Sunday, April 21, 2013

Bad decisions

It haunted me again :( Darn.. I should have sent back the damaged Rinoa & Siren and Squall & Bahamut statue last December. I got Squall & Bahamut in perfect condition a few weeks later while 2 days ago, I saw an undamaged Rinoa & Siren statue for USD 199 on eBay with free US shipping. Even with additional forwarding fee to ship to Singapore, it would still cost less than the damaged ones. Haiz :'(

When I was home, I also saw someone selling Ragnarok from Final Fantasy VIII Guardian Forces ARTFX series. I placed a bid of 10000 yen and I was outbidded by a mere 2 yen. I don't know how the fuck Yahoo! Auctions operate because to be outbidded by 2 yen is just ridiculous! Again it was a bad decision from my part. I knew Ragnarok alone is worth more than what I bidded and I should have bidded more. If I were to get that Ragnarok, I would not need to think of selling my US figures to free up space so that I can buy the Japanese version.

Someone was interested in buying the US versions that I had. He requested that he could buy in 3 lots as he was not willing to fork out a lot of money at one go. I said I would think about it. Haiz.. I would like to let them go at one go. A few days later, I changed my mind and I informed him that I am willing to sell it in 3 lots. He did not reply so an opportunity was busted again. Sigh.. Emo emo emo :'(

As I will be visiting to Disneyland Paris during my trip to Europe this August (if I get the visa :p), my sister and I were like preparing ourselves by checking out what nice things to buy from there. I am tempted to buy Aladdin figurines leh!! It was just a coincidence that I finished watching Aladdin trilogy. Learning from my past mistake, I decide that I will only buy 1 excellent figure and that's it! Preferably one figure with all characters in. Well, none in Disneyland but I found Capodimonte Aladdin figure on eBay.
Laurenz Disney Collection - Aladdin "Group Hug"
Capodimonte figures are made of porcelain and are bloody expensive. Anyway, USD 1500+ is not really a concern for a fantastic piece of art. After all, I spend USD 1250 for Quistis, Selphie, and Leviathan Final Fantasy VIII Transcendent Artists' figure last year. This Aladdin Capodimonte figure is perfect: it is gigantic (13.5inches tall x 17inches wide x 13inches deep) and it has all main characters except for the antagonists! What more can I ask!! The figure is limited to 250 pieces and it was released in 1993! It is out of production because the artist had retired and he destroyed all the moulds so it will never ever be produced again. With all these facts and after reading the process of making these figures, I think the price is reasonable.

Unfortunately, owning it is just a dream. The shipping would cost me USD 800 by UPS!! Gosh.. The package physical weight is actually only about 15kg but the volumetric weight is close to 50kg!! I don't understand how the eventual external packaging will measure 32inches x 23inches x 24inches. Sigh.. There is a cheaper shipping option which would cost me about USD 400 but I had to pick it up from the airport. With the measurement above, the package will be as big as my study table so how on earth will I be able to get it by taxi? Sigh.. If I use this shipper, the additional fee for delivery from airport to my place will be about USD 300!! It would not be far from UPS fee. Sigh.. And that is very ridiculous, isn't it? How can the cost of delivery from airport to my house (~30 minutes by car) be as similarly expensive as the cost of shipping from USA to Singapore? Yeah.. with that, I decided not to buy :( I will dream.. When I can own my own place, I will definitely buy this masterpiece.

Thank God for the World Book Day or something like that. Kinokuniya is having 20% sale right now. Hehe.. I was so glad that I could get xxxHolic artbook. I was disappointed when I saw none of it at Kinokuniya Takashimaya on Friday. Lucky for me, Liang Court still had 1 or 2 copies (thanks to smartphone that I could check!) and it was possible for me to reserve. Fiuuh.. What a great relief.. So I went to collect it on Saturday together with New Prince of Tennis anime book.

It had been a busy weekend to enjoy these 2 artbooks as well as Necrosha (X-men) which I borrowed from library and The Young Avengers Ultimate Collection which only arrived on Friday.

And despite having a sufficient rest, I still feel bloody tired today :( And I skipped mass again. Hell yeah :(