Last Friday, I received my first package from Otacute and as the title states, it’s the adorable nendoroid Kirisame Marisa from the Touhou Project.
Kirisame Marisa now makes up a total of 17 nendoroids in my collection and I will be hitting the 20 mark by mid-year comes around I assure you. GSC is now nendorizing so many more lovely characters, it’s hard not to resist. >_<

As my first package from Otacute, I would like to take a moment and talk about my shopping experience with them. Many have already shopped with them once or twice and there has been nothing but good feedback in return and this is why I decided to give them a go.

Other than the fact you cannot cancel your preorders, the shopping experience overall is excellent. Newly listed products are added in on the same day and they even use social networking services like twitter and facebook to communicate these products when your on the go.
Customer service is another factor to consider when it comes to online shopping and that has been excellent as well. Any matters are dealt with in an orderly and timed fashion.

Last but not least, the packaging of the product. When it comes to packaging, I get really picky because I expect no less than a intact (including the product box itself) new product in my hand and to achieve that, the packaging has to be seal really tight and sturdy enough to withstand a few bumps along during the way.
Looking at how they packaged it, I find they did an excellent job. The style in their taping and the use of newspaper is quite similar to Hobby Search style of packaging but since a majority of their products are shipped via EMS, you can be assured they are speedy, safe and handled in the utmost care but in this scenario, it was shipped via SAL, the lowest priority shipping but it still made it here intact and the product in mint condition. ^^

In conclusion, Otacute is a recommended online retailer for your figure goods. Everyone expect the best online service and their products to come in one piece and you get basically that. ^_^

With the arrival of nendoroid Chiaki on Monday morning marks the end of all loots released on January and all loots scheduled to be received on January.
Nendoroid Chiaki has been on my preorder list for a very long time since the announcement of her being released. It was an instant GET!!! for me because of the Minami-ke fanboy inside me. Now all I’m waiting is a nendoroid Haruka and Kana to complete the set (if GSC ever get around in announcing them) because she kinda feels lonely without them. :(

More cute pictures after the jump :D

Half awaken expression. Reminds me of myself without a coffee in the morning. lol

Love this expression. She looks evil :)

A separate stand to display her favourite bear. A included nendo petite you could say. :D

To properly finalize this post, here is the complete low-down of all loots released and received on January.

The following are:

• figma Golgo 13 by Max Factory
• figma Saber Casual Wear ver. by Max Factory
• Nendoroid Yui by GSC x2
• Nendoroid Kagami Kuro by GSC
• di:stage Extension Set 02 Clear Case Unit by by Max Factory x4
• di:stage Extension Set 01 Layer Unit Clear Ver. by Max Factory
• Takamachi Nanoha Exceed Mode by Alter
• Nendoroid Chiaki Minami by GSC

Looking through the list, it has been an expensive month. Too expensive I say because my budget has been blown by twofold. @_@
I reckon these things happen when your preorders get’s pushed back from the original release date. There’s no problem saving the money till they get released but there is a problem when you spent it on something else. >_>

Looking at February outlook, I only have 1 preorder scheduled to be released in a few days and it’s only a nendoroid so it’s a big wallet breather indeed. lol

It’s been a long wait and I’m happy the wait is over as my Alter Takamachi Nanoha Exceed Mode has finally arrived today. I knew she was coming today after being shipped from Hobby Search on Monday. I’ve been tracking the EMS page very closely and I woke up extra early to ensure I didn’t miss the postman this time round. Surprisingly the postman gave me a call to check if I was at home before making a delivery attempt for the first time EVER. It seems Australia Post is providing a more better service because lately I’ve been receiving calls to see if I did receive my packages whether it’s shipped by SAL or not. ^^
Keep it up Australia Post. ^^d

FINALLY!!!!!!

If you got Fate True Sonic Form, you already know how big her box was. Well, Nanoha box is slighter smaller but that’s because of her height. Had to ask Q for some confirmation as he got Fate (instead of Nanoha :P). While the box was not as big as Fate that didn’t mean the shipping cost was any cheaper because with a shipping price tag of 5,400yen via EMS, it was still a wallet burner. I don’t recall spending that much on shipping cost and the box size looked similar to the box I received on BRS near the end of last year and it didn’t cost this much. :S

Unpackaging her and getting all the pieces together and in place took me a good hour so be prepared for a lengthy setup. There was so many plastic layers underneath one another, I thought it took me forever to get through them all. @_@
As for the review, the pictures are all ready to go. I wanted to get her done and I wanted her to be the first review of the new year so keep an eye out for it tomorrow. :D

Another few more goodies arrived from HLJ late last week. Since I have been busy lately, these pictures are old and this post is late. :(

Let’s skip the intro and take a closer look. There’s more underneath btw. xD

The items are as follow:

• Nendoroid Kagami Kuro by GSC
• Nendoroid Yui by GSC
• di:stage Extension Set 02 Clear Case Unit x4 by by Max Factory
• di:stage Extension Set 01 Layer Unit Clear Ver. by Max Factory

If you recall back to my First Loots of the Year post, I already purchased nendoroid Yui so why another one you might be asking? Am I that crazy over her that I just had to get 2. lol
While she is my favourite character and I do like her, I’m not that crazy enough to own 2 as the other one is going to my friend Koshiko. I know she can’t wait to get her hands on her. XD

Kagami Kuro was a no brainer in completing my Kodomo no Jikan set. Rin is still my favourite character but I can’t look away from Kuro-chan at the same time as she brings a lot of humor as a character alone. It’s amusing how she’s always texting on her mobile and having a secret ‘thing’ for Rin always brings out the humor of her. Can’t wait for Usa Mimi to be out soon as having the whole set will bring a smile to my face. :)

