked the symmetry of the two gundams on my shelf so much i moved the third one to my desk. I think impulses’ beam saber is supposed to be purple but i gave it zero’s because i can’t be bothered to paint the unpainted ones that came with it. I mean it’s already missing a few pieces and falls apart constantly so i don’t really care  

these guys are miscellaneous when it comes to figures (they’re toys, really) so they sit on my desk too. Wolves!

top shelf is the shelf of anime and games that have an improbable cast comprised of almost entirely females. i love those 

there are exceptions of course, like my daniel sedin statue. in front of him is the puck my dad caught at a game and gave me.

ibuki is an exception too, but i like her in better lighting. despite her super-deformedness and tiny size, she may be my favourite figure.

OTP CORNER NEEDS MORE LOVE. i need to take a pic of sanae surrounded by my gundams. she canonically loves giant mecha.

bottom shelf is usually dark and in the shadows, so all my edgy fighty figures go down here

i almost put gore magala on the top because she’s technically a humanoid female, but she was too wide and flashy to not be a centerpiece, so here she is

can’t leave out wing gundam and azure rathalos! 

now will i add more to this collection? especially the bottom shelf which is very cluttered now. probably not much more if any, if I do it’ll be on top shelf and on top of the computer case ;) (that second one doesn’t make it super obvious what i’m getting at all, nope!)

[nostalgic-blood]

Bando's oft-sought after opinion within the cut! P:

So the contents of that GIANT BOX I apologize for ranting about is now revealed! Yay!

BUT FIRST!

That's right! It's the package I ordered in the beginning of March... it has finally arrived. T'was a long journey to reach my house, but totally worth it.

Behold. The best Danganronpa boy.

YOU HEARD ME.

Whether you have white hair, a white suit, or both, such people are still bested by mah boi Juzo, who character developed his way into my heart after beating up all the main characters and making horrible mistakes that led to the deaths of thousands. The best. Spoilers? Whatever I was vague enough. Also this is a prize figure, and between this and Brachydios I’m starting to wonder why I don’t have more. They’re so good and so inexpensive!

Anyway here's all the trashy Gore Magala girl accessories. SO MUCH.

Here she is all naked and exposed. And now to put on her dress.

Ah yes, so elegant, so pristine, so dark--

... well, I didn't like that look anyway!

To be frank, I spent far too much time (like almost an hour) trying to put on the dress. Of all figures I've had so far, she is by far the sharpest. It was pointy and frustrating and ultimately it fell apart when I tried to adjust, thus the crap snap job above. It was mostly everything to do with the bow, which is where EVERYTHING is attached to.

She's disappointed too, but hey that mode wasn't why I bought this figure!

Huzzah! It's night time. I spent so long trying to put the parts on. @_@

The next day, a proper pic of all of her!

Yeah she'll be displayed like this and probably never moved again ever. A shame about story time because dang she's just too finicky to play around with and pose.

She looks like a figma, but feels flimsier and putting her faces on or changing out her hands/limbs takes a lot more time and effort than the ease of the figma. I wish there were more figma of characters I liked. It's the biggest reason keeping me from getting all the figma and having figma comprise of my entire collection. FIGMA DA BEST.

...for snapchat adventures!

This Gundam, the Wing Gundam Zero is the Gundam of the main protagonist of Gundam Wing, a series I did watch and barely remember. All I know is there were a lot of dudes that attracted a lot of fangirls and far too much wangst. Everyone was super edgy too, but somehow the happiest dude had the edgiest Gundam. Or whatever. My favourite was actually Sandrock, but I couldn't find the original yellow-black version in the 1/144th scale that wasn't made in 1996 and priced higher than the heavens.  

Also I lost my blue pair of scissors and used the kitchen one, which was far sharper. When snipping some pieces off I snipped my thumb too. >_>

Being a high grade it took less than half the time to finish this Gundam than the Astray.

I had no real problems building it aside from the derp injury, so this was more enjoyable and relaxing and less frustrating and blood pressure rising. P: HIGH GRADE FOR THE WIN!

It does look kind of obvious this was a Gundam from a TV series made in the 90's though, not nearly as advanced looking as the Red Frame Astray even being a lower grade.

