CCLemon99 Magazine Issue Four

It's been awhile since I've done one of these, so I figure it's a pretty good time to get this out there. If you're new to the site, this is the type of post I like to make to tie up a lot of loose ends that aren't quite good enough for a single post.

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The Future of CCLemon99 on Youtube

March 25th marked the one year anniversary of that fateful cookie-delivered message. Yes, things are slowly winding down for CCLemon99 on Youtube. The lack of any updates to my Google Calendar or any real plan on my behalf are pretty clear. I know what my next two videos are going to be...but I'm really not sure what's happening between now and my 10th anniversary in June. I have some eleven Sundays to fill between now and then... There will be some surprise stuff, some Kyuranger stuff, and of course my Aura Changer/Kiba Changer comparisons. I'm not sure what else I can do, though.

There will be a new video every week until I take a much needed break following the 10th Anniversary. Just keep in mind...I'm very tired. It's been a long road.

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The Future of CCLemon99.com

I can say that the site will continue going on strong. This post might not be the most exciting thing ever, but I intend to keep writing at the current pace. Some of the posts I have planned for the immediate future are...

-Get Wild Song Mafia Review: I am going to review all 36 versions of Get Wild... (April)
-Caaaaaaarranger! Finally! (All of May)
-10th Anniversary Posts (All of June)
-A monster review of a certain 28 CD set (All of July, dividing the box into halves--I *really* look forward to this. It's going to be part of a vacation from myself.)

Beyond that, I have a lot more CD reviews on the horizon. Maybe some Top 7 lists. Toy Stories... Business as usual for CCLemon99.com.

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Figuarts!

Is it me, or have interesting Figuarts really slowed down to a dribble? At the moment I only have two open SHF preorders (V Machine and Sky Turbo). Man, those stupid Winspector Figuarts really ruined it for all of us. Remember that exciting time when they previewed Spielban, Metalder, Janperson, and Kabutack? Gah! I would absolutely buy every single one of those over stupid Bikel and Walter (and that crazy overpriced weapon set).

It's kinda disheartening to see Bandai lavish so much more attention on Disney properties such as Marvel heroes and Star Wars. Doesn't the world have enough crap from those series? Does the world need another flippin Chewbacca figure?? I mean, I get that those are probably the money-makers. How about not doing so many damn web exclusives for domestic properties? Juspion was a web exclusive despite the fact that it absolutely would have cleaned up in Brazil alone if it were a standard release. Same goes for the aforementioned Spielban and Metalder. Of course nobody is going to bother if you lock these figures away and let only a few of them dribble out...

Or I could just shut up. We got Kamen Rider J after all this time, right?. He was at the top of my Most Wanted list for almost two years. They seem to be slowly making good on getting the Rider Bikes finished up. I just hope that they don't forget our boy Shin when it comes to his bike. He did have one after all...




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Stolen CD...or Crazy Coincidence?

OK, so here is a funny little story that I briefly posted to Twitter.

I ordered a CD from a marketplace seller on Amazon Japan. Usually the prices are better and shipping is faster than ordering through a Japanese seller on the US Amazon marketplace (they're only obligated to send items SAL while Amazon JP sellers are held to a smaller time frame, so they ship Air Mail).

Prior to this, there was only one other time where the item I ordered from Amazon JP's marketplace got lost in the mail. That's an incredible ratio considering I've ordered hundreds of CDs that way. This time...things are a little different.

I ordered this particular CD about a month ago as of this writing. Since this is an ongoing thing, I'm not going to say exactly what the CD was just yet. I will say this, though...it's obscure. Since I've been really looking forward to listening to it, I've been looking forward to the mail everyday with no luck. At this point, I decided that maybe it's a good time to start shopping for a replacement. Sure enough, none of the current copies for sale on Amazon Japan have marketplace sellers willing to ship to the US. I typed the UPC into Amazon US to see what sellers were charging there. The cheapest result was for exactly what I paid for the CD during my initial order AND from a seller in my State.

