17 дек 2009 22:04:10
Hello! My name is Aaron (pluvia33) and this is my first blog post on My Anime Shelf. After being here for a little over a week I've finished adding all of my figures to the database. Yay! According to My Shelf, I have 60 figures that I've spent well over $2000.00 on. And that's just the rough yen-to-dollar conversion of the manufacturer's price. Factor in import mark-up and shipping costs and I've probably spent closer to $2500.00 on my collection.... But it's worth it. The figures are all so nice and pretty. Anyway, I figured for my first post I'll give a quick little introduction of myself and talk a little about and share some pictures of my favorite figure, my Max Factory 1/8 Taiga figure from Toradora.
As I said, my name is Aaron. pluvia33 is my standard username so if you Google it you can find nearly my entire internet existence. I'm 25 years old and live in the United States. I've been interested in anime since I was 12 and have been collecting anime as a serious fan for the past 8 years or so. After graduating high school in 2002 I went to college for two years. During that time I studied basic Japanese language and discovered fansubs. I ended up dropping out of college for personal and financial reasons. I spent a little over a year working crappy jobs while living with my parents until I ended up enlisting in the US Air Force, shipping off to basic training on December 5, 2005. During that time I had my living expenses provided for and had a decent steady pay check. With a good amount of disposable income my anime, manga, and figure collections began to grow until they took up more than 11 five shelf book cases (my cataloged anime collection can be found and my manga ). Now I've recently finished my 4 year enlistment and am looking for employment as a civilian again. Hopefully I'll get a new job soon so I can continue to support my expensive otaku hobby.
So my favorite figure is my lovely Taiga Aisaka figure by Max Factory. The figure is based on the cover illustration of the first light novel in the Toradora! series, as you can see in this picture I took:
Now this figure came out in December 2007, nearly a year before the anime would begin airing in Japan. At the time I wasn't very heavy into light novels. Even now I usually don't read any until after I've seen an anime for it and become interested in the story. So when the anime for Toradora came out in October 2008 I loved it and remembered seeing this figure of Taiga online. So I tried hunting it down only to find out that it was already near impossible to get. That made me sad. But as the anime neared its end in March 2009 I had a plan. I was living in New Mexico at the time, stationed there by the Air Force. I figured it was the closest I'll probably ever be to the west cost so I decided that I'd be going to in Los Angeles California with my roommate (who had been to Anime Expo before) and some friends from the area. So on that July 4th weekend I was going to search the dealer's room high and low for my Taiga figure and I was going to have it no matter what! And I was lucky enough to find it. It was horribly over priced, I think it came to $131 total after tax. Kind of a high mark-up for a 5,800 yen figure, but I really didn't care. I was happy. Mission Accomplished! Yay!!
Anyway, when I brought the figure home and put it on my shelf a good friend of mine named Dan began making jokes about kidnapping Taiga's tiger and replacing it with an animal cracker or something. I've really missed Dan and my old roommate Weasel since I've left the Air Force and moved back to Ohio. So when I began taking good quality pictures of my figure collection I decided to do a little tribute just for them....
Oh, little Taiga, what are you doing all by yourself? Hmmm, what's this? Heheheh....
"H-Hey! What are you doing with my tiger?!!"
Don't worry, it's not like I'm going to take it and leave you empty handed. Here, take this.
"What?! An animel cracker?! No! Give me back my tiger!"
Hmmm, maybe you like the frosted kind better?
"No! I said give it back!"
How about icing?
"I said no! I want my tiger!"
Oh, maybe you prefer pink icing?
"Well.... it does look kind of goo- No!"
Maybe you like gummy bears, then?
"No!"
Reese's Pieces?
"No! Don't make me kick your ass!"
Well, I guess there is one thing way I'll give you back your tiger.... *evil grin*
"Kya~!! Y-y-y-yo-you took my skirt now?!!!" *embarrassment and fury rising*
Hey, you got your tiger back now. I think you look better this way! ^_^
"Hey! Stop taking pictures! Give me my skirt back!"
Why don't you just stand up and take it back yourself?
"I-i-it's e-e-e-embarrassing!!"
I don't see the big deal. I can see just about everything from here anyway.... Except....
