My Works of 2013

2013 is coming to an end. I made lots of photomanipulations and edits this year, and I didn't do much artwork, severe laziness and missing equipment are the culprits. So anyways, here's my completed works for the year 2013!

Tips On How To Spot and Avoid a Knock-off Item

Hi! We all hate it when we got the bootlegged stuff. Because bootlegs/knock-offs/fake stuff easily breaks, have overall low quality build. Fake stuff sucks, right? It sucks even more if their price is the same, or higher than the original. Well I'm no expert in spotting something fake, I too can unknowingly get fake stuff occasionally, but I can give you some tips on how to spot and avoid one. Remember this applies not only on toys but also on gadgets and other stuff too. Now click that [Read more >>]

Hero Con 2013 Short Adventure

We 4 dudes randomly went at the Hero Con 2013 event at the mall that's very near our place. It's kinda rare to see this kind of event here and the entrance fee is very cheap, just 50Php (around 1 dollar). So yeah, I borrowed my cousin's phone (Galaxy S3) to take some pictures, because I didn't bring a DSLR camera.

We went at the last day of the event, that's why there are few people around which is good, I prefer less people over the nausea inducing jam packed crowd.

[Toy Review] No. 13: Heroes of Light Final Fantasy Trading Arts Kai Mini

He's the first guy of the longest running video game series. The one that saved Square from utter destruction. Without him, Cloud, Tifa, Sephiroth, Squall, Tidus, Lightning and FF games in general won't exist. This nameless hero is called the Hero of Light (Warrior of Light) from the first Final Fantasy and Dissidia Final Fantasy game and finally he's given a toy treatment he deserves in form of a Trading Arts Kai Mini figure (and Variant Play Arts Kai version).

[Random] Things that I Always Wanted to Try and Complete

I feel that same feeling again. The urge to do something very artistic and new (well some of them are old ideas), but there are obstacles that I need to get over to accomplish them.

Let me share to you the things I want to do to satisfy my creative cravings.

[Toy Review] Evangelion Portraits 8: Rei Ayanami (School Swimsuit) Review

Time for another static toy review from Bandai, and again it's a character from the anime series called Evangelion, her name is Rei Ayanami. I mentioned her in my previous review of Asuka and Mari. She's a quiet character, so quiet sometimes it's disturbing. If my memory serves, I think she came from that ADAM that NERV has in their basement. Anyways this is an Evangelion Portraits 8 figure and I got this figure in early 2013.

[Blog Update] I Lost My Stylus!

Hello!

It's been a while. Last month was a busy month (band sessions, video games and hanging out somewhere and more important matters).

Updates:
- Added some Figma toys to buy in MY CHECKLIST page
- Checklist update
- Added figures on PART 3 of my 2013 announced and upcoming PAK figures list

Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan)

Last week, the typhoon named Yolanda (Internationally named Haiyan) hit the Philippines, Visayas region carrying winds and gusts more powerful than Hurricane Katrina that hit the U.S.. 

School Shootout In Nevada... Please Don't Blame Video Games In This.

October 21, 2013. Another school shootout has happened, this time in Sparks Middle School in Nevada, killing one teacher and wounded two students.

Tim Lambesis Going To Jail. Is This The End For AILD?

Tim Lambesis, the vocalist of the Christian metalcore band called As I Lay Dying is facing 9 years in prison for attempted murder of his ex-wife by hiring a hitman. Lambesis plead not guilty.

New Kairi and Reno Photo Edits!

Few days ago, I've finished doing two photo edits. I already submitted them on my deviantART gallery. I made a beach scene reenactment for Kairi, and Shin-ra poster for Reno. I already added these 2 photos on their respective toy reviews. :D

[Toy Review] Evangelion Portraits 8: Asuka and Mari Dual Review

I watched the original Evangelion series during my high school days, I liked the anime because the story is a total mindf*ck and weird but not that convoluted, that's why it became popular. It spawned a lot of merchandise including model kits of the EVA units, toys and figures. Now on to the present! Well, more like 2012. I bought some of the Evangelion Portraits Candy Toy figures made by Bandai. The figures I want to review are the figures of Mari and Asuka, they're sold separately. I bought Mari and my sister gave me Asuka as a gift for my birthday.

