pyokoHello there ^_^

Yes, amiami is great. Though the long wait for Natsume really worn me out. But that was the posts fault, and not that of amiami.
I had to pay 18€ customs fees, but I guess that´s still cheaper than ordering him again. *happy to have him now*

Yes, this doll is very cute. I took a few more pictures for my blog. Which picture do you like best? My favourite is the one with the flower. X3
I hope that I can withstand to buy another doll, they are too expensive. And I really have to be careful to not fall for another expensive hobby.

You saw the kit? I have some pictures that I uploaded into a forum, you can have a look at photobucket.
I am already trying my luck on another kit, but I am soo not suited for that kind of stuff.. Everything goes wrong, the primer is driping down and somehow it seems everything I bought (primer, glue, colours..)is not suited for modelkits. Lucky me *haha* >.<

So far didn´t had problems with otacute, no damages on boxes. But thanks for the warning; will have an eye on them.

Getting an exclusive vers. instead of the regular one, I guess that´s not that bad if you like the colours of the limited.
Do you like it or would you prefer regular vers?

I really like the Light, and for me his face looks ok. It´s more the price that´s bugging me..


escape_ropeI do like this one but I haven't watched the anime and I don't buy figures from series I don't know.
There is a simple solution for this; watch the anime XD
Joke aside, it´s a really funny anime and I swear you if you watch it you will like this guy.

yay for long comments! that gives me more to read :D

btw, is it really ok to always write per comments? wouldn´t PMs be more suited for our talking? What do you think?
Hiyaaaa~~
This comment is gonna be a pretty short one, sorry ^^" I need to hurry up and go to sleep so that I can stay awake at school tomorrow..

It's nice that customs in your country are reasonable. And yeah, it's better that you got the one you ordered in the first place. btw, did you open the box and displayed him rightaway?

I saw those photos earlier, soon after when you posted them. I like the yellow flower or the teddy bear one the most :3 How big she actually is? I mean her height.
Another daughter xD I'd better stay out of doll hobby 'cause I can't afford them, seriously. You're lucky to have even one!

I think you did a great jobb! And it was your first kit! I'm sure the second will be even better, practise makes perfect they say :) Maybe you'll use different glue and so for your second kit then?

My parcels from Otacute have been okay too, but I've seen some horror pics of damaged parcels and figure boxes as well.
I wasn't so excited about Lawson ver. figures but I made an exception for Luffy - I don't mind having a "shiny" captain ^^" The figure looks very cool!

I CAN'T watch the anime! I just can't afford another figure this year, I must resist if possible. I started school yesterday and that's why I won't get much money anymore. Being a student can be pretty hard sometimes when it comes to money -___-

I prefer our chat here. For me PM's are for sale things etc. so I'd like to continue our conversation this way if you're okay with it?

I see you've gotten sucked into the world of dolls by buying your first one even though you thought you wouldn't get any. Congratulations? LOL. I like the photo of your "musume" and the flowers. Gorgeous weather you've got over there! Does she sit on a shelf or a case?

pyokoGood to hear the explanation helped :)

So Mandarake will ship with SAL even if I pay with paypal, that are good news. I guess I will go and order something..

I choosed SAL for my death master, but it seems at the moment it is unsure if she gets too heavy for that. But I ordered during the half-off shipping promotion with a reason :P

The convention was nice, but I am still somehow worn out. I also buyed less stuff than I was expecting; only few small things and some Artbooks. And a doll >.< omg.. really never thought I would fall for this stuff too..still reminds me of Barbie.. but she is very cute^^ see here
One thing I can tell you; dolls are expensive @.@ payed 140€ for her..why the hell did I do that? *looking at her sitting on my desk*..awwwww..ok,ok, that is why XD

Somehow I managed to see almost nothing of the shows, time was running too fast.
I spend most of Saturday at the Modelkit workshop (11:00-17:00 =.=) I now have a small by myself assembled and painted Kit ^_^
yeah! (happy, but crying with one eye because of doing nothing else the whole day..)

