My figure cabinet/collection!

I'm guilty. It's been far too long since I posted anything about toys and figures. My toy collection has grown over the past two years but the rate decreased greatly in the past year. There weren't many new figures that caught my attention but I still buy some from time to time, especially the 1/8 scale Portrait of Pirates series (for One Piece). Since I've not posted pics of my entire collection the way it looks in my figure cabinet before, please allow me to show them off now~ Wahahahaa!

From the top down - Shelf #1
This is prolly the messiest shelf, as well as the shelf with the most number of One Piece figures. I keep a mix of figures of all sizes here, hence making the arrangement a rather challenging task. I lost Vamp's (MGS4) knife (from his right hand) and I forgot to put back 5 small figures that are my table before I took this picture and realized it. Some of the small Sengoku Basara figures are also half hidden behind Shanks, Mihawk and Zoro, so I made sure to place the less-liked ones there. >_>;

Shelf #2
This shelf is for the smaller figures, the only exception being the 22cm Hijikata (from Gintama) cos' I can't find any better place for him. It's a good thing he's really slim. Majority of the figures here are from One Piece, Gintama, Sengoku Basara and Kamen Rider. I actually have 3 more Basara figures from one of the box sets, but I don't display them as they aren't my favorite characters and I don't want them taking up space. Been wanting to sell them but I really dunno anyone who'd ever wanna buy them. >_< The two Kamen Rider action figures sitting at the bottom right are only recently moved there. They were previously placed on the TV shelf but they collected too much dust so I decided to give them a break. XD

Shelf #3
This shelf's mainly for the big boys. Technically Ezio's smaller than all the Portrait of Pirates figures, but becos he has a space-consuming undetachable base, he has no other choice but to be here. C.Viper is also smaller but she'll block the others if she's placed on shelf #1. Vergil and Dante in the back are raised on a plastic stand just so Chris and Wesker won't block their view. This shelf currently accomodates only 10 figures, but it is in fact 90% full. I can't squeeze any other big boy in. It's only got space left between the legs of some of the boys like Marco and Sakuragi. x_X And now I'm starting to collect a new series (selectively) of figures from Saint Seiya... I'm so cracking my head figuring where/how I can fit them in here.

Shelf #4 (Denpartment)
This whole floor's virtually a doll house... for the boys. =P I never had a doll house even as a kid! Fancy creating my own now that I'm an adult! LOL. Practically a one room flat, I started from nothing but just a table/chair that came with Momotaros' figure set. Slowly over the next few months I kept buying other miniature furniture and food items until the house is finally this full. In fact, I got more but they can't all fit in there at once so I place them on the TV shelf. A good half of the items come from the Re-Ment series. The bed, sofa/couch and violin, however, are from UK (eBay), the brown piano straight from Japan and the grand piano from USA (eBay). The white blanket on the bed is actually a hankerchief, and the mattress on the floor where the purple dude is lying on is a teapot mat. LOL. I love just how randomly it came together.

While this apartment fits any action figure of 1:12 scale (about 15-16 cm tall), I originally created this house for the Imagin action figures (from Kamen Rider Den-O, hence called Denpartment) so I consider them the rightful owners of the place, earning the privilege to stay more dust-free in here. XD The 6 of them you see in the pic above are the 6 Imagins (total). The other Kamen Rider figures I have are actual Kamen Riders. My 2 Revoltech Sengoku Basara figures once stayed there for a bit, but I moved them out after the last 2 Imagins arrived. Eventually, my Saint Seiya figure(s) may just invade their home as well. Wahahaha!

TV Shelf
The area around my TV became part of my toy storage simply cos there's not enough space in the cabinet!! >_<! Here's where I keep the miniature grand piano and two couches that I can't fit in the denpartment, as well as a couple of vehicles (motorbike, scooter and bicycle) LOL. As for Reno on the top left atop the TV, I forced him to wear an apron ever since I got a random miniature maid costume, originally for Momotaros. =P No one else seems to fit in better.

Unopened toys
There are 3 figures I haven't taken out of their boxes. Back then when I was really active, I'd take them out as soon as I get home, but I have my reasons. The first one, Dark Kiva from Kamen Rider Kiva, is a Kamen Rider hence he's supposed to join the rest in the denpartment but becos it's so full now, if I take him out he's gotta have to join the other Kamen Riders on the TV shelf where he'd collect dust, so I'm saving him for next time when perhaps I have the motivation to rearrange the people in the apartment and let him stay there for a bit.

The second one's a xenomorph alien, also meant for denpartment. LOL. I wanted to see how he could freak the Kamen Rider boys out and create some fun scenarios for captions. But I guess that won't be happening anytime soon...

