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'

Two weeks in Japan (part 1)

It's been quite a while since my last post. So here's a new post about my last vacation to the land of the rising sun and the origin of Otaku....Japan. Having been in Hong Kong earlier this year (May), I thought it would be a nice extension to explore the Farther East. We started the journey with a flight from Amsterdam to Osaka in the Kansai Region. Many people will think about Tokyo first, but the Kansai Region is also interesting, because of the well-known cities as Kobe (Kobe-beef and unfortunately also the 1995 earthquake) and the former capital of Japan, Kyoto, which has far more history than the nowadays Tokyo metropolis. The first flight towards Osaka Kansai International Airport was a comfortable one with a KLM Boeing 777-200ER. Although having flown for many times in widebodies like 747-400, it was actually my first flight in a triple seven.
We were staying at a hotel in Nipponbashi nearby the busy district Namba. We discovered that it was located in the middle of Den Den Town, a shopping area for electronic equipment, games, anime and a heaven for Otaku which is comparable with Akihabara in Tokyo.
Our first activity was visiting the Tsutenkaku tower in Naniwa ward. It gives a great view on the southern (minami) section of Osaka. It wouldn't be the last tower we are going to visit.
We also visited the Osaka Zoo for the time being till we could check in at 15:00 later that day.
The next day we went to the famous Osaka Castle. It provides a great view.
Unfortunately the world famous Himeji Castle, one of the few original surviving castles in Japan from the 17th century, was under renovation at this time which will last till 2015! The southern districts, known as Minami has the Shitennoji-temple. The narrow streets has the well-known electricity- and telecommunicationpoles and cables. Well, that's for now. More reports are comin' up soon!

Are you going on a vacation this summer?




Great view from the Tsutenkaku Tower

A rollercoaster in the middle of the city! Only possible in Japan!

All pictures taken with Sony-Alpha A-300 + 16-80 mm Carl Zeiss Vario Sonnar.

Review - Macross Frontier kit VF-25G Messiah Valkyrie Michel Blanc Custom

As promised, here are the pictures taken from the VF-25G Messiah Valkyrie Michel Blanc Custom. The kit is supposed to be at a MG level, but there are some downfalls to mention.
Overall design is excellent, colorschemes are good and...amongst the three modes, the fighter mode is by far the best pose.
There are 3 modes for the macross frontier kits. The first is the Fighter mode. In contradiction to the Gundam Franchise, the Fighter/ jet mode is the primary mode for these models. It declares why the Battroid Mode is less attractive in comparison to the Gundam-designs.
Of course there is a 'robot'mode called Battroid mode. This is for battle-scenes which do not require to much velocity and becomes handy is space-scenes.
At last, there is a gerwalk mode. This is n intermediate form between Battroid and Fighter mode.
As if a Fighter has a pair of legs and arms. in the series it became useful in narrow spaces were no velocity could be generated.

Back to the building proces. the internal parts of the inner skeleton are tiny and delicate. But a pain in the ass to built. As the skeleton became ready, it was a little bit loose as a whole. Transforming to Battroid mode or Gerwalk mode is a mission apart.
Because all the parts have not much of a margin left, the whole kit is a little unstable if the parts do not fit correctly. During transformation it will give loads of frustration. I've been messing for two hours to get this photoshoot done! Thats why it took so long for a review. I wasn't looking forward for an afternoon like this.
The additional action base 01 S.M.S. version is very good and a nessecity to pose the Valkyrie properly.
As I'm a huge fan of ther series and MF models, the kits are somewhat dissapointing. That means: The thought was very good and the meaning also, but the execution did not met the idea. The majors flaws in my opinion:
- Knee-cover are loose.
- Decals, tons of it to cover wrong colors!
- Some parts which are supposed to be white, were blue!
- Parts fit too tight!
- Transforming means frustraton.
- Sniper Rifle is a bit loose. By all this, the kit will be showed as a fighter, not because it's the best pose, but also most stable form. The limbs are not as posebale like a MG Gundam model, so in Battroid form it looks a little stiff, like the Valkyrie is stored in a hangar.
Here are the rest of the pics.

