Again a good hunt this summer (part 2)

Fly for a steal!!!

After 5 days we left Osaka and took the LCC Peach, based in Osaka. Although the bagage dropoff and all the procedures at the airport was not that smoothly, it was a nice short flight. It lasted 3 and a half hours.
It shouldn't have been longer, because the seatplan by Peach is very narrow and cramped. Most shocking was that 90% of the cabin crew was not able to speak English properly! This is really astonishing. It was overall quite a problem to get around in Japan with just speaking English. Ordinairy Japanese do not speak English.

At HKIA the aircraft was parked next to a KLM Boeing 747-400, our national flag carrier. Next to the KLM Boeing there was a Airbus A350-800 parked. Probably an aircraft for test flights around the world. 

So hot....your taste-receptors will deteriorate..

Within an hour and a half, we were checked in at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Causeway Bay (again). So there was plenty of time left to pay a visit to my grandparents in the New Territories. Later that day we had a diner at gramps.

We have had a lot of diners at the foodcourt at Times Square Causeway Bay. The court has been renovated and the waiting time for your dish is decreased with the buzzer, at least the time you spend in fornt of the cashier's desk.

TRU: THUGS!!!

At that period, the Hasbro MP-03h Grimlock was just released in HK.
Toys R Us sold it for HK$ 1199,- but there was a leader class Optimus Prima as a gift enclosed. I passed, since the Age of Extinction line sucks all the way. Even a freebee could not change my mind.
I'm glad I passed. A few days later I purchased an MP-03h Grimlock at Ins Point (Yau Ma Tei) for only HK$ 890,-. Not that I needed one, back in 2013 I hit a Takara version of MP-08 Grimlock (25th anniversary) already, but this one I purchased for sale. The retailer told me the price at TRU are always too high.

He was right. I took a picture of MP-Prowl Hasbro version TRU which costs HK$ 650,-. For example, the Takara and thus the better version will be yours at the local retailers for about HK$ 460,-. So the inferior US crap is HK$ 190,- more than the superior Takara version.....

Knee-joint issue

Same goes for the MP-Sunstorm which was released at the same time.
And people are still buying it...unbelievable

The main targets this year were some last 'big' pieces, like Masterpieces MP-09B Black Rodimus Convoy, Maketoys Gaint Type-61, the 4 cars of Fansproject Intimidator (Menasor), Some G1 reissue's and Generations FoC Bruticus Set. I found this one at Tokyo Station for a bargain. The set of 5 Combaticons (Takara version!!) was handed to me for HK$ 699,- ( US$ 90,-)

Afterwards, the MP-09B proved also to suffer the brittle knee-joints parts.
Luckily, Robotkingdom - a HK based webshop for TF, released metal knee joints for MP-09 in September, so the problem is fixed now. 

TF Masterpiece Guide!

I also got 2 DOTM Deluxe Class cards. I'm not too fond of the Movie toylines, but these 2 were cool in my opinion and they were quite cheap, so I picked them up.


The total of acquisitions was nearly as impressive as the one in 2013 (SGP/HKG).
I have anticipated on this and got myself a new travelcase. The Samsonite Spinner is replaced by the German Rimowa Salsa Deluxe 81 cm Seal Grey. I'm very happy with it!

Ow and on the very last day, I purchased the fresh TF Masterpiece Guide!! It was just released less than a week! What a luck!

Hereafter a list of acquirements and some images of the rest of the trip. Unless stated, all items are Takara versions.

Japan:
- Generations Deluxe Class: TG-12 Air Raid
- Generations Voyager Class: TG-13 Soundblaster + Buzzsaw (2x)
- TF United UN-04 Megatron WfC (SOLD)
- TF United UN-05 Soundwave WfC
- TF Collection 07 Sideswipe
- TF Re-issue 16S - Megatron Special Edition (2001)
- TF Encore-03 Soundwave (SOLD)
- TF Encore-15 Cassette Volume 1 (Very hard to find!)
- TF Encore-16 Bruticus Scramble City
- 3rd party: Fansproject CA-03 Thundershred (Scrapnell)

