New additions...

I have, for quite some time, coveted Yamato Valkyries from Macross. The only problem would be their price and space in my home. You see, I don't let my geekdom rule me and many visitors to my home would never know that I am a closet otaku/fanboy. As such, the bulk of my collection can be found in my office and library. About a month ago, I finally went out on a limb and picked up a display case for my Macross toys. Since then, I have been filling said case with my new Yammy Valkyries from Macross 7.

First up was the VF-19S

This Valk is probably my favorite toy that I currently own.

The reason for the lofty praise is how solid this toy is. I mean, it has fantastic balance and a fairly good amount of die-cast to keep it solid. This beauty looks good in whatever mode you would want to display it in. My personal favorite is battloid but it looks good in all three modes (battloid, GERWALK and fighter) and has the good balance to pull off all three with no problem.

Next up is my VF-22S Miria's custom valkyrie.

While I'm not much of a fan of Red (blame Coach McCartney) mecha, I really dig this toy. I guess I like it because it IS Miria's mech after all.

Then there is my Max version of the VF-22S. I love this shade of blue. It is one of my favorite colors...then there is the fact that it IS Max's ship.

For the longest time, I did NOT like this mech because it was based on Guild's ship from Macross Plus and I hated his character. A lot. It wasn't until I read somewhere that the YF-21/VF-22 was a cross between the Zentradi Queadluun Rau and the traditional Valkyrie that I began to like this mech.

As this is something of a "catch-up" posting, I will go over my geeky con excursions soon...

What good times were had...

NDK 2011 has come and gone but, when trying to recollect what happened this year, the memories are still pretty fresh on the mind.

One thing I will have you know about this year's edition of NDK was that it was the 15th anniversary of our con. Very impressive! And we (NDKers, as well as the con itself) have come a long way...

I remember when I first heard about this anime convention, it was 1999 and I was living in Westminster, Colorado at the time. Back then, you had to send payment for pre-reg away to California as registration was being handled there. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to make the con that year and I didn't actually make my NDK debut until 2002. As it was the first NDK after 9/11, it had a pretty large crowd as the 2001 NDK was deeply affected by the tragedies on the east-coast. Quite a few guests weren't able to make it that year but, in 2002, we had a gang of guests...As it was my first anime convention, I pretty much surveyed the situation to see the sights and to get my footing.

Flash forward 10 years to Nan Desu Kan 2011 the 15th anniversary...what a fun trip it has been, overall. Sure, there are some things about this con that are pretty frustrating to me but, all in all, I still enjoy it.

For this year, we (the OtaKrew) didn't spend as much time at the bar as we did last year. Saved a lot of money that way so that we could actually pick up some neat items in the dealer's room.

With Harmony Gold (Robotech peeps) back in the house for their 4th straight year, you just know that I went to any and all panels Robotech-related. We even got Zormaster to come on down for dinner with the Robotech crew on Saturday night right after their panel. (He missed last year's NDK due to a scheduling conflict) After finding him a pass (shhhh), ZM was able to enjoy the con with us for Saturday night and for Sunday. Saturday night saw my return as a judge on the "Robot Rumble" panel(from my view on the panel)
...it was also cool because one of the other judges on the panel actually reads this blog! How cool is that?

Below is just a sampling of the cosplay that I was able to snag pics of. I have a lot more that I may post throughout the rest of the year.

Below is an OtaKrewer who cosplayed as Bonta-kun from "Full Metal Panic" on Saturday night...

He was VERY popular...

Good times Bonta-kun, good times...

Below is an OtaKrewer with one of this year's Japanese guests...

This is Ryusei Nakao who is known as the voice actor for Frieza and Cooler from Dragonball Z. He has also done voice acting for Bleach (Mayuri Kurotsuchi), Armitage III (Rene) and Weiss Kreuz (Farfarello) among others...

As I said above, this was a very fun con. While there were some panels that I really wanted to see, I went to several that I was pleased with. "Olde Tyme Anime" (brought to us by the good folks at "Gimme Anime") was a blast like usual. Too bad I missed the other panels that they produced "Nan Desu Video" and "Mystery Anime Theater" which featured Tekken: The Movie...I heard it was craptacular (which is actually good in this case). I also missed the panel that I suggested a few years ago "NDK Late Night". Bummer...It was at the same time as "Robot Rumble"...