Randomly Random's 1st Anniversary And My Collection So Far

Hello dear readers and internet wanderers! To celebrate the blog's 1 year anniversary, I want to share my main figure collection and other stuff found in the photos (kinda like easter eggs) in this post. [This is also the 50th post in Randomly Random blog]

[Toy Review] Selphie Tilmitt FFVIII Play Arts

Booyaka! That's what I said after getting this figure of Selphie because it's already on sale and I haggled it to lower the price even more! Now I got a few extra cash to fund my next PAK. I ran out of options so I bought this figure as my Plan B. While she is not my priority, she's still worth getting if you're a fan of FFVIII or Final Fantasy series in general. To me, she's the best offensive and defensive character in FFVIII because her [Slot] Limit Break. She can kill almost all enemies (even some bosses) by using "THE END" from [Slot]. She is always included in my party in the game together with Irvine.

** Before we start, this review is to celebrate the blog's 1 year anniversary. Stay tuned for more posts!

Cebu Philippines Got Hit By A 7.2 Magnitude Earthquake

Random Breaking News: Earlier this morning, Cebu, Philippines got hit by a 7.2 magnitude quake that injured/killed people, destroyed roads and obliterated buildings... and it's not over yet. Right now, the Cebuanos are experiencing aftershocks. This is a strong quake that happened there. The last strong Cebu quake happened in 1990. I don't know about what the officials, doctors and experts are discussing (because I just woke up) so I won't say much but I think they're assessing the damage. Lets pray for the earthquake victims and for the safety of the missing/trapped people.

[Blog Update] New Blog Design And More!

Hi! It's time for a special blog update to celebrate [Randomly Random's 1 year anniversary]! The first thing you'll notice is the new background and title designs as well as the blog's new color scheme. There are some new stuff too so check it out :D

[Blog Update] Went Out To Hunt Some Toys... Still No Top Priority Figures

I went out to buy one action figure and check out some prices. I brought my list of want-to-buys, but I didn't find anything on my list. Darn it, I still can't find Serah, Mr. 47 and Gabranth PAK, and the new PAKs are huge in person (damn, Vincent figure is big and heavy) and still lacks some quality! So the Plan B is to buy a random classic Play Arts figure. The character is not even my priority but still on my complete checklist (which I will post soon). The new Play Arts figure review is now in progress (just need to take a little more photos).

Oh yeah, I decided to review some of the toys that I have (some for a long time, complete with dust) that haven't been reviewed. They will fall in the [Various Toys Review] category. 

Next toy(s) I'm gonna purchase is a Trading Arts Kai Mini. Probably Squall, Yuna or Tifa (AC)

Changes in the blog's appearance is coming soon! Just need to brainstorm.

Cheers And Happy Collecting!

I'm Still Over The Fence On Buying Figmas

I'm always thinking on expanding my collection on trying new brands and one of them is Max Factory's Figma line of action figures. And yet I'm still debating myself on getting some of these figures or not...

[Toy News] Play Arts Kai Getting Bigger and More Expensive

Hey! I've been wandering in the internet lately searching for latest Play Arts Kai news and releases. And what I saw changes my collecting pattern.

[Art Related] Random Designs

Hey, it's been a while. I haven't posted something in a while because I'm stuck playing Diablo III and FFXIV: ARR. Plus I can't find Serah, Mr. 47 and Gabranth PAKs. If they're still not available next month, I'll probably pick up another random PAK, PA or TAKMs.

So yeah, in relation to my services post. Here's some proof that I make designs that can be printed on your shirt(s). 

[Blog Update] The SERVICES Page

Hello! I got another blog page update
I've added a new tab on my blog page, it's named SERVICES
You can view my latest services and contact details here.
So feel free to check it out. Just click the tab located below the page's title, you can't miss it.

My Services are:
Art Commissions
Graphic Designs/Photo Manipulations/Edits
T-shirt Printing

Contact me if you're interested :D
I will be adding more services if I acquire more EXP (pun intended), so check it out sometimes

Cheers!

It's Over 9000!

The internet connection  is now up and running... I mean "walking" again. The monsoon cause our net connection to fluctuate, and when stable it's soooooooo slow and uploading photos takes too long to complete. Then I checked out this blog again and...

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn... Almost There!

