anyone have a pic of the zyurais? have not seen a lot turn over on yja.. The anticipation is really getting to me too! cant wait for those USA lucky bags..
I think if you're after one of everything you will always be dissapointed. Seems some of the companies are trying to break completists will and resolve. I think it's pretty funny and might make people buy figures they like the look of as opposed to which is rarer, or simply to keep up for completeness sake.
You know, I saw that lot on YJA....I wasn't really into the newer Cronic figures but after hearing so many accolades towards the Ankoron especially, and seeing all the colorways on that auction were so fantastic, I could not resist. I passed on the MTC bags and have no idea what bags went for so I hope this was a decent price for this Z lot.
so far I've bought a whopping total of 4 figs from this crazy LB bonanza...hoping to buy more... if the US bags are completely unique, the Cronic has to be seen like collecting works by a fine artist...you get what you can... I was getting close to complete on Nougakis...but with 9 new ones, 5 of which I have seen, I feel free... this is actually more exciting than I thought it would be considering that most of these will never be mine...I'm happy with what I have coming...and hope some more kind souls sell broken up bags...
The MTC bags definitely need a couple of fight figures in them to justify the $280 and $380 price tags for the B and C bags. Nothing against the smaller figures, and I love Nougakis, but I can't see the XYZ assortments- with typically one fight figure and 2-4 smaller figures- pricing up to the above amounts. So here's hoping- Max Toy Co has not disappointed in the past, and I am sure this will be no exception.
Z bags were just under $200 retail...pretty awesome price considering. I'm always amazed at the markups once these things hit the USA, probably due to the outrageous shipping costs. Still, the more fight figures the better! Still reeling from the thought that a one-man operation could put together such an incredible collection of stuff. The amount of different versions just makes it more interesting...never been into the concept of completion - what do you do when you have every one? Quit? Panic when a new release drops until you've got it? Shit yourself when you see pictures of one-offs and customs you'll never get? Get what you like when and if you can and if that's not enough then you should probably see a therapist
Hey James, I don't think you will be able to top your pin stripe deathra! Be happy with that and your Bemon. Two of the ultimate vinyl of the new millenium! Ike
It is amazing what Cronic has accomplished for these lucky bags. And after seeing the disappointing Lucky Bags (imo) from Gargamel, Cronic has reignited my excitement for figures and I am sure sending shockwaves thru the vinyl world by stepping up his game in such a huge way. To see such a variety of outstanding colorways for all the figures on one major release, all by one guy is unreal. Kudos to Cronic!
I definitely think there's something to be said for having a comprehensive (or nearly comprehensive) collection of a character. It lets you look at the figure across a variety of colors and styles. When it gets to be extreme is in the case of some lines, like Rumble Monsters, where designs are reissued with tiny differences. Now those completists I feel for. Very tough road. Same goes for Secret Base completists chasing very minor factory color app differences. Another tough road. But I can feel that pain, having started toy collecting as a Star Wars collector 10 years ago. Some crazy days there. Not only was there the issue of figure variation, but also card variation! So, relatively speaking, trying to complete a run of a Cronic character isn't all that bad. Of course the major difference is Star Wars figures were made in runs of several million. Cronic figures are more like...several.
BTW it may be that there are only 5 Nougaki versions in these bags, since that's all we've seen so far. The 9 prediction is based on the cards that say "Type 1" and "Type 2". I have a feeling the picture will be clearer in another week or so. In terms of the US bag prices, they're totally in line with what Japanese vinyl sells for in the US. Nothing at all unusual about the markup. So, I would expect the composition of the Max Toy bags to be similar to that of the Japan bags. I could be wrong. Just speculating. It's also worth pointing out that nearly every figure in the Japanese bags was painted. Even the "unpainted" silver and beige ones received the speckled paint treatment. In fact, out of 25 figures that I've identified so far, only 3 are unpainted! That's an incredible stat for LBs and really ups the ante with what you're getting. Don't forget a lot of the bags (maybe all of them) also came with prints.
