Pick of the day - Bleach anime - Ichimaru Gin (市丸 ギン)

Today's pick of the day - Sunday, what a fun day! 

Yup, it's not a Transformers post. There has been lots of Transformers excitement of late, and I was inspired by a comment by long-time reader of my blog KUMA-NIN, to actually post something on Bleach. 

Bleach (aka ブリーチ in Japanese, or 死神 in Hong Kong / Taiwan) is a long running Manga and Anime that I have been following since 2005 / 2006. It's a beautiful blend of the old and the new and at least for the first 65 episodes of the anime, was extremely refreshing as far as anime goes. Since I'm a collector, I of course have collected some Bleach paraphernalia over time.

 My Bleach display in my current place.

(top row: Hitsugaya Toushiro, Kuchiki Byakuya, Ichimaru Gin, Aizen Sousuke, Urahara Kisuke)

(bottom row: Kurosakai Ichigo, Grimmjow, Hitsugaya Toushiro, Matsumoto Rangiku, Hisagi Shuhei, Kira Izuru)

However, since Transformers are that all encompassing, I'd almost completely forgot that I also have lots of Bleach stuff and collect the series as well! (KUMA-NIN, should we 'blame' this on Maz too?).

The Binaltech Story continues... the search (re)starts

I blame Maz. Just so you know.

A couple of weeks ago, we started talking about Transformers: Binaltechs (or commonly known as "BTs"). Over instant messaging and other media. Maz was saying what an awesome line it was, and guess what, I agreed.

In truth, other than a handful of pieces, I myself have (always had) a nearly complete run of BTs, each bought from retail at the time of their release. 

So in a sense, the conversations with Maz pushed me closer and closer to the edge, where falling over means I would embark on (perhaps) completing my BT collection.

Then Maz released his articles on TF Source, one after another... "BINALTECH BT-01 TO BT-04", "BINALTECH BT-05 TO BT-08" and most recently "BINALTECH BT-09 TO BT-12". While the first article pushed me over the edge, the second and third one irreversibly knocked me right into the chasm of BT collecting once more.

So, just so you know, I blame Maz.

Takara Transformers SCFs - ACT 2 Chase figures - Convoy w/ Megatron and rocket pack, clear Rodimus Convoy w/ Matrix

Previous post - Takara Transformers SCFs - ACT 1 Chase figures - Metallic finish Convoy and Megatron

This. This, I have been really waiting for.

The Takara SCF ACT2 Chase figures - (left) Convoy with Megatron gun and Sideswipe's rocketpack; and (right) Rodimus Convoy with Matrix, transluscent version (aka Hot Rod mid-transformation into Rodimus Prime)

First, about Convoy...

Among all the SCF Chase figures out there, it is the ACT 2 Convoy with Megatron gun and Sideswipe's rocketpack chase figure (hereinafter, referred to as "MTMTE Part 2 Convoy") that has been tugging and tugging at my heartstrings since it was first released back in 2001. During those Clarke Quay days, I never saw the MTMTE Part 2 Convoy chase figure, just never saw it. Knew it existed and wanted it, but just could not find it.

Also, Chase figures would go for around SGD$50 to $150 back then, depending on which Chase figure it was. So even if I found it, I'd likely not be able to afford  it.

Why is this figure so special to me? It comes down to a number of key reasons, really. Here they are:

Acquisitions - FansProject not Wildrider, BT-20: Argent Meister and Dr Wu Seeker cannons

It's been awhile since I have listed acquisitions here. To be honest, the acquiring never stopped, just that I've been slack and listed some but not others.

This neat little lot, I bought last Saturday. Nothing very controversial or difficult to get, 4 pieces of third party products and BT-20.

Here we have from left to right:

- FansProject Causality CA-10: T-Bone MISB. Name makes no sense to me. How is the name even reminiscent of Wildrider?

- Dr Wu upgrade parts for the Classics / Henkei Seekers - Starscream, Thundercracker and Skywarp. These look like they would fit nice and appears better than the large silly monstrosities that passes as cannons originally part of the seeker toys.