It's almost here (August 27, 2013)! I'm really hyped for FFXIV: A Realm Reborn (2.0), an MMORPG set 5 years after the events of version 1.0. FFXIV 1.0 received mostly negative criticisms and hardcore supporters had a good time playing it despite the tremendous amount of flaws the game had.

The Metal Gear Solid Legacy Collection

Snakeapalooza Packaging!

One of my favorite game series of all time is Metal Gear and I played the main titles from the classic MSX title Metal Gear - a bonus game from MGS3 Subsistence - up to Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance and tried some of its spin-offs (Metal Gear Acid and Metal Gear Mobile). And it's time to celebrate Metal Gear's 25th anniversary and relive the gaming memories on the Metal Gear Solid Legacy Collection.

And once again, Big Boss made me buy this collection, just like he demanded me to buy a PSP (because of Peace Walker) LOL!

This is going to be a review... sort of :D

The Next PAK Review Results Are In!

Hello readers and fellow collectors! Last month, I posted a poll that will decide which lucky Play Arts Kai figure should I be getting next. Click "Read more >>" to view the results:

[Toy News] Play Arts Kai Figures of 2013 (PART 3)

Time for Part 3 of the list of upcoming Play Arts Kai action figures of 2013! Now on this part, some figures may have a 2014 release date, but they're still part of 2013 because they're announced this year. So let's begin Part 3. Also check out Part 1 and Part 2 of my list.

Part 1

Part 2

[UPDATE: 10.14.13] Updated info on Robocop and Star Trek PAKs
[UPDATE: 12.15.13] Added Noctis from Final Fantasy XV. Added Batman: Arkham Origins action figures: Batman and Deathstroke

[Random] Simple Annoying Things

These things sometimes happens, it can be a coincidence or someone just playing you or just a plain misunderstanding. This leads to people getting upset or annoyed and the annoyance level can reach to high heavens depending on the person. Sometimes it's fun to watch these happen when you have nothing to do with it. And if you're planning to prank someone just don't overdo it. Now click the "Read more >>"

[Art Related] Work In Progress Art Commission: "Angel Vs. Demon"

Heeeey! Another art commission is currently in progress and this one is paid with real cash... First cash artwork commission FTW! :D The theme is Angel vs. Demon and a different one at that. This is just a rough sketch and small partial preview of the entire art and this is artwork may change.

I'm planning to open a point and cash commission on deviantART. I'm still not sure when to do that.

Next art project is another final redesigning of one of my original characters.

Check out my deviantART gallery for more photos and artwork.

Cheers!

The Graphic Expo 2013... Tons of Inspiration and Stuff!

[Pics will be uploaded soon]

Ahhhh... Rainy days for me are good, I like this weather. And this is a good day to go to another event, this time it's the Graphic Expo 2013. The cool part is that this is a free expo and the top brands and services are here. 

The pics that I will post here (soon) are stuff that I'm interested on.

ToyCon 2013... A New Frontier

[Pics will be uploaded soon]

I had nothing else to do, then my friend sent me a text message saying that I should go to the mall and check out ToyCon 2013, so I just went there to check it out.

[Random] Games That I'm Excited About In E3 2013

E3 2013 is happening now! New PS4 and Xbox One console, new awesome games and their gameplay! And here are the officially announced games that I wanted to play in the near future :D

** I also posted some gameplay trailers on the HCF blog

[Toy Related] Play Arts Vs. Play Arts Kai

Lightning PAK against Kadaj PA
Check out their review!

I always wanted to do this and this is the right time to do it, because I think I already have enough EXP (pun intended) to differentiate some of PA's and PAK's ups and downs. It's time to a comparison between the old-school Play Arts action figure and the new-school Play Arts Kai action figure. So let's get started.

** BTW I will update this post as soon as I encounter new differences between the two.

Lightning FFXIII-2 and Kadaj FFVIIAC Review Update!

For the sake of the consistency of my action figure reviews in this blog, I updated the Lightning and Kadaj reviews, which both are my first and second toy review respectively. The reviews' updated content and format is now at par (or similar) to my Catwoman and my other newer action figures review.

Read the updated reviews!

