CAA: Christian Anime Alliance

Does anyone around here collect anime figures? I've been trying to kind of "get into it" lately, but I'm not sure of how the hobby works since the supply of each figure is limited and any prospective buyer needs to evidently pre-order several months in advance. That's not even mentioning all the fakes out there or the sometimes outrageous prices. I JUST HAD to have this one since I love Kuroki, so bought it as soon as Crunchyroll sent me an email about it:

http://www.crunchyroll.com/store/p/7144 ... -PRE-ORDER

I also kinda want to get this one, but money's tight right now. I'm wondering if I can wait, or if you really have to pre-order in the like the first week of the figure being announced to have any hopes of getting a special one:

http://www.crunchyroll.com/store/p/7199 ... -PRE-ORDER


Here's another random one I'd love to have someday:

http://www.goodsmile.info/product/en/34 ... shima.html

So, if you collect figures, share what you've got. Or, if you've got advice for a would-be hobbyist, I'd take it. Or, if you wanna call me a disreputable gentleman who can suck eggs, I'll take that too. *I'm not good at starting threads.* Go!

I'm not the most knowledgeable about figures, mainly because it's an expensive hobby that I try to steer away from for the sake of my wallet. Yes, figures get announced months before their release when buyers can make pre-orders. Figures normally do not sell out on pre-order, let alone the first week. It all depends on popularity. For example, Kuroki is not going to sell out. Then look at Shimakaze who recently sold out in less than a day. The pre-order period is your best time to get them, so while you normally don't have to worry about selling out, there is still the deadline of pre-orders. However, oftentimes figures will get production beyond pre-orders but it's going to be months later for the same price. I assume it's just based off popularity. Like, it's really easy to find Nanoha figures because it's such a popular series. So really, the faster something sells out, the more likely you'll get another chance, just not anytime soon. I'll say I've never heard of figures NOT getting more production after pre-orders, and this is most likely due to the ones that don't are the ones hardly anyone cares about. But like I said, I'm no expert so don't quote me on this and figures do eventually stop getting production.

Limited edition figures are another story. Obviously, you should take the chance while you have it if you really want it. It's unlikely there'll be more, but it's not unheard of to get future re-releases. I think there was a limited edition Saber that got like 3-4 releases because it was such easy money. Kind of sad but throwing on "limited edition" makes people more prone to buy but then it's not really limited. I couldn't resist getting this just cause they told me limited edition. Yeah don't remind me about the price...
http://www.goodsmile.info/product/en/39 ... r+ver.html

Figures after pre-orders and official release are for sale in the right places, though obviously the older it is, the harder to find. I got mine from actual shops in Japan, but there are a handful of legit (by legit, I just mean not fake) online shops that sell figures. The supply, however, will be in some balance between popular enough to get more production and be carried by the seller but not so popular that everywhere is sold out. A slight tangent, but anime goods sometimes sell out completely with no more production even if they're really popular. Makes me sad.

Anyway, yeah the hobby is a bit different since it involves ordering months in advance. I wouldn't rely on future production, mainly because it's just so much harder to find them unless it's super popular. It's nice to have a shelf of your favorite characters, but space is a big problem and honestly the biggest hindrance to me. Or rather, it's the biggest money saver because I just don't have space. In fact, I just saw a Shiki today I wanted but I literally do not have a place to put her. Money is another huge problem. They're pretty expensive and the shipping adds up. Please spend wisely.

Hey, no judgement here! It's all good. From what I've seen so far and from what you've said I guess it's not an exact science. Do you have other figures to show? I'm curious about your little collection now, especially since you say you're running out of room.

My collection is actually very small as I really try not to buy figures. A couple Fate Testarossas, some Nana Mizukis, Touko from Bungaku Shoujo. I have no clue what I'm going to do with that Tsukihi I linked as it's really huge for a figure lol. That said, my current space issue is a result of recently moving to a very small room. Don't even have space for my current collection (which I didn't bring anyway). However, I know others who run into the space issue too, so it does become a problem for any collector.

you heard of the Marvel or DC Bishoujo Collection:] by Kotobukiya

I got one of Xforce Psylocke here how she looks.


http://www.kirinhobby.com/shop/product_ ... 7AodEnQAow

I also got Kitty Pryde

when I went to Akihabara I brought a bunch of Rurouni Kenshin figures, mostly from the Story Image Yamato series.

and I great looking Sasuke Uchiha and swimsuit Hinata and Sakura.

I also got a nice Lucy Heartfillia from Fairy Tail, well 2 1 of them is very fanservicey which would bother some people.

I'd lump figures in with pretty much any licensed toy, and I rarely buy them if they're just static figures. It just doesn't add any enjoyment for me.