I tried to win this BIN 23.800 Yen at yahoo, but the agent was too late on this for me 250$ incl.shipping would have been still cool, since I love these prints, and there is even the #/4 SPECIAL Ankoron included....again: also missed to "win" the other #/5 Special Ankoron....I really love this sculpt...way more than the Doromes and Dorogamis.....but again, my agent was too late....so I really hope that ebay and yahoo-japan will work something out (but this term belongs into another thread.....)in future so that it would be way easier for non-japanese to bid on YJA... dont wanna say that I would just be interested in it cause of the Special Ankoron....honestly I like the SILVER or TURQUOISE Ankoron best...but Naoki´s lettering style is KILLER update: I got the bag....my japanese buddy used another ID at yahoo-japan so I first was thinking another one bought it-but surprisingly he won it [/img]
A little off topic, but I've seen in a lot of these yja auctions with cronic prints in the background. Some of them are quite nice. Are these sold at the shows?
Naoki has only sold them once at a show, as part of two print + figure sets. The prints were included in the '08 Lucky Bags. I think it adds another awesome element to the bags!
that zyurai print in the backround there is an amazing image and I wish it was more available...hatching in midair...I'd buy the bag just for that.
Oh, that's a nice surprise! I didn't know prints would be included. I'm guessing one per bag? Hopefully I'll be able to land the one I'm looking at
I'm completely obsessed with the hope of owning that light blue painted Mav...but I ain't gonna pay the price I'm seeing on das bay... who is auctiontoy and why do I hate him so?
The painted light blue Mav is my favorite of the "Batch of 25". Hey, did anybody notice the message on the Max Toy site? They're starting to ship the LBs! To everyone who gets them - remembert to post pics here!
OK, trying to get all pics together I collected (stolen ) from YJA,SB-boardmembers-THANX !,ebay,... If you have other pics not shown here, please post them or PM me, so I could add them to the gang. Here we go: ZYURAIASU-Standard-X ZYURAIASU-Secret2-Y ZYURAIASU-Secret2-X NOUGAKI-Standard-Z NOUGAKI-Standard-X NOUGAKI-Secret2-X NOUGAKI-Secret1-Z NOUGAKI-Secret1-Y MAVERASU-Standard-Z MAVERASU-Secret2-Za MAVERASU-Secret2-Zb MAVERASU-Secret2-Zc MAVERASU-Secret1-Y DOROME-Standard-Z DOROME-Standard-Y DOROME-Secret2-Y DOROME-Secret2-X DOROME-Secret2-Z DOROME-Secret1-Z (special of 4) ANKORON-Standard-X ANKORON-Secret1-Z ANKORON-Secret1-Y(Specialof4front) ANKORON-Secret1-Y(Specialof4back) ANKORON-Secret1-X(Specialof5front) ANKORON-Secret1-X(Specialof5back) ANKORON-Secret2-Y ANKORON-Standard-Y ANKORON-Standard-Z DOROGAMI-Standard-Z DOROGAMI-Standard-Y DOROGAMI-Secret2-Z BAKURASU-Standard-Y Some of these prints have been included in some LB´s. (will remove the ones that were not used for the LB releases when more info/pics of them is available) [/img]
didn't even realize he was one and the same...at least the prices aren't as high here, right? $250 for the Mav. is a little much, no? thanks for the heads up. even if is was a tad snarky. and for those of us who didn't get any bags, or at least for me...well, I have to get what I can when i can...I didn't think the prices on the stuff here was too bad...high, but not too bad... here's hoping I get some more from those of you lucky enough to get bags...
sorry to add another post here...but looking over these pics again, I can't get over just how amazing Naoki paints. From what I own already, and looking at these, I really feel like he is the best figure painter out there. He has a very distinct style, which at first glance can seem haphazzard at times, but in fact is very precise and skilled. The painted gold Dorome (which thankfully I have one of on the way) is so well executed, as it the new light blue Mav...just to point to a few. I just needed to make a comment about these paint jobs...and the fact that he does this in his spare time and not for his full time job makes it all the more admirable. imagine if he was able to dedicate that extra time to the Cronic universe...no one would be able to keep up.
One can only imagine what Naoki would put out with all his mind focused on sculpting and painting figures! I've noticed over the last 3 years his design work has moved in waves. He's amazingly methodical about developing a new style, perfecting it, and then moving on to the next technique. Often the new styles incorporate elements of previous ones, creating a fluidly evolving body of work. That's one reason I'm trying to go complete on a few characters. Once seen together, all of that really shows up clearly. I think it's fun showing side by side shots of certain characters. Increasingly we can see his techniques being used across some characters, which is really cool. Unfortunately we've yet to see any one style/design applied across all 7 characters. Still hoping that will happen!
for a bit I thought there may end up being a complete "rainbow" set...but I think there's only 3, right? I'm sure (or very hopeful that) at some point it will happen...and I'm sure it will look amazing all together...
