Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Fate Stay Nendroid Saber Lion - New Import, In Stock

«©NCSX» In the Fate/Tiger Colosseum game, the cast of Fate/Stay Night is shrunken, deformed, and shifted into toddler-like versions of themselves. Archer is lanky in his full-size form but he's a chubby little punk in the Colosseum. Similarly, Saber's normally lean and mean but in her Coloseum turn, she does "Lion Cosplay" and whacks her enemies with a bone-in meat chop.

Good Smile Company takes hold of Saber's Coloseum persona and sculpts her into a 10cm or 3.93" Nendroid figure which is a near perfect rendition of Saber video game persona. Her eyes are fierce, the lion costume is about right, and the meat chop looks menacing.

Upon opening up the packaging, Saber is encased in a plastic blister pack with some accessories arrayed around her. There's the big meat chop, a little bowl, an extra pair of arms, an extra pair of legs, a little meat chop, and two extra Saber faces to change her expression. The default expression that Saber comes from the factory in is fierce but the extra faces allow her to also be sad or dizzy. Preorders will ship today and new orders are welcome at JPY2800 or US$35.90 from NCS.

Patapon Ultra Detail Figure - New Import, In Stock

«©NCSX» Members of the Patapon Tribe are small of stature but they're also hardy, resilient, and when the occasion calls, relentless. Medicom has much respect for the Patapon. They have so much respect that they've created five Ultra Detail Figures based on the Yaripon and Tatepon warriors of the PSP action game.

Each Patapon soldier is sculpted from PVC and measures 4cm (1.57") in height and roughly that much in width. A strap is also attached to the top of each Patapon for tethering to a cellphone, a belt, or any other device that can accept a loop. Unfortunately, Medicom neglected to include spears or swords with the straps so the Patapon figures are weaponless. The Patapon are packaged in bubble blister packs. Pricing is set at US$9.90 which includes free Media Mail shipping within the United States. Preorders have shipped as of yesterday and new orders are welcome.

OdinSphere Gwendolyn 1/8 Scale Figure - New Import

«©NCSX» In Odin Sphere, a Valkyrie named Gwendolyn kicks off the game where she uses a weapon known as the Psypher Spear to battle foes. Gwendolyn also has a swooping dive move where she glides across the screen with predator-like grace. From the air, Gwendolyn strikes downwards with her spear to basically put the fear of Odin in hapless foes and woodland animals alike.

Japanese toy manufacturer Alter gives appreciation to Gwendolyn with a statuesque 1/8 scale PVC figure where the Valkyrie perches on one leg atop a snarled tree stump. Gwen raises her arms to heaven with Psypher Spear in hand and Valkyrie wings on full display. The sculpture measures 35cm or 13.77" in height which means the packaging will be large and unwieldy. A circular disc is included inside the package which serves as a display base for the figure.

Preorders will ship today but please note we are sold out of the first batch. NCS expects restock within the next 1-2 weeks when our Japanese suppliers return from their winter holiday. Due to the size of the item, NCS recommends only shipping by UPS Ground within the United States and USPS First Class Airmail for our international customers.

Tales of Destiny 1&2 One Coin Grande Figures - New Import, In Stock

«©NCSX» The heroes of Tales of Destiny and its sequel are immortalized (did you know plastic is forever?) in Kotobukiya's collection of One Coin Grande figures which feature seven characters as follows:

» Stahn Aileron - Blonde warrior who wields the fire sword
Dymlos.
» Rutee Kartret - Sister of Leon armed with the Atwight sword
» Leon Magnus - Youthful adventurer who carries the Chaltier Swordian
» Lilith Aileron - Sister of Stahn and a homebody with a fierce soup ladle
» Kyle Dunamis -Main character of TOS2 and spike-haired son of Stahn
» Reala - A mysterious girl who serves as the impetus for Kyle's adventure
» A secret cape-wearing figure shown in silhouette

The first six figures are standard but the secret figure is meant to be a surprise. We'll leave it at that. The figures measure approximately 4" in height and are sculpted by Oya Hideaki and Tsukuru Shirahige. Preorders have shipped as of yesterday and new orders are welcome to ship today at JPY8400 (US$92.90) per box of 10 figures. Each factory box contains all six standard figures and the secret figure. The remaining three figures are duplicates of the six standard figures which are packed in random fashion.

Biohazard - New Import, Restock Soon

«©NCSX» In the early minutes of Biohazard, it is July 24, 1998 and Alpha Team is on a mission to locate Bravo Team which was investigating a series of strange murders. While flying over Raccoon Forest, they spot a derelict helicopter and descend for a closer look. Shortly after landing however, things take a turn for the worse when Alpha Team is attacked by a pack of voracious mutts. Chris Redfield is about to get whacked out by a rampaging mongrel when Wesker blasts it out of the air. The remaining members of the team proceed to race towards a mansion situated in the forest with dogs in hot pursuit. Once inside, three S.T.A.R.S. operatives remain and they're not really sure where Barry is.

The original Biohazard was released on the Playstation back in 1996 and the game engendered an entire industry of horror games. Who knew rotting zombies would be so popular? The enduring franchise has also branched off into movies and the fifth sequel ships in a few months. Until then however, Capcom trots Biohazard out once again with a Wii remake. The game is based on the Gamecube version but with Nunchuk and Wii Remote functionality added to the game engine. Everything else is the same including the CG cinematic introductory sequence.

General Updates

Mario Sofubi Toys In Stock
Our shipments of the new Mario Soft Vinyl toys arrived today but too late in the morning to update the photos and such. We'll post photos tomorrow but all preorders will ship this afternoon. New orders are welcome for the Mario Sofubi Figure 3 and the Super Mario DX Sofubi Figure 7 to ship today.
Japanese Yen Ascendant
Prices for all Japanese goods have ratcheted up over the past few weeks due to the strength of the yen against the US dollar. There's no solace when we purchase from Hong Kong either since the HK$ is pegged to the US dollar and prices from Asian vendors have risen even more than our Japanese suppliers. As an example of the recent price increases, our average cost for PS3 Shirokishi Monogatari went to US$66 per copy as of Monday. That's before import shipping costs.