Amigurumi by Twistyfishies on Etsy

Photo by Me

 REVIEW:

Amigurumi:
Durability: These guys are great, I dragged them all over Indy during Gencon, whipping them out and photographing them, then shoving them back in my bag, they have held up amazingly! No wear or tear at all.
Posability: These guys sit so easily, and are also very easy to mold into shape, should they be, oh... say, squished into your purse. They hold their shape well, they sit without too much fuss, lovely all around.

Height: between 2 and 3 inches
Clothes: N/A

Makeup: Some have blushed cheeks,, it adds to the adorable... but Twistyfishies does custom orders, so I'm sure you could get them without the blushing.

Hair: N/A
Accessories: N/A

Packaging:
Style: They come in a little box bound with ribbon

Ease of Opening: incredibly easy.

Price:
About $10 each, which, for Amigurumi these days, is really, really reasonable... and these guys are totally worth it.


Overall:
Spend your money on these ones... doooo it! Adorable in photographs, perfect companions for other toys, great to just tote around, these guys are a lot of fun.

On Etsy... Amigurumi robots, buglets and umdrops by Twistyfishies... I saw them randomly, fell in love, and bought some... and have not been disappointed... from the excellent packaging to the adorable product, I can't get enough of these little cuties. :)

Go HERE to check out Twistyfishies etsy shop :)

The umdrops are the newest edition to Twistyfishies adorable menagerie... check them all out, they're adorable AND affordable!

Photo by Me

Nanobot: Photo by Twistyfishies

Umdrop: Photo by Twistyfishies

Sorry!

An update is coming... but last week monday I got some rather bad medical news and it threw me off!

Things are finally getting back to normal though... but I'm on a diet that is Gluten and Dairy free.

If anyone has any awesome resources for recipes or anything, I'd really appreciate it.

Tonner Rapunzel Doll... I see what they've done there... and I don't like it

Let me preface this by saying I love Tonner dolls ( http://www.tonnerdirect.com/default.aspx ). Their Harry Potter line is just amazing, and their attention to detail in the outfits makes for some very interesting, very beautiful dolls.

However, in their IDEX preview (another Clash of the Titans doll? really??)... there was one doll in there that stood out for me as a failure.

The Disney Rapunzel doll.

Did they watch the movie?

Do they realize their doll is a bit walleyed?

When you look at the full view, there is a brief moment when you think, "Ah, ok, this might not be so bad..." but then you click on the facial closeup and realize, nope, something is not quite right.

Here is a picture of Disney's princess:

©Disney

And here is a picture of the Tonner doll:

© 2010 Tonner® Doll Company, Inc

There's something strange, and wrong concerning her eyes. From the unfocused stare to the 'realistic' style... it's just not coming together for me.

It's not even that this is a terribly bad doll. She's actually pretty cute... but she just doesn't come across as DISNEY's Rapunzel at all. This doll looks so bland that I can't picture her at all as the defiant girl from Tangled.

I'm hoping, that since the picture from the Tonner site reads 'Pending Licensor Approval' that Disney makes them repaint the girl to have something more than a bland expression.

Just to make a note of the fact that Tonner can do it right, and usually does... check out their version of Disney's Princess Tiana... the girl has expression and spunk. 

http://www.tonnerdirect.com/p-918-princess-tiana.aspx

Or their version of Belle, who lives up to her name:

http://www.tonnerdirect.com/p-772-belletrade.aspx

Belated Japan Monday! Disney Fireball: Drossel Action Figures

 Disney Fireball: Drossel Mini Action Figures

 I  randomly picked one of these little guys up last year at Anime Central, because I thought they were so darn cute. I didn't really pay attention to what I was buying, or the display figure, beyond "OMG, that's adorable!"

When I got back up to my room though, I discovered that this is possibly one of the coolest little action figures I've ever purchased. She is SO poseable!!!

Doll:
Durability: I'm not going to lie. These figures have a lot of tiny parts. You have to put all the tiny bolts in yourself (I haven't bothered) and her little thumbs are prone to popping off if you drop her (I did this once... ACK!) Because she comes apart, though, it's pretty hard to break her, and very easy to put her back together, so in the grand scheme of things, it's not bothersome at all.
Posability: SO poseable! Her head moves, her torso is jointed, her arms bend at the shoulder, elbow, hand... and then her fingers move too. Her legs bend at the hip and knee, as well as at the foot and at the ball of the foot. She is a posing machine!

Height: 4 inches
Clothes: N/A, she is hard plastic... although she does come in 4 variations.
 Makeup: Not really applicable, except one of them does have some black swirly head paint that is very pretty.

Hair: N/A
Accessories: Dorothy carries a little red bag, very cute, quite large, and functional, because it carries little Toto. Toto himself seems a little lighter than the movie version, but he's adorable, and probably closer to true Cairn Terrier coloration anyways.

Packaging:
Style: They come in little Gashepon plastic balls.

Ease of Opening: not too bad, but once I had her all together, I didn't want to store her in there any more, because things always go flying out of those little balls when I open them!

