ThreeA RVHK Yesterday Princess

Personally, I've always liked TQs more than TKs. While I can understand why the RVHK TKs are so sought after, I still like these Yesterday Princesses (YP) better. There's something retro about these white YPs, though I can't pin down exactly what's the contributing factor. YPs were packed in colour coded blind boxes; I'mcertain that yellow for the Yumiko headsculpt, but not too sure what colour represents Yubi. Perhaps black...?

Was gunning for a Yubi, but only because in my collection, I've only got 1 Yubi headsculpt, whereas I've already got Reimi and Yumiko. The Yumiko headsculpt, with hair painted yellow, looks adorable too. It is the Tracey that I never got, I suppose.

While visibly, the YPs are wearing only a long sleeved jacket that ends right under the hips, she is really wearing another skirt underneath. The jacket has two loops on the back for the sword sheaths to go though, but they are very very tight fitting and I felt uncomfortable keeping the sheaths there, fearing that over time the fabric forming the loops will be overstretched and break. I thought maybe velcro loops might've been more appropriate, rather than fixed, sewn loops.

YPs sport a newly developed body. Well, Sham does too though it is concealed under the cat suit. Here, the knee joints are exposed. I think the only modifications made to the body is in the knees, but that itself is already a vast improvement. For one, the joint looks less robotic, and smaller hinges are seen at the knee-back. The four screws on the back of the thighs, two on each, are also no longer there. The shortcomings of the preceding body type is reviewed here. I'm sure that comparing both, you will agree that this new body is great improvement.

A new and distinct feature of this figure are the socks and removable footwear. The straps on the platform shoes are sculpted, and pretty tight fitting. Though I've read on forums that the socks are not glued to the shoes, I am not inclined to try removing her shoes and socks. This feature will be reused for the new up and coming Cherry 2 figure.

I'm missing Tracey the XXX'mas TQ, but these are all the TQs sporting the same headsculpt. Reimi's still my favourite.

Below are some related posts:

• RVHK Event Coverage
• Adventure Kartel SXCLB H Shadey
• Popbot Lady Sham
• Popbot Tomorrow King Old Guard Yoji

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ThreeA RVHK TK Old Guard Yoji

So far, from reading the various forums and observing the secondary market, Tomorrow Kings are the most sought after of all the exclusives that were released. I mean come on... no toy is worth S$1000. It could be a shill bid, but still, these figures are closing at insane prices on international eBay.

It is a very obvious hint to ThreeA that fans really love Tomorrow Kings, and particularly the ones with the original hair sculpt. The last one that was mass released was Wasabi, and, truth be told, I wish I bought 10 of thouse. But could these RVHK Old Guards match the OGs? No... I don't think so. They are close to Wasabi, whom I think have even greater play value and aesthetics.

RVHK Old Guards are released in "Blind Boxes", though in actual fact, they are colour tagged in accordance to their hair colours on the shrink wrap of the boxes. Without opening the box, I already know that I'm getting a blue one. As I was vying for the yellow one, and since my friend and I were the only onces at the reception counter at that time, I had to ask the old chap that carried out the goodie bags if I can do a swap. To my request, I got a grunt that sounded like a No. I asked no further, cause I already know their answer before I asked, but I just had to try.

Turns out, Yoji isn't that bad either. Of the 4 TKs released for RVHK, 3 had slight modifications to the headsculpt. One had a goatee (black), one had a black eye (yellow), and one had a plaster across the nose (blue). Amongst the four, I think the blue is a close second to the yellow, and I'm happy with what I got. To be honest, I didn't even realize that he had that plaster until I opened the box.

Old Guard TKs all came with one long sword with sheath, and waist belt filled with pouches. As a friend concurred, the blue T-shirt is kinda over weathered, obscuring the print, which could've been nicer if it was more visible. Nothing original, just a simple, classic figure.

Funny thing is, after seeing this blog entry, a fellow collector friend had this to say: "Oyaloper is awesome"... and I had to agree.
Below are some related posts:

• RVHK Event Coverage
• Adventure Kartel SXCLB H Shadey
• Popbot Lady Sham
• Popbot Yesterday Princess Yumiko

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ThreeA RVHK Shit Mood Lady Sham

Sham is cool. When pictures of the exclusives were released for the pre-sale, I've already thought so. Photographs from the event and reviews from fellow collectors later on only confirmed it. I'd say that it is easily my favourite from the whole lotta exclusives from RVHK.

