The 2021 Halfway Mark

 June, and as such the half of the year, has gone by, so it is time for the traditional look back on how the goals are going.

Well, mixed...

As you could see the past months, after kicking off the year epically with good AHPC painting volumes, the period afterwards has been very, very slow on the painting front.  Mostly due to Brexit and Covid, a topic I talked about months ago in a post, this has resulted in my reorientating a bit to other parts of my geekdom's.  More aimed at solo or family hobby things actually.

My anime collection has been getting serious boosts, but these are also about the only ones still planned to get painted, wether it is for solo play, or providing the forces for multiple players in odd and end games.  Combined with real life taking up a LOT of work (Noshi's injury, baby Thorin running around, work, ...) there is just no time to decently commit to the wargaming hobby.

And it shows in the numbers.  While I succesfully rounded out the AHPC this year again, and in doing so completed the target of getting a Rivendell force ready of at least 700 points, that is so far about the only thing obtained on wargame levels.  Part of it also has to do with the Ender being out of commission for 7 months now, as due to covid-19 issues the guy that came to fix it, can`t come over yet.

I did get some serious bumpings for the Rohan forces in the past challenge, as is the Tau force now at around it's halfway mark, but I can`t say if I`ll finish these goals up, though together with the Crisis figures one it's one of the goals I haven`t given up on yet.  But for the others it already seems to look grim...

On the not wargame front, the books are going okay, nearly at the halfway mark so that should be do-able over the coming 6 months.  The same goes for the Movies goal, as well as the series.  Halfway down the line this year, I guess that means we are on schedule.

The Anime has already blown past it's target number, as Noshi got her mojo back.  So we binged quite a few series together the past months, combined with the ones I watch on my own means that number is already well passed, and a lot more will be added.  Heck, who knows I might even make it to 50...

But all in all, it is rather okay for the goals this year so far.  I did manage to remodel my home office after the new windows where installed, going for a more roomier (and otaku) set up, at the cost of painting practicallity, so yeah, choices where made in that department I admit.

Now to see how far I will get on the goals this year, as I keep on pushing occassionally, and hopefully get the printer fixed soon to be able to restart painting gachapon Gundams for MechaTop!

The Haul Report 284

Let's kick off the week with this huge box that arrived from AmiAmi last week saturday (I close off my reports every friday you see).

And there is cool stuff in it, though I couldn`t show it all in the unboxing video of past friday, as there is some "hidden gifts" for Noshi in there as well.

 

We also went for a little trip to Antwerp city, and at Akiba in the Central Station Noshi turned some gachapon's.   She gave me all the Pikachu's she got out of it!

 

Also from akiba, I picked up some small things: a manga "NSFW" though I had no idea when I got it, I saw the warning when I took the picture.  And her...

Nice nice for sure this week!

On the Painting Desk 194

 It has been a while since a painting update passed through here!

But last weekend, I took up a brush again, though not for miniatures I`m afraid...

I did do some good work on the Yuno Gasai painting, in that it is now all done bar varnishing and getting a frame for it.  

Of course, an artist always signs his work ;-)

Now, this will mean june is going to end up a total 0 on painted figures, that must have been years since that happened, but I do promise some advances will be made during the summer months.  I just need to get that Ender back up and running to print the needed bases for the models.

So, hopefully I`ll find time for that in july!

A HUGE AmiAmi order came in

 Hello everyone,

In this video, I'll be sharing the unboxing of a BIG box from AmiAmi.

Pre-orders, pre-owned's, there is a bit of everything in it, both for me as well as for Noshi.

Like her birthday present, which she knows about (like I do about mine).  If we buy these sorts of collectibles, we tend to tell each other to prevent the other one ordering it themselves, ending up with doubles.

So, at a total order of over 350 euro, and 90 euro shipping by EMS, the stress would be if customs took a peek at it or not, and to bad they did.  Now, as I used the combine monthly order, something always possible if there is a pre-order in it, I saved quite some euro's on shipping as it could all come in one go, and that compensated a bit for the 137 euro tax hit.

There are some more things for Noshi in there as well, but I ain't telling nor showing those as she doesn't know what it is (well, 1 thing she does, if she remembers) as that are small gifts for Thorin to give to his mommy.

But there is also a nice heap of goodies for me, though all smaller then the huge set for Noshi, some from pre-orders, and even a LunaMaria for my waifu collection.  So take a look at the video and see the haul!

 

Now, here are all the itemsin picture, a great heap indeed, and I`m going to do some unboxing videos for the Hawke Sisters and Rider in the near future.

 

 

And a good look at Schwi and Shiro, who are now part of our living room decoration.

Luckily, I didn`t have to do all that unboxing alone...

So, did you like the stuff I grabbed?  Feel free to comment down below, and until the next one!