Hong Kong:
3rd party:
- Armor accessories for FoC Grimlock Voyager Class
- Fansproject: CA-09 to CA-12 Car Crash/T-Bone/Down Force/Last Chance
- MakeToys Giant Type-61 full set

- DOTM Deluxe Class Armor Topspin
- DOTM Deluxe Class Topspin 
- Dengeki Hobby magazine September
- Generations Deluxe Class: TG-03/04/05/06/07 Combaticons
- TF Masterpiece Guide
- TF Commemorative reissue: Dirge (Hasbro)

- MP-03h Grimlock (Hasbro - SOLD)
- TF MP-15 Ravage & Rumble (SOLD)
- TF MP-17 Prowl (SOLD)
- TF MP-18S Silverstreak
- TF MP-09B Black Rodimus Convoy 

Rimowa Salsa Deluxe

Cooked Buzzer

 

Not all of it fitted in the suitcase...

Acquisitions

What a wellness! A whole row just for me!

Airbus A350-800 Test Aircraft

KLM Boeing 747-400 PH-BFF 'City of Freetown'

Again a good hunt this summer! (part 1)

KLM Boeing 777-300ER - 'Fulufjallet National Park'

It's been a while since I have had updated the blog. And as we speak, I'm back from another summer holiday trip. This year I went back to Osaka (Japan) and of course Hong Kong to pay a visit to my grandparents. The trip starts with a comfortable flight with a KLM Boeing 777-300ER to Osaka. We had a row of 2 seats at the back of the aircraft. These seats required an additional fee of € 30,00 (Thugs!). After the gate closed it became clear the seats behind us weren't occupied, so.....I moved a row back and we were both having a lot of space. From that retrospective the extra fee was a bargain to gain an extra seat! 

Hero Gangu - Nippombashi, Osaka

The focus of this story will be on the Transformer/ Collectible hunt. Since I have been Osaka earlier and Hong Kong is practically my second home, I won't do much of city-trip review. Of course I will upload some pictures of the trip itself. Should you be more curious about the cities themself, take a look at these links: Osaka; Hong Kong.

So first stop is Osaka. The hotel Kikuei is situated in Namba, the southern part of Osaka. Very crowded and from the hotel, one of the 3 centered Transformer retailer was visible: Hero Gangu, Nippombashi. (site is Japanese only)

1st batch along with me in the Rimowa

The loot here was quite good: Fansproject Causality CA-03 Thundershred.
The other two pieces were more than JPY 12.000, while this one was only JPY 5700. I tried to find out why, but there were no signs of being eventually a K.O version, so that's a bargain. Secondly I was looking everywhere for the now hard-to-find Encore 15: Mini cassettes vol. 1 consisting Ravage, Eject, Rewind and Buzzsaw. Guess what...I found it here. It was JPY 9800 (€ 71,00/ US$ 94,00). Considered the availability and the price on ebay it's a steal.

Super Potato - Namba, Osaka

Furthermore my 2nd loot from Jungle Entertainment (Site do have English!) consists: 
- TF Encore 16 Bruticus (Scramble City)
- TF Collection 07 Sideswipe (Takara)
- TF UN-04 Megatron Cybertron Mode (FOR SALE!)
- TG-14 Voyager Class Soundblaster + Buzzsaw 2x (1 for my brother)
- TG-12 Deluxe Class Air Raid
Both TG were available for a 'wooden nickel'.


The last resorts for a good hunt were both Mandarake shops in Umeda and Shinsaibashi. Thanks to the toy-shop map of Heroic Decepticon!

Gold!!!

Furthermore we bumped in Namba on Super Potato, a shop for retro-gaming.
This is also a heaven for the good old days of the Famicom/NES/Superfamicom etc. It is really incredible when you see their inventory. Next time, I'll grab something from here!

Well, that's it for now. Part 2 will follow soon!


Hereafter some images during the Japanese part of the trip

Tsutenkaku Tower 103 m

The new Rimowa Salsa Deluxe!

Sunset during flight KL0867 to KIX

Nismo March.....(GT-R?)

252 meters of depth (or height)

Osaka Prefectural Government Sakishima Tower

Osaka by Night - Umeda Tower (173 m)

LCC from Japan: Peach - Airbus A320-200

 

Leaving Osaka Japan - Kansai International Airport