Talk Tuesday | Cleaning My Suede Shoes

 

Technically, I wouldn't call them as pair of suede shoes but there are some suede materials on them and there was this huge warning sticker that they cannot be washed with water or worn in rainy condition right on the sole so I'm going to treat them as suede shoes at this point therefore in need to look for shoe-cleaning kits suitable with this or similar materials.

I was searching and scrolling up and down my Shopee app when I've finally found affordable and most importantly, local suppliers for these shoe-cleaning products; Sole Balms® Suede Kit, Easy Foam Cleaner and Premium Brush.

First, let me just share with you guys the first step to clean these suede shoes or the only step you need; depending on the severity of the stains on your shoes which is to remove the surface stains. 

For this dry cleaning step, I'm using the Suede Kit that consist of suede detailing brush and suede rubber eraser. The brush isn't that stiff and it was easy to remove dirt that cling onto the suede and it's made of nylon therefore free from animal hair; imperative to Muslim users like myself. The eraser did a great job at removing the dirt off my shoes and I didn't even need to use a lot of force for this step. Here's photos of before and after I'm using the kit : 

It's actually kind of nice to see the suede texture being revived like that; personal preference of mine.

I mainly used the corners of the rubber eraser to focus on smaller areas like those at the lace holes and front part of the shoes.

Now for the rest of the shoes, I'm using the Easy Foam Cleaner and the Premium Shoe Cleaning Brush.

As I don't want to risk by using water to clean these shoes, this cleaner is perfect as I don't need extra water to foam it up thanks to the pump as well. Simply pump the cleaner onto the soft brush and start brushing your way through the areas of the shoes. Use microfiber cleaning cloths to absorb the excess foam afterwards. Even though the brush is indeed quite soft to be used on the suede material, I still wouldn't recommend to use force while brushing as I do notice that some of the suede material did came off so be extra careful.

 

For my first cleaning routine, I used about a fifth of the bottle for these pair of shoes which is quite a lot but according to the guys at Sole Balms®, you can try using less cleaning product by adding some water i.e. wetting the soft brush slightly prior adding the foam cleaner. I'd be sure to try that next time but even after trying to dry the shoes with multiple microfiber cloths, I still felt some of the suede areas quite damped so I left them to air-dry overnight.

The next morning, I simply used the brush that came with the Suede Kit to sort of fluff the dried and flattened suede texture and totally feeling satisfied with how cleaned my shoes are now after months of enduring the time I couldn't wear them with my beige outfit.

With my recent purchase of more suede material-containing shoes, I'm so glad I got myself extra bottle of the foam cleaner plus I get to save some shipping fee to EM. Overall, I'm quite satisfied with the products and looking forward to my next cleaning session.

Are you obsessed with sneakers too? While I refuse to get the latest release of Adidas Samba, Specialz or Gazelle, Puma Palermo or Creeper even the cute NewBalance 530 series (I remember I was obsessed with the 574 back in uni), I finally got myself a pair of Mexico Delegation from Onitsuka Tiger; a Japanese brand indeed but I guess I'll save that for my next entry. 

Talk Tuesday | Keeping My Anime Figures Clean

 

Cleaning my anime figures is supposedly a task to be done every few weeks but I'm not going to lie as when I'm too occupied with my schedules and whatnot, a month could've gone by without me cleaning them.  Even though I live in smoke-free apartment, I'm supposed to do it at least once a month to keep them looking nice and fresh and away from judgement! Hah!

Anyway, while I usually just brush away the dusts with old makeup brushes, I always wipe off the bases with soft, fluffy towel that I've gotten from Daiso (man, I miss that 200-yen store!) to remove traces of prints. I'd be sanitising them with disinfectant spray after my relatives came to play and then let them sit for a good minute before wiping them off with fresh towels.

How about you guys? How often do you clean your anime figures? Let me know by leaving comments down below.

Talk Tuesday | Funko Pop! Protectors

While I'm taking it slow with collecting Banpresto prize figures for My Hero Academia given that I'm merely waiting for my July, August and September pre-orders supposedly arriving in October, I've started collecting more Funko Pop! for this animation. Now that I'm halfway through my checklist, I've got more than 20 in my collection so I'm in the middle of rearranging them next to my Detolf glass cabinet and started to notice more and more of the dents on the boxes. 

