A Successful Dinosaur Hunt!

1st stop HKIA

As said a few months ago, I was travelling to Singapore & Hong Kong in mid August. One of the objectives was hunting for some collectible Transformers. The then (there is actual news as of September '13) very hard to find Masterpieces were among them. De citytrip started with a four-days stop in Lion City Singapore.

Botanical Gradens

My brother hasn't been in Singapore yet. Since the city has much in common with it's rival city Hong Kong, it was both a new and familiar experience for him. Aside from the usual sightseeings, we were also hunting for TF collectibles.
Our first attempt was at the Funan Digital Life Mall. Although it is a mall for electronics, there are some good shops to get some TF's. My brother got his superbargain: Encore 05 Ratchet for SG$ 25,00 (about US$ 19,00).
I also got my Encore 18 Skids.

1st batch

The next day we got our first Hasbro Masterpiece, Thundercracker at the Toys 'R Us in Harbour Front - Vivio City. We were planning to get this one in HK, but the price was also lower than expected, so we picked up this one here. On the third day we went to the famous China Square Central. This mall has a somewhat steryle impression. We got there actually too early. Like in HK, the shops aren't open untill noon. But we had to go in for some cover as it was raining outside. We decided to come back later that day/evening.
Guess what......I found my piece of gold MISB at the shop: Ace Ventura (2nd floor).

Gundam docks at Hong Kong

The same day my brother found his MISB MP-08 Grimlock at the MRT location of Simply Toys! We were both very happy to get these MP's since they are hard to find in MISB for half the price on ebay! After these acquisitions, our city-trip was a success already and there was much more to come.

Barely surviving the shipment per AIR!

The total amount of collectibles is quite a long list. I'll put it on the bottom of this blog. In Dragon City Hong Kong we bumped on the Gundam statue at Times Square (Causeway bay). The project Gundam docking at HK was running from July 26th till the 1st of September. We got a lot of TF's and Gunpla hobby stuff at Mongkok area (Hobbybase at Sino Centre) and at In's Point (Yau Ma Tei). Our main targets are Masterpieces (from MP-08 on till current issues. The pre-MP-08 issues are in my opinion not worth collecting, since I want them all in de same scale), TF Encore G1, Generations/United, Henkei and Classics. I also picked up a few MP's I already owned, but this was just for my webshop Morgenroete Inc. to resale.

Totalled box of MP-12, shame on you HK Post!

The MP-09 Hotrod/Rodimus Convoy was also a bargain in a set of 2 consisting MP-09 & MP-10. The most valuable items were carried in my suitcase, but a large batch had to be shipped per Airpost by HK Post. They have dissapointed me. The M4 package arrived in terrible condition and the box was nearly totalled although the box was very strong by itself. Luckily, my brother advised me to let the items in their respective plastic bags!!! So the damage was reduced to some Encore boxes (Devastator) and 1 MP-12 Lambor. This was a bummer, because it was an item to sell. I had to reduce my asking price since the item wasn't MISB anymore. The outerbox was damaged, but luckily the item itself was in perfect condition. 

Aside from the TF huntings, I got some other stuff like MGS - Legacy Collection for PS3, Some Gunpla, an extra battery for the DSLR and a 1:43 scale model car of the Super GT - Xanavi Nismo Z.


So the conclusion for the hunt this summer is a successful one. Especially my hunt for the Dinobot Grimlock MP-08! It was truely a good Dino-hunting!

Below are some impressions and items acquired.
You can click on the images to enlarge.Sorry for the last picture which is somewhat blurry.

 

HK skyline seen from ICC (Kowloon West)

CBD Singapore

Comfortable flights

Encore & Giant Type-61!

Dutch glory Doutzen Kroes!

 

Size difference G1 & Giant-Type 61!

Generations VC + DC & G1

2nd batch!

Whole bunch (both)

   

    







Listing:
TF Masterpiece
- MP-08 Grimlock
- MP-09 Hot Rod/ Rodimus Convoy
- MP-10 Convoy (for sale)
- MP-12 Lambor (for sale)
- MP-12T Tigertracks
- MP-14 Red Alert
- Hasbro MP - Thundercracker

Encore/G1/Classics/Universe/Commemorative series
- Devastator (Encore 20)
- Skids (Encore 18)
- Hoist (Encore 14)
- Insecticons (all 3 - Universe G1)
- Astrotrain (Commemorative)
- Wincharger (G1 loose)

Generations/United
- Tracks (United)
- Warpath (United)
- Springer (voyager class)
- Sandstorm (voyager class)
- Jazz (Deluxe class)

3rd party & misc.
- TFC - Uranos : Blackbird + Phantom ray
- TF Autobot bag

New additions

It has been quite a while since my last post. So it's about time to present my newest additions to my Home Theatre & Home Entertainment. This time it is a mix of modern computergaming and old school retro gaming.
At the end of October I bought the new PS3 Slim with a 120 GB HDD. I already know the possibilities and a few systempushers like Metal Gear Solid 4, CoD 4 Modern Warfare and the newly released CoD MW2 have convinced me. The PS3 slim has more HDD space and a renewed OS. A few features didn't come anymore with this version, but it's worth it. PS2 support is not available, which is a downside, since the PS2 is still the cashcow after 9 years of life. Directly after release I purchased the Hardened Edition of CoD MW2. This version includes besides the game disc, a steelbook case, plastic overall sleeve, a booklet with concepts & art-work and a voucher to download the first CoD, known as CoD Classic.