Still looks cool tho.

Here it is next to my crappily built Gundam on the left, the Strike Impulse or whatever, and the right, the Astray. I didn't really sand down the attachment pieces on the parts that well, but I did attempt to with the scissors compared to the Impulse which I didn't bother to at all.

And the wall scroll I got is gorgeous. Mokou wasn't my first pick, but of the ones available she was my favourite. YAY FOR MORE ANGSTY THINGS IN MY ROOM!

Finally if you didn't give a shit about all of the above and only value my hamster's opinion, watch below.

[nostalgic-blood]

It’s super effective! ST p.3

At some place, during some time, in the midst of a generic conversation..

"Wow! I never knew the scenery at Happiness Peak was so stunning."

"Yeah, this is a place that really resembles what that green horned cow woman was talking about!"

"Horned cow in the what now--"

"HOLY SHIT!"

"Where'd that even come from!?"

"I didn't bring my spear with me today!"

"Don't worry I got this! BLADEMASTERS OF THE HEAVENS! SMITE MY ENEMIES!"

"THAT DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!"

"...maybe 'smite' was not the right incantation to use... Hold on Kyouko!"

"Hurry will ya! Hey! My fish! Get your ow--MY KNEE--!!"

!?

"...Well that was unexpected. Are you alright, Kyouko?"

"Ow.. feel like I just got the wind knocked out of me..."

"Ayayaya... that's because you did."

"Oh no, not those things again..."

"Halt!"

"Whoa, no need for the hostility! I just saved your friend's ankles! Can't you see I come in peace?"

"I don't care if you just saved the pope from a horde of atheists! Stay where you are!"

"That's a lot coming from someone I spooked a juvenile off..."

"She's got a point Sayaka, you might wanna calm down..."

"You newcomers aren't aware of the fauna 'round this world, are you?"

"World? Wait, that can't be right..."

"Listen bird, I haven't forgiven what your kind did earlier."

"My underlings? Why, they're perfectly pure and honest! What could they possibly have done to you?"

"Well for one thing... wuh-- what is that!?"

"AHHH! A BIGGER ONE!!"

"Oh that might be the mother zino--"

"IT WAS HER!! SHE ATTACKED YOUR CHILD!!"

"Wait what Sayaka--!?"

"RUN AWAY!!"

"OKAY!?"

"WHUH--AYAYAYAHAFHDBHJGNFKGFHghgjgjjk-"

"WHAT THE HELL SAYAKA!"

"They tried to steal my house! You remember that, don't you?"

"But she saved my--is that a hand!?"

"RUN FASTER!"

"Geez what is with this place and spontaneous monsters--oh hey Homura."

"Wait what, transfer student!?"

"...Homura?"

"Er, I mean yes. I am Homura. How do you do."

"Well don't just stand there! There's monsters amok behind us!"

"Do not worry about me. I can handle myself."

"But they're gonna--"

"We don't have time to worry about the transfer student, Kyouko. Come on!"

"I will be fine. Just keep heading that direction, and don't look back."

"Well, that was convenient."

"Oh, you're done. That was a little too quick for my liking. Then again, Flying is weak to Electric."

"Rroar?"

"Oh don't mind me, just talking to myself. Good boy. You even resisted chowing down the wings! Excellent!"

"When those crooked crows see this they will not hesitate to flap right off, or run when I'm done with them..."

Well, probably. I only had two hours to take pics so I sorta rushed this one. Didn't even get to properly open up the new figure I got and add on her many, many, MANY accessories! Maybe some time in the following week when I find some time I will. I mean yes I could do it tomorrow, but by the time I get home it will be late and I'll be tired and the sunlight won't wait for me to prepare before all the prime lighting time is gone for the day. I really don't like taking these pics at night, it just doesn't look as nice. For first impressions though, while she's of the same scale as my Figmas she's not a Figma, and so far I don't quite like how she poses and her accessories are swapped in and out as Figmas. She seems a lot more frail, which is quite the statement considering not only her price but the reputation of the figmas' durability. She still looks badass though, even if she's my trashiest figure to date. WELL IF ONLY AN ACTUAL DECENTLY-SIZED GORE MAGALA WASN'T OVER THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS!! >:

Yeah. Oh and the sole reason Sayaka was the overly hostile one was because she was the only one who had pointing fingers. Yep, that’s it. ...K bye.

