Upcoming 00 Gunpla & Anime Festival Asia

Ngee Khiong has posted news of upcoming 00 gunplas.

Image originally from vipper.org

The NZ-003 Gadessa and GNR-101A GN Archer have been slated for a 2009 January release at 1575 and 1260 yen respectively. I can confidently declare that the Gadessa is 1/144 scale based on the price range. However I’m not too sure the GN Archer is also 1/144 scale.

Additionally, Gundamer has new images of its 00 Gundam + O Raiser set. Of note would be the 00 Gundam marking version which sports decals and a lighter colour scheme which ought to be the official colour of the 00 Gundam and Gundam Exia instead of the more saturated blue.

This weekend, there will be an Anime Festival Asia ‘08 held in Singapore, from 22-23 November 2008. This event aims to cover many popular otaku sects as you can see from the official website.

While it may be too late to obtain entry passes for the event, the official website has listed the following merchandise which may be on sale.

• 1/60 Gundam Exia Clear Trans-Am Version
• HG 1/144 Gundam Exia Clear Colour Version
• MG 1/100 Gundam Ver. OYW G3 Colour Version
• SOC GX-44 Tetsujin 28 and Black Ox

Product launches have also been listed, though it’s not explicitly mentioned if they will be on sale during the event.

• 1/100 00 Gundam
• HG 1/144 Seravee Gundam
• MG 1/100 Shin Matsunaga’s Zaku II Ver.2.0
• BB Senshi 317 Shusou Doven Wolf

Bandai’s SIC Limited Masked Rider Den-O Rod and Ax Form will also go on sale. There are only 30 pieces available and 30 lucky folks will lay their paws on sculptor Ando Kenji’s signature.

Also, 20 lucky folks who buy the MG 1/100 Gundam Ver.2.0 will also get to attend an autograph session with mecha designer Kunio Okawara.

There will also be a mystery RAH (Real Action Heroes) figure by Medicom Toy on show. Speaking of RAH figures, a RAH figure of Blade (played by Wesley Snipes) has been announced. Don’t be surprised this would be the exact one on show.

I wanted to continue working on my 1/100 Tallgeese but ended up spending the whole of yesterday and today evening completing Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia. I lost my save file and replayed the game with cheats to catch up with my progress. Also I had already charged my batteries and was ready to take photos, but I had to clear up the mess that was my table and make way for people who will be coming over tomorrow to install a split air-con in my house. Can’t believe my parents actually spent so much dough on renovating both toilets, installing a heater (yes I have been showering either with unheated water or a big tub of hot water and a scoop for all my life until now), re-wiring the entire house and lighting, changed all the doors and now air-con’s for my parents’ room (of which the air-con was spoilt pretty long ago), the study room where I’m in and the bedroom I share with my brother. I find it pretty disconcerting it’s all done during this financial crisis.

SHF Kabuto, Upcoming SICs, Gunpla

I haven’t been updating in a long while. I wanted to drag my lazy butt off my chair and take some photos of some of my recent gets but realised my batteries had run out of power.

Instead, I have here a pretty long post on several things. First, the SHF Masked Rider Kabuto has been released in Japan and here’s a link to a Japanese review by Climax F.

The Kabuto Kunai Gun comes in separate parts (Gun Form and Kunai Form) instead of being removable like its Souchaku Henshin counterpart. Other differences include a slimmer silhouette and smaller-sized weapons on the SHF figure.

On another note, something has gone wrong with my laptop’s LCD panel. A one-pixel thick white line appeared on it a few days ago and it has been growing in thickness every few hours. As of now, it is 10 pixels wide, so I have a white bar blocking my view somewhere down 2/3 of the screen.

From Toysdaily, pictures of the upcoming SIC Masked Rider Den-O Liner Form (with Zeronos Zero Form not shown) as well as SIC Masked Rider Zeronos and Deneb Imagin.

Hotlinked from photobucket

Again from Toysdaily, pictures of the MG 1/100 Sinanju Ver. Ka.

Hotlinked from photobucket

Based on the pictures, it has been confirmed that there are no gold parts for the golden accents. Instead, Bandai has tried to make up for it by providing a new kind of clear sticker. It is a hybrid sticker where the gold accents are done like foil on a clear sticker medium. Unfortunately I can’t find the photo showing this.

Additionally, Taste-san has a review of the HG 1/144 Cherudim Gundam and MG 1/100 Infinite Justice Gundam uploaded on his site.

