Meant to share this last month, but got side tracked.  So better late than never right?

You see, a couple a months ago comrade Gordon contacted me via subspace communication asking if I could acquire some items to help in his hunt for droids across the galaxy.  The request was simple enough, as I have performed similar requests in the past.  Plus when it comes to hunting down those crafty droids, a trooper could use an edge.  So I accepted the assignment.  Everything went according to plan and I was able to obtain the items via my usual channels.  In gratitude for my assistance, I was sent some goodies that would like to share with everyone now.

First up we got some autographed Trooper cards featuring Gordon geared up in both his Sandtrooper and Stormstrooper uniforms.  Also included a Singapore Garrison card.  Both cards feature some stats on the back, similar to sports cards.  Like many people I grew up on Star Wars and consider myself a fan.  So seeing these cards and how fans bring their characters to life makes these cards pretty cool to me.

But the cards weren’t the only things included in the package.  Also included some embroidered patches.  Looks like the SG Stormtrooper is popular with ladies in red.  Royal Guard perhaps??

A patch of Gordonator’s mascot, the Fem Trooper Gordenette with figma Saber Lily.

501st Legion (also known as “Vader’s Fist”) patch.  Sadly I have no miniature / figure Darth Vader so I asked figma Saber Alter to step in.  I don’t think she can Force Choke anyone, but I am sure she will cut down those that stand in her way.  For those who are unfamiliar with the 501st, you can check out this.

Gordon was kind enough to send of some blood packs over for the DD company to use in future photoshoots.  One for each blood type: A, B, AB, and O.  Sorry photo is bit dark.

Last but not least, the thank you note that was included with everything.  Goodies are nice, but this is far more valuable to me.  A simple ‘thank you’ goes a long way, believe me.  I have had moments when I helped someone and didn’t even get a “kiss my butt” much less a “thank you.”  So if someone gives you a hand with something, do the right thing and say “thank you.”  Believe me it goes a long way.  That being said, thank you again Gordon for the awesome goodies ^o^!!

Once again another year is behind us.  Decided to carry on the tradition I began last year, and decided to take a look back on this past year.  No doubt that 2010 has been a challenging year for me in my personal life.  Been down a few rocky roads and experienced a few trails that hopefully have helped me grow as a person.  But year has also had many great moments.  So strap in as we take a look back at Ultima-i in 2010!

I changed the theme of my site to version 1.2 (and eventually 1.2.1).  Over the year I have been working to improve my web design skills but I still have much to learn.  I tried to minimize my use of plugins and rely on hard coding functions into my theme.  I’m still far from considering myself a pro when it comes to web design or programming though.

Interesting site stats for 2010

1. There was a total of 56 new posts in 2010.  10 less post compared to 2009.  Only have myself to blame for this one :(
2. There was 28,937 Visits to site, an increase of 114.63% from 2009!!
3. 80.91 of those visits were new visits, an increase of 6.59% from 2009
4. 49.036 Pageviews, an increase of 91.37% from 2009
5. Top referral website was figure.fm!!
6. Top keyword search from Google for 2010 was “Unlimited Blade Works”  Second highest keyword search was “Bible Black Live Action”  ^^;;;;  Third place was “Dollfie Dream”
7. Top 5 countries from visitors originated from (out of a total of 146) was United States, Canada, Philippines, United Kingdom, and Singapore.
8. I am truly grateful for every visitor that visits my little site.  Its truly an honor and I hope to continue to offer you more in 2011.

Unlimited Blade Works hit the theaters in Japan and eventually was released on DVD and Blu-ray.  Being the “Fate /” series fanboy that I am, I was all over this release.  I loved the anime series adaptation of Fate / Stay Night and was disappointed that only taste of UBW I got was from the second opening.  So seeing this movie was certainly a treat.  I will say though that the pace was pretty fast, so those unfamiliar with the story and characters may have found themselves lost at certain times during the film.  Of course that could be said for any movie adaptation, especially when introducing so many characters in such a short time frame.  But overall it was a faithful adaptation and I certainly enjoyed it.