[nostalgic-blood]

Hey look! A box tagged “FRAGILE” that doesn’t have a hole in it! What are the odds!

Yep. This is the thing I paid $42.90 customs for. And $22 shipping for. Yep... I did eye this for a long time though...

This one side of it looks really cool. I display this side in my shelf of boxes.

The tiny hunter wielding dual blades that comes with it is far too small compared to the monster. It’s not like Zinogre is Godzilla here, we turn those horns into swords! Imagine that tiny thing wielding its horns as a weapon! Even Great Swords aren’t that large.

I was under the impression Zinogre here would be much larger than my Brachydios. That was not so. 

Here I attempted a shot with my other Monhun figures as a size comparison... but that’s kind of pointless when all the small figures are in the foreground, skewing the perspective...

Still pretty fun to pose these two going at it though. Zinogre’s mighty detailed.

Here’s a real size comparison with my Nargacuga. The Zinogre is longer than Brachy and taller, but not by too much.

And Azure Rathalos stealing the spotlight because why not.

Not much to say because 1) I’m tired and 2) I’m still unhappy about the customs fee. Zinogre not being the size I was expecting didn’t help, and Revoltech’s weird joints that aren’t ball joints make it a little iffy to play around with. It’s still pretty cool, but when compared to the similar size Brachydios that I got with only 1000 yen it’s kind of underwhelming. Sure it has joints, but not the greatest joints. Also I don’t remember why but I believed this figure was supposed to be new? But when I opened it there was no seal and the shop’s little logo and card was inside the box. 

For its original release price of around 3500 yen this Zinogre is definitely worth it. For what I ended up paying for (and most of these cost twice as much when you try to look for one) it’s not. Not at all. But rare figures have high value these days and I’d been wanting this since I got Kyouko’s figma. I just couldn’t justify the price at the time. (I tried to get a real low priced one but apparently it was sold out at their physical store @_@) Maybe when I’m less tired or something, not sure.

 Well, toodles until next time. It’ll probably be more of an interesting post. ~

[nostalgic-blood]

I lied.

“This sucks! There's nothing to do around here. “

“And the locals are strange.”

“Ayayaya...”

“Don't crush my arm! I need that!”

“I just have nothing in common with these people...”

“Eh?”

“Whoa! When did this thing get here?”

“Mff! Mff!”

“Oh man there isn't even a single air hole on here! I got you, hold on!”

“Is this...is this who I think it is...?”

“Look Sanae! It's undamaged packaging!”

“Wow! I've never seen anything like that before!”

“Look at those pretty untouched illustrations, and neatly typefaced printing on the back. That's the dream, Aya...”

“That smooth finished side panel too! Wow, I'm jealous...”

“Hey! I saw this first! Scram!”

“Don't you already have a house? Hmph, some people...”

“Hey, thanks for scaring them away. This box is the only home I have and I couldn't possibly have defended it myself inside that plastic prison.”

“Heh, just glad to see someone similar around here. People are falling apart all over the place, you know? Nice to see someone with their feet on the ground for a change.”

”Er, what's this? Fish?”

“Take it, I ate all the Rocky already.”

“Okay...? ...there's a bite taken out of it...”

“So, you just arrive here?”

“Oh yeah, but just getting here was a nightmare. I was sitting in this giant warehouse with so many other ships for days--”

!! ROAR !!

“Wha-- OH GOD NFg,dkldhgklhfkgmkrtgfds”

“Hey! Get off her you monster!!”

“...there. Whew. Good thing it was only a small one.”

“YOU LITTLE PIECE OF SHIT! HOW DOES IT FEEL NOW, HUH!?”

“Stop! Stop! It's already dead!”

“Don'tcha know? You're supposed to dice it into little pieces and wear its skin for armour! Even better, the rest can be free food!”

“That's not how it works--”

”Oh look! More free food! It's my lucky day!”

