Tokyo 2011 Haul!

Just returned from my trip to Tokyo. It was a very enjoyable vacation, especially since the weather over there was way better than Singapore’s perpetual heat and humidity.

Although this isn’t my first trip to Japan (probably my fourth; I’ve kinda lost count),  it’s the very first time I went there without joining a tour group. This gave me the freedom to plan my itinerary and schedule, instead of doing the same old stuff with the tour group. Let’s face it, tour groups aren’t tailored for geeks/otakus/collectors.

For the duration of the trip, I was staying at a hotel near Suidobashi Station, Tokyo. Suidobashi Station’s just a few stops away from Akihabara and Tokyo, so it’s pretty convenient. Also, there’s a theme park and shopping area just next to the hotel. The theme park brought an unexpected surprise; there was a Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger stageshow being held there during the weekends. Having seen how impressive Japan’s tokusatsu stageshows were, I decided to get tickets for this.

The stageshow was held at the Theatre G-Rosso at Tokyo Dome City. The tickets were sold at approximately SGD25 each. Gokaired was at greeting the audience at the entrance, as shown above. I didn’t manage to snap any pics in the theatre itself though, as photography/videorecording wasn’t allowed. The show lasted for approximately 40minutes, and the theatre was the size of a cinema. The theatre was fully packed with kids and their parents, showing just how overwhelmingly popular Super Sentai was in Japan. The show itself was amazing; they used lights/projections/moving sets and props to create a very impressive show. In addition, the actual cast provided the voices, unlike some stageshows which used guys who didn’t sound anything like the actual cast.

The show itself was pretty action packed. Impressively, they used a huge number of suits for the show; there were the Gokaigers, Barizorg, Walz Gills, Damarasu, grunts from other series, Battle Fever J, Hurricaneger, Go-Onger, Gekiranger, JAKQ, Ohranger, and some others which I missed out. The non-Gokaiger suits were used as Gokaichanges. Interestingly, the suits used were pretty show-accurate, except for Barizorg who wasn’t quite as metallic. Storywise, it was basically about the Gokaigers hunting for some treasure in an Egyptish looking place, and the Zangyacks were getting in the way. All in all, it was worth the SGD25 I paid for the tickets.

Now, on to the haul itself:

Due to the strengthening Yen, most stuff became more expensive than I would have liked. Here’s a list of what I bought, and the prices I paid.

Figma Robocop – SGD $41

Figma Rei – SGD $33

Tachikoma Yellow / Tachikoma Silver – SGD $24 each

Revoltech Yotsuba – SGD $33

SHF Ryuki & Dragreder – SGD $75

SHF Amazon – SGD $42

SHF Shinkenred – SGD $32

SHF Gokaired – SGD $40

SHF Tajadol – SGD $42

MG Rider #1- SGD $33

MG Acguy – SGD $49

MG GM Quel – SGD $36

MG Zgok – SGD $36

MG Rick Dias  – SGD $42

Figuarts are generally pretty pricey, while Gunpla/Model Kits are pretty cheap, especially the older kits. As for Nendroids and Figmas, they generally vary in price. Some are ridiculously cheap (approx 1000+yen), while some are even approx 5000yen. Not too sure if that’s the usual trend for them, since I’ve just started on Figmas this trip. Not planning to get any other Nendos though, except for Tachikoma Blue, which was going for around SGD $55… >_<