Ive purchased a few, my favorite being San from Princess Mononoke riding on the back of a wolf, and will likely buy some more here and there in the future. If I where to give any advice it would just be to be weary of eBay since a number of those are knockoffs. Aside from robbing the original companies and designers of a sale they're just not the best of quality. I bought one of Belldandy from an online vendor I wasn't familiar with and I suspect its a bootlegged. The material in her legs seems way to soft and after some time she'll start to lean forward so I just keep her in her box. Thankfully it wasn't too expensive and it's not something to worry about if ordering from Crunchyroll and Goodsmile. Other than that, just pick what you like. Go with personal value over market value and you'll enjoy it more.

P.S. The sites I'll find myself checking for figures more and more is Amiami. I've had good experience with them and even their cheapest shipping is pretty quick. The downside to them is that while their site is in English everything is still priced in Yen so it helps to have Google opened in a separate tab to do currency conversion.

My Tomoko Kuroki Nedo came yesterday, It's pretty cool but I'm not sure if I should take it out of the box or keep it in there.

If you're not buying them as an investment... which will give you more pleasure? Do that one.

I love figures. And would buy a ton of them if I actually had money. X3

You have to be careful with getting figures especially online due to counterfeits and that means you should avoid ordering from China or Hong Kong or any other country not Japan. I know some legit sites like Amiami or CD Japan. I ordered for 25 bucks 6 Naruto mini figures before I knew better from Hong Kong and I can tell it doesn't look right lol.

Aside from the manufacturers' own websites (like GoodSmile, etc.), of course , CDJapan, AmiAmi, Robert's Anime Corner Store, Rightstuf, and the Crunchyroll store are all great places to get legit figures.

As for my collection, I've got four right now -- the original (big) Ultimate Madoka from GoodSmile (and man, is this thing gorgeous!), the Trigun: Badlands Rumble Wolfwood, the (matching) Trigun: Badlands Rumble Vash ('Gunman In Black' variant!), and the Steins;Gate Kurisu 'floating gears' one (the latter three all from Kotobukiya).

Oh wow, you've got Trigun figures? That's cool, you should post some pictures.

^ IKR? I'd actually been wanting those two particular figures for a long time now, and thankfully Crunchy still had some once I finally had enough extra cash lying around to utilize!

As for pictures-- well, I would, but the lighting's not so good in my house, unfortunately (and since I don't have a glass case or anything for them yet, once I put them together I put them back in the boxes to keep dust and stuff off of them, too); but I can post links to the official pics (and place I got them ), if you want.

Ultimate Madoka (this one's out of print now, though, so it's just pics)
Trigun Wolfwood
Trigun Vash (black variant)
Steins;Gate Kurisu

Wow MangaRocks! Those are gorgeous!

omg you have ultimate madoka
i'm so jealous uvu

I don't know if this counts(it probably doesn't XD) but I really want to get the Skyward Sword Link action figure(even though its like forty bucks O_O).

I want to collect some, but man are those things expensive.

yeah i'd love to get something from steins;gate, but everything related to that anime is over $60.

MangaRocks! wrote:... I've got four right now -- the original (big) Ultimate Madoka from GoodSmile (and man, is this thing gorgeous!), the Trigun: Badlands Rumble Wolfwood, the (matching) Trigun: Badlands Rumble Vash ('Gunman In Black' variant!), and the Steins;Gate Kurisu 'floating gears' one (the latter three all from Kotobukiya).

Digging up a year-old old thread (don't hurt me, LOL ) to post my newest figure acquisition:

The Durarara!!x2 Heiwajima Shizuo (renewal version/variant) from Alter (imported via CDJapan-- another great place to buy legit figures)!

You're forgiven.

It's really hard to believe I created this thread in 2013... But since the forum's dead anyway, bringing it up again can't hurt.

My collection has amassed two Nami from One Piece figures; the Good Smile Company's Lucy from Fairy Tail figure-- which may just be my coolest figure; the adorable Tomoko Kuroki Nendo from わたモテ mentioned in the OP; and the first Renge from Non Non Biyori Nendo-- by far my cutest figure. It's obvious that my sanity is long gone if there was ever any of it in the first place when it comes to my anime, manga and related merchandise collection (or period, for that matter), but my figure collection in particular grows much, much more slowly than the anime portion of the collection.

I happen to be waiting on three different figure preorders at the moment. Two of them are from Is the Order a Rabbit? and as such are irresistibly adorable, resulting in my typical knee-jerk "Shut up and take my money" reaction. One of them is this box set of chibi figures of the main cast. The other one is the 1/7th scale Sharo figure!

My other preorder comes out this month, and it's a box of Himouto! Umaru-chan Trading Figures (although I didn't buy them at AmiAmi). Also really, really cute. I love the シルフィンフォード (her name is hard to spell in romanization) one most of all because she's my definitely my favorite.

Cool story, bro.