What did you get for Christmas?

Welcome to the Hobby Haven, everyone!

There's lots of good stuff coming up in the next few weeks! I'll be doing a bunch of media reviews, which you'll probably see in January and February. I lost my camera's memory card, so I have to re-take a whooooole bunch of pictures for some reviews that I don't have finished (UGH). Plus, I got the Monster Exchange Lagoona Blue and Marisol Coxi dolls for Christmas, so I need to review those. Also, we finally got confirmation via Ever After High Dolls that Kitty Cheshire is being shipped out to stores as I type, and that our girl Duchess will be hitting stores in January. I'm seeing weekly toy hunts in my future...gotta get that swan princess! (We'll also be getting a lot more Ever After High this coming year: a playset with Ginger, two lines with three dolls each, and a special two-pack with Apple and Raven.)

We had a very low-key Christmas this year, since we had a big party for my grandmother's birthday last week. We all needed to relax, I think. After the morning gift exchange and Christmas lunch, we ended up watching National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, then driving around to look at Christmas lights. I personally topped off the day with the Christmas episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000. Pretty good, I think!

I got a copy of Persona Q, and the first four Batman movies on Blu-ray, so I was happy with that; I got a few other odds and ends, including some gift cards. I'll be using one (Amazon) to order Persona 5 once it's available, and one (Jo-Ann's Fabrics) to do arts and crafts projects. One of my good friends also sent me some Sailor Moon posters she got at a convention, and Pokemon Christmas tree ornaments. She knows me so well. :) My Funimation.com Cowboy Bebop LE also arrived, so Merry Christmas to me! My Right Stuf holiday sale orders also showed up, so it's going to be anime-palooza at my place for a while.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Oh my word! Today has been simply, as the Monster High ghouls would say, to die for. Welcome to the Hobby Haven.

First of all, we finally got high-quality pictures of the Duchess Swan basic doll! No news on availability yet, but she is simply stunning. Her official artwork--what Mattel based the doll on--was given a redesign to look much more...hmm...simple? She doesn't look as close to her webisode design anymore. But she is just too gorgeous for words, and I am hanging on the Ever After High Dolls page with bated breath for more news.

Secondly, my doll-collecting friend Miss Moon (I hadn't chosen a name for her yet, but this will do nicely, unless I think of a better pseudonym) and I exchanged Christmas gifts. Yes, it's a little early, but we'll both be rather busy in the days leading up before Christmas and won't get to see each other before then. And of course, I had to open my present now, because she hinted that it was Monster High related.

Oh my good lord, she bought me Monster High dolls! SHE BOUGHT ME MONSTER EXCHANGE LAGOONA! She also bought me Marisol Coxi! It's hard to convey emotion properly through writing, but I am just floored that she not only A. Wanted to help me cross items off of my doll-collecting list, but B. Got me two. She's a good friend, that Moon. :)

I'll be putting reviews up after the holidays--I might be keeping Marisol in the box, though. I'm kind of wishing I did that with Elissabat.

Thirdly, I have the beginnings of a cold, so I am positively drowning in DayQuil, vitamins, and chicken soup. I have been sick on Christmas before, and it has been far from fun. Yuck, yuck. Stopped at the drugstore today to stock up on tissues in case this drags on.

Odd and ends

I'm thinking that I should title all my quick news updates as "Odds and Ends." Hmmm.

The Monster High "Haunted" doll line will be getting a Wal-Mart exclusive doll! Rochelle Goyle's Haunted doll will only be found at that retailer; she's been found in the wild, so happy h(a)unting! Haunted will launch on DVD in spring next year.

The Ever After High movie "Spring Unsprung" will be Netflix-only. It's scheduled for "early 2015," no specific date announced yet; same goes for the third season of EAH episodes. The Kitty Cheshire basic doll has been spotted in the wild--Mattel, this is cutting it a bit close to "the holidays." With any luck, Duchess and Ginger won't be far behind.

The Good Smile Company is making an Elsa Nendoroid. Yes. It is a thing. You can pre-order her at retailers like BigBadToyStore right now; I have no idea how long pre-orders will go for. They were asking about $45 for her, which is about what most new Nendoroids cost. She'll be released in May of next year. (She also comes with a tiny Olaf.)

Apropos of absolutely nothing, the anime Kamisama Kiss (Kamisama Hajimemashita) is getting a second season this January and I am stoked. I loved the first season, and even bought the deluxe edition when it was first released. I am probably going to do an unboxing/review of it in honor of season 2, so you can look forward to that in early January.

Slightly related to the above, my Cowboy Bebop order has shipped, and I'll be doing an unboxing/review as soon as it gets here next week. I haven't really worked out a place to put it yet, but I'm sure I'll think of something.

Also, Atlus USA finally sent out a confirmation that they are bringing over both the PS3 and the PS4 versions of Persona 5. We...kind of already knew they would, but hey, it's nice to be reassured. FVII's PC port will also be ported to the PS4 next year. (Sony had a big press conference about 2015 releases this past weekend. Street Fighter confirmed for PS4!) And Grim Fandango's re-release is January 27th! I've heard so many good things about it from my friends that I'm really excited to pick this up.

RightStuf has finished adding new items to their holiday sale. I placed my order this morning, so we'll see if I get them before the holidays or not. I'm excited to cut down my anime backlog, even just by a bit! If I had more spare cash, I could have done a lot more damage...but given that I just got my PS3, I need to keep a close eye on my spending. (I did get a free downloadable copy of Mirror's Edge this past weekend! Sony was offering it as a promotion, and I'm all for free games. Plus, I traded in some games for Amazon credit, and am picking up one of the Atelier games. Looks fun!) I'll probably do a quick post on that when my order arrives.

Miss Scarlett, signing off!

Disney Store Classic Princess Anna Doll

Brrr, Elsa! Enough with the cold and snow already! I'm frozen solid here. ;) Welcome to the Hobby Haven.

As you might recall, the last review was of the Disney Store's Queen Elsa "classic" doll. I'll be reviewing her little sister, Princess Anna, today. (As a clarification, I am not getting the classic dolls of Prince Hans or Kristoff, just the two heroines.) I've already gone over the background of this doll in the last post, so let's get right to it!

All sorts of doll news!

You guys are all used to my random little updates, right? Well, here's some more news!

The following Monster High toy lines have gone live on Amazon and Mattel.com: Haunted, Monster Exchange Program, Gloom 'n Bloom, and Freaky Field Trip. Some of them seem to be going in and out of stock, so if you see one going for more than, say, $25 from a third party seller, wait until Amazon gets them back in stock. They should retail anywhere from $17-$25. Mattel also announced that they will be creating additional dolls for the Monster Exchange Program and Geek Shriek lines. The Exchange dolls will be new characters, while Geek Shriek will offer existing characters (Catty, Gigi, Ghoulia). No pictures yet, though.

The following Ever After High toy lines have also gone live at the same retailers: Mirror Beach (the first budget line), Into the Woods, and Spring Unsprung (which seems to be the new deluxe line). Same as before about prices and stock. Kitty Cheshire's Spring Unsprung doll will be a Walmart exclusive, but no news on a release date yet, although we did get a leaked picture of her. Still no news about the release dates for Kitty, Duchess, and Ginger (and still no official pictures of Duchess!), nor any further info about Darling Charming and Rosabella Beauty. The latter does have an Amazon listing with a description of her doll's outfit, though. So who knows?

(Allow me a little rant here: why oh why is Monster High spewing out dolls like there's no tomorrow, and Ever After High struggles to release the characters' basic dolls? It seems so ridiculous, compared to Monster High's release schedule. Also, weren't the aforementioned dolls supposed to be a "holiday 2014" release? We're about three weeks away from Christmas, not not even an Amazon listing. C'mon Mattel, get your act together.)

Good Old Games has launched their Winter sale (didn't they *just* have a sale?) that will run until the 15th. Steam's just ended, so we might not see another Steam sale until closer to the new year.

In defiance of my painstaking attempts to predict the start of their Christmas sale, Right Stuf launched it December 1st, and will be unveiling new items until the 12th. The sale will end after Christmas. (I personally have yet to see anything that I really want on sale. Come on, Right Stuf!)

Okay, that's it for now. Miss Scarlett is le sleepy and needs to go to bed. Signing off!

Black Friday

Welcome to the Hobby Haven! I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving (even if you don't observe it, I hope that it was a good day for you!)

