Commemorating 1 Year of Figure Collecting

I thought up of seven different titles I’d like to mention, so here we go!

1. Year’s Holy Grail (2012) (obtained)
I guess I wouldn’t consider any of my picks to be a grail because I didn’t actually have the need to earnestly sought after any figures I wanted this year–they were quite easily available, or at least to me. But either way, I shall present the Title of Year’s Holy Grail (2012) to… FREEing’s Kasugano Sora, Gym Suit version.

Image not mine.

She was on my priority list for a month or two until I finally scored her from Mandarake. It wasn’t an immediate discovered-and-bought kind of thing though, I waited for about two weeks before I finally gave it. The only place with hope during my search in the beginning was at Plamoya where she is ridiculously overpriced. Obviously, being a mere average high school student, that price was out of my reach. I discovered another one on Mandarake after awhile. It was still overpriced to me but definitely a whole lot (and by a whole lot, I mean really, really a lot) cheaper than Plamoya’s, so the anxiety that I might not find another one of this price again got me. In the end, I attained her successfully.

2. Year’s Favorite (2012)
It is really difficult to pick who to give this title to, I swear. Each and every figure has their own strengths and weaknesses and I enjoy them all to their fullest potential in many different ways that it’s hard to compare. To make everything easier, I factor in things like aesthetic (which is actually a big disadvantage to many prize figures I own), level of enjoyment, and many other things to consider about a figure, put them together, and rounded up a score. So, without further ado, I present the Title of Year’s Favorite (2012) to… Alter’s Kasugano Sora.

Image not mine.

I swear being bias to my waifu doesn’t play a big part in deciding this spot (which should actually, because ‘favorite’ is personal preference after all) and is more on the quality instead. Many collectors say Alter’s figures’ quality is top-notch and I concur–it really is. Following really closely behind to earn my pick for this title is Megahouse’s Gon Freecss. It may just be a mere trading figure but I assure you he looks better live than he does in those photos, honestly.

3. Year’s Regret (2012)
You know it, right? Impulse buying? It happens, and will turn either for the better or the worse. For this title, I’ll talk about the worse (regrets). I have two picks, both of which are referring to a group and not just one figure, mainly, Chara-Ani’s Durarara!! trading figures or the two Touhou nendoroids, Sakuya and Flandre. I like them, I really do. Durarara!!’s one of my favorite shows and both Sakuya and Flandre are my favorites from Touhou, but what make them regrettable for me is that they were an impulse buy and I didn’t intend for a collection of them in the first place. It’s because of that that I don’t display them because they’re too small in size (referring to figure size and/or collection size) that they don’t fit in with the rest of my collection, which is a shame. Although I mentioned two groups, I’ll give the Title of Year’s Regret (2012) to… Chara-Ani’s Durarara!! trading figures.

Image not mine.

I honestly like Durarara!!’s characters more than Touhou’s but the Touhou nendoroids provide me with more fun with exchangeable parts for the other nendoroids at the least whereas the former mentioned doesn’t.

4. Year’s Most Valued (2012)
By ‘most valued’ I mean the figure(s) that holds the strongest sentimental value, and I can easily present the Title of Year’s Most Valued (2012) to… Mashiro and Takagi nendoroids.

Image not mine.

For the simple reason that they arrived together, are my very first nendoroids, and the ones who begun my journey of collecting. I’m always overwhelmed by nostalgia whenever I look at them, especially at their boxes with them packed neatly inside. It is a very refreshing and cheery feeling because I get reminded of how excited I was when I first held them in my hands. They hold dear to my heart.

5.Year’s Unexpected (2012)
This title is meant for figure(s) I thought of wanting, felt as almost impossible to obtain, but managed to get anyway out of luck and not hard work. I give the Title of Year’s Unexpected (2012) to… Popy’s HUNTERxHUNTER Anime Heroes Mini Big Head trading figures.

Image not mine.

Because I only started collecting recently, I missed out all the older figures of HUNTERxHUNTER which have proved rather difficult to find. When I first came across pictures of these mini figures, I honestly thought they looked slightly weird so I’m alright with not having them, but they did not leave my mind. When I was doing my daily routine of checking Mandarake one day, I came across this set late at night and after a few minutes of serious pondering, I snatched them off the list. You can consider this an impulse buy, but this is one that turned for the better because I now think they look strangely lovely. Following really closely behind to obtain this title is Banpresto Ichiban Kuji’s HUNTERxHUNTER Hisoka prize figure. I scored him off Mandarake as well–lucky.

6. Year’s Most Expensive (2012)
The title itself is pretty self-explanatory so without ado, I present the Title of Year’s Most Expensive to… FREEing’s Kasugano Sora, Gym Suit version, which had already won the Title of Year’s Holy Grail (2012) before this. One’s holy grail doesn’t mean it’ll turn out to be the most expensive, but this year it happened to be it for me, with the price costing over S$300 (shipping fee included).

7. Year’s Cheapest (2012)
Again, self-explanatory title, but I won’t count gifts (they’re technically free) and will count figures that I bought/count as a set a set. I now present the Title of Year’s Cheapest (2012) to… Bandai’s HUNTERxHUNTER Killua Candy Toy trading figure.

Image not mine.

I got him at a price of S$13 at AFA this year, if you can recall. If you think it’s not practical that I counted him though, then I would say the cheapest figures I got for this year are Banpresto’s HUNTERxHUNTER DXF, Volume 2 (Killua and Leorio).

Image not mine.

I got them as a set for an estimate of S$31.18.

And that was all of the titles. I’m almost reaching the end of this post as well.

 

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