Disney Enchanting Collection (Enesco): Mischievous Thief (Abu)

This Abu figurine is from Enesco's Disney Enchanting Collection. It is quite small at less than 9cm (until the top of Abu's head) or around 10.5cm (until the top of the magic lamp). The box size is 14.5cm (L) x 18.5cm (H) x 8.5cm (W) with quality as bad as Jasmine and Aladdin's figurine. Considering its size, I think this is quite expensive at USD 33.80 (SGD 48.52).

Sorry Abu but I really think your face is ugly even in the cartoon

It is a miracle that his tail arrived intact with such little contact at the attachment with the body

This figurine is quite slim with its depth

Instead of showing the details of the lamp, these pictures are highlighting more of the poor paint job

I took this photo upside down and rotated it because I was worried of breaking Abu's tail if I placed it the other way around

I usually space apart the dates of my posts since I dislike how same date posts look on the blog. Thanks to my stupid laptop, I am blogging using my work laptop and the photos are from thumbdrive so I just want to complete this as soon as possible and keep the thumbdrive. Wow... so 5 posts today and this is the last. Good night.

Disney Enchanting Collection (Enesco): A Whole New World (Jasmine and Aladdin)

This is a follow up post after 2 years. Lol. Previously my whole order went missing and I got a refund. I re-ordered in July 2018 but Jafar was not available so I only got this and Abu. Sadly this arrived broken and that was the reason why I did not bother to mention about this anymore. For that, I got a full refund or else this would cost me USD 87.69.

I know Enesco from Jim Shore collections and thus I was quite excited with this Disney Enchanting Collection. Sadly, Enesco is just a distributor or something because the quality of this Enchanting Collection is so far worse than Jim Shore collections. Right from the packaging, the box is thin and flimsy. It is plain and only has a sticker to label the content of the box. The styrofoam is so fragile and flakes off so easily that taking out and placing back inside the box is challenging. The worst is yet to come: the orientation of the figurine inside the box is not upright according to the box orientation o_0 The box has to be rotated 90 degrees (i.e. the lid is sideways) so that the figurine inside is standing up. The figurine itself is lacklustre with shoddy paint jobs and glitters which are coming off.

The design is so similar to previous figurines (such as WDCC and Disney Traditions) which is quite boring but unavoidable since A Whole New World is the only scene in which Jasmine and Aladdin (in Prince Ali outfit) are together. With the similar design, it is not a surprise that this one also shares the same fate of arriving with a broken tassel too. Not to mention the box orientation issue earlier which I am sure contributed to how the tassel ended up damaged. Haiz.. I did not write in previous post but even the WDCC has one broken tassel which I only realised many years after as the crack line is so fine.

The box measures 26.5cm (L) x 28.5cm (H) x 22.5cm (W) and the figure is 21.5cm tall.

The packaging is simply a blue box with a sticker -_-"

The broken tassel at the back :(

The sculpts for the face is pretty but Aladdin looks like having sore eyes

Jasmine is pretty

From this angle, the sore eyes look even worse

The following pictures are to show the lousy quality more obviously.

Shoddy paint job on Jasmine's pants

Shoddy paint job is so apparent on Aladdin's shoulder. Gosh someone please give him eyedrops!

They are lazy to design Carpet and just add glitters which turn out to be an epic fail because they are flaking off

The funny thing about the broken tassel is a protruding wire. Naturally I thought the wire is supposed to go in to the part where it breaks so I could avoid gluing. Strangely, there is no 'hole' for the wire to go in. I never fix this part as I have no space to display this. I think it will break again if I keep it in the box after gluing. Anyway, I think I will cut off the wire when I need to glue it since the wire is preventing complete contact of the broken surfaces.

If you notice, I never took a photo to put all 3 'A Whole New World' figurines side by side. It is not that I hate this figurine. I am simply running out of space. I do not even have a space to put all 3 together to take a photo.