I completely meant to do more updating on the shopping guide and possibly do a quick Black Friday deals post, when I realized that 1. Kotaku does a much better job than I ever could (and CheapassGamer does too, to an extent), and 2. My sniffliness might not be seasonal allergies but a cold. Once I realized both, I eloquently shrugged and then downed some more DayQuil and hid under the blankets, occasionally emerging to browse various websites. As a result: no blog posts, but some Christmas shopping got done!

The first half of Black Friday was spent cuddled in bed and shopping online. I bought a Blu-ray player (and some HDMI cables) from Best Buy for my parents; most retailers had these hovering between the $40-70 mark, and I found a nice wi-fi enabled unit for $50. If you're in the market for a BD-player this holiday season, there are a lot of options to pick from. Amazon had some good deals on Blu-rays: I picked up The Heat for $6 and Warm Bodies for $8. I think Bridesmaids is at a similar price point, so I might go get that one later. (Those are for me, by the way. Merry Christmas, Miss Scarlett!) I found a DVD copy of Steve McQueen's Bullit (why can't I find this on BD?) for $5. Lots of CDs were also marked down, so I got the deluxe CD/DVD edition of Within Temptation's latest album for almost 50% off. (Also for myself.)

After that, I buckled down to look for a PS3. Decided that I couldn't wait anymore. There were more or less no good bundles to be had--apparently last year, Walmart had offered a PS3 (don't remember what type) bundle for $200, which I am still furious at myself for missing out on. After scouring lots of listings, I decided on a PS3 bundle from Newegg. It's a brand-new 500GB model that comes bundled with retail copies of Lego Batman 3 and the Sly Cooper Collection. The whole deal was $250, plus $5 shipping. Which is not bad, honestly. I'm hoping to sell off the two games and recoup a bit of money that way, maybe even put that towards picking up a game.

I was feeling better by the late afternoon, so I spent the second half of the day hitting up actual brick and mortar stores. I needed to replenish my NyQuil stock, so I went to Rite Aid--they had some free stuff for rewards members (if you bought certain items, they gave you store credit for the same amount) like cotton balls and laundry detergent, so I got some, plus new laundry baskets. Highly exciting. Went over to Target, and got the first two seasons of Pretty Little Liars for my sister, $10 apiece. Also got some $5 socks for my dad, plus some Walking Dead blind box toys for my mom. She came along, and bought a new slow cooker and some boots. We hit up Best Buy next and got some Christmas CDs (Michael Buble and Josh Groban), plus cheap Blu-rays (Labyrinth, Day After Tomorrow, and the original Batman movies on a Blu-ray boxset, only $25!).

Today, I started perusing the Amazon Cyber Monday deals, and found the Jason Bourne movie trilogy boxset on Blu-ray for $15. It should still be live! Snagged that for my dad, so my Christmas shopping for him is done.

I didn't end up buying anything from Right Stuf's Black Friday sale (holding out for the Christmas one), and Steam hasn't had much to interest me so far. We'll see if I end up buying anything else. In summation: when in doubt, use Kotaku as a shopping guide. I'm going to go to bed and then see if any good Cyber Monday deals pop up. I could use a new Keurig.... Miss Scarlett, signing out!

Media Review: Sailor Moon Season 1, Part 1 Limited Edition

You know how everyone has that one show that they love beyond all others? For me, that's always been Sailor Moon. That was my gateway into anime as a young lass, and my fuel for superhero fantasy daydreams. You might be a clumsy, awkward teenager in real life, but in the world of Sailor Moon, you can also be a hero fighting to protect the world and uphold the values of love and justice. It's hard to say just why and how it captured my heart, but it did, and has never let go.

I have fond memories of waking up at 6 AM to watch syndicated episodes of the first two seasons as I got ready for school, and of racing home later on to watch it on Cartoon Network's Toonami. I even filled up as many VHS tapes as I could with home-taped episodes to rewatch over and over.  (This is probably outing what an old lady I am!) This was back when home media releases for anime were hard to find, and hard to afford, in that odd twilight period between the full demise of the VHS and the rise of DVD. Getting legit copies of Sailor Moon on any format was hard--the first two seasons were released on VHS (later on in DVD singles that seemed impossible to track down and had horrible cover art), and the latter two in singles (Ugh, remember those? $25 for a DVD with 4 episodes?). We later got the first two seasons uncut (Japanese language and English subtitles only) from ADV, but with pretty crappy quality, and the latter two with hella hard to find season boxsets. The fifth season never came at all. The movies were surprisingly easy to find, which were all that I had for years and years.

Then earlier this year, in May, Viz announced they'd licensed the whole Sailor Moon anime. Everything, All to be made available on home video! The first of these releases hit the streets on November 11th of this year, which is what I'll be taking a look at today.

The Sailor Moon anime has 5 seasons and 200 episodes. Viz has announced that they will be breaking up each season into half sets, meaning we get 10 sets in total. The first set here is for the first half of Season One. The first season is 46 episodes long, so the half set has 23 episodes. Not bad, considering Viz tends to release 11-13 episodes in one of their average box sets and call it a day.

I pre-ordered the Limited Edition from Right Stuf the instant that the pre-ordering went live. I paid $56.99 for it. Was it worth it, and what did I get? Let's take a look at it.

Disney Store Classic Queen Elsa Doll

Well, winter is almost upon us, with snow, frost, and ice to come. What better way to herald the impending season than to review the Snow Queen herself? Welcome to the Hobby Haven, folks.

Like the rest of the country--no, the world--I was caught up in Frozen mania last year when the movie launched. It was probably the first time ever that I'd gone to see a movie and immediately went to buy the soundtrack once I left the theater. Of course, I didn't find out that dolls were available of the characters until after Christmas, because that's how my luck is. But I became determined to snag them so they could join my Belle and Ariel dolls.

 Well...if you don't have small children in your lives (or if you don't collect Frozen merchandise), you may not realize how crazy things were. Merchandise for Frozen sold out very quickly after the movie's launch, and Disney--who hadn't anticipated what a hit it would be--simply couldn't keep up with the demand. Disney Stores across the country would sell out of the small shipments of merchandise within hours once they arrived, and eBay scalpers began taking advantage of the situation by reselling NIB toys for upwards of 3 to 10 times what they originally cost. If you have a few minutes to kill, I suggest Googling "Frozen merchandise shortage," you'll find no less than a dozen articles on the subject.

Anyway, during the spring, there were periodic restocks on the Disney Store website. You had to be quick, because the toys would sell out within minutes to hours. I am not exaggerating. A lot of it came down to luck. After getting burned twice (putting a doll in my cart only to have it sell out once I got to the checkout), I managed to get my hands on the Frozen sisters, about two weeks apart during the late April/early May restock.

While they *should* be available at the Disney Store retail locations, your best bet is to grab these ladies from the Disney Store website. They retail for $16.95, which is a little more expensive than the average Barbie, but much cheaper than most Monster High or Ever After High dolls. Shipping is about $5, and takes roughly a week. A word of warning; a lot of customers have complained on the Disney Store Facebook page of packages arriving crushed or damaged, and with insufficient packing material. They seem to have died down (I feel a feeling most of this happened during the restock craze, where warehouse employees were probably under pressure to ship orders as quickly as possible), but be aware if you plan on buying from the website.

Elsa, as the eldest, will get to go first. Anna will be the next review.

Sales post

It's dark and cold and snowy this morning, and when I woke up, I thought it was several hours earlier than it actually was. Brrr. Welcome to the Hobby Haven.

I just wanted to do a quick sales post here, and state that I'll be putting up my Sailor Moon review tomorrow probably.

I think the Hobby Haven will be buzzing with lots of deals posts the next few weeks, as I gush about sales and whatnot. Just so you have an idea of what to look forward to.

Amazon is having a flash sale on select Monster and Ever After High dolls, TODAY ONLY. Check out their site for more details.

Wave 3 of Right Stuf's sale is live! They are offering all three seasons of Revolutionary Girl Utena as a flash sale bundle, which I highly suggest you investigate if you like mind-bending stories and heroines with grit. The Sailor Moon LE is also on sale (sort of) for $70. Quick explanation: Viz released Sailor Moon in several "flavors": a basic DVD pack, a limited edition DVD/BD combo pack with several goodies, and (later) a basic DVD/BD combo pack with no goodies. Right Stuf is offering the limited edition pack with their exclusive "gift with purchase" collectible coin. Keep in mind that Viz's anime DVDs and BDs rarely go on sale, and relatively new shows almost NEVER are on sale. So the 12% off is the best sale you're going to get on  it for now with you desperately want the edition with the pack-in extras.

