Friday, August 7, 2009

The Ayanami Rei Shrine

One thing lead to another and now I have this huge collection of Ayanami Rei figures and merchandise.

It was around the time of late high school or end of high school that I discovered Evangelion, rented a tape from Blockbuster. They didn't have volume 1 of the series but I watched it anyway. Very confusing since it was the middle of the series... but the name Megumi Hayashibara stood out. See when I was back in Jakarta, I was shown Voltes V and the only female member in that show is named Megumi. I must've had a crush on that character that I have quite a love for the name "Megumi".

I watched some more and saw that she plays Rei Ayanami in the show and since it was the middle of the series, it was a scene where Rei was in a glass tube full of some kind of liquid. I was fascinated by this; cloning, blue hair, red eyes... After this I went and looked for the first volume and became very enamoured with Rei... which lead to finding out that she was going to have an "action" figure by Kaiyodo. I grabbed the chance to get one... now she has multiplied and was cloned at my expense.

This is the old compilation picture of the "shrine" which became my first post at DannyChoo.com. I wanted to do something unique for my first post... so this was the most unique thing that I could do at the time. The photos above were taken sometime last year around the same time.

AAAAH! All the Rei has been stolen! No, not really... just moved so I can add that extra shelving on top of it.

This is one of my big project this summer... which is to clean my room and get this new Rei shrine finished. Well 1 out of 2 isn't too bad...

I had to clear the front of the Detolf shelf so I can get to my other Ayanami Rei figures.

This is the first level. I didn't add the Fraulein Revoltech yet, but it's somewhere in the midst of it later. Darn... that new maid figure is covered X( She kinda looks like a princess being protected by the other Rei when I put her in the center like that.

The first level is where I placed the first musical box from Sega Prize...



Here's the second level. It's the smaller space so I tried to fit what I could in there such as the trading figures and the ones where she lies down or sitting down. Hmmm... I have an idea for that Rei sitting on the desk. Hopefully that comes to fruitition.

The second level is where I placed the second musical box figure, also from Sega Prize...



And finally the third level. You probably notice two similar looking figures. The two in swimsuit are both the same except for the paint jobs. I like the tan on the right one, but I like the bikini on the left. The one in the gym outfit/bloomers has one of my favourite faces.

Here you can see the other angle of the first level. I couldn't take this picture til late night because at the time my bed was filled with boxes of figures...

You also get a better view of Bandai's Voice I-Doll Superior figure with 10 voice clips from the anime voiced by Megumi herself! I think it's got the best face and hair colour from all of the figures here...



Here's an overhead shot of the first level to show the late addition Fraulein Rei and a better angle of the figures in the middle... mainly the new Maid Rei ^^

I also do like Asuka, but not as much as Rei as you can see here... There are a few figures that I really wanted of her, such as the Lolita dress, the colour change ones, the Cancer figure... but I wouldn't really get her unless I had to buy both Rei and Asuka. The surprise figure is the one in the center. I didn't think highly of that until I actually got it; fell in love at first sight.

Here's another angle of it showing the lolita dress Asuka better. The colour change figure is the one with the transparent dress. If it's cold it changes to black, but since it's summer here it becomes transparent, which is why I got her... heheheh.

As much as I love Ayanami Rei, I don't have anymore room on the shrine for anymore figures. I hope there aren't anymore that I'll get because it's just full right now! I can move it far to the back of the shelf, but I won't be able to see them anymore... Right now I can barely see some of them already. Ah, such is the life of the Ayanami Rei collector...

EDIT: Someone requested the "winter" or "cold" colour version of the temperature-changing Asuka figure, so here they are.


60 comments:

  1. Your lovely shrine gets more and more impressive~!

    Am a real fan of hard core fans. People who when love something, love it to the max. Much like you and Rei there~ Very sweet to see a dedicated Rei fan out there ^_^

    Which Megami Magazine issue is that lovely poster from? I remember looking at it a few moons back, but have yet to order~

    Very nice rearrangement too

    -Belgarion

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  2. awesome looking shrine!

    ah my eyes >.<... too many reis lol
    I dont see kotobukiya maid version =P

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  3. okay honestly I'm extremely envy that you got so many Rei-sama. That's all I can say XD was speechless on your Rei shrine.