But... Sham is white too, well... she's supposed to be white. I'm guessing, and I'm not alone on this, that 3A will be releasing the white version, more definitive of the character, as a Bambaland exclusive so that everyone has access to it. I'd be happy to buy a couple of her when that happens too. And having said these, I do believe that people trying their luck on 7 May shouldn't go for Shit Mood Sham, since we're almost certain a white version will be relased in the future.

From the new headsculpt, to the body type, hands and feet, to the cat suit, and even the harness and pistol are all brand new original sculpts. Hair clipped behind her right ear on one side, and flowing in the wind on the other, her face is clearly shown with both eyes visible. The opened eyes on the face got people concerned that she would not fit in to the Popbot crew in their collection, since the TKs and TQs all have slits for eyes. Trust me, that is the least of your concerns. I particularly like the sleepy eyes, which gives the character much attitude.

It used to be that the cat suits on previous TQs are zipped on the front. This, however, is zipped up from the back. Underneath the skin tight costume is the newly developed body, with a slight modification of the knee articulation. The feet, wearing heels, are integrated with the costume and not removable. These heels are also something original and never seen before in earlier 3A releases.

The hands, open palms for both sides and alternative trigger hand for the right, are also original. They are also very well sculpted. Changing the right hand is a pain though. The sleeve of the suit loops around her thumb, covering the ball joint at the wrist. You gotta use your gut feel to dislodge that joint, and chances are the ball will come off attached to the hand, rather than the hand being dislodged alone. After that, you gotta slowly rotate the palm, pivoting arond the thumb loop, and in the process stretching the opening of the sleeve, which isn't reinforced by any trimmings. It is a tedious and precarious process, which, after swapping the opened palm for the trigger hand, I decided that it is going to stay there for good.

The pistol is painted black but with a white handle, complete with rotating rounds chamber. On closer inspection, you will notice that the rear half of the gun is identical to AP Popbot's, but simplified on the front end to be simpler, cleaner, more rectilinear. The simplification is much in line to the clean, no fuss look to the entire figure. The gun sits in a holster that almost flows seamlessly from the figure, and not the typical bulging pouches hanging from a buckled belt. Another cool detail.

 

All in all, the originality and detail design of the figure has left me very much impressed. I'm particularly pleased with the costume design. Because of the elastic material used, the curves of the figure are shown in its full glory. Also, I like how the cat suit is matt finished, and not glossy like the previous TQs. The original one is nice in a flashy kinda way, while the new one has a subtle sheen to it. Sham's a cool figure, if you haven't gotten her, wait for the white version.

Below are some related posts:

• RVHK Event Coverage
• Adventure Kartel SXCLB H Shadey
• Popbot Yesterday Princess Yumiko
• Popbot Tomorrow King Old Guard Yoji

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ThreeA RVHK SXCLB H Shadey

Look at the series of three pictures below, touch your heart, and answer me this: If I were to tell you that the sketch in the middle describes one of the two figures flanking it, which do you think is the one that is being drawn. The left one? Or the right one?

All I'm saying is, that sometimes it takes a bit of blind faith in A. Wood, as the SXCLB figure set was pre-ordered without a hint of how the actual product looks like. The only information available was the sketch shown in the middle. At that time I didn't have much faith in the artist (well... not a couple hundred dollars worth of it anyway), and the concept behind the figure just seemed downright lewd. So, I gave it a miss.

I do like the outcome of the Bouncer figure (white latex, shown below on the left), and kinda regret my decision not to buy it, though I understand why I made my choice. Later on, a SXCLB Ankou Ex was announced to be one of the exclusives of RVHK. Before the photographs were released, you don't have to be Nostrodamus to predict that it is going to be black.

Check out how the biggest of 'em RVHK figures look like outta the box.

I don't own any of the Ankou Ex-es that were previously released. There were five of them done. H Shadey is a repaint his white counterpart, with retooled articulated hands instead of giant clamps. The chubby proportions are quite likable, but boy, are these figures huge. I don't really have any room in my display to showcase them properly, so Shadey's back in a box (and probably gonna be traded away). I feel that the articulation in the figure is somewhat limited by the suit, and the weathering effect is not as refined as I had hoped for.