I personally am a little conflicted on whether to pull the trigger. I have a list of shows that I want to buy, and a strict $100 budget. BUT. This wave is offering the Dark Horse re-release of "The Sky," which is a Final Fantasy artbook set solely featuring Yoshitaka Amano's concept art. It's normally offered for about $80-90, is on sale for $45, and I am so conflicted over whether or not to get it or wait. I might just keep an eye on the website while I wait for the 12 Days of Christmas sale and see. Nothing that I *really* want has gone on sale yet.

Kotaku has posted their own Black Friday Deals roundup, and it's worth taking a look at if you're shopping for electronics.

That's all for now, guys! I'm off to finish cleaning up for company tomorrow...and to make my Black Friday/Cyber Monday wishlist! Have a great holiday!

EDIT: Oh dear, I forgot to add that Steam has kicked off their Autumn Sale today. It goes until December 2nd. As a handy tip: if something you're interested in is a daily deal or flash sale, buy it right away--otherwise, wait until the end of the sale.

Odds and ends

It's Thanksgiving break, and Miss Scarlett is spending today relaxing, writing up some reviews, and doing some assorted chores (because like as not, I can't spend the whole day goofing off). I'm going to make sure we have enough posts to last out the year, and hopefully cover January.

It's the last day of GOG's Fall sale, so if you've been holding off, now is the time to act! Unless you're waiting for Steam's holiday sale, that is.

The third wave of Right Stuf's Black Friday sale goes live tomorrow, and they have confirmed that the limited edition Sailor Moon BD/DVD set of Season 1, Part 1 (episode 1-23) will be part of tomorrow's sale. This will also include a limited edition coin. I already got mine, and I'll have that review up soon. 

For those Monster High fans out there who want to buy the Student Disembodied Council 5-pack (featured Slo Mo and Gilda Goldstag), Target has a flash deal ending tomorrow! It's 50% off--making it only $30! With free shipping, it's a steal! Also, Toy R Us will be bringing back the Dawn of the Dance dolls as a Black Friday special. Last I saw, they were $17, but this could be subject to change. Mattel will also be making non-posable vinyl figurines of the main characters, which should be available next year. No info about retailers or price points yet, though. Fans are finding the "Haunted" dolls in stores now, so keep your eyes peeled!

We've also gotten confirmation that the Ever After High "Spring Unsprung" collection will feature a Kitty Cheshire doll, which will be a Wal-Mart exclusive. No pictures available yet, though. Still no word on when we can expect any of the playsets, Mirror Beach, or the basic dolls for Kitty, Duchess, and Ginger. Mattel, my hype is dying a little more for each day you don't announce anything!

The next toy review will be this Friday, get hyped, guys!

EDIT: The Toys R Us Monster High deal is this: Dawn of the Dance dolls are $9.99 each IN STORES from 5 PM to 9 PM on Thanksgiving day. Also, Right Stuf's Wave 3 starts at 12:30 AM CST on the 26th, so it might behoove you to stay up a bit to make sure you get the best deals.

Random news roundup!

Whooo! It's been a long time without updating! Sorry about that, but Miss Scarlett got swamped with work and has had to do overtime covering for a colleague. But Thanksgiving break approaches, with the promise of some down time. And shopping! And deals. Deals everywhere! Some nattering about my shopping after the cut.

Review: Bandai D-Arts Raidou Kuzunoha

Another Friday, another review. Welcome to the Hobby Haven!

I've picked up another figure, but *not* a Sailor Moon one. Very surprising, I know, given how many of the Sailor Moon Figuarts I've been ordering over the past year. (It feels odd to think that there will come a time when they will finish releasing those. No new figure to look forward to every few months...unthinkable!)

This is related to the Persona 4 figure that I reviewed back in...what, October? It seems so long ago. This is from another Atlus video game, "Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha," which falls under the Megami Tensei franchise. There's lots of semantics involved here (it's kind of a spinoff, but yet its own series), but we'll just leave it at that, mainly because I doubt anybody is overly interested. If you'd like to know more about the Megami Tensei franchise, Hardcore Gaming 101 has a great page, chock-full of information.

Let me explain--no, there's too much, let me sum up--the Devil Summoner Raidou games. They're set in pre-WWII Japan, one that happens to be home to supernatural forces and all manner of creatures from myth and legend. Our intrepid and taciturn protagonist Raidou Kuzunoha is a teenage Devil Summoner who moonlights as a detective's assistant while defending the Japanese capital from any and all threats. He's accompanied in his endeavors by a mysterious and fluffy talking black cat named Gotou-Douji. They fight crime! 

Ever since I found out that Bandai was making a figure of everyone's favorite magical detective, I've been hunting for a good place to buy him. Amazon seemed to sell out of their stock pretty quickly, and only secondary sellers were left...and I'm not entirely comfortable with buying from them, as you well know. My other usual figure site didn't carry him, so for a while, I was completely stumped. Then, back in July, the folks over at MyFigureCollection directed me to check out Big Bad Toy Store, which turned out to be one of the best recommendations I've gotten for figure buying.

They had my boy Raidou in stock, and had put some discounts on him since all the stock they had left were the ones with boxes damaged in transit. I got him for $32.19, plus approximately $8 for shipping. I was pretty impressed with the service I got, so take this as an endorsement for a great retailer! (No, I'm not getting anything for endorsing them, although if they happen to read this, I wouldn't say no to some free figures!) Anyway, let's take a look at him.

Where Miss Scarlett is Very Surprised

In a move that completely shocked me, The Right Stuf opened up their Black Friday deal one week ahead of the day I predicted. (I've been looking at the starting dates for the sales for the past few years, and they seem to always start their Black Friday sales on the Monday of the week before Thanksgiving.) Their sale is offered in three parts, with one part up live right NOW. But the next part isn't until the 20th, which has me confused.

Here is the listing of what is on sale in this Black Friday sale. They are also offering one "Mega Deal" per day on hot-ticket items, with heavy discounts. The Mega Deals are only good for 24 hours and seem to be available in limited quantities, so if you see something you like, go for it!

Some of the hot items in this wave include the Attack on Titan DVD/BD, both seasons of Junjo Romantica, the Watamore BD and DVD, and an Oreimo manga bundle. Check frequently, as items go quickly!

There's not a whole lot that interests me in this first wave. Some of these I already have, and the three that I'm interested in are "maybes" on my list of priorities. I'll pass on this wave. I'm hoping for some good sales on Inuyasha: The Final Act, Bunny Drop, Cat's Eye, the new Moribito BDs, and Spice and Wolf. (Among others, heh.) I got a $60 Visa gift card that expires in February, which has me miffed, because that will be too soon to use it on any of the purchases I'm making this spring (the second Sailor Moon BD set, the Sailor Uranus and Neptune Figuarts). But I can probably use it on the Right Stuf Black Friday/Christmas sales.

As a quick note to those interested: Right Stuf has great customer service, and I do highly recommend purchasing from them. They offer free economy shipping at $49 or more, which should be easy to do at this time of the year. Just keep in mind that they're located in Iowa, so depending on where you live, you might be waiting a bit to get your package.

I'll keep everyone posted when I hear of deals! I'll also throw a plug for the CheapAssGamer forums, which are a great resource for deals of all kinds. And now I must bid you adieu, there are dishes and a dirty kitchen calling my name. Sigh.

News Roundup!

Welcome to the Hobby Haven: Where Miss Scarlett tries to keep a regular update schedule and fails miserably. But one does one's best!

A bit of news here, and something I've been meaning to touch on.

Miss Scarlett's Holiday 2014 Shopping List!

It's getting colder, the air is getting crisper, and the stores are already decked out in red and green. It's the holiday season once again, folks. Welcome to the Hobby Haven.

As you know from my many, many earlier rambles (because if there's one thing that Miss Scarlett likes more than shopping, it's talking), I'm pretty much done with my holiday gifts for my family. (I make scrapbooked calendars with scans of family photos, they're a big hit.) But this is the time of the year when I go on the hunt for bargains, because I love a good sale.

So, what am I on the prowl for this holiday season?

