Samurai Spirits Iroha PVC Figure

Ever since Iroha appeared in Samurai Spirits: Tenkaichi Kenkakuten, toy manufacturers have been busy crafting and shipping their interpretations of the loyal maid. Art Storm by way of Cerberus Project throws their hat into the ring with a rounder, younger, and perhaps sweeter Iroha who swoops in like a crane while brandishing her blades Hourin and Ousai. Originally released as a 1/8 scale resin model kit which required painstaking assembly, glue, and paint, the new release is fully assembled and masterfully painted at the factory. All you have to do is unpack Iroha from the box and display her on the mantle.

Fixed Pose: Iroha perches her entire frame on one foot while her arms swing back to accentuate her majestic figure. She's dressed in her regulation issue maid uniform but her bosom is more exposed than they were in previous sculpts from other artists. Her bottom is just as bare however... At 1/8 scale, Iroha clocks in at 20cm or 7.87" tall. A transparent base is included for display purposes.

Jack Skellington 400% Kubrick

Jack Skellington's day job is the Pumpkin King of Halloweentown. He's tall, dark, and macabre. Take one look at his eye sockets and the word "macabre" instantly springs to mind. In Japan, there's been no shortage of toys based on the Nightmare Before Christmas movie which seems to have resonated remarkably well with the Japanese populace.

Medicom's latest entry in the burgeoning NBC toy library is a 400% Kubrick figure where Jack is decked out in a natty pinstripe tuxedo with a bow that's a bat. His hands are shaped like fixed-pose bear claws in which cylindrical items may be slotted through and grasped. Jack measures 25cm or 9.84" tall and features posable arms and legs which are socketed to his Kubrick-esque body. Preorders ship today and new orders are welcome.

Monsieur Bome Collection Vol. 18

Go to Google. Type in "gunbuster bome" and check out all of the stores that cribbed (read: plagiarized) NCS' write-up for this product from our preorder listing. Even well known shops had to resort to cribbing. So Lam3.

Mech handlers in big-robot-animation-series' generally fit into 2 basic molds. The first mold is that of an ace pilot with innate skills who takes to maneuvering a robot like a duck takes to water. The second mold follows a more humble path where the hero has potential but must work hard to get to the lofty levels of the aforementioned prodigies. In the Gun Buster animation, Noriko Takaya fits squarely in the second mold. Unsure of herself at the outset of the animation, Noriko eventually grits her teeth, finds her impressive abilities within and pushes them forward to help the cause. To celebrate all that is Noriko, Kaiyodo has marked the eighteenth Monsieur Bome for the Gun Buster pilot. The figure measures 23cm or 9.05" tall and Takaya seemingly thrusts her dukes up as if ready to engage in fisticuffs. She wears the regulation issue Gunbuster uniform with the recognizable design on top and the stretchy red fabric which grips her posterior in a vice-like grip. A circular stand is included in the blister pack which features "Gunbuster" in English and "Top wo Nerae" in katakana on the base.

Illuminate Cube

Back in the day, Rubik's Cube was a toy phenomenon which sold hundreds of millions of units worldwide. Those numbers are unthinkable nowadays since there's so many product choices and such high saturation in the toy market. Even Elmo won't touch those numbers... but we'll never know for sure since Fisher Price doesn't release sales figures. Revisit the old school flavor of the Rubik's Cube with Megahouse's "Illuminate Cube" which looks like the legendary toy but there's something special built into its innards. Instead of rickety plastic pieces inside, the Illuminate Cube sports stereo speakers and an array of LEDs which sync, shine, and blink like a hyperactive Christmas light ornament.

The Illuminate Cube sports a total of 54 squares on its cube surface. Every square's surface may flash one of three colors - red, green, and yellow. Each corner cube features three LEDs inside which are capable of shining independently of each other. The Illumination Cube can stand alone and blink its lights in random fashion but it was designed to accept the output from a music player via physical cable connection (3.5mm stereo mini plug). Once the music starts to play through the built-in 125mW stereo speakers, the lights sync to the beat and blink in unison to the tempo of the tune. Depending on the music, all sides may flash at once with solid colors or colorful patterns will undulate through the surfaces of the cube with near perfect coordination as the music plays.

NCS found pleasing effects when classical music was played while rock and rap produced what we would describe as interesting visuals. Use it in a disco dive and replace the glittering mirror ball of yore. All preorders will ship today and new orders are welcome.

General Updates

PS3 Blu-Ray Remotes Additional supplies of the Japanese Blu-Ray Remote arrived today and all backorders will ship this afternoon. New orders are welcome. Yes, we're aware that the USA version of the Blu-Ray Remote is sort of available in spotty quantities in select retail shops.

Wii Video Cables Japanese S-Video and D-Terminal cables for the Wii are in stock today.