Between the two, I think I will prefer the white one more. I have always speculated that the Bouncer Ankou Ex, with the letters "bgck" imprinted on the suit, has been inspired by the male reproductive organ. The fact that the hood, when zipped up all the way, reveals the pink head, is almost analogous to how the tip of a circumcised d*ck will look like. A literal d*ck head. In that aspect, perhaps the original figure pulled off this concept much better than the latter. Anyway, concept aside (which is really some wild speculation on my part), I do prefer the cleaner look, which is more appropriate for the bouncer of a club.

Anyway, I don't think it is necessary to pay exorbitant prices for this event exclusive, since an Ankou Ex, dark coloured and hooded, equipped with articulated hands, seems to be making its way to your local retailers as the next wave of AK retail exclusives.

Below are some related posts:

• RVHK Event Coverage 
• Popbot Lady Sham 
• Popbot Yesterday Princess Yumiko
• Popbot Tomorrow King Old Guard Yoji

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Hong Kong ReVenture 2012

I must admit... I'm surprised by myself for flying across the South China Sea just to attend a toy show. I do have my own personal agenda for the trip, but still, ReVenture was the main reason I was going to Hong Kong. The trip was an opportunity to spend some bro-mantic time with a fellow collector friend of mine too. We were in Hong Kong from 27 April 2012, and left very early on 30 April 2012. We attended RVHK on the 29 April 2012.

I think we went at the right time, having arrived at 1100hrs, way before the signing as I wasn't really interested in meeting Ashley Wood... a bit of an enochlophobe too. Truth be told, the only person I needed to put a face to a name was Candy (and I did meet her and honoured to take a picture with her). When we were there, the gallery was somewhat empty. We took our time with all the displays, there weren't much people between us and the art work and toys.

In a nut shell, I was glad to be there. I thought I would go only for the event exclusives, but, as my companion aptly put it, the exhibition gallery was a "sensory overdose". Below are some photographs of the items that amazed me: Rex (which I bought and now totally looking forward to its arrival), Maschinen Krueger Kroete (which I am certain I will buy) and all the oil paints (I like 'em but no way am I forking that much money out for prints...) and comic sketches. Though not shown here, I was also amazed by the level of detail that 3A achieved for their Real Steel and Halo figures.

Having said that, I do feel kinda disappointed by the fact that the company seems to be doing better at acquired licenses than their original products. Totem was kinda meh for me. Zombie was nice but not really into statues. I do see the resemblance of MaK's Super Armoured Fighting Suit, Gurren Lagann and Evangelion in the Totem bot that was showcased at the event. Probably going to give it a miss...

We left after collecting our Set Cs from the reception counter. To our disappointment, the T-shirts were "sold out", and I was unable to buy more than what was offered in the Set. I always thought that ThreeA was somewhat responsible for the miscommunication that misled people into thinking that Set C had 2 T-shirts. The last minute rule-change that enabled people to buy both Sets A and B was cool, but telling Set C purchasers that they only had 1 T-shirt somewhat made me feel shortchanged. I really would like a couple more Tees, but while I was there, the de Plume shirt was already sold out. Solid Death Gold Mask, or Tank Girl rip off, was just pure lame so I gave it a miss. Guess I should be thankful there were still small sized T-shirts available.

Lugging the goodie bag was no easy task. We had to cab from the exhibition venue back to our hotel in Jordan, and then from Jordan to the Kowloon Airport check-in. I must say, whoever conceived the idea of an Airport check-in in the city is a genius.

All in all, a good trip, but I know it isn't in myself to go do something like this again... Below are the reviews of some of the event exclusives that I intend to keep. Looking at how the exclusives are being flipped at the moment, those that I don't want to keep could possibly pay for my stay in HK and make all the efforts of carrying the goods worthwhile. Still on the fence on trading some of these items though...

Below are some related posts:

• Adventure Kartel SXCLB H Shadey 
• Popbot Lady Sham 
• Popbot Yesterday Princess Yumiko
• Popbot Tomorrow King Old Guard Yoji

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