TOYS Miku Hatsune Bandana - Import Preorder

NCS Product Synopsis
«©NCSX» A bandana is a piece of cloth that can be wrapped around one's head to restrain hair or sop up beads of sweat. The bandana has a place in some work environments such as cow herding where it serves wearers well by wicking away perspiration. Outside of these work environments, the bandana may also be used by some individuals as a fashion accessory or to make a personal statement. That's the "bandana look" where a bandana is worn without any obvious functional utility. For example, a short-haired gentleman who wears a bandana when the temperatures are comfortably balmy is only wearing it to complete his "look."

Not many people can pull off the "bandana look."

John Rambo was successful but mainly because he had big guns and a snarling sneer that drew attention away from the bandana. Jack Sparrow pulled it off as well but he wears eyeliner and has beads in his hair. He can get away with anything. Aunt Jemima also wore one until the sensitive suits at Quaker Oats took it away.

Despite the fact that the "bandana look" can only be successfully worn by select people in society, Japanese manufacturer Dicokick (ディコキック) is releasing a trio of Miku Hatsune Bandanas in April. Each bandana measures 520×520mm in area and is made of 100% cotton. A camouflage pattern is evident along with a little Miku Hatsune stitching that appears on one corner of the bandana. Preorders are welcome to ship in mid-late April 2010 at JPY900 or US$15.90 from NCS.

TOYS Ikkitousen Kakouen Myousai Shitagi Version - Preorder

NCS Product Synopsis
«©NCSX» Kanu Unchou garners most of the attention when it comes to Ikkitousen toy figures in the Japanese marketplace because she's so pretty and smart. Kanu is but one person in the expansive Ikkitousen cast roster but she's a superstar and sculptors are expected to continue churning out figures for the forseeable future.
Occasionally, toy producers take a chance on other characters from Ikkitousen and the "Kakouen Myousai Shitagi Version" is one such gamble for the heart and soul of the figure-buying-public. Kakouen wears a 2-piece bikini which is decorated with heart-shaped designs that might evoke feelings of love. Kakouen is sculpted in a squatting position and her arms arc backwards - she must have learned the pose by watching the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit video. Preorders are welcome to ship in April 2010.

NEWS General Updates

OST Bayonetta Rodin's Selection Promo A Japanese vendor who visits our website to check up on what's happening has offered us a batch of the Bayonetta Rodin's Selection bonus soundtrack that was given away with preorders last year. We're considering purchasing their entire stake and if we decide to bring them in, we'll post a sale offer next week. The soundtrack contains six tracks composed by Hiroshi Yamaguchi, Masami Ueda, and Rei Kondoh which span 22 minutes of music. The first track is "One Of A Kind" by Yamaguchi and the final track is "The Gates Of Hell" which is also composed by Yamaguchi. A booklet is also included inside the little binder which holds the CD and the overall design is similar to the Senjou no Valkyria 2 Document of Gallia bonuses we imported recently. Another Japanese vendor has offered the bonus Oboro Muramasa art poster that we've been looking for but their prices are unreasonable. We'll do some haggling and perhaps a little bartering since we're interested in importing the poster for our own collection. We've never gotten this particular bonus but one of our Japanese customers describes it as "not a poster but a large fold-out and mural-like piece of paperboard with character artwork on one side and enemies on the other side." Sounds like a poster but if we are able to get the offer prices down, we'll post an sale offering next week along with a proper photo gallery.

Xbox 360 Espgaluda II Black Label Limited Edition With the news earlier this week of the region-free Regular Edition and region-locked Limited Edition of Espgaluda II Black Label, we've had some rejiggering of our preorder numbers. As such, we have available supply of the Limited Edition (The Region-Locked version) for new preorders which will ship on or around February 24-25, 2010.