The Normanic Vault - A Blog About Grav Collecting & Showing Stuff Off

Time for another update, here's all of the posts from late February 2017 all the way to now.

Industry News:
Monthly Otaku Collection Updates:
Anime Unboxing:
Video Game Unboxing:
COMING SOON!

Already Paid Off, Just Waiting:
  • Monster Musume: Everyday Life with Monster Girls [US Limited Edition Combo Pack]
  • Senran Kagura: Peach Beach Splash! [UK Collector's Edition PS4]
 
Time for another update, here's all of the posts from late June 2017 all the way to early March 2018.

Industry News:
Monthly Otaku Collection Updates:
Anime Unboxing:
Asian Cinema Unboxing:
Video Game Unboxing:
 
 
Another mini-update!

Industry News:
Monthly Otaku Collection Updates:
Anime Unboxing:
Video Game Unboxing:
Also a quick update surrounding how I have been handling the industry news posts. As you know I generally place them on the Overseas thread instead of the usual write-up I did years back. Since it is basically promoting my blog and sort of in the gray area of things I have decided to place all Industry News posts related to Discotek, Funimation & Sentai Filmworks in this thread from here on. I want to make more use of this thread so I'll also mention any other posts along the way like unboxings etc. as soon as they go up.
 
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Industry News: Discotek Media Otakon 2018 Announcements

A round-up of the latest titles the distributor has revealed from their industry panel at Otakon 2018, plus some added updates provided by Justin Sevakis for select titles.
 
Good haul Grav.

Particularly the vita stuff. I love my vita and wish I had the space to collect solid state but at this point space won’t allow it. Do you do any vita purchases digitally? The recent sale had some good buys like Trails or Cold Steel I was interested in.
 
N.E.C said:
Good haul Grav.

Particularly the vita stuff. I love my vita and wish I had the space to collect solid state but at this point space won’t allow it. Do you do any vita purchases digitally? The recent sale had some good buys like Trails or Cold Steel I was interested in.
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Due to the way Sony handled the memory on the Vita I mainly focus on retail versions of the games because they don't take up that much space compared to digital versions. It's one of those cases where unlike PS4 & Xbox One, retail has an advantage.

The only digital game I own (which I eventually bought physically since I enjoyed it and it's pretty damn rare to get) is Everybody's Golf which came with the Memory Card Sports bundle. I also have a couple PlayStation Plus games stored on the memory card though my PS+ has since expired.
 
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Industry News: Crunchyroll x Funimation December 2018 Release Slate

The release slate is now available. The new additions were already confirmed over at an anime convention (again), while the rest got leaked by Amazon US. No classics, some essentials, no limited editions, and for those interest we have one DVD only title getting a Blu-ray upgrade plus the final batch of Sunrise anime announced back in 2013 finally getting released.
 
Time for another mini-update.

RESHUFFLING
After five years of using blogger I have decided to make plans to switch from Blogger to WordPress. Basically the decision for this is because I want to do more with the presentation for the blog and Blogger is pretty dated on those fronts. For the past two weeks I have made a couple posts and while I don't have access to most of the features (as they require a fee) so far it's shaping up well.

You can check out the following blog posts here to have a general idea:
Those who follow my posts will have noticed that I have tweaked the layout of the title naming. My overview posts (unboxings for simple sets or titles I've had for ages) is tentatively called Quick Look, which is basically a quick look at what the set looks like. Pretty self explanatory.

Also tweaked is the template I generally use for the unboxings. The photos will now be compiled in a gallery layout so that it can reduce scrolling, plus it looks cool. In addition I have also tweaked the specs a bit and added a quotes tag to the plot synopsis from here on.

The overall look of the new blog home is not final, and it won't be fully completed until late 2018 to early 2019.

ALSO UNBOXED
Outside of the latest posts I made for this month I also unboxed a couple other titles that are available to view on my Blogpost home. You can check out the following blog posts here:
These posts and also the older unboxings will be remastered for the WordPress version later down the line. The newer posts like the ones from this year and parts of the previous year will pretty much be identical, however a lot of the older unboxings will be revamped completely with better photos and updated information. This will not come into fruition for a long while as I have relocated for work reasons.