• Digital games: I'm hoping to get some good discounts on the games on my GOG and Steam wishlists. I'm especially interested in picking up The Longest Journey and the Tales of Monkey Island bundle if I can get it for about 50% off (hoping to get it for $7 or so). Discounts for the other assorted indie games on my list would be nice, too.
• Ever After High Duchess Swan Signature doll - It will kill me not to have Duchess. The Signature dolls are about $20 or so, and I doubt that Duchess' price will drop because of the holiday season. I'll probably have to buy her NOT on sale, sob. (Still don't have a release date for her, COME ON MATTEL)
• PS3 - Yes, yes, I still don't have a PS3. Honestly, 99% of the PS3 games that were released in NA didn't appeal to me, so I saw no reason to get one. HOWEVER. Persona 5 is coming soon for the PS3. And the PS4, but guess which console is still unbelievably expensive and not backwards compatible? And guess which other console is now getting huge sales? And guess who discovered the Atelier series for the PS3? I am not looking to spend more than $150 on one of these, so we'll see if this ends up happening or not.
• Disney Infinity Anna and Elsa game piece character things - I don't care about Disney Infinity, I just want collectible Frozen figurines. Gimme.
• Anime Blu-rays: I'm counting on the RightStuf holiday sales for some good discounts. (You can get up to 50% off of Blu-rays, which is amazing.) I'm particularly focusing on getting the Persona 4 adaptation, and either the Spice and Wolf re-release or the Vampire Princess Miyu re-release. Or let's be realistic, all of them.

I have a bunch of items coming via pre-order that will be making an appearance, as well. Some anime (the first Sailor Moon Blu-ray boxset, and the Funimation.com Cowboy Bebop Blu-ray boxset), some manga (the latest installments in the series I follow), and (assuming it doesn't get delayed again) a book called "Silver Wings of the Campanula," a "gothic fantasy romance set in the late 1920's." It's being released by a small press that I want to support, so I'm snapping up their publications as soon as I can.

There are some other items that I'm contemplating but which aren't huge priorities:

• Monster High Frankie Stein Sweet Screams doll - I've been waffling back and forth on picking her up for a while. The Sweet Screams line are exclusive to Target, and are intermittently in stock at my local store. They are roughly $25, and I am hoping that there will not only be more of them on Black Friday, but that we could maybe see a sale on them to $20 or lower.
• Ever After High C.A. Cupid Thronecoming doll - It took me forever to decide to get this. I don't have any particular devotion to Cupid, but her design for this line has won my heart over time and oh my god this rhymes. Ahem. Toys R Us is offering her for $19.99 for the holiday season, which is good. 

We'll see how the holiday sales turn out. Will I strike out or score? This is Miss Scarlett, signing out!

Happy Halloween Barbie 2014 (Target Exclusive), and Hello Kitty Funko Mystery Minis

First off, Happy Halloween! This is one of my favorite holidays of the year, and tonight I'm celebrating with a big bowl of kettle corn, some treat-size candy bars, and a classic monster movie marathon. Frankie and Elissabat will be in attendance, of course, and they've extended the invitation to my latest addition to the collection: Halloween Barbie 2014. Given that it's kind of weird to refer to her by that, I'll name her "Hallie."

I came late to this party. I stopped actively collecting fashion dolls in my mid-teens, and by that point, I was collecting special edition type dolls. I simply never heard of Halloween Barbie, which is a shame. About 6 or 7 months ago, I discovered that not only do they exist, but Target offers an exclusive Halloween Barbie every year. I debated for a while over whether or not to get the general HB that Mattel offers, or the Target-exclusive ones. I ended up settling on the Target dolls for the time being. There's always time in the future to pick up the others if I change my mind.

I also have some more blind bags! These are Hello Kitty ones, Halloween themed! Hello Kitty is dressed up as various monsters, and looking as adorable as ever. Two of my favorites in one, I couldn't pass them up. They're made by Funko, who create all kinds of pop culture-themed toys. These are from their Mystery Minis line, which are blind bags...or more specifically, boxes.

I was keeping an eye out for Halloween merchandise as I did my shopping over the past month, I figured it would be a good idea to do the reviews for these together, given the subject matter. Let's open them up and take a look at them!

A few odds and ends

Just a little bit of news here:

There are new Tsum Tsums at the Disney Store! There is a Toy Story mini set, a Christmas Mickey and friends mini set, a Phineas and Ferb Perry mini, and some new medium size plushes: Marie, Stitch, and Winnie the Pooh. I am personally not crazy about the additions, although I am sure that some people will be over the moon for them! Here is the Japanese Disney Store's website with their collection of Tsum Tsums. I am personally hoping that we eventually get Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and Huey, Dewie, and Louie.

If you want to see promo pictures of upcoming Ever After High merchandise, this is a French website that has tons of them, and is a great resource. The Ever After High Dolls Facebook page also made some announcements regarding the webisodes. We will officially see a bunch of new characters in the upcoming third season. Three of them are confirmed Rebels: Ginger Breadhouse (daughter of the Candy Witch), Rosabella Beauty (daughter of Beauty and the Beast), and Darling Charming (daughter of King Charming). This will add a very interesting dynamic, since Rosabella is Briar Beauty's cousin, and Darling is Daring and Dexter's sister. Rebel relatives of Royals...hmm. I'm especially excited for Darling, since she is described as a princess who wants to be a knight in shining armor who saves people. She even wears armor, which I think is amazingly cool. Gus Crumb (son of Gretel) and Helga Crumb (daughter of Hansel) are also announced, although we have no word on what their affiliation is. I'm personally thinking Royals? Either way, the EAHD page leaked screenshots of Helga, Gus, Ginger, and the unnamed snow princess I gushed about earlier. She's still adorable, but her outfit is blech. Ginger, the Crumb cousins, and Darling and Rosabella will more than likely have dolls released next year. No news about the snow princess yet.

I'll probably be posting a "holiday toy hunting guide" or some approximation thereof in the somewhat near future. Oh, and I will also be doing an unboxing of the two limited edition boxsets (Sailor Moon and Cowboy Bebop) that I ordered. The Sailor Moon one will probably be sometime next week, but I'm not sure when.

Also in ultra-breaking news: spice cake with cream cheese frosting is delicious. I'll probably make some pumpkin cake or brownies for Halloween. Yum!

The holiday season is fast at hand!

That right, dear readers! We are only a few short weeks away from that most magical time of the year, Thankshopping Day. Er, I mean Black Friday. In my defense, retailers keep pushing the Christmas season backwards and forwards and outward, and some day it will consume not only Hannukah and Kwanzaa, but Thanksgiving, New Year's, and Halloween in one long orgy of consumerism.

Welcome to the Hobby Haven!

I have cut most of this post because it's long.

Disney Tsum Tsum Chip and Dale Review

Welcome to the Hobby Haven! Usually, I do full reviews every other Friday, but given how many technical problems I've been having over the past few months, I figured there was no harm in putting up some extra reviews.


If you're interested in Disney products, you may have seen these before, but if not, here is the latest craze! These are little stuffed toys called "Tsum Tsum" (pronounced "soom soom," the "t" is silent) that were originally sold at the Disney Stores in Japan. I actually remember going onto the Japanese Disney Store website to look longingly at the cool stuff they got and lamenting that we couldn't get them. But they're here! "Tsum Tsum,' by the way, translates as "stack stack," which I'll explain after the jump.

Ever After High News

Just a few pieces of info, no big news.

The Ever After High Dolls Facebook page shared some photos of the upcoming Glass Lake (so confused, last I heard it was called Mirror Beach? And before that Looking Glass Lake?) line. It consists of Apple, Ashlynn, and Maddie in very simple attire: swimsuits with skirt cover-ups, sunglasses, and very inappropriate shoes. The admin has pointed out in a prior post that none of the accessories are new, simply recolored versions of accessories used from different characters in earlier lines. I am thinking that these might be budget dolls, released without stands. I personally don't find them very appealing, but it might be an easy way to get some new fans into the franchise, especially if the price point is low enough.

I also wanted to mention the Thronecoming special; it will be a half-hour special airing on November 2nd on Nickelodeon at 3 PM EST. No word on whether or not it will be streamed online, so you might want to set your DVR just in case. Beginning October 22nd, you can go onto the official website to vote for your choice of Thronecoming Queen. Voting closes on November 20th. The winners will be announced in a special webisode aired on November 25th. That webisode will mark the end of season 2, and then we won't have anything new until next year when season 3 will start. No word on when season 3 will start.

Some new trademarks announced, as well. One them seems to be a new character: Farrah Goodfairy. I guess we'll see if she is a doll or not next year.

You may all be interested to know that Disney is filming what appears to be an EAH-style movie. The film, entitled Descendants (could be a working title for now) is one of their Disney Channel Original Movies and is slated to air in February. I might check it out, if only because I have fond memories of watching Disney Channel's movies when I was a kid...and because Kristen Chenowith is playing Maleficent!