Plus loved seeing Rin get some attention, as she plays a bigger role in UBW.  Also excited that 2011 will bring more Fate anime our way with Fate / Zero.  Cannot wait to see Mafia Saber <3!  2010 also was the year my blog became a Fate shrine with all the Fate / Stay Night, Fate / Unlimited Codes, and Fate / Extra posts I made.

It snowed.  Nendoroid Saber Lily and Saber Lion had a chance to play in it.

Had a Dollfie Dream Valentine’s Day photoshoot. I liked the idea behind the pictorial, but think the shots could have been better.  I’ll do a better job next time I do a shoot like this.  Every experience is a learning experience.

The photo above would later be used in the (thankfully) short lived “The Doll Flu” post that caused flames to roar within certain Dollfie Dream circles.  Personally, I could care less about the whole incident because I don’t let stuff like that bother me.  Everyone is entitled to their opinion, even if said opinion is somewhat misguided.  But I find it amusing the level of commentary it generated.  Lesson to carry into 2011:  The legends are wrong.  Modern Trolls  love fire, thus they thrive in flames.  Don’t feed the flames and trolls die.  In other words, flame wars are pointless as they feed trolls.

Gundam 00 movie premiered.  Like many, I love the Gundam franchise.  My favorite Gundam series was 8th MS Team because it was more character driven and didn’t feature the super powered Gundams one sees a lot of today.  But I would say that Gundam 00 has become my number 1 Gundam series because even with the super powered Gundams the characters were quite memorable.  Still haven’t seen the movie though, but I hear that it concludes the 00 series nicely.  Guess that is one of my things to do in 2011 ^^

Had a lot of miscellaneous Dollfie Dream posts.  Highlights include Yoko’s Lost Photos, Home Town Dolpa Kyoto 7 Outfits, Dollfie Tattoo 1, Sexy Dynamite Preview, DD Rin Google Homepage, DDdy Alna (Just) Unboxing, Touhou Project x Dollfie Dream.  I also took Yoko on a Riverside walk because she was feeling a bit neglected ^^;

And that isn’t even all of the Dollfie Dream related post I made this year.  In a move I wasn’t quite expecting, Volks announced that DD Sakura Matou would be released at Doll Party 23 (Dolpa 23).  Thanks to my readers, I was able to adopt Sakura as my third Dollfie Dream.  Shortly after Sakura’s arrive, I found time for my three lovely girls to take a group shot.  I was also able to reunite Rin with her little sister.  Rin x Sakura = Sisters of Fate ^o^

I shared some old memories, like my Photography I portfolio and shots of my old PC setup.  I also started using my old DeviantArt account more.  Though I still like Flickr more for sharing photos over DeviantArt though, as the DA uploader annoys me.

Got a couple of video games, including Bayonetta and Final Fantasy 13.  I also got a Playstation Portable so that I could play some Phantasy Star Portable 2 and attempt to play Fate / Extra.  I also was able to get a copy of Ikki Tousen Xross Impact that I played a few time, though again hard to understand when I don’t understand Japanese.  Of course with a game like Xross Impact, I don’t think that really matters ^^;

Looking forward to the 2011 PSP game front.  3rd Birthday should be coming out in the US sometime in the Spring and I am looking forward to playing it.  Also looking forward to Phantasy Star Portable 2 – Infinity.  If you have any recommendations, please let me know.

I shared some of my favorite tunes.

