I’ve got a lot of good people propping the Toy Calender I posted on 12/27. So I’m going to start a PHO*toy*GRAPHY post chain with all the wonderful photographs compiled by toy enthusiasts around the world. I will also post my own works soon. Enjoy the first batch!

The New Year is days away, I’ve compiled a tasteful wine list ranked by awesomeness (and absolutely disregarding taste as a judging criterion). Here are the must gets of 2008. If you happen to be in Japan, pick a bottle up for me.

No 1: Ultraman Seven 40^th Year Anniversary Red.

Comes with an autographed certificate by Ultraman Seven himself! Along with a limited edition wine glass so you can celebrate your Ultra-New Year like how Seven would have done it.

No 2: Space Battleship Yamato Deslar’s Pick, Red.

Space Battleship Yamato 宇宙戦艦ヤマト is a classic anime from the 70’s. As you can see in the anime Deslar is toasting with style. Too bad the glass that came with the boxset do not have wings like the one Deslar has in his hand, but you do get a Deslar Metal. What else can I ask for?

No 3: Hello Kitty Red and White.

Hello Kitty, the name speaks for herself. This year’s red and white come wrapped in leather! And of course a Hello Kitty engraved glass to display your beverage.

No 4: Masked Rider Officer’s Wine, 2 Bottles of Reds.

Attention all Masked Rider 仮面ライダー Officers (around the world). You are ordered to purchase and drink and get crunk with it. The black bottle is for the Japanese division only so if you work for the Masked Rider Office in Alabama then forget it.

Images from lalabitmarket

JoJo Bizare Adventure has been, and always will be in my top five manga list. This winter JoJo fans can start collecting the JoJo Adventure Battle Cards.

I’m not a card battle game enthusiast but this collection has some of the most beautiful artworks ever done for JoJo. There also will be a launch in Spring for the newest edition.

After the 1/4 scale Cloud Strife, Square finally launched the 1/4 giangantic Sephiroth. Man if you don’t know how big a 1/4 scale figure is, let me tell ya it’s HUGE. Retailing for 400USD, the 1/4 series continues to dry the pockets of Final Fantasy fans. Oh btw, in March the Cloud motorcycle figure is coming out.

For all toy fans, here’s a set of digital calendar made by the talented darthvader77. Happy toy shopping in 2008!

Download Toy Calender 2008

I haven’t seen the movie “The Warlords” (投名状) yet, but the Masterpiece Series figures are definitely worth a look.  So far Hottoys has released photos of Andy Lau (Zhao Er-Hu in the movie) and Takeshi Kaneshiro (Jiang Wu-Yang).  The figures are 1/6 in scale and fully poseable.

Launch date currently set for March 08.

2007 Talentaid International Limited. All rights reserved.

I’ve never seen limited edition this… unlimited?

The Amazon.co.jp Danboard Robot!! (Full name Amazon.co.jp LTD Cyborg Revoltech Danboard Robot yah I know it’s crazy wo!!) It’s selling for about 25 bux on Amazon Japan and going for 50 on ebay. I guess people really love Amazon…

Gundams travel A LOT!  Hence the name Mobile Suite.  And therefore busybodies like Zaku II need their own travel luggages.  The beautifully designed MS-06F ZAK… ah forget it, who am I kiddin.  These can be purchased here in Japan for a handsome price of 250 USD.

And of course, they are limited editions.

Growing up reading Japanese mangas, high school gangster comics have always had their spot amongst boys that had excess energy and lack of educational motivation.

If you recognize titles such as “Rokudenashi Blues” (鐵拳對鋼拳 or 鐵拳之道) then you probably know exactly what am I talking about.

Lately I have been addicted to a new series called “Worst” (極惡王) by Takahashi Hiroshi. The series is derived from the previous gangster manga series called “Crows” (漂丿男子漢) Since it inherits many of the characters from the Crows series, the Worst story starts with 30 plus characters, making it hell-of-a-lot confusing for new readers. And every single one of them is dressed in the latest Japanese gangster fashion with more scars on their face than the singer Seal.

What I love about this comic is the toys. The figurines are becoming instant collectables and selling out like hotcakes (do hotcakes really sell?). A regular gashapon would cost around 10 bux each instead of 3. The tattoo series, which is what I’m going after, runs about 120 bux for 5 figurines. I’ll upload pix as soon as I get those.

Here are some pics from a few fans in Hong Kong.

The guys wrapped in leather are bikers, a group called F.O.T.A. (Front of the Armament).

Here’s the official site for Crows X Worst and other works by Mr. Hiroshi.

Banpresto has launched a new line of Dragonball Z gashapons. Usually I wouldn’t want to post DBZ gashapons here since there are millions of them. But there are two sets in this line I desperately need!

The magic seal tea pot and rice cooker!!!

And the Capsule Co. capsules!!!

My god!!

Complete set here: