Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Dead or Alive Towel

After a fitful night of sleep, wake up in the morning and rinse your greasy face with one of three Dead or Alive Extreme Volleyball towels which measure 35 cm x 46 cm (13.77 x 18.11") and feature the images of Kokoro, Kasumi, or Ayane. The girls are all decked out in swimsuits that are seemingly straining to contain their contents.

When NCS first accepted preorders for the towels, we labeled them face towels but after trying one out today, they're too big to be used for washing one's "greasy face." They could be used as bath towels but then again, they're too small to cover a big body and drink up multiple rivulets of water. As such, we're repurposing them as all-purpose towels but we're guessing few customers are actually going to use them and risk ruin and color fade when its time to throw them into the washer and dryer.

All preorders have shipped as of yesterday and new orders are welcome today. Pricing is set at US$25 per towel.

Gamera Toto Figure

Depictions of Gamera in popular culture are normally of a gnarled and rugged monster equipped with tusks and a raggedy shell. Dark, dank, and seemingly musky, Gamera isn't cheery... even when he saved Akio and Tom from the Terrans in Gamera vs Guiron (1969). That is, until now.

Play Set Products releases a vinyl Gamera doll which features a rounded creature with bright eyes and a toothy smile. A quaint jagged shell that's colored a cheery yellow hue adorns the back of the strangely adorable creature and provides sharp contrast against its well-tanned hide. Gamera Toto measures 12cm tall and is priced at Y4800 or US$49 from NCS.

Keroro Gunsou Television Game

Dance Dance Revolution made players step and stomp with mucho gusto. By watching arrows on screen and moving in time to the cues, players were rewarded with words of encouragement and adulation.

Borrowing the stepping and stomping bit from Konami, Bandai releases a dedicated Keroro Gunsou game which plugs into a television and features a special step control mat for user input. The CPU aka the brains of the game is mounted on the top of the dancing mat which makes for an "all-in-one" design. The Keroro Gunsou tv game features 12 challenges which include:

» A racing challenge where players have to stomp up and down to mimic running motion. Fast foot falls result in a speedy Keroro.
» Projectile fight where frogs battle it out on a snowy battlefield.
» Tug of war where one frog tussles against another frog. He who lacks strength will fall into a gloomy pit.
» Janken where players throw out rocks, papers, or scissors hand signals in order to defeat an opponent who's throwing out the same.

Transformers MP-3 Starscream

Shoji Kawamori returns to the Transformers trade and designs the third Masterpiece figure which features the crafty Decepticon known as Starscream. The diecast toy measures roughly 9" tall and transforms from robot form to sleek F-15E Strike Eagle jet fighter.

In the Transformers cartoon series, Starscream's skills allowed him to become second-in-command only to Megatron. Despite SS's leadership position however, the Decepticon ranks regarded him with guarded pessimism and a lack of confidence. Despite the hate however, Megatron saw the value that Starscream brought to the table... All preorders have shipped as of yesterday and new orders are welcome.

Transformers MP-4 Convoy

The latest Masterpiece Convoy features an Optimus Prime robot (Same exact toy that was released with the Masterpiece MP-1) which transforms into a Convoy Cab which hauls a bulky trailer. Unlike the disgraceful cardboard hauler that was included with the MP-01 Convoy, MP-04 includes a plastic and metal trailer which attaches to the MP-04 Cab. The trailer may also be opened up and used for a platform or as a storage unit for the MP-04 Optimus Prime toy.

The Transformers MP-4 Convoy is housed in a large and heavy box that ships in a dimension weight carton. Due to the size and girth of each MP-4, NCS recommends only shipping with UPS Ground within the United States. If you reside outside of the USA, we recommend USPS Airmail Service which normally delivers in 14 days. Any UPS or Fedex air service will incur hefty dimensional weight shipping charges.