Still no word on when the Kitty Cheshire, Duchess Swan, and Ginger Breadhouse dolls will be released. It could be as soon as a few weeks! (I realize that I'm harping on this a bit, but we haven't had new characters released since July! It's exciting!) We only know that they are being released for "Holiday season 2014," which makes me think that they'll be ready at the very latest by Black Friday.

I'm hoping that 2015 brings us some more dolls released in the Legacy Day or Thronecoming lines. There are so many beautiful designs for both that would make wonderful dolls, and it would be a shame not to capitalize on it. I'm also hoping for some fashion packs, like Monster High has. (And maybe, if I'm lucky, a very good holiday sale on some of the older basic dolls?)

Persona 4 the Animation "Yukiko Amagi" Nendoroid Review

Ahhhh, what a lovely autumn day. It puts me in the mood for drinking some hot cider, taking a walk under the falling leaves, and reviewing a figurine. Welcome to the Hobby Haven.

I might not have mentioned this earlier, but I am a lady of various hobbies and tastes. Well, I say "mentioned," but if you've been following along, you can see some of my various hobbies for yourself. But I don't think I've touched on my love of video games yet. Perhaps one of my favorite series of all time is the "Megami Tensei" series of Japanese role-playing games. They're not as well-known as, say, The Legend of Zelda or Final Fantasy, but they've slowly been growing in popularity over the last couple of years. (If you're interested, take a gander at Hardcore Gaming 101's very informative page exploring the entire series.) The franchise is composed of multiple different series. The one series that I'll be talking about in particular is the Persona series. They're turn-based RPGs that focus on psychological elements and character growth and relationships.

Arguably the most popular of these is Persona 4, which debuted in Japan back in 2008, and has enjoyed phenomenal success, including a remake, several spinoff sequels, and two animated adaptations. This is important, because the figure I'm reviewing today has a weird technicality, which I'll explain in a sec.

This figure is a Nendoroid, which is a brand of small articulated plastic figurines made by the Good Smile Company. They have a sort of super-deformed "chibi" look to make them appear cute. And it works, they are precious. They're articulated like the Figuarts, but they are entirely removable (I'll show you after the jump). This particular figure is of the character Yukiko Amagi, who is one of the playable characters in Persona 4. However, the figure is specifically marketed as being from the first anime version of the game, Persona 4 The Animation. So Yukiko is from the game, but the box is not advertising that. My guess is that Atlus (the game company that makes the Persona games) only decided to get aboard the Nendoroid train in an effort to promote the anime adaptation. ::shrugs::

Whatever, though. Less time on semantics, more time on reviews!

Odds and ends

Hey, folks! There WILL be a review posted tomorrow--one of the toys I already own, so no waiting on Amazon--so there will in fact be something to read.

My best friend and I went shopping today, and I picked up some cute toys from the Disney store. I'm going to make a post on them for next week to make up for the lack of content from the past month. I also picked up a volume of manga while we were out. I'd like to make a plug for it; the series is called Yotsuba&!, and is written and drawn by Kiyohiko Azuma and published by Yen Press. It's an adorable "slice of life" style story about a little girl named Yotsuba, whose mission is simply to enjoy everything. Her innocence and unique outlook make everyday situations into sheer comedy. Pick one up today!

Anyway, still no news about Saturn. I basically just have to wait until they either contact me that it's back in stock, or wait until they send me an email on 11/9 canceling my order because they still have no stock. With any luck, they'll give me back my $20 gift card and I can put it toward one of the other Figuarts that I have ordered.

More Ever After High trademarks and such...there are several new lines coming out in 2015, including "Into the Woods," (some sort of outdoorsy theme), "Mirror Beach," (beach theme, natch), and "Spring Unsprung." That's also the title of the upcoming Ever After High movie, so my guess is that this line will be taken from the movie itself. Either new characters or existing characters in new outfits. We'll also get some playsets: The Glass Slipper (Ashlynn's shoe shop) and a restaurant-type set. maybe Maddie's tea shop or Ginger's bakery? Some photos were briefly posted of Mirror Beach and Into the Woods, and they look rather bland. Not holding out much hope for those. I'm definitely getting Duchess Swan when she comes out, and I am seriously considering picking up Ginger Breadhouse. I don't know why, but she looks interesting. And I love that she has glasses!

I'm also struggling with myself over picking up C.A. Cupid's Thronecoming doll. Duchess and Sparrow are my favorites out of the EAH characters, and I like--but am not crazy about--the rest. I don't have any particular love for Cupid, but her Thronecoming doll looks neat. And I'd like to have a "fancy" EAH doll; the Legacy Day outfits are just unappealing to me, so this would be next best. Don't...know...argh! I'm also torn over whether or not to get that Sweet Screams Frankie Stein doll I saw at Target. Urgh.

What can I say, collecting can be a struggle. You only have so much space, and so much money. Deciding what you want to do with those is hard.

Where are you, Saturn?

An update for anybody currently interested in ordering the Sailor Saturn Figuarts: I have an update with news from Amazon. Not good news, though.

One of the members in the Amazon forums posted some news she got from customer representatives that she spoke with earlier today. It seems that the original vendor that was supplying Amazon with the Saturn figures is fully out of stock. I am not sure if this vendor is Bluefin Distribution, or another vendor that bought figures wholesale from Bluefin. This vendor does not know when they will have more in stock, so there is no specific restock date. This is corroborated by several posts in the MyFigureCollection.net forums.

If you look at the Amazon listing, figures are being offered by a third party company approved by Amazon. So if you want the figure, and can only get it through Amazon, you have some options there. If you don't particularly care about ordering Saturn through Amazon, you can get her from these retailers, which have her listed as being in stock:

• Big Bad Toy Store
• CDJapan
• I believe that HobbyLink Japan has them, but their site seems to be currently down at the moment.

Now, as for what I'm doing...well, I'm being a bit of tool and am not canceling my Amazon pre-order. I used over $20 in gift card funds on her, so if I ordered her from another site, I'd be paying full price for the figure, and be paying for shipping, too. Remember, I'm cheap. I seek out discounts wherever I can.

I am a little conflicted about this. I find it completely mind-boggling that somehow, AMAZON, the biggest online retailer of all, can't even obtain figures to fill pre-orders that have been standing since day one. I mean, it's somehow sold out before anyone can get it? How does that even work? I know that Saturn is popular, but yeesh.

Amazon sent me an e-mail earlier stating that they will continue trying to fill my order until 11/09/14, after which date they will cancel my order if they cannot fill it. I was given the option of canceling the order before then. I wonder how many people took them up on it. I am hoping, at the very least, that they will give us free two-day shipping once they do fill the orders. I am optimistic that they will be able to find enough product to fill the orders. Well, I'll keep you guys posted on how Amazon resolves the situation. It will be interesting, to say the least.

Two blog posts in one day?

A few bits and pieces of news for you folks!

First, the second Sailor Moon box set has just been announced for pre-order. It is Season One, Part two, and contains episodes 24-46, which is the rest of the episodes from Season One. It is available for pre-order at The Right Stuf and at Robert's Anime Corner Store. The prices are pretty much comparable with the first box set. In this case, the prices are slightly less, since you don't get an art book with the limited edition set. They will be released in mid-February, and the brand manager at Viz has confirmed that we can expect a consistent release schedule from here on out: a new box set every 3 months. We'll get sets 2-5 through 2015 (February, May, August, and November), 6-9 through 2016, and set 10 in early 2017. There's no news so far on when the movies and TV specials will be released, but it will probably towards the end of the box set releases; I have a feeling they want to focus on those first.

Second, Funimation has revealed the cover art for the Cowboy Bebop standard editions, but is going to reveal what the premium editions look like much later. I'll post pictures when they finally get shared.

Third, Mattel's been making a ton of Ever After High and Monster High trademarks over the past few months, and we're finally getting some pictures and suchlike. The Ever After High Dolls Facebook page has confirmed that Duchess Swan and Kitty Cheshire basic dolls will be the next released, and that one of the book-only characters, Ginger Breadhouse, will also be released. The admin has stated that we'll see some releases in time for Christmas, possibly as early as the beginning of November. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I am only a month away from snagging my long-desired Duchess doll. Also holding out hope for a Legacy Day Duchess doll, and maybe some more information about that snow-princess-type character that had webisode stills leaked. Also, we're getting a lot of specials coming up--the Thronecoming special episode is not too far away, and we're getting a full-length movie (and perhaps a more full-length series?) next year.

Fourth, the limited edition cookie dough Oreos taste like coffee flavor. This is not bad per se, just unexpected.