Schmid Aladdin figurine

I have never heard of Schmid brand before but it seems to have a quite long history in porcelain industry. I came across of this figurine while searching for Aladdin 20th Anniversary figurine by Costa Alavezos that I missed buying and never come across since then. That was in 2013 but I only bought this Schmid figurine in 2018. Honestly, the face is ugly. The reason for finally buying this was because I bought other Aladdin porcelain figurines during my Japan trip in September 2018. Perhaps after that I sort of could tolerate ugly faces. Haha...

I think these are handpainted because the images online are not identical. I do not know when this was produced but there seems to be a never ending listing in eBay. I see some listings have more acceptable faces than mine. Lol. Anyway I bought 2 of this since the shipping fee (USD 19.08) was double of the price of the figurine itself (USD 9.50). So in total I paid USD 38.08 (SGD 53.50) for two. The box measures 13.2cm (L) x 19cm (H) x 9.3cm (W) and the figurine itself is around 18cm.

The print quality of the images and text on the box is so bad that perhaps these are not originals? I don't know..

Aladdin in one of his signature poses (the other is hands folded across the chest)

The paint job is actually pretty good. Just that for this piece, the eyeballs are too 'far' out

A random basket which is definitely to ensure that the figurine is stable

Another mark of 'uniqueness' of each figurine, the 'hole' on the foot always looks different in various photos I see on eBay.

Although I have 2, I am too lazy to take both for a side by side comparison. 

'Mysterious' Aladdin porcelain figurine

I say this is mysterious because I really cannot find any information about this figurine. I own it without its original packaging so the only information I have that this was from Tokyo Disneyland according to the marking at the base of the figurine, I am unable to find any other information or picture of this item online. To make it even more mysterious, I cannot even remember if I bought this online or I found this at Mandarake when I visited Tokyo. Without its original box, it is unlikely that I bought this online. However, if I found this in person, it is quite peculiar that I did not write anything about this earlier. With that, I cannot remember how much I bought this for and the only information I can share about this is the height of around 13 cm.

This figurine does not age well and it has a lot of yellow discolouration. That did not stop me from buying since Aladdin merchandises are rare after all. Hehe.. Picture time.

The yellowing on Genie's smoke

Yellow and white discolourations on Genie :(

The face sculpt is actually not too horrible

Aging signs are also visible on Aladdin's skin and hair

There is no mention of even the year

Glory of the Losers

The birthday present from myself for myself fully arrived belatedly on Friday. I ordered all in one order at Book Depository but each book was sent individually, even for those notified as sent as a group by email. That is why the books were sent and subsequently arrived one by one.

I have been excited with the new Gundam Wing manga which bears the title Glory of the Losers now. I got even more excited when a US publisher picked it up for translation but I promised to wait until all volumes were translated before buying. Honestly I was hoping for a boxed set but after realising that Vertical Comics seldom has boxed set, I decided to buy. In fact, I knew about its completion rather late. The final volume was released in November last year but I only knew about it last month just before Circuit Breaker.

The original Gundam Wing manga only has 3 volumes. It was released in Japan in 1995-1996 and Tokyo Pop did the US version in 2000-2001 (for $9.95 each). Epizode Zero is a prequel and the US version was done by Viz in 2002 ($16.95).

Glory of the Losers covers the original story as well as some elements from Epizode Zero. Still, it is quite impressive on how a 3+1 volumes originally can become 14 volumes now although certainly the original 3 volumes are too condensed considering the story in anime is 49 episodes long. The Japanese manga ran from 2011-2018 while thank goodness Vertical Comics published the English version quite quickly from Jul 2017-Nov 2019 (for $12.95).

The mystery of the title is answered in the manga. It is quite interesting to note that actually in Gundam Wing, the protagonists keep losing and that is how the title is derived. The G-team is initially sabotaged by OZ on Earth which results in them being disowned by the colonies which they think they are fighting for. Subsequently they are captured by OZ in space and when they return to Earth to protect Sanc Kingdom, Relena surrendered to Romfeller to stop the war. The G-team escapes to space again while Relena is soon disposed by Treize just before the final war. Only in the final war that the G-team stops the madness from both White Fang and Earth, while Relena subsequently becomes the central figure of the ESUN in the aftermath of Eve War.

