Super Robot Wars OG Gaiden - New Import, In Stock

The Super Robot Wars universe is vast and two Original Generations games just weren't enough to contain the drama, battles, and space faring theatrics of it all. That's why SRW OG Gaiden wings its way to market this week with a new collection of side stories, tactical battles, and attack animations that'll set hearts afire.

Booting up the game this morning, we checked out the "Special Menu" section first which contains an interesting Shuffle Battler card game where players pit trading cards against other trading cards in turn-based strategic battles. Despite the generally static nature of the trading card game, we had a blast with it nonetheless. The other sections in the Special Menu include an artwork gallery, short animation sequences, character profiles, and even data snippets from the Original Generations games.

Players who are familiar with the SRW game engine will find the format similar where simple commands for movement, attack, and specials are selected from a menu. The main SRW OG Gaiden game uses the Twin Battle System where two mechs can link up for a powerful cooperative attack on a single target.

All orders will ship with a bonus SRW OG Official Perfect File.

Super Robot Wars OG Gaiden L.E - New Import, In Stock

The limited edition of Super Robot Wars OG includes a bonus toy figure dubbed the Art-1 Advanced Real Personal Trooper Test Type-1. The fully assembled toy measures 8.7cm or 3.42" tall, features 20 moving parts, and is constructed from a mixture of PVC/ABS plastic. The color scheme is dark blue with hints of yellow highlights on parts of the armor. A bevy of weapon accessories are included such as a number of firearms, a couple of blades, and a chainsaw.

According to one of our Japanese distributors, Banpresto had a production problem when manufacturing the toy which led to a shortage of the product. The shortage led to higher prices from suppliers which in turn forced NCS' hand in raising the price from US$95 to the current price of US$118.50. We've sent out emails to customers who preordered the game to obtain their re-confirmations at the higher price. There were a few customers with Hotmail and Yahoo accounts who didn't reconfirm yet and we'll hold those orders for a couple of days until we hear back from them. We have a small surplus of the LE bundle and new orders are welcome.

All orders will ship with a bonus SRW OG Official Perfect File.

Star Ocean First Departure - New Import, In Stock

Enix originally released Star Ocean on the Super Famicom in July 1996 and the space opera of an RPG was a big seller and garnered favorable press from the likes of Famitsu and Famimaga. The game stood at 48 megabits which was massive back in the day and featured voice samples, vibrant music, and the graphics pushed the envelope of what was capable on the SFC. Fast forward over a decade later and Square Enix remakes the game with crisp animation sequences from Production I.G. and uses the Star Ocean: Second Story engine to power the adventure. The PSP remake also features new characters, spoken dialogue to accompany the conversations, and in-game cinemas to help relay the tale as important events transpire.

Star Ocean follows the story of a lad named Ratix Farrence who hails from Clatos Village. Along with Milly Kiliet and Dorn Matro, the trio protects their village from invading pirates. At the outset of the game, Ratix is speaking to his friend Dorn when Milly makes a grand entrance. From there, Ratix and friends can patrol Clatos and then return home to trigger the next event where groups of sword-wielding pirates threaten the peace. Face them and engage in action-packed fighting sequences where players take control of Ratix and run and chop at enemies. While Ratix and Dorn do the attacking, Milly provides healing services in the background to make sure the two warriors don't succumb from their wounds.

Suzumiya Haruhi no Yakusoku - New Import, In Stock

In the second Suzumiya Haruhi novel, "Suzumiya Haruhi no Tameiki" which translates to "The Sighs of Suzumiya Haruhi," the irrepressible heroine of the series takes on the role of film director and chastises the SOS-Brigade into producing a film for the impending School Cultural Festival. Mikuru Asahina (brunette on the game cover) is cast as the heroine of the film while Yuki Nagato (the witch) serves up a meaty role as anti-heroine. Rounding out the actors in the student film is an esper named Itsuki Koizumi who's the love interest for the two girls.

The PSP game is an interactive novel with spot animations and voice acting that's provided by the actors from the animated series. Players take on the role of Kyon and engage in various interactions with the main cast members and read the conversations that ensue. Although the story in Suzumiya Haruhi no Yakusoku is based on the "The Sighs of Suzumiya Haruhi," the scenarios and overall material are new and written exclusively for the game. Multiple endings are also possible depending on the actions that one takes over the course of the game. In addition to the interactive experience, a number of mini-games are also playable at certain junctures including a simple beach volleyball diversion. Bandai touts a new "Motion Portrait" technology that's used in the game where lifelike facial expressions are imbued on the characters so that they appear to be "living" renditions of the heroines we've grown to adore.

Suzumiya Haruhi no Yakusoku Super Premium - Partial

One of our shipments of the Suzumiya Haruhi no Yakusoku Super Premium Box arrived today and the first half of our preorders will ship this afternoon. The rest should be shipping out of Japan by tonight or tomorrow but it seems some suppliers are treating this entire week as a holiday with their lackadaisical attitude and work ethic. We can't control the affairs of men overseas so we'll wait for them to get back into gear.

