Tokyo's Akihabara (again) and Gacha-Love, 2017 Edition!

Free Akihabara map with my favorite shops marked (click to enlarge)

Well, it's 11 months after my first trip to Tokyo in 2016, and I went back! I was in Shanghai, and since I had to put up with a 13 hour flight to get there, it made sense to also go back to Japan for a few days. This time, I padded additional days to the trip for shopping! I had a glorious time!

DAY 1: GACHAPON KAIKAN, HAVI KORO, KAIYODO HOBBY LOBBY

Gachapon Kaikan and one of their display cases

On the first day, I had about 4 hours to shop, so I (of course) went to Akihabara, via the Tokyo Metro. First stop was, of course, Gachapon Kaikan! I had plenty of time to take some photos, and look at all the gacha machines, as well as explore the other floors. Gachapon Kaikan still had Rement Pose Skeletons for sale, and for only 500 Yen ($4.35). They had the Oden stall on display, but it was sold out. When I went back a few days later, they restocked, so I got the Oden stall for only 1300 yen (around $12.00)!

Inside Gachapon Kaikan

I saw gacha machines of the recent Epoch robot series, this time with a rickshaw. I tried twice, and got two different colored Epoch robots, but no rickshaw. Something new that caught my eye were these Bandai figures. All I could read was "SAGA", "500 yen" and "125mm" and a backing card that indicated that these figures were highly poseable. They had me at "125mm", because it's an odd scale, and my favorite size for figures (1:15). About 30 seconds after I got mine, someone else peered at the machine and bought one. More on these later.

2 gacha machines at Gachapon Kaikan

Pose skeleton and Oden stall @ Gachapon Kaikan

Kamen Rider @ Gachapon Kaikan

Epoch robots @ Gachapon Kaikan

Next was a hike to the Radio Kaikan building, to check out Kaiyodo Hobby Lobby, and my favorite open package gacha scalper shop, Havi Koro Toy. I bought the rickshaw there, for 350 yen, only a 50 yen markup. Also picked up 2 folding chairs from the Epoch "Interrogation" series, because one can never have enough folding chairs, and they're no longer available on Rakuten ToySanta.

Rickshaw and folding chairs @ Havi Koro

Kaiyodo Hobby Lobby at Radio Kaikan Bldg

Kaiyodo still had the Dokuroman skeletons in their machines, both the DEVGRU (ver 2) and the Halloween Nightmare. I decided to buy 2 more of the Halloween ones, because they're so good and are a definite improvement over the original DEVGRU (ver 1) ones. On the 2nd floor of the Radio Kaikan bldg, there was a bank of gacha machines, and I noticed that the 125mm SAGA figures were sold out there. Hmmm, interesting. Perhaps they're in high demand?

Gacha machines at Kaiyodo Hobby Lobby

Skeletons in different sizes, Kaiyodo Hobby Lobby

Kaiyodo Pumpkin Nightmare skeletons @ Kaiyodo Hobby Lobby

On the way back to Suehirocho Station, I stopped by several shops and even went into dark alleyways to check out the gacha. I came across these Epoch luggage cases. For only 200 yen and the backing card showed that they open. Oh hell, why not? I scored a white one. Another gacha machine on the street that got my attention was... some sort of "horror hands reaching from the grave" gacha. It was just weird enough to convince me to part with 200 yen for a capsule. I got 4 horror hands (1:6 scale) and a gravestone. With all the toy skeletons that I have already, I could always use a gravestone.

Suitcases and Horror Hands gacha machine

By 21:00, the gacha shops were closed, so it was time to head back to the hotel. I opened up the SAGA figure, and found out that it's from a "Kamen Rider" series. And sure enough, the figure was truly 125mm, and had amazingly good articulation and paint apps for something that cost less than $5.00. I counted 21 POA, and the figure was large and sturdy enough to not have the ball joints pop off. The full name of the series is フルアクションフィギュアＳＡＧＡ　仮面ライダー, which roughly translates into "Fully poseable action figure SAGA Kamen Rider". I agree that they're pretty damn good. We just don't get figures of this quality at that price in the States. 

