Sailor Moon Collectibles Roundup

That's right everyone, it's time for another edition of "What Sailor Moon merch did Miss Scarlett find on eBay!" Today we have some variations on an old theme: another Petit Chara, and another gashapon accessory.

Sailor Venus is my favorite of the Sailor Senshi, so of course I had to have her Petit Chara figurine. (I'm still debating if I want to fork over the cash to get all the rest...the collecting bug can be vicious sometimes.) Searching my normal haunts turned out to be a bust, so I resorted, once again, to eBay. and like I've said before, you can find legit stuff on eBay, but you have to be careful and know what you're looking for. You don't want to get stuck with crappy fake knockoffs. 

Checking the eBay seller's feedback is very important, as is looking at their storefront and page listings. Examine the pictures they provide carefully. Stock photos are sometimes a red flag and sometimes not--legit sellers use them sometimes. But real photos they've taken themselves are the best judge of whether or not an item is legit. Let's take a look at the Petit Chara I got.

First--and most importantly--check the box to see if the official Toei sticker is on it. That's the little gold sticker on the lower corner of the box, the one with the cat. This is placed on all official merchandise made of Toei's TV shows and other licensed properties. If you have one of those, you know you're good. (But just to be sure, also check the box to see if you can find Toei's name printed on the box.)

Are the pictures clean and crisp? Does it list company info? If yes and yes, you're good.

One more step to tell if it's genuine. Check the bases! Venus' base should have a bow with her planetary symbol at the *top* of the base. The side will, indeed, say China (because even big businesses in Japan outsource manufacturing to China), but will also mention Naoko Takeuchi's name on the side. Artemis' base should be clear, not colored. If you go on eBay and look for Petit Chara, pay close attention to the Artemis and Luna figures. If the bases are colored, those figures are bootleg. If you can find a figure that's genuine, odds are that seller also has more genuine figures. Retailers who sell genuine merchandise will usually make a point of stating it, too.

As for the actual figures, they're great quality! The paint is vivid and detailed, especially for being so tiny. Venus' hair has some yellow gradations, like her Figuarts. I am shocked at how good the paint job on Artemis is. There is some solid heft to the figure, and definitely doesn't feel like it will fall apart at a touch. I am sticking by my earlier assessment that they are a solid collectible, albeit a little pricey--they are retailing for roughly $10 or so a figure. I got mine for $12 plus free shipping.

Some assembly required, of course. But we can't have everything.

This is another Sailor Moon scrunchie. It was released in the same line as the blue scrunchie I reviewed earlier. This one is more Princess Serenity-themed. It came with the little product booklet showing you all the different items you could get. Remember kids, if it has the Bandai logo, odds are, it's genuine,

And here's the scrunchie itself! I love scrunchies. I used to wear them all the time when I was in school, even when they fell out of favor. Then mine all wore out and I had to chuck 'em, but I could never find new ones. Sigh. I got this one for $5, from the same eBay seller I got the Venus Petit Chara from.

These gashapon scrunchies are on the small side, but they're made of a really nice, soft satiny material. This one has cream fabric with a gold print of Sailor Moon's transformation brooches. It's...pretty much the same as the other one, nothing new to report.

So...um...in conclusion, you can find fun stuff on eBay as long as you are cautious. Also, I like blowing my money on Sailor Moon crap.

Miss Scarlett suggests: If you like Sailor Moon, just buy them. You know you want to.

Doll news roundup

Hello, everyone! How is your week?

Well, the latest EAH boy doll, Alistair Wonderland, has been released! Same deal as Darling, Faybelle, and Bunny, he's going in and out of stock on Amazon. If you check his Amazon listing and all you see are third-party sellers jacking up the price above $20, just wait until Amazon has him in stock again. I am very surprised that we are seeing so many signature dolls released in such a short time window. Usually, they're spaced out a bit more...I wonder if that means that Rosabella will be in the next month? Who knows, anymore...

The Apple and Raven two-pack, as well as the Ginger Breadhouse playset, and the Way Too Wonderland playset will be released in June, and are up for preorder on Amazon's site! The rest of the Way Too Wonderland dolls are also now available on Amazon.

And lastly in EAH news, the SDCC Ever After High exclusive doll has been announced: Evil Raven Queen! Like Cerise Wolf last year, this seems to be another "What-if" scenario, depicting Raven as she'd be if she accepted her mother's legacy as the Evil Queen.

