World Hobby Festival
Well you've been looking forward to seeing stuff from the World Hobby Festival and here it is. I expected to see more Gundams and while attending I realized that this was an event *mainly* covering garage kits and *mainly* Bishojo figures - but I had no complaints at all as they had some rather nice figures on display and for sale.
Its the Wonder Festival held by Kaiyodo that brings in all the big makers like Bandai with their line up of toys n figures and I will be going to that too. It will be held at Tokyo Big Site in Akiake and will use up 4 halls. Todays WHF only used one hall - but there were thousands of people there - after todays event, I couldn't imagine anything bigger - I would probably faint if I saw 4 halls full of figures *and* exclusive Gundams and wot not.
You may prefer to view this in gallery format.
Gonzague and I would have had a tough time bringing you these pics as the regulations re photo taking are really silly. And just to give you an example, here are just some of the rules translated from the WHF official site regarding photos...
- No taking photos between 11AM and 12:30AM (event starts at 11AM)
- You must register all photography equipment with WHF and display your pass in a visible area before taking photos
- Even if you have a pass - you must ask permission of dealer/seller before taking photos
- Use of tripods, phone cameras, video recording equipment are forbidden
- Do not take photos of the hall or the event attendees
- ETC
Tokyo Big Site holds about 300 events thoughout the year which are attended by roughly a million people.
The main building at Tokyo Big Site is actually a landing pad for UFO's.
Todays event used only one hall - but even still, the hall was massive and was filled with thousands of bods.
The end of the queue to get in - which was several hundred meters long.
More of the queue to get in.
To respect the WHF rules, the laughing man was called in to give assistance to hide peoples identity.
As soon as it turned 11AM - thousands of people flooded into the halls - they were running around all over the place to queue up at their favorite stall - it was an amazing site! Video footage coming soon.
Honami Fujieda from Tsuki wa Higashi ni Hi wa Nishi ni ~ Operation Sanctuary. You may have seen her printed on a sheet hanging off a balcony...
Heihachi from Tekken.
Unpainted Helena on the side and Hitomi from DOA getting ready for a round in their battle gear. You wouldn't stand a chance and would probably faint from all the bouncy-ness alone.
Succubus from Mabinogi.
Mizuho Kazami - Onegai Teacher.
Ikuko and bike.
Noemi Itou from the game "With You".
More Mizuho Kazami.
Her name is on the tip of my tongue but I just cant remember - anybody know?
Raruku from Top wo Nerae 2.
We lined up to buy this Mine bluE #010 for 11,000 yen and realized when we got to the front of the queue that you had to assemble and paint it yourself - we left the queue without buying it. 11,000 yen for an unpainted figure....
I would have considered it if I knew how to paint these though.
Kasumi and Aya from DOA - again, you wouldn't stand a chance if you had a round with them.
Kasumi getting ready for a round of DOA...
Mizuho Kazami getting ready for something or other.
Rei Ayanami from Evangelion.
Most of the kits on sale are only available at events like the WHF - just like this figure.
Koyori from Sengoku Blade.
Armor for Supika chan.
Supika chan with armor.....
...and Supika chan without armor....
Najika Hiragi from Najika Dengeki Sakusen.
Kazami Mizuho getting ready for something or other.
Cynthia Lane from Overman King Gainer.
Adette from Overman King Gainer
Manaka Komaki from ToHeart.
Mizuho Kazami from "Please Teacher" gets ready to teach...
Naru Narusegawa from Love Hina.
I have no idea why this girl has a patch on her eye, half of her top ripped off, and a pair of handcuffs.
Simuka from Airgear. You may have recognized her from a previous post. Unfortunately, this figure was up for display only. You can imagine how tough it was walking away without her in hand...
I can still get this kit online somewhere but I would still have to put her together myself - or I could pay somebody like Fine's Garden 150,000 yen to paint it for me....W,W,WHAT?!
Simuka from Airgear.
The F-Face had to be the most popular stand - throughout the morning the queue was never ending. These figures are tiny and yet extremely articulate as you can see from the above link. This character alone is about 5,000 yen - you can choose your own color and weapon combinations too. More news from this seller soon.
F-Face figure.
Yamato needs no introduction.
Did I mention that Yamato needs no introduction?
Getsumen Heiki Mina from Densha Otoko. Just about everybody who has seen the series will want one. I want one too but this painted kit would have set me back about 60,000 yen - wha, wha, WHAAAAT?!%$&
Dont you just love the carrots boosters hanging off Mina's bottom?
You know, I didnt really watch Gundam Seed Destiny closely and cant remember who's Zak this belongs to. This is painted kit that was going for a reasonable price.
MG Gundam Ver Ka painted and ready to look coolio on yer desk - if you have 16,000 yen to spare.
Another shot of Simuka from Airgear.
Eclair & Lumiere from Kiddy Grade on display with all the other Kotobukiya figures.
MG Z Plus painted and going for a cool 18,000 yen. Just a question - any of you out there who paint and resell your kits? What sort of margin do you make for those who do?
MG RGM-79.
RX-78-2 Gundam Ver.ONE YEAR WAR 0079 looking very sweet.
RX-78-2 Gundam Ver.ONE YEAR WAR 0079 in Char colors. 8,000 yen for a painted kit (and very well painted) was very reasonable but I would have felt odd buying a kit that I could have put together myself. My views on that may change in the future though.
RX-78-2 Gundam Ver.ONE YEAR WAR.
World Hobby Festival > MG Gundam Mk2 Ver2 (normal colors)
MG Gundam Mk2 Ver2 looks rather nice painted in these colors - makes the original look a bit lame?
Gouf Custom in "custom" colors.
Sorry - forgot the name of this seller but they had some cool stuff including the Mine bluE #010 figure.
So thats it for the last WHF event of 2005. Coming up next is the video footage taken at the WHF and a report from the Wonder Festival next Feb where there will be a wider variety of toys. You are probably feeling a bit dizzy by now from looking at all the Bishojo figures!
And dont forget to check out Akihabara News for Gonzague's report on the WHF too.
