May Mini-Haul

Over the weekend, I had the chance to add two new mini-figures to my collection. It has been quite a while since last did a "haul" coverage, largely attributed to me not actually getting any new figures. Initially planning to hold off until I visit Japan later in June, I stumbled upon these two gems going for a reasonable price. Seeing as to how they would fairly minor purchases, I jumped on the opportunity to add more Nozomi(s) into my collection.

Those familiar with School Idol Festival / School Idol Diaries would immediately recognize this illustration

The first addition is one that I had been casually eyeing for quite sometime already, it is the Chobirume Petit Series Nozomi. Manufactured by FuRyu, these are deformed-scale price figures often bundled together with other characters as part of a larger package. In this case, Nozomi would come accompanied with Eli and Nico. Sometimes, stores may break these bundles, allowing customers to select the characters they love most. In my case, this was just the thing I had been looking for.

Because these are prize figures rather than trading figures, the design of the box is more personalized towards the each character. While only slight variations exist between characters, it is still a nice touch to see the box adorned in Nozomi's character color, purple. There is also no mistaking what you will get when you finally open the box.

It is Nozomi of course!

Frankly, the quality of the casting and level of detail is not very good. Such is what you would have come to expect with a prize figure especially considering the price of admission. Nevertheless, the coloring and sculpt are actually spot on! Nozomi's dark purple hair contrasts nicely against her bright red Shrine Maiden skirt with the white top serving as an intermediary. Even the light pink hair bands are well reproduced sporting just the right size in terms of scale.

Although, the winning prize has to go her pose and expression. Nozomi looks so adorable with her excited expression and outstretched hands. It does not fail to brighten up your day from just looking at it. For that, I now consider this my new good luck charm.

The second addition to the collection is a rather unusual one. This time, manufactured by Megahouse, it is the Love Live version of their Cord Mascot series. What are they? Put simple, Cord Mascots are headphone anchors where these mini figures mount onto your headphone cable (or any circular cable small enough, really).

Sold as blind boxes for a total of ten variations, each member of Muse is included with one additional "secret". The front and top of the box showcases Honoka in full-on cord action. While, the sides display the remaining members as shown above.

All the characters are dressed in their training outfits including the tenth "secret" one which is just Rin with a winking expression. Being a blind box, there is no way of accurately predicting what is inside. Unless, you have some form of X-Ray vision or have been provided some information beforehand as to what may be where.

Possessing one of the two blessings mentioned above, I managed to get hold of Nozomi with ease. Aside from mounting onto a headphone cord, the package also comes included with an L stand. One thing worth mentioning though is just how small the figure is!

Because it was meant to be mounted on headphone cables, the figure itself had to inherently be small and lightweight. But, just how small it is may sometimes be rather difficult to fathom. Hence, I have placed beside the already "Petite" Chobirume Nozomi for a sense of scale.

Having only my smartphone with me, photo shoots were quite the challenge especially considering how small these figures were. Still, I had lots of fun doing so and getting back to figure photography. With that, ends this "Mini-Haul" coverage and I hope you have enjoyed reading as much as I have writing it. Until the next time, thanks so much for joining me and have yourself a great day ahead!

Bonus Pictures: