Month: March 2018

Urban Mine – Tiger & Bunny – Part 1

I saw two Tiger & Bunny lots – one for a set of Bandai figures, and one for some prize figures. The Bandai lot went for more than I was prepared to pay, but I won the other lot with the maiden bid of ¥100. 

I took a look at the lot, just prior to paying:

Agh, it’s not just the J prizes, but a few glasses as well. I would’ve preferred to not pay to ship a bunch of glasses over too, but at least there still was enough J-prizes to hopefully get a set. So this lot ended up costing me the same as the previous one (£16.22), due to the weight. 

This will be a 2-part blog – today’s blog will focus on the items that are not the J-prizes. 

First up, the glasses. There were 4 glasses – 3 of the same design, and the 4th being different. 

I have three of these glasses:

Which look like this out of the box:

This side of the box shows the full design:

Personally, I don’t like the design of this glass at all. The writing feels too bold and hard to read, and the design isn’t exciting. I also don’t have any need for more drinking glasses XD. 

The second glass:

And out of the box:

I think this glass is a much nicer design – much more legible, and has a nice thematic design on one side. However, I don’t really need an odd glass, so I’m likely to try and sell all four glasses at some point. Erm, anyone in the UK want to buy some Tiger & Bunny glasses? 

Next up is this metro pass holder:

It has words… it has Tiger & Bunny… and erm, what the heck is this thing trying to say?! I may actually use this when I go to Tokyo if I get a pass, as this’ll prevent me from losing it in a random pocket.. But I’m not sure what’s up with the design. 

Back of the holder:

Nothing going on here. Just a place to grab & pull the pass back out of the holder. If anyone’s wondering how this works – the metro passes have RFID in Japan, so you tap them against the reader, so it doesn’t need to come out of the holder. You then attach this holder to a bag or the like, then you can just grab it and smack it against the reader as you walk through the barrier. I may take a reel with me, as I may not always have a suitable bag on me XD. 

Last up… is one of the Bandai figures! For some reason, one of them was dumped in this lot, and it was Rock Bison:

Aww, cute. This figure is OK, but cemented the fact I didn’t want to pay a lot for the Bandai figure set. And made me wonder if this one was missing in the other lot… Most of the painting is decent on it, but I’m not really attracted to the design. 

Back:

Some nice detailing back here, and the paint is where it’s supposed to be. If you like him, he’s a good figure, but he isn’t anything special imo. 

So an interesting set of extras, but nothing I would miss if it spontaneously disappeared. 

Urban Mine – Evangelion, Gundam & Misc – Part 5

Now for the final part! I think I got my money’s worth! 

So what’s left? Some Gundams of course! However, before their photoshoot, they needed a bathe:

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These were quite grimy, and I don’t think the slightly rubbery plastic helped matters. I had no idea who these three were, but one MFC post later, I’d been linked to the who, and a Discord message later, I knew what figure series these are from. They’re pretty old, so they’re not on MFC at the time of writing, and I haven’t got around to adding them (if I will!). These three are from the “Styling S” series. These figures feature extremely limited articulation, and seem to be self-assembly. They seem to have been sold in a blind box format, which ties into the fact they would’ve required assembly, and their quality. They needed some reassembly when I got them – they had been spread around the bag during transport, and sadly one part broke. One of the stands was broken, but I suspect this happened prior to transport. I may fix this with a pin, or just glue the stand part to the stand it belongs to. 

OK, enough waffle, make with the figures!

GAT-X103 Buster Gundam:

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This is the dude with the broken park – one of those beige pieces on his shoulder is now permanently glued in. I initially thought he had missing pieces, but I found some images of him on the internet, and got him assembled properly! And that’s a gun and a half he’s pointing at us! 

From the left:

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Yeah, don’t want to be on the business end of that thing! One dirt spot remains on his arm there ¬¬. Erm, do Gundams go in the car wash…? How does one wash a Gundam normally? 

Right side:

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Here you can see one of the hip mounts for the gun – this was the main mistake I made when reassembling him – I didn’t know what these bits rested on, and didn’t manage to connect the dots. 

