Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Caltoy UJ Whales

Another member of the animal kingdom finds representation in Sega's Caltoy brand - Whales. Measuring a mighty 43cm (16.92") long and nearly as tall, the whales are round-shaped with a teardrop point that pinches off into the tail. Although real-life whales are more oval in shape than round, the Caltoy whales nonetheless bear a likeness to their real world counterparts. True to standard Caltoy design conventions, each whale possesses beady eyes and sports a lush coat of luxurious fur. Three color variants (Dark Blue / Aqua Blue / Pink) are in stock and shipping to preorders today. New orders are welcome. View larger photos for the Caltoy Whales on the main NCSX website.

Convoy X Melissa

Unbeknownst to most mortals, a kiss from a pretty girl has the ability to energize a robot as chronicled in the recent Transformers radio drama. Capitalizing on the popular broadcasts, Takara creates a new toy series called Kissplayers and ties it to the radio play. The first Kissplayers toy is a Convoy featuring Dodge Ram SRT-10 with 500 horses under the hood which morphs from cherry red pickup truck to robot form. In addition to the Convoy, a strawberry blonde named Melissa does the smooching and serves double duty as a de facto Race Queen with sheer underwear and Lolita appeal. Yuki Ohshima of Kaiyodo who's behind the popular K-T line of posable kinetic figures designed and sculpted the Melissa character. A third product inclusion in the package is a drama CD which contains 7 tracks. View larger photos for the Convoy X Melissa toy on the main NCSX website.

Mina Majikina 1/8 Scale Figure

Japanese manufacturer Toys Planning releases a 1/8 scale Mina Majikina PVC figure where the white-haired goddess kneels on a pedestal and holds her Chinsei Hachijou in both hands. To ensure that she's always ready to attack, a green quiver of arrows is attached to her bottom.

Mina wears perfectly pressed blue and white clothing - from the blue glove to the blue bow wrapped in her hair to the white top and skirt with blue trim. Mina's ivory tresses add to the whitewash. To keep her company, the demonic Champuru sits alongside her and provides a temporary spell of companionship. Sized at 1/8 scale or roughly 13cm tall, Mina represents the first in a series of Samurai Spirits figures scheduled to ship from Toys Planning. All preorders are shipping this afternoon and new orders are welcome. Please note that the Mina figure in stock today is the Japanese version. NCS expects a USA version to arrive sometime in November 2006. View larger photos for the Mina Majikina figure on the main NCSX website.

Catch the Dots: Makaimura

It's been 21 years since the original Makaimura (Ghosts 'n Goblins) game captivated players with the story of a knight in shining armor and the maiden that he set out to save. Since a procession of classic games from the past have already received the Dot-Pin treatment, it's only natural that a Makaimura Dots toy be released as well. Two sets are on offer: a version which includes enough pegs to create a representation of a bearded Sir Arthur in his red underoos (Set A) and another which shows off Art's suit of silver armor (Set B). The pegs and peg-boards from both sets may be combined to create a rendition of Arthur fully suited in armor. Once fully clad in metal plating, Arthur appears ready to rush off and rescue his betrothed. Preorders ship today and new orders are welcome. View larger photos for the Makaimura Dots on the main NCSX website.

Namco Dot Graph Sound Figure

Inspired by the Dot-Pin toys from Tomy, Japanese manufacturer Unifive licenses some Namco retro classics and gives birth to the Namco Dot Graph Figure with Sound toys. Instead of using little pins to create scenes however, the Namco Dot Graph Figure with Sound toys feature a 7 x 5 hole-punched pegboard with background graphic which accepts complete figure inserts. For example, in the Dig Dug dot graph toy, there's a Pooka and Dig Dig which are plugged into any one of the 35 square holes. One they're pushed in, you're done with the scene.

Each pegboard measures 7 x 9 cm and six types are available as follows: Galaxian / Xevious / New-Rally X / Mappy / Dig Dug / Tower of Druaga. Two secret variants are packaged randomly in each factory case as well for a total of eight retro figures and four duplicates. The base of each toy includes a sound chip + speaker which is activated by pressing a button to play a short yet boisterous jingle from the game. All preorders ship today and new orders are welcome. View larger photos for the Namco Dot Graph sound figures on the main NCSX website.

New Super Mario DS Plushes

New Super Mario Brothers was released on the Nintendo DS earlier this year and a few product tie-ins have already shipped to market such as the Mario tins and the Mario water games. This week, something a little more substantial ships to market. The New Super Mario DS plushes measure 16cm or 6.29" tall with soft bodies that may be squished. The three Goomba plushes differ from each other only in the caps that are sewn atop their noggins: Mario cap, Luigi cap, and Wario cap. The Toads are available in either red or green mushroom cap. All preorders will ship today and new orders are welcome. View larger photos for the plushes on the main NCSX website.

Nintendo DS Lite Strap Set

Anyone still on the fence about whether or not to purchase a Japanese NDS Lite at the price of US$189 has another option. An NDS Lite Strap that measures 30mm square (1.18") that costs a piddling US$3.66 each. Buy a whole bag of 'em and share them with school pals or the nice guy at the delicatessen who makes your peanut butter and banana sandwich just the way you like it. With extra chunky peanut butter.

Each miniature NDS Lite replica is hooked to a little ring that's tethered to one of six NDS game cartridges - Eigo ga Nigate na Otona no DS Training, Kanji Sonomama,
Shunkan Puzz Loop, New Super Mario Bros (with properly colored yellow card case), Metroid Pinball, and Legend of Stafy 4. The ring is also linked to a strap for connecting to your cellphone. The original colors of the NDS Lite are featured in the set - Crystal White, Enamel Navy, and Ice Blue and two of each color are linked to the various NDS cartridges. All preorders are shipping today and new orders are welcome for complete sets of all 6 straps at US$20 per set. View larger photos for the straps on the main NCSX website.

Spongebob Sponge

The square-shaped rascal known as Spongebob Squarepants resides in the depths of Bikini Bottom and shuffles to his job as a fry cook each morning. Since Bob works in the kitchen, his sponge body proves useful when grease stains and a splattering of catsup needs mopping up. Sega takes the Spongebob character literally by creating four beefy sponges which are square-shaped and etched with the recognizable mug of the lovable cartoon hero. When a cup of mushy oatmeal is spilled on the kitchen floor, grab the (B) sponge which features the appropriate facial expression and soak up the mess with quick determination and ease. New orders are welcome to ship today. View larger photos for the sponges on the main NCSX website.

Star Wars R2-D2 Wastebasket

Japanese manufacturer Heart has started preorders for a wastebasket that's designed to look like the legendary R2D2 robot of Star Wars fame. Although the Heart Art Collection version of Artoo can't roll like the movie version or override computer systems, it can flip its dome to accept paper waste and other detritus. To pop R2-D2's top, step on the foot-lever at the base of the robot... just like any conventional wastebasket with foot powered mechanism. Trash-Can-R2-D2 measures 60cm or 23.62" tall which is about a foot shorter than the actual R2-D2 used in the Star Wars movies.

Pricing is set at Y14,800 or US$215 from NCS. Please note that the weight and size of this item will incur dimensional shipping freight from overseas and NCS' retail price reflects the import costs from Japan. View a larger photo for the wastebasket on the main NCSX website.