Thursday, August 26, 2010

Comic Day 8/26/2010 (a day late).

Well fuck, this was a heavy damn week. 23 books and only 1 was free, oh yay. Didn't help that I said fuck it, and bought some anime and a couple of CD's from Best Buy today too.

Gold Digger Books of Magic #1
Robocop '10 #6
Wolverine Saga (freebie)
Teen Titans #86
Batman #702
Batman Detective Comics #868
Justice League of America #48

Secret Warriors #19
Avengers #4
Captain America #609
Fantastic Four #586
Spider-Girl The End One-Shot
Fantastic Four #578 Iron Man variant. - More on this in a few.
Thor #613
Punisher Max Happy Ending One-Shot

Storm + Gambit (Curse of the Muants) One-Shot
Blade (Curse of the Mutants) One-Shot
Namor The First Mutant #1
Deadpool Team-Up #890
Dark Wolverine #90
Astonishing X-Men #35
X-Men Legacy #239
X-Factor #208

So, the shop has a new policy on rare variants. Anything lower than a 1 in 50 is going to be sold at face value and it's first come first serve on them. The 1 in 50's will continue to be marked up up for grabs for who ever wants them. Thus, why I picked up the Fantastic Four #578 Iron Man variant. It's pretty damn cool and at $3 I wasn't going to pass it up. It's a steam punk Iron Man, that's cool, it just is. I'd read a series based on that.

Been meaning to get this series for ages. Now I have it and plan to finally watch it.

And here at the end we have a couple of Rush albums. After playing Rok Band 2 last night I realized I don't own any Rush. I thought I should remedy that with the purchase of Moving Pictures and 2112.

Oh, and I saw Expendables today. It was alright, the action was all seemingly at speed so it looked brutal, especially when Terry Crews laid waste to those poor bastards with the full auto shotgun.It felt as if there was enough killing of nameless soldiers for 5 action movies. Also, damn, Schwarzernegger looked small, guess he's too busy being the Governator to look like Conan.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Comic Day 8/18/2010.

On with the comics.

Deadpool #26
Deadpool Corps #5
Wolverine Weapon X #16
Uncanny X-Men #527
New Mutants #16

New Avengers #3
Secret Avengers #4
Avengers Academy #3
Thunderbolts #147
Amazing Spider-Man #640
Web of Spider-Man #11

Marvel Universe vs. The Punisher #2 of 4
Hulk #24
Darkwing Duck #3
Batman Beyond #3 of 6
Justice Society of America #42
The Spirit (Firstwave) #5

Last week I stopped into Barnes & Noble to see, if on the off chance, they had Sundome volume 7 since it came out that day. Nope, so I had them order it and I picked it up today. I suggest those that want to see one of the funniest, yet at the same time, biggest teases in manga, to pick this one up. The warning on the cover is there for a reason too. It's not porn, but it comes as close to softcore as one can get without being softcore.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Comic Day 8/11/2010.

Light week with not much going on.

Gold Digger #120
Spectacular Spider-Girl #4 of 4
DareDevil #509
Invincible Iron Man #29
Incredible Hulk #611

X-Force #2 of 3
X-Men #2
Dark Wolverine #89
Titans #26
Zatanna #4
Doc Savage (FirstWave) #5

Saturday, August 7, 2010

FREEing's 1/4 scale Mizuho Kazami.

When I first saw this figure the fishnet stockings did me in. One, I love redheads, two, Mizuho is one of the hottest anime characters ever created in my opinion and three, like I said, fishnet stockings. I thought about this one for some time before finally pre-ordering it at Hobby Search. She was expensive, I think so far the most I've spent on a single figure, but after getting her out of the box, she was worth it.

I'd also say she's one of the nicest figures in my collection now. She isn't perfect, PVCs rarely are, but she's pretty damn close to being so for PVC, especially at this size too. Speaking of size, man, is she big. Normally calling a woman big isn't a good thing, but here, it's sexy. You'll get a good idea later on with a scale shot of her next to a figma. Quarter scale really allows for a lot of detail. The stockings look amazing, the desk and chair are just too cool and Mizuho herself is drop dead gorgeous. Before this 1/4 scale version of her the largest Mizuho I had was the 1/5.5 scale swimsuit version by Yamato which is polystone. Which is a beautiful figure of Mizuho itself. But we aren't here for the 1/5.5 version, it's all about FREEing's new 1/4 of Mizuho Kazami. So lets get on to some pictures. First up, the unboxing.

The amount of plastic and paper stuffed every where to protect the finish on the figure is great. To get it all off you actually have to undress her, which means I took pics of her exposed state first, but those come later. What you get with her is a telescoping pointer, a handkerchief with what looks like a jewel or broach on it, the desk & chair and finally a spare head with glasses. Then again if you want to, you can count her clothes as accessories as well. Those would be her blouse, skirt, bra and lace arm bands. I don't know if the stockings come off or not, I haven't dared try yet. Also, the arm bands are used to cover the seams her arms connect at when her blouse is off.

Next up is Mizuho dressed as if she's about to start a private after school lesson.