Furthermore, there is a new handheld. The Nintendo DSi black is a lovely gadget to play present games, but also timeless classics as Chrono Trigger DS.
I love this game and also got the original brandly new SNES cart title from 1995 (purchased in 1998).

Speaking about the SNES, i already own an PAL version and share a US SNES with my brother. But if this one dies, it will be difficult to play US games. And I got a good library of fantastic SNES RPG's. So'I purchased a spare US SNES on E-bay.
It took me € 55,00 shipping from US included, but hey......this brick is gold! The US controller, RF-switch and AC-power adaptor are rubbish, but I got a tons of PAL controllers and accessoiries. Ow...a Super Mario World game pack was also a freebee.... Nice!
But aside from it's uncool design (known as the Brick) the US SNES has a few points over the PAL version. It supports RGB-signals which was comparable with HDMI nowadays. The colors of the US SNES were far more brighter, colorful and thus superior to it's PAL nephew. Another good thing is that the Brick is running on 60 Hz due to NTSC, which is 17 % faster than the European counterpart and the black boxes on the top and bottom of the screens will not be shown.
Later this year I will spent an article about the classic SNES RPG's.
For now, i present a few screenshots which are upscaled by my superb Onkyo beast and full blown all channel stereo (There wasn't any Dolby Prologic II or DTS HD yet in 1995). The shot of CoD MW 1 & MW 2 is a little blur. Apologies for that.
(All pictures are taken with Sony-DSC P8)

Which type of gaming do you like? Retro, Modern gaming or both?

Home Theatre - Next Generation

Way back in January 2004, half a year before I moved into my current residence, which I've had build then, I purchased a Home Theatre system to enjoy the new era of home entertainment. The Sony DAV-S880 was a good all-in-one choice at the time. My budget at that time was not that big due to my movement and the purchase of my house. For displaying the video I bought the Sony KV32FQ86 including the complementary furniture. A CRT TV with a 32" display, very big at that time. All together it had cost me about € 1900,00 (US$ 2680,00), € 600,00 HTS and € 1300,00 for the TV. In the meantime I've hacked the regioncodes and it is regionfree since then. But there were also some major flaws. The main shortcoming was the passive subwoofer. So the power of the sub wasn't that high, since it had to drain it's power from the main receiver causing the temperature rising rapidly. The satellite speakers were good with a power of 100W rms per speaker. But as usual, satellite systems are not made for audio or music events. The mid-range frequencies were not that good. Sony's S-Master digital amplifier system made the AV-receiver very compact and gave it a superslim design. But the drawback was that it could, despite the S-Master technology, overheat. Slowdown processing and even crashing could be the result. And as time goes by, the still goodlooking Home Theathre System has became a fossil in the HT scene.
This summer I assembled my next generation Home Theatre System. First thing first. The heart of a HT system is an A/V Receiver. My choice is the Onkyo TX-SR876. A high-end receiver and top of the line along with the TX-NR906. The receiver has an output of 200W rms per speaker and has many features like 7.1 with all Dolby True HD and DTS HD Master Audio + variants, Bi-amp wiring, up to 3 zones performing. The THX Ultra 2 Plus and ISF calibrating is also included. One of the great things is the upscaling proces to high defintion display with its advanced HQV Reon-VX video processing. This guy is really big and weights 24 kg! Ironically, as I'm writing this blog now, the successors of the SR876 and the NR906 are presented as the NR3007 and NR5007 respectively. Speaking of first things first. It was a pain to get a new AV furniture since the depth of the Onkyo is 46 cm. Besides of that, the old AV furniture was a part of the CRT TV and the glassplates would explode in thousand pieces should the Onkyo be placed onto it. So the German company Spectral was the solution. The Brick 1501 was my choice. My version is a black one with black glass on top and front. To get a good sound, I choose between Focal Sib & Co (JM-Labs), Mordaunt Short and KEF KHT 3005SE. Since the first two were hard to get and becoming obsolete I purchased the KEF. The black high gloss version has a good design and even the sub is very stylish. The performance is very good and in pure audio setting the satellites have enough power of their own. The packaging of the speakers also gave me confidence since it has a precious sleeve to protect them. For the video features I purchased the Samsung LED LCD-TV UE46B7090. A 46" (117 cm) wide flatscreen with an ultraslim design. The screen is only 3 cm (1,18") deep!! Originally I ordered the B7000, but it was not in stock anymore, so the retailer offered me the B7090, which has no red lighting edge. I didn't bother, so I ordered the B7090.The specs are the same as the B7000.
At this moment, I do not have a really DVD player anymore. I borrowed my brother's PS3, so I can also play Blu-Ray movies. I'm considering to get a PS3 (or the new PS3 slim) of my own, because it can also play videogames and has several other multi-media features, which a regular BD-player doesn't have. Besides, it is said that the PS3's Blu Ray player has better performances than many other players. the last thing I noticed is that the PS3 slim will support DolbyTrue-HD and DTS-HD, something the PS3 Fat doesn't do. This is something I have to think about..... Of course, there will also be a cheap DVD player next to it which accepts all legal and illegal crap from all over the world.

These finishing touches will be coming soon.

Suggestions for the choice between a regular BD player or a PS3 are welcome. (Except for the first 2 pictures, all pictures are taken with: Sony-DSC P8)

Onkyo in Pure Audio setting

Final setting Home Theatre