Best trip ever!

Hi guys! I just got back from my trip in India! This trip has got to be my best trip experience ever even though it was a tough one since we were backpacking on a budget. I've seen A LOT of stuff that I wouldn't have seen anywhere else (both good and bad stuff). Just to throw out some stuff on top of my head:

- riding in a ricksaw
- riding on the back of a motorcycle in night time traffic (I was freaked out about this, but it turned out to be awesome and I think it is the true way to experience India)
- pack of dogs eating a cow (on the side of the road)
- pack of crows eating a dog (side of road)
- almost drove into a camel crossing the road (the camel stepped on the hood of the car)
- waay too many close calls with head-on collisions with vehicles (crazy free-for-all traffic there)
- nastiest public washrooms ever in the Jaisalmer fort
- zip-lining across the Mehrangarh Fort walls over cliffs (this was AMAZING)
- being popular in India since I've got asked to take pictures with locals so many times I've lost count
- attending my friend's wedding (this was up there with the zip-lining since it was the first time I've been to a traditional Indian wedding)

There were so many crazy/amazing experiences in this trip that I can't even think of them all here at once. I have tons of pictures to go over and I will probably do several write-ups on my experiences there. Since I was backpacking with limited budget, I basically didn't have internet for the whole two weeks...that's a new record! LOL now I need to catch up on the new stuff and pay some bills off (got my invoice for MP13!).

Oh and here we are posing on the prison that Batman climbed out of in the Dark Knight Rises. This was in Johdpur in Rajasthan. The background is the amazing Mehrangarh Fort. This is also the place we went ziplining.

Be back in 2 weeks!

It has only been about 2 months since I went on my vacation in Europe and then the work/play trip to Boston, yet tomorrow I will be taking off to India! It was a last minute sort of thing since a friend invited me to his wedding in India. I thought about it and was hesitant because I already spent a lot of money on my last vacation. But I figured this is one of those things that don't occur very often, seeing an Indian wedding IN India, this is as cultural as it gets! So I decided to go in the end.

I will be traveling with a friend there as well. We will be going on a backpacking trip for the first week to several cities in Rajasthan. And then we will go back to Ahmedabad to attend the 4-day wedding on the second week. We didn't actually do much planning since we only decided to go a couple of weeks ago, but I think it's going to be fun and I can't wait!!!
 
I will be leaving in the noon tomorrow and returning on Jan. 29, see you later!

Bye!

Mega Bloks Megazords

I reviewed the Mega Bloks Power Rangers Samurai many moons ago and I loved it. Mega Bloks released a second megazord to the line: the Claw Armor Megazord. I don't really know anything about the series so I can't tell you anything about this bot except that it looks pretty cool. I had the same experience with this one as the zord before, it was a blast to build and the result looks quite nice as well. I really hope there will be other zords in the future from Mega Bloks!

Drossel

I wasn't able to get this figma when it was released since I was still a poor student. And as figma collectors know, these figures don't stay around for long. I've been trying to get this figure for a year or two already and I have seen it several times, but for over $100 which I am hesitant to pay that much for a 6" figure. I lucked out on Amiami's pre-owned section right before Christmas and found this figure was pretty close to how much it originally retailed for so I grabbed it. I was actually quite nervous it would be a knockoff and unknowingly got into Amiami's store, but luckily after comparison I found online, mine is the legitimate version.

This figure just has so much character even without a face, it is just one of those figures that stands out to me like the Revoltech Danbo. I am really glad I am finally able to get this figure in my collection.

Big Red

Got this figure from cornerstone comics from Ebay, I ordered it online since it will probably take several months for any local stores to get them.

NECA is really coming through with their newer figures now. I remember a few years back, 4 out of the 5 figures I get from them will either break right out of the box or is missing some parts. The problem I was most scared with NECA figures is the paint on the joints, they make the joints get stuck and any attempt to move the joints will result in it snapping right off. But so far, all the recent figures I got from NECA were really good in quality control. There were no paint on joints and the joints moved smoothly out of the box which is a big relief.

I've wanted this figure ever since I saw the announcement, what's better than a Predator? A Samurai Predator!



Other than the regular open palm hands, NECA surprised me by including a pair of extra hands to hold the samurai swords. Unfortunately the swords that came with the figure were slim and wimpy, they look more like chopsticks than swords.

I borrowed the sword from the Headmaster Transformers Bludgeon upgrade kit for this shot, this sword looks muuuuch better than the stock chopsticks.


And then for something more extreme...a Dr.Wu diecast sword haha


By the way, the reason I am pumping out pics like crazy is because my hard drive on my main computer died so I don't have the regular distractions (games) that normally wastes my time on. I am currently using a dinky 7" netbook that can barely play Youtube videos so when's a better time to play with my toys right? In fact, without gaming, I feel like I have much more time on my hands as well. It feels as if time passes much slower LOL

Hotwheels?!

Picked up these two beautiful Hotwheels yesterday.

Ferrari 599XX




Custom '71 El Camino - this looks like an upgrade of the DeLorean lol

SIC Kamen Rider OOO Tajadol Combo (Set #1)

I just received several packages from Amiami, HLJ, and several Ebay stores.
Got a bunch of new figures and here's a few of them for now, I will be opening the rest of them and taking pictures of them in the next few days.

First up is the SIC Tajadol - This figure is just simply gorgeous!

And another year goes by...

This year has been a real eye-opener for me in terms of toy-collecting. I think after I graduated and got a job with a steady income, I started hoarding a lot of toys just for the sake of it (a lot of movie TF's especially). The turning point happened this summer when I've finally acquired a Masterpiece MP-01. After getting the MP-01, I noticed that I get much more enjoyment out of a high quality toy than the numerous movie deluxes that I've been stockpiling mostly from the sales. So after I decided once and for all to purge my TF collection of all the movie stuff. Luckily I was able to sell them all off and now my TF collection is only comprised of Masterpieces, Classics, Animated, Beast Wars, Prime and the odd few TF's I like from other lines.

Although I still love imported toys as much as ever. Actually I think back in March, I actually had all my preorders cleared from Amiami. But they soon started up again with all the new releases announcements and now I am up to May 2013 in preorders already...sigh...it's back to the neverending cycle again. It's not that I don't enjoy collecting these toys, it's just that I want to start saving more money this year. I've been splurging on way too much toys and gadgets lately.

So in 2013, I hope I will be able to really cut down on buying toys, I mean I will probably never completely stop, but I don't want to buy anymore things that I will look at later and wonder why I bought it in the first place. For TF's, I will be concentrating on certain Masterpiece and 3rd party releases. Import toys-wise, it seems like this year will still be as strong as ever. Although this year seems like it will be the year to finish the Ultra-brothers so I can't wait for that! I am really looking forward to the Dragonball Z Figuarts releases as well. Luckily I have no interest in the current Kamen Rider Wizard series so that's a whole series of Rider Figuarts I will be opting out of. Ahh I could go on and on...but let's just wait and see how the year will reveal itself!

Anyways, I hope everyone will have another great year and of course...keep on collecting!