Category: Miscellaneous (figure-related)

Wonfes 2022-2023 Shanghai – My personal picks

In this article, I’ll detail the statutes and figures that caught my eye. Not seen much activity on Wonfes Shanghai on MFC, so thought I’d add something of my own.

The first thing I’ll cover is a figure I’ve already got preordered – Dragon Princess by ULoop Studio:
https://i.ibb.co/h7rLzhC/20231002-123220.jpg

Promo:
https://i.ibb.co/nPhR582/7cf7d9f7ab604791b257ff9efe2002f0.jpg
Was on the fence of whether I was going to preorder her as I thought she might be pricey. When she came out as 899cny, into the cart she went. I love the carefree expression and the mechanical parts – am a sucker for mechanical parts, horns and tails – so this figure delivers for me. Doubting she’ll be cast-off – would be nice but I think she’s fine as she is even if that’s not an option.

Whilst we’re on ULoop, this figure was shown:
https://i.ibb.co/HGtLLQ2/uloop.jpg
Cormorant is a family of coastal-inhabiting birds, which is something I learned when looking this one up. So yeah, she’s part person, part bird. She doesn’t have any specific “yes” points for me, but for some reason she appeals to me. Will see what the finished prototype is like and her price – if both are good I may stick this one into my basket. A pretty unique figure.

Now onto Evangelion stuff – let’s start with one I may preorder – the CCP x Yoshi EVAs:
https://i.ibb.co/R6hzhF2/20231002-114732.jpg
These figures weren’t revealed at WF Shanghai, so some people may already have these on their radar, but it was my first time properly noticing them. Unless the price is utterly bonkers, I’ll likely order the EVA-01 and the EVA-MP. Not sure I’ll buy the EVA-02 – I don’t have infinite space, and not so into EVA-02. Beast mode and I probably would XD.

Now onto some EVA stuff I’d love to order but will be stupid-pricey so I won’t bother.

First this one by Jimei Palace and Weta:
https://i.ibb.co/RTmt2G2/20231002-144340.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/54WKTv5/20231002-144353.jpg
I love the diorama and the very mechanical look of EVA-01, but this one is priced at a premium as expected – 6888cny. Looking at the MFC page, seems like it went up for preorder some time ago, so good luck finding one too. Still, will be a great piece for the people who have the space and the dough. If I had it, I’d probably display it with the default arm, but the one with the spikes is eye-catching so I’d probably use that one for a time.

Onto these EVA-01 and EVA-02 pairs by Kaiyodo:
https://i.ibb.co/KrQ9vPB/20231002-154754.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/68cVBCp/20231002-154730.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/3WzWTsV/20231002-154734.jpg
In the background you can see the price is a spicy, spicy 49,999元… That’s over 1 million JPY! Or just under 7000USD for each pair! Looks like they have done previous versions of these, but as of writing these ones aren’t added to the database.
I really love the EVA-01 with the white accents, but this one ain’t going to be fitting in my wallet. Sadge.

This figure I added to my WF2023Shanghai folder but probably won’t order:
https://i.ibb.co/pRYXd3L/20231002-160327.jpg
She’s Princess Wakasetai by Charm. I love the colours and pose, but I don’t think she’s a stand-out enough figure to displace anything from my collection.

Then there is this dude by Ribose:
https://i.ibb.co/KG7ctcP/ribose.jpg
Ensemble Stars!! isn’t a series I’m familiar with, but I’m a sucker for wings and tail, plus a dude. Being Ribose his pricetag is likely to be on the lower end, so I might squeeze him in somewhere despite being a franchise I’m not familiar with.

Onto the last thing that I may actually order:
https://i.ibb.co/JdWScST/O1-CN01-Il8-Kq51-L1-Vbmbvn-Y4-62061239.jpg
Yep, a figure by ODD had to squeeze in here :P. The shipping on this one will no doubt be baaad, but who else is gonna produce a shark lady in a tank? This one was announced awhile ago, but still waiting for them to open preorders for her. She’s gigantically tall, so finding space for her will no doubt be interesting. I have an idea of a space if it doesn’t get filled by anything else in the meantime!