With that pointer in her hand she looks like she's about to either point out the finer points of the lesson or she's about to discipline her student for not paying attention. But I don't see how any student would have trouble keeping their eyes on Mizuho. Then again, you almost want to get in trouble if she's going to be the one to punish you.

Let's continue, shall we? Here, we see a few shots of detail.

Mmm, yes, details, delicious details. It really is all in the details. OK, so her bosom isn't the only thing she has going for her, but it is mighty fine. Now don't you feel a little naughty for peeking down her cleavage like that? If not, you probably should, she is just made of plastic after all.







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Now, I'm not a foot man myself, I've never really understood that fetish. But here we can see a nice bit of detail in her feet. I'm sure for you foot fetishist out there this is top notch stuff or something, doubly so if you have a thing for Ms. Mizuho Kazami.

Moving along, we have some close ups of her face.


As you can see, her hair, eyes and overall face look quite nice. The glasses however are a bit lacking. Out of the box they were a little droopy. I was able to bend them up a bit on both sides and that allowed for them to look much better. But I had to be very careful. If you look closely you can see where this stretched, and thus weakened, the plastic. I leave it up to those who acquire this figure to do so at their own risk. Or, you may luck out and her glasses won't be as droopy on yours. Where her face really shines is the eyes, they look spectacular. This is most likely thanks to the large scale. Yes, large scale, as you can see in the following pic, she is large.

Well, that exhausts my pictures of this fine figure. Dressed enough to walk out the door that is. Now on to the more than half naked pictures. Calm down you perverts, don't blow your load quite yet. Oh, and yeah the rest of this will obviously not be safe for work, or as internet lingo goes, NSFW.

The lesson has now begun. Please stay seated and don't forget to take notes. No young man, nor curious girl for that matter, would have trouble paying attention to this teacher. Whether or not they would actually learn anything is a completely different story. One of the above shots is for those voyeurs out there. Sneaky bastards that they are, that's my attempt to follow their lead. The final pic of those above is a close up of her back. There's a lot of clean, smooth skin there and it has it's own bit of detail. You can also see her bottom a bit too. Which also lets you see she has some lovely hips.

Now, before I go on with some detail shots, let me talk about what all is involved in taking her clothes off and what not. Right there at her panties line around her hips is where her upper body separates from her lower. There is a tiny gap if you don't get it down snug and tight. This isn't an issue when the skirt and blouse is on since you can't see this seam at all then. So yeah, you take her apart there and then you can remove her skirt. It separates on her left side with 3 points of attachment down the seam. The skirt's "buttons" fit snugly together. This is thanks from what I can tell, looks like a ball & cup fitment for these "buttons."

Next is her blouse, which has two "buttons" up front that must be pulled apart before it will come off. You also have to remove the loose fitting left sleeve before removal as well. And of course there is her arms. Which fit snugly as well and the seams of which are hidden by the blouse when it's on. When it's off the seams are hidden by the little lace arm bands. So, you get her arms off, the "buttons" undone and that sleeve is off, the blouse then comes right off. Well, almost, it takes a little pulling and muscle to get it off of her left shoulder, but after that it will slip right off. And there you have her, just in her bra, but wait, that comes off too! Very easily too, a simple "button" in the front and it falls right off. All women's bras should be so easy to take off. That, or it would make for a lovely lesson for Mizuho to teach.

Getting everything back on is the same, just in reverse. But getting the "buttons" back together on the bra and blouse is a little tricky. It can be done, just make sure you don't fiddle with them too long, you don't want to be caught cursing plastic women clothing. Alright, so here's some detail pics of her undressed.

As you can see, her nipples are softly painted, yet perkily sculpted. She obviously enjoys the hell out of teaching. Her breasts are also beautifully sculpted and are a proper adult size. So if there's any lolicons in the audience, I hope you one day realize how foolish you have been. Look at those luscious, mouth watering breasts. A man can get lost in them, a man can actually play with them. Yet, let me focus no more on them for the time being. Lets look at those lace arm bands. They conceal the seams where the arms connect to the main body very nicely. As for the bra, which I have no pictures of (plenty of official pictures of it out there already), it is a lovely little piece. It's partially see-thru with a nice design that mirrors that of the arm bands and stockings. Then there's the telescoping pointer. When I first pulled it out of the box and went to put it in her arms I thought it was too short. Silly me, I didn't realize it was telescopic. That in itself is an awesome minuscule detail. Ah, but the real reason I bought this pretty thing is because of those stockings, those wonderful fishnet stockings. More figures should be made with them, they are such a sexy article of clothing. Just look at them, there's something mesmerizing about a sexy lady in a pair of fishnets. And these fit the figure perfectly, both in fitment and scale. They are easily what sets this Mizuho figure from all the Mizuho figures from the past. They're also what I feel will make this figure memorable compared to other Mizuho figures in he future.

Almost done here, next up is the close ups of the face without glasses.


























It's more or less exactly like the head with the glasses. The last pic there is showing how her hair is put up so it's out of the way when she's teaching. The glasses head is the same. Changing head is pretty straight forward, pull up and off it comes. It's another snug fit with no wobble. Also, in these pics you get to see her bare shoulders and some light airbrush details. The same airbrush details are found throughout the figure and make a huge difference making the figure look outstanding. Now I have two final detail/close up pics, and they are of the goods.