Back:

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As these have stands up… well, erm, there, you get to see the details on their feet, which is nice. Some detailing on the back, equal to the front. 

Top:

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Nice, sturdy grip goin’ on with that gun. And it certainly needs it! Still damn big!

Close-up of his chest:

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His head is permanently in “aiming gun” direction. No head articulation, so you can’t have him grumping at things. The poses are cool for these figures, but sometimes… I just want to tweak things a little bit… But that’s not an option with these. 

Now for ZGMF-1000 ZAKU Warrior. This guy is the one with the broken stand, so he’s borrowing GAT-X103′s for these photos. Some of the original stand peg is in his arse peg still, so he sits a little proud on the stand:

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Here he is, ready to go hammer and tongs on something below him. 

Left side:

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Here is his spiky shield and gun. From this angle, he could almost be going for a poop. 

Right side:

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That better be an energy axe! I like the way they have him angled, ready to strike.

Back:

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Looks OK form this angle, with flaps protecting his backside. These flaps are attached on with hooks (along with the two on the front), and can be reasonably easily knocked off, but they stay happily, so long as you don’t bump them. 

Close-up of the axe:

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Yep, that looks like some kind of futuristic energy axe. Better not get too close to him! The gradient effect is nice on the “blade”. 

The shield has some details on the back:

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Guess he’s ready for some discus? 

Midriff:

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Here’s a close-up of the flaps, and some grenades he has on his belt. Those crown jewels are safe… so long as those ‘nades don’t go off prematurely. I do like the detail in this area. 

And lastly we have ZGMF-X20A Strike Freedom Gundam. Yep, just rolls off the tongue! 

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This is my favourite of the three, and certainly is the most striking. I love the “wings” on the back, and the general colour scheme. He’s also dual-wielding guns, so that’s also a win. 

Right side:

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Not too much to see here, looks like he’s got holsters for those guns. 

Left side:

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More of the same. Bit of some red smudging on his arm though. Loving the colour scheme still.

Back:

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His wings look really impressive from the back. 

This one actually features a small amount of customisation:

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The upper wings have two positions they can slot into! This option looks nice, but I prefer having him with his wings out. Here’s what this configuration looks like from the front:

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Not as visible, but I can see some people preferring him looking like this, so it’s nice that they included this option. I don’t particularly like the way his head is fixed so he’s looking down and left – it fits with the flying left pose but I’d like to see his face from more front-on. 

All in all, these figures are OK. They’re nothing special, but they’re competent. The moulds don’t feel particularly complex, and the colours are mostly block coloured plastic, with some paint detailing, so they do feel somewhat plain, compared to a fully painted model. If you wanted something cheap and Gundam, these would fit the bill. They’re also far easier to assemble than a model kit – it’s all pegs, so there’d be no sprue-clipping, stickers, and swearing at small parts. I wouldn’t buy these, but as I have them, I will display them. Until I, erm, run out of space again… probably. 

And that’s the last of this Urban Mine! Hope you enjoyed this 4-part series. I certainly enjoyed this loot box, and I felt I got my money’s worth. 

Urban Mine – Evangelion, Gundam & Misc – Part 4

Now for the Gundam items. This blog will only have one figure opened, then an image dump of two sets of petit figures. I haven’t opened the petit figures, as I haven’t decided if I’m going to display them or try to sell them as sets, though neither are a full set. So feel free to skip the blog after Athrun. 

Originally I wasn’t going to open this Athrun Zala figure, but after seeing what he looked like, once unpacked, I decided I liked her:

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I love the determined pose, and the paintwork from a distance looks good, with complimentary colours. There is some paint slop, if you look closely though. Well, maybe not so closely by the collar. Assembling this figure was interesting, as the pegs are separate, and on a sprue, so I had to go dig up my model snips! Those have been getting some action lately, which will be upcoming in a future blog ;). 

Left side:

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This figure needs some side shots, to show off the aiming with the gun. The stance is good, and works from all angles. The gun and his hands are one piece, so he’s not in trouble of dropping it – sometimes small figures like these can have real troubles holding accessories. Heck, even bigger ones can have issues! His stance only works for firing a gun, so I think this was a good design choice. 

