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Katsucon 19: The Merchandise

Katsucon 19: The Merchandise
22 Feb 2013 04:37:02

On Valentine's Day weekend (or President's Day weekend, for you people living in the United States), I attended my first anime convention of the 2013 season (and the second convention in a period that will have me attending three different themed conventions in three months) with Katsucon. Summing things up: the convention was pretty messy (part of it was due to the BBYO, a Jewish youth group, hosting their international convention this year at the same hotel that's been hosting Katsucon since 2010), but in terms of what I usually post here, it was very exciting (especially with the cosplay photos, which is going to be my biggest post yet in terms of that). However, before I get to that, I need to cover the goods that I picked up at Katsucon this year, and it was quite a haul.

ANIME


When it comes to anime, I didn't do that much title shopping this go-round. I did browse around, checking out some titles that were mentioned in the industry panels that took place at the convention, but given the prices for the set, I ended up passing on them for now (I could always sample one of the titles that perked my curiosity via the free month of Hulu Plus that I have to see if I'd be willing to pick it up at Otakon).

However, while I didn't buy much in terms of anime, I still had one title on my "must purchase" list, with me expecting the title to be available early at the con. Sure enough, my hunch was right, and I pretty much started my Katsucon shopping spree picking up the first volume of Tiger and Bunny on Blu-Ray.

VIDEO GAME-RELATED ITEMS


When Video Games New York has a vendor at an anime convention that I attend, I usually end up picking up an import game (usually something for a Sony system) from their table. This convention, on the other hand, I ended up not buying anything from them. The reason for this: Video Games New York have found out about Magfest and had their dealers there. As such, my usual video game purchases at Katsucon ended up taking place a month early, with me picking with Aquapazza (a fighting game featuring various Aqualeaf characters), the Saint Seiya PS3 game (the European version, with English text), and the Macross: Do You Remember Love Blu-Ray/PS3 game hybrid set (although after attending Katsucon, I have my regrets of picking up the last one early, as Katsucon was carrying the limited edition set that I would've loved to pick up if they had it at Magfest).

However, I still managed to pick up a few video game-related items at the convention. To start off, the American version of the Hyrule Historia, a book looking at the history of the Legend of Zelda franchise, had just come out. So, I made sure to pick up a copy of it while at the Dealers' Room.

Also, while at the Artist Alley, I saw one artist who I missed out at Magfest (he was there, it's just that I didn't notice him) selling some interesting pieces of video game art that decided to buy a couple of. The first type of art that he offered was small statues of video game scenes (similar to the ones I picked up at a couple of Magfests). I eventually picked up one of them in the form of a statue based on Q-Bert, a game that my family has fond memories of.





The other piece of art that interest me was that he actually took various screen shots from NES games and give them a 3D look (the most impressive is that completely maps the first airship in Super Mario Bros. 3, with one copy of that picture being part of the art show). With a lot of pictures to choose from, I eventually went with a picture based on The Legend of Zelda





BTW, for those wondering why I didn't take a picture of these in 3D: sadly, the site where I uploaded my 3D pictures had changed the way its handling uploads (i.e. those with free accounts will have their pictures only be on the site for a short period of time), and I didn't feel it was worth it to pay a yearly fee to upgrade my account.

FIGURES


In term of figures, I initially checked to see the Dealers' Room to see if there was any Busou Shinki or To Heart 2: Dungeon Travelers figures that I didn't have on sale there. Unfortunately, that was a no-go. However, I did find something that is similar to Busou Shinki that made up my figure purchases at this convention.

It began when I passed by the Otakon table just around closing time Friday night and saw one of the people working the table selling figures from his own collection. Among them include the Tamashii Nation 2012 version of the Wing Gundam figure. After seeing a regular version of the figure, I eventually gave in and bought it. The following day, I decided to check the Dealers Room again to pick up more figures. In the end, I ended up picking up the regular version of the Wing Gundam figure and the other one that is available, one inspired by the Gundam in Mobile Suit Gundam 0083.





I do have plans to do an additional report involving these figures, however what's up in the air is:

1. When it will go up (I've already started taking pictures of one figure, but I've been rather busy to take more photos);

2. If the limited edition figure will be part of the display as well (I pondering if it's better to keep it in the box for value purposes, which is one reason why I got the other two figures: as something to display).

OTHER


Before I get to the final item I picked up, I want to mention something I saw at Anime USA. At the con, one of the Dealers, Lemonbrat, was selling custom made plushies of the cast of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (if you want one yourself, you can order them here). Being into the show, I eventually picked up one at the con (in this case, one of my favorite Mane Six member, Fluttershy).

The reason why I'm bringing this up: Lemonbrat also happened to be at Katsucon this year, with them bringing along the pony plushies. After hearing about how this one sold out rather quickly at Katsucon, I had a good idea of my choice this time around and picked up second-favorite member of the Mane Six, Pinkie Pie.





Now if only Lemonbrat can sell a Dinky plushie at a con that I go do (of course, I can just order one).

COMING UP: A major report on the cosplay (and other interesting things) of the convention.
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