Updates - The Return

Hey Everyone. Its been some time since I've been on here,right? Things have been crazy hectic nonstop what with the holidays and all. I work in a comic shop/gift shop/general retail so thats to be expected. Still, its been pretty crazy around here. After my trip from New York, I just sorta disappeared from here. For that, I apologize for my absence.I'm trying to make up for lost time now so expect mass posting in coming weeks starting today! With that out of the way, Lets update, shall we?

Between prepping for another big move, changes with management at work, working more for gift shopping, training new folks, trying to keep up with what little social life I do have, I've been stumbling around to keep my balance. All the New York videos and post stuff still hasn't been edited or worked on(so behind[>.<]). I've managed to do some more hobby work here and there, but nothing major noteworthy yet. Also, during this whole time- Preorders have been arriving nonstop. I'm gonna need a new storage unit soon at this rate ^^;

I even made a stack area for all the new arrivals so I could do a proper haul post. If I don't do one soon, its going to become a multi-parter! Madness. I'll be posting some more WIP posts next along with my "want" list of the year(bit late, arent I??!), more food posts and backposts, quite the number of review posts, and more! There'll also be some changes to the blog as well- New Banner soon, maybe a new theme, some new additions,etc. Its good to be back!

Updates - New York 2011 Trip

Its been a while since I updated. Work's been really busy with DC's New 52 still going strong. While there's tons of first impressions out there, I'll be waiting for all the 2nd and 3rd issues to be releasesd before I do a post. It'll be interesting. Is the New 52 worth it? Are your childhood heroes the same,worse,or better? Is the "slow burn" many first impressions have mentioned bad or is it meant to later set up more robust and new stories for classic characters?? I'll be covering all that and more as soon as those issues release.

besides that, hobby work is progressing well, the "clean,clip,and bag" setup is working well. Its the painting that requires more work and focus. The TB resin kit should be shortly and then I can get started on the next project.

As for right now, I'm in New York til the 26th for a sort of working vacation. I'll be enjoying myself, but I'll also be trying to cover lots of fun places and activities for all those who couldn't make the trip and for those interested in fun things to do or go in New York. Since I don't have any of my video editing stuff with me, I won't be able to do any videos til I get back home. However, I will be doing lots and lots of photos to post along the way. Its vacation time, but there's still tons and tons to get done! I'm kinda already tired just thinking about it, but I'm definitely still pumped! This is my current Itinerary:

For some dining:

> Famous chicken and rice cart at 53rd and 6th Ave.
> Alta for Mediterranean tapas
> Smorgasburg in Williamsburg, Brooklyn Flea Food Market
> Otakfuku for Okonomiyaki and takoyaki!
> Wafel & Dinges for Waffles!
> Tasty Hand Pulled Noodles in Chinatown for...hand pulled noodles of course :)
> Ramen Setagaya for yummy ramen!
> Excellent Pork Chop House for good cheap ass food! (mostly noodles and rice plates)
> Maialino for Interesting Happy Hour bar food and drinks (cheap too!)
> Chikalicious for desserts...because I'm man enough to walk into a joint with that name
> Meatball Shop...all sorts of meatballs cuz you like balls in your mouth
> The Dessert Truck - it's dessert on a truck
> Bao Haus - Taiwanese street food
> Tuck Shop for Meat Pie - paying home to them Australians
> Clinton Street Baking Company - Southern food...you be the judge on its goodness

> Just to list a few...also some sushi here, some pizza there...you get the gist.

After all the dining, here's some wining:

> Burp's Castle (Beer)
> Brooklyn Winery in Williamsburg(Wine)
> Biergarten in Williamsburg (Beer!)
> Boss Tweed Saloon
> PDT - speakeasy
> Milk and Honey - speakeasy
> Cha-An - Sake or Beer and we get free appetizers
> Skinny Bar - $3.50 for Red Stripe Who-hoo!!!
> Johnny Utah's - friend's b-day so we're stopping by for a couple of hours....lots of women, hot servers, mechanical bull, that whole deal.
> Northeast Kingdom - One of the only decent place in my hood, opened til 2 AM. We can drink and walk home...but lets not get too drunk....I don't want to get mugged.


> We'll bar hop in the Village and LES. Alcohol is alcohol...you can get it anywhere.

