Cool & Spicy has a new look ^^. I’ve chosen the Panorama theme as my new replacement. It has some new features like a wider post column which will be quite helpful with my frequent image-heavy posts. Now I can embed wider preview images like the one below :)
Image by Waka.
I’ve also put together a quick image banner for the new theme. Probably could be better. Will probably update that later ^^
Returned home today to find a rather large package from Hobby Search waiting for me. It was packed full of delicious bishoujos :D
Three new Lucky Star girls and a Kyou challenger appears! Since I’m quite cheap and shipping EMS is quite expensive, I try to package as many items into a single order as possible. Hobby Search is great for this as they will hold your items up to a month and then ship them all together. Results in a slight delay for some items that are released early in the month but saves a lot of money on shipping ^^
I’m looking forward to playing with my new toys over the long Labor Day weekend :-D
Image by tearfish.
On a unrelated note, I have been keeping myself busy with a few new games (new to me, at least). Picked up LittleBigPlanet (PS3), God of War 2 (PS2), and borrowed Persona 4 (PS2) from a friend. Too many games, too little time xD The PS2 games play quite nicely on my PS3 thanks to the backwards compatible hardware in the 60GB model.
And lastly, I’m almost done with final part of my Italy trip coverage. Should have done that a while ago ^^;
Hermione by Hanaharu Naruko via e-shuushuu.
Just a quick status update. And no, I haven’t forgotten about my blog despite my lack of decent posts recently ^^; Yep, I’m still around though I certainly understand Optic’s reasoning for taking a break of his own. I’ve also been a bit distracted with other things. Work has been busier than usual and I’ve been spending more of my free time trying different things. I’ve started reading more for one thing. And I don’t just mean manga although that certainly is part of it ^^;
Actually, I have to admit I’m currently reading the Harry Potter books, a series I’ve avoided for years. It’s not as bad as I expected from the movies ^^; I’m also simultaneously reading the Mass Effect novels. Yes, I’m a total geek :D
Let’s see… I’ve got a couple figure reviews coming up soon. I think I’ll have the first out within a day or two. In addition, I’ve got got quite a few pre-ordered figures being released this month so I know I will be busy with that soon enough :).
Comiket 76 also just wrapped up last week and I’ve got a small (however expensive) stash of doujinshi goodies heading my way in a few weeks time. Look forward to some pretty girl pictures to ogle at ^^.
So, that’s what’s going with me. I will be posting more of my usual boring content soon enough ^^
And lastly, I still need to finish my Italy travelogue. *kicks self for not doing it sooner*
I was planning on doing a review of my newly acquired FREEing 1/4 Konata, but as it turns out, she had some major paint flaws. I may need to get a replacement as I don’t think I can repair the problems myself :( In the meantime, I went back to some photos I took in May of Gift’s 1/8 scale Saber from Fate/Stay Night. These photos have been sitting around too long anyway ^^;
I finally got off my lazy butt and went through my Italy trip photos >_< After cleaning out the junk images, I ended up with around 1,000 photos. Of course, I’m not going to be posting them all here, no one would like that xD. Instead, I’ve picked out some of the better ones and will be posting them along with a description of where I was and what was going on.
I present part 1 of 2 or 3 total parts, I haven’t decided how many more to do ^^;
We started our trip off in Indianapolis, departing from the new Indianapolis International Airport that opened last winter. Definitely the coolest airport I’ve visited. Continue reading
There’s certainly no short supply of coverage for the Summer Wonder Festival that just finished up. Wcloudxkumo has a nice summary of the new and upcoming figures that were on the display. Tons of awesome new figures on the horizon ^^.
Here are some of the figures I found most interesting:
K-ON Nendoroids by GSC
We all knew this was coming ^^. K-ON! was absurdly popular and the inevitable Nendoroids of the four girls were displayed. They’re not jump-off-the-screen cute but they all look good, a very likely get for me. There are also pics that Mio is sporting her shima pantsu ^^; I believe reservations for Mio and Yui will begin in a few days.
