P.O.P One Piece Wonder Fest. Releases

P.O.P Neo Luffy + P.O.P DX Ace

For those that were wondering whether to buy the P.O.P One Piece Ace figure, wait for the coming pre-orders of the new DX Ace along with the new Monkey D. Luffy figure. The up coming Ace Figure is based on the Marineford Arc series, where White Beard will also be out on the same release date. On top of that Garp will also be coming out in his Admirals Uniform along with his Dog hat accessory. These releases were taken from the 2010 Wonder Fest. from the HobbyStock Shimazou Report blog. This year is going to be a painful year on my wallet, but lets hope Mega House won't have any more crazy releases.

P.O.P DX Admiral Garp

Here is a list of the Ouka Shichibukai Characters set that are currently out now: Bartholomew Kuma, Juracule Mihawk, and Crocodile. By the end of December with confirmed dates, the following Shichibukai Characters are: Boa Hancock, Jimbei, and Marshall D. Teach (Black Beard) . Unfortunately Donquixote Doflamingo & Gecko Moria have not yet been announced, but I am assuming they will be out pretty soon seeing that at least 6/8 (crocodile included) have been released. Also there may be a possibility that they will start to release The Eleven Supernova's and if they do I will probably only get Trafalgar Law and Eustass Kidd.

2010 Summer Fun!!

English Bay 2010

The 2010 Celebration of Lights has hit Vancouver and so far its been pretty fun! Meeting new people here and there along with beautiful summer weather as well. Surprisingly Vancouver hasn't rained or snowed these few weeks so I hope this weather keeps up. For those visiting Vancouver for the summer you should definitely check out the up coming days for the Celebration of Lights event.

Celebration of Lights 2010: USA

Celebration of Lights 2010: Spain

Following days for the 2010 Celebration of Lights

July 28th at English Bay, between 10-11pm (Mexico)

July 31st at English Bay, between 10-11pm (China)

For more information check out the Celebration of Lights Website for details.

Katsura Hinagiku Nendoroid!!!

Katsura Hinagiku Nendoroid

Just when I thought I wouldn't be spending anything for a while, Good Smile Company decides to release a new series. As the title states the new series is the Hayate no Gotoku "Hayate Combat Butler" Nendoroid series and the first character release is no other then the gorgeous Katsura Hinagiku. For sure I will be looking out for the Hinagiku Nendoroid, but I am worried what other characters they will be bringing out within this series. The confirmed characters at the moment are Hinagiku and Hayate, and I am pretty sure they will release a Nagi soon as well.

Akiyama Mio Figma + KidRobot

Akiyama Mio (Figma) + HardGay (Stereotype Series 4)

My Akiyama Mio by Figma finally came in the mail today and I must say I am pretty satisfied with the quality of the figure. I also picked up two new Dunny's from VoltageLand: Painkiller (L.A series) by Thomas Han & Thunder Dog Tested (Series 3) by Tristan Eaton. On top of that I found a pretty sweet HardGay like figure from the Stereotype Series 4.

Thunder Dog Tested (S3) + Painkiller (L.A Series)

A short review of the Akiyama Mio Figma: she's very similar to the Yui Figma but with longer hair. The front bangs of the Mio Figma has soft pvc while the back has a medium hardness feel to it. The only downside I am having with long haired Figma characters is that I find them difficult to pose without the stand. Without the stand their hair weight pulls them back which makes them wall, compared to the short haired Figma characters (Yui, Haruhi, & Nagato). But overall quality of the figure itself and the details plus facial expression are pretty sweet. Now that I have 4/5 of my Figma character I shall be making my short stop-motion some time this week. Come back in a while and check it out!