COMING SOON
I have a couple more titles that will arrive hopefully during this month.
  • Amanchu! Season 1
    From Shop AllTheAnime, expected to arrive before, during, or after MCM London.
  • GATE
    From Rightstuf's Used Stock Sale on Amazon US, it has been a couple weeks since dispatch and should arrive at any moment now.
  • Shikhondo: Soul Eater
    From Play Asia, a game that I have been curious about and wanted to own. It was priced well considering it's exclusive to Play Asia (meaning it's free shipping) and import VAT has been pre-paid so all that's left is just waiting another week or two.
Once these sets have been received my next plan is to acquire a few more anime sets before the year ends to get them out of the way, specifically from Aniplex of America. This is mostly going to focus on Fate/Stay Night [Unlimited Blade Works] Box Set 2 and maybe Kizumonogatari Part 3: Reiketsu and Sword Art Online the Movie -Ordinal Scale-. The rest of the Aniplex sets will be picked up throughout 2019, not all of them but specific franchises.

Anime Limited sets will also be picked up, and I'll make use of the Christmas Sale this year to catch up. I won't be bothering with Rightstuf or any of the US sales throughout this Christmas time due to shipping & customs getting in the way so it'll be a pain to deal with.

And lastly the video game hauls will continue. Senran Kagura Burst Re:Newal is currently delayed to November so I have time to pick up their collector's edition once it's back on sale. The PlayStation 3 Collection Haul is nearing its conclusion so I'm going to finish that hopefully by the end of this year as well. The PlayStation Vita Collection Haul will begin to grab as many games as I want before their prices go up. The PlayStation 4 Collection Haul has been progressing well but there's still tons of games to grab though most won't be selling out anytime soon.

Folks have asked me about the Nintendo Switch, but that won't be picked up until 2019 due to the new model currently in the works. The Xbox One X is also planned as I need a new home for my Xbox 360 collection plus a couple other things it has (UHD player, original Xbox backwards compatibility, and some Xbox games I want to get).
 
Time for another update on the Normanic Vault and my collection hauls.

Due to the laptop breaking a week ago I decided to place all of my latest posts over on the WordPress version as it was much easier for me to make the posts via my phone in the meantime. And they honestly look great once they're live.

October's interesting (and overspent) haul covers the following:
In addition I also have the Otaku Collection Haul for October 2018 post available that contains a few more additions.

So, November's haul will be a little bit different. The amount of items acquired I expect to be large, but some plans have changed. The original plan was to acquire the second box set of Unlimited Blade Works in this month, however because I overspent last month I couldn't fit it in for this haul. December is also going to be focused on sales so it's currently tentatively aimed for January.

Confirmed for November are Shining Resonance Refrain, a couple manga volumes and Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion I - Initiation from Anime Ltd. Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt will follow suit within the next couple of days, while both Fireworks and Maquia are also planned as I expect them to be on the early bird sales. I got a lot of the priority titles from the September & October hauls for PS4 but I will try and get a couple more to keep the pace going, especially on the import side of things. Honestly I tend to just not plan ahead at times and buy when I want to. But we'll see what happens.

Also I have the PlayStation Classic added to my Christmas 2018 haul.
 
Another mini update on the Normanic Vault and my collection hauls.

This haul's pickups is still a different variety than the usual but so far it's not too bad. Payday is within the next 9 days so I'll be getting a few more items before the month ends.

The first half of November's posts covers the following:
In addition the industry news posts are back with a new layout - February 2019 Solicitations for Funimation & Sentai Filmworks. I've merged the Funimation & Sentai posts together and simplified it a bit. I won't be noting down regions as they tend to change at the last second and not all of them are noted early on, in addition only the front covers of the artwork will be shown and I'll maybe add an extra section dedicated to other parts revealed most notably from limited edition sets.