“Ayayaya... my underling informed me someone around here threatened her and--”

“...wait are those wings? Don't mind if I do!”

“Hey wait--”

“Haven't seen my own in ages. Well, guess you guys already killed it. Bye!”

“...”

“See?”

“Are we seriously eating this? I heard its meat was real tough.”

“Yeah, but you killed a baby one. Its meat is sweet and tender. Ah, I can't wait...”

...and they lived happily ever after?

TO BE CONTINUED

Alas poor Rathalos... had Mandarake sent me the correct order, you’d have reinforcements! But sadly, that was not to be, and so your life ends as abruptly as it started...

[nostalgic-blood]

You know from the emails to support, attempts to make damage claims, delayed packages, wrong orders sent, and piddly amounts of offered compensation, I’m beginning to become exasperated with this entire process.

A package. No, I’ll correct myself. A one-inch tall figure inside an envelope should not take four months to arrive.

An item that is ordered and sent should arrive as the correct item. If this is somehow not the case, and the mistake is on their end, the item ordered originally should be sent, and they should be covering all the expenses to send incorrect items back. They should not be merely offering a minuscule discount to keep the incorrect item without correcting their mistake. 

If a package is damaged and the apology comes from the local post office, they should be the ones managing the damage claims, and not doing nothing and requesting you to contact the sender, who keeps requesting you to contact the local post office, going in circles where time is wasted and nothing is done.

If you look into this and find similar stories about how people handle damaged packages, this should be a running theme where the whole point of buying shipping with insurance never fucking applies. What am I paying you that extra fee for? To do nothing? To stomp and pulverize the cardboard box that very clearly says “FRAGILE” on it in giant capital letters with symbols like glass breaking stamped on the side of it? 

“Oh sorry. We’ll do nothing about it.”

“Oh I apologize, but it’s that guy’s problem.”

“No, it’s not my problem. It is theirs.”

“We’ll take away tracking for international packages and not tell you why!”

“This package arrived in your country a month ago. And has been sitting in that depot since then!”

Why. Why is all of this so inefficient, so incompetent, so inconvenient, and ultimately so mindbogglingly bad? It’s not as if the masses are complaining. Maybe because they haven’t been as unlucky as me, or they don’t waste their money on obscure anime crap that can’t be found in local hobby shops, and instead rely on stuff like same-day shipping from Amazon because they’re average people.

Also where the fuck is that package from my friend in California who sent it way back in February? It’s not even big. It’s not even thick. It’s something that can fit in an envelope! He’s sent me things before. It wasn’t an error in addresses or anything of the like. Also he got me Reaper Slippers for Christmas and they got lost in the mail.

All this in the last four fucking months. I’m tired of this.

[nostalgic-blood]

Aya's broken. Sanae is fine. Aya cushioned the part of the package with the giant hole in it. HOWEVER, I purposely bought a used Sanae with poorer conditions as an experiment compared to Aya who was not only thrice her price but supposed to be almost new. Sanaes are cheap in the aftermarket. Aya is most assuredly not. To say I'm livid is putting it lightly. I was planning a picture story or whatever but now I don't feel up to it.

[nostalgic-blood]

Story time...

Once upon a time, Kyouko was happy. She had all her favourite snacks she could possibly want, and was happily married to her waifu, Giant Pocky. It was all Kyouko could ask for, and life was good.

Kyouko and her waifu went to meet Weiss, who was in the middle of a tea party. This was strange because Weiss did not like tea.

"That's right!" Kyouko shouted, "I thought it was Blake who liked tea!"

Lo, did on cue Blake cometh, and dive her face into the teapot. Yes, Weiss had lured Blake with this tea party, and such a success it was! Kyouko was even happier, enjoying and sharing snacks in this impromptu tea party. What more could she want?

But suddenly! The monsters attacked! A creature usually resigned to his volcanic lair had emerged from his home to seek out tea. A British hunter had cluelessly wandered into his humble abode, and Brachydios had such a delectable sample, he needed to find more.

"No!" Kyouko shouted, the party ruined and her waifu scattered to avoid the carnage. How dare this monster interrupt her tea time! But she was to face not one, but three whole monsters inching for more tea around her! What could Kyouko do!?