Price:
I bought my first one at Anime Central for $12.
Determined to pay less than that for the rest of them, I scoured amazon and ebay, eventually finding a seller on ebay who was selling all 4, from Japan, for $16. I ordered them, they were delivered promptly, and NOT knockoffs! How amazing is that? Unfortunately, I haven't seen that seller list any more... but you can buy the full set on Amazon for around $23.99... or individually for around $6.99.


Overall:
Spend your money on these ones... doooo it! They are amazing, loads of fun, and really very capable of amusing poses.

 

As an added bonus... you can find Drossel's little short animations on Youtube! Just follow the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVMIUN2Ipqw 

You can view the first episode below (with English subtitles) 

Repaint Sunday: noeling

This week I am going to feature the artist who made me want to try repainting in the first place... 

noeling

photography by noeling from his deviant art site linked below

Photo by noeling from his deviant art site, linked below

  His work is amazingly realistic... and often he includes before and after pictures 

(why hasn't Tonner hired this man?!)

My favorite place to see his work is on Deviant Art here:
http://noeling.deviantart.com/

but he also has his own website here:
http://www.ncruz.com/index.html

I have yet to see an artist that I think surpasses his work... and I am always amazed by what he can accomplish with a brush and some paint.

Photo by noeling, from his deviant art site, linked above

His works range from hundreds to thousands of dollars, and as far as I've seen, he sells them through ebay auctions.

REVIEW: Miss Dorothy Gale

(I am changing things up a little, today there's a doll, next Wednesday, a Figurine)

Brand: Mattel

Type: Pink Label

Model: Miss Dorothy Gale

Doll:
Durability: Her pieces are simple so it would probably be pretty hard to ruin them! Her body is your typical model body for Barbie.

Posability: The arms and legs don't bend at the elbow and knee joints, giving this Barbie very limited poseability... her head has a typical Barbie movement range. Arm and legs do pivot at shoulder and hip joints.

Clothes: Very cute dress, stockings, shoes and bag... the dress itself is a little along the lines of 'slutty halloween costume'... and not very 'Dorothy' from the movie... but it's still adorable. Her shoes have been given higher heels and are pretty cute, although the heels of her feet do not stay in the shoes.

 Makeup: Very adorable makeup that is a bit heavier than the promo picture, a bit more blue, and has glitter... I think it might add more to that 'halloween costume' feel... because the promo picture looks a little more wholesome. Her fingernails are also painted.

Hair: I think this is one of the prettiest Barbie hair colors I've ever seen... a brown, with red hints... very auburn. It's done up in two adorable braids that are thick, leading me to believe she has quite a lot of hair, should someone feel the need to restyle it.

Accessories: Dorothy carries a little red bag, very cute, quite large, and functional, because it carries little Toto. Toto himself seems a little lighter than the movie version, but he's adorable, and probably closer to true Cairn Terrier coloration anyways.

Packaging:
Style: A very simple, almost boring box.

Ease of Opening: Pretty easy... all attached with easy to open (without scissors) plastic tabs. The head, again, was annoying run through with those plastic tags... but it seems the rest of Barbie packaging has improved dramatically from when I was a kid.

Price:
I am guessing she retails around $39.95, but I bought her on clearance at Target for $20


Overall:
I think she's absolutely adorable. Since her box, for me, didn't really add anything to how cool she looked, I took her out of it and she stands on my desk at work... and every time I look over at her I just think "ADORABLE!" Her lovely braids and beautiful hair color... and cute outfit and Toto... really make for a well put together doll.

GAMING THURSDAY: Citadels Card Game

 Citadels
by Fantasy Flight Games

From the Manufacturer:
Citadels is a game of nobles, intrigue, and citiess. The current printing of Citadels includes the Dark City expansion detailed elsewhere - look for the purple logo on your box lid if you're not sure if your copy includes the Dark City. Citadels with the Dark City Expansion includes: •66 District cards•8 Character cards •8 Reference cards•30 gold coins•1 wooden crown marker•10 Bonus character cards!•14 Bonus purple district cards!

Age Recommendation: 10 and up

Number of Players: 2-7

Play Time: 20-60 minutes

My Experience: The first time I played this game was with a bunch of people who had played it several times previously... so I was worried I wouldn't pick it up quickly. At first glance, it seems like there is a lot going on, there are character cards, each with their own number and special skill, there is a "king" who gets to go first, and there are cities collected that also, sometimes, have special features that enhance play.
However, within seconds, I was feeling right at home. This game is fun, intuitive and easy to learn.
I have found it most fun when players form alliances, or enemies, with the other players... it really adds to the political intrigue of the game.

I recommend purchasing this game off of Amazon, where it's about half the price of what you'll find in any comic or book store... although I have noticed the Amazon price of the game going up... when I bought it in June it was $13.99 and now it's $18.99.... but even at comic shop prices, it's still well worth the cost.

This is a fun game that is playable by all types of game lovers... from the group of  uber-gamers to sitting around the family table.

Rating: A+