With the amount of fun that I had this year, I look forward to what the future brings for Nan Desu Kan.

Does it really have to end???

So, with NDK09 having come and gone, I am reminded of two MAJOR rules that I have concerning my con.

1. ALWAYS get a room at the con hotel. For whatever reason this year, I didn't keep my hotel reservation and I deeply regret the decision. Having the ability to come and go as I please is the main reason to have a room in the first place. Me going home between 2am and 6am only to come back for a 10am panel is ridiculous. Never again.
and...
2. ALWAYS take the week post-NDK as a vacation. I always tend to find myself feeling down (the post-con blues) following the convention. It usually starts immediately following closing ceremonies while I am walking to my car as my mind will go over the events of the weekend and I will get sad. That's why I like to have the week after NDK off so that I don't have to worry about...work.

As has become the custom for OtaKrew over the past three years, we rolled up to the Denver Tech Center (DTC) Marriott on Thursday. We do this so that we can let our hair downand kick it with the con guests before the craziness starts. Think of it as the calm before the storm. The bar happens to be our meeting place so, it was pretty neat when they asked us to come up with some names for some con-specific drinks. There was a red drink (Asuka Meltdown), blue (Perfect Blue), Pink (Honey Flash), Green (Jupiter Thunderclap) and orange (Orange Road). My personal favs were the Jupiter Thunderclap and the Honey Flash.

On Friday, the Dealer's Room was the place to be and it was PACKED!!! I did find the Revoltech Yoko from Gurren Lagann that I was looking for. Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything from Queen's Blade that I liked. Later on that evening, we went to a panel presented by Roger from Gimme Anime (buffalostyle's official anime store) called "Old Time Anime". It was excellent as usual since Roger always shows something that I have never seen before. The only bad thing was that I missed two other panels that I was interested in going to,"The Death of the Anime Industry" and "Anime Girl Fight" presented by Steve Yun from Robotech.com/Harmony Gold. As we were poised to see the "Mystery Anime Theater" coming up next, we were asked to leave the room and get in line with the masses that had gathered while we were inside watching Roger's panel. I can see where they were going with this but it was kind of unfair since many of the people in the room left. I guess that I could have stayed if I really wanted to (I'm sure Roger would have let us stay) but, we decided to go to the bar for some more late-night...celebrating.Saturday started out pretty early for me as the plan was the see the "30 Years of Gundam" panel. It was a hard choice for me as we also had an NDK premiere of the "Case Closed 3" movie. In the end, I guess I was meant to see the movie as the panel was at standing room capacity in no time. No prob. Case Closed, here I come....and it was VERY good!!! Next up came the "Robotech: Past, Present and Future" panel presented by Tommy Yune (with an assist from Steve Yun). It was a blast!!! Got my first look at the Masterpiece Collection (MPC) Beta Fighter. Let me just say that I...AM...IN...LOVE!!! (I seem to fall in love with mecha alot, eh?)
Looks like I am going to have to pick up more of the MPC's afterall (from Robotech.com, of course). We were set to go to the Robot Rumble (Steve's awesome panel/gameshow)
again but, karaoke (and our good friend, Chris) came calling. It was a blast as I got to be a judge this year. Didn't leave until 5:30am. (Again, I will definately have a room from now on)

The last day of con started with me nursing a slight....hangover.. as I made it to the "Robotech Free for all". A couple of people were wondering where we were the previous evening as we said we would make the "Rumble". Once they saw how I looked and when I said the words "karaoke" and "judging", they understood. Both Tommy Yune and Steve Yun were a joy to be around and it was good to see the local Robotech-ites again.

Honestly, we need to do a better job of keeping in touch. Seeing Zormaster's toys (and Collector's panel) was a lot of fun for me. While I do own quite a bit of Robotech merchandise, my collection is nowhere NEAR Zormaster's level.

So, seeing how much fun that I packed into a four day convention, can you understand how I experience post-con sadness? While some of the Krew have written off the con due to it's size and the overabundance of younger fans, I still enjoy my time there. In fact, I look forward to being a part of NDK for years to come.


