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Getting Bent Out Of Shape Over This Fully Jointed Steiff Squirrel
It's easy to get bent out of shape with this fabulous and early Steiff squirrel. She is 17 cm tall, standing, and made from mohair. Her belly is (was) white and the rest of her body is reddish-brown. Her tail is made from longer reddish-brown mohair. Her face is detailed with felt backed black shoe button eyes and a simple brown hand embroidered nose and mouth. Her claws are embroidered in the same brown floss. Most interestingly, she is fully jointed - meaning six ways! Her head, arms, leg, and TAIL are are flexible and posable. This is different than a tail-moves-head mechanism, where the tail and head are connected mechanically and adjusting the tail turns the head left and right. Very few Steiff items are actually six ways jointed; this is usually seen on higher-end early dogs and cats. It is very cool to feel the specific cardboard ring jointing mechanism at the base of this squirrel's tail, it feels just like Steiff's arm and leg joints, just in a very different location!
This lovely fall friend was manufactured in 17 and 22 cm over the 1925 through 1934 time frame. She was produced in reddish-brown and white and grey and white. When she was new, she had a working squeaker. Steiffgal can feel the squeaker in her belly, but it is not working now.
Squirrels are as ubiquitous in the Steiff offering as they are in the park across the street from Steiffgal's home! These funny, furry friends have been a part of the Steiff offering since 1897; the first one to appear was begging, unjointed, and made from brown felt. A few years later, this design was updated and made in velvet. The velvet squirrels were also repurposed as pincushions; a model with a basket on her back and a model on a leaf were produced in the 1902 through 1917 time frame. Starting in 1909, Steiff began producing squirrels in mohair; only a few new models appeared through 1942. Steiffgal's new old friend is the second generation version of Steiff's earliest mohair squirrel, with the key difference being the second generation was less angular and overall "plumper" than the first.
Steiff continued its spirited squirrel production after the factory reopened for business just after WWII. They continued producing their pre-war model for a few years, then updated it and named the new design Possy. Possy was begging, unjointed, and made from either brown and white or gray and white mohair. Possy appeared in the line from 1957 through 1976 and was manufactured in 10, 14, and 22 cm. Around the same time, Steiff created another beloved squirrel pattern inspired by a Walt Disney documentary entitled True Life Adventures. This film, released in 1957, "starred" a squirrel named Perri who faced many challenges and adventures. Perri was made from brown tipped mohair, had a great shaggy tail, and feet and hands made out of thick felt. One of Perri's most distinctive features was his white felt backed eyes. Perri was made in 12, 17, and 22 cm from 1959 through 1983. The 17 and 22 cm versions came with a beautifully airbrushed velvet pine cone, about 2.5 cm long.
Steiffgal hopes this discussion on early Steiff squirrels has been more fun than a day in the park for you.
Have a question about one of your Steiff treasures? Let's talk! Click here to learn more.
EIGHT – Happy 8th Birthday Kaila
Toy making
SAGA MANTA RAY
Discovery Kids and Walgreens Partner for Line of Outdoor Toys
Go on a nice boat and pre-order Katsura Kotonoha
Griffon continues their hit or miss streak with this lovely lady from School Days, Katsura. This time I don't think the blame is all on them however, as the series' fairly big-eyed art style is a bit awkward when viewed in 3D. I think they did a fine job capturing Katsura's look as best they could, and the result's not too bad.
Being a big fan of School Days, I'd love to see the characters get more PVC love, so I'm glad to see at least someone taking notice of the franchise. I'm particularly smitten with--what else--Katsura's hair! It's definitely one of her defining features in the source material, and Griffon replicated it wonderfully, with a lot of lushness and volume, not to mention the movement!
Adding her top being taken off is a nice touch as well, adding a bit of variety to the standard swimsuit figure. Again, while she might not be a perfect figure, there are still a few things worth considering. She just might be worth your ¥9,200 when she shows up in July.
[ Pre-order at HobbyLink Japan | Hobby Search | AmiAmi | CD Japan ]
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[NSFW] Bite into a delicious Shirayukihime pre-order
I've said before that not all blatant fanservice figures are just trashy porn, and as usual, the masterful Tony Taka proves me right again. His earlier designs from Fault!! were absolutely gorgeous, and this original Snow White character is no less lovely than the last. These figures seem to be quite contentious though, having been called downright "deplorable" in the past, but I'd continue to argue for the side of artistic nudity rather than trashiness.
I'd say that if one looked past the unfortunately too-common knee jerk reaction to nudity in general, they'd find even less sexual overtones here than in the more blatant Fault!! figures. Instead, Snow White is found merely in the midst of biting into her infamous apple, laid bare but for a simple cloak. Am I reading too much into things comparing her state of undress to the idea of the fairy tale's "spoiled purity"? Perhaps. Either way, she's an exceptionally well made figure, down to the lovely gradient and translucent hair visible from behind.
She won't arrive until November, along with a ¥9,800 asking price. I'm certainly not ashamed to say I'll be definitely adding her to my shelves, and I assume there are plenty of other fans out there since Alphamax keeps on bringing these ladies out!
[ Pre-order at HobbyLink Japan | Hobby Search | AmiAmi ]
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Megahobby Expo 2013 Spring: Shin Megami Tensei
Lots of new stuff on the Shin Megami Tensei front coming from Megahouse so let's not waste time and get right to it!
There hasn't been a Devil Summoner game released since 2008, but Raidou Kuzunoha is certainly enjoying a serge in popularity between the upcoming D-Arts figure and this new figure from MegaHouse. The latests figure, which previously hadn't been shown publicly, will be joining the little-used Game Characters Collection DX series. Even though it was announced back in November 2012 we're not quite lucky enough to see him in color. He's still believed to be coming out later this year so that's something to look forward to.
Meanwhile we've got a pair of Devil Survivor 2 figures hitting while the series is still hot. Both Nitta Io and Ban Airi were announced a month ago in magazine scans and are making their first event showing at MegaHobby Expo. Seems a lot of people are questioning the weird look of Io's breasts, but maybe they'll make more sense in color? Who knows, it still looks like a pretty nice figure. Details remain scarce, we don't even know exactly what line they'll be joining, but I'm thinking the same as Raidou.
Then there's the latest look at Labrys from Persona 4 Arena. She's been making her rounds since January and finally making her first colored appearance. She's looking really good complete with translucent hair and that amazingly huge ax of hers. I think it would be hard to ask for a better scale figure when she joins the High Priestess series later this year.
It will certainly be a good year for SMT figures and I have a feeling this is only just the begining.
[via Akiba Hobby]
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Anna Chambers' Blinky Cat is glowing with charm
Anna Chambers, creator of those adorable striped bunny plushes, has something new up her sleeve. A new plush something, that is. She has been working on making glow-in-the-dark plushes. That's right; plushes you can see even when the lights go out! How futuristic!
There will be three designs in total but we currently only have information on the first, Blinky Cat. I adore the way its face looks when it is glowing. For some reason, it brings to mind Disney's Electrical Parade. The fluorescent feline is limited to 150 pieces. No word on a release date nor the other designs as of yet but news should follow in the coming weeks. You can also follow Anna on her twitter feed here.
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Let Kirino and Kuroneko model their new looks for you
Over the past month we've shown you Alphamax's upcoming pair from Oreimo, since of course, as I said, where there is one of these ladies, the other is sure to follow. It's always nice to see a series that puts effort forth into actually changing up its characters' appearances, so there's still tons of material to get the PVC treatment!
In case you haven't seen enough of the pair in their new one-pieces, we've got a couple new galleries for you to peruse and see if the two are worth your time. As far as Oreimo figures go, they don't have the most detail, but if you ask me the aesthetics of their new outfits more than make up for any other issues. Kirino herself looks as fashionable as ever, with some adorable socks and simple but flattering dress that suits her frame quite nicely.
If you ask me though, Kuroneko comes out the real winner here. Leaving her all-too-covering goth-loli look behind for something a bit more modern and stylish, she retains her dark fashion sense with some flashy new flair, featuring some sexy stockings and choker along with a dress I'd love to own myself! If you haven't gotten your pre-orders in just yet, check out these galleries from Moeyo and see what you're missing!
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Lamp Miku
Over at the Alphamax offices again the other day to take photos of this most cutesome puchi style figure of Hatsune Miku. The non-scale figure is called "Lamp Miku feat Nekozakana" and is due out later this year in October. Retail price will be 3,800 yen.
The figure is based on the illustration by illustrator Nekozakana who can be found on Pixiv.
Folks interested in Lamp Miku can pre-order on one of the following trusted retailers.
- http://1999.co.jp/eng/
- http://amiami.com
- http://hlj.com
- http://jlist.com
- http://kidnemo.com
- http://toylet.net
- Amazon Japan
Unfortunately the lamps dont light up but would be most awesome if they did ^o^
And this is what Miku would look around the workspace.
(C) Crypton Future Media.
More figure photo reviews listed up below.
Read more about Mirai Suenaga >>>
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The Post Punk New Wave Super Friends by Butcher Billy
From Brazilian designer known as "Butcher Billy" comes this spectacular homage to both 80s music.musicians (which I love) and comicbooks (another love, characters from DC Comics used here) with the result in what he terms "The Post Punk New Wave Super Friends", and I am simply loving it! And that fact that they are available as prints on Society6, makes me a very happy (and soon to be financially poorer) individual :)
"What makes a pop culture icon?
Would it be the effect of their contribution to a cultural movement? Is it the way they impact the time and the generation they are targeting? Or just how their exposure constitutes a defining characteristic of a given society or era?
As a child of the 80's I was heavily influenced by everything from saturday morning cartoons on TV to the music coming from the radio. Ian Curtis or Johnny Rotten are as iconic to me as Superman or Batman. Real people or imaginary characters, the incorruptible ideals of perfect superheroes or the human flaws and desires sometimes so desperately depicted in song lyrics - all of those influences affect us to the point of defining our character and personality, career paths and life choices.
The references we are exposed and specifically the ones we choose to absorb make us who we are. Who are your heroes?" ~said Butcher Billy.
Billy is known for an earlier series of Real Life personalities vs Supervillains, known as "The Legion of Real Life Supervillains - where Osama Bin Laden was Green Goblin, Chairman Mao was depicted as "Darkseid", and George Bush Jr was "Two-Face" LOL
(Thanks to Kloer Gefes for the pointer)