Fifth, I am going to be so broke when 2015 rolls around. We've got the rest of the Sailor Moon Figuarts being released, the next 4 Sailor Moon box sets, and the New 3DS. Also, the Monster Exchange Draculaura and Lagoona dolls, and potentially some new Ever After High dolls that could be interesting.

And oh lordy, the holiday sales are coming upon us. I'll be plunking down cash I don't have on a game system, plus some of the amazing discounts from the Right Stuf Black Friday and Christmas sales. Oh, and the Steam and Good Old Game sales. I don't need to eat or put gas in my car, right? More money for anime and games?

Some Halloween purchases.

'Bout a week and a half, and still no Saturn. Lame. Very lame. Not cool, Amazon. I'm shopping around with other online figure retailers to get an idea of pricing, etc. I do like using Amazon, since I get vouchers from a couponing site, but I can always save those to use on other orders. I very well might be ordering the remaining three Outer Senshi from other sites.

Anyway, I did some shopping to put me in more of a fall mood. Here are the fruits of my labor:

Yes, that's a fair amount of Halloween Hello Kitty merch. Mints in a tin, coloring book, and some stickers. Plus some cool skeleton party supplies, a fun card, and some sugar skull-patterned cloth. Not sure if I want to make a tablecloth or headbands or something out of it yet. The Barbie...well, you'll see her in a few weeks. ;)

I grabbed some fall-themed cookie cutters at Michael's. I think I'll do some baking tomorrow, maybe some brownies?

I also picked up a blind box to give to my mother. Maybe I'll swipe it from her temporarily and do a quick review? I feel guilty for having such a long time period between reviews.

That's about it, really. I'm working my way through the Shocktober movie list--relatives came to visit last week, so I had to postpone some movie-watching. Plus, one of DVDs no longer plays 100% through, so...sigh.

Where Miss Scarlett's a little grouchy.

Grrr, everyone. Grrr. I'm not in a good mood right now (lots of drama with my insurance company, spent a lot of time with them on the phone this morning, and the issue still isn't resolved. grrrrrr), and the news I've gotten isn't making me any happier.

I pre-ordered my Sailor Saturn Figuarts from Amazon on day one, as soon as the link for pre-ordering went live. Back in May, actually. I trusted Amazon because I've gotten very good service from them, very consistent. In 8 years of being a customer there and ordering at least monthly, I can count all the flub-ups on one hand. So of course I went ahead and ordered Saturn from them; the shipping was free, and given that their distribution center is nearby, I receive my items very quickly (even without Prime!).

September 30th, the release date, rolls around, and I get excited. I got Jupiter and Venus VERY shortly after the release date, so I had every expectation of having in my hands by the 3rd, when the review was supposed to go live.

And nothing happened.

It's been one week since the release date, and absolutely no update from Amazon on when it will ship, or if they even have it. I've checked out the Amazon message boards, and it's the same for everyone else. Amazon says they don't have it in stock, don't know when they'll have it in stock, and consequently don't know when I'll get mine.

I want to clarify that I don't mind waiting--as long as I have an estimated shipping date! But there is no information from Amazon whatsoever. I can only guess that since Saturn is a popular character, there there must be a run on the figures, and Amazon is trying to get enough to fill the demand? Don't know.

It's been a crappy day so far, and I was hoping to get lots of things done, but it just seems that it's not happening. GRRRRRRRRRRRRR. (Also, Universal is trying to reboot the Universal Monsters franchise? The Mummy (with Brendan Frasier) is apparently being considered the first in this "reboot," with Dracula Untold being the next. Not sure how I feel about this; why does EVERYTHING need to be rebooted? Oh, right, because Hollywood has no new ideas anymore. Sigh.)

So....yeah. The Saturn Figuarts review is postponed until it actually arrives, guys. Miss Scarlett, signing out, to go do some laundry and hopefully be productive before I go to work tonight. Sigh.

Not this week's review!

You might be thinking, "Where's this week's review?" Unfortunately, I have nothing to post because it hasn't arrived yet! The Sailor Saturn Figuarts released in North America on Sept. 30th, this Tuesday. Usually, Amazon sends me my Figuarts about a day or two after the release date--not because I have Prime, but because there is a distribution center very close to my house--but this didn't happen this week! For whatever reason, I don't know why, the Figuarts is getting sent next week. I will have the review up as soon as it arrives, so keep an eye out.

In other news, Ever After High is getting closer to putting out Duchess and Kitty dolls! Some box art--the character portraits that you see on the side of the box--have been released. I have heard a rumor that we'll be getting Duchess sometime in the spring, but I'm not sure it has been substantiated. It sounds about right, though; I doubt we'll be getting another doll in time for Christmas. I would love to be proven wrong, though.

I will also have some comics to review in November, but I'll talk more about that later, I don't have the time.

Hope everyone is enjoying this lovely fall weather! Miss Scarlett, signing out!

Some quick news!

I stopped by Barnes & Noble to pick up a PSL, the latest issue of Otaku USA, and to check out their blind box/collectible section. I was pleasantly surprised to see that they now carry anime figurines! There were two displays, showing off Bandai products. There were Sailor Moon and DBZ Figuarts, as well as some Gundam kits. It appears that not every Barnes and Noble will carry these, so you'll have to check with your local store to see if they are carrying them in stock. Price seems on par with what you'll get elsewhere, and saves you money on shipping!

The next review will be of my S.H. Figuarts Sailor Saturn figure; it's being released next Tuesday, so hopefully Amazon will get her to my house by Thursday or Friday morning.

ETA: Since this *is* the "Hobby Haven," and since one of my hobbies is anime, I figured I'd toss in some upcoming news for home video releases. I do "news roundups" for my friends periodically for certain releases, so why not put them here?

Sailor Moon: Viz Media has achieved the impossible and licensed Sailor Moon for a home video release, bringing it back to America retailers after more than a 10-year absence. (You may or may not remember me gushing about this earlier.) They will be releasing it by season, in half-sets. (For example, season one of Sailor Moon is 46 episodes long, and will be released in two 23-episode sets.) Season One, Part One will be released 11/11/14, and is available for pre-order at several online retailers. I would particularly recommend ordering from The Right Stuf or Robert's Anime Corner Store. They have it available for MUCH cheaper than Amazon, surprisingly enough. (Right now, Amazon lists the basic DVD set at $40. TRS and RACS offer it for about $30. Why shop elsewhere?) There are two versions available. The first is a DVD-only set, and is pretty barebones. You get episodes 1-23, and a few trailers, and that's it. But for $30, which is a terrific price. The second option is a limited collector's edition which is a DVD/BD combo pack. You get episodes 1-23, a slew of extras (mostly featurettes about the new English dub), as well as an art booklet and a chipboard box which will house both sets of Season One. This will set you back about $55. For comparison, most anime retailers who are NOT Aniplex of America sell BDs with about 12-13 episodes on them for $40-50. This is a really good deal. Note that these prices may or may not be special pre-order discounts; I cannot guarantee if they will go up or not once the product is released. So pre-order 'em while you can!

Cowboy Bebop: Hooooo boy. Funimation has license rescued CB and is giving us a plethora of options to pick from. They are offering two standard editions and two collector's "premium" editions. We'll start with the former. They are offering a standard DVD edition and a standard BD edition, both of which can be ordered from lots of retailers (again, links for TRS and RACS). The DVD version is retailing for about $30, and the BD for about $35. You get all 26 episodes of Cowboy Bebop, plus some extras. These are mostly episode commentaries, some interviews, and a featurette on the making of the English dub. The BD edition will have an additional featurette reuniting the English cast to do a script reading. Sound awesome? Want more? Then why not consider the premium editions? There are two different premium editions to choose from. The first is exclusive to Amazon. You get all the episodes and bonus features mentioned on both BD and DVD (combo pack). It comes in a special "clamshell style" art box, and with two art books, one in black and white and the other in color. They feature concept art and designs. It is currently available for $89.98. The second premium edition is exclusive to Funimation (you can buy directly from their website). Like the Amazon edition, you get all the episodes on BD and DVD. The packaging, however, is a "tri-fold" design "in the style of a vintage record cover." It comes with a display easel and five displayable art cards, one of which has the series' director's autograph foil-stamped onto it. You can pre-order it for $64.98 on their website.

I thought is was very interesting how they offered two versions. Funimation stated "We know some Premium Edition buyers primarily want pack-in content and items, and some prioritize having a display piece for their shelves. While both of our Cowboy Bebop Premium Editions feature display-worthy packaging and bonus items, their differences are intended to reflect these different priorities." Funimation, I guess you know what you're doing, but wow, that price disparity between the sets...I ended up ordering the Funimation exclusive version, both to save a little money, and because I was intrigued by the record cover design. One of the strongest elements about CB is its music, and I thought that this would be a great tie-in. These all street on 12/16/14, by the way, so Merry Christmas to us!