In conclusion: I still have Ozma's and Alto's Super and Armored Messiah's and I will build them in the distant future, but the original idea to collect them all is not anymore. It's quite hard to built them and show properly like I have in mind.
But the awesome design makes the hesitation thumbling toward building them.


Are you planning to built more MF kits?

All pictures are taken with: Sony DSC-P8, Digital Compact.

Preview - Macross Frontier kit VF-25G Messiah Valkyrie Michel Blanc Custom

At the end of December 2009 I started to assemble Macross Frontier kits aside the Gundam Lines.
The following pictures are a little preview of the VF-25G Messiah Valkyrie Michel Blanc Custom.
A complete review is coming in the near future, but one thing I have to say already, is that the MF 1/72 kit is quite complicated due to the transformable features. I also assembled an Action Base 01 S.M.S. version.
This is really a good and nice action base and simple to build.
More pics are comin'up.

Macross Universe

The Gundam Universe (1979) is probably the best known franchise of all Real-Robot mecha anime from Japan. Still, the Macross Universe (1982) is the second longest franchise running along with Gundam and has an equally impressive library of stories.
Most European / North American watchers will recognise the stories Macross Plus (OVA, 1994) and Macross 7 (TV series, 1994).
Macross Frontier (2007) is about human journeys through space to discover new area's and (what a surprise) colonisation. It is chronologically subsequent to Macross 7. In contradiction to Gundam, the 'enemy' seems not to be coming from human itself, but from alien races which also are weapons itself, similar to Battlestar Galactica 2003.
The colonies are not like the Gundam version, O'Neil cylinder shaped, but more like a big oyster, followed by little sibling colonies.
Backbone of the N.U.N.S. military are variable fighters. The ordinary military has only common fighters. The private organisation S.M.S. has just deployed the newly developed VF-25 Messiah Valkyrie to support the N.U.N.S.
Soon, the S.M.S. proved to be invaluable. Spectacular fighting scenes and animation with good music are returning elements in this series.
In 2008 the first kits has been released and are equal to the Gundam's Master Grades series in terms of quality. I'm planning to collect these kits as well. Another refreshing point of view is that the Macross forces are primarily fighters and NOT humanoid fighters like Mobile Suit Gundam. The fighters do have a secondary humanoid (Battroid mode) and even a third mode (Gerwalk mode) which is an intermediate of the 1st and 2nd mode.

A few days ago, the long awaited Armored Messiah Ozma Lee Custom has been released by Bandai and later this month, Alto's version will follow.
While Alto Saotome is the main protagonist of MF, I do like Ozma Lee, best supporting character, more. The relationship Alto Saotome-Ozma Lee can be compared to Gundam Seed's Kira Yamato-Mwu La Fllaga, with a note that Ozma is more hotheaded than Mwu. That makes Ozma's Armored Messiah (also commander unit) for me, the coolest VF-25 fighter throughout the series.

Do you like the Macross Frontier Models? And which one is your favorite?

How the Gundam madness began...again...

As a long time fan of Sci-Fi like Transformers back in 80's (Only G1, the rest was crap), Battlestar Galactica TOS and Battlestar Galactica 2003, there was also place for Anime. In the 90's there were besides Anime, Manga. This is a different style and fundament, but that aside of it.
As a kid I've watched many Cantonese versions of Anime like Mobile Suit Gundam (Not aware of all the storylines, but the action was great), Dairugger XV - Kikoukantai, Six Gods, LionBot and so on.

At the end of 2005, after purchasing a HD-DVD recorder to record BSG 2003, my brothers attended me that the series mecha do have a lot in common with Mobile Suit Gundam Seed, and more importantly, have a good and decent storyline.
After buying the first 2 DVD's (10 Phases) to give it a try, I was completely hooked. That was about Jan. 2006, a time-span of 22 years since the first show of the Transformers. A lot has happened.
While searching for some information on the internet, I remembered my brother purchased some kits from Gundam Seed way back in 2004 in Hong Kong SAR. The kits, HG 1/144 Freedom & Justice made me curious about the franchise and before I realized what has happened, I had a tons of kits. Thinking about being able to build just one kit at a time, the idea to sell Gundam Model kits was born in no-time.
Since then, there is not many left untouched of this franchise and grew out to a serious hobby of mine, again.....