Gamma Studio showed this insecty lady:
https://i.ibb.co/BLsVYDj/gamma-studio.jpg
Looking at their other stuff, the preorder prices weren’t toooo high so she may be affordable for me. Though I’m on the fence of how much I like her – will just have to see how the coloured prototype goes. I like their other insecty/augmenty stuff they’ve shown but not enough to plop down a preorder.

Aaaand back to the things I love the look of but unlikely to be able to afford.

These two are a series called “Life and Death” and are by PIJI studio:
https://i.ibb.co/xSq7XhS/PIJI-Life-and-Death.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/8zL9xs0/PIJI-Life-and-Death-2.jpg
They look amazing, but no doubt they’ll be highly priced. Thinking 8,000cny or north of that (1,000USD+, 166k+ jpy). If I was to get one, it’d be the black insectoid one. PIJI announced these a long time ago but they’re not yet in production. Ah, if only I had infinite space and budget.

And onto the pricey fellow that maybe I’ll try and work into the budget if possible:
https://i.ibb.co/NSzcD6x/MYOUHEstudio.jpg
This statue is by MYOUHE Studio. The title of it is “幻·灭”, but not sure how it should be translated due to not knowing Chinese. DeepL offered up “phantasmagoria”, which I think fits it well.
And, oh boy, is this one going to be a space hog:
https://i.ibb.co/MNvhdJ6/005-YFXZVgy1hik6zxtgj1j327w199kjl.jpg
An amazing and interesting piece. Here’s some more photos:
https://i.ibb.co/DksQ6W9/005-YFXZVgy1hik701kc1yj32801hcqv5.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/wzBYm0F/005-YFXZVgy1hik6zwxjfpj31hc2801ky.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/3TWy6ZN/005-YFXZVgy1hik6zvoiioj32801hcb29.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/V9ZJX9X/005-YFXZVgy1hik702qzw8j31hc280x6p.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/hRM5drf/005-YFXZVgy1hik703wefgj31hc280qv5.jpg

Promos:
https://i.ibb.co/Yb721Hz/006y-UEz-Vgy1hieu5nqj09j31y72xge81.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/Pgby6VG/006y-UEz-Vgy1hieu5n596qj33bh2bchdt.jpg

Overall from Wonfes Shanghai 2022-2023 there isn’t a huge amount added to the “must preorder” column for me. A lot of impressive and pricey stuff was shown, though generally you’ll see more of that through Chinese social media vs the “more boring” PVC stuff. Though from the PVC photos I did see, most stuff was already on my radar or not of interest to me. I do like the Chinese Wonfeses, as they tend to have more unusal stuff that isn’t garage kits versus the Japanese one.

Did you follow any of Wonfes Shanghai this year? Did anything catch your eye?

Pick Me Up Miku instructions

Original (requires Weibo account, Chinese): https://weibo.com/ttarticle/p/show?id=2309404786134344401123

This is a translated version of the operating instructions for Pick Me Up Miku. The wording has been machine-translated then rewritten by me to (hopefully!) make sense.

  • Unscrew the screw at the bottom of the base, open the battery cover and insert 3 x AAA batteries and close the battery cover
  • Open the battery cover at the bottom of the remote control, insert 1 x CR2025 battery and slide it in.
Position of the test button – this becomes relevant later, if you need to do diagnostics if your base does not function correctly
  • Press the ‘switch’ button on the upper part of the remote control to turn on the base light
  • The arrow functions are as follows:
    • Up: Increase the brightness
    • Down: Decrease the brightness
    • Left: Next lighting effect
    • Right: Previous lighting effect
Remote buttons

If there is a problem with the remote control or lighting effect, please refer to the following steps to check operation and diagnose issues.

This should be a flashy GIF. But the filesize was too big. So enjoy this still image.

NOTE: The following instructions are only for self-testing/fixing Pick Me Up Miku when the base lighting is not working properly, and is not suitable for daily operation. If it functions normally, please do not use this part of the guide, so as to not cause issues.

