Tokyo Summer Haul

Hello everyone and welcome to another figure and anime merchandise haul post on Tiro Finale! Today, we will be taking a look at a long overdue haul post from my visit to Tokyo earlier this August. As part of my annual Wonder Festival trip to Japan, why not take the opportunity to stock up on some anime goodies as well? Having done numerous hauls over in the past, this is perhaps one of the lighter hauls I have made in the recent months and with a lesser emphasis on figures. Without further ado, let us go through them!

Starting from the left, we have the only true figures from this haul. These were released back in April and, only recently, was I able to get my hands on the complete set of Mami prized figures. As mentioned in my introductory post, the only difference between the two versions is Mami's eyes. One are open while, the other's is closed. Some may consider it redundant to get both but, at 1,000 Yen each, it was too difficult to argue against. Courtesy of the fantastic Mandarake Complex in Akihabara.

The second item on the list is a frequent member of Tiro Finale's Mami in Action series. Topping up on more guns for Figma Mami can never be a bad thing and I have wanted to add more pistols to the arsenal for quite some time. There were new guns released by Tomytec too, most noticeably the KRISS Vector. Unfortunately, they were far too expensive and I consigned to waiting for the price to drop in the future. These pair of Sig Sauer pistols come from Yodobashi Camera in Akihabara and served as a topping up item to ensure I made the tax exemption cut when purchasing some souvenirs. Killing two birds with one stone.

Next up, we have a Mami strap from the second Madoka Magica Ichiban Kuji lottery. I have wanted to get my hands on this Mami strap for quite some time but, they always evaded me for some reason or another. It is not as if they were particularly rare or expensive. In fact, this one only cost 300 Yen and is unopened. After sourcing one in Mandarake's Nakano store, I headed over and failed to find it after much rummaging. Only with the help of one of the very friendly store attendants was I able to find her! Not pictured in this haul is several other Mami rubber straps, a canvas art (or Mami) and a Bearbrick Tomoe Mami that I had absent-mindedly omitted from this photo shoot. Note to self: Make another haul post covering goodies I had picked up from Mandarake Nakano.

Moving on from that blunder, we have one of the two merchandise I managed to snag from this year's Summer Wonder Festival. Together with a friend, we lined up for the event exclusive Sword Art Online Nendoroid(s). But, we were appalled to find out that it had sold out less than 45 minutes into the opening of the event. Funnier still, Good Smile Company later released Kirito and Asuna's Ordinal Scale version as stand-alone Nendoroid. But I digress, I was not in line for the exclusive SAO Nendoroid. In fact, what I was there for was this exclusive Face Parts Case. This Straw Hat Penguin was limited to Wonder Festival and, fortunately, did not sell out by the time it was my turn to get it. 

Summer Wonder Festival this year was a mixed bag for me. Considering this was only my second time attending, my only yardstick was my attendance from the previous year. Things were certainly very different the second time I attended, some for the better, some for the worse. I will go into further detail about that in a dedicated post for Wonder Festival. But, one of the things that caught me by surprise and pleasantly so was GSC's music booth. There, they were selling various headphones that they had offered in the past including the rare Kotori Loves anime series of earbuds! I regret having not ordered a pair of these earlier when they were still up for pre-order. After testing a pair for myself, I finally decided to get myself a pair of Nozomi headphones. Full details in a future review but, from initial impressions these earbuds look really cute and sound great for the price.

Now, is the time we move on to the really obscure bits of the collection concerning merchandise and paraphernalia only true fans would hunt for. These her are a pair of glasses made in conjunction with the Rebellion film. The yellow one on the left depicts Mami and purple one on the right, Nagisa. For someone who spends a lot of time wondering about the next Mami merchandise to collect, I had never even encountered nor read about these before. Moreover, at 400 Yen it was a complete steal! The things you end up finding when you browse the male-doujin section of Mandarake Nakano, most unexpected.

The Monogatari and Madoka Magica collaboration, aptly dubbed, Madogatari was an immensely successful event which celebrated Shaft's 40th anniversary. Aside from a slew of nationwide exhibitions, the Madogatari series also spanned two Ichiban Kuji lotteries and several prize figure to boot. From the first Ichiban Kuji, one of the prizes offered were framed art of the collaboration featuring major characters from both series. I had dismissed these initially but, having collected one from the second Kuji, I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of these framed art. For 1,000 Yen, I could hardly complain and, now, Sengoku Nadeko joins the collection. Nadeko-dayo!

From prize figures to straps, in my entire collection of Mami merchandise, none has been harder to find than these Twinkle Dolly Madoka Magica mini-figures. Unlike traditional figures or straps, these are technically considered as Candy Toys. As such, you would be hard pressed to find them in hobby stores. Candy toys are traditionally sold in supermarkets as a means of appeasing children with both toys and some form of candy inside. For the most part, they are fairly successful in part to their cheap price. But, the problem with the Twinkle Dolly series is that they cost, 800 Yen! That is far too much for a standard candy toy and, as such, cannot be found in supermarkets. Trust me, I searched several large ones in and around Tokyo.

As a result, your next best bet is to find them in electronic stores such as Yodobashi Camera and Bic Camera. Of which, there are tonnes of in Tokyo alone whereby you have to move from one large building to another looking for this tiny candy toy that is often sorted in the trading figures area (think blind boxes, straps, etc.). After a great deal of hunting, I finally found Mami in Shinjuku and Bebe all the way in Yokohama! All for two mini-figures and some gum, the lengths I go to complete my Mami collection.

While every series (Madoka Magica, Love Live, Monogatari) featured in this haul so far has made a merchandise appearance in Tiro Finale in some form or another, this is the debut of a brand new series that I have absolutely gone crazy for, Youjo Senki (Saga of Tanya the Evil). Sega's Mega Jumbo Nesoberi Tanya Degurechaff was released on the same week as when I was visiting. Initially worried that I may not be able to find her outside of arcades, all of those fears were quelled when I found her in Volks selling for 1,400 Yen. With this giant added to the collection, that makes it two large Nesoberi(s) in the collection.

Of course, one could not settle for just having a single Nesoberi Tanya. To my delight, Sega also released three (!!!) different normal-sized Tanya Nesoberi. Despite its earlier release date, these Nesoberi Tanya(s) were still quite difficult to find. After some careful searching, I finally managed to locate a store selling all three variants for 2,400 Yen. And so, the Tanya collection continues to grow ever so slowly.

It is the Tanya army!

With several crazy Tanya(s), we come to the end of this season's Japan haul. While this haul has the least number of figure in it, it somehow sticks to me as being the most memorable. Never had I spent such a long time hunting for little trinkets, taking trains from one station to another in hopes of finding a small box which meant little to the uninitiated. In due time, you can be certain that every item on this haul list will be reviewed. In fact, there are more to come with new merchandise coming in for the month of August and September, meaning even more haul posts!

As always, if you have any questions about the haul or the items within it, do not hesitate to ask them in the comments section below. I would love to hear your opinions, questions and thoughts. Until then, thank you so much for reading and have yourself a wonderful day ahead.