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Official Anime-Related Figures Thread.


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doctordoom85



Joined: 12 Jun 2008
Posts: 2091
PostPosted: Wed Aug 18, 2010 10:38 am Reply with quote
I try to get as wide of a variety of characters that I can. I'm focused on getting the whole cast of a series (or as many that are available) before buying alternate versions of one or more of those characters, with some exceptions, and there might be a few series where I can live with only owning a few figures from (there are plenty of Gintama figures for example, but I'm content with just Gin for now). Of course, it saddens me that quite a few series don't get any figures period (Baccano and Darker than Black being two of the most recent I've seen and saddened by learning there are no figures).

Kruszer: Both Allen and Lenalee have PVC figures.
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PetrifiedJello



Joined: 11 Mar 2009
Posts: 3782
PostPosted: Wed Aug 18, 2010 11:41 am Reply with quote
About time I enter this conversation, right? Wink

The Naked Beast wrote:
Why did you buy your figure(s)?

I buy my figurines for a variety of reasons. While trying to remain as strict as possible to originality, I look at style, design, color, manufacturer, pose, and accessories. The goal is to get as much as I can for my money, since scaled figures have shot up in price by $20 in the past 2 years (this is because of the lower priced figures selling remarkably more than expected).

There are times I break my strict originality rule when a figure comes along which will be hard to get down the road, such as the FREEing 1/4 scale version of Haruhi in a bunny suit (no doubt emphasis given to the oddly increased size in breasts). Luckily, it's not as noticeable.

I used to be strict on what the character wears, but had to let up some on this one simply because there are some costumes which look gorgeous, such as Alter's "Goth" Louise (which is my favorite figure currently).

Now, I'm focusing my collection entirely on Max Factory's figma line. I enjoy the size and options of these figures.

Where did you buy them?
You'll pry this information from my dead, cold... um... brain? Seriously, there may be no choice but to acquire them from stores like HLJ because they won't be exported.

However, when they are imported, I buy from.... wait... dead brain goes here.
Razz

I had tried to form a group a few years ago where we'd split the cost of the minimum purchase required by AAA Anime, but plans fell through. The price of what retailers pay makes my heart skip every time I look through the catalog, so I had to try. $80? Try $26. Anime cry

How much did you pay for them?
Oh, this ranges all over the place, but I do believe the average (2 years ago) was around $62. Like most, shopping for bargains is an absolute must in this hobby or one can easily go bankrupt.

I'll rub it in again for some, but my Fewture statue of Faye Valentine was only $25 all because a retailer thought it was damaged. It's one of my most prized acquisitions. The statue isn't all that great, quality wise, but it definitely stands out.

How many do you own?
Right now, I'd say my collection is around 100-150 now. I've sold quite a few in the past year to help with my DVD purchases. Nonetheless, I'm going to try and sell the rest. Pretty hard to do when I don't know the characters anymore so trying to do research puts a hamper on this. I may just sell the box "as is" and go for broke.

Quote:
...there are plenty of bootleg/counterfeit sites out there.

For many figure collectors, these are so easy to spot, they're laughable. To those thinking about starting, you had best use this thread to your advantage or I will personally call you and laugh at you. I've got 8 years experience and I'm more than willing to share it just to have someone who'll understand my hobby while my wife looks at me with scowls. Anime cry

Quote:
label it "NSFW" (not safe for work).

Should I use this defense before or after my boss wonders why I'm at an anime site to begin with? Wink

poonk wrote:
If you display your figures in the open how in the world do you keep them clean?

I dust my figures when I notice it, truthfully. Most of the time, it takes a while for it to build up, so it's not like a weekly thing.

I put it off as long as possible because...
Quote:
Or just run them under tap water, or give them a once-over with a damp cloth, etc.?

...the cleaning method is based on the figure itself. Simple figures are simply wiped with the greatest duster for figures ever called a Swiffer (get one... you'll see).