If the lighting does not work after these diagnostic steps, please consult our after-sales. [Author’s note: Not sure if this is available to international customers, but they do have an email of support^at^apex-toy.com. If you bought from an international retailer, I would advise contacting the retailer in the first instance]

Test base lighting

  1. Open the battery cover, install 3 x AAA batteries and close the cover. Preferably, use three of the same AAA batteries with the same amount of usage. Ensure the batteries have sufficient charge.
  2. After confirming the batteries, press and hold the button next to the battery cover for about 3 seconds to light up the base. Press and hold again for 3 seconds to turn off.
  3. When the base is lit, quickly press and release the button next to the battery cover to switch the lighting effect.

If the above works, the base lighting has been confirmed to be functional. If not, it is likely a fault with the circuitry.

Test remote control pairing

  1. With the signal-transmitting port [that’s the LED-y bit] pointing upwards, the button at the top is the “switch” button, and the four lower buttons are up, down, left and right.
  2. Install the battery for the remote control, and press a button. The signal transmitter port should emit a red light.
  3. Install the base batteries, and test the remote buttons, as per the instructions.
  4. As the remotes are paired at the factory, please ensure you’re using the correct remote for the correct base. If the light is emitting from the remote, but not controlling the base, please proceed to pairing the remote.
  5. Pairing the remote: Ensure the batteries are installed in the base, then press & hold the the switch under the base for 3 seconds so it turns on. Aim the remote at the base, then press & hold the up & down button simultaneously until the indicator light at the top of the remote begins to flash. Remove one of the batteries from the base, ensuring the light turns off, then re-insert the battery. Once the battery is re-inserted, the base light will flash several times and the remote indicator light will turn off to signify the successful pairing.
  6. If pairing wasn’t successful, you can remove the batteries from the remote control and base and try again. If it continues to not work after multiple attempts, please contact aftersales.

Zombie Bust

Now for a figure I can’t tell you much about! There is a maker’s name on the back, but sadly I can’t quite read what it says, so can’t search/verify who made this XD. I bought him from a collectables shop in Southampton, and I don’t think the owner knew anything about him either (and he didn’t really like the fellah :P):

He has a few little dints, but nothing too severe, which is good for this kind of collectable. Too often these kind of things have quite large paint gouges secondhand. 

Whilst I’ve called him a zombie in the title, I’m not sure he really is. Almost a gargoyle/demon look about him. He’s a fearsome fellow anyway! Not so keen on the super-lazy eye, but I love those eyebrow ridges and that screaming mouth. Paint on his cloak seems a bit on the rushed side, but the skin paint is very nicely shaded. 

Left:

Here you can get a good look at one of the horns atop his head. They have a decently chitinous look to them irl. I don’t think this photo does them justice. Here you can see some scratching on his eye ridge. Some lovely moulding details in the side of his face, with the way it wrinkles. 

Right side:

I like the way the skin has been done so it’s taught on his head, and looser on the face. Gives that demon/undead vibe. You can see where an attempt has been made to blend the darker parts of his cloak into the lighter parts, but could’ve done with some more blending, so there was less brush strokes in it. Maybe a wash would have been better in the lighter areas? 

Back:

Some nice attention-to-detail in the mould. Here you can see he’s been stamped © 1998 and some kind of name/logo next to it. Not sure if this is a small-run item or mass-manufactured. I love the shading on the back of his head – gives a good amount of definition to him. 

On display, the flaws in the cloak are less obvious at a distance, but it would’ve been nice if a bit more effort was put into blending the darker paint, or it was more of a wash instead. He’s still a cool-looking figure, who currently resides on my desk :). 

Skytube Premium Love Toys vol. 1 & 2

… so where did P-Body get that, uh, enrichment equipment?

Turns out it was courtesy of Skytube Premium:

These sex toys come on a sprue, and you need to assemble them yourself. The toys themselves are for various scales. Clipping them out of the sprue was easy, and most of the assembly was fine… but the rings for the handcuffs… argh. I got there in the end, with various pliers!

Here are the toys in vol 1:

image
image

A nice selection of items, for a selection of scales.

Volume 2:

image

Feels a bit less of a variety, but still a good selection.

The Queen of Pain was straight into the toy selection:

image

Yeah, not sure what is scarier…

This one fit well with Nitta:

image

And lastly, this figure’s probably one of the few who can make use of the ¼ scale accessory:

image

Oh, you silly, that’s not how you’re supposed to use them, they’re supposed to be used on your arms.

image

Um, I guess that’s better!