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  4. @Belgarion: Thanks ^^ I think, outside of Japan, I have the second biggest Rei collection.

    Hmm... I don't remember which month it was, but I remember it had the Kannagi cover with Nagi and Zange. Orangey cover, I believe. *goes to visit Optic's blog*. Yep, it's volume 106. Thank you Optic! XD

    @YuKi-To: LoL there are a lot here ^^; But the maid is there... she's peeking just behind the gothic lolita dress in the front. Also if you squint hard enough she's in the side view picture. I should've had an overhead picture too >_< I'll add that in later.

    @Yamada: Haha thanks. I get speechless too seeing how many there are at times. No commento on the Asuka? ^^;;;

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  5. I remember you mentioned on Anime Figurines Network how much of a Rei fan you were, but I never knew it was so serious! Your story warms my heart. It's like you found your true love. I was like that with my first anime figure too - I'm sure you read my story as well.

    It's cool to see so many different versions of Rei. The cool thing is that it's all very well coordinated together because of her shockingly blue hair. Very nice collection!

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  6. oh yeah forgot about Asuka cause I was very concentrate on Rei XD

    *stare at Asuka figures* okay I better start saving money for Asuka, Rei and Saber XDD

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  7. That is one hell of an impressive shrine there. I don't think I'll ever be able to carve myself a shrine like that of any one character, but I'm still a rather new collector so I suppose only time will tell. I don't even have one Rei or Asuka figure yet :x

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  8. Glad to see your blog is still up and running. More glad to see you keep it oldschool. ;]

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  9. @radiantdreamer: Haha I posted some of the older shots of this collection but it grew ever since I posted that old one. And yeah, love your story... except well this is love for a 2D character ^^; I accidentally colour coordinated the two figures with the red dresses XD

    @Yamada: Haha yeah, there're a lot more Rei than Asuka, eh? XD

    @Persocom: I think you're getting there with the figma and Nendoroids, right? ^^ Le gasp!? No Rei nor Asuka?? Someday perhaps XD

    @loli1983: Yeah, I managed to keep it running despite having no logo at the top whatsoever XD

    @YuKi-To: I added a new picture of the overhead shot, so now you can see the Maid Rei ^^

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  10. My puny Nanoha and Mikuru shrine combined is nowhere near as EPIC as urs. ^^

    LOL. Thanks for linking me. I knew my reviews will be helpful in the long term. xD

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  11. oh i saw it! but aargh, my eyees XD

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  12. Nice collection of Rei. I was never really a big fan of Evangelion because the story is a bit confusing, or I didn't watch it enough times to understand it. But still I like the character design, the art, the products how it is still capturing so much of our attention.

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  13. Impressive shrine. When you love a character, you sure go all out. ^ ^

    How long did it take to get a shrine like that?

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  14. Oh Wow, awesome Rei shrine that you got there. I should start my Saber shrine soon ^^;;

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  15. The Rei clones were not destroyed; they all just went to live in Lightning's room.

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  16. @Optic: LoL I'm pretty sure your Mikuru shrine is quite comparable. It's just there aren't too many figures of Mikuru compared to Rei XD And no problem, that review you did was the one that made me buy that magazine, so thank YOU!

    @YuKi-To: Ahaha you have to keep looking so your eyes will eventually adjust :P

    @kam: It is confusing for me as well and I have to be honest that it's also part aesthetic that I like Rei ^^; Yoshiyuki Sadamoto's art just won me over with Rei.

    @Yi: LoL I seem to go all out on so many things (ie. Lunamaria Hawke) ^^; Hmm, let's see I had a few small collection when I started college... and whenever I go to figure stores, I see Rei, Rei and more Rei and I kept picking them up because I like Rei. before I knew it... THIS happened! I'd say this took approximately 10 years of collecting.

    @Saku: Thanks XD I do want to get started on more Saber collection too... but the lack of space and money has driven Saber into a small corner of my room ^^;;; I may make a comic out of this once some of the larger dust settles.

    @Snark: Indeed. And they've been reduced to miniature sizes of their former selves. Hmmm... is that my cue to get a life-size Rei now?