HardGay (Stereotype Series 4)

One Piece Figuarts Zero Collection

Luffy Figuarts Zero

Here's a short notice update on some new One Piece Figuarts Zero Collection. Currently there are 5 characters available for pre-orders on the AmiAmi Online website. The list including: Monkey D. Luffy, Shanks, Black Beard, White Beard, and Boa Hancock (no photo's or pre-orders at the moment). The character details on Luffy and Black Beard look pretty decent, especially Luffy's facial expression. Personally, Luffy's facial expression is the best one out of any figure I have seen so far. The details on Black Beard is pretty awesome, but I have yet to compare this to the P.O.P DX Black Beard version. But here are just some of the photo's from the AmiAmi website. For those that are interested in pre-ordering the One Piece Figuarts Zero Collection click on the following link at the bottom of this blog post.

Black Beard Figuarts Zero

Shanks Figuarts Zero

White Beard (Edward Newgate) Figuarts Zero

Online Shops

AmiAmi Online Shop - One Piece Figuarts Collection

Light Pollution

Night Photography

So after a long day at the beach yesterday I decided to go out and do some night photography. Even since I bought my tripod I never had the chance to use it other then making some stop motion animation (which I should be working on as a side project). So went out to the creek near Tera Nova in Richmond and tried taking some photo's of stars. Here is the result and enjoy. If you know any places with clear skies and no light during the night, let me know and I will try to take more photos.

FIFA 2010 World Cup Belongs to Spain!

Spain - 2010 World Cup Winners

So the 2010 World Cup ended today with Spain taking home the championship cup. It was a long match between the Netherlands and going into 30 min over time, but at least the game did not end with penalty kick shoot outs. Both Spain and Netherlands fought really well, but like all games there has to be a winner and a loser. For this years 2010 FIFA World Cup Competition the placements were: Spain (first place), Netherlands (second place), and Germany (third place).

Sergio Ramos (Spain) and Dirk Kuyt (Netherlands)

For those that missed the FIFA 2010 World Cup game of Spain vs Netherlands, you can click (here) to watch the full match on the CBC sports network. Photographs and media coverage can also be found on the web link as well. Again, congratulations to Spain for winning their first ever FIFA World Cup.

Reference

2010 FIFA World Cup Final Coverage

One Piece: DenDen Mushi

One Piece DenDen Mushi Measuring Tape

Golden, Sengoku, and Imperial Down version.

Here's is a short update on some neat One Piece toys that some of you might be interested. Have you seen those Den Den Mushi phones that everyone has been using in One Piece? Well you can now have your own DenDen Mushi measuring tape, which I'm sure someone out there will be modifying this for a real working phone? Or perhaps I might make a working phone just for fun? We'll see, but in the mean time here are some photo's to see what they look like. They can be ordered online at the AmiAmi Online Shop (click here).

Spain and Netherlands FIFA FINAL

Carles Puyol (Spain) scoring moment against Germany

So it's decided, Spain and the Netherlands are in the Finals for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. The Netherlands won their game on monday with a 3-2 victor against Uruguay and Spain just won their victory against Germany with a victory of 1-0. All teams had pretty strong defenders but like in all competitions, there must be a winner and there must be a loser. Today's goal from Spain was taken by Carles Puyol, which was the winning goal for their advancement to the World Cup Finals.

Alvaro Pereira (left - Uruguay) going against Khalid Boulahrouz (right-Netherland)

For both Spain and the Netherlands this is something to celebrate, since this will be their very first World Cup crown. Best of luck to both teams and the game will be held at Johannesburg's Soccer Stadium on July 11th at 12:30pm ET. The game can be viewed from the CBC sports network coverage online (click here)

For those interested in the replay of the match click on the following links below:
Spain vs Germany Semi-Finals
Netherlands vs Uruguay Semi-Finals

Detailed cover story can be found on the following link:

World Cup post-game: Spain 1, Germany 0

World Cup post-game: Netherlands 3, Uruguay 2

P.O.P Shiro Hige (White Beard) Pre-Orders!!

