2012 we already took a look at the shocking truth of the figure collecting hobby costs that accumulate in one year, please join me again and face the ugly truth of 2013 in this post.
The exchange rate was very nice for figure collectors outside Japan, I actually thought that some figures were too cheap in the middle of 2013, at the moment 10.000 Yen are barely worth 70€.
Let’s take a look at the things I’ve bought this year, overall it were 33 figures that I’ve ordered,
4 of these figures were delayed to 2014. I received 28 figures + one christmas present in 2013.
List of received figures in 2013
Nagisa the beautiful figure with a rather cold face expression. The lady version of Takamachi Nanoha from Alphamax was a really nice purchase, I also took her along during my vacation in France, where she looked even more beautiful. Yoshii Hotori the shy P.E. teacher who looks like a middle school girl and is dressed in a lovely sport outfit. Ignis Endless Winter a spectacular figure in a white wedding dress, also her youthful face expression is rather charming, under her dress she also know how to convince. Leviathan from The 7 Deadly Sins was a very appealing punk rock demon girl and her facial expression shows a nice sense of cute disagreement.
I could acquire Kanbaru Suruga, as she was released I had the wishful idea that she would hit the bargin bin, how idiotic of me. In 2013 I got her unopened and she is better than expected.
In the first half I experimented a bit with other things, I ordered a male bishounen figure, Yukio Okumura looks very cool, but next to my cute girls he looks somewhat odd. The Cu Poche of Haruka is super sweet and fun to play around, she’s actually one of the few things I received and liked from Kotobukiya this year. I also got the recast of the Sena Airi Garagekit, it arrived a little damaged, what sucked. I also bought this 1/6 scaled Azone doll of Azusa Nakano I already spoiled her with a load of clothes , it’s totally fun to dress her up and she is really adorable.
When looking back I made some unnecessary purchases in the second half, Miyuki Mana is rather boring even though she’s a bespeckled beauty, Kobato made me ultra furious I should have never ordered her, the Jougasaki Mika figma turned out so small, that I put it right back in the box. Some of the more satisfying additions to my collection influenced by the reviews of fellow bloggers, thx to Tier I got the 1/4 figure of loli Fate, she’s enchanting. Without Bakayaro I had probably missed Kotobukiya’s Takatsuki Ichika, a really nice bikini girl with happy boobs.
Chouhi Ekitoku aside from being far off the 1/7 scale, turned out nice with her cute butt, Cat Lap Milk was also a good and rewarding purchase. The little test of the affordable prize figures was fun, the Sonico – Space Police is a lot of fun, the The Sonico – Sweets Time also turned out surprisingly good as well. The most ecchi figure was Yuki, but she looked just too good to pass, a cute face with a hot body. Inaba Rinne was another satisfying purchase, this darling comes with many parts and makes me smile. The best thing was reserved for December, the 1/5 scaled Sonico PKG version, she’s awesome and one of the best Sonico figures ever.
Delayed Figures
These delays were so unpleasant, especially Tharja is something I really wanted in December.
Detailed expenses in each month
No month without figure in 2013, January and April were rather sick with over 30.000 Yen each
Comparison of detailed expenses in each month between 2012 and 2013
In 2013 it were less extreme cycle skips
thx to the delays I spent a minimum less than 2012, 218.873,92 Yen instead of 219.575,14
Figure Company Choices
With four figures Orchid Seed was in the lead in 2013, followed by Kotobukiya, Megahouse, Native, Phat Company and Max Factory, the rest was divided by single purchases. Last time in 2012 I did most purchases with ALTER, but since they do more delaying than releasing I only received Yuri Yuri – Akari in 2013.
Shop Choices
No diagram necessary with little exception I ordered everything at AmiAmi, they offer Airmal and very reliable service. Oh and I want to boost my points, as well.
Chosen shipping methods
With the super cheap Yen, I didn’t bother to order much from Germany, I only bought Yoshii Hotori. EMS was chosen very often in 2013, which takes around 7 days average. After my positive experience with Airmail 1 – 3 weeks on average, I used it more regulary, it’s cheaper than EMS and faster than SAL. I use SAL for not so urgents orders 4 weeks average waiting time.
Pricing Range
I have a liking for expensive figures it seems, haha, 42% is kinda surprising to me, the most expensive purchase was Yoshii Hotori with 16.956,72 Yen, the second expensive purchase was theAzusa Nakano doll with 14.550,00 Yen. Getting this Kanbaru Suruga from the aftermarket wasn’t cheap either.
Additional Costs
Only a few changes compared to last year, the good thing is that I was less often charged with custom fees, but I paid more for shipping a difference of around 16000 Yen.
