2014: Year in Review (NSFW)

As the year draws to a close and a new one commences, I am forced once again to confront the financial and emotional budget of my wonderful hobby life. With 2015 sweeping away the woes of 2014, how, might we say, did my collecting journey evolve? The new year is a time for reflection, resolutions, and a brand new outlook on life. Learning experiences are abound, realizations are to be made, and statistics are to be analyzed. So, without further ado, I present to you a summary of my plastic conquests.

The Rules

As you remember, I followed a set of rules last year which helped me stay within a self-imposed budget. Although I have become slightly more lenient in how I spent (thanks to acquiring some extra spending money), not much has changed this year. The rules are as follows:

1. Order only scaled figures. No nendoroids, paper merchandise, keychains, or other tchotchke.
2. Do not have more than one new order per month, or, pending delays, more than 12 new orders for the year.
3. No more than one used figure per month.
4. No auctions.

You'll notice I got rid of the spending limit on used figures, which made me nervous at first, but didn't end up being a problem in the end. Perhaps I'm getting more disciplined, or perhaps I look at my saturated shelves and think, no more, but I had almost no inclination to impulse buy or defy my own restrictions last year. Sometimes, I look back and reminisce upon a time when I was young, willful, and daring, but then I remember the days I spend mourning my battered wallet and breath a sigh of relief. Thank goodness those days are over.

The Statistics

Although I've loosened my rules, my figure intake in 2014 was the lowest of all years. Only 15. That's right. One. Five. I imagine my rapidly diminishing shelf space is to blame. No space, no figures. It's as simple as that.

Surprisingly, Nippon-Yasan wins out this year despite their iffy customer service. Their willingness to carry exclusives at decent prices is what pushes them to the front of the pack. Being only able to order one figure a month puts a lot of pressure on the choices I make, and given the chance, why wouldn't I order an exclusive? AmiAmi falls to a distant second, monopolizing only 22% of my figure pre-orders this year.

On the other hand, AmiAmi still does well when it comes to the used figure category, occupying a full 50% of my purchases. Although Mandarake has been my go-to site for used figures, I feel like I avoided them in 2014 to stop myself from impulse buying, and the decision has largely played in my favour. Out of sight, out of mind, see?

I also ended up ordering one figure from a fellow figure collector this year, a transaction that went both quickly and smoothly. Thanks, fellow figure collector.

Last year, I ordered from a large variety of companies. This year, I've defaulted to my tried and true figure companies. When you have a limit per month, a certain sort of apprehension haunts your decisions. You want to play it safe. Or, at least I do. I can't afford to risk spending my one choice on something sub-par. I know Alter and Max Factory do good work, so I felt relatively confident buying their products.

Amakuni, Stronger, and Native also snuck in there with one play each. As previously mentioned, with a limit per month, I tend to stray more towards safety, quality, and, to a certain extent, rarity.

  Best of 2014

Favourite Releases of 2014 

Stronger's Homura Haregi ver.

This is a no-brainer. I knew I would buy this incarnation of Homura as soon as she was announced. This is what happens when your favourite character from a good series gets dolled up in a beautiful, flowing, traditional attire that emulate the rays of a dying autumn evening. She radiates elegance, quiet, and mystery. Stronger is a new company, but boy did they make a good first impression. There's not much more to say about this Homura other than she's worth every penny I wrestled from my teary, despairing savings account.

Native's Suzuki Margit 

Native figures always seem to inexplicably show up in my end of the year reviews, and I can't really figure out why. I suspect it has something to do with their exclusive status and NSFW nature (therein on referred to as the Forbidden Fruit Factor) that keeps them at the top of my mind. Suzuki Margit is not the most technically accomplished Native figure. She's certainly not as detailed as many Native girls, and her colouring is average at best. She isn't as impressive on the shelf, nor does she have the flawless presentation of many other Native figures.

Even so, she ends up on my top three list simply because I have trouble forgetting her. There's a reason this is a "favourites" list rather than a "quality" list. She hits a lot of my moe-points. Red glasses. Red eyes. Lab coat. Association with science. Cute froggie slippers. It's all about the froggie slippers. Moe-moe through the roof, y'all.

Alter's Santa Sonico:

Ugh, you collectively sigh, don't we have enough of Sonico?

No, I ejaculate brightly, one can never have enough of Sonico, especially when she's as well-made as this. There aren't many figures out there that look better than their promotional pictures, but Alter has a special way of giving their figures a little extra pizzazz in life. Not only does this Sonico have one of the most adorable faces out there, she also has a very fair body sculpt. She's one of the only Sonicos to look busty without having awkward proportions. Her breasts are just right. Not grossly inflated. Her waist-to-hip ratio is large, but not overly so. Her pose is suggestive and flirty without being discomfiting. And she's cute. Being cute will get you a long way, folks. A long way indeed.

Favourite Hunts of 2014

Alter's Kos-Mos Ver.4

Some figures you watch for years. Some figures you pine for in the dark recesses of night. Some figures haunt your very existence, and Kos-mos is one of them. Take one popular character, a good design, one kickass sculptor (Yagyuu Toshiyuki), and the result is a beastly output of aesthetic pleasure. I hunted her for a long time, but I always managed to hit a snag. Either she was too expensive, too used, or I was too late. Finally, sometime during the snug summer months of our balmy city, she showed up on AmiAmi for a reasonable price, and I pounced on her like a starved mountain cat. Victory, I ululated, and ate a raw horse heart in celebration.