I submitted an entry for Otacool 3 showing off my Otaku Workspace.  Though I didn’t get one of the big spreads, I was happy to learn I was published in the book ^o^

I would later show off my room via figure.fm but not much really changed ^^

My army of Sabers grew with the addition of Saber Extra and Saber Alter figmas, as well as the Super Movable Edition Saber Nendoroid…

…though my unicorn continued to elude me.  That was until Volks announced that a new Dollfie Dream would make an appearance at Doll Party 24 – Saber Lily!  Once again, thanks to the kindness of my readers, I was able to raise the necessary funding to participate in Volks USA lotto.  Thanks to continued luck, I am glad to say that my quest to adopt Saber is finally over.  March 2011, Saber Lily will arrive and become my fourth lovely Dollfie Dream.  I have finally captured my unicorn ^o^

I purchased Lightroom 3 in an effort to streamline my photo workflow.  Got a lot of opinions that Lightroom doesn’t hold a candle to Photoshop, but I have to disagree.  Lightroom has some powerful tools that make working with photos much easier and has really helped improve my workflow.  The exporting options alone save me so much time compared to having to run multiple batch jobs in Photoshop to accomplish the same tasks.  Hoping to utilize it a lot more in future projects.  I don’t consider Lightroom a Photoshop replacement but a complimentary tool.

Wrote a couple of tutorials to share how I handle lighting in my DD photography.  Also wrote up one on how I perform eye surgery on my newly adopted girls.

Overall it has been a great year.  Looking forward to 2011 and what the future brings!!

Thought I would share one of the things from my collection of anime related stuff.  Today gonna take a look at a replica of the Rose Signet (Rose Duelist) ring from Revolutionary Girl Utena.

For those unfamiliar with Utena, those who possess a ring are eligible to compete in duels.  The winner of the duel becomes ‘engaged’ to the Rose Bride.  Because the Rose Bride is believed to be the key to bringing forth a revolution of the world, the current champion is constantly challenged by other duelist wishing to possess her.

The cheap plastic box that the ring comes in.  I believe this replica was produced by Movic, but I am not for certain as it has been many moons since I got it.

Now for a small break, gonna share some of my favorite duels of the series with you. The last one even includes the Student Council oath.

httpvp://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=92BE09BC702A0D42

1. Utena’s first duel.  Utena vs Saionji
2. Utena vs Saionji rematch
3. Utena vs Juri.  One of my favorite duels.
4. Utena vs Touga.  Utena’s resolve is tested and leads to her first defeat.
5. Utena vs Touga rematch.  Utena’s determined to get back what she lost.  But Touga won’t make it easy.
6. Utena vs Wakaba.  One of my favorites from the Black Rose arc.  Utena must face her best friend in a duel.  If she loses, Anthy will die.
7. Utena va Mikage.  Utena faces the mastermind behind the Black Rose duelist.
8. Utena vs Saionji – final rematch.  First duel of the Akio Ohtori Saga.  The Student Council members one by one are shown the “End of the World” and given power to challenge the bond between Utena and Anthy.
9. Utena vs Touga – Touga challenges Utena in an attempt to stop her from fighting Akio in what will be her deadliest duel of the game.
10. Utena vs Akio – Utena faces the mastermind behind all the duels.  The final duel known as “Revolution” is underway.

I wanted this particular ring because of its lovely design along the band.  Other replica duelist rings I have seen are pretty simple (plain) compared to this one.  Usually a simple silver band with the signet on top.

Ring also comes with a braided metal chain necklace, which is cool if the ring is too small for your finger.  Then you can wear it around your neck, which is how I would have to wear it because its too small for my fingers LOL!

Certainly one of my favorite items.  Not only does the ring look fantastic, its certainly a wonderful piece any Utena fan would appreciate.  Probably make a good cosplay item too.  For the Revolution of the World!!

Couple of days ago, decided to submit an entry for Otacool 3, answering the call Danny Choo put out for otaku workspaces.  My attempt for Otacool (World Wide Rooms edition) was pretty lame in my opinion.  So wanted to do a bit better this time around.  So we’ll see what happens =D

You can see my submission over at figure.fm, along with annotations on the various pics.  Also posting the pics here, but encourage you to check out the actual submission just to see the notes =)

Stumbled upon this video on YouTube featuring a 3D-CG of Saber Lily and though I would share it.

