Figma News Fridays: 11/20/15

Welcome to an on time Figma News Fridays! We have release dates and a few preorders, so let’s get started!

Monday

In spite of how exciting this news was, I forgot it in my catch-up post, so let’s start this week out right!

Meiko Announced

Origin: Vocaloid
This announcement has taken years to get to us. Miku, then Len and Rin, and eventually Luka were first to receive the figma treatment. Then, after much fan effort, Kaito came. Meanwhile, Gakupo, Gumi, and Meiko received nendoroids with no signs of the same on the figma front. It’s not that I really wanted Meiko anyway(not being tsundere here), but I had honestly assumed that we’d never get a figma of her. Then her announcement came out of the blue! I hope that Meiko’s accessories are somewhat exciting since the nendoroids tend to get better accessories.

Figma News Fridays: 10/24/14

Welcome to another week of figma news! This time, there isn’t much in terms of volume, but the significance of the items makes up for it since we have some popular series represented! There are two delays and a preorder. So let’s get started!

Monday

Ninja Slayer Delayed

Last month Ninja Slayer was delayed, and here he is again. You can now expect him in November. Wasshoi…

June-ly Loot

Today we’ll be looking at my combined loot for June and July because more is better when it comes to loot!

Here’s everything:

Figures: figma Snow Miku, figma Levi, figma Armin, figma Ranko,
Goods: Dollfie Dream accessories, Kumamon phone pouch, custom phone cover, and Miku shirt.

Wonfes Summer 2014: Personal Highlights

Remember last week when I said I would write a followup Wonderfestival post about the other figures I was interested in? Well, now I finally have time for that! Not many non figmas captured my eye this time(which I prefer), but there are some notable things to look forward to. Also, the figure I’m most excited about this time happens to not even be a figma! So let’s take a look at my personal favorite non figma figures from Wonderfestival!

Review: figma Miku Hatsune Sailor Suit ver.

Today we’ll be looking at one of my must-have figures, figma Miku Hatsune Sailor Suit ver. by Max Factory.

Many are aware of Miku Hatsune’s overwhelming presence in the figure world. Being a highly versatile virtual diva makes her widely known and an easy sell. For these reasons, Miku can be described as “overdone” as figure after figure of her saturates the market while other overlooked characters(even other Vocaloids) go without a single figure. But the worthwhile thing coming from her saturation is lessening of risk for companies. Figure makers need to make profit like everybody else, and for any number of reasons, some characters or particular costumes are simply too much of a gamble to spend time and labor producing for minimal or uncertain return. But when a character rises to super stardom like Miku has, the gates of possibility suddenly swing open. Super cute Miku is still as popular as ever, but her status as a hot commodity has made unique figures like World is Mine, Deep Sea Girl, Love is War, Romeo and Cinderella, and even the disturbing Mikudayo possible. Various artists even design for Miku under the Snow Miku and Goodsmile Racing guises producing creative Miku after creative Miku. Official art can lose its flavor after some time, so I enjoy seeing what the public creates for Miku which is what Miku has always been about. And even if a chunk of the collecting community may cry foul every time yet another Miku figure is introduced, with the number of unique Mikus on the rise, I can’t help but be excited to see what will be next.

This Miku is a product of yet another one of Goodsmile Company’s ingenious wallet emptying schemes– a lottery! The lottery opened in spring of 2014 and included a colorful menagerie of Vocaloid related goods. As in previous Goodsmile Lotteries, a nendoroid was the “A” prize and sat at the top of the pile of goodies. Yet for the first(and probably not last) time, a figma was added to the mix. I had hoped that the figma would be a rehash of previous limited Mikus like Cheerful Japan Miku, but much to my delight and horror, I was dead wrong as both the nendoroids and figma were based on an original design. The figures were based on illustrations by Tica85 Bookstores. Here are a couple of the illustrations which I combed the internet to find again after not saving them the first time…

A promo image with sugar sweet Miku.

April 2014 Loot

Once again it is time for the long awaited loot! There has not been a single figure for the last several months, but April’s loot finally remedies that with not one, but three figmas and goodies to boot!
Here’s everything:

Miku Hatsune Sailor Suit ver., Eren Jaeger, Mikasa Ackerman, mini Danboard strap, and Doge.

Swinging into Spring

I’ve been a little silent this past two weeks, haven’t I? You can blame Pokémon X for that, but I can assure you that I am having lots of fun!
I am now headed for my third badge, and here’s my team: Pancham(named PandaExpress), Azumarill(named Blueberry), Ivysaur(named Midori), Aerodactyl(named Flappy), Jolteon(named Pippa), and Braixen(named Inari). I adore Braixen because of how it fights. You all know that I love magic characters, right? Because I do! The only bummer about Braixen evolving into a fire/psychic(my dream starter *_*) is that I can’t catch any other Psychics(my favorite type). Fairy is also giving me a challenge since I do not always remember their strengths and weaknesses–not to mention the old Pokémon who have been altered. I freaked out when Pancham’s karate chop did nothing to a Granbull.

Yet another long awaited addition is the option to customize your trainer, and there are even spots to take pictures!

Here’s my trainer in Shalour City. Her name is Sunny!