The Swiffer is limited when the figure has many accessories such as a staff (will snag on rags, potentially breaking them). For these, I whip out my Can O' Air and allow it to do its magic (it's PVC/ABS safe, not sure about resin).

For resin, it is indeed a trip to the faucet because resin is safe and there's no metal to rust. Faye's been under the rinse several times now. Note: use a blowdryer on the no-heat seating to quickly dry it off.

I've discovered leaving my figma figures out isn't a good idea as the dust is accumulating at the joints. Not good because I'll be spending alot of time moving the limbs to clean them out. These are getting added to the no-dust case once I clean everything out.

Quote:
So displaying them in the open seems the way to go, if I can keep them clean. Any tips would be appreciated.

The less complicated the surface area is for dust to accumulate, the better the figure is for outside display.
This means if the figure has a wild hair design while holding an intricate staff posed in a position which has lots of crevices, it's going to be a bitch to clean. However, a figure that's just "standing there" looking pretty is much easier to clean.

Oh, and display cases are useful against those idiots who just have to touch the figures, so display what you don't mind losing. I promise you will lose one. It's inevitable.

King of Harts wrote:
How good is RACS when it comes to figures?

A++ and much better than my DVD retailer TRSI when it comes to selection. RACS first, everyone else later is my rule.

Quote:
I noticed that while they don't have a lot of figures from shows I want, they have a decent selection, specifically for fanservicey ones.

This is going to be something you'll see with stores selling imports because they must be picky on what they get. Yes, the "fanservice" stuff sells, but the other stuff does go quick, so their selection is usually sold out without any chance of a restock due to production run limitations.

RACS actually carries a good selection of figures from shows most people never see, which is why RACS first, everyone else later. Razz

Quote:
I guess what I want to know is are they more expensive than other places?

Now this is a tricky question, because there's a trade-off that's not inherent.
RACS is a little pricier than some places, but nothing I'd call gouging like others do. For example, you'll never see RACS charge $200 for the 1/4 FREEing Konata figure if they restock, despite demand. They'll maybe go a few dollars over MRSP on some times, but we can't fault them for that.

Where they make up for this is free shipping on orders over $99, which one can beat easily as a figure collector. Razz

Watch out for those sites who offer really low prices. The merchandise is legitimate but they'll rake your ass over shipping costs, which isn't easy to spot until the last confirmation page to submit the order. Tricky bastards as they know people will submit without checking.

Also, watch sites that charge you a tax! Legally, they can't charge you tax unless they have a presence in your state. If you're in doubt, contact your city government for legality of presence of the retailer. It may be a couple of dollars, but it's your money, not theirs.

Finally, sites that charge in Yen will convert USD/CAN to Yen and some financial institutions will charge a conversion fee, so be aware of that. If using a site overseas, buy as much as possible because the shipping costs will kill you if you trickle your purchases. Save up, then buy.

MistyPearl wrote:
Do you find yourself zeroing in on a certain character and making what seems to be a shrine to them?

I can't say that I do. I try to make my collection diversified as possible and buy "repeats" as little as possible (usually due to rarity, not my lust over the character). I try to display the "doubles" as far apart from each other so there isn't that shrine effect.

Thanks to the low cost of figma figures, I'm making "mini shrines" of the series because I can buy so many characters now. YES!!

I just wish they'd make more male characters. My Nanoha A's shrine just looks [bleeping] empty without Zafira. Evil or Very Mad
(Fate's coming soon)

Subscribers can see some of my figures in the Collection thread. For non-subscribers, this should entice you to break out $20 to go look, because I ain't linking pictures. Too tedious.
Razz
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lkplkplkp3



Joined: 23 Jun 2010
Posts: 89
PostPosted: Wed Aug 18, 2010 12:39 pm Reply with quote
@ Shichimi : --- YesAsia is good? When I went to resellerratings alot of people were saying that they're hard to work with, especially when your item is backordered. @ The King of Harts : --- RACS is pretty good for figures. I'm not sure that they've been the best option out there for me, but if you have the patience, you can use their Trade-in program, and trade your old DVDs for credit towards a nice statue. This makes buying figures from RACS an excellent choice, because their Trade-in value quotes are actually pretty good. @ PetrifiedJello : --- Where are you getting low-cost figma figures? I've come across ALOT of people that hate their price tags (on average, $30-$60 after shipping, mostly closer to $50), and I'm no different. I love figmas too, but they are quite rough on my wallet. Not as expensive as statues, but they're still rather pricey.
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Shichimi