P.O.P DX 白ひげ (White Beard)

So as some may have seen on One Piece forums or have seen from other blogs, that there is a P.O.P White Beard coming out. As of today the pre-orders for that P.O.P White Beard is on sale right now and surprisingly he's actually not that expensive compared to the P.O.P Franky Strong World version. But on the other hand, White Beard is actually not that tall compared to the P.O.P Bartholomew Kuma. Kuma being 33 cm (330mm) tall, while White Beard is 32 cm (320 mm) tall but the staff itself is 49 cm (490mm) tall. I guess from the photo's that I have seen earlier he just looked ridiculously tall. The P.O.P White Beard is on sale at 7,030￥ (approximately $80.00 canadian), which in my opinion he's pretty cheap compared to the other P.O.P characters.

For pre-orders click on the following links.

AmiAmi Online Shop

Hobby Link Japan Online Shop

Hobby Search Online Shop

Nakano Azusa Nendoroid #104

Nakano Azusa (中野梓) Nendoroid #104

Finally the last member of the K-On! Nendoroid series, here's a review of the Nakano Azusa Nendoroid #104 by Good Smile Company. Azusa's Nendoroid is very similar to Yui in terms of accessories and Mio's in terms of hair and facial expression (by this I mean the "moe" look). The Azusa Nendoroid has fine details on her guitar and the amp, and she also comes with a Neko Mimi (ねこみみ) - Kitten Ears Cosplay item, which was introduced in Episode 9 from Season 1. The set also comes with a small kitten, which in the anime Azusa is always distracted when she comes across any cat/kittens on her way home. The expression that Azusa comes with is pretty awesome; she comes with her normal look, distracted/embarrassed look, and also her moe 'nya' look (kitten pose).

Azusa comes with the following items in the box: (3) changeable faces, (1) Guitar, guitar strap, and amp set, (1) kitten, (1) stand set, (1) pair of pig-tails. Some people find Azusa a little hard to pose because of the length of the hair if let down or that her head falls backwards because of the pig-tails. This might be similar to my Mugi when she couldn't stand straight at times and I had to make a few adjustments by tilting her head. But over all, as a last member of the K-On! Nendoroid series, I am extremely happy to get the entire set and I would highly recommend it to those that have seen the anime or read the manga. The K-On! Nendoroid Series can be bought online from the AmiAmi Online Shop or any Online Shop list from my previous posting (click here).

Box Review

Happy 141st Birthday Canada!

Happy 141st Birthday Canada!

It's a little bit late but yesterday was Canada's 141st Birthday! On this occasion Vancouver was hosted a fireworks event on the Downtown West-Side near Canada Place. Just like during the 2010 Olympics, the streets were full of lively locals and people from out of town. During the fireworks I meet a guy named Russell, an engineer, and his wife Jessie, which lived in Asia for the past couple of years and has recently has moved back to Vancouver. I love having these random conversations and meeting new people during these big events. This is what makes Vancouver unique, where you can just talk to people without any hesitation. Here are just some photo's during the fireworks from Canada Place.

From Canada Place Convention Center

Pixelated Whale Art Piece

Kotobuki Tsumugi Nendoroid #102

Kotobuki Tsumugi (琴吹紬) Nendoroid #102

Here's a short review on Kotobuki Tsumugi Nendoroid #102 from the K-On! series. Compared the Mio, Mugi has similar long hair which makes it a little difficult to pose and move her arms around. She comes with a fantastic keyboard and also a tea set with desserts, which suits Mugi's character. In terms of the stands, they are all the same but because Mugi has longer hair compared to the Mio, she is a bit difficult to pose. The weight of Mugi's head makes the character lean back, which makes it difficult to keep her up right. But this might be just my stand and I am not 100% sure if this applies to all the other Mugi Nendoroids. Other then the stand, everything else is pretty fantastic.

Houkago Tea Time

Tsumugi comes with the following set: (3) changeable faces, (1) Keyboard, (1) Keyboard stand, (1) tea set + cake, (3) pairs of arms, (1) set of lemon like eye brows, and (1) Nendoroid stand. The changeable faces are just like the ones what we see through the episodes and they also included a shock/clueless face, which is fun to play around with.

Box Review