For the Lucky Star fans out there, a new Kagami figure is available starting today. It is Atelier Sai’s non-scale Hiiragi Kagami, the first of a set by them. At 160mm, it’s somewhere around 1/8 scale, maybe a bit smaller. I don’t have any Atelier Sai figures so I can’t say how the quality will be but the at 4,560 yen I’m willing to take a gamble on them. I’ll be the guinea pig and get her ^^
She can be ordered at Hobby Search. Tsukasa will supposedly be also shipping later this month ^^.
Haven’t made a tech post in a while but I discovered this nifty tool from Yahoo called YSlow that I wanted to share. It’s a little program that can run tests on any URL in your browser and give it a speed rating based on some pre-set rules. It will run a speed test on the site and return a final grade based on the performance of Javascript, CSS, images, caching, and other general server configuration. For each of these sub-categories, it will also give a grade and some advice/links on how to improve performance in that area.
Of course, since YSlow can only test the what it sees from the web server, it won’t be able to help if you’ve got an overloaded database or a maxed out CPU. Still, a very useful tool for those who want to improve the performance of their blog or personal sites.
Since YSlow is a plugin for Firebug, you will need to have Firefox with Firebug installed to use YSlow. But since all my readers are smart people, I’m sure you’re already using it (or maybe Opera) ;)
Haven’t been able to post recently due to work being extra busy the past week (yay broken servers) and having some family visit from out of town. But it was worth the wait since I can now finally review the FREEing Konata I received a bit ago. I present here “Super” Konata! Continue reading
The 1/8 scale figure of Aisaka Taiga by Wave that first piqued my interest at the Summer Wonder Festival now has a painted preview. I have to say she looks adorable. Assuming she doesn’t turn out to be too expensive, I will definitely be getting this figure ^^.
Photo from Akiba Hobby.
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
Quite literally, that is…
A sneak peak at my latest acquisition which arrived today. I knew right away what it was based on the size of the package ^^; Konata is FREEing’s first figure in their 1/4 scale Lucky Star set and was released last week.
I know it’s 1/4 scale and is supposed to be big but I’m amazed by the size of this figure >_< The above picture shows Konata against my monitor. That’s a 26″ monitor and it really shows the sheer size of Konata ^^. Also, the gym uniform is nice. Real fabric!
Anyway, no time for a full review right now. I will be posting more pics and a proper review sometime this week. Look forward to it :)
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 ^^;
