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Spending is Quick, Earning is Slow!
I have a love-Hate relationship with Volks. They can produce some amazing stuff but they can be so difficult to deal with at times. Those of you who read my post just after Hobbyround 2 will know how I feel about this but I still go back to them. Case in point, these 2 were purchased at the recent HRSR event and were on the somewhat pricey side. We’ll have a quick look at both. First up, the Knight of Gold. God the box is gorgeous… *ahem* You see, this particular kit and I have a history. It played a massive part in getting me interested in the Five Star Stories in the first place. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that without seeing this kit completed, I may have never picked up my interest in the FSS and my love of the KoG and other Mortar Heads may never have been. And that would have been very sad indeed. Unfortunately, like the previous KoG, this kit is too complex to do a preliminary build (but at least there are instructions this time) so I “borrowed” a pic from the FG boards to show what it will look like when completed.
Pretty awesome, right? At the time of purchase, I was considering getting the KoF Mature Garage kit or the KoG, but in the end it wasn’t even a contest. It does paint an interesting contrast from my previous KoG however, as there is considerably less detail on the armour parts on the Volks kit compared to the Workshop Cast one (just look at the shoulders. The Volks KoG just has a red marking on it while the WSC one had much more intricate detail) but the Volks kit shows far more detail on the inner frame. There’s also a scale difference with some parts being bigger, etc but that’s not really surprising. For a bit of fun, I took the easily distinguishable cannon parts out and crudely taped them together. I then placed it next to my 32in HDTV. Here’s how it measured up…
Want a bit more proof? Next I stood it up vertically by my full tower desktop PC (for reference, it’s a lian li PC-A71 case which stands at 59.5cm tall) and stood my figma saber next to it:
So yes, very long indeed. No wonder nobody has managed to make the damn thing straight!!! Then there’s the storage problem… I don’t expect to be building it any time soon so I can recharge my FSS batteries but I would go as far as to say that this kit has been one of my Grail kits for some time and I am very pleased to be an owner, even if Royal mail spanked me with a heavy customs charge on it. My only regret is that I didn’t ask Tokyo Hunter to get it for me. I’d rather pay him than customs!!! But by now, I’m guessing that some (or all) of you are dying to find out what this box is, right?
Well, your long wait is now over. Here it is!!!!
Looking familiar? Yup, I went there!!!! This is the Volks 1/4 KOs-MOS ver 4 which was sold at HobbyRound2. I missed out on the first attempt but they saw fit to release her one more time as part of HRSR and I snapped one up straight away!!! Yes, she’s an original and set me back 58,000 yen! Now, before I continue I would like to give some major thanks to some people. Firstly, I would like to thank Joseph Tsai of Tokyo Hunter since he was the guy who purchased her for me in the first place. I also learned a little bit more about myself and my stance on resin kits. I won’t lie, I am willing to buy recasts, but only if my interest in the kit isn’t that great and I have exhausted my other avenues. But for kits I really do want, like KOS-MOS, I will pull out all the stops for an original. With that out of the way, lets have a look at the kit itself, shall we?
That’s right, it took 3 pics to show all the parts of KOS-MOS due to her immense size!!! It wasn’t all fun and games though, as I found that I was hit by the bane of all GK builders. Missing parts!!! I’m missing 2 parts which make up the toes on the feet. Tokyo Hunter is helping me get replacements (what did I tell you? Fantastic service!!) but it means that it’ll be a while before I get started on her. Which is all well and good since I’m still working on my Sheryl Nome kit!! But I promise that KOS-MOS bumped her way up to next in line! One interesting thing to note is that Volks kindly added a 3mm diameter rod through the left leg of the kit. It helps with the stability and pinning since it would have been a seriously heavy duty job. There was, however, a part which fit just underneath the foot to connect it to the base. And with the rod in place, I had to drill a hole through the piece to ensure that I could at least to a preliminary build with the parts I have.
But I’ve probably bored you enough by now. You want to see her prelim build, don’t you? Well, here you are.
Beautiful…
Since this was just a prelim build, I didn’t attach all the pieces, just the most important ones and the minor detail parts which didn’t need too much help to stay on. Hence the lack of the G-SHOT and left hand.
Just ignore the oodles of tape. They’re just holding her together ;p
Back shot!!
