Some of my Toys

I thought today, it would be nice to show you some of my collectible toys that I have collected over the last few years. It is a bit of an open secret that I LOVE Final Fantasy 7 and the toys I have collected over the years are so amazing, I have my own little shrine to it. So I thought it would be nice to show some of my favorites off.

This is my shelf of Sephiroth toys. This is an old picture, as it doesn't have the new plushie which was brought for me by the lovely JP. 

But it does show my selection of Play Arts (FF7, FF7:AC and KH), my trading arts (given to me by Cat) and my Mini Trading arts who came all the way from Hong Kong, my Static Arts which is my most expensive (I paid £130 for it inc. customs and excise, would have paid nearly £200 at Forbidden Planet so that was a bargin). My Cold Cast Resin statue who was sold to me by a collector in the south of England, and my FF7:AC Sculpture Arts figurine. This one is lovely, but is part of a set so I need to get the Cloud part. When I brought it, part of the mounting was damaged, but some clever and inconspicuous repair work and you really can't tell. But still £30 for a figurine that would have cost £150 is not something to be sniffed at by all means.

 This is a closer pic of the Cold Cast and the Trading Arts figures. The cold Cast stands on the left, next to my Static Arts. He really is a fine figurine and I was impressed by how he looked.

Behind him stands my FF7:AC figure. He was my first ever Sephiroth toy and FF7 toy. He was a gift from Mike. Then is my Trading Arts and Mini Trading arts. The Trading arts is only about 7cm tall, where the Mini Trading Arts is only 3cm tall and VERY cute.

And this is my Static Arts figuine and the normal FF7 Play Arts figurine. The Static Arts is nearly a foot and a half tall but it really is a striking piece, especially when I have the fairy lights and lava lamps on. The see through swirls really come to life and its absolutely an amazing spectacle. He came from Japan, via a trader in LA. He took a while to arrive here, but I used the tracking ID and followed him all the way. I had to pay a little extra on Customs, but in honesty, I really didn't mind too much as it was worth it.

My FF7 Play arts is again, a lovely figurine and he came from Japan. I was away in Manchester at the time when he arrived, but when I got home I had a huge pile of parcels to open, including my swords and other things I had ordered.

My Collection began back in the winter of 2007. My great Nan had died suddenly and my then boyfriend had brought me a special present for my 20th birthday. He had got me a FF7: AC Sephiroth figurine. From the moment I saw him and got him out of his box, I was in love. My collection then was added to with a Cloud Strife, of the same series and the Mechanical Arts Kadaj Bike which I brought when I was out with Cat one day. I got one for her too.

In June 2008, I moved out of my parents place and from there, my collection just snowballed, and when I went back to college, I brought the rest of the FF7:AC range (apart from Tifa and Yuffie, who I can't get hold of at the moment) as well as the complete collection of FF7 Play Arts and the rest of the Mechanical Arts which consisted of Sister Ray (A large Canon) and the Fenrir Bike (as ridden by Cloud in FF7:AC). As well as the range of pieces from Art FX, which included Bahamut Sin and The Shera Airship from the film. Me and Steve both have a shadow creeper. Mine came from my friend Stacey and she (yes mine is a girl) is called Kali.

Along with the games (including 3 special editions), DVDs (both Special US edition and UK editions respectively), UMDs and soundtracks to all of them. I also have strategy guides for FF7, Crisis Core (I have the normal one and the Japanese one), Dissidia and FF XIII (the one I have for that was a find, a numbered special edition book, very cool) and toys from the Dissidia range. I recently got a plush cactuar from Steve's Dad from Christmas from FF XI

As before mentioned, I have 2 Sephiroth plush dolls. One I take everywhere with me and cuddle at night. Here is a picture of my Sephy, sat with James, a friend of mine's teddy bear. Both dolls look like this, except my cuddle one is a little grubby and raggy at the edges, but after 3 years of me mauling him in my sleep, I guess that is to be expected.

He came from China, and when I got him, I nearly went flying over the parcel!!
 
Anyway, I thought it would be rather nice to share some of my collection with you all and I hope you liked looking at them all and hearing some of the stories as to how I got them, as well as the story of how my collection and obsession began. I could work out the value of my collection, but to be honest, there wouldn't be enough money in the world for me to part with it as it is worth so much to me and the fact that FF7 has been there for me ever since I was that lonely child, to the adult woman I am today.

Loves
Wendy xx

Guilty confession...

I had a band practice today, it went really well, as normal really, but we still don't know what is supposed to be happening on Monday. Are we playing the gig at Subside or aren't we? My guilty confession here is that I kind of hope we don't, my health playing up as it is and it would look awful if I were to go in to acute respiratory distress on stage in front of a live audience. Not an idea I would like to entertain.

Redditch is under a blanket of snow and it is absolutely freezing out there, and if an ambulance had to come up here, I can just imagine the trouble and really am going to hang on until there really is no other option. I can't see things getting much worse, but I have a habit for speaking too soon and being proven completely wrong.