Right side:

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Looking good from this angle too. I like the way his hair flows around his ear. Also get to see some shirt, from his jacket flying up from him lifting his gun.

Back:

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Alas, there’s some marks on the back of the jacket, but at least they’re on the back. These kinds of marks are not uncommon on black finishes on cheaper figures. Kind of annoying, but not much you can do about it, I don’t happen to have any matt finishes on me, lol. 

I love his action-y stance and colour scheme. The logo on the base is also attractive, and adds a bit of class, and is far better than just a plain disc. 

Now for the image dump. This first set of bags are from Bandai’s Petit Figure Collection 1. Names of the characters are on the bases:

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The next three are from the Chara Puchi set, also by Bandai:

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They’re fairly run-of-the-mill petit figures for the most part. I’m more likely to keep the Chara Puchi ones, as I do like the little Haros the characters are given to sit on. I haven’t watched any Gundam, so I don’t feel attached to the characters, and the humanoid characters aren’t visually interesting to me, for the most part. 

Urban Mine – Evangelion, Gundam & Misc – Part 3

Now for the last of the Evangelion items. 

Let’s start off with a deformed-style Rei trading figure:

I don’t usually go in for this style of figure, but this one’s pretty cute, and well-done. The paint is really nice. The big *ahem* downside to this one is that her fat head doesn’t like to stay in the stand clip. Most of this kind of figure I’ve usually been able to find the sweet-spot where the figure will stay clipped in, but she loves to fall over if you move her. The shading in her hair is vibrant and attractive. Also she’s in her plugsuit, so that makes it more of a winner for me. 

Back:

Pretty obvious seam, but that’s pretty standard with these figures. Isn’t anything worth seeing on the back of her head, though the back of her body has been painted well, with the details you’d expect. I like this figure, and this will be going on display. 

Next, a keychain of Rei:

Here she is, very happy! It doesn’t look very “Rei” to me, but she’s still cute. 

Back:

Not too much to see here, but some shading in her hair, and her back has been painted well. 

She does pose well in front of a Nether portal:

I hung her here, soon after opening her. 

She comes with another part you’re supposed to connect her to:

She does look nice connected to this chain, but it’d dangle too much to go on the keychain bars. And she needs to guard the portal :P. 

Now here’s an interesting piece of Evangelion loot attached to my phone:

On the opposite side, it has Rei’s EVA:

The print is nice and vibrant, and a good design, given the space. Hence me attaching this to my phone. So what is it?

An extending ballpoint pen! More useful than the stylus I first wondered if it was. My finger suffices for my phone, but hey, a pen I might actually randomly need. I’ve left the nib protector on the pen, as I’m rarely likely to actually use this. It’s more of a decorative item that I can look at/fiddle with. Will keep it on my phone until it’s more annoying than soothing. Or it gets damaged badly. 

Time for a couple of different Evangelion characters. It can’t all be Rei! Just… mostly Rei :P. 

Here’s a figure of Asuka:

Cute! The card was a pain to get in place though. Love the plugsuit swimsuit! Would love to see this on a larger figure, and for the rest of the cast. Paint is good quality on her. 

Now for a Shinji. Funnily enough, I nearly bought this from someone, with some other Evangelion loot, but the asking price was too high. But he decided to pop up in my loot anyway!

A nice little figure. Not one I’d ordinarily choose, but will happily display now I have it. Love the angel details in the background. 

Some nice odds and ends! No real duds either, so I’m happy!

Urban Mine – Evangelion, Gundam & Misc – Part 2

Next up, let’s get onto some Evangelion loot! I opened one of the sealed inner bags and found… a full set of Portraits figures! Well, minus the secret one, but hey, 5 figures of a full set! I didn’t have any of series 2, so this was an amazing find for me! Well worth the £16 on its own! You wouldn’t normally get a full set for this price. So this loot was definitely a winner!

First up, Asuka Langley:

Looking very happy. A small scratch on her swimsuit top, d’oh. Other than that, she’s in good condition. The red swimsuit suits her – the secret figure in this set is her in a blue striped swimsuit, so I’m not overly fussed about it. Asuka’s colour is red. 

