Playstation Portable Slim

Preorders are welcome for the slightly slimmer Japanese PSP which ships on September 20. Six color variants are on offer as follows:

» Piano Black / Ceramic White / Ice Silver
» Felicia Blue / Rose Pink / Lavender Purple

Please note the USA version of Piano Black will be released on September 20 but the other colors are exclusive to Japan for now.

Eitango Target 1900 DS

All the cool kids in Asia are learning English and the youth of Japan are no different. In addition to English language learning in school, a wide range of gadgets, dictionaries, and tutorials are available for students to teach themselves at their own pace.

IE Institute is a well known purveyor of language learning products in Japan and their latest software release on the NDS teaches students a total of 1900 English words. In addition to the correct spelling shown on the NDS screen, the proper pronunciation is also sounded out to make sure broken English isn't on the menu. The 1900 words are split up into 800 basic words, 700 important words, and 400 difficult words. Language testing is administered through simple quizzes or by way of mini-games.

Konchuu Wars

There aren't enough fighting insects in the world so mechanical beetles, moths, snails, bees, mantids, and more have been created to ensure there's always a battle going on somewhere. Take control of one such insect corps and hone them, upgrade them, and command the group against an opposing insect army.

An insect warrior has three weapon systems that it may use to inflict damage on an opponent - there's a grappling attack for close-up foes, a projectile attack for local area opposition, and a bombing attack that is used to destroy far-off enemies. An assortment of battle cards trigger special attacks with exotic names while armaments may be upgraded for greater efficiency and devastation on the battlefield.

Tranformers Diablock Convoy

Convoy gets yet another incarnation this summer with a "Diamond Block" aka Diablock toy where the leader of the Cybertrons finds himself constructed of Lego-like pieces known in Japan as Diamond Blocks.
Diablock Convoy ships completely disassembled but click together the 347 pieces by following the instructions and you've got a nifty robot in your hands which can transform from robot form to trailer with a few twists and turns.

Pirates of the Carribbean Mini Cosbaby

With the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie making a splash earlier this summer, Hot Toys horns in on the action with a set of five toy figures which measure 7cm or 2.75" tall. The primary cast is featured as follows: Will Turner, Sao Feng, Jack Sparrow (With Jacket and Hat), Jack Sparrow (Without Jacket), and Davy Jones. The figures are packaged randomly but we'll open up a few to fill our preorders for complete sets and sell the rest as blind-box, factory-sealed toys at US$8 per figure.

Dragon Quest Sofubi Series 1

Square Enix's first group of DQM Sofubi figures arrived earlier this week and preorders have shipped already. Each figure measures between 6.5 to 14cm (2.55 to 5.51") tall as follows:

Slime / 6.5 cm tall
Golem / 9cm tall
Ryuo (After transformation) / 14cm tall
Saro / 12cm tall
Rhapthorne / 14cm tall

Pricing for each monster varies so we have linked to each toy individually on our shop.

Transformers Music Label Earphones

Hot on the heels of the Transformers Music Label Soundwave MP3 Player that arrived earlier this week, the Transformers Frenzy & Rumble Earphones finally make it in today.
In their normal form, the Music Label headphones look like regulation issue headphones that one might find on a street corner for about $2. These are special however. They can be manipulated and shifted so that parts pop to change the headphones into the Transformers named Frenzy and Rumble. We don't expect these to set the world on fire since the sound quality isn't very good and they're uncomfortable to use. Despite these shortcomings however, the earphones should prove to be interesting additions to any Transformers fan's collection and will probably be looked upon as oddities by future generations.