Joined: 12 Jan 2009
Posts: 349
PostPosted: Wed Aug 18, 2010 12:57 pm Reply with quote
I can only speak from my personal experiences, and YesAsia have always been good to buy from. I've bought all my figures from them, and an absolute ton of music CDs, and they've all arrived promptly and in excellent condition. Maybe I've just been lucky so far! Laughing
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lkplkplkp3



Joined: 23 Jun 2010
Posts: 89
PostPosted: Wed Aug 18, 2010 1:15 pm Reply with quote
Shichimi wrote:
I can only speak from my personal experiences, and YesAsia have always been good to buy from. I've bought all my figures from them, and an absolute ton of music CDs, and they've all arrived promptly and in excellent condition. Maybe I've just been lucky so far! Laughing
What about for backorders? Any luck? (Have you ever ordered something that was backordered from YesAsia)
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ninjapet



Joined: 20 Apr 2009
Posts: 1517
PostPosted: Wed Aug 18, 2010 9:23 pm Reply with quote
Why did you buy your figure(s)?

In the past two years I've found that collecting manga and anime takes up a lot of space, like I've nearly had to take everything off the 3 shelving spaces I have in my room to fit everything. Figures take up one to two shelves at the most. It's a lot less space and I think it looks a lot nicer.

Where did you buy them?

Mostly at cons, it wasn't till this year that I started buying online. I use Amazon a lot. I really dislike trying to go on a site that only takes yen all the fees and shipping stuff is just a headache for me.

How much did you pay for them?

Anywhere from $4 to $50
Most of the figures I own are in the $15-$35 price range. I only own one poseable figure that set me back $50 The others are stand alone stand figures.

I can not for the life of me list all my figures. I have stuff from Negima all the way to Umineko and a lot of stuff in between.
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Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
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Joined: 14 Aug 2006
Posts: 16935
PostPosted: Thu Aug 19, 2010 1:37 am Reply with quote
Kruszer wrote:
Damnit, because I'd so buy that thing. Maybe if there was one one of Lenali from D.Gray-man that wasn't in super deformed mode I'd pick that up too.
When I saw this figure was being released I jumped on it. Unless it's a widely popular series that is more mainstream or from a series that has massive amounts of figures chances are once a place is sold out that's it. The figure gets 1 run and then discontinued and you're left checking the net for one. Usually they're over priced too. My rule of thumb is if it's a figure that just wows me for whatever reason I pre-order it. Generally at HLJ. The reason being I watch it's status. HLJ is one of the nets main figure stores for anime figures. If a figure is on pre-order and they stop taking pre-orders that tells me it will sell out probably so keep my pre-order. If I see that they are still taking pre-order a few days before it releases I figure it might be safe to cancel mine and take my chances if they are other figures I want more. Needless to say the Revy figure sold out on pre-orders quickly.
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Shichimi



Joined: 12 Jan 2009
Posts: 349
PostPosted: Thu Aug 19, 2010 6:47 am Reply with quote
lkplkplkp3 wrote:
What about for backorders? Any luck? (Have you ever ordered something that was backordered from YesAsia)


Ah sorry, I should have said. I've backordered a few CDs from them with no problems. I haven't done so with figures.
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lkplkplkp3



Joined: 23 Jun 2010
Posts: 89
PostPosted: Thu Aug 19, 2010 10:11 pm Reply with quote
Shichimi wrote:
lkplkplkp3 wrote:
What about for backorders? Any luck? (Have you ever ordered something that was backordered from YesAsia)