Back:

Lovely flow and shading in her hair. Her neuro clips are well-painted too. 

Now, ofc for a Rei:

Here she is in her plugsuit form, with the bandages from a…. not-so-good encounter. The bandage painting looks a little odd above her right breast. She has a pearlescent plugsuit, which is a nice touch – usually this form is a “secret colour” version in other sets, but is the standard colouring in this set. Her bandages appear to be done true to the anime. 

Back:

Some paint slop visible on the bandage around her hair. Her backpack has been nicely done. Not too much to say about the back, but she looks good.

Rei in her school uniform:

A nice amount of detail in her, but the stand was a pig to get in place and work out what should be clipped XD. The paint has been done nicely, and her pose is good. 

Back:

Here you can see some nice shading on her dress, and her hand in motion. Her hair also has detail at the back, which is nice. 

Misato Katsuragi:

Looking very summery and ready for the beach! This is a bit of an odd set, as you have her and Asuka ready for the beach, and the others in their work clothes XD. I like Misato’s pose, but her expression looks a little shifty… what’s she plotting now? Love the little flowers on her sandals, and the beach outfit is a good style. 

Back:

Her hair has shading, but does look like a bit of a sudden colour change in this photo. Her backside has been sculpted well, and she has pockets that look good. I really like her shorts, lol. 

Lastly, Maya Ibuki:

Unfortunately, time has hit her badly. She has a small scratch at the bottom of her coat, but worst of all, it looks like the paint has deteriorated, and she has an overly dark spot across her chest. Other than that, she looks good from the front, which makes the ageing a shame. I like her studious, laptop-holding pose.

Back:

Some ageing visible here too – one dark spot on the back of her jacket, and her leggings have yellowed. Not too much to see on the back, but looks OK. 

All of these figures have a base with the NERV logo, which is a nice touch. Kinda wish all the Portraits figures had this base. It’s nice to own this set, even though there’s signs of ageing. A welcome addition to my collection!

Urban Mine – Evangelion, Gundam & Misc – Part 1

So… this month I hit the Mandarake mines pretty hard. The next five blogs will cover this auction:

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I bid on this auction, as I saw two of Rei Ayanami’s head, and Asuka’s in between. The rest I didn’t really pay much attention to, but I saw the bag labelled ¥315, so hey, if I didn’t bid much, I was probably onto a winner! I won the lot for ¥400, and with shipping it cost me £16.22. 

So… let’s see what I got. This blog will concentrate on the miscellaneous items, that aren’t Gundam or Evangelion-related. 

The first oddity that caught my eye, after emptying the bag of items was this dude:

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But who could he be? So I turned him round and had a look:

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Oh! Docomo! One of the mobile (cell) phone providers in Japan! I did some research, and indeed they have a mushroom for a mascot, and his name is Docomodake. Well, their branding went a lot more successful than whatever it was Orange tried to do many years ago in the UK… He’s a cute, well-made little guy. He definitely gets a spot on the keychain bar. 

Here’s a photo of his head:

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Lots of brightly-coloured spots! The other keychain part that he’s propped upon will be featured in a later blog. An interesting and different item! 

Next up, three figures of Rio Rollins Tachibana from Super Black Jack. Never come across this series before, so can’t comment too much from that perspective.

Our first figure is of her in her normal outfit, looking like a dealer:

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These figures are surprisingly well-made – the paint is very nicely done, and the poses are good. They all have a bit of a gappy midriff problem, but this is not too noticeable if you’re not up close to the figure. This one you can’t pick up by her upper half usually though – she likes to drop her legs! The detail in the moulds is also a bit higher than your average trading figure imo – the creases in her clothes have been done well, and the paint/decal on the cards is very crisp. 

Back:

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She looks good from this angle, though less detail in her hair. You can see her cufflinks here – nice to see details like that. The support stand is on a ball joint, which makes it easier to manoeuvre into position. 

Now for Rio in a maid outfit:

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She was a bit more of a pain to get on the stand, but she’s also very nicely done. Some white paint slop visible on her legs though, but it’s not a biggie. Her apron pins onto her skirt – this is OK when she’s displayed, but the pins aren’t that long, so if you pick her up, you can accidentally knock this off. 