Happy Miku Day 2014

Ha! I did it!
No matter what the day be, holiday photography is not my strong suit. This is for the simple reason that holidays tend to “sneak up” on me. I think that Christmas is a few weeks away when suddenly Christmas is breathing down my throat and I have no pictures to show for it. But just what changed this time? Nothing! …Except the time! With daylight savings having kicked into gear last night, I have one less hour of sleep and one more hour of daylight! And that extra daylight combined with a wonderfully warm day to give me one of the longest photo shoots I’ve been able to have in a while.

So what is Miku day? Well, using a pinch of Japanese linguistic magic, the 3/9(March 9th) makes the word Miku! And what better day to dedicate to Miku Hatsune than Miku Day?

So since I had the day off, a little Miku themed photo shoot was definitely in order.

With the weather becoming warmer(for now at least) and the world becoming greener, I was finally able to do one of my favorite and sorely missed outdoor photo shoots. With no fiddly artificial lighting or space constraints to worry about, I was finally free to just take pictures, and I have to say that I am very happy with this shoot. The whole Miku herd was assembled for this day(although not all made it into the shoot), so let’s join hands and celebrate the electric angel, Miku!

Shade for a Friend
Even though the other Mikus were out, Miku 2.0 stole the spotlight today. She starts by offering some shade to Snow Miku. We wouldn’t want her to melt!

Review: figma Miku Hatsune 2.0

Wonderfestival is behind us, so before I find myself sidetracked by something else, I absolutely must review the long neglected figma Miku Hatsune 2.0 by Max Factory!

Miku Hatsune began as Crypton’s humble voice synthesizing software, but has since skyrocketed into fame and fortune to become Japan’s digital darling. At the forefront of this maelstrom of fame is Goodsmile Company and friends who hold a large chunk of the rights to Miku and do not waste them. I have no problem with this since many a masterpiece figure has been crafted in Miku’s image. In spite of this, the figma line was lacking in the Miku department for quite some time with a single hard to find figma. This began to change with the release of Append Miku as figma #100 and the debut of the Racing Queen Miku sponsorship packages as well as Cheerful Japan’s Miku. Still, proprietors of Miku’s first look were seemingly out of luck until Max Factory announced that the figma joint system would be receiving a revamp, and the first figma to feature these new joints would be none other than Miku. With this new addition christened as Miku 2.0, a new age of figmas began.

When 2.0 was revealed, I was happy to see the improvements made, but found myself underwhelmed by her accessories, and in the midst of trying to cut back on figures, decided not to preorder Miku 2.0. But Miku is not so easily defeated. In time I became eager to try out the new joints, and soon gave in. Miku 2.0 is now with me as my fourth Miku figma, but was it worth the purchase? Let’s find out!

Max Factory is following in the footsteps of Goodsmile Company’s work with the nendoroid series by giving figmas not just a joint revamp, but giving the boxes a new design as well.

And since there are a lot of new things to look at, we’ll be spending more time on each aspect of Miku 2.0–including the box!

Review: figma Miku Hatsune Live Stage ver.

Today is a good day for a review! And the subject of that review is none other than figma Miku Hatsune: Live Stage ver. by Max Factory.

Figma Miku 2.0 who features a new joint system is on her way, and since I do not yet have a review for standard Miku, thought it would be a good idea to review her first so that there’s a review to compare the new Miku to.

Created by Crypton Future Media, and unleashed upon the internet, Miku has taken the digital world by storm and quickly become one of the most recognizable faces of anime culture. Miku herself does not come from an anime, but is a humble synthesizer software. Utilizing voice samples from the voice actress Saki Fujita, Miku allows anyone to make their own songs. Vocaloid content is almost entirely fan driven, and Miku does not have an official persona(although she is often portrayed by the company as warmhearted) which means that she along with her Vocaloid companions can become whatever the fans want them to be. Miku has been everything from an enthusiastic juice salesgirl to a dark sorceress, and surely this versatility has contributed to Miku’s becoming a character beloved by so many.

I was introduced to Miku in 2007 when a friend showed me a few videos of her. At the time, Miku was only in the beginnings of her popularity, and I honestly did not think much of her. The whole thing even struck me as a little weird. I watched videos occasionally after that but did not pay much attention to her until the same friend played “World is Mine” which encouraged me to delve more into Vocaloid and initiated a phase where the majority of the music I listened to was sung by Miku and friends. And as I ventured into figure collecting, Miku’s presence became even greater.
My Vocaloid music collection has become significantly smaller mostly due to Vocaloid music being an acquired taste, but I do still enjoy a little Miku occasionally. And although many collectors have come to dislike Miku due to her saturating the figure market(a MFC search for Miku figures will bring up around 167 results), but I enjoy seeing just what she will become next since with a blank slate like Miku, the figure possibilities are endless.

The Live Stage Miku figma was a Wonderfestival 2009 exclusive. She does differ from the standard version in accessories and finishes(which I’ll address as we get to them), but the sculpt and articulation are the same which makes her an apt comparison to Miku 2.0.

Miku is packaged in a simple white box with teal lettering.
If you notice something different about my photography this time around, it’s because in order to compensate for the utter lack of light during winter months, I’ve resorted to flash photography. I have little experience with artificial lighting, so the photos right now are far from my best work. But even though I find using the flash to be incredible cumbersome right now, practice makes perfect, and please enjoy Miku’s review anyway!