By Christopher Troy
LAST NYCC/NYAF POST I SWEAR! BUT EVERYTHING IS RELEVANT TO THE BLOG SO IT’S COOL!
One week and $240 later, another NYCC/NYAF has passed. Despite the Saturday crowds, I had a blast at the convention, scoring some cool sketches, autographs, t-shirts, cds, toys and action figures. However all of those aren’t blog related, so let’s get to the stuff that is!
Chris’ short Gundam OO movie review: Was very excited for the film upon hearing it was going to be screened at the con. That didn’t last too long once the actual film started. It looks nice and yes, the Gundam fights are very much awesome, but man, the rest of the film is a convoluted mess. Gundam OO faithful should see it (I guess, assuming you survived season 2) for some closure to the series, but it’s not going to win any haters over. But hey, on the bright side, the Gundams themselves are awesome, and we have most, if not all their respected Gunpla in stock, so pick up a kit or 2 to deal with the disappointment!
Bandai announces new Gundam releases: Shocking no one, Bandai of America announced that they’ll be releasing the Gundam OO movie in the US, as they have with every Gundam release ever. They also announced that the Turn A DVDs will be Sub-only, which hopefully means for a single box collection with a lower price point (2 sets also work for my nerd needs, as I desperate want to watch CURLEY MUSTACHE Gundams legally). The biggest news is the fact that the ORIGINAL Mobile Suit Gundam series is being released on DVD in America next year, with a Japanese audio/American sub track, something the originals that tied into the Cartoon Network airing lacked. As for the dub end of things, we’ll be getting the Cartoon Network dub again, but hey, at least we’ll have the option of changing languages this time around.
The Gunpla Booth/Import toy booth was also stupid awesome. I’m fairly certain most of the drool on of those display cases came from me. Unforunately, the prices were still pretty high, even though no real importing was happening (strong yen/weak dollar etc), so my spending was limited there. As in I bought nothing from them.
Square Enix hates the idea of me having money: And I’m not even talking about the games they have on display (the new Deus Ex looks awesome btw). Square continues to pimp their wears, releasing new statues, avatar mascot straps and trade arts. I was unable to pass up buying a Squall KH Mascot Strap for myself (and an Aerith one for the wife later in the week at FPNYC for a cheaper rate. Seriously go check out the manga/TCG area and save yourself some cash on these awesome little knick-knacks), the collectible I was most excited to pick up was this:
This is the Play Arts Kai Bankai Ichigo Kurosaki figure from the hit anime/manga BLEACH and it is very, very rad. The figures will be available for the masses at the end of the month (FPNYC has them on display in the store in the import toy section if you want to check them out now), and they are easily the best Play Arts from the Kai line to date. The sculpts are fantastic, the articulation is great (Ichigo alone has 25 points) and the paint jobs on the figures make for a complete, awesome package. In terms of accessories, Ichigo comes with a pair with alternative hands, and a variant Hollow Ichigo masked head, in addition with his sword. To be honest, I’m surprised Square decided to deal with this line, as most of the other entries in the Kai line not Square related have all been video game related (with franchises from SEGA, Capcom and coming soonish, Ubisoft and Bungie/Microsoft), but they did BLEACH justice with these figures.
The BLEACH line should retail somewhere in the $40-50 range, and if you’re a fan of the series, it’s worth every penny. The line also consists of Rukia (with Kon!) and Hitsugaya, and like I said above, check our shelves come late October/early November for a line that’s sure to go fast!
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