In quick Monster High news, some of the new character for Boo York, Boo York are now available...but you'll have to wait until June for the Cleo and Deuce 2-pack. Freak du Chic will be making its arrival around the same time. We've also gotten high-res pictures of the Draculaura Amazon-exclusive collector's doll. No news on date or price. Her dress and hair are amazing, but her face creeps me out...she looks like those scary paintings of bug-eyed children that were popular decades ago. ::shudders::

To finish...it's almost summer! It feels that winter lasted years, and I am ready for heat and humidity (then again, I'm saying this now, when it's relatively balmy...) at long last. Miss Scarlett, signing out!

Mini-Review: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon LE

Hey, everyone! Welcome to the Hobby Haven!

This is just a quick 'lil something in-between full reviews; I thought you guys might get a kick out of it. Some of you probably remember the review I did last year for the Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner Raidou Kuzunoha figure. This is related to that, and you can find out a bit more after the cut.

Late night posting!

Hi, everyone! I'm doing a quick post with some various tidbits before I head off to bed.

First off, in EAH land, Bunny Blanc's classic doll has been released; but like Faybelle and Darling, she is going in and out of stock on Amazon very randomly. If you're interested, keep an eye on her Amazon page, since she sells out very quickly once posted.

In the wild and wacky world of figures, Bandai has announced that the next Sailor Moon Figuarts to be released will be Sailor V. She'll be entering the scene in October, which means we won't get her in the States until possibly November or even December. What this means, then, is that we won't be seeing Sailor Pluto's release until 2016. This just boggles my mind. I thought that we would be seeing her by now--and I half expected Chibi Moon to be released before, which will be happening--but this is ridiculous. Think about it, we are getting a non-Sailor Senshi ('Ol Tuxy) and TWO variants (Super sailor Moon, Sailor V) before a main Sailor Senshi. Seriously, Bandai? If they release Sailor Zoicite before Pluto, I will throw things at them.

Max Factory, the makers of the Figma line of figurines, announced a few months ago that they will be making figures of the three main characters of CLAMP's oldest magic girl series, Magic Knight Rayearth. I can't believe I missed the announcement--I might have been too focused on Bandai at the time--but there is a chance that we will hear more about this in August, when the next Wonder Festival will be held in Japan. Fingers crossed, here.

(At the very least, I am not expecting to see any of the MKR Figmas released this year; I am betting it's 2016. This may make it a little easier on my wallet this year, but then it begs the question, "What figures will be released next year, and how many of them will be Sailor Moon Figuarts?" Still holding out for the Starlights, here. I am passing on Sailor V in order to spare my tapped-out wallet, but maybe in the future when I am a fabulously wealthy bon vivant, I'll pick one up.)

And it now it's time for bed, since I am rather sleepy at this point. Check out my review tomorrow!

Springtime!

The Humble Store's spring sale is live, people! A handful of PC titles are on sale each day, for anywhere from 30-90% off. And there's at least one title each day that is about $1 or less--usually pretty big-name games, too.

It's running for approximately two weeks, and new games are posted each day. They are all DRM-free, like GOG.com, for those concerned.

Oh, and another Duchess makeover post is coming up soon! I haven't had the time to write it up yet, but I will definitely be working on it.

That's all for now! Miss Scarlett, signing out.

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon "Sailor Neptune" S.H. Figuarts

Miss Scarlett, why do you even try sometimes? Sigh.

Hey, kiddos; welcome to the Hobby Haven. We're winding down on the new releases of the Sailor Moon S.H. Figuarts series, and today, I'm bringing you another review of them. This time, we're taking a look at the Sailor Senshi of the ocean, Sailor Neptune. (I missed getting this back in March, but...better late than never?)

Neptune and Uranus went up for pre-order on the same day, way back in July of 2014. I placed an order for one of each, knowing that I wouldn't see hide nor hair of these until 2015.

In early March of this year, I got an email from Amazon informing me that my Sailor Neptune Figuarts would not be shipped to me on time, due to a now-delayed release date. We're talking going from getting her in early March to the mid-to-end of April. Ouch.  Saturn didn't even take that long, guys. Then a few weeks later, Amazon sent out another email stating that they were reinstating the original release date, and surprise, they were shipping her right then and there! (I'm still not sure what caused the delay; some people are theorizing that the West Coast dock strikes are to blame, which is certainly plausible. Bob over at RACS has stated several times over the past couple months that getting shipments of figures in from Japan has been slow and difficult due to the strikes, so it's not out of the question.)