A quick look at this seller's site shows nothing but US market video games.......and the one Japanese CD that I was looking for. Without giving too much away about the CD, I will say that it really had absolutely nothing to do with video games or anything else on this sellers page.

So yes, I bought it AGAIN yesterday. I want more details on this mysterious person who likely stole my mail at some pre-delivery level (there is no way it could have been stolen once delivered...they would have to swim across my moat). I'm curious to see that, if it was in fact stolen, they put it together and give me a refund.

To be continued...

UPDATE

Wow...so not only was it a freak coincidence that someone very close to me was selling the CD.....but the lost CD showed up the same day as the reordered one. Yeah, so here it is...

Not an expensive CD, but it is long out of print and fairly uncommon compared to other live albums from Nakamori...

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New And Upcoming CD Releases

Columbia has done an utterly awful redesign of their website, so finding information on new CDs is pretty challenging these days...

Oh yeah... I find that whenever I tweet about upcoming CD releases it gets regurgitated to Facebook and other places. Some credit would be nice. You and I both know I'm the one spending all the time digging up the info. Don't be a dick, please. :p

Uchuu Sentai Kyuranger's Theme Song Single was released on the 15th of March. I have mine!.......admittedly still in the shrinkwrap. If you're still thinking of picking this one up, be warned--there are different versions. The regular edition is a 4-track CD with the theme songs and their Karaoke versions. There is also a Limited Edition, which is what I got, that comes in a neat pop-up case and comes with a Bonus fifth track, Lucky Miracle Paradise. Preordered Limited Editions also came with an external bonus item that is different depending on where you bought yours from. Since I got my copy from Neowing/CDJapan, it came with a large paper-craft item focused on Shishi Red. Amazon Japan's item seems to have been based around Chamelion Green. Check the Regular Edition here. Limited here.

TM Network's aforementioned Get Wild Song Mafia is being released this week (5th)! This four disc set contains 36 versions of the song. Get Wild is most notably known as being a fantastic friggen song, but it also happens to be the first ending song to my favorite anime, City Hunter. I will be reviewing the entire thing and complaining about versions of the song that are missing (and marveling at how things like the obscure instrumental Victor Fantastic Orchestra version were included). Check it here.

Ultraman Powered's once-delayed 3-disc CD set is still slated for release on the 19th of April. It's contents are still somewhat of a mystery...which leads me to believe it may be delayed once again. I have a preorder for this one, so we'll see what kind of email Amazon Japan sends me. Check it here.

Speaking of Ultraman CDs, Ultraman The Rocks is set to come out on the 7th of June. It has a promising track list of what looks to be new rock covers of some memorable Ultra series classics (and the Ultraman Great theme song). I preordered this one as well, but I'll wait until the samples get posted before I'm entirely sold on getting this. Tsuburaya's quality control is pretty lax when it comes to music and who they license their properties out to...(except Scat Ultraman)... Check it here.

Kamen Rider Amazons is back this week. On the 24th of May the theme songs single for Kamen Rider Amazons 2 will be released. There are very little details about it as of this writing, but it will once again be published by Columbia rather than avex. Also, the Opening theme song will be Die Set Down. Check it here.

Kyoryuger Brave theme song and soundtrack is out on the 24th of May. Do what you will with this information. Check it here.

Finally on the 14th of June two CDs will be released for the upcoming Space Squad V-Cinema thing with Gavan, Dekaranger, and Juspion...? Sure. There is a Song Collection, which is likely old songs bundled together and an Original Soundtrack which promises to include at least some newly recorded music.

Remember...honor system...

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That about does it for the fourth issue of CCLemon99 Magazine. Thanks for swinging by today and more importantly, thank you for your support over the years. If you're reading this, you're alright in my book.

-CC

CCLemon99 Magazine Issue One
CCLemon99 Magazine Issue Two
CCLemon99 Magazine Issue Three