She could do nothing but what she knew, and that was to defend her beloved waifu from these sickening, selfish creatures. She would do what that British hunter failed to, and that was to slay and skin the monsters for the resources they provided! A Brachydios Pallium would look marvelous mounted to her waifu's front. Kyouko was decided.

But then a roaring, screeching noise so loud shook the ground.

BOOM!

A massive explosion cleared out the battle, monsters, pocky, teacups, and alike blasting off in every direction! Kyouko was swept off her feet in less than a second!

In the resulting debris, Kyouko's eyes landed on only one thing. Giant Pocky was decimated. Guts, lungs, body parts were strewn around. Unless her waifu was some sort of lich, her greatest love was clearly no more. Kyouko shuddered as she fell onto her knees, eyes widened, arms apart in catatonic shock.

Only one soul heard the excruciating wail that day.

Lost in despair, Kyouko too was no longer. What appeared instead was a being bent on wanton destruction with no goal or motive that remained. It would wander alone on its mighty steed for the rest of history.

"History?" A voice echoed. Before what once was Kyouko appeared a shining, holy light that brought down a wise and fluffy creature. The sukusuku hakutaku emerged from the resounding light.

"You do not have to be like this," it said, its voice filled with power.

The being that once was Kyouko only responded with its spear.

"I am not here to fight. Let me show you my smaller, human-like form to show you my trust," the sukusuku hakutaku declared, and in its place appeared a young hakutaku in a green dress.

The being that was once Kyouko pointed its spear upwards, menacingly aiming at the hakutaku's face.

She continued, the powerful echo-filled voice retracting back to a gentle, serene tone, "I am a messenger and a ferryman sent by a deity not yet shipped to this household. I can take you to a place filled with peace and prosperity, a land known as San Francisco."

"In this magical paradise there are parties that go on forever with friends and family all around. It is a place of eternal happiness, and one you're destined to arrive. Come with me and you will no longer suffer."

The seemingly incorrigible being suddenly found its voice, finding one flaw with this perfect place, "But I do not know any friends and family in San Francisco." Its voice was hoarse and was unrecognizable as Kyouko's, but the hakutaku knew it was one and the same.

"You need not worry," the hakutaku assured, "for your greatest friend you haven't seen in eons has been expected to arrive in San Francisco for some time. Have a look."

The mounted figure turned its interno head to see a blue-haired idiot appear on screen. It seems her date with destiny was coming up quite soon.

"I will be reunited with Sayaka?" Kyouko exclaimed, an attempt to sound eager against her burning vocal cords.

The hakutaku nodded, "Yes. And then your paradise will be complete."

"I would like that." Kyouko raised her hand, her original form returning to what it once was, and now it was time to go.

But she couldn't leave without thanking the person who brought her salvation. Just then, her old waifu popped into existence as its youngest form, and Kyouko could not help but to share the love. She tilted the red box over, a cheeky grin emerging on her face.

"Want some?"

And so Kyouko lived happily ever after continued to be happy for the rest of forever.

The End.

[nostalgic-blood]

WHEN GOD GIVES YOU LEMONS WHAT DO YOU DOOO!?!!??

I just got this envelope that looked really similar to the envelope I got a few days back ...

this is the one i received a few days back

this is the one i got today--wait a second

this isn’t what i think it is, is it? it can’t be

oH GODDAMNIT

... welp, now ibuki has twice the blonde to deal with

okay the NOVEMBER clemont I ordered ACTUALLY GOT HERE. It just took FOUR WHOLE MONTHS. You see that second envelope pic? The one I just got? That says 11/30/16. I got a refund and ordered it AGAIN in early February. You see the first pic? It shipped on February 7th. 

How? why? do i contact them? am i entitled to one free clemont since it didn’t arrive until long after the expected arrival date? what? what i do? WAT?!?/!?

perhaps this is a sign. a sign that I need two lemons in my life. not even the lemon sister, i need two identical lemon children. And so it shall be.

i guess I can use one as a keychain after all since I now have backup insurance in my room...