At my hotel (Hotel East 21), there's a small shopping mall, and a pharmacy which had a decent number  of gacha machines. They had the Kamen Rider gacha there, and I bought a few more, since it was so convenient.

Gacha machines at Hotel East 21 mall pharmacy

Gacha machines at Hotel East 21 mall pharmacy

Kamen Rider Kuuga @ Hotel East 21 mall pharmacy

I spent the next 2 days at Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea. I'm slightly disappointed that Disney doesn't know how to properly exploit the pirates over there. The 2 pirate shops had generic pirate merchandise- the unbranded types that they could simply order from China. Nothing that was associated with the park, or the ride. 

Bon Voyage at Maihama Station, like the "World of Disney" stores

DAY 4: BON VOYAGE, AKIBA CULTURE ZONE, YODOBASHI AKIBA and VOLKS HOBBY PARADISE

Several days later, I had a complete day (Saturday) to go shopping, so I took the hotel shuttle to Tokyo Disneyland just to shop at "Bon Voyage", the official Disney Parks store at Maihama Station. Then, I headed back to Akihabara. This time, I had the Akiba Culture Zone and Yodobashi Akiba on my list to check out. At the Akiba Culture Zone, there was another branch of Havi Koro Toy. I didn't see anything I desperately wanted, so I headed to Yodobashi Akiba. It's on the other side of the JR Akihabara station, and this time, I had a smartphone to guide me.

Yodobashi Akiba

This is Yodobashi Akiba. It's HUGE. I spent my time mainly on the toys floor. They have multiple large banks of gacha, and aisle after aisle of toys, including the most comprehensive collection of Rement Pose skeleton items that I had ever seen! I picked up the Pose Skeleton sword set and the Oden stall, although I eventually returned the Oden stall because Gachapon Kaikan had a better price. Yodobashi Akiba's gacha included a few from last year (2016) while Gachapon Kaikan seems to stock the latest. By Sat, on my final trip to Gachapon Kaikan, they were sold out of the Kamen Rider 125mm figures.

 Pose Skeleton display at Yodobashi

Gachapon machines at Yodobashi Akiba

I used the opportunity at Yodobashi to pick up a samurai armor gacha, and some of the Epoch exercise barbells.

Samurai armor and barbells gacha machines at Yodobashi Akiba

Samurai armor and barbells @ Yodobashi Akiba

Pose Skeleton sword set @ Yodobashi Akiba

My last stop was Volks Hobby Paradise, in order to pick up one of the Japanese Billy dollhouses. I took a picture of some of the ones they had in the glass case, already built. The Ramen stall was larger than I expected, but I wasn't really planning on spending 3000 yen ($27) for one since I already made an imitation version for 1/10 the cost. 

Volks Hobby Paradise in Akihabara

Pre-built, display only Billy dollhouses at Volks

Billy dollhouses for sale at Volks

I spent a LONG TIME looking at the packages of the larger kits, pondering which one I wanted to buy. I really wanted the Unagi shop, because I really like unagi in sushi and rice bowls, but the only one they had was built-up in the display case. I was determined to go home with a Billy kit, so I eventually decided on the Kushikatsu (deep fried skewers) shop. Volks is a duty-free store, so foreign tourists can avoid paying the Japan 8% consumption tax on total purchases over 5000 yen. The Kushikatsu dollhouse was 5300 yen (about $48). I will be doing a separate write up on this kit later.

Billy dollhouse Kushikatsu shop, purchased at Volks

The Billy dollhouse website is here:
http://www.billy-doll.co.jp/?mode=cate&cbid=1300112&csid=0

You can use Google translate to get this translated into English. However, they do not ship to the United States, so you'd need to order these from Amazon.Com.