[Toy Review] Lightning FFXIII-2 Play Arts Kai

[Toy Review] Kadaj FFVII AC Play Arts

[Toy Review] Tech Deck Fingerboards

Does this happen to you: You get bored at work/school? You're tired at waiting for someone to arrive? You can't skate because you're injured? Yes, these things happens to us (except for the third one if you're not a skater), that's why we need something to help us kill boredom. I know some will say "Hah! I have an iPhone/Android smartphone to pass the time!", and this is how I will reply, "Yeah you have that phone, but you can't use that while working/studying, or what if that phone's battery drains out? LOL!". The best solution is to have a cheap little toy, like Tech Deck Fingerboards! This one doesn't use batteries, just your fingers and skills :D

** This is my first non-action figure review. So this review is going to be short and direct to the point with some personal opinions.

A Small Update

Hello dear readers!

A minor update. I just added some stuff on my blog, so that it's less boring and it makes you find a blog post easily.

Blog Update:
- Poll
- Search bar
- Tag list
- 10 blog posts are now displayed instead of 5

And you can add me to your friend list if you have a Google+ account :D
For more updates you can follow me on Twitter or check out my Facebook account. The links are on the right hand side of the blog. It's hard to miss it.

[Toy Review] Reno FFVII: AC Play Arts

[Review Updated: 10-20-13]

This one took a long time to review (skateboarding accident and other reasons), but here it is. I got the Play Arts action figure of a Turk named Reno, one of the supporting characters and comic relief together with his buddy, Rude from the Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children movie. This is unusual because support characters have a rare chance of being made as a PA action figure. Maybe he's popular and cool enough to be made. The cool part is one of my reasons why I bought him. I got him super mint condition and it's cheaper than my Kairi figure.

[Toy Review] No. 01: Cloud Strife Final Fantasy Trading Arts Kai Mini

It's time for another TAKM review! These little figures are like catnip or Pringles because I can't get enough of it! Enough about that. We're here to talk about this Cloud Strife mini figure. To those who didn't know Cloud, which is impossible if you're a long time gamer, he is the main protagonist of Final Fantasy VII and it's movie sequel, Advent Children.

[Toy News] The Trading Arts Kai Mini Checklist And Predictions

Final Fantasy Trading Arts Kai Mini is already on my radar since the announcement of the volume 1 which includes Cloud Strife (FFVII Advent Children), Squall Leonheart (FFVIII) and Yuna (FFX/FFX-2), but I didn't pick one on the first day of its release... because I'm focused on obtaining my first Play Arts figure that day.

Ok, I just started to collect these little things. So let's list the already released, upcoming and potential FF TAKMs.

[Toy Related] Characters That I Want To See To Be Made As A Play Arts Kai Figure

There are characters that Square-Enix miss that deserves to be made as an action figure... maybe because they won't sell well, yet some of them have potential. I will list these characters (even oldschool) that I want so see made as an action figure. These characters are from SQEX only.

[Toy Review] No. 06: Lightning Final Fantasy Trading Arts Kai Mini

It's been a while. I haven't reviewed any toys lately, because I don't have enough money to buy any Play Arts (Kai) figures. So, I bought an alternative... Trading Arts Kai Mini! The chibi figures that I also wanted to collect. My first TAKM figure is Lightning... a funny coincidence that she is also my first Play Arts Kai figure in my collection and her stock are also running low too at this time lol.

Before we start I wanted to say something about the Trading Arts Kai Mini brand name. I think this should be called Play Arts Kai Mini because these little figures are playable and you can see the contents in the packaging not like the old, static, tradeable and totally-random-because-you-can't-see-what's-inside-the-box Trading Arts Mini (TAM)... So let's get started with the review. :D

[Random] Fish-eye Camera Lens Adapter Testing

Finally we got an alternative solution to our fish-eye lens needs.

We bought the lens adapter for a good price since the real fish-eye lens costs more than the actual DSLR

I'm so excited that I didn't go straight home and did some testing (photo and video) to our local skate spot

And these photos are edited

* Click images to enlarge

* Enjoy

Saint Andrew's Cathedral

[Art Related] Work In Progress Character Art Commission: Lightning

This is an art commission for RedBlast126 from deviantART
This is just a partial rough sketch preview. Everything may change
RedBlast126 is the 5th and my last client in my art commission service.

To view my commission info post and artwork, click this link

Also check this out:
RedBlast126's deviantART profile/gallery
My deviantART profile/gallery

Cheers!

