digimon adventure megahouse G.E.M. figures: taichi & yamato

Thank goodness for all the anime series celebrating anniversaries!  Digimon Adventure was my first public fandom where I shared fanart online and even had a little web space dedicated to it. This series holds a very soft spot in my heart.

I feel like I’ve been waiting for what seemed like months for the release of these two Digimon Adventure figures by megahouse. Finally, in February Taichi and Yamato arrived home. It’s a dream to get a decent figure of any of the chosen children with their digimon partners. So when sneak peeks of Taichi Yagami with Agumon and Yamato Ishida with Gabumon hit the internet I was determined to get at least one. Taichi is my favorite of the eight and knew  I needed him! I ordered Taichi first and then caved and got Yamato too. I mean, how can you not? They need to be together! I would have regretted not preordering them when they were announced.

The downside is that they are not articulated. They both come with alternate heads that are easily popped on and off. The heads can swivel around but that’s about it. These figures are great as display figurines, but they don’t really stand on their own.

I like the Yamato figure more than the Taichi one. His head sculpt and facial features are cleaner and closer to what he’s based off of than Taichi. And look how adorable Yamato’s alternate face is! I feel that Taichi’s winking face is a bit odd in combination with his smirk. But Taichi’s body language in his pose definitely feels very much like him. I imagine that making Taichi’s mold is very difficult because of that hair!

Although I feel the need to note that these figures are tiny (1/10 scale) for their price (list price at ¥4,800). Compared to my other figures they are just about the size of a pinky:st figure. But despite their tiny size they are really well detailed. I’d recommend it to any Digimon fan because there just aren’t a lot of well made products made, especially now.

one piece grandline men series

After years of seeing favorable mentions for Straw Hat Luffy and his crewmates, last year, in 2013 I finally entered the One Piece fandom.  I was immediately hooked and I wondered why it took me so long to pick up One Piece! I love the humor, character development and story arcs.  I speed read through the manga so I could keep up with the latest One Piece news and fell hard for the merchandise related to the franchise. I’m not one that usually purchases non-posing figures but the ones sold for the One Piece line are really, really nice.  My first OP figures are from the Grandlinemen Series made by Banpresto and I have not been disappointed!

I find the Grandlinemen series relatively affordable and the high quality. Although I don’t have much to compare them to, I am very happy with my purchases. They aren’t rubbery feeling like some cheaper action figure/boxed trading figures. These are lightweight but sturdy feeling. They also come with a really nice base and look great displayed.

I was in the middle of the Marineford Arc when I finally discovered Buggy the Clown’s Grandlinemen figure. I find Buggy hilarious from his first appearance due to his stupidity and he quickly became one of my favorite “villains”. He has some nice headshot detail and I really love his shoes. He comes with a removable jacket, and looks great with or without it.

Next on my wish list was First Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates: Marco the Phoenix. I love his facial expression and his body language in his figure. He doesn’t come with any extras, and out of the three that I have he costs the least. If I can only afford a Whitebeard figure I would. Whitebeard is another character that I fell hard for…Ah!

Last but definitely not least is one of my favorite Strawhat Pirates… Franky! Why? Because he’s suuuupperrr!

Franky comes with two heads, one with hair and one without. Everything about Franky is awesome. The details on his shirt and body are amazing. Honestly, I love him so much just because he’s…well… Franky.

It’s going to be a while before I can save up for my next figure (there are so many on my wishlist!). I’d love to eventually get some of the more popular characters like Luffy obviously, or Zoro, Sanji and Chopper. It’s a slow process as I’m coming in pretty late in the game. But I think these figures are definitely worth it. I’m not aiming to have a huge collection but I’m definitely happy with who I do have.