Outside of the unboxings the other hauls picked up include:
  • High School DxD Rias Bath Towel
  • Monster Musume Volumes 1-3 (Manga)
  • Neon Genesis Evangelion Omnibus 5 (Manga)
  • PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale (PS3)
  • Ratchet & Clank HD Collection (PS3)
  • Star Ocean: Til the End of Time (PS2 on PS4)
Coming soon to the Normanic Vault are a few more anime that are on order. Higurashi: When They Cry has surprisingly been shipped by Amazon US in the end and will apparently arrive sometime next week via DHL. In addition Mobile Suit Gundam: Thunderbolt December Sky is on order from Amazon UK and should hopefully ship out as soon as possible. For video games, Sly Cooper HD Collection has been shipped and should arrive by Monday.

Sly Cooper HD Collection will mark the 99th physical title for my PlayStation 3 collection. I have yet to choose what will be my 100th pickup but regardless I aim to finish off collecting for the console by the end of next month.
 
We have now reached 2019 so it's time for another round-up update on the Normanic Vault and my collection hauls.

Going to recap the November posts for those who missed it:
And here are the December posts:
And of course we have the latest post dedicated to the Otaku Collection Haul for December 2018 to round up the year.

The haul for January 2019 is currently not yet decided, though the good news is that Senran Kagura Burst Re:Newal will finally get released in a few weeks time. The titles that were supposed to arrive next month should also appear during these next couple of weeks including Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo, A Letter to Momo and Martian Successor Nadesico. Three anime titles that were supposed to make an appearance at Christmas were delayed so they should appear at my home address (not flat address) later this month - ALDNOAH ZERO Season 2, Daimidaler: Prince vs Penguin Empire and Snow White with the Red Hair.

In terms of what to expect for the blog, I have a PlayStation 3 collection round-up planned sometime later this month now that I have acquired 100 titles. There will be a few more games picked up to make up for some duplicates that I already own on Xbox 360.
 
1 month later and another batch of titles have been acquired. A round-up update on the Normanic Vault.

The January 2019 blog posts:
And of course we have the Otaku Collection Haul for January 2019 as well as a recent unboxing for Fate/Stay Night [Unlimited Blade Works] Box Set 2.

February 2019 is going to be a mixed haul in general (or as I like to call it 'stuck in a void'). With UBW II now finally sorted it provides less room for what to come next, though I have planned ahead and I can get a couple more additions to the mix. As such I have ordered two more games from Japan; DJMAX Respect and Ryuu ga Gotoku Ishin! These two have been on my radar for a long time but were delayed due to the costs (the latter in particular is semi-rare out of the whole franchise). I would like to acquire another batch very soon so that I can get at least a chunk of what I wanted from that region out of the way due to the PS4 print runs being smaller and more expensive than the previous generations.

Given the uncertainty of the UK's future, the currency rate is looking to get worse even further so I may go ahead and pre-pay a few pre-orders ahead of schedule, as I do intend on getting High School DxD HERO and a couple others when possible.
 
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A round-up update for the February 2019 blog posts!
So yeah, I guess I jinxed it. It's not the end of the world but I'll just need to be more cautious on what to acquire for the month of March & April. I am still motivated to get the Funimation releases of Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody and High School DxD HERO regardless. I may cancel Arrow Video's release of the Ring 1998 collection but it depends on whether or not I really want to own the sequel films or just focus on the first film.

Also I'm going to switch around on how I feel about anime these days. Many years ago I used to focus so much on the US releases and the collector's editions, heck I even refused to own pre-owned titles for games. Nowadays I have relaxed these ideals so I'm currently figuring out what to do with certain titles in order to speed up the pace and catch up, which is why I started getting Manga Entertainment releases in recent months. Funimation introducing the Essentials line-up does help quite a bit as well as they look nice for the shelf.

I do plan to attend MCM Comic Con Birmingham but it depends on whether or not my friends at the uni society can help me join with their group after the student union did some stupid changes to the system.
 
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