Unboxing Gundam Universe GU-16 Gundam Exia

 I'll let you in on a little secret.  At work, we all work with numbered cases (1 to xx), and when I picked my number, I went for... 00.

And while the Dynames is the favorite of the show, the Exia of Setsuna is a pretty suit as well I must say, so I took the whole three set release of this wave, the others being Freedom and Heavyarms.

Now let's take a closer look at the figure!

The sword is so gorgeously over the top, and it is a well executed mobile suit for certain, well worth the price!

My first order at AmiAmi

 AmiAmi, the site to be, or at least one of the sites to be, for those into collecting anime figurines.

And finally I bit the bullet and made a small order over there, to try and see how much it would all cost me.

I know shipping isn't cheap as it has to come from Japan, and import fees could be charged for clearing it in, but with the yen at time of writing about 8 euro for 1000 yen, it was a good time to order something small.

To that end, I picked the Tamashii Web Exclusive Wild Tiger TopMag version from Tiger & Bunny for this first order, from their "pre-owned" section.  These are generally used models, but they come with a rating on site for both the item AND the box condition, and for this model that was listed respectively as A for the item and B for the box.  The model itself, at 1880 yen, was as such 14.45 EUR.  And 19 points to my taly, the points count as 1 yen each, and can be used in future purchases as currency, remaining valid one year after your last purchase.

The order was placed the 5th of april, and even without this little bug around, it was about to take a while as well, it has to come from the other side of the globe.  Everything faster then the average 4-6 weeks from most sites was fine with me, and the 13th of april the parcel arrived.  Luckily, Belgium is still one of those countries that can use the EMS shipping service, often cheaper and faster then other options.

HOWEVER... shipping will be calculated after check out, so better sniffle around the internet for an idea on what rate it will be up and about, payment went through Paypal, nice and easy.  On the plus side, you can have all preorders made in one calendar month be shipped together to save on the cost, something I`ll definitly be doing in the future.  For this order, it was 2400 yen or 18.5 euro.

 

 

Yeah, I know, it means the same risks and costs as the Brexit I tend to complain about, except there are trade agreements between the EU and Japan (and the States for that matter) that have been smoothened out over the decades they are in place, meaning you look at a maximum of 40% if you are really unlucky, compared to even that one guy in my gaming group that payed a surplus of 109% of the value on a mail order of figures from the UK.  But this particular parcel slipped by customs, yay!

 

So, about the order itself...

 

Arriving in a nice sturdy box, I couldn`t wait to cut it open (carefully) to see what was inside, or better how it was inside.

 

 

So there we have it, a brand new figure which was so-called second hand... 

 

 

Now to check back everyday in the (vain apparently according to a lot of collectors) hope of seeing AND scoring a Zero Two figurine...

 

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Unboxing Anime Heroes Gemini Saga

 The final unboxing of the first wave of Saint Seiya figures in the Action Heroes line, I`m having a look at Saga, gold saint of Gemini.

While there might be some discussion, I think most series fans agree he is by far the strongest of the Gold saints of Athena... but also the betrayer as he is torn between two personalities as the Gemini saint.

Replacing the pope in Sanctuary, he leads a war against Athena in order to become himself the protector of Earth and ready himself for the war against Hades.  Grieviously delusion yet noble in initial intention, he redeems himself in the Hades arc, and later the Soul of Gold series.

Like the other boxes, art work is featured on the front with the transparent section, as well as the sides while the back features the models of this wave.

Inside, he is protected by a plastic inlay.  Now, he also has his helmet, and the hands to make the "Gemini knight" the bronze saints initially face, but unless I didn`t seem a connection somewhere, you cannot remove his hair and put the helmet instead.

I opted for the spread open hands, which resemble his mighty Galactian Explosion attack.  

 

 

His face is just as fine as the other two, but the little flock of hair in front somehow detracts seriously from it.  But he has a long flowing mane which has nice details for an action figure.

This action figure, while anime wise is for me the greatest of the three of the wave, is to be honest I think the weakest in Wave 1.  There just is something as I said above with the face / hair combo that devaluates the model for me.

Now to wait in anticipation for the one figure that will be in wave 2 of the line, Virgo Shaka, to be released!

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Unboxing Anime Heroes Sagittarius Aiolos

 The second of the first wave of Anime Heroes models for the Saint Seiya franchise, Aiolos is the saint that saved baby Athena at the cost of his own life, and put in motion the events that unravel the betrayal at Sanctuary.

Older brother of the gold Leo saint Aiolia, he was destined to become the next Grand Pope of the Saints, chosen protector of the godess Athena.

 

The model comes packed in a transparent front box, sporting artwork on all sides, and the range at the back.

 

 

Inside, Aiolos is protected by a plastic insert, the wings going through the back to prevent them from getting bent when the boxes might get handled roughly.

 

 

He has two pair of hands, one set in fists, one with open fingers.  I opted to make the combination of him launching the Atomic Thunderbolt attack, his main combat move apart from his bow.

Which is my biggest grief perhaps with this model.  A bow accesory would have been a fantastic addition, even if it was one in "folded up" form, because the Sagittarius saint sans bow just doesn`t feel complete in my opinion.

One big benefit though for the gold saints, as they have "skirt" pieces in their armour, the joints are better covered then with the Seiya model I reviewed last month.

All in all it is not a bad action figure, but as I said, it's a shame there is no bow.

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Unboxing Anime Heroes Pegasus Seiya

 Great was my amazement when I walked into the local Shop4Geek, and see a display there of the new range from BanDai, Anime Heroes.

Because amongst the shelves on the display, containing Naruto, My Hero Academia and Dragonball Z... there was Saint Seiya!

The first wave of these action figures contains 3 models, the others being Saga and Aiolos, but the even harder to believe fact was that Seiya was the ONLY figure already sold out from the whole display.  Thanks to the store to be able to get one from another of their stores, even with a lockdown closure between asking and getting!

So Noshi bought all three of them for christmas, and now it's time to take a look at the first one, who else then Seiya of course.

The box has a transparant front, with artwork of Seiya's famous ryuseiken move, while the back displays the other two models as well that make up Wave 1 (there is another gold saint coming, one each in wave 2 and 3, so I`m keeping an eye out on those).

The figure is held inside in a transparent holder, together with two hands for alternating poses.

I went for his "beginning" of the ryuseiken pose, as he grabs his Cosmo to unleash the lightning fast punches.  

The model, made to play with as with other action figures, has of course some joints that are, because nothing to do about it, clearly visible.  But they aren`t as stiff compared to the Myth cloths and all, and the armour of course is cast on plastic.

The paintjob is actually okay, if a bit "bland" due to being monotones of grey and red, but in the eyes some good work has been put.

So yes, this definitly is a cool model to add to the collection, reminiscent of the older, smaller action figures (those that came with their objects as well) from about a decade ago.

Glad to see my all time favorite franchise still gets love from BanDai into the West!