So 2009 has officially reached it’s conclusion.  Like many people, I too find myself reflecting on the previous year.  Local and national news reports have been looking back on the last decade as well.  I can recall the major world events, somewhat; as well as key moments in my own life.  Hard enough to focus on things from the passing year much less the decade.  If I blog more, probably be easier though, right?  ^^;;

Alrighty, time to fire up the Time Machine and take a look back!

Xaeon – Goodbye bro

Back in May my friend Xaeon, Carlton Hunter, passed away due to a freak accident.  Xaeon and I were like online brothers, having met playing Phantasy Star Universe on Xbox 360.  We had good times running missions and made up 2/3rd’s of a pretty awesome team in the game.  Xaeon and I shared a lot of the same interests and seemed to have a similar mindset when it came to things like elitism and online drama (we didn’t care for either).

The news came pretty suddenly that I almost didn’t believe it true at first.  But it was also one of those things that makes you realize that tomorrow isn’t guaranteed to us.  So we have to enjoy everyday we get.

One of the things we liked to do when we defeated bosses in-game was quote the line “It’s just been revoked” from Lethal Weapon 2, but we do it in reference to the Family Guy parody.  This one is for you Xaeon =D

Figure Collecting / Photography

In 2009 I started collecting anime figurines again.  I had collected a few figures here and there over the years, like many of the above Sabers with the exception of the Saber Maid, Saber Lion nendoroid, and Saber Lily figma.  I am a huge Saber fanboy if you haven’t guessed that by now (like I haven’t mentioned it before lol).

One of the reasons I adore Saber had to do a lot with who she represents in the Fate / franchise.  The Saber class is considered the most outstanding, even more so for this ‘Saber’ because she is actually Arthuria Pendragon (play on King Arthur of legend) and therefore the King of Knights.  If you read my About page, then you would understand that since I was a wee boy I had a fascination with knights and wished to live my life in a similar fashion.  So being the fanboy I am, I had to get Fate / Unlimited codes so I could get this figma!!!

2009 was the Year of the Ox on the Chinese calendar.  I knew this, so I had to get Holstein Hanako.  She is so cute and because of her theme I knew she would make for a good 2009 figure pictorial.  Sadly it took me a while to actually get around to take pics of her, but when I finally did I liked how they came out.  Apparently others did too.

Another anime girl I simply adore, the lovely C.C. (read C2) from Code Geass.  What really liked about her character aside from her mysterious nature was that she was witty.  And of course she was pretty hot, even with the amount of pizza she could put away.  This was probably the only C.C. figure I wanted for the longest time and when I finally found her I had to get her.

A picture of a figure pictorial that I never finished with the lovely Kanu and Ryomou made by Griffon.  I think you can get the idea of what I had in mind, but I never polished the idea.  This was part of some test shots I did, and was probably the best one of them all.  At the time, I planned to get a better backdrop and stage it up nice.  Try to go for some ‘romantic lighting’ and such, but anyway it never panned out.

I may go back to it again, what do you think?

I participated in Danny Choo x Kotobukiya Otacool contest.  Well, wouldn’t call it participated as I didn’t really show much of my room.  Honestly, I was a bit embarrassed to share my room with the world.  Plus a lot of my ‘otaku’ stuff isn’t really out on display.  Pretty much threw some nendoroids on my computer and took a pic ^^;;  Maybe that is the reason for the strange faces lol.  It was also about this time I did my Miku x Saber post.

Got the Gift Yoko – previewed it but never reviewed it.  She is quite lovely and was my first Yoko figure if I recall.  Perhaps she influenced my decision on adopting DD Yoko?  I will say this, the ‘el pie de camello’ didn’t influence the decision ^^;

I got the Gekisou Haruhi girls.  But apparently I accidently ordered two Mikuru!!!  At the time of this photo Yuki wasn’t released yet.  Thinking I may do some sort of contest to give away my spare Mikuru – maybe related to the Haruhi movie??

Have you ever ordered two of the same figure and not realized it?  I did it two other times besides this!  You can see what I have by checking out my profile at My Figure Collection aka Tsuki-Board.

