It's showtime novel writing time...
So I've been wondering to myself if Hot Toys is worth the plunge, mind you not a whole bunch of them but just favourite characters, like Darth Vader and Mando, possibly Tank Trooper (because tanks) because...
While I was gone all these years I actually got back into collecting for the first time since I think before high school, but not the 3.75 inch Star Wars like days of old but rather I've acquired an eye for more detailed figures (and some cute stuff too depending what it is).
My first of this revived collection was the 6 inch S.H Figuarts Tank Trooper from Rogue One, I saw the Figuarts and Black Series Tank Trooper compared on Youtube and Figuarts is beast by comparison, so much more articulation and detail.
Then while I was gone all these years I also got into anime, it started out slow as for a year it was just Girls und Panzer, something I first just tried because I love tanks, but in the end became a huuuge fan, the characters, the story, the action, the historical references I actually understand, and even the music (praise the Symphonie album from the Czech Symphony Orchestra in Prague), I was loving it. Girls und Panzer became the new king while, for those who know me wondering, MLP was put 6 feet under, my interest was already waning as it was with the way things were going, Girls und Panzer was the last nail in the coffin and honestly for the better as since then I've had far fewer incidents of insecurity or something. Girls und Panzer would later serve as a gateway to anime in general and come first Covid-19 lockdown it was the perfect opportunity, but the most relevant to my collection hobby has been Re:Zero and The Rising of the Shield Hero.
So anyway... with the anime side of things I was initially into Figma as it was a good counterpart to my S.H Figuarts, as well as Nendoroid because how could I resist (mind you, I'd only ever get anime stuff of Nendoroid, they have Star Wars and Marvel too but the anime style and characters like that aren't for me). But somewhere along the way I put a stop to getting Figmas because I found something greater... scale figures (specifically 1/7 and 1/8 scale figures). This was after I got my first scale, the 1/7 scale Raphtalia from Kotobukiya and it's waaay nicer and appeals to my attention for detail. Later I one by one got 1/8 Miho, Yukari, Hana, Saori and Mako from Wave (the Dream Tech line not the Beach or whatever line, because for that kind of money I want the scales to be as faithful to character as possible), I even put the Figmas of those characters away for now because of space/nicer looking shelves.
Now scales are my favourite because I adore the attention to detail and how they are practically pieces of art. But now I'm at a bit of a roadblock, I was hoping to be able to transfer the same kind of love to stuff like Star Wars but that hasn't been the case. In a perfect world I'd like to stick to 1/7 and 1/8 scales, no smaller or bigger, but for most scales of stuff like Star Wars or Marvel it's either 1/4 or 1/10. 1/10 that small I might as well stick with Figuarts figures and 1/4 is where I draw the line in terms of taking up too much space. So it's going to have to be a case where anime and Star Wars/Marvel get somewhat different treatment (though I'm keeping Figuarts just as I am Nendoroids to compliment the bigger scales like I've seen in some displays, I even plan on getting Detolf's when the time comes to move out into an apartment). I've seen some 1/7 scale Kotobukiya Star Wars stuff but I'm not that sold on the ones that exist.
So now most recently I've been wondering, to Hot Toys or not to Hot Toys (again, strictly favourite characters). I'll likely wait anyway as this is more planning a roadmap than anything, because Mando at least I think they'll try to milk anyway with new figures in the future and Vader is Vader... of course they will, plus I was already watching a 1/7 Rem re-release from Good Smile and have 2 more payments for life size Grogu from Sideshow/Legacy Effects.
But overall this hobby has really contributed to a happy Crazy Rich... and yes I do budget and stuff (and in fact I found a place to get mint stuff at second-hand prices too if it's Japanese based), I'm not that crazy and I wouldn't be as happy.
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