The third and most recent purchase (3 days ago) is Crystal Saint from Saint Seiya. I started watching Saint Seiya a week ago all because of a figure I saw which I fell in love with (without knowing who it is). I WILL get him, but he's out of stock at the moment so I'm waiting for a re-issue. In the meantime, I took a liking to Crystal. He's a hottie, even though he died in 3 episodes... godammit. I'll let him out of his box soon; he's got privilege while I'm hot on Saint Seiya. XD

Gootecks & Mike Ross in Singapore

Bout two weeks ago two American SF4 players, Gootecks (Main: Balrog) and Mike Ross (Main: E.Honda), came to Singapore right after the Australia SF4 tournament (Shadowloo Showdown 2011) and stayed here for a little less than a week. I took the opportunity to know them through Xian and it's great to see that they're really fun and friendly. There's not much to say bout my experience with them, but they've got something to say about their adventure in Singapore and here's the episode on Cross Counter!

And now, before I forget, I really must post this S-rank video (even tho' it's 2 years old now) for all SF4 players. Non-players prolly won't get the joke/idea, but it's a catchy song nonetheless. I hope you enjoy. XD

Game rant: Street Fighter 4 - The "Waataaaaaa--!!!" Campaign

Remember one of Bruce Lee's greatest quotes – "Be water waaATTAAaaAA!!!" Be fluid, formless, shapeless. That is precisely what makes Fei Long top tier. A master at offensive, counter-defensive and defensive play, Fei Long is one character who can last a game without the real need to jump. Besides, why jump when you can Chicken Wing your way over? Yes, the chicken wing. A formidable flying falcon kick that seems to beat everything but a Daigo-level reaction air throw. Let's check it out.

But that's not all. Fei Long is one of three characters with a direction-change command grab (useful for resets), the only one with a very damaging reverse dragon-punch motion uppercut, as well as the all-time feared 3-hit Rekka of damnation. Let's not forget that he's also capable of footsies. Basically, all his moves are S-rank and he's not afraid to be at any location/corner on a stage against character. Total versatility.

Needless to say, just because he's top tier doesn't make any Fei Long player a pro. The character is just a medium. The true master is in the mind of the player... and his hands. =P Below is a sample of Feilong's gameplay by reknown Japanese player Mago from the recent Australian tournament Shadowloo Showdown 2011 two weekends ago.

Long live da man.

Game rant: Street Fighter 4 - The "I am beautiful" Campaign

Beauty is strength. Yes...! Beautiful theory. I likes =D And this is why I am here today to promote our beloved resident narcissist - Vega...! Aka Balrog in the Japanese version, aka Claw in English speaking countries. Damn. Dude. Is. Funnnnn.

I'll be honest, I'm surprised. I never saw myself using Vega and I didn't think I'd care.... until this past weekend when I watched the Shadowloo tournament in Australia and saw this Vega player perform. Dude's name is Makoto (why does it have to be the same as Makoto the character?? Makes it damn confusing. Grr!), the only top Vega player from Japan that I've heard of. Loyal to the end, he has stuck with Vega prolly since the beginning of time. =O

Unfortunately I can't find a vid of Makoto's match from last week's Shadowloo Showdown tournament, so here's a random vid from the GodsGarden tournament last year. His opponent happens to be none other than Daigo =P

Anyway, what I admire about his Vega is that it isn't like he does ridiculous combos or make miraculous comebacks; it's just the way he handles the character and being able to kick regular ass while staying alive despite all disadvantages as well as bad match ups. Perhaps Vega needs to be more beautiful in order to climb up the tier list. =P Anyway, to cut the story short, Makoto inspires me to give Vega a try. I'm mentally prepared to die a LOT, which I already have in these few days since I started, but I can't deny... he's so fun!! XD

I find it relatively stress-free to use him – I don't have to worry about doing fancy shit or drop combos and links. He forces me to learn how to utilize (and abuse) air throw, kara-throw, random footsies as well as the overall concept of defensive play. The ‘stressful' part of our beautiful-but-perhaps-not-beautiful-enough man, however, is the lack of anti-air (uppercuts) and I-frame (invincibility-frames) attacks. This makes it really hard to break out of aggressive offense from rush-down characters like the twins, Rufus, etc. For some characters, staying/getting stuck in the corner is no biggie, but for our pretty man and me, it's a nightmare. IMO, to strive with Vega, either your opponent has to be inexperienced against Vega, technically weak (no offense) or you just gotta be bloody ass STURDY in defense – something very easy to say yet extremely hard to master, for me anyway. =(

Defense is no easy matter cos it includes the art of tech-throw, back dash (assuming the opponent didn't do an option select), and most importantly – yomi (prediction), which is required to defend against low pokes, overheads and pretty much everything. Some may say offense is the best defense, but it doesn't quite help that Vega is a charge-type character... x_X

Still! To my surprise he's really enjoyable. His lack of anti-air is something I have to sacrifice for the fun of poking people around with random mindless footsies. XD Is it worth it? Well unless you're planning to beat some tournament, YES. =D Cos as random and ‘mindless' as his footsies may be, it actually works to some extent against certain level of players. LOL. When it stops working, that's when you gotta think out of the box and take on the real challenge, which is another but different kind of fun. Warning: NOT suitable for sore losers.

Last but not least, super bonus if you're also a narcissist. Remember, beauty is strength...! Believe it. "I am beautiful." Yes I am! ^_^