The bonus items that are included in the Premium Box are:

» PSP carrying strap featuring a ginger named Mikuru Asahina
» Aqua-colored carrying pouch for PSP or Slim PSP
» SOS Brigade UMD carrying case
» Visual archive booklet featuring character artwork
» Stand for mounting your PSP in a vertical aspect
» Metallic-colored headphones inscribed with an "H"
» Set of taller-than-they-are-long character mini-posters with sticky backs

We also received a 50% allocation of the bonus Suzumiya Haruhi swimsuit figure so we'll give those out with early preorders today. We're unsure if we'll receive any figures with the upcoming Premium Box shipment but if we are allocated another batch, we'll give them away to customers in the order that your reservation was received. We'll also cover the additional shipping cost to send the figures as well.

Please note the Super Premium Box is sold out. If we're able to locate any additional stock, we'll open up orders again on both of our shops.

Excellent Model Core Tsukasa Bullet 02 Holstein Hanako

A "Holstein" generally refers to a dairy cow with a black and white color scheme. A "Holstein Hanako" refers to an attractive cat girl with a healthy bosom who wears white and black cow decorated apparel.

MegaHouse's 1/8 scale Excellent Model Core figure features a sculpt by Jun Tsukasa where the "cow" girl in question is on bended knees and lifts her left hand. She's not waving to anyone but is rather providing a perch for a butterfly that alights upon her hand. Her face beams with childlike marvel as she looks at the insect and perhaps reminds us that there is wonderment in the smallest things. The Holstein Hanako figure is set at 1/8 scale and measures 14cm or 5.51"" in height. The figure is fully assembled, painted, and ready for display.

Pricing is set at JPY5250 or US$60 from NCS and preorders have shipped as of yesterday. New orders are welcome to ship today.

Milky Angel Evolution Vol. 2 - New Import, In Stock

Three Japanese JAV idols are invited and welcomed into service once more in volume 2 of the Milky Angel Evolution series. The new models featured in the upcoming card set are:

* Miyu Hoshino - DOB: 5/5/87
Measurements: T155cm B84cm W57cm H84cm

* Nana Konishi - DOB: 7/7/87
Measurements: T160cm B88cm W58cm H86cm

* Tsubomi - DOB: 12/5/87
Measurements: T160cm B84cm W58cm H85cm

There's a total of 72 regular cards in MAE Vol. 2 but it's the limited and exclusive cards that seem to get the most attention in the aftermarket. From the manufacturer's preorder solicitation, we see that there's also the following special cards randomly inserted in each pack:
9 kinds of SP cards, 9 handwriting cards, 6 costume cards, 6 lingerie cards, 6 kiss cards, and 3 cards which include a strand of the idol's hair, and more. The product description also mentions a "nipple stamp" card where the gal dips her boobie into pink ink and then pushes it onto a piece of paper. This leaves an imprint which looks like the CBS logo. Compelling.

Pricing is set at US$60/box which contains 12 packs of 8 cards each for a total of 96 cards/box. Preorders have shipped yesterday, new orders are welcome to ship today. View 12 "safe for work" card samples.

Juicy Honey Premium Edition - New Import, Sold Out

The JAV idols featured in the Juicy Honey Premium Edition are:

» Kotono Higashi | Tina Yuzuki (Rio) | Maria Ozawa

We expected Anna Ohura instead of Kotono since Ann's of mixed parentage (French and Japanese) just like Tina and Maria but maybe Mint wanted a pureblood in there. The Premium Edition is limited to only 2000 boxes only which implies a rampant and healthy resale aftermarket. View 24 SFW card samples from the set (8 photos of each idol).

General Updates

Star Wars Pepper Mills - Maybe Available We began processing preorders for the Star Wars Pepper Mills yesterday and an impressive number of transactions were declined. 'Tis the season. We'll give our customers 3 business days to make other payment arrangements before releasing the pepper mills for general sale. The Star Wars R2-D2 Soy Sauce dispensers arrived today but we'll post them up tomorrow. They're the same size as the pepper shakers and are identical in terms of exterior construction but the innards are designed to hold liquids instead of rough and tumble peppercorns.

UPS Holiday Schedule Big Brown is apparently on some sort of holiday schedule this week because a driver arrived early to pick up yesterday's shipments at 3PM. Our normal pickup time is 5PM to 6PM. So, we're not sure if today will be a rerun of yesterday with an early pickup but we'll endeavor to get everything packed up and ready to go by 3PM. Looking forward to next week, please be advised that UPS will not make any Ground deliveries or pickups on Monday. Other than the New Year's holiday on Tuesday, the rest of next week should be back to normal.