Macross - Do you Remember Your First Love

Macross is one of the true classics of Japanese animation.  A series whose fans tend to lean towards the fanatical, it's most recent series was Macross Frontier.  A series that was in many ways a return to form for a show that had become weighed down under its own history and the expectations of its fans.

Macross was one of the first shows that I remember seeing.  I remember thinking that I had never seen anything quite so impressive as a transforming Valkyrie.

So for all of those people who have never seen Macross - do so.  At its best, Macross is everything anime should be; imaginative, creative and visually stunning.  At its worst, it remains far better than many other anime series.

Macross Frontier OP courtesy of Youtube:

supercell feat. Miku Hatsune: World is Mine

Ok so as a person who finds Miku extremely appealing I just don't know what to think of the World is Mine PVC figure frame. I think I would have preferred just a standard figurine. The quality will be high I expect but I just don't really find the concept all that appealing. Also Miku looks less appealing in this form than in the standard GSC figure release. Of course, my favourite Miku remains a close call between the Nendoroid version and the Sega Prize music box. Official blurb below:

The best princess in the world.

From supercell's beautiful PV 'World is Mine', with music composed by ryo and graphical designs by redjustice, comes this regal figure of 'Princess' Miku.
She has been sculpted in an identical pose to the original illustration - her charming eyes gazing deeply ahead, as she lies relaxed on a comfortable bed with her cute, yet selfish expression suiting her pose perfectly.
As a new idea to bring a new sense of interior design to figures, the stand has been created as a frame, allowing you to display her in a range of new ways! Besides displaying the figure simply by itself, you can now also use the frame to display her as a wall-mounted decoration, or a leaning ornament. The frame comes in two colors, 'Brown' and 'Natural', allowing you to pick the color that suits your room best!

approximately 220mm in height (with stand) 180mm (without stand)

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supercell feat. Miku Hatsune: World is Mine

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PVC Pricing

Ok, so pretty much anyone who follows the whole PVC figure market from Japan will have noticed and felt the pain of ever increasing prices.  My question though, if given a chance to pose it to the manufacturers, would be what exactly is the reasoning behind it? 

Collectors and their money is a relatively finite resource.  It CAN run out.  Surely a lower price point is healthy for sales and for the market as a whole?  It seems that if sales are down across the industry then that should indicate that perhaps the pricing is no longer acceptable to the market in general?  

It just seems that we are squeezed more and more when it comes to SRP on PVC figures.  This is a niche market - higher prices just push these items further and further away from the reaches of new fans.  I don't feel all that optimistic about this industry right now.

The photo below says it all..

Wild Flower Shunya Yamashita Art Works 2

Wild Flower Shunya Yamashita Art Works 2

Featuring over 100 pieces of lovely artwork this is a great book that's now available as a domestic N. American release. Pretty much any online store or comic store should be able to source it. Shunya art can sometimes look a little samey I find but if it appeals then this will not disappoint.

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S.O.G. Max Otoha Karas - I'll pass thanks

Well I'm just not sure about the figure below, amazingly enough it's a male figure release but to be honest it's just not appealing to me. Also, the price is excessive at 11,800Y. I cannot help but think this will be another figure that ends up drastically discounted. Good for those who have the testicular fortitude to possibly miss out on a figure they want. ;)

Here is the official blurb from the Good Smile site:

The dark watchmen, Karas!!

From Tatsunoko Production's 40 year aniversary OVA 'Karas', comes a figure of the main character from the show, 'Otoha Karas', who threw away his individuality to protect the city. The design of the figure has been created by the popular designer of the Eko Karas, Kenji Ando.

Flexible materials have been used all over the body, creating a very poseable action figure that never loses its style. The Karas sword in both its original version and expanded version are inlcluded, as well as exchangeable face parts and an abundance of replaceable hand parts.

The ability to recreate scenes from the anime has never been this easy!

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S.O.G. Max Otoha Karas

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MegaHouse Sheryl

A deeply impressive looking figure from MegaHouse. The cast off option is cool and does for once make sense. For all of you that don't know Sheryl is a character from the rather superb anime Macross Frontier. Go watch it now!

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Excellent Model Macross Frontier Sheryl Nome

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Yoko: Real Image ver.

Possibly my new favourite Yoko, truly a gorgeous looking release! I WANT. ;)

Specs

* Product name Yoko: Real Image ver. (よーこ りあるいめーじばーじょん)
* Series Gurren Lagann
* Price 9,800 Japanese Yen
* Release Date 2009/09
* Specifications Complete painted PVC figure - 1/6 scale - stand included - approximately 200mm in height
* Sculptor Shunshi Hagii
* Sold by Max Factory
* Distributor Good Smile Company

Posted via Pixelpipe.