Some knarly and fun activities:

> Brooklyn Boulders for rock climbing
> Nightmare for house haunting
> The Laugh Lounge for comedy
> The Upright Citizen's Brigade - improv skits and comedy for $5!
> Body Exhibit...you wanna go?
> Bar 55 - Jazz and drinks
> Brooklyn Winery on Sunday - The Walking Dead ep. 2 is screening
> The Drunken Smartass Olympics at Dempsey's - We'll stay if it's good
> MOMA - Friday night 4:8:30 PM, it's FREE!
> Coney Island - if it's not too cold
>
>
Filler places:
>Gray's Papaya- worth it for the papaya drinks alone.( I don't even like papayas!...I think)
> Asia Dog - hot dogs...Asianified. korean bbq on a hot dog? yes, please.
> Lam Zhou - $3 for a dozen dumplings
> Mark - $2 bucks for a slider, $2.75 for slider with bacon. best deal and one of the best burger joints in NYC
> Cafe Zaiya - Small, but well known Japanese cafe. they have....KARE PAN!
> Food Gallery 32 - Korean food court
> Jamaican Duchy Cart....for Jamaican mon
> Check out Occupy Wall Street for the action
> Museum of Sex
> The High Line - urban park...it used to be an abandoned rail road track, now it's a park
> Staten Island Ferry - It's free, and you get a great view of the statue of Liberty without having to go there
> Chase down one of these trucks - http://nymag.com/restaurants/cheapeats/2010/67139/index1.html


Places to check out, splurge, support, store tours,interviews,etc:

Anime Castle
Image Anime
Forbidden Planet
Midtown Comics
Chinatown, mostly some really cool shops on mott st.
Gotham City Lounge- Comic themed bar

Possibly more to add later so we'll see what happens!

More Tekkaman awesomeness!!! and WIP updates.

So its about 2am and I'm still alittle wired so can't sleep just yet,so.... I'll update like I've been meaning to do lately. Unfortunately, I don't have access to my WIP pics. Not home, so we'll have to make do with a quick written lay down. til next time. Finally got around to working on the tekkaman resin kit again. Its starting to really come together. I got around to painting a few areas black, not that its needed. Its namely for all those places that aren't really too noticeable like the inside of shoulder armor, the inside of the collar,etc. I've also got around to adding the ghost gray to help break up the white and also hopefully, accentuate the details so it won't be just panel lining.

With that being said, since I can't post pics this time-I'll post pics of something related. All this time while working on the resin kit( and with no reference or readable instructions), I've also been looking online every once in a while for more pics of the kit I've been working on. Maybe one that someone else has finished working on, anything. Eventually, I found a few blogs here and there. But, I also stumbled on the next kits I'd like to get and work on after this one. First up is a Tekkaman Blastor kit. Its also a full action kit and looking at some of the design styles, it may be from the same sculptor or design team as the kit I"m working on. If so, then- AWESOME. Aside from my own mistakes, I'm really enjoying the build and the model itself of Tekkaman blade. Of course, I plan to put in revoltech joints of course,heh. You can find the model kit sold HERE.

I like the original base design of blade and blastor, but I totally love the style given to the design with these kits!

And it totally looks great next to blade and it also looks in scale as well.AWESOME.

I bet the color separation on this kit will be amazing as well.

Look at that awesomeness. The only thing that could make this more epic is if Toshiyuki Morikawa's voice played when you put it in this pose. VOL-TEKKA!!!!!

This.will.be.MINE.

The next kit is also a tekkaman blade resin kit, but with a twist. Its not like these full action kits where the design is just more stylized. Its practically re-visualized. Pretty cool stuff. The aesthetics is less on the anime-esque super robot proportions and more on the hyper detailed and "real armor" style. That said, lets take a look at it...

Whoa. Definitely gonna need lots of paint work. Not a lot of color separation. This is gonna need lots and lots of layers and taping.

That said, I can't complain about the intended final product and effect. Its pretty impressive. It reminds me of the Casshern Sins live action and makes me wonder what would a live action Tekkaman blade film look life? Very cool indeed.

I really dig the look of this kit, but I'll still be getting tekkaman blastor before this. But, right after- getting this. You can find this kit HERE.

That's it for now. I'll post WIP pics along with more progress in a couple of days.Til things, see you guys then.

P.S.- If you have google +, you should add me to your circle HERE. If you don't have one yet, check it out. Its pretty cool and isn't as bogged down by ads or spam as facebook is these days. And you can organize your contacts in circles( friends, acquaintances, family,etc.)Pretty useful and cool stuff.