2.11.0.0

Unboxing CapsuleBox June 2021

 Brought to you by the same people that run the Nihon Box and the Umai Box subscription boxes, comes Capsule Box, a gift box of Gashapon.

 

Now, where Nihon Box contains the traditional japanese anime styled items, as well as a few other japanese thingies, and Umai Box is all about munchies, this one is all about the blind balls that come out of vending machines in Japan.

Costing only 20 euro for a box if you take the 6month plan, and a few more if you go single ones, it's not to expensive at all.  So I opted for a single subscription box, which costed me 22 euro total, and adds 3 euro shipping cost to Belgium with the tracking option not available at current due to Covid-19 for Japan Post.  Payment on their site is through Paypal, and it shipped out from Japan on the 10th of June, to arrive here the 17th.  They do state on their website it takes around 20 days.

The site advertises the box as containing at least 6 gashapon in it, and says they are always on the look out for the best ones to put inside the box.  And that the June box has Evangelion, namely one of these ladies...  I hope I`ll get Rei.

So, while my hopes are idle for actually Gundam or other mecha anime based gashapon in there, it did seem like a fun thing to do and so let's unbox this and see what we got, with the thanks to my assistant Noshi.  She so enjoyed opening the balls, that I let her do it, and we had a fun evening doing it together.

 

The box contained 7 balls, and a "spoiler page" if you don`t want to know what series are in there, don`t take a look at it!

And it also contained a candy bonus woopwoop.

The first ball Noshi opened was a hugcot from Yuru Camp, which now stands on my desklamp.

Next, we have a traditional wooden japanese keychain, from the Kokeshi Netsuki vol 2 series.  NihonBox always includes a traditional japanese item in their loot boxes, and this is the one for the capsule box this month.

The third ball's content is now on Noshi her desk, being this cute sleepy mode figure from Re: Zero.

An Attack on Titan rubber keychain was the next item in the box.

This is a Capsule Dome, a little scenery setting in which you can hang a rubber keychain (like the above one from AoT) to put them on a scenic display.

A mini towel from Spy X Family which has a rather fun look, I will probably use this as a sort of underground or the likes.  I think it totally cute, and hoped before unfurling it would be either this one, or one with a penguin on it.

And then finally, the Evangelion one.  Unfortunatly I didn`t get a Rei, but Mari is fine as well.  I`m just not an Asuka fan in the series I guess.

So that are some nice items from the 7 balls.  Personally, I think the two figures and the hugcot the best.  The towel and the dome are usefull, while the wooden keychain is nice.  

 I think the only one I`m not really wowed by is actually the Attack on Titan keychain, but I think it was a good value box, nice varied items and a fun evening unboxing them!

Thanks for spending those few minutes of your time with me to look at some little toys, and until the next!

Attack on Titan season 3 part 2

 So the second part of season 3, and hopefully a bit more to my liking then the first half.

 

 

At least the intro was more bombastic again...

 

The second part of the third season is all about answers, and what is in the basement of Eren's old parental home.  As the 104th Scout Regiment sets out, they find the Armoured and the Colossal Titan in wait for them as they plug the hole in the wall.  This is all part of an elaborate ambush designed by "warlord Zeke"or the Beast Titan.

 

 

In the ensuing battle, the scouts are decimated and Erwin decides on an all or nothing charge including a rousing speech (though nowhere near Theoden's level of speeching mind you).  The cavalry is massacred, but this was all a rouse as for the first time we get to see Levi unleashed.  My god, what a fight with the Beast Titan, as we get to see at last why he is called the most dangerous warrior of humanity.

 

 

After overcoming the titans at a great cost, and Levi being forced to choose whose life to save between Erwin and Armin, and choosing the latter, they advance to the basement.

 

In it, they find old diaries of Eren's father, and the truth of the titan attacks.  It turns out there is life behind the wall, as the current population are descendants of the first titan's, hence how they can transform.  They learn that the outside world banished them there for this, and now that they need resources are planning to come for them.  The titan's are created as such to kill the population amongst themselves, and Eren's father tried to rally the population with the Power of the King to stand up to it.

We get to see the history of Grisha as a result, and how he became like that, and learn that Zeke is actually his son, and Eren's half brother as such, who betrayed his father and the other insurgents, leading to the banishment of Grisha to Paradise Island.

But Wall Maria is reclaimed 6 years after the attack of the Colossal Titan, and the scouts for the first time set eyes on the sea... as well as on the docks where it all started, realising the real enemy lies beyond the horizon...

A far better and action packed seasonal part then the first one, and the revelations where shocking at points, recommended for sure!

 

In another note, you can get some cool merch from AoT here, and it comes 10% off if you use that link!

Also, we learn the series should actually be called "The Attack Titan" instead...

