Winter WonderFestival Loot (+ some extras)

Well, I did say that I didn’t buy any of the garage kits I liked at the event but that doesn’t mean that I went away completely empty handed! I made a few orders via tokyohunter, before the event and he managed to get me a few items. And here they are!

They’re a little different from my standard purchases. 3 variable action pose kits and the Volks Moekore Fate T Harlawn figure.

Overall, the amount spent was similar to previous events but then I did get 4 items this time as opposed to 2 or maybe 3. And since I didn’t go through the auctions, I didn’t have to worry about any massive markups in price (although it was pretty light this time round from what I saw). Commission fees from Tokyohunter were also reasonable. It’s just a shame that I don’t think that he does GK sales too. Or will he? *strokes chin*

Anyway, lets have a closer look at the loot.

Lets get the more boring stuff out of the way first. This is the Volks PVC figure of Fate T Harlawn from Nanoha StrikerS (like she needs any sort of introduction) in true sonic form mode.
Volks have a bit of a reputation of being incredibly uneven in it’s quality control and it’s easy to see why. It’s reasonably well made, but a few minor errors detract from the figure as a whole. It certainly doesn’t match the production quality of the Alter version (but then Alter is one of, if not the best PVC figure makers out there IMO) but to counter that, I think the Volks version has a much better and more natural pose.
I’ve managed to miss out on fate a ridiculous 4 times(!!) so far so I’m glad that I finally have her, even though PVC figures are not my thing (I have a GK of Fate and Nanoha to do up eventually as well) and she’ll look good next to my Alter Nanoha Exceed mode, which should be arriving very soon. (That’s one of the worst things about living in the UK. Everything gets to you really slowly!)

Now, with that out of the way lets get onto the stuff which most of you are probably more interested in.

We’ll start with Dimension Diver Metis.

One of the most surprising things about Metis is that she has very few parts. Everything fits into the small bag you see in the top pic!

And here they all are! And now for the bad news… I know that Dimension Diver kits are rather desirable items, esp over at tomopop it seems, but if you are looking for a simple snap-together kit like Hoihoi-san or various gunpla, then you are in for a shock.
I was expecting it, but it’s still going to hurt. You see, like the liquidstone Fate kit I built a while back, you are given separate joints to connect the parts together and are expected to drill the necessary holes to connect them. Here are the joints.

According to the sheets provided, the ends are 3mm in diameter and I just happen to have a 3mm drill part with me (thanks to the aforementioned fate kit) so I should be OK. I’ll need to test the joint fit before going all out as loose connections cannot be allowed to happen on kits like this! My Fate suffered because I couldn’t completely match the joint sizes with my available drill parts.

Looking at the parts, I suspect that Metis, once complete, will be closer in size to actsta than figma but I won’t be able to tell for certain until I build her. No support stand is provided either, but there is a hole in the back of the body section which fits the figma base connection quite nicely, so if you have a spare figma base, you can use that or get a di-stage set to hold metis up. She definitely won’t be able to stand on her own!!

Here’s a shot of the instruction sheet. A far cry from the 4 sheets given with Fate by liquidstone. In fact, it looks deceptively simple! Remember, stand is not included!!

But if you want your Metis to look as good as the shots on the back of the sheet, I guarantee that you will need to do some extra work with the paintjob!

And next, we have Thanatos;

Thanatos is similar to Metis in that you will also need to drill the parts to create the holes necessary to insert the joints, but unlike Metis, Thanatos uses joints of varying sizes so there’s no 1-size-fits-all drillbit. In this case, the instructions state that you will need a 3mm and 2mm size drillbit. It also didn’t come with the required joint parts, so I have to wait until they arrive before I can do anything. Shouldn’t be too long now.

Thanatos also contains a large number of small parts so you just know that things are going to get messy! It also lacks the hold for a figma stand peg in it’s back so you’ll need something else to hold it up. At a guess, I suspect that the completed kit will be around figma size.

In case you’re curious, I have 2 Thanatos kits as I was asked to build one for someone. So I’ll probably work on Thanatos after I finish Sheryl, and with no distractions until next Tuesday when Final Fantasy XIII is released (I have completed Bioshock 2 and heavy rain. I’ll need to do a review of heavy rain soon!) I should have some time where I can focus solely on Sheryl and get the final bits done! I’ll probably not really get into FFXIII either. I haven’t enjoyed a main Final Fantasy game since FFIX. FFX had one of the worst cast of characters I have ever seen and FFXII was just a grindfest.
I’m also disappointed that S-E didn’t include the japanese voices, at least in the PS3 version. They definitely had the space for it!! And yes, I’ll be picking up the Limited edition PS3 version on Tuesday. There’s supposed to be some kind of event over at the HMV in London Oxford street. I’ll try and get pics if I can!

And here’s the instructions for Thanatos. it’s a little more honest in it’s complexity! I think you need to provide your own chain as well…

And on a completely random note, I really like the logo used by Naoki (the member of Rampage Ghost who made Thanatos). His logo reminds me of the Naomi arcade board! (the board for arcade games which were basically specced up dreamcasts!)

And on a final note, I also had a few other items arrive at a similar time to the wonfest stuff…

I finally have my Sheryl Nome N.A. version, Nendoroid Drossel and Revoltech Levaetin!! The Sheryl isn’t as bad as I thought it would be, but the eyes are really badly done. It’s more of a design thing as well, rather than a production problems.
Nendo Drossel is both my first purchased Nendoroid (Excelica was included with the PS2 game) and my first Drossel figure. And it’s likely to be my last for both. Fireball is fun, but I really don’t understand why people went so gaga for drossel merchandise. Esp the figma! And I’m not a fan of nendoroids in general but for some reason, putting the 2 together simply works!!
As for Levaetin, I have been kicking myself for ages over missing the initial release so when it was going to be re-released, there was no way I was going to miss out. I’m interested to see how Robot Damashii will handle it as well!

And that’s about it. With any luck, the next post will be either a completed Sheryl Nome or a mini-review of Heavy Rain!