New Tekkaman Blade FIgma PICS

Gotta say, The new color images of blade look really great. I'm starting to get excited over these eventually coming out. Now if I can just finish my resin kit before the figma comes out,heh.Sometime this year would be awesome ^^;

Tekkaman blade figma images sourced from Toysdaily Forums

SIC Kiwami Tamashii Garo & Gouten Review

Fan of small scale figures, tokusatsu, and armored knights? Then, maybe you should check out Bandai's SIC Kiwami Tamashii line for Garo. Created by Keita Amemiya, also known for his work on Kamen Rider ZO & Zeiram. Garo is a different kind of Tokusatsu show, with graphic violence, nudity, and mature themes. It has a strong gothic style aesthetic shown with some of the art to some of the set designs. Its kamen rider meets devil may cry(maybe not as cool as dante though,heh) As far as tokusatsu shows go, its probably not the greatest, but its certainly not bad. If you're a tokusatsu fan at all, I reccomend giving it a shot. I enjoyed it enough to watch the series and all attached specials/films except the most recent requiem. And with that, we'll get into the review for the main titular character and his steed, Garo & Gouten.

Both figures are sold separately with Gouten just released back in June. Both are packed in the standard collector friendly packaging as all of the other SIC kiwami tamashii figures. Hasbro and some of the other companies that do 3-4.5in figures could learn a thing or two from Bandai's SIC line. A good portion of western toy packaging features carboard to plastic blister style packaging which usually leads to many simply ripping the contents out and trashing the outer remains. (how grusome,right??)

Seeing nice packaging like this is always welcoming and refreshing. Also, when units like this are on the pegs at a retailer, it looks very slick and clean. Perfect for endcaps and featured displays. I'm personally not a fan of weird shaped packaging on my figures(even to save on costs.) Though, I suppose if a company can't keep their Quality control for paint apps for numerous lines, I can't expect more,right? Besides, I'm not in the toy industry; Just another old kid nitpicking,heh^^

Garo's packaging has a nice design without being too "busy." His packaging trim is character themed as all of the other knights of the line feature an image of their helms on one side and their logo crest on the other.

The back features a few static poses along all the usual needed info,logos,barcodes,etc.

Gouten's packaging is in a much larger package and features similar packaging trim as the rest. Wonder if Zero's steed will ever get a figure release as well,hmm....

Back packaging shows a dynamic pose of gouten and featues its usage with Garo and the included accessory, zanbaken. More on that later though, ON WITH THE FIGURES!

Standing roughly around 4 inches or so, Garo fits well with other kiwami tamashii figures, but he may be a bit tall next to some of your 3.75 inch figures and perfectly fine with others. The kiwami tamashii height has always somewhat struck me as odd, but with the detail work and articulation on these figures, one can't complain too much.

Depending on which source you're comparing, Garo seems well proportioned to some and a bit too lean for others, similar to how most folks like the proportions of the gurren lagann revoltech, but the proportions weren't exactly 100% show accurate. Personally, I don't mind this as it allows room for more dynamic posing later.

Throughout the figure, tons of well sculpted details and paint work all over. It doesn't looks like many details were missed. Such a small figure to be so detailed.

His initial articulation could seem a bit underwhelming, but keep in mind, this is an armored knight. Not exactly expecting crazy ninja posing articulation here. And its not to say that this figure doesn't have decent articulation.

While the range of articulation is inhibited by the sculpt, Garo's still capable of pulling off any pose within that range realistically.

And some points of articualation were more surprising than others. The legs actually feature double jointed knees, which is always great.

The arms originally were the weakest points for me due to the articuation limitation vs applicable range. The arms feature an elbow hinge and swivel forearm, but no shoulder or upper arm swivel. Due to the shoulder armor limitation, this made the arms extremely subpar. Some quick mods to the arms fixed that no problem as the upper pegs of the elbow joints are just glued. Check out this thread to improve your garo's arm articulation.

I can't get over how detailed this figure is!

Not too many accessories for Garo, but all fitting for the figure.

We get a few hands. A pair of closed fists(left), one sword holding hand(center), and a pair of slightly gripping open hands(right). We also get his sword as well as some ornamental hanging armor pieces for the back of Garo's armor.

We also get this beautifully sculpted knight's cape.

The hanging armor pieces are part-swapped for the cape which features the pieces sculpted on it as well. The hanging shoulder pieces can also swivel for poses. The gold trim on this cape looks really great and nicely done.

The cape itself is actually semi transparent plastic which allows light to pass through the bottom of the cape's trim giving off this really cool golden radiance glow effect.