 

 

The Haul Report 283

 Waifu Time!

This week saw the arrival of a parcel from Mandarake, filled with Lunamaria Hawke's for my collection.

You could see the unboxing yesterday, in the post right below this one.

And some Happy Meal lunches happened this week as well...

From Ikea, I got a turntable for future unboxing aids...

 

Which will for example be handy for these: a capsule subscription box from NihonBox, an unboxing post will go up later this week.

Talking gashapon capsule toys, I also got this cute Munchlax from one at Akiba in the central station.

So quite a big haul for sure this week!

My first order ever at Mandarake

 Okay, let's start by saying I have to thank Noshi for this find.

So far, I only have been using AmiAmi, but she called me over and pointed me to Madarake, as they had a used Lunamaria for sale.

So I registred an account, surfed through their items, which are all used, and dead cheap even if it's sealed but with damaged boxing, and found no less then 3 Lunamaria Hawke's I missed in my collection (and a trading card for 100 yen), for all three of them 1400 yen.  That's barely 10 euro.

So I immediatly ordered them of course on the 6th of june, and they where shipped the 7th.  Arriving at the 14th by Air SP as a postal carrier for 1220 yen, since that costs half of EMS and DHL.  For such a low total, even if customs would hit it would be the same in total as the other ones without a customs hit, but it got passed without so huzaah!

But let's have a look at the fresh additions of my waifu collection!

 

 

 

So that's the lot that arrived, and it makes my Lunamaria collection now looking like this:

 

 

Onwards to hunt for the next ones!

My Hero Academia volume 1 - Kohei Horikoshi

 So after the anime, I started the manga.

And as per sane mind, I so far only bought volume 1, to see if I like it as much as the series.

Now, this first volume, covering 7 chapters, goes over the beginning of the series as Midoriya gets his faithful encounter with All Might and inherits a fragment of his power.

Now, as usual wuth written or drawn versions, there are details in there that have to be omitted for the runtime of an anime episode, like the powers of Midoriya's parents, or running jokes on how All Might is "drawn so differently from us" to show his towering presence in their minds.

So yeah, these first 7 chapters have been a fun revisit to the early days of the series, and I might be adding more of them over time, though not urgently.

Attack on Titan season 3 part 1

 So me and Noshi have begun the next leg of watching the whole series, with the split in two parts third season.

Apparently, there is a whole set of side story OVA's between both halves released as well.

First two things though: there seems to have been a change in drawing style between this and the previous seasons, and for me it all looks a bit more "bland" or less detailed.  And no epic opening as well...

The story revolves this time around Christa, or better said, Historia.  It turns out she is the actual royal bloodline, and an imposed king sits on the throne instead.  Levi and his squad decide to reinstate her, which leads to the Scout corps being outlawed.

 

 

In the meantime, the government wants his hands on Eren, to use him, or at least his abilities by having him eaten, for their own goals.  Caught by the Reiss family, his connection to them is explained as are the sins of his father, while Erwin and Phyxis plan a Coup d' etat to remove the fake king and his counselors.

 

Rod Reiss, the true king, reveals how he wants the Power of the Titans be transferred to Historia, before she rebels and he drinks the serum himself.  He changes in a gigantic titan, and moves towards Wall Sheena, only to be stopped by the Survey Corps and the Garrison at great lengths. 

So far, I haven`t enjoyed it as much as season 2, but heck, we'll see what the rest brings over the coming weeks and months!

And if you're looking for some Attack on Titan merchandise, check out THIS webstore and even get 10% of any order you make!

2.11.0.0

2.11.0.0

SNK Store Brand Ambassador

 Last week I was contacted through Instagram to become a "brand ambassador" for SNK Store FR, the largest retailer in Attack on Titan merchandise in France.

So honored, I accepted and as such can now call me one of the scouts for their merchandise.

They carry not only a large line of figures and accesories, but also clothing and cosplay uniforms.

Go check them out through this link, or alternatively, if you place an order, use the referral code TOM347 at checkout and you'll get a nice 10% discount on your order.

 

You can also find their store link now on my Partners tab of the blog.

Sasageyo!

Obsolete

 Well, not every anime mecha fix is a good one, and this series did barely anything for me.

Drawn in a more western style, this YouTube exclusive consists of 12 episodes of around 13 minutes, and yet if telt like eternity to me, even though general reviews seemingly find it actually a good series.

When aliens arrive in 2014, they just want to trade limestone for an exoskeleton suit, the ExoFrame, which changes the world almost overnight.  Following as such a series of events that teaches how the ExoFrame came into military use, this is shown from various viewpoints and points in time.  And then there is the final episode...

 

But in general... CGI doesn`t work in anime, hasn`t in the past, and it seems it will remain like that for some time still...