Methinks this is going to be a good year...

Well....it sure has been a long time between posts but, as the title indicates, this looks like it's going to be a good year.

But first, I will give a little shout out to one of my favorite hauls from last year...my Menace from Revoltech's Queen's Blade line...

Isn't she a cutie? As I am a HUGE fan of the Revoltech line as a whole and I absolutely LOVE Queen's Blade (I am a lover of fanservice, afterall), picking this figure up was a no-brainer for me. Of course, the rest of the Krew all picked up Queen's Blade figures in this pre-Christmas HLJ order. We are planning on picking up more in the new year.

Looking at some hauls that the rest of the Krew picked up like these SH Figuarts figures from the Dragonball Kai series...

Now...these figures are AWESOME!!! (Darn you card for introducing me to this line!!!)

I REALLY want the Dragonball Kai (aka: DBZ) figures as they fit the criteria...6" figures, highly articulated and good sculpts.

They also did some figs for Kamen Rider Ryuki...WOW!!! Look at that detail!These figures are crazy sick!!!

The second wave of ThunderCats toys have come out...unfortunately, I haven't taken any pics of the figures that I have so far but I will do a review of them soon. The difference between this year and last is that the 8" line has been discontinued. In fact, they are re-releasing the Classic ThunderCat toys in the 6" mold. While there are rumors of the Classic Cheetara being a Comic Con exlcusive, I'm OK with the change as I am a big fan of the 6 inchers...This year, I am going to try my absolute best to NOT buy the 4" ThunderCat toys...We'll see how well that goes...

Somewhere around October (or so), we began hearing the rumblings of a new convention in the Mile High City. With me being an annual attendee at StarFest and NDK, I'm something of a regular con-goer in our fair city. So, the news of Denver Comic Con coming in 2012 was met with much anticipation from the Krew. In fact, I've already bought my tickets for the weekend. The only problem that I can foresee is that it takes place June 15th to June 17th which happens to be Father's Day weekend. Really DCC organizers??? Couldn't you have picked a weekend that I could have actually taken off from work? As it is, I WILL be there just...not all day everyday...

While it is still VERY early to see something like this, Indaglow,......with this con taking place in the Convention Center, there will be room to grow.

I can't wait...

Toys, toys and more toys...

Due to circumstances beyond our control, the Krew wasn't able to go to New York Comic Con this year.

So, I'm going back over my NDK experience and some of the things that I picked up in the Dealer's Room. My favorite purchase for this year was the Revoltech: Queen's Blade figure, Alleyne. Now, people who know me know that I absolutely LOVE Revoltechs and, as a lover of fanservice, this Queen's Blade figure was right up my alley.

Over the years, Revoltech has gotten better and better as I just love the fact that Alleyne's cloak has joints in it to make for "dramatic" poses.

Revoltech purchases come in bunches for me so when the Krew saw this figure, they were inspired to put together a group purchase on Hobbylink Japan. We all bought Queen's Blade figures with mine being my favorite character, Menace. I can't wait to get her...probably be sometime around my b-day...

Sticking with the toy theme, Card picked up some SDCC exclusives this year even though we were unable to go this summer. He has friends in the He-Man community who hooked him up. Among the things that he got was the new 8" Lion-O figure from Bandai. Very nice. In fact, I decided that I wanted one as well.

Going hand-in-hand with the new ThunderCats tv show, the "Classic ThunderCats" figures were a welcome addition to my toy collection.

If I could have only stopped with just the 8" toys, I would be better off however, the 6" figures were for the new series and I dig that size (from my Marvel Legends days).

These toys ROCK as I picked up all three of the first wave of 6 inchers...

It took a while to get used to the new design for Panthro but, I'm kinda digging his new look more and more each day. As for the Mumm-Ra, it's a very nice figure but it's legs are too short and it is missing the wings (you could tell that there was a place for wings on this figure...too bad).

Then there is the "crack" of the ThunderCats toy line....the 4" figures...

You know, I did NOT want to buy these...I mean, I'm trying to collect specific things. The 8"ers I like because they are the classic characters and the 6"ers are right up my alley as a collector but...it was the doggone "ThunderTank" that pried my money from my wallet and led to my picking up the entire first wave of 4 inch figures...

No control, whatsoever....still, the tank is pretty kick ass...

Just last night, I picked up my Marvel Universe X-23 figure and consider me impressed/happy. I remember the Marvel Legends version of X-23 was VERY disappointing. The sculpt was HORRIBLE as she was rocking a head that was too big for her body. Now, this figure....Hasbro got it RIGHT!!!

Proportions are right on, the sculpt is tight and it is an all-around fun/nice toy to own. As a fan of this character, I think I can say for all of us..."it's about time"...

Of course, Marvel Universe has been tearing it up lately with it's last two waves being outstanding. I mean, I've seen the new Steve Rogers and it is SICK. Honestly, I was seriously thinking about dropping this line but, if they keep this up, they will continue to get my hard-earned cash.

I'm addicted to Protoculture....

So, I decided to go down memory lane today and I pulled out my DVD of "Macross: Do You Remember Love?". Man, I forgot how much I absolutely LOVE that movie. It's, easily, one of my favorite anime movies of all time.

I remember when I first "discovered" the movie and how it really grabbed me with the music, designs (both mecha and characters) and the revamped storyline.

I really, really need to get an R2 version of the movie. As it is, I have a VHS copy of it and a really good fansub. Not to mention my..ahem..Hong Kong "imported" DVD.