Back:

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Looks good from this angle. She has a standard rod stand though. 

Now for the third and final Rio:

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Santa Rio! This was the first one of the three I assembled, and probably the worst one for midriff gap XD. Once I had this one open, I was decided I was going to keep all three of the Rio figures. I love her face and pose, and the quality of the paint job. The bent-over trinket in her hand is odd though, but pictures suggest it should be like that! There’s a nice use of pearly finish on her stockings. 

From the back:

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The sack has been done well, along with her Santa hat. Love the high-heeled boots too. Very pleased with these three figures.

Also in the Super Black Jack theme, there was these playing cards:

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I haven’t opened them, not sure if I will, as I don’t tend to get to play card games. I’d guess this would be a nice collectable for those who like this series though – very thematic. 

One last thing for this post, Yuo Hirasawa from K-on!:

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In tiny charm form. I left this in the bag, but just prior to writing this blog, I took her out. She has a 2D guitar attached to her strap, as well as her head. May sneak this onto one of the keychain bars, or she may be relegated to the Trading Figures drawer. She was a freebie with an Ashai drink, so coupled with her size, she’s not really worth anything. 

So thus far, we’ve had 3 nice trading figures and a DoCoMo mascot… Probably not worth £16 to me, but at least a chunk of that. Let’s see what the next blog brings!

Sinon – SAO: Code Register – Ocean Cat

And the third of these figures I purchased, Sinon:

This one doesn’t have any additional accessories, but does have a “full” stand. I love her cute pose, and well, she’s a cat. The shading on her face is a very nice touch. 

Left:

Here you can see the cat-paw detail on her swimsuit top – a nice continuation of the theme. She holds the ball well, and the motion in her top is nice. She also has her signature plaits, which is a necessary feature of Sinon.

Right:

Here’s her tail. This comes as a separate part, and plugs into a hole in her back. He has a hood on her top, but doesn’t look big enough for her head, lol. The colours of this figure work well imo.

Back:

Don’t think there’s much new to talk about from this angle. Her hair has been sculpted with a good amount of detail. Her foot pegs are a bit visible, which can make her foot look a little odd if you’re looking at her close-up. 

Overall, I’m very pleased with these figures. They’re nice and big, plus they’re painted well, with interesting sculpts. If you’re into these figure designs, I would happily recommend them. 

Leafa – SAO: Code Register – Aqua Sylphide

Time for our second of three Sword Art Online: Code Register prize figures.

This one is Leafa:

And man, she’s a pig to assemble. Body-to-legs is fine, but the ball is attached to her head. This made it a fun game of getting the hair slotted around her arms, then fighting with her bows & arms until each goes in the right places relative to each other. For anyone assembling it, I’d recommend threading her hair through her arms to get it in the vicinity, then heat up the bows so you can freely bend them around her arms, until everything’s in the right place, and hopefully you can jam her head down on her neck. 

She comes with some waves, identical to Asuna’s. She also has a stand base, but she doesn’t really need hers, unlike Asuna, who won’t sit right without hers. I’m going to use the stand anyway, as it’s not intrusive, and it’ll ensure she doesn’t bend over time. 

Elevated shot:

Here you can see how I’ve chosen to pose the waves, plus well, her assets that are seemingly competing with the beach-ball. 

From the front:

She has a very nice, smiling expression, and her hair has some lovely shades to it. All her bows flow nicely, and I find her skin less shiny and plain than Asuna’s. 

Left side:

Bit of a paint slop in evidence on her straps. The ball fits well in her hands, once assembled. The bottoms of her feet are sculpted nicely. 

Right:

Her wonderful hair sweeping around her. I love that they chose to do this, and the daintiness of her hand holding the ball. She also has a bow around her wrist, which is a nice attention to detail. 

Back:

A decent enough backside, plus some sculpting detail on her back. Most of the painting is within the lines, but a tiny bit lacking on the lower strap on mine. This is where she joins though. 

Closeup of the top of her hair:

Here you can see the ball is most definitely affixed to her hair. It looks a little odd if you look at it closely like this, but it looks fine from the front. 