And yes, she's worth every penny. Looking at Kos-mos, you'd never guess she was released over half a decade ago. That's right, over half a decade ago. Compare her to a figure released just a month ago, and their qualities are comparable.

Max Factory's swimsuit Menma

Sometimes, simplicity is best. See, I don't find bikini girls very appealing, but there is something about this Menma that captured my heart. She's calm, clear, clean, and sets herself apart from other bikini girls. Most, I find, try too hard to be sexy, but Menma presents a naturalness that I find refreshing. Floating ring tucked under arm, hibiscus in hair, and popsicle at her lips, she's ready for an afternoon of languid repose. It's like I came upon her while walking down a boardwalk. And if anything, I love figures that come with their own atmosphere.

Also, she photographs beautifully.

Max Factory's Cerberus

My last choice was a toss up between Cerberus and Maiko Madoka, with Cerberus inching out Madoka by a mere millimeter. Why? Because of her incredible quality.When Cerberus was first announced, I was impressed, but not too interested. Did I really want to spend my one pre-order on a character I knew nothing about? Not really. But as time went on an her price began to drop, my interest piqued once more. I began surfing the aftermarket for an acceptable version. She's incredibly shiny. And so detailed. And very sexy. Plus she has puppy hands. Adorable puppy hands. Now that I have her, I'm surprisingly attached.

Almost but Not Quite of 2014

Max Factory's Tharja: I love Tharja. She was one of my favourite Fire Emblem units. She literally carried my team till the second generation came in and swept everything, so when Max Factory announced a Tharja figure, I pirouetted. Everything about this Tharja is amazing. Great body sculpt. Beautiful face. Sexy stack of tomes. Awesome, flowing costume. So what stops her from being in my top 3? Her back-breaking pose. No spine is meant to bend that way. It makes me cringe.

GSC's Madoka Maiko ver.: This Madoka is a good figure. Her traditional garb is beautiful, her quality is high, and she has tons of cute and wonderful details. She came very close to making my top three, but fell just short. Firstly, take a gander at her yandere eyes. It's amusing, but perhaps not the best reflection of her character. It's also an example of how one small slip up can add an entirely different tone to a figure. Secondly, I got Madoka as an accompaniment to Homura, not as an independent entity. That alone is enough justification in my mind to bump her from my top 3 list. When she was first released I had very little interest. As time ticked on, I continued to feel ambivalent about her. But when Maiko Homura was announced, I stood and declared, they must be together. The collector's mentality is a strange beast, to say the least.

Max Factory's Miku: This Miku almost made my top three. Almost. She's a brilliant figure. Good folds. High quality. Impressive presentation. Details galore. Her quality is apex, and she's beautiful on the shelf. The one thing that stops her from making top scores is her pallid skin tone, and the fact that I have no real emotional connection to her. Perhaps if I played 7th Dragon 2020 (and I would dearly like to), she would be higher on my list, but seeing as I have not, she just skims the top 3 list.

Munnies and Otherwise

Wow, you saved a lot! So did you eat amazing foods with all that extra munnies?

No. The answer is no. I suspect the answer will always be no, at least until I become famous and inherit my own luxury island somewhere in a semi-tropical climate. Here's how things went down in 2014.

My total expenditure adds up to approximately 161 900 yen, which equates to less than single term of a single Masters course. Good. Sort of. Putting things onto a chart also allows me to see just how meager shipping costs are in comparison to the actual figure. I'm glad to announce that I did not EMS anything in the last year, which remains consistent to previous years.

My expenditures have also stayed consistent from 2013 to 2014, which is a feat to be celebrated, given increasing figure costs and inflation. Though I only bagged 15 figures last year (versus 20 the year before), I found that I ordered many more limited and exclusive figures than before. New figures cost, on average, 11 832 yen a pop, and used figures, 9 235 yen a pop (shipping excluded). And to think, when I first began this hobby, new figures were showing up for 5000 yen.

Outlook for 2015

Seeing as this "rules" thing has worked two years in a row, I don't expect to be giving them up any time soon, but with a new year comes a new outlook, and new possibilities. Will I finally land a high-paying job this year? Will I stumble upon some inheritance? Will I move into a bigger place with more detolfs to store my plastic goods? With 7 figures on pre-order until April (and Maiko Mami prepaid), I might be squeezing myself a little tight, but with other pressing financial obligations lifting in 2015, I expect to have a little more spending money anyhow. Here's what I have going on at the moment.

Thus completes my analysis of 2014. It was not the most bountiful year, but I didn't expect it to be, but it's been a good year. I am satisfied with almost every figure I received, and I did not go too far in terms of expenditure. With space issues looming, I look forward to selling some of my older figures and creating some room for the PVC beautifies that I expect in 2015.

So, folks, how was your year? Did you have a good one? What were your favourite purchases? Got any horror stories for us? Here's to another great, no, transcendental new year. To all the beautiful PVCs coming out in the future. To all you beautiful people reading our blog. And as always, to the merch. Always to the merch.

Peace, birdies,
Jenn