There quite a number of differences in the details of the plot between the original 3-volume manga and the Glory of the Losers. I cannot really remember the full anime so I am not sure if they also differ. I am not that bothered with the minor changes with details of the plot (as the main plot is unchanged) but I am quite irked with the most stark difference which is the mobile suits. In the last part of the Glory of the Losers, the G-team is already using the Endless Waltz versions of their mobile suit. In my head, these cool versions are always the Endless Waltz versions so it is quite peculiar to see them before Endless Waltz. To add to the confusion, the full title is Mobile Suit Gundam Wing Endless Waltz: Glory of the Losers but the story does not include the original Endless Waltz.

I am very happy with the Glory of the Losers as the art style is prettier than the original manga. I miss the gag manga strips included in the original manga, though. Anyway in terms of the story, I think it is a very good re-telling and now it makes me want to buy Mobile Suit Gundam The Origin which is also by Vertical Comics.

My reason for including the price (the $ is USD by the way) is to make a point about the price. Indonesian comics almost tripled their prices now compared to 2000. Compare that with US comics which hardly changed in price. In addition, these comics are printed in US and not in China to suppress the cost.

Just for further record, the other old Gundam Wing mangas are: Blind Target ($12.95 by Viz in Nov 2001 for first print and Jun 2002 for second print), Battlefield of Pacifists (1997 release in Japan; 2002 release by Tokyo Pop for $9.99), and Endless Waltz (1997 release in Japan; 2002 release by Tokyo Pop for $9.99).

Note: for those I do not indicate the original Japan release, it is because the US version did not indicate so. Anyway let's enjoy the art of the manga covers hehe...

Episode Zero and the original Gundam Wing Manga

Glory of the Losers 1-4

Glory of the Losers 5-8

Glory of the Losers 9-12

Glory of the Losers 13-14

Blind Target, Battlefield of Pacifists, Endless Waltz

I normally do not consider comics as my precious toys or collectibles but Gundam Wing is my bias so this is an exception haha.. After all, the new covers are really pretty :D

[New Prince of Tennis x Zoff] Collaboration Collection - School Line: Shitenhoji

I purchased this together with the Seigaku design so I will go direct to my opinion specifically on this Shitenhoji design as my other comments are already in the previous post. The details for the whole collection is here while the details for Shitenhoji design specifically is here.

Just to reinforce that practicality still trumps fanboying, I actually am not a fan of Shitenhoji in the series. I suppose partly because other than Kintaro and Shiraishi, the rest of the characters do not really get enough limelight. The characters representing Shitenhoji here are Oshitari Kenya and Zaizen Hikaru. Honestly, I cannot even remember who is who without googling. Haha.. Kenya is the one looking like Shiraishi and Hikaru is the one looking like any other black-haired PoT characters. Wow.. looks like Takeshi Konomi is running out of character designs as the story progresses. After all Shitenhoji is the last school being introduced since Rikkaidai in the National Tournament finals is already introduced during the Kanto Tournament.

While green is my favourite colour, lime green is not and it is worse when combined with yellow which I dislike. What really got me interested in this design is the inverted half-frame design. Usually half-frame will be frameless at the bottom but this is frameless at the top. My degrees are very high and my lens will be heavy.  I usually avoid frameless out of concern of the weight of the lens. That is not really a concern with this half-frame design since the support is the bottom. Enough justifications (read: excuses) and let's go the photos.

Everything that I received

Lens wipe: their gakuran is almost identical as Seigaku's

Can badge

The case design is based on the school emblem

The inner design of the case is rather plain

Honestly I am quite excited about this design as it is my first time ever

The temples take the colour scheme of Shitenhoji's tennis uniform

Racket head as the tip of left temple

Racket grip as the tip of the right temple

In total this costs me 7700 yen (price) + 500 yen (forwarding fee) + 1510 yen (EMS). Of course the forwarding fee and EMS are inclusive of the Seigaku spectacles.

NB: Tagging this post as 'Toys' for ease of searching in the future.