Ah sorry, I should have said. I've backordered a few CDs from them with no problems. I haven't done so with figures.
They have some manga I want, that's listed as backordered. But since this is a figure thread, I'll stay on topic. Three more questions for you --- 1. Do you find that yesasia has a large figure selection? 2. Is the shipping expensive for figures? 3. How long does it usually take to get delivered to your door?
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poonk



Joined: 05 Jun 2008
Posts: 1490
Location: In the Library with Philip
PostPosted: Thu Aug 19, 2010 11:15 pm Reply with quote
PetrifiedJello wrote:
Oh, and display cases are useful against those idiots who just have to touch the figures, so display what you don't mind losing. I promise you will lose one. It's inevitable.
Are you kidding? A guest in your home has stolen something? See, this is why I don't have very many people over.
(Well, that and I don't feel like explaining shelves & shelves of BL manga to mere acquaintances.)

MistyPearl wrote:
Do you find yourself zeroing in on a certain character and making what seems to be a shrine to them?
I think I am starting to, though sort of inadvertantly. I've got 3 Sebastian (Kuroshitsuji) figures (not including the bootleg Nendoroid) because hey, they've actually made more than one for him. I'll get the one I'm missing if I find a non-bootleg version for a semi-reasonable price (it's a big "if"). So, with the exception of a few Lamento catboysmen, the top shelf in my little two-shelf case has been devoted to Kuroshitsuji figures. See, unlike you lucky folks who get a new version of your favorite girly-girl every other week *jealously only slightly veiled* I've got a lot less merch from which to choose. Such is my lot.

As an aside, I'm really hoping that with the Togainu no Chi anime coming out and the reissue of the Akira & Shiki figures from the game of the same name, there will be more figures made of other characters. Then I could buy them new instead of hunting them down on the resale market, which frankly sucks.
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Kruszer



Joined: 19 Nov 2004
Posts: 7978
Location: Minnesota, USA
PostPosted: Thu Aug 19, 2010 11:44 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
Kruszer: Both Allen and Lenalee have PVC figures.


Really? Because all I can find when I look anywhere are the creepy ones with with gigantic heads. It also doesn't help that there's like 6 different ways to spell her name that nobody agrees upon. Links?

....not that I really have the money right now to blow on a figure anyway. Damn near broke now since the down payment on this semester's college tuition just went through. Sad
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Redbeard 101
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Joined: 14 Aug 2006
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 2:54 am Reply with quote
I never did answer the questions that were asked so I think I'll do that now.

Why did you buy your figure(s)?
Well for me I am a collector period. A pack rat actually. I love collecting and displaying all sorts of things. From anime figures to dragon statues to medieval weaponry. I like the aesthetic feel and look of collecting figures and models. To me they are more "real" or have more substance then say a poster or art cel. They give me a sense of enjoyment adding to the collection and taking care of them (cleaning etc). They are a way for me to more deeply enjoy anime as a hobby and also enjoy favorite series more.

I generally buy my figures based on 2 factors. They are either from a series I really enjoy or the figure design itself is very appealing. Now the 2 main figures you can buy are either the solid PVC/Resin figures or the action figures with joints etc. The latter generally are smaller and cost less. I prefer PVC figures or Resin kits that I then make myself. Fully built and painted resin figures are VERY expensive. So I tend to stick to just PVC figures or build garage kits myself. There's a lot of satisfaction to be found building your own models. Be it anime figures or cars or whatever else. Now as I said i buy my figures either because they are characters I really enjoy or from a series I really enjoy. Sometimes though I see a figure and the figure itself just catches my eye so much I want it even if I know nothing about the show. One example would be a figure dear PJ himself has that I would love to steal from him heh. Lovely gothic lolita outfit on a character from a show I have not seen. Just love the design. I also agree with the sentiment there need to be more guys. I love the ladies but I would like more male figures made so I could have a more complete collection. Only the popular characters from mainstream shows get the attention. Your Naruto and Sasuke from Naruto, Renji and Ichigo from Bleach, or your Zero figures from Code Geass, and other similar shows. Yet there's no Dutch from Black Lagoon or say Mister from Coyote Ragtime Show. So the best I can do for some male presence in my collection is a Buddy Christ figure from Dogma.