[nostalgic-blood]

COME HUG KYOUKO

I ordered this a week after Clemont. CLEMONT STILL ISN’T HERE. I’m convinced having a mould of smol lemon child is not to be. :( 

Well back to this figure I guess. You’re probably wondering if it has come to the point that I love a character so much I get more than one figure of them. You are half-right! I was debating between Kyouko’s figma and Kyouko’s nendoroid. I ended up choosing the sensible solution, that being buying the much cheaper Petite Nendoroid and was satisfied after that.

Totally, totally satisfied. I made the smart, savvy decision. No dumb impulse buys on my part! Nosiree! 

It’s as if Kyouko was offering me figures in her Rocky box. I can’t say no! 

Unlike the Petite Nendoroid I was so glad this was much easier to pose, put together and all that jazz. You can actually hear a click when you plug the stand to her back. This is far superior to the Petite Nendoroid’s stand that has a ball at the end to plug in that barely fits into Kyouko’s back unless you put four hundred tonnes of hydraulic press power into her and hope she doesn’t snap into a million pieces. I was even trying to get a picture to compare the two and I still had to spend time putting the Petite Nendoroid back on her stand... >(

I probably would have preferred ONLY buying the Figma (and maybe the non-petite Nendoroid down the line) and not have bought the Petit at all, but oh well. Anyway the other reason I have both is because Madoka happens to be a VERY POPULAR SHOW, and very popular shows will have merchandise for as far as the eye can see, beyond the horizon, spilling out your cheerios and flooding the sea! It feels like Overwatch should be drowning in merchandise by now, and I don’t mean a dozen hats and mousepads donning the logo, but compared to say RWBY which seems to have spawned merchandise the moment the first episode launched it still seems a little disproportionate. I guess it’s ‘cause Overwatch makes money from skins and game purchases and such too, not just relying on merchandise.

Here’s Kyouko next to my reject figures. Yes including the petit because of how much it annoys me lately. The Nodoka is the ugliest mould I’ve ever seen of an Anime character. The Squall is an obvious bootleg my friend gave me when she got two of them from a nightmarket. (You should see his face. It’s hilarious) and there’s nothing technically wrong with the Gundam... I’m just incredibly bad at building them so he falls apart the moment a slight breeze comes about. I was hoping to buy an action figure of a Gundam instead but they’re quite expensive. (And of a model I care about. Why did I buy a random Gundam Seed Gundam? I could have gotten Sandrock or something. Impulse buys have been part of my life for years it seems... )

Anyway though I am glad I have this thing that I spent fifty minutes posing a bunch of times because dang is she fun to pose, I’m also shit at posing, especially the legs. WHAT DO I DO WITH THE LEGS?? I do have to say Kyouko really is painted perfectly. For something with this much detail and accessories I was surprised she wasn’t more expensive. (Then again, this is a good time to be getting figures of stuff not currently airing. The moment Madoka continues is the moment everything skyrockets in price.) Also she comes with a Kyubey she can supposedly hold up, but I already know such a pose is mostly a lost cause ‘cause Kyubey’s ear is very finicky to fit in her pinching hand. That’s alright. I bought this knowing that!

For now she sits atop my computer. I say for now because I am anticipating another figure, and it’s bigger...and will likely become the centerpiece of all my other figures. :D (It was thrice the cost of Kyouko... D: IT'S MY DREAM FIGURE OKAY!) So I’ll probably reorganize where my figures are and have a master photo of every single one of them when that happens. 

Angry eating is a great pose for her. I love to angry eat too.

[nostalgic-blood]

why do figures always arrive to my house when i’m dead tired

...why do i insist on opening them right away

THE COMBINATION IS A VERY UNORIGINAL PICDUMP IN THE CUT ~

im so tired halp me

putting those nendoroids onto their pegs and onto their proper body parts was so exhausting agh

SO ANYWAY, I got MORE figures if my rambling some weeks back didn’t clue you in that I purchased a flurry of plastic statues in a rather short amount of time. These ones arriving now actually surprised me. I ordered something else like at least a week before Kyouko and Sayaka, and two-three weeks before Alice! Alice was my first purchase from AmiAmi! That’s some speedy shipping you got there, AmiAmi!