Can’t figure out how I’m supposed to be able to swap out the headpiece with the second one which covers her right eye… The scary thing is, KOS-MOS is not even my most expensive kit!!! Yen-for-yen comparison, my Bunny Haruhi is still the most expensive kit I have ever purchased, although things start getting a little murky when you convert the currency as the rates were much more favourable back then!! I think Haruhi still edges it tho. I REGRET NOTHING!!!!! Work on KOS-MOS will start in earnest when I get the replacement parts and I have completed my Sheryl Nome. And no, that doesn’t mean that I will rush her, even if you all start prodding me. 57 Comments |
The Kombine
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wow, I saw that in moeyo and it’s damn beautiful but too bad it’s a resin kit.
Well, there are ways around that, such as commissioning a pro to do one for you but that incurs extra costs. Or there’s the E2046 gathering route, which I wouldn’t personally advocate, but the option is there…
Impressive! Especially the fact that it’s an original. Insane price, but what an amazing sculpt.
The scariest thing is, KOS-MOS isn’t even my most expensive purchase, even with the insane price!!!!
But given it’s size and the fact that it’s a resin kit, the cost itself isn’t that much of a shock. And if I really want something, then the extra mile(s) needed to get one are worth it to me.
WOAH That KOS MOS is HUGE! No wonder you needed to split it into two posts!
That must have set you back A LOT.
Me not being a kit builder, I would have been perfectly fine with an e2046 pre-painted, but man it’s still expensive… and huge! I still haven’t opened my KOS-MOS Ver4 Alter figure yet (after like two years+ now?!)
Ah yes, the Alter ver4. I really liked the design but I couldn’t get over the fact that some pics make it look like she has a bulge around the *ahem* lower area. I kept wondering if Shion did some “additional modifications” during KOSMOS rebuild…
Congrats! I remember you were disappointed the first time around when Volks restricted kit purchases. I’m looking forward to seeing how she comes along.
I generally prefer to buy the original product (which for me is usually a PVC figure rather than a kit) than a prepainted recast. I’ll be honest though, I’m not going to shed a lot of tears over Volks’s lost profits by my piracy when those profits are nonexistent either way. That probably doesn’t say anything positive about my integrity but I can live with that. E2046’s Antihero stuff seems lame to me, but I’ll admit that if I had any painting and customizing ability, I’d be tempted to get a Saber Lily kit to try and make a Saber Lily Alter.
I think I might have the same TV as you. Or a similar one, anyway; mine’s only 720p since 32″ isn’t huge and my eyesight is pretty poor.
Pretty much my stance on recasted resin kits as well, although if I *really* want the kit, I’d rather go without than settle for a recast, like I was willing to with this one!
I see antihero being useful if you want to mod the kit into something else, as working with resin is much easier to mod than PVC. but otherwise, I don’t see any real point in it either.
As for the TV, it’s a 32″ Sony Bravia. Got it on sale back in January for around £300. it can’t handle 1080p unfortunately, but since most games only go up to 720p, I manage!
awesome dude, so the hair is molded with clear resin after all. that just made her look way cooler. so,uh..when are they going to release the polystone?? and man, that knight of gold is shining@@
hey gundamjehutykai, i was wondering should i get the prepainted 1/4 kos-mos at e2046 or hobbyfan. which do you think is better? is the quality of the prepainted kits from e2046 good?
I can’t really say anything about hobbyfan since I have never purchased from them before. But I have bought a couple of gathering figures from E2046 in the past and they’re pretty decent (tho I can’t justify the cost for the smaller items they have).
However, there are some discrepancies in their KOSMOS recast and there’s a growing voice of discontent on their forums regarding the gathering KOSMOS so I don’t know if that is going to have a major effect on things.
The ORI subforum on the E2046 board is a riot. I’m almost able to identify posters without looking at their handles or avatars just by reading the content and style of their whining.
so what do you use to put the kit together? glue gun?
depends on the part. If it’s a really small part, I use superglue buf for pieces of this size, I use epoxy glue as it gives the strongest hold.
i just bought a gathering figure of charlotte hazellink and its a whopping 33cm! wow thats bigger than my nanoha 1/4 figures. ill be back if i have any questions thanks! Gundamjehutykai
Woaah, cool KOG!
I want that kit too, but decided to wait because mostly I just building gunpla without paint the kit at all.
The KoG above is probably a little too advanced to start off with but there are some easier plastic models which you can try. They all require painting tho…
Had it not been for my previous experiences with another KoG kit, I would be terrified of this one!
Congrats on getting that Kos-mos the 2nd time.^^ Good job on resisting the tempt. of buying a recast version, original will always be the best!
