Hobby Link Japan - "New" YAMATO goods

For the longest time it felt as though Hobby Link Japan downright refuses to carry non-Musashiya resin kits. As such, pre-order choices have been quite limited - mostly to the likes of "Ryomou Shimei VIII" or "Kanu Unchou Maid Version XIII".

In what could only be called HLJ's most unexpected move of 2009, they've decided to stock 2 of YAMATO's online shop exclusives (previously event exclusives that I thought I missed forever). Well I'll admit these two kits are totally ancient now, especially with the herd mentality prevalent in this hobby (where the latest is the greatest).

Isejima Aya dates back to October 16th, 2008, when the 48th All Japan Model & Hobby Show took place:





Dynamite Plan #002 Naked Star first appeared May 6th, 2009 at the now defunct Hobby Complex 7:





I devoted an article to Isejima Aya in the past, so I won't do that here again. As for Toushirou's Naked Star, here are some stats:

Sculptor: Toushirou
Dealer: Cobra-Kai
Series: Oh! Great's 2001 Doujin Naked Star page 3 color illustration
Character Name: She doesn't have one
Price: 23,000 yen
Scale: 1/5 (25cm tall)
First Appearance: Hobby Complex 07 (May 6, 2009)
Final Appearance: Hobby Complex 07 (May 6, 2009) [convention-wise]
Availability: 30-40

Those of you who missed out the first time and didn't care to support recasters (and still don't), pre-order away! This kind of deal is as good as it gets.

1/5 Dynamite Project #002: Oh! Great Naked Star Limited Edition Resin Kit

Aya Isejima Limited Edition Resin Kit

For those who prefer to order straight from the source, YAMATO is still carrying both these kits (you'll have to go through Tenso.com or Shopping Mall Japan though). I guess good for those who've had a fall out with HLJ in the past?

As an aside note, I'm going to make a habit of checking YAMATO's website and HLJ more often now.

P.S. Can't believe these kits were available since May and June of this year. Totally flew under my radar.

P.P.S. Well this marks my 100th post. Hurrah.

Sources:
-http://hobisora.blog25.fc2.com/blog-entry-38.html
-http://akibahobby.net/2009/05/yamato_nakedstar_color_sample.html

Upcoming Resin Kits for 2009 and Wonder Festival 2010 Winter

Here are some kits that will be going on sale within the next few months (mainly Wonder Festival 2010 Winter):

Volks











Yes the previous 2 are different kits.



Volks will be hosting another event near the end of 2009 for these kits. Characters are from the series Toushin Toshi 3.

Kurushima



Available through their mail order department and Replicant magazine vol 38. Otherwise an event exclusive.

vispo



Raqel Lolita.

diskvision



Kanu.



Choun.

闇夜ノ光 (Yamiyo no Hikari)



Spica from eroge Sumaga. Took me longer than I would have liked to figure out her identity.

植物少女園 (Shokubutsu shoujo en)





Shiro Yukiko.

Ishinaga Sakurako is the sculptor behind the PVC's for Supercell feat. Hatsune Miku: World is Mine and Lineage II Elf, which are 2 of the best looking PVC's available these days. Despite her new found success in the PVC sector, it's nice to see that she's still catering to garage kit fans at every opportunity.

Though I wish she would make less kits of anorexic girls/decapitated girl in box (as excellently done as they are) and concentrate on creating more kits like World is Mine Miku and Lineage II Elf.

Tanaka of Jet Stream



Asuka.

Nekoban





Hachikuji Mayoi of Bakemonogatari and Takamachi Nanoha of Lyrical Nanoha. Couldn't get past episode 1 of Bakemonogatari but I would like to read the novels one of these days.

I'll pass on watching Nanoha.

M Field



I don't understand the phenomenon that is Mio.

Buster Seven



Yoko.

And that's all folks.

Sources:
-http://www.volks.co.jp/jp/figure_complete/index.html
-http://diskvision.org/
-http://busterseven.blog.shinobi.jp/
-http://www.kurushima.com/new.html
-http://freestyleblog.blog.shinobi.jp/
-http://homepage2.nifty.com/~zan/nekoban/index.htm
-http://botamoti.blog.shinobi.jp/
-http://www.vispo.cc/
-http://shokuen.com/blog/index.html
-http://yamiyonohikari.blog104.fc2.com/

Treasure Festival in Ariake 2

Yay, another convention.

I've been concentrating mostly on a few major resin kit producers (like Volks) these days, so new and veteran garage kit producers alike tend to fall by the wayside. Not that I'm missing much though, if all the new kits popping up on YJA are any indication.

Cobra-Kai (and Daiki-Kougyou) came out with something pleasant for a change. His last few kits have been very disappointing (Fate/Stay Night, To Heart 2, ARIA etc.) so I haven't been paying much attention to him:






"Not another Ikki Tousen kit!" you say? Well I say that's all that series is good for - hot girls. And considering how many of these kits we've been hit with already, it's quite an accomplishment to produce one that turns heads (even for a veteran sculptor).

Some stats:

Scale: 1/4
Price: 45,000 yen (I fear Chorosuke's KOS-MOS has set a price standard for 1/4's)
Parts: 51
Availability: 40 kits, event exclusive; 6 copies circulating on YJA as of Oct 13, 2009 12:16 AM (PDT)

That's all this Treasure Festival does for me. I'm making it a point not to cover uninteresting kits from now on (waste of time really).

(I'm pretty sure there's another smaller convention sometime before Wonder Festival 2010 Winter so I'll look around and update accordingly.)

Update! October 19th, 2009 - Here are the 8 YJA ending prices for this kit (in chronological auction end order):

50,000 yen
61,000 yen
60,000 yen
68,000 yen
60,500 yen
61,000 yen
61,000 yen
60,000 yen

Average of 59,750 yen. These were the only 8 I found out of the 40 sold.

Source:
- http://www.daikikougyou.com/tf20091012/gk_ryomou_tf2009.html

Amanda Werner by Toy's Brand (Toui Fujiura) - Now Available for Web Order (ok I know I'm 17 days late, but I did see it when it was first announced)

Using the original character design by artist Niθ, veteran sculptor Toui Fujiura brings us his GK rendition of heroine Amanda Werner from the 2008 anime Blassreiter (German for Pale Rider):



She will be available for pre-order until noon of September 25, 2009. For a 29cm garage kit, 15,000 yen before tax is not so bad.

Order?

For web orders, consider giving Tenso a try (Thanks to GundamJehutyKai for reminding me). When you sign up, they provide you with a Japanese address which you use as your shipping address (since as most of you know the Japanese don't ship the good stuff internationally). Once Tenso receives your item(s) they forward it to you via EMS. Pretty simple, and it's a lot cheaper than using deputy agents (save them for YJA).

A note of warning though - don't use C.O.D. (pay Cash on delivery) as your payment method. Tenso will just send the item back to the store. You have to pay the web store with your credit card on the spot.