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  17. Amazing Rei collection, nice to see you reorganized and cleaned it up, that way it stands out even more and looks like what it's meant to be, a shrine of nice Rei figures.

    "This is one of my big project this summer... which is to clean my room ..."

    Do you need help from an elite unit of cyborg nekomimi maids? Or maybe Maria from "Hayate No Togoku!"? XD

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  18. I got nothing to add for your Rei obsession. You like what you like. I just had to comment cause my verification word was "incestis".

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  19. Interesting shrine. I don't think I have anything to compare as I don't really like getting multiples of one character ... then again for Feito-chan, I make an exception lol.

    Asuka was my favourite in Eva though, you have quite a lot of her too!

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  20. @bluebluewave: It's kinda scary when it goes that high actually... I worry about when one of them falls XD Oh please... I need a lot of help here... as long as they don't automaticall throw out my ecchi stuff >.>

    @FatB: It's funny what reasons people have to post comments... I wonder if that's some kind of disease ^^;

    @acesan: Ah yeah, Feito-chan deserves a shrine of her own for sure. Someday, perhaps? ^^; Haha compared to Rei, my Asuka figures are miniscule. I was forced to get the Asuka figures when I bought the Rei ones...

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  21. Your love for Rei knows no bound. If thee runs out of space, thou shall make more space!!

    Is you be getting Wave 1/10 Rei? She looks really good. ^^

    Hmm...reminds me I need to pre-order that Koto Asuka. ^^

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  22. @Tommy: I'm running out of space and money, lol. I do like that Rei from Wave, but I may have to hold off on some purchases... I'll pass on that Asuka. I'm VERY selective on the Asuka figures I purchase :P

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  23. Epic collection.

    As a Rei fan myself, I would like to go pray there one day XD

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  24. @nyoron: Warn me when you drop by... I need to clean the front of it XD

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  25. My Rei Sounddrop thats going with me wherever I go has the same sample as your Voice I-Dolls first.

    "You wont die,because I protect you"

    Or something along those lines.

    The Sounddrop sounds like crap though.

    Rei is a poison...I try to stay away from her as much as possible and only failed a few times

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  26. @Blowfish: Oh I have a Haruhi sounddrop, but not Rei... they're easily pressed though. Don't you accidentally press it all the time? ^^;

    LoL I get sucked in easily because the figures I found are the Sega Prizes which were reasonably priced ^^

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  27. It gets activated all the time.
    Once it even got activated while I was treating a patient.That was kinda awkward ^^;;

    Haha yeah the SEGA Prize figures are indeed evil :P

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  28. @Blowfish: ROFL!!! Oh man, that's freakin' funny XD Which is why I stopped carrying the one in my bag, lol. They need to make it less sensitive :P

    There are so many of those Sega Prize figures... I've missed out on a lot of good ones >_<

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  29. I remember that first Dannychoo post! How nostalgic! I see your love of Rei is still going strong. :>

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  30. @Coco: Hehe yeah, it's been one year at least since that last post. It's strong, but I'm running out of space. The spirit is willing, but the space is weak XD

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  31. what a shrine~ you're one true Rei fan!!

    i have Asuka collections more (since i like her more) than Rei but all my collections are no compare to yours.

    very nice~ ^ ^

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  32. @Andrew: Thanks! So even after I said I've got too many already, I bought 3 more recently, lol. Heheh, and I don't really recommend getting this many figures, I'm just nuts XD

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  33. @Lightning Sabre: I love your hardcore Rei and Asuka figure collection!!! I have been searching and collecting Anime figures since last year and have been expanding my collections almost weekly but of course no where near as much as you have. Anyways I am very interested to know where you find that color changing Asuka figure from and what company makes it? Also can you please show me a picture of that figure in black since its winter and you said when its cold it will change to black? Thanks in advance ! peace <3

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  34. @Xiao: Thank you ^^ I actually got this Asuka figure second-hand. I didn't even know of its existence. It was released in 2007 according to Hobby Search. If you search "Metamo Asuka", you should be able to find it on the internet somewhere. It's made by Bandai. And I did edit this post to include two pictures of the "winter" version ^^ Luckily because I had to redo my spot for Asuka and I was able to have a better spot to take pictures of it. It's now under construction ^^;

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  35. Hi Ecchi Man,

    Very impressive REI Collection!! I love Rei too- at the moment I only have approx. 2% of what you have!