Close-up of her back:

Hm, maybe her head needed one more shove :P. The back sculpt comes out nicely, and the ball appears to rest well in her hands, which I was worried about given the arrangement.

This was the first of the three figures I saw, and I really wanted to get this one. Certainly glad I did. 

Asuna – SAO: Code Register – Blue Marine ver.

I saw these prize figures for sale some time ago, but only recently decided to fit them into my budget. This is a set of four, but I only bought three of them, as the fourth was pricier than the other three, and I didn’t like it as much, as well as being a character I wasn’t attached to. 

So first up, Asuna:

She wasn’t too bad to assemble – head joint was a bit tight, but some heat and force sorted that out. However, she has a small stand underneath her backside (not visible here), which can be a bit of a pain to position correctly, but once in place, it stays fine. 

Elevated view:

The mould and details in the pose are all very nice. Main thing she lacks is shading on her skin, which leaves her looking prize-figure-y. When the light catches her right, she’s very nice looking though. 

From the top:

The seam hiding is better than some scales from the top! That was a bit of a surprise. The hair is really nice on this figure. Here you can see the two parts that make up the waves. These are a nice addition.

Asuna from the front, without the waves:

Just goin’ for her ice-cream. The flower in her hair is a very nice detail, and the curling of her feet give her more emotion in her pose. 

Left side:

Darn, didn’t get her ring in this shot, but it’s there and nicely painted… behind her hair. Which is very nice and blue indeed! Some decently sculpted side-boob, plus the plait in her hair, which is true to her design. The one major flaw with this figure is also visible here – the dent where her left knee is supposed to be sat in/covering up. It doesn’t seem quite the right shape, so I’m not sure bending her leg would be worth it, but it isn’t visible from a display angle. Kind of a shame, given the rest of this figure. 

Right side:

Here we get a better look at the flower, and her expression as she goes to eat her lolly. Here you can see the stand that I mentioned – the transparent blue nub underneath her backside. I like the way her ankles have the bones moulded in them. 

Back:

Some very blue hair, and the plastic stand. I really love the shades they’ve put in her hair – it really makes this figure eye-catching. The stand does its job, once you find the right place for it to sit. 

Overall, I’m really please with this figure. She’s a good size, and very nice for a prize figure. I’d say she looks a bit more plastic-y irl with her skin, but with the right lighting, she’s definitely good for the price. 

Skytube Premium Love Toys vol. 1 & 2

… so where did P-Body get that, uh, enrichment equipment?

Turns out it was courtesy of Skytube Premium:

These sex toys come on a sprue, and you need to assemble them yourself. The toys themselves are for various scales. Clipping them out of the sprue was easy, and most of the assembly was fine… but the rings for the handcuffs… argh. I got there in the end, with various pliers!

Here are the toys in vol 1:

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A nice selection of items, for a selection of scales.

Volume 2:

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Feels a bit less of a variety, but still a good selection.

The Queen of Pain was straight into the toy selection:

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Yeah, not sure what is scarier…

This one fit well with Nitta:

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And lastly, this figure’s probably one of the few who can make use of the ¼ scale accessory:

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Oh, you silly, that’s not how you’re supposed to use them, they’re supposed to be used on your arms.

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Um, I guess that’s better!

Currently most of the toys aren’t in use across my collection right now, but I’ll be setting a new cabinet soon, so they may get some more features soon.

P-Body – Portal 2 – Figma

Today’s figure is P-Body Figma by Max Factory. This is the second of the two Portal 2 Figmas:

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This guy has all the mechanical details of Atlas, but he doesn’t have the face articulation that Atlas does – instead he has two alternative face plates – one of his eye half-closed, and one with his eye fully closed. I guess the latter’s useful for stop-motion or something…

Left side:

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Much more sleek than Atlas. 

Right side:

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His portal gun is like Atlas’s… only orange. Love the little details at the top of his arm.

Back:

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Much more of his inner-workings are visible from this side, unlike Atlas, where some stuff is pretty much visible on all sides. His stature is very much as it is in the game, so it’s all good. He’s a little more awkward to pose due to lankiness, but the joints largely twist nicely. 