That's all that I've got (for now), so I'll see you later, space cowboys!

Sailor Moon Roundup

Hey, everyone! Welcome to the Hobby Haven! I am your hostess, Miss Scarlett, and I am pleased to introduce this week's (on-time!) review of a few odds and ends of Sailor Moon merchandise!

The first darling little item we have is another Gashapon collectible! This is from a series of Gashapon offering collectible versions of the compact brooch that Sailor Moon uses to transform. She goes through a rotating arsenal of them through the series, so there are quite a few to pick from. One of my coworkers went to an anime convention this summer and picked this up for me in the Dealer's Hall, where vendors offer various types of anime merchandise. She was able to pick this up for $15, which is about on mark; I normally see these going for anywhere from $12-$20 on eBay.

Gashapon, if you recall, are sold in vending machines (and are normally more expensive than vending machine toys we're used to), hence the little plastic capsule. I removed the little plastic bag that the compact came in, but I saved the capsule to show y'all.

It should come with a paper from Bandai absolutely plastered in corporate logos with pictures of the Sailor Moon characters, plus images of the various compacts that you can get.

This is the one that I got. If I recall correctly, this is the compact from the second season. It's called the "Crystal Star," and is the first powered-up version of Sailor Moon's compact. The metallic colors are very bright, almost gaudy. If I might nitpick a moment, Sailor Moon's compact was much bigger in the anime (it fit in the palm of her hand), and the colors were pastel and matte. But the compact otherwise is very faithful to the original design.

And it really does function like a compact! It opens up to reveal a mirror and a replica of the base where the Silver Crystal (aka the ginzuishou) is.

And the bottom flips up to reveal a secret compartment! Perfect for storing....er...secrets! This is a cute little trinket, but it's a bit disappointing that it isn't very functional or closer to the original design. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad to have it, but I'm not going to seek out the others. I wish this would have been more functional--either a clip on the back to actually wear it as a brooch, or maybe *something* in the bottom? Or just a slightly better-looking version of the bottom. Even just stickers or something instead of molded plastic.

The second item I have is a mini figurine that is simply too cute for words.

This darling Sailor Pluto figure is from the Petit Chara collectible trading figurine series. They're blind boxes, as well. The "Petit" is no exaggeration; these things are tiiiiiny. The figurine, when standing on the base, is just about two inches high. We're talking super tiny here. But it's surprisingly well-crafted and detailed. I bought Pluto here from a friend; she bought a bunch of the boxed figures at a specialty store, and ended up with this as a duplicate. I bought her, sans box, for $7, which is a little cheaper than if I bought her on eBay. The figures retail separately in Japan for approximately 500 yen apiece, which translates to about what I paid for it in dollars. If you find one of these babies on eBay, expect to pay upwards of $10 apiece, more if it's one of the rarer variants.

The paint job on Pluto is lovely, and the colors are true to her anime design; her long hair is a dark green that has an almost ombre effect in the back, and her eyes are a lovely magenta. The paint is metallic where it needs to be, and is pearly on her gloves.

The figure is connected to the stand through a simple clamp that you can pop in and out of the figure and stand as you need to. the socket to pop it into is in the back of the head.

It's hard to see, but the top of the base has a ribbon design plus a bow with her planetary symbol. The base color is a smoky quartz that isn't quite brown or quite gray.

She's not very movable; more for display only. The base clamp aside, there aren't any removable parts. A younger fan, say 8 or so, should be able to safely play with these if necessary, but I feel this is more for display only. Not bad for the price.

(My writing style hasn't seemed as fluid as normal lately. Maybe I'm in a writing slump? Pardon the boring prose as I try to flex my writing muscles.)

Miss Scarlett suggests: Despite their limited functionality, these gashapon and trading figures are cute, fun, and a cheap way to have some Sailor Moon fun.

Miss Scarlett's plans for her Shocktoberfest movie marathon.

As you might remember from my previous post on the subject, I'm gearing up for an October-long "Shocktoberfest" movie marathon, inspired by the likes of the marathons and showings I watched on the Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, and ABC Family as a kid. Granted, some of the movies I watch now aren't exactly G or PG-rated, but I'd hazard that it's still generally family-friendly. Since I'm fairly squeamish, I don't go for the ultra-violent and gory horror movies that seem to be common movie fare today, like the Saw movies. ::shudder:: So no Friday the 13th or Halloween or Nightmare on Elm Street here.

But that doesn't mean there's nothing for me to watch! On the contrary, there are lots of great older movies that perfectly fit my taste to watch. I feel like I should quickly point out that in years prior to this, I had attempted to assign a "theme" to each week. I won't be doing that this year; I'll be working off a list where I assign at least one movie, TV show, or special to each day. And the list, with the exception of Halloween itself, isn't hard-and-fast, either. If I turn out to be working a longer night shift on a day that I have a full-length movie scheduled, I might switch it with another day where I only have, say, an episode or two of a TV show scheduled. I find it makes things easier this way.

So without further ado, the general watching list for Shocktoberfest, under the jump:

Universal Classic Monsters: The Essential Collection review

Hurray! My monster movie boxset has arrived! I'm so happy and relieved to finally own this, especially The Invisible Man and The Creature From the Black Lagoon, my top two favorite monster movies. (They used to be available for streaming, and then Netflix made them disc-only. It was so annoying have to constantly request and wait for the disc when I was in the mood to watch them!) I figured I'd do a quick review on this.

To start off, this is a 2012 release that was offered on both DVD and Blu-ray. I chose the latter, since I was given a Blu-ray player last year, and have been eager to start building up a Blu-ray collection. (It may sound corny, but one of the things I like about Blu-rays is how durable they are. DVDs in our household always seem to end up getting scratched no matter what we do, but I've been assured that the Blu-rays will be much more scratch-resistant.) Now, you can find this in a few places online--I was able to find it in stock on Amazon and WalMart's websites among others--but the price offered varies greatly. MSRP is about $149.95, and the average price it sells for is about $90-odd dollars. I lucked out and found a like-new copy on eBay for $65 with free shipping. I want to offer a word of caution to everyone: be cautious when buying anything media-related on eBay. Always check the item description carefully, and look at the seller's feedback! You don't want to get stuck with some crappy bootleg set. Ask the seller for pictures and further information if you're suspicious. The longer you've been around on eBay, the better you get and figuring out if things are legit or not, but reminding people never hurts.

The set itself is simply beautiful, and looks like a collector's edition. It comes in a sturdy chipboard box, which is black and printed with the images of the classic Universal Monsters in metallic silver. It is simple and very tasteful. There are two different images, one on each side. (I forgot to take a picture of it, though.) Inside this artbox is a 48-page book and the Blu-ray discs in a very interesting holder.

It's shaped like a book, with a hard cover. The cardboard sleeves holding the Blu-rays are the "pages." They display the original movie posters and list all of the bonus features located on each disc. The set is advertised as having over 12 hours of bonus features, and looking at the lists, I can believe it. There are commentaries, interviews, trailers, mini-documentaries, and even two bonus films; the 1931 Spanish-language version of Dracula and the 3D version of The Creature From the Black Lagoon. (Obviously, you will need a 3D-capable Blu-ray player and TV to take advantage of it.)

The collectible book provides biographies of the actors and principal staff from the movies, as well as brief descriptions of the filming process. There are tons of scans of the various movie posters, and a timeline of the movies' releases.

I will confess that while I enjoy watching movies, I'm no cinephile. I've read the reviews for this box set on Amazon and other movie forums, and confess that I don't understand half the terms bandied about. All I can tell you is from my viewpoint as a regular ol' Jane on the street, so take it for what you will. So then: picture and sound quality. I own Dracula, Frankenstein, and The Wolf Man as DVD copies (they came included with my copy of Van Helsing--yes, I love cheesy movies!), and I immediately set out to compare them. The picture quality of the Blu-ray set is very good. Everything is clear and sharp. The sound quality is very good, as well. No hissing or crackling here!

This also might sound weird, but I love the menus. They are clear and easy to navigate, but are also attractive and well-done, with clips from the movies smoothly integrated. There was a lot of effort putting into making this an attractive set, and it shows. Given that you get eight movies--technically 10 if we're counting Creature in 3D and Spanish Dracula--as well as all the special features and the booklet, you really get your money's worth. (Especially if you can find it for a little cheaper than $90!)

