Wonder Festival 2008 Summer Report

When I dashed to that giant escalator, police officers were directing people away from it, saying it was out of order and that we had to go "that way". I then rushed to the general direction he was pointing to and found a huge line of people waiting for... the only elevator available! The crowd control crew apparently were instructed to not allow people to use any of the lower-level bound escalators. And the emergency stairs were also not an option! Although I fully understand that the organizers wanted to avoid any injuries amongst the visitors, HOW NON-SENSE IS THAT? I later learned that all this was due to an accident that occurred on the giant escalator: some people got hurt when one visitor mis-stepped or something. In any case, after a long wait and when I was almost about to reach the tiny elevator, the staff directed us to the emergency stairs, which apparently were open after logistical adjustments were made by the organizers. When I got there, there were already a lot of people rushing through, with very little aeration in the staircase. Remember, you are going four levels up and down a narrow staircase in one go under humid heat with hundreds of people around you. Somehow, pictures of the WTC on fire came to my mind, all things being relative, obviously.

UPDATE: in fact, the up-going escalator, while fully loaded with people, stopped and then REVERSED! This resulted in ten people getting hurt. You can see the accident through the camera of a professional reporter who was there to cover the Wonder Festival for the NHK, which is THE national television of Japan!
Check http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/t1001w3309111000.html for the video footage! (You need to copy/paste the URL)

So, this is the crime scene.
By the way, a lady wearing a skirt passed in front of me when I was trying to shoot this picture with my camera almost touching the floor, at which point an officer standing nearby asked me to avoid taking pictures at "extreme angles" for it could be misleading!
I NEVER would have thought of THAT!
Thank you officer for avoiding troubles that I certainly wouldn't need!

So, back on track with the kit hunting, and I got a shot at the elusive 1/35 Elefanten By Yahiro C.D...

... but couldn't get my hands on the Sternaal.

Those starving for figures rejoice!
Soko Sangyo Haikibutsu Chutai and Hakai Kosaku Shotai bring you some high quality figures at very reasonable prices!
Here's a Merc. Pilot...

... and a Strahl sub-commander.

A set of Strahl pilot busts.
The heads are interchangeable with those of the full figures...

... in this way.

Another nice build of the Merc. Pilot.

They also proposed a full kit of an original 1/20 Gustav.

Suzie Syndicate was selling figures made by Hirata-san, a famous Japanese modeler whom you may have seen in a tutorial video.
Here is a 1/20 Japanese Navy Special Attack Weapon Fukuryu, an original design of his.