Oh Wait, You Can (Actually) Have DARKNESS BUNNY

Tamashii Nations has finally released the terms of the web sale for DARKNESS BUNNY yesterday and much to our relief it appears that, along with the Crapsuit and Bunny Plush swing tags, he will be made to order. While you'll still need to contact a shopping service or a proxy buyer, he wont be nearly as a scarce as was first feared and should be available a more reasonable, retail price. The down side is that it could take up to six months for the web shop orders to be fulfilled, though we have a similar wait length between preorder and shipment for the standard Figuarts. We'll keep you updated on when web sale will officially commence.

On the new products front, Bandai Namco Live show aired earlier today and showed several new items along with giving us a better look at some items that were announced earlier this week.

These hoodies will be out in January at 3900 yen apiece. It's unknown yet who will carry them, there's a chance they may be a Bandai Fashion Net exclusive.

The first ski hat, the one with the adorable pompom, will be 3500 yen, while the second is a reversible one with Wild Tiger on one side and Barnaby on the other other. It'll be 3000 yen. They'll both be out in February.

With all this fried rice talk, it was only a matter of time that we would get aprons. We don't have a solid release date on these, but expect them early next year.

Along with the Lunatic blanket that was spotted at the Hero Awards, we'll have two others to choose from. Like the Lunatic one, they are smaller lap blankets that will retail for 3000 yen. 

Speaking of the Lunatic blanket, here's a better shot of the pattern. Now we just need official neck ties.

Not shown on the show but appearing for preorder on Animate are a set of six shot glasses depicting various scenes and quotes from the show. We don't have a good idea of what the secret one will be, but my money is on a princess carry.

In site news, the overhaul is complete and all the listings are up to date along with images. If you have any trouble with the links be sure to let me know.

I'll have special update tomorrow, so hold tight for that. Until then, see ya~

Good Rice Needs Good China

Oh Tiger, forgive me. I did an news post and forgot the most important thing.

The rice.

 

Due out in February, about the time fans estimate Kotetsu's birthday falls, Bandai is releasing a Wild Tiger serving set inscribed from Barnaby to Kotetsu. It was originally thought this would only be available at Animate stores, without a web shop sale, but luckily it's being sold through Bandai's premium store. You'll still need a shopping service, but at least it will be more widely available. There's also the possibility of a proxy buyer, like Tokyo Hunter, listing it, but be ready to pay a mark up for the convenience. They've also got the Poster Collection currently listed for those interested, along with Darkness Bunny and Figuarts Zero Kotetsu.

Movic updated just after my last news post, adding a stylish set of watches that wont quite rip your wallet like the Red Monkey collaboration sets will. They'll be due out in January at 2100 yen, and may or may not turn up at more accessible retailers. 

Added at the same time was four varieties of lip balm, which will be released right before Christmas.

 

Last but not least, we don't have any official information yet, but according the pictures this set of charms will be out in April. Eight different figures, including a 'secret' one (I see London, I see France, I see Dangerous Underpants). Most likely these will be prize items, but will probably turn up individually on Rakuten or possibly as an entire boxed set on Hobby Link Japan.

Blog wise, check the Miscellaneous Items section to get a preview of how everything will be listed within the next few days. It's taken a little bit of time to get pictures uploaded, tagged, sorted, and linked but the finished result should be much more convenient. With that out of the way we should get back to the normal cycle of updates and news posts.

Welp, back to work. See ya~

Coming Soon To A Theater (Probably Not) Near You

I really wanted to finish the overhaul and update before I did any new posts, but it's taking longer then I anticipated and I just can't hold off talking about the news any longer!

 

It's only appropriate that they promptly updated the 109 building to reflect the news that we'll be getting not one, but two movies in the coming year. No word yet on content or context, but new footage was shown at the Hero Awards that doesn't appear to correlate with anything that's happened so far. My knee jerk reaction, of course, was trepidation over no season two announcement, but as it began to sink in my worry quickly subsided. Production on a full season will take some time, many estimated that the earliest would be 2013, so it could very well still be in the cards. Lending credence is the word that the NEXT project will have at least 4 parts, with the Awards being first and the movies being second, which leaves two more glorious stages. It seems we're only on the precipice of everything they have in store for us.

On the Market front? As is only natural, the Awards booklet SOLD OUT during the first show in many places, and it's not surprising. For one, it's not T&B if it's not SOLD OUT, and for another it several brand new illustrations, including this gem:

 

Don't think about it to hard, there's no context for it other then what the artist dreamed up. 

A couple of new items also showed up on display for those waiting to enter the show. First is this set of massive posters, 1700mm (over 5.5 feet) in length, to be sold as a pair through Bandai's premium store. They're already on sale and retail at 4935 yen, and you'll need to contact a shopping service to pick them up when they come out in February.