Now, I do want to point something out: as I might have mentioned earlier, Universal is putting out a Universal Monsters DVD set this year that contains 30--yes, count 'em, 30--of the Universal Monsters movies. It's comparable to their earlier Legacy sets, which were DVD sets that contained the core classic movies and their sequels and spinoffs. This new 30-film collection beats the Legacy sets, though, in that it not only contains all of those films in one slim package, but also includes some other related films, such as the Abbot and Costello parody films. Fans who do not care for Blu-ray and who would like to have the sequels and spinoff movies would be best served looking this up instead of the Blu-ray set, in my opinion. It is a comparable price point but contains far more content.

I am fairly confident that Universal will, at some point in the near future, release their 30-film collection on Blu-ray as well. Perhaps not for a few years, though, in order to keep the costs down to a reasonable amount. But for now, I feel that this "Classic Monsters" Blu-ray collection is a great addition to my beginning Blu-ray library.

Miss Scarlett suggests: Blu-ray collectors who enjoy classic monster films may want to check this out, keeping in mind the possibility of a future re-release with more content.

Miss Scarlett is all for fall.

With the return of pumpkin-flavored coffee to the market (Starbucks' PSL! Dunkin's Pumpkin mocha!) and the very beginning of leaf death (at least where I live), Miss Scarlett's mind has begun to turn to fall. It's my very favorite season, and not just because that when my birthday is! Falling leaves, trees and bushes ablaze in reds, oranges, and golds, ripe apples, pumpkins, and root veggies, and the return of cool/less humid weather.... Yes, please!

My favorite month has to be October. I love spooky stuff (but not the truly horrific or gory), and Halloween is my favorite holiday; I love any excuse to dress up and eat sweets! Over the last few years, I've conceived the idea of having a month-long "spooky" movie and TV marathon to celebrate. Lots of Halloween-themed events these days have branded themselves "Shocktober," which I think is a great portmanteau and therefore have unofficially adopted as the name of my marathon. I had semi-successful practice runs last year and the year before, thanks to greater control over household food shopping and the rise in viewable content on Youtube, Netflix, and Hulu. I compiled a queue of material to watch, stockpiled snacks, and had a grand old time..excepting a few days where I skipped it because I simply had no time.

Well, I'll be doing the same thing this year. I'm not exaggerating when I say that I greatly look forward to fall, and October specifically, all year. But I will be cutting down on the amount of snacks--or at least, watch some movies while on the treadmill!

(Jump break for excessive nattering. This whole post is justified for publishing on the blog since movie/TV-watching counts as a hobby, yes?)

Miss Scarlett crafts!

This week's regular review is postponed for right now, due to an unfortunate breakage. Grrr. I'll have it up as soon as I can. In the meanwhile, remember this?

Well, here's what I did with it:

I got some photo paper and printed out some designs. That large center picture is actually part of the cover of the latest Sailor Moon soundtrack CD. I found a scan, cropped out what I didn't need, an enlarged the center image. The background are just generic photos of space. All I had to do was cut the pictures out and tape them to the surface of the turntable. That way, I can do THIS:

Ta-da! A Sailor Moon Figuarts stand!

Not 100% perfect, and I definitely would like to upgrade to a bigger turntable when possible. But it's a cool way to display my Figuarts together! I was inspired by an electric turntable I saw on eBay that somebody had put together. It had an electric motor, so it turned on its own, and was outer space themed, specifically for Sailor Moon. I don't have the cash to buy that, nor do I have the skills to build an electric display...but I can make a DIY version that fits the bill just fine.

Keep a weather eye out for the postponed review, I'll have it up as soon as I can. Miss Scarlett, signing out!

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon S.H. Figuarts "Sailor Jupiter" Review

Welcome to the Hobby Haven, everyone! This is hopefully the last of the horribly delayed posts. Read through the review and you'll see why...

I don't have anything witty to say, so let's just jump into the review! This time, we're taking a look at the Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon "Sailor Jupiter" S.H. Figuarts. This figure was released at the end of August--the 27th or 28th, I believe. I had it pre-ordered from Amazon.com for $40.99, and selected the free shipping option. I received it on the 29th, and was really impressed with how quickly it arrived.

I noticed a few things about the box right off the bat. First of all, the box is much slimmer than the boxes for Moon or Venus, width-wise. It appears that Bandai cut down on the excess material of the usual clamshell case. I don't really mind, since the bigger case had a lot of wasted space. Maybe this smaller packaging will save some costs in the long run? Second, I finally took a really good look at the Bluefin Distribution sticker located on the bottom of the box. There are two points there--and they could have been there before, but I don't remember seeing them--that I feel are worth pointing out. The first is that Bandai themselves recommend the figure for ages 15 and up, which pretty much dovetails with what I thought earlier. The second is a really important note which I'll quote here verbatim: "Do not place this product on top of plastic furniture, sofa, sheet, tile or anything made of resin. It may cause color migration." Yuck! I keep mine either in the packaging, or clipped to their stands. But be careful with these Figuarts, guys. Nobody wants random color transferring.

Let's take a more in-depth look at her!

Blind Bag Palooza?

EDIT: This was supposed to have been auto-published on 8/22, last week. It seems that Blogger's scheduled posts feature is not working at all like it is supposed to. I'll be looking into this to see if there is a fix to this issue. Sorry about the delay, everyone!

I didn't feel like doing a very in-depth review this week. So here are some of the small blind bag/box items I've picked up lately.

Remember my earlier tokidoki review? I mentioned that they also make a character line of adorable unicorns called "Unicorno Fenzies." These are much, much smaller than the Donutella collectible art pieces. The boxes fit easily in the palm of your hand, and the Frenzies themselves are suuuuper tiny keychains. they're adorable, though! I got them for about $5.95 apiece at my local Barnes & Noble. It says on the box that they're not recommended for children younger than 3, which I'd agree with. Maybe 6 or 7 and up? Here are the two that I got:

The red one is from Wave 1, and is named Peperino. the black-and-white one is named Caramelo, and is from Wave 2. I tried to focus as much as I could on these, but the camera wasn't cooperating. Peperino has little devil horns, with a broken heart on his cheek. He has a jalapeno pepper cutie mark on one side of his body, with a little devil face cutie mark on the other. Peperino also has a brown patch on his stomach that extends up onto his sides and looks like flames. I'm guessing he's a...a devil unicorn or something? Caramelo is a lot easier to figure out. He's painted to look like a Mexican sugar skull, and is clearly themed after Mexico's Dia de Los Muertos. I really like these little unicorns, and might return to get a third. They're a little more expensive than I would have liked for a keychain, though.

Onto the next thing...I'm finally reviewing the Fash'em I bought earlier at Five Below. Fash'ems are a type of squishy collectible blind bag toy. I picked this up for about $4. I've never had one of these before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. You open it by tearing off the plastic cover and twisting open the capsule, and the Fash'em is inside. This is a Hello Kitty Fash'em, with Kitty wearing different animal costumes. there are 6 in all, and they looked cute on the cover.

Opening it up, it's...really sticky. The more that you handle it, the less sticky it gets, but it doesn't go away. I got the Hello Kitty panda figure, which is the one that I wanted. However, I'm not impressed by the quality of this. The paint/ink is faded looking and smudged in some areas, and not within the lines in others. Not worth the money, the guys. I'll keep it so as not to basically throw away my money, but definitely disappointed here.

Last but not least is a Sailor Moon gashapon collectible that I picked up on eBay. Gashapon are toys and collectibles that you can get in vending machines, although they are more expensive than the vending machine toys we have here in the States, usually at least a dollar or a few. Bandai has been releasing various limited edition gashapon collectibles over the past year or so, and when I saw one of the latest lines, I knew I had to get them.

I adored scrunchies when I was in middle school, and I had at least twenty to coordinate with my outfits. I still harbor a secret love for them, so when I saw that there was a Sailor Moon scrunchie set, I needed at least one. This one is a little on the small side, and is made of shiny satiny fabric. The main part is a very dark navy blue, with white moons, stars, and planetary symbols, with a white ribbon along the outside. I think it's pretty cute! I picked it up for about $6. If you're interested in getting these, make sure you're getting the real thing! The Sailor Moon gashapons come in plastic capsules like the one above, in all different colors of the rainbow. They'll also come with a piece of paper from Bandai listing all the different items you can get.

That's it for this blind bag roundup, guys! Miss Scarlett, signing out (to enjoy the rest of her day off)!