Anime Figure Collection a Year Later

by Jamaipanese | posted: February 14, 2010

My anime figure collection might not be the most extensive but that doesn’t make me less proud of it. After wanting to for a long time I decided to start collecting a few anime figures since I spent so much time admiring the collections of many of my anime loving pals. After paying for hosting and related expenses for the blog I found myself with a few extra bucks left over and decided to pick up a Gundam figure. One figure turned into 2 and 2 turned into 3 and in the space of a few months they had overun my computer desk at home with my desk at work now in their sights.

I had so much fun building most of the figures and they proved so popular with visitors to my blog. My photography also improved and I decided to use them as tabletop photography practice. So 14 figures and a year later I thought I’d take a look back at the collection, especially now with Operation Visit Japan now underway and going so well it will be quite some time before I am able to grab another anime figure.

Double O Gundam – Being my first gunpla figure this kit will always be special to me for many reasons. It took me an extremely long time to complete and after completing it I realized that I made a mistake by failing to understand the instructions that involved affixing the stickers for the eyes and other areas to the model which in my defense are in Japanese. To this day Double O is without his stickers as a reminder of the fun times and trial and error building this Gundam.

Heavy Arms Kai – Trowa Barton and Heavy Arms were my favourite pilot and mobile suit in the Gundam Wing series. An upgraded Heavy Arms made an appearance in the Endless Waltz movie and it’s agility and firepower underlined it as a favourite of mine. Getting the figure was a no brainer and now Kai is head of security for my room.

GN-X III A-Laws – Mass produced mobile suits in the Gundam universe have long wore the title of cannon fodder, all except this badboy. Due to a joy dropping plot twist during the Gundam 00 series the “bad guys” get their hands on an important piece of technology that allows their mobile suits with capable pilots in the cockpit to become true Gundam killers. I decided to celebrate their ascension and pick up this figure.

Chibi Gundam Exia – Who said there is no such thing as a cute Gundam? Chibified versions sure are. Easier to build but with less moving parts Chibi Exia and I have been on many adventures together. He has developed quite a personality over the months that I have owned him, just don’t call him short or tease him about his over sized head and you should get along with him fine.

Exia – Setsuna is the pilot of Exia and the main character in the Gundam OO timeline but being such an immature, unskilled, wannabe tough guy in most of the first season didn’t make me one of his biggest fans. In the second season though he became the opposite and made such an impression on me I decided to pick up Exia.

Seravee – What good is a Gundam if it can’t blow things to bits? Seravee packs the most firepower of all the Gundam OO mobile suits but his pilot is on the creepy side. I was a fan of it’s predecessor in season 1 and when more guns and armour was added in season two it rose to the top of my ‘must have’ list.

Astraea Type-F – All my Gundam figures up this point were either chibi or 1/144 scale. 1/100 scales are more expensive but as the scale suggests are bigger, heavier and more complicated than their smaller counterparts. While scanning over the back-story of Gundam OO I was introduced to Astraea and liked it. The figure itself was unique and I ended up purchasing it.

Nendoroid L – Deathnote is a very popular series and before starting to collect anime figures I had owned some fan merchandise from this series. I wasn’t a fan of the super cute nendoroid figures but then surfed into L sitting in his red chair and couldn’t resist the urge to buy him. Not unbearably cute or girly like most other nendoroids and along Naruto, Full Metal Alchemist and Bleach Deathnote is probably one of the most popular anime series here in Jamaica.

Cherudim – This Gundam is my least favourite of all the kits I have built. Some of the design elements on screen didn’t transfer too well in the figure version. If I had to choose one thing I liked about the entire model would be the dual pistols and sniper rifle. Overall a crappy design and underwhelming kit.

Arios – coming off the disappointment of Cherudim I was looking forward to building this kit and trust me it didn’t disappoint. The Gundam design in this instance did translate well to the figure complete with the ability to transform into a sleek jet. My only issue with this kit wasn’t with the kit  but with the super crappy free stand if came with which broke the first time I tried to put it together.

Yoko Littner – The crown jewel of my anime figure collection, this Yoko figure by Alter is my only pvc figure and the most expensive in my collection. Even after all the hassle I had with local customs officials when I finally got Yoko and unboxed her the detail and quality was amazing. I like strong female leads in anime especially when they carry a huge weapon and don’t feint at the sight of trouble, Yoko is the perfect specimen of that.

Astray Gold Frame – With Chibi Exia being so popular with a couple of  my friends and it’s small size with very little moving parts allowing me to carry it around in my bag without fearing that pieces would go missing I decided to grab a second Chibi figure and Astray Gold Frame was chosen because of his eye-catching and snappy fashion sense. Now he and Chibi Exia are on guard duty on my desk at work.

GN Archer – Not quite a Gundam but still able to dish-out the pain to lesser opponents GN Archer was an impulse buy that I didn’t end up hating but haven’t quite liked either. A simple design but still a decent looking figure that is a favourite of my younger sister because of it’s girly features and the fact that it is piloted by a woman.

Nendoroid Nagi – I suck at giving gifts, I can never decide on something good to give. Christmas was coming up and I wanted to give the Mrs a memorable gift and ending up deciding on an anime figure. She was already threatening to kidnap Chibi Exia or Astray Gold so I knew any gift high on the cute-o-meter would get her stockings in a twist, a Nendoroid version of Nagi from Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens was that gift.