Since otacute still has the playsets I guess I will buy them there. My nendos finally need a place to stay.

Can´t wait for the Ace figure, he looks great on the promotion shots.

Btw you see that Griffon Light Resin statue? he looks stunning, but I do not trust griffon quality..and he is soo expensive >.<

Did your Natsume arrive safely? Mine still haven´t.. I am REALLY worried..he has been on his way for 26 days now, none of my parcels ever did need so long..
maybe one of the costums people thought he looks so good that he/she kept him? >.< I really cannot think of another explanation..
Next week I will visit my post office and ask to hunt the parcel down, I hope that works out..or else I will have to buy another Natsume since I really really want him.. (at least they still have him in stock at amiami..)
I highly recommend Mandarake! Nakano store is my favourite since they ship out orders amazingly fast and so on. All the stores lower parcel's total value without a request but I think you should contact them and ask them to lower your order's value under 2500yen so that you won't get taxed.

I hope SAL is available for her ^^
I'll cancel some pre-orders on HS and change them to AmiAmi eventhough I would get shipping discount for them on HS. It seems customs don't catch AmiAmi's parcels that often because they don't add shipping fee to order's total value. I'll gladly pay a full price of shipping than pay customs and other fees.

Wooow, that's a pretty nice doll you have there!! *____* I'm not a huge fan of them but she seems so nice. I saw the photos of her you took some time ago. She's such a cutie <3 Are gonna get another one someday?

The Kit you painted looks really good as well! Will you take more photos of her? :3 I'd like to see a sharper pic that I can see your paintwork, I'm so cuuuuuurious >:DD

Otacute's prices are okay but let me warn you about them as well: They don't pack figures very well so the boxes might have some dents after the shipping.
I've also has some bad experiences with them recently. They sent me a wrong figure.. last week(?), and today they cancelled my Taiga link. I guess I really hate them now 'cause I can't order her anywhere else anymore. Damn, I should have used a proxy in the first place >___<"
About the wrong figure, I ordered this Luffy link but got this link O__O At first they asked me to send the Lawson back but because EMS shipping from Finland to Japan is so expensive (almost 200eur) they gave me the Lawson ver. Well, I don't mind having a "better" version of him.

Yep, I saw Light and added the official shots of him. However, I don't like the figure u__u The face looks horrible to me.
You also said something about the new trap figure link, right xD I do like this one but I haven't watched the anime and I don't buy figures from series I don't know. But I have to say he's so tempting! I want him!

My Natsume arrived safe and sound! And I didn't have to pay customs, I can't believe it O___O Lucky me (again)!
I read you got yours as well! That was good to hear n__n

btw, I think my comment is longer than the last one you wrote. I did it, finally xDD

pyokosupermooglesOh, thank you so much! I had seen it on there, but I haven't seen an update in ages, so I figured I'd ask here ;_;
How about we notify each other the second it comes out? Lol. ♥It may help when enough people put it on their wishlist on e2046. (I already did^^)
As soon as I see an update I will let you know :)

Thank you so much~! ^^
I've never done a kit before, so I'm hoping this one doesn't have too many parts.

pyokosupermooglesThis is totally pointless, but does anyone know where I can find this? *_*
Hello there, saw this comment of yours at the Chibiusa+Pegasus page.

This kit is available as a recast through e2046, though it is at the moment marked with "cooming soon".

I guess you can drop by the page now and then and someday it should be available again. I hope so too, since I want it :D

Oh, thank you so much! I had seen it on there, but I haven't seen an update in ages, so I figured I'd ask here ;_;
How about we notify each other the second it comes out? Lol. ♥

pyokoArchonia: hmm..hope I can explain in english..