Last but not least, the di:stage sets. I remember seeing a couple of these sets back at AFA09 but I was hesitant to grab one since I really didn’t know all too much about them. I knew they were extra enhancements for your figmas and tools to give them a more wider range of variety but the sturdiness and the flexibility was what I wanted to know and due to a lack of reviews, these questions was never really answered.
Not long afterwards, my search was over as one of my good mates Blowfish decided to grab a few sets to see how well they fair out. Because of his great review my questions was answered and seeing how much fun they are, I decided to grab a few sets myself. I knew shipping was gonna be cheaper if I bought in bulks so I didn’t hesitate to go ahead with it. ^^

Well, the di:stage sets will definitely give me a hand as I slowly start unboxing my figmas. Looking at the scale of the collection, I think I will need a couple more but I will try to manage it for now as my first big thing installed for this site is to showcase my figma collection. :)

Both of these arrived last Wednesday, a day after I received my first loots in the mail. As you can see they are:

• Nana Mizuki Live Diamond x Fever BD and
• Yui Horie CLIPS 2 BD

Both was shipped out together 2 days before the end of 2009. I was happy they were out before the year end because if  that wasn’t the case then I would’ve had to wait for another week for them to arrive which would’ve made me sad. :(

Nana Mizuki Live Diamond x Fever features both Live performances from Live Diamond 2009 on July 5, 2009 at Seibu Dome and Live Fever 2009 on January 25, 2009 at Nippon Budokan. If your a fan of Nana and LUVE her LIVE performances then this is one item you should consider getting.

The booklet

Both the Blu-ray and DVD is still available at cdjapn for  9429yen. If you have a Blu-ray player or a PS3 then the Blu-ray is the most obvious choice. Both are the same price and your getting you moneys worth with HD.

Next up is, Yui Horie CLIPS 2. Similar to Yui Horie CLIPS 1, CLIPS 2 features all her music videos from the 5th single “Scramble” to her latest one “Yahho!!” It also features unreleased music videos like I, my, me, Love Countdown and JET!!! from her latest album Honey JET!!!.
I gotta give credit to Zen for mentioning about the unreleased music videos  included on the disc because if they weren’t included especially I,my,me then there was a good chance I wouldn’t have picked it up. xD

Included as well is a 12 page booklet which features the lyrics and beautiful pictures of HOCCHAN. I forgot to snap some pics. which is not like me because I like to share the luve so I do apologies.
Both the Blu-ray and DVD is still available at cdjapan. Blu-ray is 5000yen while the DVD is 4000yen. One thing the DVD have which the Blu-ray doesn’t is the special outer case (First Press only) but other than that it’s all about quality on the big screen. ^^

As for reviews on both, it may not happen since I’m planning on bigger things installed for this site.
Just be sure keep your heads up at Zone Otaku as I’m certain Zen will be reviewing both. :)

The first packages has arrived for 2010. Awaiting for my collection at the front door, I didn’t have time to unpackage them until tonight since space issue is starting to come back to me. At the moment, the unopened figma corner near the mirror is piling up with other unopened figures and random stuff and moving them around is a hassle. Here’s my room post from last year to give you an idea about it.

At this time, I’m still awaiting on a few items to arrive to move out half of this load so for the time being, more goodies get’s piled up on top of one another. I have to get the balance right because the last thing I want is a tower of goods  come crashing down during my sleep. @_@

So what’s in the Play-asia and AmiAmi box? Let’s find out. :)

• figma Golgo 13 by Max Factory
• figma Saber Casual Wear ver. by Max Factory
• Nendoroid Yui by GSC

Nendo Yui is from Play-asia while the rest is from AmiAmi.
Nendo Yui was an instant GET!!! since as a fanboy of her and the love of the series, it will be a crime to miss out. Well, actually I was not convinced at first when mikatan showed off the first few pictures of her with the usual expressional faces but when she showed off the final one, the crying face, I was immediately sold on the spot as her crying face is one of  my favourite expressions by her.
I still blame mikatan for milking more of my money. >_<

As for figma Golgo 13 and figma Saber Casual Wear ver., not only are  they are the first loots this year but it was also my first package from AmiAmi since the launch of their English website. Other than their competitive prices with other popular online stores, I’ve been hearing great feedback from their services and this has lead me in giving them a go. While I did not intend to go on a shopping spree just to see how great their services was, I decided to wait on something I wanted where I either missed out or never bothered to pick up and figma Golgo 13 was the one. I don’t recall how much % it was discounted but it was more than enough to warrant a GET!!!. Off course, I’m never satisfied with just 1 in the box and since bargain hunting is my thing, figma Saber got added in as well as the price was too delicious to say no.
NO, this does not mean I’m turning into a  Saber fanboy. (….not yet from the looks of it :P)

Package in tack upon arrival

So out of a rating of 5, how do I rate AmiAmi packaging and services? Well, I give it 5/5 because as just as many people said, the packaging is tight and secure and the services are great. The items was shipped out promptly and the package arrived without a dent. I chose registered SAL as my shipping method and even though I was able to track it, it never go updated after it left Tokyo but I guess this is out of their scope since it’s in the hands of Japan mail services.

A look inside how AmiAmi pack their items. Pretty simple and straight forward

Overall, I’m very happy of AmiAmi packaging and services and definitely I will consider shopping back there. For anyone who hasn’t given it a go, I highly recommend trying it out. I’m certain you won’t be disappointed. ^^
Definitely a big difference from what I got from Amazon Japan. @_@