Nendoroid Ichigo Hitofuri vs my wallet

http://www.goodsmile.info/en/product/5316/Nendoroid+Ichigo+Hitofuri.html

After exhausting my wallet, pre-ordering every Touken Ranbu Nendoroid so far, I told myself to not get anymore Touken Ranbu Nendoroids that aren’t Date army swords.  But god damn it, why did Ichigo’s Nendoroid have to turn out so pretty?!  ;o;!    God damn it...He's pretty.  Why does he have to be so pretty?  Why do I have to like pastel hair so much?  And that uniform is just exemplary good character design!  Why do all the Touken Ranbu characters have to have such good character design?!  ;o;!

AmiAmi wishlist 11/8/2015

There are figures I want to get---I shouldn’t get!  But I really want to get.  ...so...so...badly.  @_____________@

I gave up on Nendoroid Darth Vader and Nendoroid Stormtroopers.  I held back on Nendoroid Anna.  I denied myself Nendoroid Archer AGAIN, this past Comikaze Expo 2015.  Please, please, just let me have these, wallet.  

Before the next wave of Touken Ranbu Nendoroids comes along.  I promise not to get more Touken Ranbu Nendoroids unless they are from the Date army or unless they are specifically irresistible.  I already promised to stop getting all the Touken Ranbu Nendoroids that are being made, even if I don't know the character, just to support male figure production.  There's Orange Rouge now.  There's no more reason to get ALL the Touken Ranbu Nendoroids to send Good Smile Company the message.  

So please, wallet.  Let me get Riku, Ranma, and Body-kun instead.  I'll even be willing to give up on Body-chan, since I already pre-ordered Figma Archetype She (and she's sold-out on AmiAmi...for now).  But Body-kun has too different a sculpt from my pre-ordered Figma Archetype He, for me to pass up.  What if Body-kun is a better drawing model?  He already has a less awkward chest sculpt.  I'd prefer to draw that S.H. Figuarts.  

But damn...That price tag on Riku is killing me!  @w@!  What happened to the affordable Play Arts line?!  All of Square's figures are Play Arts Kai now?!  Come on!  The Play Arts were fine!  And $40!  They weren't $90---at DISCOUNTED price!  If I hadn't been waiting for this specific version of Riku for almost 10 years now, I would blow it off like those Dream Drop Distance Play Arts Kai figures.  ~o~;  

Double-guessing fixing a figure

Just getting some things off my chest. I tried to fix my Philip figure and I think I may have made a mistake.  So I’m just rambling until I feel better about it.

Sunburnt Philip.

I feel a little guilty for modifying my Chibi-Arts Philip as soon as I got him.  But when I first opened the mailing box, the way his face looked, just through his box's window, already looked so horrible, my heart sank.  I bought him used, and I don't know how the owner or store that had him, displayed him, but the paint on his face had serious discoloration.  Well, he is an old figure, and I had heard that enough sunlight exposure would ruin figures.  He looked like he had been sun burnt.  His face was orange, literally the "orange" that human skin turns when staying too long in a tanning bed---and in distinct patches!  >~<;

I had expected to feel so happy, after hunting down Philip for so long, and now finally having him.  But all that was crushed when I saw that discolored paint on his face.  I guess I rushed into erasing all that paint off, because I wanted to get to that exuberant feeling of finally obtaining a "holy grail" figure.  Instead, "I spent $70 for this?!" was the first thing I thought when I saw his face through the box window.  I had to get rid of that feeling.

When I look at Philip in my display case now, with half his paint rubbed off (it was too late at night and difficult to continue with the top half of his face), I feel confident that he looks better than when I first unboxed him.

Paint rubbed off bottom half of Philip's face.

The problem is that all my unboxing photos (like many of my photos), overexposed him with bleaching flash lighting, so all that sunburt paint doesn't look so bad.  And it makes me second-guess my memory of how bad he looked when I first unboxed him.

Faces before modification; over-exposed flash.

Faces before modification; flash at a little further distance.

All the work I did yesterday to fix his paint...I'm doubting myself now.  But I can clearly see the lines of sunburnt paint, that were too dangerously close to his eyes to erase.  And if his cheeks had stayed that color, he'd be far too noticeably darker, next to my Chibi-Arts Shotaro.  ...Not to mention, also darker than the rest of his own face.  But when I look at my bleached-out photos, I can't help but think that maybe within the context of the rest of the paint on his face, maybe those sunburnt cheeks blended into a cohesive context.

...But then why did I immediately wretch backwards, when I first saw his face through his box window?  A figure is supposed to be aesthetically pleasing, in and of itself, and immediately.  And yet, I had that reaction.  Therefore, there was something undeniably wrong and I was right to fix it.  Just look at the difference between his discolored face, versus the skin tone of his hands---and even his NECK!  @~@  Besides, Philip is supposed to be pale enough to pass as Wakana-hime.  He wasn't going to do that with that sunburnt paintjob.