Currently most of the toys aren’t in use across my collection right now, but I’ll be setting a new cabinet soon, so they may get some more features soon.

Rei Chopsticks & Illidan Keyring

These two don’t have a lot to do with each other, but they’re both not figures and arrived on my doormat at the same time. 

First up, the chopsticks:

And a closeup of the tops:

They’re nice, given the amount of space they had to work with. Might’ve been nicer if the chopstick with Rei visible either had the entry pod top be removable or not there at all imo, but it doesn’t get in the way or anything. 

As of the time of writing, I haven’t used them yet, but they felt like they’ll be a decent pair of chopsticks to use, and more conventional than my Alien ones. I may order the Asuka ones in future, but currently on the fence about them. 

Wall Display

Been looking at putting a display cabinet at the top of my stairs, to house more of my figures, but then my husband suggested converting the old airing cupboard into a display, so the need for large figure display is currently lessened. So what do with the wall… put a wall display ofc!

Ordered this on Amazon, built it on the same day I got it, then my husband kindly hung it on the wall for me. 

I have a LOT of little stuff, so it was very easy to populate! The items on the second row of the display weren’t displayed anywhere yet – these are the Heroes of Might and Magic figures that were in the blind bags a number of blogs ago. 

After many trips around the various rooms in the house, I have now populated it, and freed up display areas around the house (or made the displays tidier for now…)

I did suggest getting another one to go under the TV in the bedroom, but my husband doesn’t seem keen… Ah well. 

Urban Mine Bag o’ Random

Was browsing the Urban Mine auctions (again!), but only to find there’s less of them and mostly bags o’ stuff. So I combed through all the pics, looking for ones that were potentially worth the postage price. 

Finally I settled bidding on this one:

I chose this one due to the EVA-01 arm sticking out and the Rei to the left. There was also the beach stand that could potentially be something exciting… or just a stand. One never knows with these bags of stuff, and there’s no guarantee anything is complete. 

So a couple of weeks later, I got two boxes from Mandarake. A heavy box containing this stuff, and the Metatron figures I posted about yesterday.

Upon opening the bag above, and having a leaf through, the vast majority of the stuff was really dirty, so off to the sink it went:

Not the usual contents of my draining rack! Surprisingly, most stuff cleaned up a lot better than I thought it would. 

Yep, not the usual contents at all:

As there’s quite the pile of stuff, the next few posts will be detailing and showcasing what I got in my bag o’ stuff. 

Displays!

I have bought two new Gnedbys secondhand, and have now filled up my second rail o’ trinkets. 

So here are the Gnedbys at time of posting (I’m sure more stuff will be on them by the time anyone reads this :P).

One in the hall:

image

One in the spare room (and this has changed just prior to time of writing :P):

image

And the hanging stuff in the study:

image

The Harley and Poison Ivy keyrings came from Gloucester Comic Con, and the Hera-Is from Puzzles & Dragons and Irma from Final Fantasy (either side of Ryuk, in the middle) came from a comic book shop in London. The other pieces have either been previously featured in this blog, or obtained before I started doing it. 

Frome Comic Con

Went to the mini-con in Frome. Bought two items – one from the con, one not.

From the con:

image

This is supposed to be used as a bookmark, but knowing me, I’d break it if I used it like that, so bought it to add as a dangler on my study shelves. I used a small needle to thread the thread through the holes, In this shot, you can see a bit of the thread that passes behind it – I did it like this, so that I can ensure that Sonic is straight when I hung him. If he’s not, I can adjust the thread to fix it. 

A slightly further away shot (you can see a bit of the pole with my other dangling items on it): 

image

Thinking of adding another “dangly stuff” rod to this shelf, like the one on the left. If I do this, I’ll more than likely move Sonic to dangle off that instead. That way I can slide him to wherever I want, without having to re-tape him. 

And the second thing… novelty warning…

image

SOLAR NODDING TOILET MONKEY! Every house needs one of these!

Side view:

image

Unfortunately, if it gets too much sun, he’ll faceplant in his newspaper with a little “tick” noise. Bought this for £2 in Pink Planet. 

