So, I had a new arrival last week, as Kitsu discovered...



I know I joke about "accidentally" acquiring new Shinkis a lot, but in Renge's case, this is actually 100% true: a month ago, after losing a Partio and a Fubuki Type 2 in a heated snipe-off on Noppin, I was kinda bummed out when, the next day, a Renge popped up for 9000 yen. I fully expected to lose this one as well, but I couldn't let her go without at least throwing my hat into the ring.

...and I was reminded to be sure that the button says "Bid Now" and not "Buy Now."

All in all, though, I STILL ended up with a Renge for a Hell of a price. Judging by the layer of dust on her, she was a display piece at her old home, which probably explains why she's so photogenic.

Kitsu took to her like gangbusters, even sharing her beloved fox tail.


Naturally, Karasu was dragged into the middle of things, but I think she's getting used to it by now.


I also picked up the promotional transparent plastic promo weapons, which, along with Misaka's railgun effect, makes for a nifty tribute to the "Star Wars" hype last week...

"UNLIMITED POWEEERRRR!"

And, lastly for now...

...see, I told you it was the dance of their people.

Of course, looking at Renge's big clunky gloves and boots, it IMMEDIATELY reminded me of another figure I had on my "Etcetera" shelf...


Hellboy is a bit of a brick compared to the INSANE posable-ness of Shinkis, but he wasn't totally inflexible.


Of course, Renge HAD to introduce Mr. Perlman to her bestie, and Kitsu naturally dragged Karasu along...but could those be hearts in the optics of my normally reserved oni?


...yeah. That's a distinct possibility.

Congrats on getting Renge! Got to love how the tail from the original Mizuki looks on Renge. <3

Lock Cade wrote:Congrats on getting Renge! Got to love how the tail from the original Mizuki looks on Renge. <3

I confess, the main reason I went ahead and bought such a badly damaged Mizuki Type 1 in the first place was so I'd have the tail available if, by chance, I managed to someday get a Renge...but when I opened the box and got her in hand, I immediately fell head-over-heels for Kitsu, as the sheer quantity of pics I've shot of her will attest to.

As before, I feel really guilty about suddenly fixating on Renge as well, since I have other girls that I STILL haven't given proper attention to yet. The fact that I even HAVE her is still startling, though, so I probably can be forgiven, LOL...

Meantime, the screws for Kitsu's body have arrived, but I've noticed a couple of other flaws in her parts that lead me to believe she was originally one of the Chinese bootlegs Roequ, the friend who first got me into Shinkis in the first place, warned me about. It doesn't diminish my fondness for her, but it does mean I'm gonna be searching Noppin for some further replacement parts (er...once I get money again, I mean)...and, who knows, maybe I'll also finally find a replacement for the piece I broke on Violet's VicViper last year.

I didn't even think there were any Chinese bootleg versions of Shinki. o_O I've heard of bootleg Figma figures, but not bootleg Shinki.

Lock Cade wrote:I didn't even think there were any Chinese bootleg versions of Shinki. o_O I've heard of bootleg Figma figures, but not bootleg Shinki.

According to him, that's the reason for the release of the wave of prototype/carded versions of the Blade foursome (MaoChao, Howling, Partio, and Pomock), as part of an attempt to catch the main culprits. I fully admit, he's just a single source (and if you guys here haven't heard of it, I'm legit at a loss of where I can go to otherwise confirm it), but I have heard of bootleg Shinkis popping up on eBay and other auction sites, especially from Chinese sellers.

Mind you, if the green Paradron Medic-style Transformers Animated Arcee that keeps popping up in my pics as Ratchet and Joy's assistant nurse hasn't clued you in yet, I don't mind bootlegs quite as much as most toy collectors...her name is "Ariel," BTW, after the Japanese name for Energon Arcee (and Elita-1's original name).

Heckfire wrote:

Lock Cade wrote:I didn't even think there were any Chinese bootleg versions of Shinki. o_O I've heard of bootleg Figma figures, but not bootleg Shinki.

According to him, that's the reason for the release of the wave of prototype/carded versions of the Blade foursome (MaoChao, Howling, Partio, and Pomock), as part of an attempt to catch the main culprits. I fully admit, he's just a single source (and if you guys here haven't heard of it, I'm legit at a loss of where I can go to otherwise confirm it), but I have heard of bootleg Shinkis popping up on eBay and other auction sites, especially from Chinese sellers.

Mind you, if the green Paradron Medic-style Transformers Animated Arcee that keeps popping up in my pics as Ratchet and Joy's assistant nurse hasn't clued you in yet, I don't mind bootlegs quite as much as most toy collectors...her name is "Ariel," BTW, after the Japanese name for Energon Arcee (and Elita-1's original name).

There aren't any outright bootleg Shinkis, so rest easy. There are recast MMS bodies and other Shinki-related goods available on Taobao, but that's a VERY recent occurrence and VERY limited. What you're looking at with your Shinki is age, not illegitimate product.

Shinkis in general haven't had the mass-appeal in countries outside of Japan to warrant bootlegging and the figures themselves are way too complex for any kind of large-scale recasting to be at all any profitable. If there ever were people doing it, they would have to be complete idiots or people who do it as a hobby like the person currently offering recasts on TaoBao.

The carded BLADE Shinkis were all promotional products like Dengeki Hobby Magazine mail-order exclusives and such, not a scheme to catch bootleggers.

I don't think your friend knows about Shinkis as much as he wants you to think he does.

Stanisburgh wrote:There aren't any outright bootleg Shinkis, so rest easy. There are recast MMS bodies and other Shinki-related goods available on Taobao, but that's a VERY recent occurrence and VERY limited. What you're looking at with your Shinki is age, not illegitimate product.

Shinkis in general haven't had the mass-appeal in countries outside of Japan to warrant bootlegging and the figures themselves are way too complex for any kind of large-scale recasting to be at all any profitable. If there ever were people doing it, they would have to be complete idiots or people who do it as a hobby like the person currently offering recasts on TaoBao.

The carded BLADE Shinkis were all promotional products like Dengeki Hobby Magazine mail-order exclusives and such, not a scheme to catch bootleggers.

I don't think your friend knows about Shinkis as much as he wants you to think he does.

Eh, I'm willing to forgive him since he's the one who got me into Shinkis in the first place. It sounded unlikely, which is why I never brought it up before, but when I noticed the flaws in Kitsu, it reminded me of it.

TaoBao, huh..? Hmmm...

So, I think I figured out another use for that new Blank I got:

...crass, lowbrow humor.

I think is says something about me fundamentally as a person that I find the sight of an action figure scratching her butt and yawning so hilarious.