Tokyohunter told me there might be a possibility they will do a prepainted version, I’ll wait for that. xD
i wonder how long that will take
Have no idea. If it ever does come to being. The last one they did was Kanu but that was announced waaaaay back and it cost a cool 70,000 yen!!! Unpainted, she was around the same price as KOSMOS so you probably have a ballpark price for a prepainted KOSMOS there…
lol i might as well just go with the e2046 one then. i dont have 70k to spend on kosmos! if i get her she will be my most expensive figure to date!
Congrats on getting your KOS-MOS, she looks awesome in the prelim pics already. Looking forward to your progress…I’m sure Sheryl can wait after KOS-MOS!
That is true, esp since my excitement level apon receiving KOSMOS was akin to puppet walt mossbergs reaction when he reviewed snow leopard!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1W-ygu6_aDc
I’m going to have to use that video when I start working on her in earnest…
Unfortunately, even if I did start KOSMOS right now, I wouldn’t be able to finish her since I’m still missing parts. Besides, I think Sheryl deserves just as much care and attention, because she’s Sheryl Nome… shut up!!
muhahaha, I’ve pre-ordered kanu, but that’s not my most expensive piece either! still I may not get that polystone kosmos if they make one, cause I just found something better! but do take time on your kos-mos and don’t make people rush you, cause I would love to see amazing paint job on this one!
Wow you’ve actually bought KOS-MOS at the end… Wow…
And it’s not the most expensive kit you’ve ever bought!
But at least you’ve no regret on buying it, and that’s good. Loving the translucent hair for some reason I can’t explain, and I look forward to the day you will start on KOS-MOS! Hope the missing parts will come soon (didn’t know that will happen as I am not familiar with garage kits).
haha, Yeah, I’m getting that impression a lot recently!
Strange that when someone says “I bought a dollfie” it’s pats on the back and congrats straight away but when I say I bought KOS-MOS I have to wait a few seconds for people to pick up their jaws from the ground!!
I just got word from tokyohunter that volks have received my spare parts request so it’s just a matter of them sending them out and me receiving them! missing parts are always a worry, esp for GK sold at events as I don’t think they are checked as thoroughly, but this is the first time I’ve been hit and I’ve got a few GK…
hey gundamjehuntykai,check out what I just won http://page11.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/n76841101
personally I think it looks much better than the e2046 one or even the orignial for that matter,thats why I give up on polystone and went for this instead
BLOW ME!!!! look at that pricetag!!! o_O
To be brutally honest, I’m not a fan of the colourscheme used by the painter but I agree that it looks leagues better than what the E2046 people could come up with. Congrats on your buy!
haha, thanks dude!
its shining as hack and I think this is going to be my most priced procession for a very long time to come, its probably even going to be the most expensive piece completed resin kit sold on yahoo japan as I been checking out the resin kit section almost every other day(not including those raw bome kits..)
And a worthy posession she is as well! Not really surprised about the cost tho. Prepainted kits like that go for considerable amounts on yahoo Japan auction.
Think I might have to add it onto my next post. I’ll be sure to keep the exact cost a little secret. Is that ok with you? I’m sure you’ll be showing her off plenty when she arrives on your door!!
hehehe, true enough. sure thing I’m cool with it. lol you bet It’ll be a bragging buffet, grail kit deserves special treatment after all!
Indeed! I’ll be sure to give you and your aquisition a mention!
>>>gundamjehutykai
My pleasure dude. Congratulations on getting her finally, and sorry to hear that you had to go through the trouble of missing parts.
I just pray that I don’t have to go through the same thing with their web order. I doubt Tenso will be as accommodating as Joseph when it comes to missing parts. :\
>>lee
Congratulations dude. That is a beautiful paint job.
What can I say? Sh*t happens! I agree that tenso would be less accomodating but volks do have an english speaking team to help and I could have dealt with them directly but would have to pay extra since I don’t have proof of purchase for KOSMOS (tho I do for the KoG). so it would have been harder but not impossible.
But thanks again! KOSMOS is here thanks, in no small part, to you!!
Oh cool thanks for that. I forgot Volks has a division that caters to the English speaking public.
Since Joseph bought it for you, does he have the proof of purchase instead? Or did they not hand out receipts at Hobby Round 2 and you have to pay extra for Volk’s mistake? I can’t say I approve if it’s the latter.