In fact I ordered something from the same seller as that Kyouko Sayaka set one week before them, so I’m extra surprised they came first. Oh well!

ok so first off have some alice

alas, I always get home around dusk so all my images are gonna be grainy this time >< . Alice was one of three impulsive purchases, which honestly is three too many, but when I make impulsive purchases it’s because the price was too good to skip. Of the three Brachydios came first who was an awesome 1000 yen. I found Alice secondhand for 3500 yen or something along those lines on AmiAmi and just went “WELL, FUCK IT. I LIKE ALICE. LET’S DO EET.” And so Alice became my AmiAmi guinea pig just like Brachydios was for Mandarake.

As she was such an incredible price, there were flaws I was expecting to see, but would easily forgive due to well, her awesome price. Seriously she’s like $80 on Ebay and that’s twice the price than the one on AmiAmi, PLUS those ones were used too... Anyway Alice suffers from slimy plastic syndrome, but it only affects the white parts underneath her dress, which isn’t too much of a problem. Slimy plastic syndrome usually comes from very old figures or figures stuck in their packaging too long. Obviously someone did not like giving Alice much fresh air, forcing her into a hikikomori lifestyle. Inside her plastic prison, she began to perspire, and it had nowhere to go. Poor Alice. :(

The only other thing is that her Grimoire is a bit loose, but not too loose that knocking Alice a tad would cause it to fall off, so I’m fine with that.

In terms of the figure itself outside of its condition, I had already watched a review of Alice before I bought her about the position of her face. Or rather, why she insists on looking downwards towards the ground.  Perhaps she is looking down at her peers, who are inferior to her, which is somewhat canon. In the event that you are wearing less colours than her, Alice is better. But Alice only wears like three colours, so I’m not sure what logic she’s trying to go with that. Maybe she’s referring to her danmaku? The other theory is that Alice is depressed and always walks around looking downwards as a result. I like to think it’s a little of column A and a little of column B. Still, I’m quite impressed by the figure for its price (would never have bought it at its original price) though obviously EX-Keine being my grail is still my favourite Touhou figure.

Alice certainly isn’t the last 1/8th I’m waiting for ... ;) (I’m probably going to rant your face off when that one comes though... >_>) but after the third I’m definitely not getting anymore 1/8 Touhou figures. For one I don’t even have space for much more in my room, and two they’re expensive and not posable, so three seems like a nice number to stop. (I was considering a 1/6th Sanae at one point. Egads, where the hell would I put her!?)

And now for these tragic idiots. 

So.

Now that I have legit Nendoroids and not just the bootleg Reimu, I can give you my full opinion of Nendoroids.

Figmas >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Nendoroids.

And it ain’t even close.

When I got petit Kyouko I was wondering if she was possibly a bootleg due to how tight and difficult it was to keep her on her peg. It seems Nendoroids just have a habit of having random stands with random chance of maybe fitting nicely into your figure, or not. That’s really disappointing from a company like Good Smile which has lots of high quality figures and is a mainstay in figure collecting. I want to collect Nendoroids. I’d still get Mercy seeing as Overwatch merchandise is still a bit scarce at the moment, but if Mercy gets a figma I would no doubt get it instead. As for these two (and two more I ordered because a certain character has no goddamn figma-counterpart :< ) I will not order anymore nendoroids. Too much trouble.

So here’s Kyouko” I can’t stay in my fucking peg” Sakura and Sayaka “For once I’m not the stubborn pain” Miki. I did eventually get her in and decide to never touch them or arrange them around again because I couldn’t be fucked, but that’s alright. There’s a big reason I got this specific set of Nendoroids. I wanted Sayaka, but I didn’t want only Sayaka ... and though my friend was aghast that I’d want a fourth Kyouko, I’m at least content with three Kyoukos. Three is the lovely number here. Three 1/8 Touhou figures. Three Kyoukos. Three! There’s just something about that sitting position and Kyouko’s numerous options to share food that I like. 

...Sayaka on the other hand has a bag and can close her eyes. But that’s okay! BECAUSE SHE’S SO ROUND! Look how round this dumbass is. So very round. Such a large, round cranium holding nothing at all ...