What makes this model really awesome is that it comes with much more accessories than the HG 1/144 00 Gundam. First, it has been revealed that the green armour plates are actually “Shield Bits”, removable pieces that can re-arrange themselves into different formations. The GN Drive is mounted on the backside underneath the Shield Bits, and there is a “Follow Screen” (pardon my translation, it may be inaccurate) which folds out from the backpack in front of the face when sniping in Trans-Am mode. The model also comes with a pair of GN Beam Pistol IIs, GN Sniper Rifle II and clear parts for the sensors. All in all I’d say this has more playability than the 00 Gundam.

Photographs by Taste-san

SIC Masked Rider Zeronos + Deneb Imagin

From Hobbystock, some photos of the upcoming SIC Masked Rider Zeronos + Deneb Imagin.

Images hotlinked from Photobucket

More Upcoming Masked Rider Stuff

Ripped straight from Toysdaily, SH Figuarts Dark Kabuto and SH Figuarts Urataros Imagin are scheduled for a 2009 release at 2625 yen each. Once again, this is proof of Bandai going full steam into the Kabuto series and its variants. I guess Dark Kabuto won’t be the last of the Kabuto releases.

On the other hand, SIC Volumes 45 and 46 have been announced. Vol. 45 will be Masked Rider Den-O Liner Form + Urataros Imagin while Vol. 46 will be Masked Rider 1 The First Ver. with bike. No news of a release date yet, but does this mean that there might be a release of Masked Rider Den-O Climax Form + Kintaros Imagin? Who knows.

Upcoming Masked Rider Merchandise – SIC

From Toysdaily, a prototype photo of the upcoming SIC Masked Rider Zeronos + Deneb Imagin. Also, thanks to the heads-up from Ngee Khiong, I have some pictures of the soon-to-be-released SIC Masked Rider Den-O Gun Form and Ryuutaros Imagin ripped straight from Bandai’s Tamashii web site.

7140 yen, December release.

You can see from the above pictures the difference between the styles for the SIC and SH lines. SIC figures are more organic in appearance and may look different from the TV version. The original idea was to create figures that projected a dark feel (which the original Kamen Rider tried to) by re-imagining their appearance. That’s why they are called Super Imaginative Chogokin. Unfortunately, these figures aren’t produced in huge amounts and are very expensive. For a poor bloke like me, I’ll go broke very soon if I ever start collecting them. Besides, it’s very hard to find older releases now.

Bandai’s Tamashii Web has a gallery of the SIC Masked Rider Den-O Gun Form and Ryuutaros Imagin. It will be released on this 27th September for 6300 yen.

Upcoming Masked Rider Merchandise

Here’s a look at two upcoming action figures under the S.H. Figuarts (SHF) line – Masked Rider Ketaros & Heracus, and Super Imaginative Chogokin (SIC) Limited Edition Masked Rider Den-O Rod and Axe Form.

All images courtesy of Toysdaily

These characters are from the Kamen Rider Kabuto spin-off movie, Godspeed Love. The movie had a dark storyline which matched well with the first half of the series, something which attracted me to watch the show. However, I think I’ll pass on buying these as they are almost merely variants of Kabuto with different heads and colour schemes. I find the spin-off movies like to have new Riders that look almost identical. I have already busted quite a bit of dough on SHF Kick and Punch Hopper (which are almost identical as well), and Bandai is clearly rushing full steam into milking Kabuto fans who have not seen any major merchandise other than the Souchaku Henshin (SH) figures. Of course, I will be waiting for the release of SHF Kabuto and Gatack sometime in October and November respectively.

While the SHF line lacks the armour transformation gimmicks the SH line is famous for, I find the SHF body sculpt to be way more sleek than the SH figures, not to mention the superior articulation. The sleek silhouette suits the Kabuto line very well, but not so for old-school Riders. The SH Kabuto figures may have the awesome Cast Off gimmick (with a second dummy base body to show both Forms), but their stocky old-fashioned appearance and outdated articulation makes the SHF line a better choice for me.

Both figures are slated for a December release at 2625 yen each.

Off topic, I initially planned to write and save posts before publishing them so that I could post new content regularly. However, I was bogged down by duty and driving lessons the past three days. What a great start to a new blog eh? I guess having frequent content updates can be too ambitious, so I shall strive to post meaningful posts instead of frequent, inane ones.

[edit @ 1800] I have hotlinked pictures of the upcoming SIC Limited Edition Masked Rider Den-O Rod and Axe Forms below.

All images hotlinked from Amiami

The above has been planned for a November release at 6300 yen.