DAY 5: NARITA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

My final day in Tokyo was short. I had an early afternoon flight. There's an overwhelming number of transportation options available to get to/from the airport. Just to make it easier on my nerves, I opted to take the "A" Toei Asakusa line from Nihombashi Station, and just stayed on the same train when it became the Narita SkyAccess Express.

Some transportation options out of Narita Airport

Ah, but once I got to Narita airport, got my boarding pass and checked the luggage, there was still more gachapon machines to peruse. This has to be new... gacha machines at the Narita airport. Travelers on the way home, with leftover yen in their pockets, time to kill, and perhaps a need to buy a bunch of little souvenirs for the folks back home are the perfect marks. Kaiyodo seems to have a good presence there. They managed to have a display of Kaiyodo gacha under a plastic dome. The idea is complete genius! It can also serve people coming home from other parts of Asia with a layover at Narita airport for a few hours. I really love that idea.

Kaiyodo gacha display at Narita airport

Gacha at the Narita airport

Gacha at the Narita airport

RELATED PAGES:

The Search for Dokuroman
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Vitruvian HACKs Warrior Skeleton by Boss Fight Studio

Boss Fight Studio is now up to Wave 7 of their Series 1 Vitruvian HACKS (Greek mythology) action figures.

I held off on buying the "Cursed Skeleton" from Wave 5, because I didn't really like the color combo (looked too much like something out of Scooby Doo cartoons), and the way that the skeleton looked kind of clunky wearing ill-fitted armor. The armor would look fine on a BFS human male figure, but it didn't look good on a skeleton.

"Cursed Skeleton" by Boss Fight Studio

 Luckily, the latest wave has a "Warrior Skeleton" (not Skeleton Warriors) wearing armor that fits correctly, and even better- a paint wash for that fresh-out-of-the-grave look. BFS solved the clunky armor issue in the simplest, most efficient way possible- by using the female armor instead of the male armor. The color combo of brass and dark grey looks good with the paint-washed skeleton. It's a considerable improvement over the "Cursed Skeleton".

"Warrior Skeleton" by Boss Fight Studio

The skeleton comes with a helmet, shoulder and arm armor (right side only), armor skirt, greaves and a shield. Weapons included are one sword and one spear. For some reason, I received TWO bases with some transparent armor spacers.

The paint wash can be heavily applied in some places. I found that the wash made several of the joints very stiff, and I was unable to get much rocker ankle action. The armor was already placed on the skeleton at the factory, which is a good thing, because it is not very easy to remove any of the body armor. Any attempt to do so requires a soak in hot water and the removal of limbs before removing the armor. 

Considering that this deluxe Warrior Skeleton cost me only $5.00 more than the standard, unpainted, unaccessorized standard skeleton blank, I'd consider it to be a good deal. BFS is, at this point, re-using figures and parts repaints and recombining them into new characters, but they are doing it with considerable thoughtfulness and design savvy. The end results can be spectacular. Recommended.

Armor that fits properly makes a big difference

Note: Since the Warrior Skeleton is a fully painted and packaged figure, and is part of a proper Series 1 Vitruvian HACKS wave, the availability of the figure is limited. Boss Fight Studios has already sold out of half the figures in Waves 1-4. If you like skeletons, or think you like skeletons, or you want to stage your own Jason and the Argonauts movie in miniature, get one now. You won't regret it, and even if you do, you are practically guaranteed to recover 100% of your costs by selling it on ebay in a year or so.

RELATED PAGES: 

Greek Mythology Vitruvian H.A.C.K.S. action figures
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Pirate Hats and accessories (for action figures) DIY Tutorial

It's Halloween time and everybody, including your action figures, wants to be a pirate! Arrr matey! If only pirate stuff were easily and cheaply available for any figure!

My collection of toy skeletons spend a lot of time wishing they were in Disneyland (like I do), so while I was making my Pirate Bar dollhouse, I also needed to come up with some pirate hats. An online discussion mentioned Assassin's Creed figures and accessories, and of course, there's the authorized "Pirates of the Caribbean" action figures based on the movies, but I am a cheapskate at heart, unwilling to buy figures just for the sake of stripping off their accessories, plus I have customizing skills aplenty. I wanted to try making my own pirate hats.