The highly anticipated Saber Lily by Good Smile Company was released this year.  She is absolutely gorgeous.  I promised a review shortly after I got her, but after seeing some of the great reviews of her out there and the lovely staging I got a bit discouraged.  Want to do something without copying the great pictorials I have seen.

Regular Photography

In 2008 I got my first DSLR camera – Canon EOS 40D.  In 2009 I decided I could get a compact point and shoot camera so I could have a camera with me so I could take pics while out of stuff find interesting.  Opted to get the Sony DSC-W290 reasons you can read about it more here.

And I made good use of it, taking shots of stuff while I walked around…

When I drove around…

Even before I enjoyed this holiday pie.

Fact is I took quite a few pictures in 2009, yet I didn’t share a fraction of them.  I would go through them after I was done and notice that only a few came out like I really wanted.  So I would just leave them in my camera download folder.

Took pictures of some local building development.

Looks like they were building townhouses.  Of course now they are built and landscaping is almost done.  To me, photography was about sharing something of myself with others…yet I have all these photos just sitting on computer.  Guess you can tell what one of my New Year Resolutions will be?  ^^

Dollfie Dream

Those who follow the site will probably say there is never a shortage of Dollfie Dream photos here.  There is just something so endearing about these lovely ball-jointed dolls and ever since Danny Choo introduced his Saber DD I have been fascinated with them.

Rin was my first “daughter” though I prefer to call them my girls.  I may be a Saber fanboy, but I also loved Rin in Fate / Stay Night.  I mean, she summoned the badass Archer!!  Rin is a curious girl, here she is playing with the Kiba plushie that came with my Wolf’s Rain DVD those many years ago.

You can read more about Rin in her introduction post.  Or check out the Dollfie category posts to see what other things curious Rin gets into.

I took Rin out for an outdoor photoshoot as part of Danny’s Miss Dollfie Summer 2009 contest on figure.fm.  I went to a local landmark called The Old Mill.  If you are movie person, then you will recall that the mill was shown briefly in the opening credits of “Gone with the Wind.”  Can view Rin’s entry here.

It was pretty quiet there for the most part, then all of the sudden a lot of folks showed up.  Had to guard Rin from kids trying to grab for her, but luckily I had help with me when I did this shoot.

I have heard that Rin is a Tsundere type.  Show me this side of her means she warmed up to me, right?

Not long after I got Rin, Yoko arrived at my house.  I adopted Yoko for 2 reasons.  First, I loved her character in Gurren Lagann.  A lot of people focus on the fanservice aspect of Yoko, but she was actually more complex than some people give her credit for.  Second, I had to see what the Dollfie Dream Dynamate body was like compared to the regular DD body.  At the time you could only get the DDdy body through the adoption of limited edition girls like Yoko.  Now the DDdy body is a base item.  Like to think adopting Yoko helped Volks make that decision ^^

Some DD owners didn’t like that Yoko had two ‘steamed buns’ but I don’t mind and believe that was more of a licensing issue Volks had to agree to with Gainax.  Regardless, I adore Yoko and steamed buns look good in shirts like this! ^o^

I only put Yoko in her default clothes for the introduction post.  After that I kept her in different outfits that would minimize the staining of her body.  One such outfit was this white robe, which for the longest time was closed.  Then one day I came back home and found Yoko like this.  Must have been to constraining for her ^^

I have to say that entering the DD world has been quite an experience.  Met some great owners out there and seeing what other owners do with their girls inspire me to try new things with my own.  I also think that the fact you can customize them appeals to a lot of people.  Been looking at a few options to change the looks of my girls.

Can’t dream of renaming them though.  If I changed their appearance enough to warrant a name change, I would still reference their original name in it.  I like their original characters too much to take that identity away from them.

Two photos I did not include in my Christmas 2009 post.  Can’t believe I missed them actually, love the posing of them both.  Probably focusing on something else…never know with me.

