Remember when Ripley went back to get Newt in the Aliens movie? That supercharged sequence showed Ripley's mothering instinct - sort of like when a mama bear does whatever it takes to protect her cub. Ripley also showed off her honed warrior skills where she destroyed bunch of slavering Warrior Aliens as well as hordes of Alien Queen eggs.
In the climactic final battle, Ripley suited up in a Power Loader and faced off against the Queen herself. With deft skill and the power of mechanical arms, Ripley defeated the Queen and the movie ended with a happily ever after conclusion.
Medicom celebrates the Aliens movie with a set of figures which may allow fans to recreate the final scene of the movie. There's Ripley in the Power Loader, then there's four Alien Eggs, three Warrior Aliens, and the Queen Bee. According to the preorder solicitation, the figures measure between 6-10cm each and will all be packaged in a window box. Preorders ship in Sept 2007 at US$95 per set.
Link has been a hero since 1986 when he starred in The Hyrule Fantasy. In his debut, Link battled the forces of Ganon and rescued Princess Zelda from Ganon's clutches. Since the early years of the franchise, Link has gone on to feature in over 20 sequels, adjuncts, and related games. Link's up there with the likes of Sonic and Mario for the most recognizable characters in gaming.
Japanese manufacturer Sanei has started preorders for two Link plushes which are scheduled to ship in September 2007. The "Large" Link plush measures 32cm or 12.59" tall while the "Small" plush measures 18cm or 7.08" in height. Both plushes feature the same design however where Link seemingly looks to the heavens and his arms are lifted to the side. Sort of like a bird about to take flight. Preorders are welcome today.
When it's dinnertime and krabby patties are sitting on the grill, forget the fine china and bring out the Spongebob plates. Shaped like sponges and imbued with the spirit of the maniacal undersea miscreant, each plate features a unique Spongebob expression. There's one where pearly whites are gleaming but we like the dish on the lower-left where Sponge has his tongue flapping. Each plate is colored a bright yellow hue and measures 12cm square or 4.72" on each side.
Preorders are welcome to ship in mid-late September 2007 at US$7.50 per Spongebob plate.
Beaches are made of sand. On that sand, people play and sit. When people sit and play beneath a blazing sun, sweat and dead skin cells tend to drip and drop onto the sand. Multiply that by a million people and by a few years and that's a lot of sweat and dead skin mixed into that sand. That's one scenario where a big towel proves invaluable and handy. NCS recommends a big Sasara Kusugawa Towel where the blonde maiden dresses up in a maid's outfit or maybe the Shakugan no Shana Towel where lead heroine Shana poses in a frilly two piece bikini. Preorders are welcome to ship in mid-late July 2007 at US$49 per towel.
The sprightly Nakoruru originally captured the hearts of fighting fans in 1993 where she slashed and stepped her way to the top of the Samurai Spirits hierarchy. Over the years, NCS has peddled assorted Nakoruru figures including one with shabby hair and a wooden plank posture. Some were good... and others like the aforementioned doll were lacking.
Come September, Lilics unleashes a dynamic Nakoruru figure which depicts the warrior woman in mid-slash whilst stepping lively in mid-air. Her red and white ensemble catches the eye and the roiling robes beneath her body evoke visions of crashing waves. Or something like that.
The Lilics Art Storm Nakoruru sculpt is made of PVC and is a 1/6 scale figure which measures 20cm or 7.87" tall. The figure is pre-painted and fully assembled for immediate display. Preorders ship in mid-late September 07.
In the To Heart 2 game and subsequent OVA series, Tamaki Kousaka was an interesting character with depth and complexity. She had poise, she played the piano, had female admirers, and could cook up a storm. Normally garbed in a school uniform or casual wear, Wave's upcoming Tamaki figure does away with outerwear and features the redhead in a black two-piece bikini. She's also positioned in a compromising and vulnerable pose instead of a de rigeur stance. Two words might explain Tamaki's awkward aspect: Fan Service.
The DreamTech Tamaki Kousaka 1/6 scale PVC figure is sculpted by Tomoki Maeda and measures 255mm in length which is approximately 10" from top to toe. Pricing is set at JPY5800 or US$60 from NCS. Preorders are welcome to ship in mid-late September 2007.
Orders are welcome again for Hori's third (canonical, not chronological) Real Arcade Pro Joystick which uses the same form-factor and case of the other Real Arcade Pro sticks. Similar to earlier HRAPs, the new stick uses actual arcade buttons and a clicky Sanwa lollipop-style joystick to give gamers an authentic coin-op experience at home. A heavy duty base completes the package to give the controller a weight of nearly 6 lbs or 2600g.
The RAP3 features the same button arrangement found on the RAP2 with the eight standard buttons (face and trigger) in red and the START and SELECT buttons in a bright yellow patina. The RAP3 does away with the row of slide levers on the upper left corner of the stick which controlled rapid-fire on the RAP2. Hori uses a more elegant solution this time around and adds a "PS" button. The RAP3 connects to the PS3 by way of USB cable and the analog thumbsticks on the SixAxis controller may be emulated by toggling a slide lever which switches from D-pad, L-analog, or R-analog control.
Due to the dimensional weight of the HRAP3, NCS recommends only shipping by UPS Ground within the United States.
One of our suppliers in Japan was able to get their grubby hands on approximately 50 sets of the SMB Stamp Collection a couple of weeks ago. The stamp sets are new and apparently purchased from a Japanese collector who wanted to free up some cash flow. We weren't able to snag them all but we got a good chunk of them in today. The stamps were originally released in the spring of 2006 and were only sold through May 31, 2006 by the Japanese Postal Service.
The Stamp Collection consists of 10 stamps valued at JPY80 each with dot-graphics artwork of Mario, Princess Peach, Goomba, a Koopa Trooper, and others. The sheet of stamps is protected by a transparent wrapper so you can look at them without getting them oily or dirty with your fingers. Upon opening the binder that holds the stamps, the first page lists every Mario game as of the Spring of 2006 from the Famicom, Disk System, Gameboy, Super Famicom, Virtual Boy, Nintendo 64, Gameboy Advance, Nintendo Gamecube, and Nintendo DS. That plumber's been working hard these past 2 decades. The second page of the binder features Mario and Princess Peach together while two fireworks blow up in the background and the following words are listed: «more»