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  36. @howard: Thank you! I hope you can work up to 100% of the collection soon XD

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  37. HI! great collection!!! where did you get this huge poster of Rei?

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  38. @Anon: Hello! Thanks! I got that poster/scroll from Sakura Media, a local anime store here in Vancouver, a long, long time ago. They may not sell it anymore, but there might be some selling it around on the internet somewhere :)

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  39. I'm from Russia so cannot buy it. I have found a picture and I shall try to print it.

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  40. @Anon: Oh I see. Try to get the biggest resolution for that pic and good luck! ^_^

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  41. @ Lightning Sabre? Oh really? You're from Vancouver too? I am from Vancouver too. Which Sakura Media did you go to purchase it? The one at Richmond Center? or the Sakura Media at Oakridge? I am looking for one too, I found one on the internet as well but I am not sure if it is the same size as the poster you have. How many cmxcm (cm by cm) is your poster? Can you measure it for me? Thanks!! =D

    ~L

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  42. @簡禮賢: Hello fellow Vancouverite! :D I can't remember which Sakura Media I got it from, they moved a lot back then ^^; The ones you mention don't exist anymore. It's only in Metrotown and Downtown now. Anyhoo... the scroll that I have is about 75cm wide and about 100cm long. From their website Sakuramedia has it in stock apparently. Good luck in your search!

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  43. @LightningSabre, oh NICE! I am going to the downtown Sakura Media to go check to see if they have it then, if I remember correctly it should be close to the arcade store. P.S Can you give me the "link" to their sakura media online store as well? How much was yours when you purchased it, including tax and everything!

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  44. @簡禮賢: Just check out www.sakuramedia.com. I don't remember exactly how much I bought it for. It was a long time ago ^^; I'm gonna say around the same price. Check out their Metrotown store as well if it's not in the Downtown one.

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  45. I just hope they still have the 100cm x 75cm one. I don't want anything smaller than that.. ==" Or do you know if there's a size even bigger than the 100 by 75 cm?

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  46. @Lolo: I think that's the only size Sakura Media has for these kinds of wallscrolls. So no chance of getting a bigger or smaller size than the one I mentioned.

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  47. By any chance, are you collecting Evangelion "Loppi" figures? Do you know what that is?

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  48. @Lolo: I thought about getting that one, but it was exclusive. Even though it looks good, I passed on it... Mostly because I'm running out of room ^^;

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  49. I was wandering if you could send me info on the central Asuka figure; I realize its not the main point of the blog, but I'm very curious.

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  50. @Julian: No problem, just ask anything. :) Anyway, here's the info on that particular Asuka, hopefully this is the one you were pointing at ^^; It's made by Sega. It's a few years old now, so might be hard to find.

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  51. I adore your Rei shrine, simply stunning!! Working on one myself but on recently gave into the urge so I just have a few. I haven't seen the music boxes or ten phrase figure before though, truly magical! :D

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  52. @MacaronTea: I see that you have the Rei DD though. That's awesome! I want one, but my money goes elsewhere, lol. Perhaps if I didn't have this many Reis then I might be able to get one, hahaha. Yah, I totally had to snatch those figures up right away when I saw them :D

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  53. ...The TRUE fate of the Rei-quarium...

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  54. @Anon: Oho, someone who brought up that word, "Rei-quarium", eh? Perhaps I should name the shrine to that instead, lol.

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  55. I really love your Rei collecion =o

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  56. Thanks for sharing =)
    may I ask whether the figure of Rei wearing a black and white gothic lolita kneeling a PVC figure or cast?

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  57. @Anonymous: Thanks for looking :) It's not a PVC, it's heavier, so I believe it's a coldcast.

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  58. So you didn't colour it yourself? Cos' I have been searching for this figure for quite a long time but still nothing can be done...

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  59. @Anon: Yeah, I bought it like that. Guess I was lucky to find one that was done already. Were you looking for the Garage Kit or one that's done? It is older, so it must be hard to find now =/

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