 

This Lunatic themed blanket was also spotted, it hasn't appeared at any retailers yet but it'll be 3000 yen and be out in time to keep us northern hemisphere folks cozy this January. I'm hoping he's sewn it himself and it keeps you warm with the fires of JUSTICE.

 

A couple of items were revealed on the Bandai Namco's channel that I haven't had a chance to cover, the biggest one being a new set of Red Monkey collaboration watches, this time being two variations on Blue Rose. Expect the same price and sell conditions of the previous releases.

New iPhone 4/4S cases were revealed, all by artist Mori Chack. These will be out in February at 2200 yen. I'm not quite sure about how exclusive they will be, but they're currently only listed with Bandai.

They showed off Ivan's jacket quite a bit as well, complete with shu shu~, but nothing we haven't seen before.

 

Last, but certainly not least, we learned more details about the previously mentioned Valentine's Day cake. Along with the cake, which is layers of chocolate sponge cake, chocolate mousse, raspberry sauce, chocolate icing, are a set of figures depicting Kotetsu and Barnaby as bakers. The whole set sells for 4200 yen, and you'll have to talk to your shopping service about possible food shipping policies. Not something you want coming via SAL.

Concerning the blog, I'm working hard to add images for all the items, as well as cleaning everything up so everything appears cleaner and more user friendly. It should be complete in a day or so, as most of the grunt work has already been finished. Your patience is always appreciated and if you have ideas on what could improve the blog I'd be happy to hear. I couldn't do this without my friends on twitter, so thanks and thanks again to all of you!

As always, see ya~

This Train Don't Stop

Just announced earlier today, manufacturer Megahouse will be revealing, along with the previously announced Chara Fortune mini figures, Tiger & Bunny additions to their G.E.M figure line. These will be shown at Jump Fiesta on December 17th.

What is the G.E.M. line? Where as the Figuarts Zero line is relatively small, only slightly taller then the S.H.Figuarts at a little over 6 inches, the Megahouse figures are high quality, 1:8 scaled figures. Of course this size and quality comes at a price, with the current releases ranging between 6800~8500 yen. To see the current offerings to get a better idea of what we'll be expecting, Tsuki-Board has both a variety of official and user images.

To get an idea of scale, Yamicha was kind enough to take pictures of their current G.E.M. figures hanging out with Figuarts Tiger.

I'm definitely excited to see how these turn out, though my wallet is already bracing for the blow.

Not figure related, but I forgot to add in yesterday's post that the Wild Tiger rubber mask went up for preorder at Animate last week, retailing for 5775 yen. Not entirely significant, but it gives me an excuse to post this picture which I find hilarious for some reason.

Just another day at the office.

That's all for today, hope to see ya~ again to soon.

The Week in Review

 

So what has Sunrise been doing with all our hard earned cash? Well, at least 13 million yen of it went to placing this massive piece of advertising on one of the most iconic buildings in Tokyo. We certainly have come a long way haven't we? See our friends over at This is Sternbild for more theories and details, but if the goal was to generate buzz for the Hero Awards and whatever possible announcement they have coming, then consider the mission accomplished.

 

Speaking of the Hero Awards, they've announced the commemorative items to be sold during the show. Nice items, but don't expect them to be readily available for anyone except those that have the privilege of attending.

 

Also falling into the 'not readily available for those of us outside Japan' category will be the first in what is most likely a series of T&B related food offering from Bandai. We'll find out more about these cakes on the 11th.

 

The covers for both the Official Hero Book 2 and Hero TV Fan Vol 2 have been released. Both these books were originally supposed to be released at the end of October, but were suspiciously delayed until after the awards show.

We have a both better pictures and a price on Ivan's jacket. Not surprisingly, it's over 300 USD, but has the added bonus of being both shiny and reversible. Maybe it's not a bad price when you're actually getting two jackets in one, right?

 

Ivan and Nathan finally get the GraPhig treatment, rounding out the rest of the Hero cast. We'll have to wait and see if they'll do others, like Yuri or Kaede.

 

And finally, they've announced the third set of NEXT member plates. If you've wanted to pick up any of the previous sets, you can find them on Rakuten. 

Once again, my thanks goes to This is Sternbild, PJA, Yamichas, and all our allies in Japan who keep my twitter account moving.