Here's a closer look at Garo's signature weapon, the fanged wolf sword. Very detailed work.

Nice painted lines and intricate sculpt.

Garo's blade fits easily into his holding hand with no issues.

The cape really adds to the cool factor of this figure ^^

The cape really gives off this regal and royal knight kinda vibe, which makes sense as Garo is the highest title for the Makai knights.

And whats a makai knight without his trusty armored steed? Well, still a makai knight...anyways, onto the madou horse, Gouten!

Gouten is just as impressive as its rider, very detailed sculpt and paint work.

All the details on this steed are quite amazing.

The different shades of gold really add to it as well.

Gouten features additional articulation on its shoulder armor for only one purpose with another accessory...

The holes under the hinges are connectors for wings to transform Gouten into a winged steed! How do you get these wings since they're not included???

Sad news- the wings are part of a Tamashii Web exclusive, the SIC Kiwami Tamashii Winged golden knight, Garo. If you dig these, better hurry as prices will only go up for exclusives as time goes on.(my poor wallet!!!)

Back to Gouten, this is my favorite sculpted part of Gouten. The design of the armor plating is just so well done. The mane is also really cool. It really gives off this fiery mane feel to the figure.

Neck is ball jointed with a decent range.

Neck to head features and double hinge ball joint to really help Gouten emote for poses.

The mouth is of course jointed to open via hinge at the jawline.

The armor below the jawline also features a hinge as well!

All the legs of Gouten have the joints you'd expect from a horse.

So there's quite the number of joints on this accessory of a figure.

The rear legs are no different, also well jointed.

Behind the rear hooves, is additional armor which can hinge around sorta like heel spurs.

Tail is ball jointed but range is only that of a hinge joint.

Even the bottom of the Gouten and its hooves are detailed and painted. Lots of nice joints, but that kinda hurts its stability. Gouten has trouble standing.

"don't look at me, DON'T LOOK AT ME!"

If the joints were more stiff or had a hexagonal style peg in the circular holes to simulate ratchet joints, the figure could really take advantage of all its great articulation. Not to say it can't do a few cool poses...

This pose will require possibly two things: you cheat by using the tail to stabilize the pose, or you use an action stand of some sort. Oh, and lots and lots of patience.

Promo pics show Gouten with a chained reins. You get this threaded line. Not as cool, but its fine I guess. Gouten totally seems hit and miss, right? What could possibly make me really like this figure? how about...

THE GARO ZANBAKEN!

Zanbaken, Garo's sword transformed into this crazy long buster style sword is an amazing addition to Garo's accessory count. Before this release, the Zanbaken was only available via a magazine exclusive or a tamashii web exclusive of taiga garo with the sword long ago. For me, this was reason enough to get Gouten. It was more like getting this hard to get accessory and getting Garo's steed as a bonus,heh ^^

Thanks to the scale and size of the figure and the accessories, the sword is light enough to pose absolutely no issues with posing.

As much as I like the regular fanged wolf sword, I think this sword suits Garo much better. SO COOL.

Even cooler with the cape!

Now onto the most frustrating part. Mounting Garo onto Gouten. The loose legs on Gouten really become a problem once you try and mount garo onto it. There's also no actual mounting point, only grooves on the horse where the saddle would be that mold to Garo's crotch.I ended up putting holes in Garo's feet and pegs in Gouten's feet guards for Garo. It added enough stability to make mounting easier, but posing is still very time consuming.

It is possible to mount garo with his cape, but its an incredibly tight fit so its not really recommended unless you're as patient as a saint.

So final thoughts:

In their individual releases, the figures looks amazing and have plenty of joints. But they're not perfect. Garo lack some movement in the arms and the neck which you can fix easily, but you probably would prefer not to have to do it. Both figures could have tighter joints so some friction increasing joint sessions are a must(rub clear paint, super glue, clear nail polish,etc into joint to make joints more stiff).

Out of the Two, Garo is a much stronger figure and more solid. Gouten's weak joints are a very big turn off. If not for the zanbaken add-on, Gouten would be an instant " do not get" for me. I can only recommend both to big fans of Garo. That and for folks who don't mind putting some work into their figures. If you do, Garo is pretty great and Gouten's major problems can be handled. Now, if you personally prefer bigger scale figures, save your money and get the S.H.Figuarts version instead That thing is like a work of art. Personally as a garo fan and as someone who like small scale figures more, I didn't mind putting the work into these figures and am personally glad I did as my issues with these figues are no longer an issue.

Thanks for viewing ^^