Luckily, he did have the receipt for the kit since he was technically the one who bought it so I don’t have to pay extra. It’s all free, well except for the shipping…
thanks Johnson, good to know that some people still appreciate how it was painted(staring at gundamjehutykai)lol
Oi! I just said I didn’t like the colour! I don’t have any problems with the techniques he used!
hahaha..jk jk, na I’m not a painter myself so I wouldn’t know much about this kinda stuff, but its shiny@@
I can agree with you on that! But regardless of personal preference, I don’t think anyone would say no to that figure if someone offered it! Assuming they had the funds for it!
oh ya, I was very attracted to it and decided to bid on it even tho I don’t have the fund for it haha..I’ll be paying for it for the next few month to come, and its going to be a good 2grand usd including all other charges. until I can pay everything off I won’t be getting it..so not before e2046 people get theirs and maybe not before you finish yours, hard times in this economy.
>>>lee
Lol, welcome to the Poor Collector’s Club. I’m desperately trying to scrounge up about $600 CDN before Dec 13th myself, seeing how I didn’t have the funds either when I placed the pre-order for KOS-MOS.
Does anyone here have experience ordering from Volks Japan (or know how long they take to process pre-orders)? They charged my card on the 6th but Tenso (My Japanese address) hasn’t received anything yet…
hahaha, I was doing fairly well until I got into collectible business…like everyone else here lol
forgive my poor knowledge but whats so special about dec 13th?
no idea how volks works so usually I’d go with tokyohunter’s offer.
Oh lol it’s my next visa payment due date. I’m counting the days already.
Yeah I imagine some of the hardcore collectors out there could easily start a family with the money that they’ve put into this hobby. I’m about a Toyota Yaris short because of it, but I’ve still mixed feelings.
I tend to plan well in advance and save a little bit for a secret stash so I don’t have to rely on credit cards but it’s pretty damn hard to do. Need to replenish my stash now, since it was bled dry by KOSMOS and my KoG!
But I don’t want to even think about how much my collection has cost me in total.
As for Volks, They’re rather sneaky! Their email saying that your card has been charged is NOT a confirmation that your item has been sent! They will send another email confirming when it has been sent out. Tenso usually get it around 5 working days after that. So you should be getting a tenso email pretty soon. At least that was my experience when buying the try-GK Saber and Yoko.
credit card is a good idea but I never rely on it, too young to be in debt. I believe solely in the power of cash!! usually its if I don’t have it I don’t spend it, but just crossed this link recently, look what my collection has got me doing, and how hard it is to turn back..
>>>gundamjehutykai
Ah thanks for that. I haven’t gotten the shipping notification yet so that would explain things.
>>>lee
Oh well Dec. 13 is the last day I have before I have to start paying interest. It’s currently an advancement (that’s what I call it anyways). It’s easy to make minimum payments monthly but that would be a horrible downward spiral at 21% annual.
Johnson, yeah man, I know what you mean, and interest alone is what I do not want, I’ll never get out of it..uhh just thinking about it chills my spin, cash power!!
with this economy, I don’t even know if I’ll still have a job tomorrow, so no thanks from me to CC even if it means for me to have to wait for kos-mos!
I really gota say tho, that hobbyfan kos-mos looks so much better than E2046’s this time.
Had a look at the pics, and poor photos aside, it looks like they did some parts better and others, not so well… Overall tho, it looks closer to the original than the E version but the paintjob looks a little rough and it looks a little flat in places.
the decision is killing me lol!
still deciding with place i should KOSMOS at. hobbyfan just posted up some new pictures, and here is the link. http://www.hobbyfan.com/product_info.php?bcAdult=yes&products_id=8381 i want to ask your opinion gundamjehutykai
Well, I can’t say anything particular about hobbyfan as I have never bought from them, but those photos look pretty damn poor. Not the paintjob itself, but the lighting and such are just awful and make the figure look pretty dark. It could be hiding some problems with the paintjob, or not. You just can’t tell. But it does look like they tried to keep some of the effects, like the metallic blue which E2046 did not. Fewer structural issues too by the looks of things.
Certain parts look somewhat flat as well, but as I said, you just can’t tell with pics like that.
hey gundamjehutykai, how have you been contacting tokyohunter lately? does he still use the same email address as he did 2 month ago? I’m trying to contact him with no luck..
Nope, I haven’t contacted him for a few weeks now. Guess I should to check up on the missing parts.
He’s probably busy with some HLJ stuff. How long have you waited for a reply? Give it a week if you haven’t already before trying again
just got his reply today, told me he was really sick for the past 4 days, oh well, if he already replied, then its all good.
wow, sounds harsh. Hope he gets better soon. I’m guessing his request list isn’t getting any smaller…
na of course not, his the tokyohunter after all lol hope he gets better soon, and hopefully my kanu will be on the way soon, I just paid over 10000yen shipping fee for it..