Project 365: Day 79 - Saizen!!

 Yesterday I went down to Robinson's Galleria and headed straight for:

Photo stolen from the warp, este the web

Saizen is a japanese chain known as Daiso. Due to pinoys jumping the gun and registering Daiso here the Philippines, the folks decided to launch as Saizen.

If you think Saizen is another one of those "japan home" stores (theres one a few feet away from Saizen) you'd be doing yourself as a disservice as the place has a lot of legitimately awesome stuff. Everything in Saizen costs 85 bucks, which could be a steal for what you're buying, and an utter rip off for some (like batteries)

But if you're just interested in hobby related stuff, heres what I walked away with yesterday:

Needle Files. I need to replace my chinese made ones as these have a finer tooth. 5 peso coin for size comparison

I also bought another diamond file. I had a half-round and bought a 3 sided one this time

Coping saw! I'll see how this handles mdf and lawanit.

And something I always get from Saizen every chance I get: Craft Knife refills. Now, I've warned folks before about using cheap craft knives but this brand is very much comparable in terms of qaulity with XActo. The advantages are that this is cheaper (85 for 10 blades vs 75 for 3 Xacto)...

...and it comes in a very neat magnetized dispenser. Slide the tab out and the magnet grabs a blade for you

You can fix your blade to your craft knife without ever touching the stabby part

Another neat feature is the used blade storage compartment it has. Keeps it  from tearing trashbags and killing some smokey mountain kid and if you are so inclined, you can slide the back compartment to use the old blades for less glamorous jobs

I wish I could take pics of the store interior but they dont allow it. There's loads of other stuff that folks could use for gaming or kitbashing (i have a cloth canvas dice bag that came from Saizen's kitchen section :) )

One downside to the store is that they dont restock often and sometimes they dont restock what you want at all. They used to have battery-powered  mini hotwire cutters last year but im still waiting for them to restock. So if you find something you need, get it NOW. 

It has come to the point that if I'm strapped for cash I avoid this store like the plague as its very very easy to walk away with more than you intended to buy.