At your acount you have an own section for preorders, sorted by month. You can also read the total value there. When wanting to preorder you will have to pay 10% in advance, the rest when the figure is ready.
A nice feature here is that you can put some money into your "preorder-pot" anytime. eg you can transfer 50€ there to lower the payamount awaiting you when the release comes. So if the release is in August you can just pay 10€ every month and in the end you will already have much of the figure paid.
I really like this, because I think its helps with the money planning.
Take notice that the already paid money will be deducted the next time you move a preorder to a completed order; eg like I said its a "pot" that sees the figures as one sum. means you can´t say you want to prepay for a specific figure.

About preorders I should tell you archonia gets them very late most of the time. and delays to later months do happen often too.

Funny fact: Even if the preorder is ready archonia won´t inform you for (I once tried) about a month. Then they will tell you its there and that you have to make a completed order with it. After it has become such you then have one month to pay; so if you are short on money you got quite some time to knock out XD

As for combining; you can combine all released preorders with whatever in stock product you like. If you order an in stock product with a preorder, the preorder is moved to the seperated section I talked about above.
When its released you can see there easiliy (gets green) and then you will have to make an order out of it. After you made that, in case you want more product too: simply shop and put to basket, archonia automatically merge together unshipped orders. (as long as same payment method)

Nice extra: even after you completed the order you can still remove products, simply and all by yourself, without having to ask them. And if you just make an other order the two will -like said- be put together as one.


Btw, I pay there with bank transfer, since with my bank the online "EU-standard transfer" does not cost anything. don´t know how it works with credit card. Finland is EU too? (I guess?)
Maybe transfer would be charge-free for you too? And I think they recently started using paypal. (I tell you because creditcard has charges, hasn´t it?)

As for "out of stock, ships in 2weeks" stuff, you can put that in your order with everything together, and then have to wait for everything the (eg) 2 weeks.

Enough information? XD

45€ sounds a lot better. at least you can order a Nendo without getting nervous. What I have to pay is not really tax but VAT too. The real tax is to be paid only for value over 150, if I remember right.
And that handling charge is horible! I am sorry for you :(
And it makes the 6,5 really sound better :D


Mandarake: I jsut remembered that I read somewhere SAL is not possible if you pay with paypal. and I do not have a credit card..

Hobbysearch: haha. Ordered yesterday the very first time there.. couldn´t you tell me earlier? XD
I did so because of the -50% of shipping. I ordered the BRS - Dead Master and I guess she will be heavy so cheaper shipping would be nice..
As for customs I am sure, since she will be big and heavy, she would not slip through no matter where ordered.
However, hope lives on :D


Here, in Austria, we do not have bigger ones. There is a small one in Vienna which I will visit too. (it was very nice last year)
The Animagic is a big one hold annually in in Germany, Köln. It is one of the two biggest cons there, but I guess its stands no chance if compared to Japans Comiket >.<
From my home we drive more than 8 hours to get there, but my friends parents wanted to drive us, so why say no? Parents-taxi is always cheaper then flying.

Germany does have a lot more shops, cons and fans..I am often jealous of German fans, they have it easier..
How is it in finland? big fan base, or is a manga/anime fan standing out much?

As you see, no worries about the lenght of your comment, I easily beat you XD
(is that even still counted as a comment? >.<)

PS: oh, I saw you ordered the Japanese living rooms for nendos? If I may ask, where did you do so? I want them too :3
pyoko, I luv ya!<3 Thanks for the explanation about Archonia, it really helped!

Yeah. I can order a nendo without problems. Too bad it's not that easy for you .___. Completed models go through too if the value of the parcel is less than 5,000-5,450yen. That's why I prefer AmiAmi at the moment. They don't add the shipping fee to the total value like e.g HS does. Well, my Hijikata from HS did avoid the customs eventhough the parcel's value was over 6,000yen. But that was a miracle O__O!!