Until next time, see ya~

Man Your Battle Stations And Again Man Your Battle Stations

It's that time again! Preorders for Figuarts Sky High will open on November 1st, which means sleepless nights, crashed sites, the thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat. Need some tips on camping? We're at your service:

The first sites to upload are typically AmiAmi, HobbySearch, and CDJapan. Hobby Link Japan can be worth stalking, but they often don't start taking orders until the next day or so. It definitely can be a good alternative if you miss the first round. I recommend monitoring all four sites to be safe, and add-ons like Check4Change can be your best friend. Because time is so critical, it's best to have the pages reloading every 15 to 30 seconds. Yes, even seconds can make all the difference. The best pages to refresh are the placeholder ones that are put up a few hours before they begin taking orders, but if those aren't available you're best off reloading these ones: AmiAmi's front page, Hobby Search's mecha page, CDJapan's Tiger & Bunny listings, and Hobby Link Japan's Tiger & Bunny listings. Keep an eye on either 4chan's T&B thread or Twitter for when the individual item pages go live. Now when is the best time to be ready? I usually check about noon Japan time, but so far they've never started that early, so the golden time appears to be between 4 and 6 PM.

That's really all the help I can give you. The rest is timing and sheer luck. Be prepared for sites to slow or crash, especially AmiAmi.

Slightly more obtainable, Cospa keeps rolling out Graphigs. Here we have Keith and PaoLin, being more adorable then anything has a right to be.

 

My loyalty will always lay with Kenzo, but it is official merchandise so I'm obligated to add that Cozy Wave has added pictures of the T&B cologne bottles. They'll be out in December.

Figuarts Barnaby has been released, so we know what that means: Infinite Princess Carries!

 

In community news, Bunny's Birthday is only a day away but you still have time to finish your entries. Locally, I've added a couple of stores to the resources page, and made sure all release dates are current and items that have been released in the last few days are now marked as such. Quite a few items have been sent out early, including the official calender.

Happy hunting and again happy hunting! See ya~

 

Back From the Depths of Hell

It's been a busy few days in the land of buyfaggotry, and, since the only kind of timing I have seems to be the bad kind, I just happen to be away for those few days. Never mind my tribulations, though, let's see what kind of havoc was wreaked upon our finances this week.

At 4PM Japan time on the 25th, Figuarts ZERO Kotetsu went up for sale exclusively through Tamashii Nation's Web Shop. Or, at least he would of had demand not crashed the site. After some technical delays and frustration he did finally go live, and despite the initial rush preorders are currently still open. He is listed as "made to order", which means that they'll theoretically make enough to suit the demand, but I still recommend getting your order in as soon as possible because we don't currently know when reservations will close.

Now, Tamashii does not ship outside of Japan, but that still leaves several options for acquisition. The first would be to use a shopping service as a middle man. As I've mentioned before, there are many different shopping service options, so do your research and find a reliable one that will work best for you. Several international and American based sellers have also listed him for sale, namely Tokyo Hunter, Big in Japan, and Big Bad Toy Store. It should be noted that these stores have added Darkness Bunny to their available preorders as well. If you choose this option be ready to pay a significant mark up from the retail price, but that seems to be the price of convenience. The first two retailers also require immediate payment. Lastly, eBay is always an option, just remember to only buy from trusted and established sellers. No matter what option you choose, Kotetsu wont actually ship until April of next year, so until then we will just have to remain here, consumed with lust.

It has already been announced the Barnaby will go on sale next month, and he too will be available exclusively through Tamashii's web store.

That, of course, was the big news, but we have a few other items and updates worth mentioning:

Bandai is producing a set of pins that will be available as capsule toys. Since they are prize items, they typically wont be available through normal retailers, but its usually possible to pick them up through aftermarket and specialty stores like Rakuten, Amazon.co.jp, or eBay.

Coming a little late for Halloween will be a Wild Tiger rubber mask, sold through Animate. We don't have a price or a date yet, but it will be available this winter. "You too can be a hero!"

A new pack of Crusade trading cards will be coming out as well, for those of you interested. Frankly, it may be worth it for this image alone.

For those that ordered them, the Deformeisters have begun shipping. This a Morita's personal set, complete with an Animate exclusive version of Bunny.

We're also getting new images from Katsura's artbook. While the limited edition wont be available until February, the regular edition comes out this week. Be sure to keep an eye on This is Sternbild for a review as soon as it arrives. Speaking of books, both Hero Fan Book Vol. 2 and the second Official Hero Book have been delayed until November, while the restock of Hero Gossips has finally been released.

Lastly, ANN has begun a Build Your Own Hero contest, with prizes including SH Figuarts Wild Tiger and a LE Volume 1 BD signed by Ozaki. Check their page for details. Also remember, there are only a few days left till Bunny's birthday, so if you haven't started your project yet you better get working!

Sorry and sorry again for all the delays, but we should be back on track now! As always, see ya~