- BT-20: Argent Meister MIB. Why am I now trying to finish up my BT collection? I blame Maz and his poetic words and beautiful photographs. See what I mean: "BINALTECH BT-01 TO BT-04" and "BINALTECH BT-05 TO BT-08"

Must've been away from eBay too long, because these prices are shocking

2 days ago, I was on eBay looking at some HoC figures to prop up my ever-growing SCF army (more on that in later posts), and I happened across a number of auction lots for G1 Black Zarak parts.

'Ah', I thought, 'perhaps it's time to finally complete my second Black Zarak'. You see, aside from my pristine MIB Black Zarak, I also have another loose Black Zarak to display and to 'play' with (eek! really? GPS!).

The seller of this loose Black Zarak, a guy named newausbot78 (a horrid irresponsible seller) claimed that the Black Zarak was complete. However, when it arrived, it was missing the silver lift parts. He said he would send the parts, but never did and just never contacted anyone again. I'm not the only victim, several other OZ Former forum members fell prey too.

So, long story short, I needed a silver lift to complete the second Black Zarak.

Enter this batch of Black Zarak parts auctions and lo and behold, there was the exact thing I needed. It was slated to end during lunch time today, and up to 30 seconds before the auction ended, the price was US$6.50, yup, six-dollars-and-fifty-cents. 

So I put in my bid, at $45 (sounded exorbitant to me).

When the auction ended, bam! 

Price ended at $90. Nine-zero-dollars. For a mere Black Zarak lift. I was staring at the screen in disbelief.

Now take a look.

I then went to check out the other auctions that I watched, but did not bid on. 

Collection streamlining - Phase 1 complete

Unknown to many, I'm streamlining my collection and have been for the past 1.5 months.

I've sold off quite a number of pieces - these included toys from the following lines: Classics, Generations, United, Henkei, TF Movie, BotCon, Robot Heroes, Robot Masters, third party TFs and etc.

Whilst its no secret, I suspect that the majority of readers here will not have heard or seen the sales because I've had them all listed on Yahoo Hong Kong, and with Mandarin descriptions no less (thanks to E for drafting).

Selling on Yahoo HK is pretty cool because I never have to post out anything. When a person wins an auction, we will just arrange for a day and time to meet up in person and transact. The most common meeting points are the train stations that are near toy shops or near my office. Its convenient to meet up and transact and then wander off for toy shopping before heading home in the evenings. It's great fun I gotta admit.

OKC Part 4 - in which we peer at the right side of the main shelf

Previous post - OKC Part 3 - in which we explore the left hand side of the main shelf

Now, we look at the right hand side of the 2 'main' shelves. The picture below summarises what they look like when standing from afar. The arrangement has gone through many iterations, and this set of photos merely show the latest iteration. heh.

I have subconsciously marked this side of the shelf as 'Decepticon territory', for Decepticon figures, mostly. However, the topmost part of the shelf quickly dispels that demarcation.

Here we see USA boxed examples of key Autobots - (top) pre-rub Prowl MIB, Pointblank MIB unused, Hardhead MIB; (bottom) Optimus Prime (blue version) and Ultra Magnus (variant plastic wheels version). It's interesting to note that the Prime and Magnus boxes are exactly the same hight and size! Who would have thought.

NB: Sometime today (3 March 2013), a blue version Prime that is MISB, not too much unlike the one pictured, actually sold on eBay for US$1999! Shocking. Really. Shocking. (link here http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261178482819?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649)

This is the second layer from the top, mostly Japanese boxed TFs. There are actually about 5-6 giftsets at the back of this layer and not featured here! This is its previous incarnation, which I liked a lot, but then I shifted Apeface and Snapdragon over to the shelf on the right with the featured pieces, so ended up rearranging this shelf.

Previously, it has all the dino-cassettes (Autobot and Decepticon), the Japanese exclusive Godmaster figures, USA boxed Decepticon Targetmaster - Tiggerhappy, Slugslinger and Misfire, D-99: Apeface, D-100: Snapdragon and D-101: Soundblaster (hey, that's consecutive numbering!).