About Mandarake, no I don't own a real credit card so I always pay by PayPal. I just ask nicely if they could ship my order via SAL - and they have always done that. They even lower the value of the order and mark it as a gift so I don't have to worry about customs. I really love Mandarake, they're the best. I think third of my figures are from their store(s).

Ohnoes, I'm sure customs will get your Dead Master then. I'm sorry ;__; btw, which one did you choose as the shipping method, SAL or EMS?

8 hours sounds pretty reasonable. I think it's the same here. If I wanna go to bigger cons I have to take a train which is a bit faster or drive 5-6 hours.
So yeah, we have some. Desucon and Tracon were/are the biggest ones this year. They are big conventions but I wouldn't compare them to cons in Japan -___- We used to have Animecon (big and popular con) every year, but we didn't get one this year.. And I don't think we'll get one next year, maybe never. I really liked Animecon didn't have a entrance fee. I went there in 2007 and 2008. Actually I haven't gone to cons after those, I've been reaaaally lazy ^^" But I really would love to go to Desucon 'cos they hold some shows at night as well.

I pre-ordered the play sets from Otacute. I shouldn't have done that since Otacute makes me pay more 'cos they're pre-orders. I mean, one set's price is now less than 11 euros but because I pre-ordered them I have to pay almost 14 euros per one set. I have to be careful from now on.

About the Gintama sets you were interested in, here are the links link link I added the sets to the database some time ago. I'm sorry I can't show you pics of the set contains now 'cos a haven't taken any. But I promise to take some photos next week!

You really beat me with the length of these comments xDDDD


edit:// I forgot to tell you that I got a parcel from California yesterday. The shipping was cheap and unregistered one but it took only 6 days to arrive! So I'm pretty sure our Ace figures will arrive safely as well n__n

Short anouncement: I will be on vacation from tomorrow till 07.08.
So comments, FRs and all that will be answered when I am back :)

pyokoHirumaYoichiaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! its fantastic
thanks for your comment :)
I think the glasses look great and it is even better when you let them look at each other like I did on my photo. They got so fitting expressions X3

And I see you wishlisted them; in case you do not know you can preorder them through amiami (they have a rerelease). shizuo izaya

I guess hlj should also have them.

awwww, You got many cute figures in your collection:)

i know thant it can be preordered, but i have same preorders now and => i don't have a $ Т_Т maybe later if they are not finished... =)

pyokoI like most of the characters from OP. At the moment I like Zoro, Crocodile, Law and Buggy (he is very funny in the Impel Down Arc)
I also like Ace alot.

I am sorry to hear about the bad experience with archonia. I ordered there many times and never had anything broken.
Since it was with DPD shouldn´t they have covered up completely for damage?

Yes, prices are high there. archonia is getting very expensive, I remember when I first encountered their site their prices were very good compared to other sites.
The reason why I still use them is because it´s easy to handle/merge together your orders. and you have lots of time to pay for stuff. and shipping is cheap. What I don´t like is that they get figures often months later than there release date.
When ordering there I do not let ship single figures but a bunch at once; if these would all be shipped alone with some other shop it would get expensive..

Though I do not know how much longer I will go with archonia since they now are very expensive..
it´s just that I am always afraid of taxes when buying from amiami, hlj and co.
btw, how is it with taxes in Finland?
We poor fans here have to pay 20% import tax on figures! it´s horrible! and with that I always also have to pay 6,5€ for handling or whatever. That is why I always pray to the goods for my stuff not to be catched by customs. And the free value is only 22€, that is not even a Nendo!
That´s the reason why I never ordered nedos internationally so far, the price would be too high if taxed.

for example;
cheap 40€ figur +shiping 12€ ->52
if gets into customs they also charge on the shipping (very unfair..) 52+10,4+6,5=68,9€
and since they always take a higher translation rate than whats true I would end with ~72€ for a 40worth figure.

Sometimes I could cry.