*flip*
"Ahhhh! You bastard!!"
Muwahahahaha!! Now I have your tiger again, too!
"Stop right there!"
Wha- Who are you?!
"We think it's about time you stop harassing Mommy!"
*SEVERE BEATING!*
~And all is right in the world~
And that's all for now. Hope you enjoyed the pictures and such. Until next time. Laters!
As I said, my name is Aaron. pluvia33 is my standard username so if you Google it you can find nearly my entire internet existence. I'm 25 years old and live in the United States. I've been interested in anime since I was 12 and have been collecting anime as a serious fan for the past 8 years or so. After graduating high school in 2002 I went to college for two years. During that time I studied basic Japanese language and discovered fansubs. I ended up dropping out of college for personal and financial reasons. I spent a little over a year working crappy jobs while living with my parents until I ended up enlisting in the US Air Force, shipping off to basic training on December 5, 2005. During that time I had my living expenses provided for and had a decent steady pay check. With a good amount of disposable income my anime, manga, and figure collections began to grow until they took up more than 11 five shelf book cases (my cataloged anime collection can be found and my manga ). Now I've recently finished my 4 year enlistment and am looking for employment as a civilian again. Hopefully I'll get a new job soon so I can continue to support my expensive otaku hobby.
So my favorite figure is my lovely Taiga Aisaka figure by Max Factory. The figure is based on the cover illustration of the first light novel in the Toradora! series, as you can see in this picture I took:
Now this figure came out in December 2007, nearly a year before the anime would begin airing in Japan. At the time I wasn't very heavy into light novels. Even now I usually don't read any until after I've seen an anime for it and become interested in the story. So when the anime for Toradora came out in October 2008 I loved it and remembered seeing this figure of Taiga online. So I tried hunting it down only to find out that it was already near impossible to get. That made me sad. But as the anime neared its end in March 2009 I had a plan. I was living in New Mexico at the time, stationed there by the Air Force. I figured it was the closest I'll probably ever be to the west cost so I decided that I'd be going to in Los Angeles California with my roommate (who had been to Anime Expo before) and some friends from the area. So on that July 4th weekend I was going to search the dealer's room high and low for my Taiga figure and I was going to have it no matter what! And I was lucky enough to find it. It was horribly over priced, I think it came to $131 total after tax. Kind of a high mark-up for a 5,800 yen figure, but I really didn't care. I was happy. Mission Accomplished! Yay!!
Anyway, when I brought the figure home and put it on my shelf a good friend of mine named Dan began making jokes about kidnapping Taiga's tiger and replacing it with an animal cracker or something. I've really missed Dan and my old roommate Weasel since I've left the Air Force and moved back to Ohio. So when I began taking good quality pictures of my figure collection I decided to do a little tribute just for them....
Oh, little Taiga, what are you doing all by yourself? Hmmm, what's this? Heheheh....
"H-Hey! What are you doing with my tiger?!!"
Don't worry, it's not like I'm going to take it and leave you empty handed. Here, take this.
"What?! An animel cracker?! No! Give me back my tiger!"
Hmmm, maybe you like the frosted kind better?
"No! I said give it back!"
How about icing?
"I said no! I want my tiger!"
Oh, maybe you prefer pink icing?
"Well.... it does look kind of goo- No!"
Maybe you like gummy bears, then?
"No!"
Reese's Pieces?
"No! Don't make me kick your ass!"
Well, I guess there is one thing way I'll give you back your tiger.... *evil grin*
"Kya~!! Y-y-y-yo-you took my skirt now?!!!" *embarrassment and fury rising*
Hey, you got your tiger back now. I think you look better this way! ^_^
"Hey! Stop taking pictures! Give me my skirt back!"
Why don't you just stand up and take it back yourself?
"I-i-it's e-e-e-embarrassing!!"
I don't see the big deal. I can see just about everything from here anyway.... Except....
*flip*
"Ahhhh! You bastard!!"
Muwahahahaha!! Now I have your tiger again, too!
"Stop right there!"
Wha- Who are you?!
"We think it's about time you stop harassing Mommy!"
*SEVERE BEATING!*
~And all is right in the world~
And that's all for now. Hope you enjoyed the pictures and such. Until next time. Laters!