[Random] Photo Session

Black and white photos of my fellow skaters and riders
Should I call this "emotive portraits" or what? Whatever, all that's important that these photos look great lol

Equipment(s) used:
Canon 500D
Canon 50mm lens (malfunctioning)

Software:
Adobe Photoshop CS4

For those who are interested contact me and I will offer my photography/photo editing services to you... for a price of course. :D

* Click photos to enlarge
* Enjoy

Interested? E-mail me at petrifieddesigns@gmail.com
Cheers!

[Random] Skate And BMX Photos

These photos took a long time to upload... Anyway here it is!

I took their photos about 2 weeks ago

I edited 2 BMX sequence shots 

I'm not included because I'm the camera man :D

[Random] My Current Activities and Other Stuff

Hi!

It's rainy today and February is a semi busy month for me.

Here's what I've been doing and what I'm going to do next:

- Making shirts for a company's event

- Making customized shirt designs for random people... for a price of course

- Skateboarding again after 6 years, maybe?

- "Thank You" artwork for my 5000 page views in deviantART

- Another commissioned artwork for a client at deviantART

- Some graphic designs and photography at events

[Toy News] Play Arts Kai Figures of 2013 (PART 2)

This is the PART 2 of the list

Hey! I've got some new Play Arts Kai figure news for you boys and girls! I was planning to post a PAK wishlist, but this one came up... more PAK figures!

I decided to make a Part 2 because Part 1 is getting long, so check out Part 1 of my post for more.

[UPDATE 08-22-13]
Updated Some Variant PAK's info: Batgirl (DC Universe) Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy).
Added Kain and Bahamut Variant PAK

[UPDATE 12-24-13]
Added Skullface from MGS5: The Phantom Pain/Ground Zeroes

[UPDATE 01-02-14]
Added DC Universe Variant PAK Cyborg.
Added release months for DC Universe Variant PAKs.
Updated accessories on Aquaman Variant PAK and Edward Kenway (Assassins Creed IV)

[UPDATE 01-23-14]
Added Quiet PAK from MGS5: The Phantom Pain.

[Art Related] Work In Progress Character Art Commission: Remi

Click to enlarge

UPDATE: Artwork finished! Check it out here!

NatanarihelLiat from deviantArt commissioned me to draw this character. This is just a preview and everything may change. Check my commission prices and info here

The main goal of this art: 

- Practice drawing hands

- Make the art more detailed than my past works

- Add/develop new drawing techniques while doing this piece

- Don't use echochromes/action figures for poses

You can view NatanarihelLiat's profile/gallery here

Check out also my gallery for more artwork, photos, and designs

Cheers!

[Random] Introducing HCF blog!

Hello!

Me and my friend made a new blog and it's called HCF!
I designed the title banner and the HCF logo :D

Check out the blog here!

What to expect from HCF blog:
- Game news
- Game reviews
- Game articles

We already posted some articles there
Happy gaming and reading!
Cheers!

[Art Related] Redesigned Blog

Hi! I'm bored and the previous appearance of my blog is getting a little boring, so I redesigned the appearance of my blog. It only took about an hour to design the tiled background and the title banner. All of them are made by me from scratch using only Photoshop CS4's filters, effects and brushes. The background is inspired by a swimming pool. It gives a "depth effect" optical illusion that makes the title banner and blog entries/texts look like they're floating. I'm planning to add Flash based menu, because I have limited knowledge in using CSS. You will see that menu at the bottom of the title banner soon.

Cheers!

[Toy News] Play Arts Kai Figures of 2013

Play Arts Kai logo by Square-Enix

Square-Enix is at work with lots of PAK figures. Most of them are from other titles like Halo, Tekken, Batman, Metal Gear, etc. This is great, but they kinda neglecting their own titles when it comes to action figures. At least they made new figures from Kingdom Hearts 3D and Final Fantasy VII.

Here are the list of the upcoming PAK figures for 2013 (or 2014?) that appears on my radar. Some of them have confirmed release month. I'm not a hardcore PAK collector, I just want to get the figures from games/movies that I know and like. I also like cool-looking figures :D

[UPDATE 07.19.13]
- Added Classic Suit Batman and Joker (Batman: Arkham City)

[Art Related] My Works of 2012!

2012 has ended. And here are the works that I made in 2012. The images displayed here only uses my standard format. To see more of my works visit my deviantART page. I shrank down the images to become bandwidth friendly. Click the images to zoom in and enjoy!