Ponytale in LalaParadise

I got myself some pre-owned chess pieces that were bundled with CLAMP no Kiseki (CLAMPノキセキ, CLAMP’s miracle). CLAMP no Kiseki is a 12 volume series of magazine feature books celebrating their 15 year anniversary. Japan version for each volume costs around 1600 Yen (approx. US$15) and you get 3 chess pieces but you get either 1 main character + 2 Mokona pawn pieces or 2 main characters + 1 Mokona pawn piece in each volume. English version published by Tokyopop costs around US$19.99~US$29.90. They are kind of expensive especially when I’m unsure of what quality the chibis will be, so I didn’t feel like forking out that kind of money for them.

The pre-owned pieces that were on sale do not make up a complete set and cost 5000 Yen (excl. shipping). So I thought maybe I’ll just get these first then complete the collection by buying the missing ones.

So, the chess pieces arrived today… Out of a total of 22 collectible character designs, I received 17 characters: 9 main characters for white, and 8 main characters for black…

Each soft-vinyl figure is about 4~5cm in height standing on a 2cm base. Well, I wasn’t expecting them to be in mint condition but most of the pieces still look pretty good. They look a little dusty but were wiped clean. That is not a big issue with me but Watanuki’s face has missing paint and his neck is in a really weak state o_O (my poor Watanuki), Kamui’s hair is stained with some specks of white paint but I think it should be possible to remove and Suu’s hair has black paint specks. Oh well… if I ever decide to sell my collections, trust me, everything will be in 99.9% -MINT- condition lol~

Anyway, here’s a list of what I got…
Vol 01. white Queen Sakura (Cardcaptor Sakura)
Vol 02. black Bishop Watanuki (XXXHOLiC), white Queen Yomoyo (Cardcaptor Sakura)
Vol 03. white Bishop Subaru (Tokyo Babylon)
Vol 04. white Rook Misaki Suzuhara (Angelic Layer), black Bishop Seishiro Sakurazuka (Tokyo Babylon)
Vol 05. black Rook Suu (Clover), black Knight Nokoru Imonoyama (CLAMP School Detectives)
Vol 06. white Knight Hikaru Shidou (Magic Knight Rayearth), black Rook Ashura (RG Veda)
Vol 07. white Rook Chii (Chobits), white Knight Akira Ijyuin (CLAMP School Detectives)
Vol 08. black King Kamui Shirou (X)
Vol 11. black Knight Kurogane (Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE), white Bishop Konhaku (Wish)

3 x white Pawn Mokona-Modoki (Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE)
3 x black Pawn Mokona-Modoki (XXXHOLiC)

Missing these:
Vol 09. black King Fuuma Monou (X), white Bishop Miyuki (Miyuki-chan in Wonderland)
Vol 10. black Queen Yuko (XXXHOLiC), black Bishop Fai (Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE)
Vol 12. white King Syaoran (Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE)
2 Limited (Tokuten-only) King chess pieces.

Although I’m not exactly thrilled with the condition of a few of them but you get what you pay for lol~ Fortunately most of the pieces are in good condition. I guess I can display these CLAMP Chibis without being paranoid about them getting dirty or dusty now… since they already are lol~ That’s the reason why I house my Lamento and Togainu Chibis in display boxes. NO ANNOYING DUST OR STAINS!

Rants aside, I’ll say the chibis are really cute and of quite good quality. I’ll definitely be getting the remaining ones hopefully during a sale or something In the end, I decided to keep them inside display boxes too. They just look better this way and it reduces their exposure to the elements haa~

Hmm~ I have to buy more display boxes, since the ones I usually buy are sold out… any good shops to suggest?

Update 18 July 2008:
There’s a listing on ebay that is selling the full set + tokuten as highlighted by ashura in the comments. The chess board is available in another listing and at JPQueen. So head over there if you’re interested