DECULTURE!!!

I Think I'm In Love...

So, I finally made my trip to Gimme Anime (buffalostyle's official anime shop) the other day and I came away with yet another object that I am obsessing over. In a mistake made by Roger, the May issue of Hobby Japan made it's way into my hold slot. Since I have added and dropped Hobby Japan countless times from my account, the mistake was an honest one. Anywho, Roger realized his mistake but, once I saw the cover, I was instantly smitten.

The PERFECT GRADE ASTRAY GUNDAM!!! Taa Daaa!!!!!

My favorite Gundam of the past few years or so gets the Perfect Grade treatment and what a surprise that was to me as I haven't looked at an HJ in quite some time.The above kit is a 1/100 High Grade Gundam kit. I remember picking up the above kit a few years ago but, since I am so incredibly lazy, I ended up giving the kit away because I didn't feel like having to do too much painting. You see, my painting skills are pretty weak and I don't have the time and equipment needed to do so anyway. Of course, with my new garage, I can actually set up a painting area if I really wanted to.

Here is the box for the Perfect Grade kit.
Smexxy isn't it?

The first (and only) Perfect Grade kit that I purchased was the GAT-X 105 Strike Gundam. I coveted this kit for a VERY long time since I first saw it at Wizard World LA back in 2005. I didn't pick one up that day because I didn't know how I would get it back home as the box is huge. Fortunately, I found it at Colpar Hobbies last year and snatched it right up.

I have yet to put it together.

When I flipped through the HJ, I came upon something that I want as much (probably more, actually) as the PG Astray Gundam. Macross Frontier models from Bandai.

Now, this is the stuff right here as fully transformable Valkries are the $#%@.

I own some of the Yamato Valkries from the "Do You Remember Love" movie and from Macross Plus as well. I really am looking forward to getting some of these models as well as the other Macross Frontier toys.

SUGGESTIONS FROM RINI
So, while I was at Gimme slobbering over the Hobby Japan goodness, Rini came in while I was checking out and made a few manga suggestions to me.

First is Jihai from Toshimi Nigoshi.

This manga is about a boy named Aoi who is courier who is rescued from a delivery gone wrong. He is taken to an orphanage where most of the kids have super-human abilities.

As I was, initially, drawn to the art in the manga, there were some shonen ai aspects early on that made me wonder what Rini had gotten me into. However,the story drew me in about midway through the volume as we learn that Aoi is driven by the need for revenge. There is a political slant that shows up near the end of the volume that really leaves you wanting more. All that said, I'm probably going to give this one at least one more volume to see if I want to continue to buy it.

Next up is 07-Ghost from Yuki Amemiya and Yukino Ichihara.

While I haven't gotten to this manga just yet, listening to Rini's description and reading the back cover have really piqued my interest.

It took me a while to get to reading Jihai as I was catching up on my Black Lagoon manga. Very good stuff. Vols. 4 and 5 dealt with Rock and Revy going to Japan with Balaliaka on a "business" trip. The more and more of this I read the more and more I absolutely love it.

Revy cosplay!!!

If you can pull it off, more power to you....

So, I'm at the gym the other day and I'm jammin' out to some anime music on my Crackberry. I come up on some music by the supergroup named JAM Project.

The interesting thing about JAM Project is that they were founded by former 1970's theme song artist, Ichirou Mizuki (Harlock, Mazinger Z), back in 2000. He and several other theme song artists make up the group. (JAM stands for Japan Animationsong Makers)

The song that I am currently digging from this group is "Storm Bringer" from the anime Kotetsushin JEEG. It's funny what kind of pump you can get from listening to this type of music. For instance, I picked up a Greatest Hits album for MOVE at Wizard World LA in 2005.

MOVE is great cardio music.

As it is, the dealer that I bought the MOVE discs from at WWLA05 frequents NDK every year. I think that I will be looking for some JAM Project this year at his booth.

Speaking of music and NDK.

I have a good friend who runs karaoke at NDK. Between him, his brother and I, we are planning on channeling Jackie Moon this year. HA!!! THAT should be fun....

DECULTURE!!!