I tried cloth and leather, with disappointing results, so I tried Sculpey polymer clay. It was shockingly quick and easy and I really liked the results, so Sculpey was definitely a winner!

Proof of concept- making pirate hats

PIRATE HAT SCULPEY TUTORIAL

 

Step 1: Buy a package of Sculpey. You can also buy a multi-color pack at Michaels and download their 40% off coupon.  Put a sheet of wax paper on your work area, and cut off a slice or two of Sculpey.

Step 1: Buy Sculpey. Slice.

Step 2: Roll the Sculpey slices into a ball, making sure that all of the bits and pieces mold together. Flatten the ball into a pancake. Use a rolling pin or a nearby can of WD-40 and roll the pancake to 1mm in thickness. 1/16" is acceptable for larger action figure heads.

Step 2: Roll into a ball and flatten it

Step 3: Making a hat form speeds up production considerably. This is a wooden bead that happens to be the right size, mounted on a bamboo stick.

Step 3: Make a hat form

Step 4: Put the flat, round Sculpey on the hat form. Press down slightly, and the hat crown will gradually form.

Step 4: Put Sculpey on form

Step 5: Refine the hat shape with additional pinching. Straighten out and trim the brim.

Step 5: Refine the hat shape

Step 6: Fold up 3 sides of the brim. It's surprisingly easy to make that perfect colonial-era tricorn hat!

Step 6: Fold up the brim

Step 7: Gently remove the hat from the hat form, and put it on a piece of foil. Place in the oven at low heat (about 200 degrees) for about 5 minutes. Babysit it so it doesn't burn.

Step 7: Bake!

Step 8: When it's fresh out of the oven, the hat will be hot! Put it on your action figure, and it will mold itself to the figure's head shape as it cools. Try not to burn your fingers doing this step.  If the hat cracks, just make another one. Once the hat cools, you might want to paint on some matte acrylic clearcoat to provide a barrier, in case you're worried about a chemical reaction between the Sculpey and your action figure.

Step 8: Mold to exact figure's head

Step 9: Make a lot more! It takes about 5 or 10 minutes to make each hat. This method is really inexpensive, and you can custom make each hat for a specific head, without waiting for toy companies to manufacture them.

Disneyland, here we come! Arrrr!

PIRATE CUTLASS TUTORIAL

For a minimal investment, or just digging around in the tools and parts drawer, it's quick and easy to manufacture your own Pirate Cutlasses.

Step 1: Buy a package of plastic sword cocktail picks. You can get them at any party supply store, or even the dollar store. Then locate a cheap or free source of ABS plastic. I used an old Macbook tray. The plastic should be thin enough to trim with heavy duty kitchen shears.

Step 1: Buy sword shaped cocktail picks and find some ABS

Step 2: Use a pair of wire cutters to cut off the plastic sword blade. Then cut your piece of ABS to the shape of a cutlass blade. Use sandpaper to finish the edges. If you need a thicker blade, cut out 2 identical cutlass pieces from the sheet, and glue them together. Carve a peg at the bottom of the cutlass blade.

Step 2: cut off sword blade and shape replacement cutlass blade

Step 3: Use a power drill and drill a small hole in the party pick's sword hilt.

Step 3: Drill hole in hilt

Step 4: Use 5 minute epoxy to glue the new blade into the sword hilt. The peg-in-hole will give you a much stronger joint than simply gluing the 2 pieces together without any reinforcement.

Step 4: Glue new blade into hilt

Step 5: Paint the cutlass with your favorite primer. This step is optional.

Step 5: Paint with primer

Step 6: Paint the cutlass with its final color and allow it to dry. The use a matte clearcoat.

Step 6: Paint with final colors and clearcoat

RELATED PAGES: 

"Captain Bar" DIY Dollhouse becomes Pirate Bar
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Greek Mythology Vitruvian H.A.C.K.S. action figures
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