I am just glad that SAL parcels often slips through. And I love amiami for only writting the product value on their parcels and not the shippingcost/complete value, because of that costums can only tax me for product :D
If shipping was 15€ that would save me 3€. not so much, but when counted over the amount of orders..

I also once ordered from mandarake, but EMS shipping is always so expensive..mmhh.. I think I heard that they also use SAL if you ask them, is that true?

I think you will like the glasses. at least I like them^^

I guess I should try hobbysearch too, up to now I never ordered there. But first I have to save my money for a soon comming German convention^^

Sorry for writting so much >.<
Can't wait the Impel Down Arc then!

About the damages and Archonia's Returns Policy: "In line with the Belgian laws, loss and or damage of goods in the shipment towards the customer is to be taken by Archonia.com." And cause I could fix the broken figures myself I think 'refunding' me like 50 euros was a quite good deal ^^"

I've ordered on Archonia only two times and I don't know their system very well. Like pre-orders items, do I have to pay them right away? I also use a credit card (visa electron) and I'm not sure if that makes things different.
And do they combine only pre-order items? Not in stock items and pre-order items? I have tried to figure that out by reading their Help-section but I haven't found a clear answer.
I hope you could help me since you seem to be their regular customer! :D

Only 22e O___O That's horrible! I think the free value here is 45e. In Finland we don't have to pay the actual tax of anime figures but if the parcel's total value is more than 45e we have to pay VAT which is 22%. You have to pay 6,50e for handling but because I can't pick up the parcels myself (the nearest customs office is like over 200km away from the city I live) I have to pay 22,60e for handling. 6,50e sounds so cheap compared to 22,60e >.<"

I've never used EMS when ordering on Mandarake. Never. And I've ordered A LOT. I simply ask them to ship via SAL and I promise that I won't cancel my payment afterwards. That's how it works.

Hobbysearch adds the shipping fee to the parcel's total value and that's not good. AmiAmi is better 'cos they don't do that so I recommend to stick with them.
For example, I made an huge mistake when I ordered Hijikata on HS --> I'm 100% sure customs caught him. If I had ordered him on AmiAmi instead I'd probably have the figure already.

A con! Do you have some huge and annual ones there?

No problem. I'm sorry my comments are usually shorter than yours D:

pyokoI am really glad that nowadays they release some male figures. I think manufactures may finally start to see the female collectors as an other possibility to rip out money :D
I mean it is time they see that male figures can sale like hot cake too; just have to think about how crazy fast the Kaito nendo rerelease was sold out..

Oh, and as I see you have ordered Sai Nyan too? was my act somehow inspiring? XD
And you ordered Natsume too! He will be a stunning figure I am sure of that. can´t wait to get him. However I am sure he will be taxed and I will have to go and cry for awhile :D

I want Bridget too, my other traps are missing him :(
How much did you pay? I mean his prices on ebay are horrible..
Yeah. Koto seems to be good with the male figures. Hopefully they re-release the Lamento scale figures. And maybe the Togainu ones too, so I don't have to pay and arm and a leg for the Shiki I'm missing. XD But hopefully with Megahouse's GEM series and Alter's Altair, this means the dawning of the age of aquarius the era of awsm male figures. At least we can hope. (Though my wallet is already crying as it is. As is my husband and apartment. >_<)


lol. Actually, yes. I caved. It was a combo of you and his trappish charms. I guess it's kinda like the guys who get Mariya and Jun and display them with the girl panties so they can stay in denial that they are girls. Even if they try to say he's a girl, I say he's a boy, so he is damnit! lol >_<

Yes! I am so excited about Natsume!!! He looks so awsm. And just the whole idea of Alter making male figures makes me so excited! :D But since me and my husband have so many pre-orders for July, I purposely got him from TL so I would have more time to make sure I had the money for him. It also means I have to wait longer to get him though. ;_;

I forget exactly how much I paid for Bridget, but I think it was somewhere around $200 on eBay. XP