For people who really know me, I am something of a collector. So, when it comes to my toy collection, I'm seriously thinking about selling anything and everything that isn't Macross/Robotech-related. I mean, really, I can't collect everything anymore and my love for Macross/Robotech is pretty strong.

I really love the Yamato Macross toy line. The picture above is of my beloved VF-11B from Macross Plus.

While I know that there are a lot of issues with this particular toy, I just really love the mecha, itself.

Just recently, I found out on the Macross World forums that Yamato is going to release the VF-11C from Macross 7. What an absolutely beautiful mech this is.My 11B is a 1/72 scale while the 11C is a 1/60 scale. I think that I am going to have to buy two of these.

Of course, there is the YF-19 that I covet as well.

Easily one of the most popular Valks in the Macross Universe. Right up there with the VF-1S (Skull Leader, baby!!!)

I really want one of these...

The above toys are something new from the good folks at Yamato, the GN-U Dou. This line is pretty much Yamato's answer to the Revoltechs. The only thing is that they are a little bit bigger but also a little bit more expensive than the Revoltechs.


When I go to cons, I frequent the dealer's room looking for Macross-related merchandise. So, along with the toys, I also keep an eye out for artbooks as I have a pretty sizable collection. The Macross artbooks that I have picked up over the years happen to be some of the best (and most difficult to find) artbooks that I own.

This artbook showcases the beautiful art from Haruhiko Mikimoto and happens to be one of my favorites.

The artbooks below, I found at Anime Wasabi in 2008. They had an AWESOME dealer's room that year but I was a little disappointed with the con as a whole this year, though. No new artbook purchases for me.

With the popularity of Macross Frontier, all kinds of things have come out in the last year or so that are Macross-y. One of those things is the "Macross Ace" magazine.

This magazine is pretty darn cool as it is brought to us by the good folks at Kadokawa and it specializes in Macross-related manga, light novels, music, games and toys. (Right up my alley!!!) One of the things that I am looking forward to is the "Super Dimension Fortress MACROSS- The First" manga being serialized inside. It is, basically, a retelling of the original Macross story done up with art from the amazing Mikimoto. This cover is of issue 002 which came out in June. The third issue comes out in November.

Gotta start getting this mag!!!

Let's do some cosplayin'

You know I love cosplay, right? What's better than a little Macross-themed cosplay...

FIRE BOMBER!!!

What this world needs more of is....Minmay cosplay....
DECULTURE!!!

On tap...MY con...NDK!!!

Well, it's just about that time of year ...NDK time!!!

You know, I love this con as I have had the opportunity to see it grow from the small time to the mid-sized time as far as attendance is concerned. Last year, we were visited by the fellas from the Robotech Tour.

Here is Tommy Yune and Steve Yun kickin' it with Madarame from the OtaKrew. I really need to get Tommy to sign some things for me this year.

Some of the toys on display at Zormaster's booth. These are the Masterpiece Collection Alpha Fighters that I currently covet.

TaaDaa!!! What I have (so far) of the Masterpiece Collection. These are actually in my library at home.

On the cover of the August issue of Hobby Japan resides the one thing that I will be looking high and low for at con this year....the VF-25 Messiah Valkrie from Macross Frontier. This just so happens to be a TRANSFORMABLE model kit from the good folks at Bandai. Ah, yes, I am in love....

Check out my Skull One from Yamato. I LOVE these figures as they are mostly die-cast but the problem that I do have with them is that the joints are a little weak.Yamato side by side with my Revoltech Skull One. Picked up quite a few Revoltech figures at NDK last year. I am going to try REALLY hard to stay away from them this year.

....except for that Yoko that I have had my eyes on....

Speaking of Revoltech figures....

I really like this Haruhi even though I have never really watched the show...

Another thing that I must try to keep away from...GASHAPONS!!!

These things are like CRACK to me and I have told my friends to keep them away from me however, after seeing these Macross F toys, I just may break my own strict rule of NOT buying them.

Last but not least...(photo courtesy Collection DX)
This knockout figure of Sheryl Nome from the good folks at Banpresto is probably going to be another thing that I will need to walk away from NDK with....le sigh...

Anywho, the OtaKrew represented at the Starz Movie Complex in Denver a few weeks ago when we went to see "Evangelion 1.0: You Are Not Alone".

I must say that I was quite pleased with the movie. VERY good. Except for Madarame talking throughout the movie, it was very enjoyable. I had, honestly, forgotten how much I LOVE Eva...

If you are ever driving around Denver......and you happen to see an Exterra with a NERV parking pass on it, you will have just seen the Buffstyle-mobile...

Looking back on this summer's movies that I went to see, I tally up how many times I saw this or that. At the top of the list was "G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra" with 3 showings.You know, I think some of the reason that I saw G.I. Joe so much was because of Scarlett....Do you really blame me, though?

The other movie that I saw 3 times was "Star Trek"...Yeah, I'm an unabashed Trekkie and I endorse this movie....

Just went to see "Inglourious Basterds" the other day...
I LOVE Quentin Taratino's movies so it was pretty much a given that I was going to check this one out. Gotta say that this movie cracked me up. While it was a little long, it was still an enjoyable time. All of the Tarantino-isms were there and Brad Pitt continues to solidify his spot as my favorite current actor.

Look out Dealer's Room....I'm comin' for YOU....

DECULTURE!!!