If some of you are thinking "nom, nom, nom" I don't blame you, even if it is plastic, it looks delicious.

Now, look at those big, beautiful, bouncing (if they moved) breasts. They aren't vulgar in the least and are sculpted tastefully in my opinion. You can also see the hands a bit closer here ( and in ome of the other pics further on up). They seem to be good hands, but they are a little lacking. A little more time taken on their sculpting would have been appreciated. The fingers look a little fat in places and the paint on the nails could have been applied a bit more accurately. But they work and get the job done just fine otherwise.

Well, that's it, that pretty much covers it (or lack of coverage).

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Comic Day 8/4/2010 + update on the Camaro..

So two weeks ago a new TPB volume of Walking Dead came out. This week I finally picked it up, and what would have otherwise been a light week, turned into a moderate one. Also, picked up a "new" PSP game.

Captain America #608
Secret Warriors #18
S.H.I.E.L.D. #3
Amazing Spider-Man #639
Marvel Universe Vs. The Punisher #1 of 4

Deadpool #1000
Deadpool: Wade Wilson's War #3 of 4
Magnus: Robot Fighter #1
Ned the Chainsaw Guy #1
Batman Beyond #2 of 6

Walking Dead TPB Vol. 12

While I'm here on WD, I want to make mention of the up coming Walking Dead TV series that will be on AMC for those of you who don't already know (which couldn't be many people). From all the reports it's looking like it will be quite gory and brutal just like the comic. Though some things will not be exactly like the comic. It's all to keep people guessing, even those who have read the comics. Hopefully WD makes AMC some money and they don't just toss one season up and be done with it. Finally, good filmed zombie action that lasts longer than a 90 minute movie.

Some how I completely missed this when it came out. I knew of it from looking at the trailers of the official Japanese site, and those trailers looked great. I'm just happy someone decided to license it for a US release. From what I heard on the included music CD of this "Premium Edition" there seems to be a new English dub. Both of Luna's vocal songs in English sounded like a different singer. I don't know for sure yet, I have to go dig out my PSP at the house, but a new dub is welcomed. Not that there was anything horrendously wrong with the dub Working Designs did back in the day though.

Beyond that, I can't say anything else about the game. But it is nice to see an old friend with a well deserved face lift.

So, what the hell is up with the above apparatus? Well, I was getting annoyed that I couldn't get a straight on shot of the game that was in focus without the flash. Yet, with the flash I was getting a lot of washout from the over exposure. What to do? Mangle some wire coat hangers into a rough camera quadpod. It's good to practice your MacGyver skills every so often.

I picked up the last few new parts I needed to get the Camaro back together yesterday as well. Here they are.

So what all is all this? Let's break it down in a list.

-Parking lamp housings (pair)
-Parking lamp lenses (pair)
-Parking lamp lens gaskets (pair)
-Parking lamp housing to front valance gaskets (pair)
-Windshield washer bottle
-Inner bumper brackets (pair)
-Outer bumper brackets (pair)
-Front valance
-Front bumper
-Damaged '68 passenger RS fender (not pictured)
-A whole mess of various screw, nut & bolt kits.

So you might be wondering about the damaged fender, that's the wrong year. Well, my fenders need some patch panels, and I got lucky and Curtis at the Camaro Barn had this one. It was dented on the upper body line and he let me have it for only $20. It was a lucky break he had it at all, even more so that it was the passenger side. I dropped it off at the body shop earlier today around 11am. So now I'm just waiting on a call from the shop that my fenders are ready to be picked up. Don't have any clue how long it'll be, but it's OK, I have some stuff to do for the time being on the car. Though I will need the fenders for final reassembly, I don't plan to tighten anything up until I get the fenders on and everything lined up.

Oh, and I'll get a pretty, shiny picture of the bumper once I put it on. Otherwise I'm keeping it safely wrapped up in it' box. What else, oh yeah, I decided to put the core support and radiator on hand tight, so here's a pic of those slick parts.


WHile I was at it I thought that this would be the best time to put all of the new body mounts on since the fenders were off. So out with the old.

Man, those things look a wee bit rough. I'm pretty sure no one has fiddled with these body mounts since '67. Oh well, in with the new.

Yeah, there we go, those look much better.

There's the rear subframe, front/firewall subframe and core support mounts (all passenger side) in. The driver's looks the same more or less.

This last picture is a mock up of the grill after being media blasted and painted satin black. While the areas left unpainted are no longer polished after being blasted, I'm really digging the brushed look that came from blasting the pieces. I also decided to only mask off the outer edge of the grill instead of doing the inner edge like it was stock. It cleans the look of the grill up a bit, simplifies it if you will (not that it was that complicated to begin with).

The blast cabinet has been a real time and part saver so far. All of the parts I've done in it come out looking brand new or nearly so, only needing paint. I would highly suggest that if you have your own home shop and have the room for one it is an investment that is well worth it.

Now, if you will excuse me, I have a PSP (& charger) to go find.