So, now I think I know why he was sold.  Whatever store or previous owner, probably thought Philip was worth less now, with that horribly discolored paint.  But he's Philip!  The incredibly RARE Chibi-Arts Philip!  One of only 2 non-henshin Kamen Rider Chibi-Art figures!  He would never lose value to me.  Whenever one of my figures is damaged, I feel almost glad that they're with me, and not owned by someone (like my brother) who is not comfortable with crafting, and would then deem a damaged figure worthless.  To me, they are always valuable, even if they need a little fixing.  ...Actually, now that I think about it, I've always gravitated towards damaged stock.  Vases, dragon figurines, miniatures, souvenirs,...  All just so I don't have to imagine the pitiable fate of the object that is deemed worthless, just because of a little damage.  The rest of it is good too!  ;o;  So this paint-discolored Philip came to the right place.  I should feel glad that he's with me.  I may not be able to paint as well as official manufacturers, but when I do get some spraypaint, as long as I can get him looking good for photos with my Chibi-Arts Shotaro, that's all I wanted in the first place.  ^-^

Still...Maybe next time, I'll calm down and take a breather before erasing the paint off a $70 figure.  @_@  That was pretty rash.

S.H. Figuarts vs Figma as drawing manequinns

Comparing the S.H. Figuarts Man DX Set versus the Figma Archetype He and She, in terms of drawing models, is a little difficult without physically testing out their articulation, side by side, but I can try to compare what we can see from their official photos.  (S.H. Figuarts Man DX figures in gray; Figma Archetype He and She figures in flesh tones.)

The female figures seem pretty much the same to me, except for the articulation at the toes, which are available in the S.H. Figuarts, but not the Figma Archetype.  The S.H. Figuarts waistline has an actual seam delineating it at the natural waistline, while the Figma Archetype She dips the seam to allow the midriff to be a more continuous sculpt.  (This may also allow for more leeway in articulation, but that's just speculation.)  The hip joint sockets for the legs are also a little more visible in the S.H. Figuarts, than the Figma.  The torso seam on both S.H. Figuarts are much lower and allowed to be visible, while the Figma Archetypes try to hide the seam under the bustline.  But without physically comparing their articulation in person, the female figures seem very much the same.  And without comparing those differences, I have no problem skipping the female S.H. Figuarts, since I'm already getting the Figma Archetype She.  (Except for my collector-minded completionist tendencies.  @_@ )  So, unless there is a big difference in actual articulation, or if a collector/artist is swayed by that toe articulation, then a collector/artist can probably just get one female figure, without also buying the other.  

Now the male figures, on the other hand, are much more drastically different.  I was always annoyed with the look of the bustline seam on the Figma Archetype He, while the S.H. Figuarts Man's chest is much more aesthetically pleasing.  But is it better for sketching as a model?  That may depend solely on each artist/collector's preference.  The Figma's pectorals seem more pronounced, while the S.H. Figuarts' pectorals seem flatter.  But while I have an aesthetic preference for the S.H. Figuarts's chest piece, its hip area is a little awkward.  The hips' joints with the legs are extremely pronounced, and while all the extra seams clutter the hips, it could enable superior articulation, for all I know.  But strangely, the S.H. Figuarts' feet (for both genders) are sculpted like the figures are wearing shoes, even though the rest of their bodies are sculpts of bare muscles.  The Figma Archetypes (for both genders), on the other hand, include feet sculpted as if they were bare.  

I already pre-ordered both Figma Archetype figures, so now it’s just a matter of convincing myself to buy or not buy the S.H. Figuarts.  Maybe if Bluefin Tamashii Nations had such a convenient international official online store, like Good Smile Company, I would have already pre-ordered these S.H. Figuarts.  But I’m kind of glad it wasn’t that easy to order, because I really should save my money.  Especially since I’ve already pre-ordered extremely similar figures in the Figma Archetypes.  But in all honesty, I prefer the male S.H. Figuarts and the completionist figure collector in me can't just leave that female S.H. Figuarts as the only one I leave out of my collection.  So even though I am considering also pre-ordering the upcoming Figma Archetype Next He and She, I will probably pick up the S.H. Figuarts Man DX Set if I should see it.  ^^; 

Picture sources:
https://www.facebook.com/Tamashii.USA/timeline/story?ut=43&wstart=0&wend=1446361199&hash=-389610718224917035&pagefilter=3
http://www.goodsmile.info/en/product/5177/figma+archetype+she+flesh+color+ver.html
http://www.goodsmile.info/en/product/5176/figma+archetype+he+flesh+color+ver.html