Where did you buy them?
Either at online stores or at cons. The problem is at cons they quite often charge you a lot more then what you'd pay online even with shipping. So you really got be picky and check prices to not get screwed. Generally Sunday sales in the Dealer's Room is your best bet as the stores wanna unload as many as they can. Now since I only go to 2 cons a year generally, maybe 3, I generally buy online. I shop around to get the best deal I possibly can. I do however stick to a handful of sites. Over time they've proven to be the most reliable that I've dealt with. My primary sources are HobbyLinkJapan, HobbyFan, Roberts Anime Corner Store, and good ole Amazon.com. Often I can find figures there on sale. A few back up sources include J-List, Hobby Search, and as a last resort eBay.

How much did you pay for them?
Well generally I pay somewhere between $50-$75 for the normal 1/6 and 1/7 figures. Often 1/8 figures can range more towards $$70-$90 bucks. All depends really on the detail of the figure. Though since I prefer more detailed figures that often means a higher price tag. I've gotten some on sale for between $20 and $40 bucks before as well. I've also bought 2 that were $100 as well. Though I would say for me the best average price range is between $60 and $75 dollars.
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Shichimi



Joined: 12 Jan 2009
Posts: 349
PostPosted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 8:10 am Reply with quote
lkplkplkp3 wrote:
Shichimi wrote:
lkplkplkp3 wrote:
What about for backorders? Any luck? (Have you ever ordered something that was backordered from YesAsia)


Ah sorry, I should have said. I've backordered a few CDs from them with no problems. I haven't done so with figures.
They have some manga I want, that's listed as backordered. But since this is a figure thread, I'll stay on topic. Three more questions for you --- 1. Do you find that yesasia has a large figure selection? 2. Is the shipping expensive for figures? 3. How long does it usually take to get delivered to your door?


1. It's got a fairly large selection, in my opinion. At least, it's got lots of figures that I like.

2. Most figures qualify for free shipping. And for all my purchases from YesAsia, I've never been hit with any kind of customs tax either.

3. Around 6 weeks. At the latest, I've waited about 8 and 1/2.
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PetrifiedJello



Joined: 11 Mar 2009
Posts: 3782
PostPosted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 9:12 am Reply with quote
poonk wrote:
Are you kidding? A guest in your home has stolen something? See, this is why I don't have very many people over.

Oops. I misspoke. By "lose", I mean a loss by destruction.

Here's how it usually goes for me:
Them: "Uh... nice collection of girls."
Me: "Thanks. I'm proud of it."

Them: "Really. Ooh, that one's nice. So's that. Wow. These are nice."
Me: (note to self... check inventory when this one leaves) "I have to agree. The ones in back are really nice."

Them: "This one's nice." [grabs it]
Me: [bursting into immediate action] "Please don't touch them. You mig..."

*CRUNSH* (this is literally the sound you hear of breaking PVC)

Them: "Oh, sorry. I'm sure you can get another one. It's just plastic."
Me: [pulls out bottle of formaldehyde] "It's okay. I'm sure I'll get enough from your body to pay for the extremely ridiculous markup greed now bestows the out-of-production item you just broke."

PS: Keep this in mind if you ever plan on visiting my home.
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doctordoom85



Joined: 12 Jun 2008
Posts: 2091
PostPosted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 10:01 am Reply with quote
Wow, really? I didn't realize PVCs were that fragile. I'm sure I've dropped one at least once. Maybe you should just establish ground rules the moment people enter that area. I know I would pay for anything I damaged/broke at another's home, and I expect nothing less from others as well. Some might consider that "rude", but it's easy to think that way if it's not your money/property at risk.

Also,

"I'm sure I'll get enough from your body to pay for the extremely ridiculous markup greed now bestows the out-of-production item you just broke"

Confused I thought you were talking about guests, but this sounds more like a girlfriend.
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