After band practice, I completed Crisis Core again. I love that game and the end makes me cry, however as someone I know is playing at the moment I will not post spoilers here, but now I can start in hard mode and see how bad I fail this. I had to use my guidebook earlier on one bit as I get a bit lost in the area and marked on the map where it was I needed to go. I got there in the end and did the last fight with no problems.

I have started assembling my Another Day In Midgar portfolio, with all my print and illustration work in one place and its nice to look through and fills me with pride as I look through at a selection of pencil illustrations and Photoshop work. All of it is inspired by, or even inspires, what I love writing in my spare time, something I have an awful lot of right now. ADIM really gives me hope and a distraction when I have bad days or I just generally feel crappy about myself or everything around me. Then again, exploring Sephiroth's life before he went mad was something I used to do when I was a kid and needed an escape at home. I would fill notebooks (I wish I had some of these still) which I would hide away with ideas and stories and other ideas I had. I never showed these to anyone nor did I tell anyone about my own little world and that made me feel safe. I had my little world, a cave I could hide in and a friend who could protect me from everything. Even if this was just in my imagination.

I guess why the character still holds his own place in my life and the models I collect are so precious to me, Sephiroth was my hero. In some ways he still is and I am thankful that he was created and then Stephen showed me the game where he found his fame. I guess this is one of my more intimate thoughts and something that I never shared with anyone really. Not even with my friends or family. I was always scared that people would reject me or take this special thing I had away from me. Or even tried to take my special hero away.

Loves
Wendy x

The smell of magic...

Like most people living with a chronic condition, I have days where I feel so beaten and miserable about life. Then I remind myself that if I stopped trying then I may as well be nailed in my coffin now. I find it strange when people tell me I am brave and strong, when in actual fact, all I am doing is facing my situation and trying to make the best of things. OK so I never had the best start in life and I may have been through a few things, but when did any of that ever stop me? So I thought I would share the things that keep me going.

It is a bit of an open secret that I LOVE aromatherapy and natural bathing products, but with skin like mine, anything else leaves you cracked, sore and scaly so whats a little expense really when it comes to looking, feeling and of course smelling good. Plus, the effect certain smells can have on the mind is something that is just as important really. I discovered something yesterday as I walked in to my local Lush shop (its a new venture in our town, but it certainly distracted me from my yen for Broccoli and Stilton soup, an acquired taste but I do love it.) and was enchanted by this smell of vanilla and lavender. Well I thought it was Vanilla. Turns out what I could smell and was enjoying was a bath bomb called Twilight (not named after the books and films, but the time between dusk and nightfall). I had to get one.

Since buying one, I have been sniffing it almost every few minutes. I have left it in the main room for now to perfume the air, and lungs aren't acting up as a result. This is a rarity in itself really. OK so I still feel cruddy and tired and my temp is still up, BUT... I truly feel that a boost to morale is JUST what the doctor ordered. Its not that I'm feeling sorry for myself, I just go through phases of just feeling a bit fed up and like my body is taking a marathon beating. Colds, Flu, Bronchitis, Pneumonia, other LRTI's, it can sometimes be like a treadmill, that is unstoppable and you can't just jump off. So you keep on running and go through the motions.

Sometimes you just feel like you want to give up and succumb to everything, but then you remember what it was that kept you fighting in the first place. For me, it has been the determination not to become yet another statistic in  a long line. According to Asthma UK there is a death because of Asthma in the UK every 7 hours. I really don't want to be the next one to go, but I know that eventually my time will come. Until then, I want to do everything I want to. My friend asked me what my dreams are or my "Bucket List." A "Bucket List" is a list of things that I want to do before I go. I thought I would share my dreams with all of you, right now.

My Bucket List - By Wendy Bostock.

1. Complete my HND Media and graduate.

2. Be well enough to get and hold down a steady job.

3. To hold my own child despite my PCOS.

4. Learn to Drive.

5. Become a nurse.

6. Have my "Another Day In Midgar" stories either published or recognized by Square Enix.

7. Meet Tetsuya Nomura , the guy who created Sephiroth.

8. Get married.

9. Go to Tokyo.

10. Meet Linkin Park.

I know these are small and some are silly or unrealistic dreams, but they are my dreams and they are the things that keep me going. If I were to be realistic, I know I would probably never be well enough to be a nurse, but if I never tried, I think I would regret that more wouldn't I?


"Embrace your Dreams" - Angeal Hewley, SOLDIER 1st Class.

Loves
Wendy x

HEHE!

Sephiroth riding a chocobo.

This is something I did this weekend just because I was a little bored and wanted to work on my Final Fantasy sleeve. I looked all over the web for an image to go with one I found of Cloud on a chocobo. I wasn't sure what until I was thinking about it and thought "Hey, why not have Sephiroth on a black chocobo!" So I set out at once to find the perfect image, but couldn't find one exactly how I wanted it, so instead, I got my pencils out and drew my own.