Well, I still like Sayaka despite of her endless poor decisions. She’s like me! Being very impulsive and making far too many purchases on plastic trinkets to fulfill some kind of empty purpose that once had meaning and idealism ... oh wait, I’m rambling.

All that effort to put them in the stand is worth it for that pose though. SITTING NENDOROIDS. TOGETHER. YAY SHIP! Normally I never go for the most popular ship in a fandom, but Kyousaya actually perfectly fits the kind of ship I enjoy. That being my awesome amazing favourite character and her trainwreck of a waifu. Other ships that fit this description include Mercymaker, KeneMoko, and even Checkmating. 

Oh yeah Kyouko has like another faceplate too but I have no idea why Kyouko would have such a shy face around Sayaka. KYOUKO IS PROUD AND SMUG. I mean maybe in ship fics she might fight with herself over her terrible tastes in girls, and thus have shy moments, but not in general NOR ON MY SHELF YOUNG LADY. You will share those apples WITH CONFIDENCE.

It is cute though. One day in the far future when I feel like re-attaching her to her stand four times in a row I may throw it on. One day. 

Lastly, of the three Kyoukos I have so far, this Nendoroid is the sharpest. The last time I suffered a minor injury from my figures was when I carelessly slammed my wrist onto Keine’s horns. ;_; Kyouko’s ahoges are like hedgehog needles. In fact they’re probably even sharper than Kyouko’s spear, which I’ve poked myself with a few times as well.

And yes, it’s getting very crowded. This is the last shot of all my newer figures together before I separate them in the next batch that arrives. We shall see then, shall we not?

[nostalgic-blood]

.......oh. Mercy is one of the next nendoroids.

[nostalgic-blood]

A new tragic baby has joined the likes of Ibuki guarding my computer this evening.

I was totally expecting this to come in March but YAY something from Japan came to me the same month I ordered it! IT’S A MIRACLE! Sadly the Reaper Slippers which have been lost in transit and the Clemont keychain which I had to get a refund on are not quite as forthcoming when it came to arriving to my house safe and sound. Wherever you are, lost items of value and sentimentality, I hope at least you were stolen and given love by a real human being and not forever trapped inside a rotting cardboard box next to a drain cover. :(

Anyway these last two shots are actually frames from an unboxing video I did because I can’t for the life of me take a decent looking photo on its own. Oh well. I was questioning the legitimacy of the figure since I also have a Reimu nendoroid (not the petit) that I found out was bootlegged later. It made me sad. :( What I do know is a bootleg is that Aya keychain I mentioned a year or so ago back. It’s actually an unofficial keychain variant of the same type of figure Kyouko here is supposed to be, the Petit Nendoroid, so have a comparison!

After such comparisons I figured the figure wasn’t a bootleg figure, so that figures out well for me! And even though Kyouko took a good fifteen minutes to put together even if it’s just a tiny little blindbox thing, at least she seems fairly sturdy (aside from being very back-heavy. The stand isn’t the greatest in keeping her upright) compared to Aya...

Yeah I dunno how I haven’t lost her arm yet.

Both Aya and of course the now forever lost #1 Mercy charm are lessons to NEVER ACTUALLY PUT THESE ON YOUR KEYS/PHONE. They will lose pieces or be lost all together. Such valuable pieces of plastic must remain in my home to avoid such distressing events. 

This is what they’re guarding btw. A messy messy desk (with some neglected wine in the foreground hahaha ...) that I took a pic of to show the Venus figure, Flareon plushie, Lobomon action figure, Fluttershy EG fig (that will NEVER LEAVE THE BOX considering Pinkie cannot stand on her two legs VERY DISAPPOINTED IN YOU HASBRO D<) and my Widowmaker funko pop I’m also never taking out because why bother.

Oh look it’s the sukusuku hakutaku button I deemed too big to stick on my person! It will forever be there instead. 

[nostalgic-blood]

....did I absolutely fail and not post my Mercy print I got in December? Because it is not in my merch tag D:

whatever here it is for archival sake

could have sworn i posted this tho

maybe failed to tag it who knows