Nendoroid Minami Chiaki from Minami-ke by Gift
Finally, some Minami-ke Nendoroids! Chiaki looks pretty cute here in her mostly expressionless face ;) I hope the other Minami-ke characters are forthcoming in their own Nendoroid forms. Scheduled for December release.
1/8 scale Black Rock Shooter with Black Blade by GSC
A new Black Rock Shooter figure by GSC. I didn’t reserve the first BRS figure that’s due out in August and I’m not sure if I regret that or not. This is mostly the same figure but with her sword instead of her Rock Cannon. Also, her jacket is off. It’s pretty hot ^^; Since I didn’t order the first version, I just might be tempted into getting this one. No price or release date (that I was able to find).
1/8 scale K-ON figures by Alter
Now here’s some good stuff ^^. 1/8 scale K-ON! figures by Alter. Given the popularity of the K-ON! series there is no doubt we will be seeing many figures of the girls but to have Alter start things off is a good sign. Mio and Yui are first up and look energetic and cute in their school uniforms and with their instruments (which look amazing). Quite tempting. Both are supposed to be released near the end of the year but no prices have been announced.
1/8 scale Mercedes from Odin Sphere by Alter!
I’ve been watching this figure for a while. The previous unpainted photos I had seen were promising and now the painted PVC version is arriving. The Alter Gwendolyn that matches with this figure is absolutely stunning and I expect this figure to be the same. Due out by end of year, no price yet.
1/8 scale Aisaka Taiga from Toradora! by Wave
Yes, yes, and yes ^^; Here is Aisaka Taiga in 1/8 scale by Wave. After watching Toradora, I’ve fallen in love with Taiga so I’m very interested in this figure. She is wearing her angel outfit from the school festival. Just based on the unpainted concept model, I like it. If the final, painted version turns out anywhere near as good as I expect, this will be a must get figure for me. No date or price yet.
1/6 scale Saber Maid Ver. from Fate/Stay Night by Alter
Another maid version of Saber by Alter. I’ve been eyeing Alter’s first version for a while but it seems to be sold out everywhere… so this figure might be the one for me. Unfortunately, it looks like it will be a Hobby Japan magazine exclusive which means it may be horribly expensive for me to acquire :(
Lucky Star Summer Seifuku versions
The last items of interest to me are the Lucky Star summer seifuku figma by Max Factory. I already have the winter seifuku versions but I like the summer versions more (maybe it’s the blue ^^). More pics at Moeya. Konata is supposed to come with a head for Yutaka so you kind of get a free Figma with her ;)
And that’s it! Whether or not I will be getting these figures is not yet decided but I should probably start saving up in any case ^^;
Just an image I liked ^^; Pic from http://e-shuushuu.net/image/109257/
I’m back in the States after a nice two and a half week vacation in Italy. After about 12 hours of flying, 3 sitting in airports, and 2 more sitting in a plane on the tarmac, we touched down in Indianapolis around 10pm. Finally got home after being awake for about 26 hours (yay, jet lag) and took a nice long nap ^^; I wasn’t planning on blogging much about my trip but I think I took enough interesting pictures to make a few posts out of it ;)
But first I need to wade the massive backlog of email (both work and home) and all the other things that have piled up in my absence. I will be posting some pics in a day or so. I just need to sort through them all :)
Just a quick update on my trip to Italy. We’re currently staying in Florence, relaxing in our hotel room after a long, hot day (35C, 95F!) roaming the city. Our trip is about halfway through; we’ve been to a lot of awesome places and are going to see more in the next week ^^.
I’ve taken nearly 1,000 photos already >_< The above pic is Kagami visiting Venice. She decided to tag along on the trip for some reason ^^; The Internet connection here is too slow to upload more and editing RAW images on a Mini 9 is not fun XD. I will definitely need to post some of the better ones when I get back to the States :)