All I can do is shrug at this point. Anyway, on to the review!

Odds and sods

Just a few odds and ends today because I'm in a chatty mood:

• Momo is leaving for a vacation in Japan very soon, and I'm completely bummed, because who will I go see the new Avengers movie with? I am also furious with rage (not entirely) that she's going and not hiding me in her luggage. I've asked her to keep her eyes peeled for any fun and interesting toys and trinkets, so if luck smiles upon us, I might be able to do a special review!
• Darling Charming finally came back in stock yesterday morning (for a few hours at least), so I picked her up, along with a movie to get free shipping. I won't be able to get around to doing her review until maybe July? I will also be modding her slightly, although not as much as Duchess. (So yeah, more content to pad out this blog!) 
• Confirmation of what I was mulling around this weekend: August's posts will be almost entirely DIY-related. I'll be doing posts on the baby blanket I'm making for that shower I was invited to, and I'll probably share some of the recipes I've been working on perfecting. (Miss Scarlett can cook, it's just not her forte.)
• I've decided that I'll attempt to do my Shocktober Halloween marathon again this year, but also cutting down on the amount of snacks, It wasn't pretty. I'll try to do more frequent updates for this, but we'll see how it goes.

Well, that's all for now! Miss Scarlett, signing out!

Weekend updating time!

Oooh! Good news, everyone!

The Amazon listings of Ever After High's Darling Charming, Faybelle Thorne, and Rosabella Beauty are now live! The dolls are retailing for about $19.99, but a word of warning. The dolls have been going in and out of stock, so if you get to the page and it is not retailing for the correct price, that means it's out of stock! Wait until it's the correct price, so you're not giving in to scalpers.

For my part, I'm going to be picking up Darling; I've learned my lesson from Duchess and will be buying this doll online. It's sad when you can't trust the stores around you to carry merchandise! Must be nice to live in an area where stores carry whatever you want... ::ahem::

Anyway, I believe that Darling will be the last EAH doll that I'll be buying until the end of the year. I would like Rosabella and Ginger, but I will be waiting to see if there are any good sales around the holidays. I may or may not be making an exception for the Duchess Swan "Fairest on Ice" doll, depending on when it's released. We'll see. The reason for all this is that my budget for the summer and early autumn is looking pretty tight, so I need to be cautious of what I'm spending on "fun" things that aren't necessary.

Just a few housekeeping items to go over; I have content prepared for the whole month of May, plus there are three figures that I have pre-ordered but not received. The third Sailor Moon boxset also ships in a few months, so I'll be reviewing that. Adding in Darling, that means we'll have enough for the months of June and July. I'm also planning another Throwback Thursday post, if I can find the time to do it. I'll be doing crafting posts for the EAH doll makeovers on the weeks when I don't have reviews.

I'm a little concerned about having enough posts for August, so I might be just doing crafting posts that whole month. I am making a gift for a baby shower in July, so I thought that I might do a post or two about the project and use that for August. So essentially, don't be disappointed if August is a little bare! I'm trying to do the best I can, content-wise, given my budget.

Steam and Good Old Games will also be holding their annual Summer Sales in a few months, so look for a post or two there! I've managed to whittle down my wishlists on both sites for the past year or two thanks to terrific sales, so while I may not be buying anything (it all depends), I'll still let you guys know what's on sale!

And I'll do a bit more of EAH news...The Way Too Wonderland line has a playset with Raven Queen. Other dolls in the line will be Maddie, Lizzie, Kitty, and Apple. The "Way Too Wonderland" special will be hitting Netflix in August. Still no release dates yet for Bunny Blanc or Alistair Wonderland, although they are supposed to be coming "soon." Pictures have been released for a "School Spirit" two-pack with Apple and Raven, no release date yet. Still no release date for the "Sugar Coated" line, although we've gotten more high-quality pics, and my goodness, the dolls look adorable. Ugh...so many dolls, so little money.

That should be all, folks. (Oh, and to the curious: STILL no release window for the Sailor Pluto Figuarts. We're getting Super Sailor Moon in August/September, which means that if Pluto is the next figure, we won't see her until October/November at earliest. Grrr.)