Me + money = artbook of doooom

[taotrooper]

I went downtown today, because I wanted to do something meaningful on my last vacation weekend, and in order to see if they had some Discworld book I could buy at the bookstore I go to. By the way, I couldn't see any Pratchett but I saw the first two Earthsea novels in one book, so I got that one instead. But that's not my point.

An hour or something like that before I went to the bookstore, I took a walk. I need the exercise, I think. I first went to the mall at the docks, because I had never gone there (shameful, yeah). There was a small geeky collectible store there, mostly with American comics and Star Wars related toys. They do have a small section with comics and manga, and I check it out. There were some artbooks on top, and I take a look because I'm curious.

THEY HAD THE X "ZERO" ARTBOOK.

Like I mentioned on a previous entry, inouekun and I saw an X artbook at the comic fair, but it was 45 euros or something like that. I don't know if that was the exact price, but it was near 50.

But. This one. Was. Twenty-seven. Euros.

An imported CLAMP arbook, with a hardcover. And the price was just 27.

I didn't think twice. And now I own it ^____^

Ah, but something else happened. The other day, I was commenting gingetsu I had seen a RG Veda artbook, also imported, at 27 euros on eBay. And nobody else had bidded on it.

Well, I went to this other second-hand + geeky store on Riego de Agua street that usually has cool anime things, like Final Fantasy, Naruto or Fullmetal Alchemist stuff (expensive like whoa, though). And I go to the second floor, where the comics are. And I find the RG Veda artbook at 24 euros.

Dude!

I check my wallet, and I had 20. Dammit!

I'll need to save some money to get that one. And before you tell me it's only four bucks, remember I bought the Earthsea book. So, uh, I might need at least two weeks. And in two weeks it might be gone. Curses.

Comments

[zauberer-sirin.livejournal.com]

Everybody has a story regarding the "X" artbook, it´s a must-own for everybody even if you don´t like the manga (and what´s wrong with people who don´t like X, anyway? it´s a masterpiece).

I got my copy for 28 euros after over a year of angsting about the 50 euros copies that i saw around madrid.

[rainmage.livejournal.com]

It's was a good deal ^^ They're always so, so expensive, I had to check several times in order to convince myself I got the price right. And even when the clerk was charging me, I was half expecting him to tell me "The tag is wrong, by the way. It's fifty euros." But he didn't, and took the two bills I was handing to him.

I would've never guessed I'd see the arbook on that price outside eBay auctions.

[laurus-nobilis.livejournal.com]

Oooh, the Earthsea books are great! And the best thing about them is that even if they follow an order, you can read them separately without dying from the cliffhangers.

[rainmage.livejournal.com]

I know they're good stuff. I read the first one on vacations; I took it from the library. I bought it because a) I liked it and b) the second one is either not on the library, or it's always borrowed.

[sui.livejournal.com]

X ZERO artbook? Yay. *___* That's cool. I still haven't been able to get that. X____x

[rainmage.livejournal.com]

Yay indeed! Even of there's nothing new about the illustrations, they're always so pretty to look at.

[light-hikari.livejournal.com]

HARDCOVER. MEAN. I'VE GOT THE SOFTCOVER ;_;

I need to get Infinity or something too....

[rainmage.livejournal.com]

There is a softcover version? o_O

I never knew.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

Yay ! Congratulations on getting the X Zero book ! Such a stroke of luck ! And the Earthsea novels, they rock ^^

Good luck for the economy ^^

[rainmage.livejournal.com]

Economy looks bad right now. And to think last week I had almost 100 euros...

Yikes.

[threeleaf.livejournal.com]

X-Zero Artbook?! How lucky you are! The last time I saw it near to my place was at 45 dlls. And a RG-Veda artbook? I must get more manga of it!

[rainmage.livejournal.com]

US$45 sounds so cheap compared to prices here. Remember, the euro is higher than the dollar, so 45 euros for an artbook is... not a good thing in dollars, I'll tell you that :/

27 euros are 33 dollars. It's a pretty good deal for an imported artbook ^_^

[wyrdley.livejournal.com]

I'm very lucky. Someone gave me X "Zero" as a gift several years ago, though I'm pretty sure its a Chinese ripoff. The pics are all CLAMP's though. It MAY be a legitimately licensed copy, but the accompanying manga were definitely in Chinese. Still a nice book. The same person gave me the Tokyo Babylon books, too, not realizing they were Chinese, not Japanese. (I can't read Chinese at all.) It's the thought that counts, I guess.

The books I want are the Chobits artbooks. The series was meh, but the art was fantastic. (Chii's costumes are so gorgeous, even the fan service ones. She looks like an angel, even in lingerie.)

I finally ordered the last volume of "CLAMP no Kiseki" off the web this week, so my chess collection will be complete. Still not sure if I'll be able to get the Kero and Suppi bonus pieces, though, since I'm not 100% on the instructions for getting them, or if they can be shipped to the USA. *sad, because they're so cuuuuuuute* I paid anywhere from $33 - $50 US (including shipping costs) for each set, but I thought the chess pieces were adorable...

[wyrdley.livejournal.com]

Sorry, it was the RG Veda book that had the bonus comics in it, not Zero. I just looked at them and realized that... Maybe Zero WAS an actual Japanese import.

[rainmage.livejournal.com]

The RG Veda artbook I saw didn't have the comic book. Not that I care, as I'm indifferent to Ashura-oh...

I used to think Chobits illusts were nice, but after I realized 96% of them were Chiis, and the other 4% were girls/persocoms, I started hating them. Why the boys can't get color illusts, apart from actual manga colored pages? I wanted a Minoru illust, Mokona! Curse you and the stupid atashis!

I'm buying the Spanish Kisekis. It's going to take like two or three weeks to get it that way, but it's still cheaper than the imports, and they're doing the Kero and Suppi thing anyway.