1/8 Miku Hatsune 2001 Racing ver. (GSC)

"Come, comrade, take my hand, and together we will ride the storm!" - Racing Miku 2011

Insert some epic music score by Hans Zimmer and she'll ready for the cameras. Racing Miku was my last true spontaneous pre-order of 2011. I came. I saw. I clicked confirm. No consideration. No joke. Her glossy, futuristic design and smashing twin tails won me over immediately. But was she worth it?

2012: Year in Review!

Happy New Year, all you beautiful, crazy people out there.

So, another year gone by and what have we got? More merch, more cheer, and slightly emptier wallets. 2012 was the year of indulgences. Used figures and spontaneous buys galore! Restraint? Never heard of it! And what do I have to show it? Dozens of beautiful ladies and thin magazines filled with magic.  It hurt like repeated lashes to the rear, but it was worth it. After all, collecting is masochism sublimated.

1/7 Luka Megurine (Max Factory)

Luka Megurine has a lot going for her. Beautiful legs. Chic outfit. Presumably wonderful personality. And jazz.

Luka Megurine is my favourite V2 vocaloid. It's a shame she's been vastly ignored by figure manufacturers in favour of the all-encompassing Miku. So when Max Factory announced Luka's release, I attempted a backflip. It ended badly, but it did nothing to dampen my spirits. She was an insta-get, despite widespread concern for her face.

1/8 Honma "Menma" Meiko (Alter)

Of all the innocuous ghosts out there, Menma is the cutest. You heard me, Casper. You've been usurped.

Being my third favourite girl from Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai (gosh, what a name), I debated long and hard on whether to keep her pre-order. Nary a week passed where I didn't consider cancelling her. In the end, I stuck with her, and it was the right decision by far. By far.

Magi Charms (Movic)

What's this?  Still no figure review from Suich?  Heck, it's not even an art book this time!

Well my dearest readers, this time I bring you the set of Magi phone charms I imported from Animate!  They're shiny, like glorious fake bling, and they represent.  They represent the characters from Shinobu Ohtaka's manga series: Magi -The Labyrinth of Magic, that is.  Since the Magi anime debut is just around the corner I thought I'd bring these babies out for a review!

1/8 Panty Anarchy (Alter)

"But that's why I can't let myself be weighed down by fuckin' regrets. A bitch lives as free as a bird that can never be caught." -Panty

Oh, Panty, sing me a rainbow one day, will you? Your little silver tongue  astounds me with its venturesome verbiage.

When Alter unveiled their Panty figure there was swooning all around. She's beautiful, fans concluded, but what else did we expect? She's certified Alter.

Entertainment Hobby Shop JUNGLE Review

Update: As of January 2014, JUNGLE has updated their website. As such, some information in this post may no longer be relevant. We will update our review accordingly as soon as possible!

 I love JUNGLE. It's like a mini-Mandarake. In retrospect, that analogy is meaningless unless you're an active Mandarake user, so let me just reiterate the quaintness and efficiency of this wee import site. Read on.

1/8 Yagyu Jubei White Swimsuit Ver. (Alter)

When Alter decided to release Jubei with a transparent bikini, Curiosity compelled me to take a closer look.

But let's be honest, the bikini scene has been done to death. Mostly, the girls stand around looking naked and sexual and somewhat static. Thankfully, Yagyu Jubei defines herself in a number of ways. First, she has a distinctive way of stashing swords, and second, hot damn, she's an Alter! Throw in some hallmark Alter detail and this can only turn out well.

Shiro Amano Art Works - Kingdom Hearts

I'm back with more Kingdom Hearts merchandise!  Why?  Because I think the Kingdom Hearts series is awesome!  And because I have a huge collection of KH merch that needs to be reviewed.

This time, we'll be looking at a piece of merch that's fairly old compared to the other Kingdom Hearts merch I've reviewed thus far. Since the fifth volume of the Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days manga is coming out next month, I figured I'd do a review on the Shiro Amano Art Works book!

Miwa Shirow's VVW Vocaloid Visual Works (Doujinshi)

With C82 arriving in August, my doujinshi fever has been lit anew! So watch out, world, Poke the Merch is talking art.

Miku has enough representations to fill a classroom. Her fanmade personalities oscillate from cute to chipper to downright bitchface evil. Whatever's your type, Miku's got it. It's a part of her charm. Personally, I'm not overly fond of Miku and her high frequency output, but I adore how she's presented in Vocaloid Visual Works. After all, I love my women with a bit of rawr, and Love of War Miku is totally badass.