Of course, I've started collecting for my own self-satisfaction but I'm also thinking of investing in several expensive items from the lineup therefore the first thing I need when it comes to that is protection for these babies! I've received several recommendations from the #funkopopmalaysia community and decided to get my first batch of protectors from Gotcha Pops; Malaysian-based Shopee seller.

My order was processed, shipped and arrived to my East Malaysian address via J&T within 4 days which is pretty amazing! The seller used a box and packet lined with air bubbles so the items were nice and secured.

If you're such a newbie like me, remember to peel off the plastic cover of the protector! I was wondering for a good minute of why the protector wasn't clear as pictured on the store? I'd start peeling from the back side of the protector if I were you.

Once unfold, the protector sits nice on a flat surface like that unlike low quality protector which tends to have curvy top and bottom that could lead the Pop!s to fall over once stacked on top of each other. Now that I think about it, each Pop! isn't that heavy so that's why I decided to go for this kind of protector.

Noticed the reinforced grooved edges so each unfolding session of the protector takes like a minute especially with the auto-locking base but remember to not fold the lid outwards in order to not damage the lid. 

Took me about half an hour to unfold the whole set of 20 pieces and after inspecting each and every protector, I've discovered several with minor defects.

After a pleasant exchange of information and clear photos with the seller, he agreed either to refund the amount for the damaged goods or simply replace and include them in my next purchase. Knowing that my whole collection is more than 20 and all of them in need of protectors, I decided with getting the damaged ones to be replaced. 

The top view where you can see the embossed logo of the protector brand.

As you can see above, the top part is quite flat indeed so I have no problem stacking them against a wall so far.

The auto-locking base slightly converges inward so that gives a slight room for the minimal curvy part on some protectors.

For now, I only placed 5 of my Funko Pop! in the protectors as I already reviewed them here so definitely check them out! I'm going to take more photos of the ones I haven't reviewed yet before I can place them in their protectors and sealing them off for good. By the way, check out my unboxing video down below and make sure to follow my Facebook Page for more video contents!

So what do you think of this brand of collectible protector? Supposedly it does have that UV protection to reduce the chances of damage by sun rays but I only have them for literally a day so I really can't tell that now so I'd be sure to check in with you guys again maybe in about 3 months?

I guess that's all from me so I'll be seeing you guys on my next post! Stay home and safe!

Talk Tuesday | Banpresto Japanese vs. Asian

 

So a fellow anime figure collector asked me about the difference between the authentic Banpresto Japan version and the Asian version and physically, there is no difference when it comes to the figures itself as all of Banpresto figures are made in China; pretty sure I've heard only Gundam figures, model kits, etc. are made in Japan if we're talking about Bandai Spirits Co. Ltd. products.

The differences I'm going to point out today are the box packaging in case you're wondering the one that you're holding in your hands are not authentic or simply just meant for Japanese or Asian market. Of course, the Japan version of Banpresto figures are supposedly can be obtained from the crane machines that are located literally everywhere along the streets of Akihabara (or any part of Japan) hence why these figures are called as Prize figures but I know for sure that you can directly purchase them from local resellers.

As for us figure collectors living outside Japan, Banpresto have local partner stores scattered all over Asian region which you guys can actually see the list at the bottom of the box itself and I've been getting my figures almost exclusively from official partner stores to ensure my money went straight to Bandai Spirits company. Yes, I don't support the bootleg or counterfeit sellers and community but if you do then don't mind me and keep doing you. 

Now, as you can see in the above photo, there is no difference when it comes to the front side of the boxes, right? Except for the indicator that there's only 1 version of the figure released for this figure; unlike some of their figures that have monochrome version for those custom figure enthusiasts out there, the designs are basically the same.

The same goes for the back sides of the boxes. Other than more wordings on the Japan version, the designs are the same as well.

There is no difference to the design at the sides of the box either.

Now, this is where you can see the difference. Look at the top of the boxes, while the original Japan version has that JAIA PRIZE blue logo; pretty sure it's a crane machine company or brand along with the TOHO Co. Ltd logo, the Asian version has a barcode on right and a round, hologram MediaLink sticker placed on top of the TOHO Co. Ltd. logo.

At the bottom of the boxes, while the original Japan version has bunch of information all printed in Japanese, the Asian version has information printed in English including the manufacturing date.

So I guess that's all for today's talk! This is the first post on this #TGLBFigureTalks so definitely do stay tuned for more! I also have received several other figures from the Japan market via Facebook resellers so I'd be sure to keep you guys updated. See you on my next post! #staysafe