And that’s it for “stuff”. I have two pictures I bought, will upload those to the blog when I’ve had them framed (probably not any time soon). 

IKEA trip!

Ended up buying some more furniture. Got two of the glass Kallax inserts, which is what I visited IKEA for, and a CD tower – Gnedby – as I saw one in Bargain Corner, and thought “I could fit that in my house!”. The one in Bargain Corner was the wrong colour though, so one quick visit to the IKEA website later, we were off back into the storage area to pick one up in beech. 

First up, the Kallax insert:

image

Figures in the Kallax insert. Didn’t take a photo with the door shut, due to glare. Which is the downside. It’s nice having the extra shelf & door, but I don’t think I’m going to fill out the cabinet with inserts, as there’ll be too much glare. I may alleviate some of the glare with lighting, but not got anything planned at this stage. The second Kallax insert is still boxed, and am still debating if I’m going to use it or not. 

Initially I wasn’t planning to use the shelf, but after rearranging the stuff I had, it made sense to use it,and put a good chunk of the small figures in there. I now have a few open spots for bigger figures in the spare room 😀

And now for the biggie, the Gnedby:

image

Apologies for the slightly pants pic. Fits really well next to the sofa, and the door doesn’t hit it, and Rei looks almost cosy in there :). It is wobbly without a wall bracket, so would recommend attaching it to the wall, if you have one. Has allowed me to move a bunch o’ figures, opening up their spots for other things :D. Will consider getting another one of these in the future, as their thinness means I can probably sneak them in another couple of spots in the house :]. 

Nendoroids!

Bidded on some Nendos… these will be the first two I’ll own. Don’t really see myself collecting them, but I couldn’t turn down some Black Rock Shooter figures. 

Might buy one or two of the others if I like these ones, but most Nendorisations I don’t like too much, so might not get anything outside of the BRS ones. 

Isn’t just us finding it hot

… looks like Alana found it too hot as well. She’s fallen over a couple of times now, during the heatwave. Marko seems to not be bothered by it. 

image

Had 3 other figures fall over, probably due to the heat. No fragile ones though, thankfully! Though if Alana’s wings fall out, they’re a massive pain to get to stay in. Thiiisss close to gluing them in. 

Framed Art!

Went to visit a friend who does framing, and had three things framed. 

First was two pics I bought at Swindon Comic Con:

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Closeup:

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As I was gathering these two up, I remembered I had a mini-”poster” from an Asuka figure I got recently, and took that along too. Here it is on the Wall of Random, that I have in the bedroom:

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Closeup:

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Mandarake II

Let’s see how this one goes. Will be in 2 boxes, hoping they distribute the stuff as I ask, and kinda lamenting that I didn’t add the first Spawn figure into my first order… I forgot :(. Then again, it probably would have caused the same box nightmare issues >

This should be my lot for awhile… hoping this stuff arrives before I go away. Should do, but there’s a chance it won’t :S. Gogo postal system!

Well, I won it

Slightly more than I was intending to bid. Now to see what condition it is when it arrives… Thus far nothing I’ve had from the Urban Mines has been too bad (only one figure with breakage, that I glued back together)

Now to await the payment request, and I’ve got some other stuff in my cart to juggle. Let’s see how many parcels I’ll decide for it to be. Might end up with one large one and get customs’d or break it down into smaller ones and hope for the best. 

Mandarake Order 12/06/17

image

Bunch of Urban Mine, and one store item, because I could shove it in. 

Urban mine stuff is an Evangelion figure, something random I’ll post more about when I get it, and Mr Assemble. I have one Assemble Borg figure already, and hope to mix n’ match parts.

Will be another order in a couple of days, due to having one more Urban Mine item I’m bidding on. Items were gonna be in 2 boxes anyway, and with the deadline being 5 days for Urban Mine items now, one of the items needed paying for before the deadline. 

New lighting – study

I’ve had some IKEA strip lights for… some time, but didn’t really want them put up, as they’re too shiny to have them visible. After a wander around the internet, I found some LED lighting casing for a price I wanted to pay. Only issue was having to pick it up before work :P. 

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Overview of the new lighting. 

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Left-hand shelf

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Middle shelf

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Right shelf.