Girls ended 2009 / started 2010 wearing their lovely kimonos that I wouldn’t be surprised if I put on incorrectly.  Got these back at the beginning of the year.  Figured it would be a good way to end out 2009 and start 2010.

Site Promotion

I was going to throw some stats out regarding the past year, but this post has started to run pretty long and chances are lost quite a few people by now.  Going to finish this up with a few things regarding the promotional aspect of my site.

This is probably the biggest site related thing to happen in 2009 and came as a complete surprise to me!  Danny Choo featured my site in one of his posts on his site ^o^!!  Honestly, I don’t know what I did to deserve the honor.  Certainly my proudest moment in terms of this site.

I cannot recall of I mentioned it on my site, but people who know me know that I consider Danny an inspiration.  And I guess know you all do as well.  So for me, seeing my site mentioned is an honor that I hold in high regards.  I would still consider it an honor even if my site was chosen at random!!!

Though mentioned briefly, my name cards were featured on Moo’s blog for a time.  This was courtesy of the Moo group on Flickr, which I think is administrated by Moo themselves.  So they pull images from the group pool and they show up on their blog.

If you have an account on Flickr, I would suggest joining groups.  Not only is at a great way to network, it could provide you with opportunities like this.  I know there are some photographers out there that don’t believe in posting their work on sites like Flickr because they don’t want their work stolen, but even posting sample work is better than posting nothing at all.

While on the subject of Moo and those name cards, I am planning on giving a few of them away soon. All of them include a code to get a discount off an order, so if you’re interested in checking out Moo’s card service then stay tuned.

Last but not least is that my two lovely girls were featured on Volks USA’s Sumika Times blog.  And today…the last day of 2009 no less.  When I put in the submission I didn’t expect to hear back as soon as I did.  Pretty nice way to end off 2009.

That’s all I got for my look back at 2009.  Little longer than I expected, mainly because of all the pictures I didn’t share throughout the year =P

See you soon when I talk about what’s coming in 2010!  Oh, and I’ll (briefly) cover some 2009 site stats.

For those that didn’t know from the previous posts, I am a fan of the Kamen Rider (Masked Rider) franchise.  Followed it a little a few years ago, mainly watching various clips from the various series.  Kiva was actually the first series I watched from beginning to end, obviously following it up with Decade.  Decade got me interested in going back and watching the previous KR shows again and I have to say out of all of them I really enjoyed Kabuto the best.

Well, Decade finished its TV run last week with a cliffhanger finale setting things up for the movie come December.  But Kamen Rider fans wouldn’t have to wait that long as we get to jump right in with Kamen Rider W (Double).  What is of particular interest about this new Rider is made up of two guys.  Hence the name Double.

Also, it would seem that buy combining different “Gaia Memories” he is capable of assuming 9 different forms; with the default being Cyclone / Joker.  Needless to say any combination that contains Cyclone will be my favorite because it means Double will be sporting the scarf…or as I like to call it…”the future cape” ^^;

(Because it seems in a lot of “futuristic” type shows, scarfs are like the new cape heroes wear.)

Anyway, the first episode shows a lot of promise to me.  I’ll obviously give it my five episode viewing before I make any major judgements.  Typically, I have a pretty good idea of what a show is about or at the very least if I will enjoy it after five episodes.  But so far so good.

With that being said, here is the opening sequence for W.  The song is called WBX or “Double Boiled Extreme.”  Loving this opening…song is very catchy to me.

And here is the new Henshin, form change(s), and Cyclone / Joker’s Rider Kick.  Dunno about that Rider Kick…seems a bit weird to me.

Something I will be writing about often is my experiences as an otaku.  Hence the name of the series, Life of the Otaku ^^;

I am still working on the first entry, but I thought I would share one of the images I took.  Being an otaku, I take any opportunity to get extra anime related stuff (especially if its for free).  One such item was this Escaflowne movie poster.  I plan on sharing more rare treasures like this as the series progresses.  I have a lot of interesting experiences and neat little items to share ^^

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