Impressions
Well, that was another year full of figures, in 2012 I received 27, 2013 I received 28 + 1 present. You could say the 4 delays saved my ass in 2013, I feel a bit bad for such little restraint and that I filled a lot of shelfspace like that. The mistake I made was that I ordered many figures because I found them interesting and not always because they were something I really needed in the first place. I also feel that there were more really beautiful figures in 2012. Anyway, receiving 3 or 4 figures in one month is something I’ll try to prevent in this year.
See you again when we talk about the numbers of the figure year 2014 with hopefully more appealing figures, less delays and less regretable purchases.
We keep the “favorite figure of 2013” for one of the next posts
NY Otaku
Wow, you’re very organized when it comes to figure purchases! The Japanese yen definitely came to favor foreign currency, which made this year even better for figure buying.
wieselhead
Hehe yes, as I started to purchase figures more regulary, I created certain list with items and prices.
Showing them is kind of fun ;D Yes you can get them pretty unexpensive these days.
Adam
Congratulations on another busy year of collecting!
Judging from your graph, the Euro had a very good year against the Yen, even better than the Dollar.
I made a few purchases I regretted as well. GSC’s Ryogi, because she was smaller and less similar to the prototype than I expected; Aquamarine’s IA, because the quality was terrible; and Alter’s Misty, because I broke the figure in multiple places during assembly. 🙁
It always surprises me how much Europeans have to pay in customs fees. Hopefully, the improved exchange rate helps bring those costs down a bit.
wieselhead
Thank you, I partially found it a bit too busy with so many purchases.
I will work on my shopping behaviour 2014.
Yes, the exchange rate was good this year, saving a little money on each figure.
It’s always a certain risk to place an order based on a few promo pictures, which were taken under certain light conditions.
I’m sorry to hear that about Misty, on the pictures I’ve seen she looked really nice, were it bigger damages, or just smaller parts?
It kind of mean that they constantly catch our packages from overseas and charge it, what annoys me even more is that they keep the packages longer than necessary.
In this I was lucky and six figure orders were directly send to me without having fees to pay, in many cases I had to pick them up personally
kixkillradio
Now I’m wondering how your glass display cabinet or shelves/room look like. Must be a lot of figures <3 <3
Looking forward to your 2014 purchases and figure reviews and photography!
wieselhead
Oh yeah, it are a lot, I can’t display all at once, I try my best so that it won’t look messy.
Sometimes Im selling stuff or put reviewed figures in their boxes to store them elsewhere.
Hehe me too, I love this hobby ^^
Aeduque
Congrats on all your hauls, especially the Sena GK (all my envies). You should take pics of your room sometime lol :))
Hahaha I thought I was reading through a powerpoint presentation at some point and I was waiting for the next slide animation. Do you sell your figures to help you buy new figs (admittedly i only did this once XD)
wieselhead
Hi
Haha thank you, Yeah I my doubts and my money overboard to get her ^^
Yes I really should show my room, maybe this year.
It was a bit much data, I guess
Yes I do sell the ones I lost interest in pretty regulary, I got too much in 2013 anyway
Hoshiko
“Yukio Okumura looks very cool, but next to my cute girls he looks somewhat odd.” .<
I too have a liking for expensive figures. Too bad my pockets aren't deep otherwise, I'll go crazy buying those figures. I didn't spend a lot on figures in 2013. So far, I have nothing in store for 2014. Who knows what WonFes has for us, right?
I'm curious, what do you do with the figures you don't like?
Hoshiko
Hmm…something’s odd with the comment. I’m sure I said that your statement about Yukio Okumura made me laughed so much. It was your first male figure and that it’s something to treasure…
wieselhead
The comment system of this blog is not perfect X< Yeah Yukio is pretty cool, but I won't keep him I guess.
wieselhead
Haha I see, I can hardly resist pretty and cute high quality figures.
I’ll try not to get more than 20 figures in 2014, might be tough.
Ah yeah Wonfes, will be soon again, not sure when to be honest ^^
Ah well, I’m selling them on ebay since it’s a fast way to get rid of them.
I have the mindset that the figure I don’t like anymore, should get an owner who appreciates it more.
Kai
“I ordered a male bishounen figure, Yukio Okumura looks very cool, but next to my cute girls he looks somewhat odd.”
Accelerator looks odd at my side here, but believe it nor not, I bought another male figure, lol. Which is still unopened atm and hopefully soon enough, I’ll share the surprise on my blog.
I see you bought a lot from Orchid Seed, a majority of mine are from Good Smile Company though.. :p
wieselhead
Im not antipathetic to get another bishounen figure, but I have yet to find a fitting one.
There are certain types I dislike, he shouldn’t be too feminine but also not too masculine.
I’d love to get a cool figure of Koyomi Araragi, or of Kaiki with devil hair”
Im curious ^^
Yes, they hit my spots haha, but it is always changing, last year before it was ALTER
I got the most from.