アニメ Republic

Added a little to the June 2010 listings with the arrival (well I’ve actually had them for a while but it’s taken me this long to post this!) Ikki Tousen – Xtreme Xecutor volume 1 on both DVD and Blu-ray. Interestingly both the DVD and Blu-ray boxes are exactly the same including size. The only difference is the obi color (red for DVD and…..yes, you guessed it: BLUE for Blu-ray). I guess they wanted to save a little cash. The cases themselves are also the same size; no smaller Blu-ray type cases here.

While I got both versions this round for the boxes (I thought they might be different sizes) I’ll stick to the Blu-ray versions for all future releases with the exception of the second box. I’ll get the DVD version of that as well just to make things easier on the chance this series is licensed and released in the US/North American market.

Here is a shot of one side of the box with the front of the disc case and booklet along with the first press poster. This a slightly more close-up shot of the poster. I have two so I can frame one and save the other! Lastly is a shot of both sides of the box with all the inserts, art cards, card game (?) cards (yes, each disc came with four of the same cards), booklet open to the center page and back of disc case. Also seen are the discs (both DVD and Blu-ray had the same disc art on both main and bonus discs).

Enjoy!!

Earlier this month I was in Dallas for A-Kon. I’ve been going to this con ……. for a while. The past few years I haven’t really bought anything in the dealer’s room mainly because nothing screams out to me. This year was a little different. While making an obligatory pass though the room I spotted a table selling, among other things, a large number of old anime CDs from the 80’s and 90’s. They were used of course, but all appeared to be in great shape all things considered.

To my joyous surprise, I found amongst this lot a number of older CDs I had been looking for since I had actually sold off my copies way back in the early 90’s. The most notable of these were volume 3 and 4 of the ‘Anime Hot Wave’ series. This was basically a compilation series of anime opening songs from the late 80’s and early 90’s.  You can see the rest here, here and here.

Now for the other shoe to drop. While I was grabbing up these treasures before anyone else could see what was there, I realized that there was a lot of older stuff so I asked the person working the table where the collection came from. He indicated that this was all from one person’s personal collection. A little surprised, I didn’t let my mind think it out before I asked why they were selling such an obviously great collection. The person at the table then informed me that the owner had recently died in a car accident.  At that point I felt rather vulture-like as I held a couple dozen CDs in hand like I had just won the lotto. However after the fact it was brought to my attention that if it were me (who had died and whose collection was being sold off) wouldn’t I want my stuff to go to someone who would really treasure these items? I had to take a moment before realizing that yes that would be the case.

Enjoy!!

I received confirmation the other day for the two panels that I had submitted to run at this year’s Anime Expo. The days and times they slotted me for are pretty good as well, pending any changes of course. The two panels are “Anime Treasure Hunters” (which I did somewhat of a trial run at Anime Conji last month in San Diego) and the “Laserdisc Collectors Forum”. I hope to have some prizes and give-a-ways at both panels. Here is the information on both (subject to change, please check final schedule):

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Anime Treasure Hunters

Summary: Looking for that hard to find item? Questing for an out-of-print DVD or manga? Look no further as we show some of the various different places, both on the web and off, that one can look for that anime treasure you have been seeking. Warning: this panel may be harmful to your wallet.
 
Date: 2010-07-01 Time: 15:00:00 Room: LP 4

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Laserdisc Collectors Forum

Summary: Do you still maintain a laserdisc collection? Have more than one LD player? This round-table discussion focuses on the anime laserdisc collector and their collections.

Date: 2010-07-02 Time: 15:30:00 Room: LP 4

Enjoy!!

In preparation for the upcoming release from Media Blasters of the series Queen’s Blade (Volume 1 streets next Tuesday, May 18) I decided to import a few of the R2 and R3 DVDs. Mainly for the boxes of course, given that Media Blasters generally doesn’t do quality boxes for their singles. In fact as it was announced recently on Mania (formerly AnimeonDVD) it turns out that this series will be one of the last anime series that Media Blasters will be releasing in singles format. Kind of a shame really since even though they didn’t go all out on the packaging at the very least you did have individual cover art. And even if they didn’t do a proper art box there was a good chance you could import one from another region, which is what I did here.

First up we have a group shot of all three boxes (two from R3 TW and one from R2 JP) plus the Ikki Tousen Xtreme Xecutor promo DVD. Next up is the opposite side of the Queen’s Blade boxes. Then next are the boxes and DVD front covers and then the reverse side of both. Finally we have the contents of each of the DVDs here, here and here. Each set came with a booklet, postcards and a bonus CD with some BGM. There was also what appears to be a mail-in bonus item on the R3 boxes if you bought all the DVDs and collected the puzzle pieces. I’ll put all these DVDs in the R2 box (the one with Risty on the cover) and use the other two for the first and second series from Media Blasters.

Enjoy!!

Since I recently added a number of “new” figures to the collection I thought it was a good time to do a little rearranging as well as some much needed dusting. Here are some shots of the most recent arrangement both upstairs and downstairs.

A couple of close ups for the cases downstairs are here and here as well as one of the case upstairs in the media loft.

Enjoy!!

Last month I tried a little outdoor photo shoot experiment with one of the new (ish) figures I got in. I found a fairly cheap prop on-line though the scale was somewhat off forcing me to try some odd shots. The primary suspect for this was the Battle Girl Mil-Alpha (1/6 PVC Figure by Beat). Though it didn’t turn out exactly as I had hoped for with the scale differences and all, still looks pretty good.

Enjoy!!

I have actually had a number of these laying around since the middle of last year about the time of Anime Expo and San Diego Comic Con. I also got a few in early this year as well and figured it was time to do an update. Not to mention it was a good time to do a little dusting and re-arranging.

Here is the Ikki Tousen group shot. Next up we have a couple from Queen’s Blade. And lastly we have a few individual figures from shows such as Sorcerer Hunters and Code Geass.

I also took some more up to date shots of the cases both upstairs and downstairs. The ones dated March 2010 are the most recent shots. You can see a close up of the upstairs here as well as a couple close ups of the downstairs cases here, here and here.

Enjoy!!

Well I finally yielded to pressure from everyone else on the planet and signed up for a Facebook account. Now I can be a part of the heard.

Enjoy!!

Anime Conji, running April 9-11, is a new anime con in the San Diego area. I will be hosting the ‘Anime Treasure Hunters’ panel on Friday (time TBA). This is a new panel for me. The concept is a guide on finding items one might consider treasures in the anime and manga world. While it is rather easy to find the latest ‘Bleach’ DVD, finding a copy of AnimEigo’s ‘Spirit of Wonder’ OVA is another story. This panel is not for those with weak hearts or weak wallets. There should also be some interesting parties at the con as well. So stop by if you’re in the area and check it out.

Enjoy!!

Recently I managed to pick up a copy of the (apparently) super-rare copy of the September 2004 Russian edition of Rolling Stone magazine. This issue features the first, from what I can tell, “anime style” image of the Russian pop duo ‘Tatu’. I have been looking for this issue for a few years now and up until recently have never even seen a single copy listed on any site. I was actually to the point of thinking that it may not exist (even though it is clearly listed on the Russian Rolling Stone web site) given it was only the third issue of that countries’ version of the magazine which appears to have launched in July 2004. I don’t read Russian, so please correct me if you do.

As noted the cover features the pair (Lena Katina & Julia Volkova) in “anime/manga style” with a pregnant version of Julia. The issue also features a short “manga styled” story spanning four pages. You can see them here, here and here. There is no text so there is nothing to translate. This magazine ranks as one of the last few things that I have on my list of treasures I am still questing for.

Enjoy!!