After approximately 2 years and S$2000, I’m proud (though very broke) to present my little stash of 33 artbooks. 2008 and 2009 saw me going on a frenzy to acquire my favourite artists work. Things got a LOT worst when I discovered Yahoo Japan Auctions and realised that doujins are within tanuki grasp. Not a good revelation at all.
Tinkle really needs to start her own label. Byakuya Chakai has convinced me that Tinkle is not only an accomplished artist but also a fashion genius. If only her designs could be manufactured into 3D apparel, I’d buy up her entire range even if it meant selling off a good friend‘s gyro-stabilisers (I know, the secondary market for Zaku parts is also in the slumps now).
Nonetheless, I hope some billionaire otaku would chance on this lil post in the vast interwebs and be INSPIRED to start a fashion empire built on Tinkle designs.
Anyhow, here’s 10 Tinkle outfits I’d love to own (I emphasize – own, not wear)
I don’t like to brag but I’m pretty sure my injection of S$400 into the Japanese economy (via artbook purchase) over last weekend, kept the 2nd biggest economy in the world from sinking into a full-blown financial meltdown. The Japanese now has Tinkle, MEGAMI and Saber to thank for the bailout.
Here’s the breakdown of the rescue package -
Items 1-2 – Byakuya Chakai ~ Tinkle Illustration collection 2: S$260
Instead of electronic goods, Japan should export the one unique product that is not manufacturable elsewhere – Moe. It doesn’t have to be eroge. Tinkle’s benign artwork of scantily clad young girls lolita fashion is a fine example of how Moe could be exported WORLDWIDE to lift Japan out of deep recession.
Item 3 – Fate/Stay night ~ Saber Portraits: S$38
The Pound took a beating from the Yen with the debut of this artbook as the enterprising Japanese (14 illustrators to be exact) emasculated the once fable King of Avalon to become a maid, a Japanese high school girl, a bride and a glutton. Great artwork – The only best Saber picture collection there is.
Item 4 – Super MEGAMI Deluxe: S$38
Gakken took more than a page out of MacDonald’s accounts to introduce their very own super-sized MEGAMI Deluxe. Like the upsized meal, the Super MEGAMI Deluxe triples your chances of getting heart-attack though not from cholesterol but moe-overload. More than 4 times thicker than the regular MEGAMI deluxe the super edition is available for only 1.5 times its price. A bargain no self-respecting 2D investor would miss out on.
And that’s that for the artbook induced stimulus. Hoping the PVC market picks up too. Been dying to find an excuse to pump in more cash in the figure sector but the offerings have been lacklustered of late. (I blame figma and nendroid for the heretical development in the current PVC world.)
If there was only ONE artbook you can have in your entire life, it had better be Tinkle’s Byakuya Chakai since nothing else comes close, not even Tinkle’s own previous illustration collection.
One of the reasons why I love my country, beside the food and free internet, is the availability of Japanese 2D merchandise. KKnM/Kinokuniya easily meets 2/3 of my 2D needs. With their books/figures selling close to the Japanese retail price (with of membership discounts of course), I’ve always been oblivious to the pain of shipping. It was only my relatively recent foray into online shopping that this thorn has really dug into my flesh.
First, there was the not-so-brilliant attempt at buying Eji-Komatsu’s artbook from Amazon JP late last year. The botched purchase caused me 2 shipments of stuff I could have also gotten from Kino (shipping ~ S$70) and no artbook. (Amazon JP conveniently reported they didn’t have the book in stock AFTER shipping all the stuff I added into the shopping cart just to bring the shipping cost down.) Next was a Nendroid purchase (for a friend), also from Amazon JP. The shipping cost was 3/4 of the item itself. (Even though I’m not paying for it, I feel his pain.) Since then, I thank Haruhi daily that while Singapore may not be Akiba, the availability and cost of 2D products are rivaled by few places on Earth. (Probably only Taiwan and Hong Kong). Thus, it also baffles me greatly why many local collectors still choose the online avenue when shipping costs are so hard-hitting and ordering online has soo much inconveniences/restrictions.