Oh, what have you got there P-Body?

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Erm, er, I don’t think that’s part of the testing initiative. I think you may want to put that down…

Atlas – Portal 2 – Figma

It was my birthday recently, and my husband bought me the Portal 2 Figmas… well… erm, I ordered them, he paid for them XD. So thanks!

First up, Atlas:

Aaand this is all the accessories he comes with, other than some extra hands. Not even a companion cube… though I do have one of those. He his very nicely done though, and the mechanical parts have come out very nicely, and give him a very complex look. 

For posing though, he has some features that make up for it. He can look at you with suspicion: 

Or after a night of heavy drinking:

The top panel goes up and down, and can be twisted, as shown above. His eye can fully open and close, plus the eyelids are independent, which partly make up for a lack of accessories. 

Here he is having a nap:

Left side:

I like his fingers-spread hand. The electronics lool good from this side too.

Right side:

The portal gun looks good, and is kinda shiny on the beam part, which shows in the front shots.

Back:

The logo on his butt is crisp and clean, and they didn’t skimp out on the details on the back of his ball. 

Overall, he’s a very nice looking Figma, and decently well-articulated. With the Japanese price, he’s kind of on the pricey side, but worth it if you’re a Portal 2 fan. UK price… yeah, um about that. Juuust a little crazy! The retailers here are selling him at the “maybe if it was DX GLaDoS”  price. If you want this guy, I’d suggest importing him, as even paying the import charges would be cheaper!

Rias Gremory – Highschool DxD – FREEing S-Style

This figure is the second of the pair, and was the one I was looking forward to most:

I love her playful pose, and I have a liking for Rias’s design. The white swimsuit complements Rias well. 

Left side:

Here you can see more of her top, which just rests on her hand. It’s pretty stable, but due to the static nature of the plastic, it can look a little odd if it doesn’t sit right on her hand. Here you can see some of the lovely shades in her hair.

Right:

No too much to say about this angle – you can see her nicely-sculpted swimsuit bottom, and her similar pose to Akeno. 

Back:

Red flowing hair, what’s not to love?

Close-up of the top:

Nicely detailed and painted. Despite the drawback of getting it to sit on her hand, it’s been very nicely done otherwise.

And now to the figure’s flaw:

The ahoge. This is a separate part, and no matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to get it all the way in, or at least fully hide the unpainted part. Wish they painted it all the way down. Not entirely sure why they decided to make it a separate part – pretty sure it would’ve fit in the box attached – but having it like this is just annoying. Being so thin, it’s a bit nerve-wracking pushing it in, and hoping not to break it. If it wasn’t for this, I’d have this one as one of my favourites. It’s still up there but… sigh. 

Akeno Himejima – Highschool DxD – FREEing S-Style

With the Highschool DxD S-Style figures, I missed the initial pre-orders, and decided to wait until release to pick them up. A bit before they were to be released, AmiAmi opened up their pre-orders for them again, and I was able to add them to another open order I had. 

First up, we have Akeno Himejima:

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Her top is separate, and is to be threaded under her arm/hand. Her head and her hair are separate parts to assemble, but the rest of her is pre-assembled.

Both of the Highschool DxD figures are hiding their nipples with their hands, which makes them somewhat different to the rest of the S-Style figures. 

Left side:

I love the hair on this figure – long and flowing. The green and dark blue colours of her swimsuit fit nicely with the rest ofthe figure. 

Right side:

Her arm is attached as per the other figures, but was not a separate part in the box. Not checked if it is glued or not. The bow on her swimsuit bottom has been done well. 

Back:

Here you can really appreciate the flowing nature of her hair, and the orange of her bow. The hair is fairly stiff plastic, so needed to be careful not to”ping” it and break it. Would be better if it was slightly softer imo. 

Close-up of her hair bow:

The paint is nicely done, and is a lovely colour. 

I love this figure, and feel like the quality of this line is increasing. It’s not “epic tier”, but they’re certainly very nice figures. 

Izuruha – Another Color ver

As promised by yesterday’s blog – more Izuruha! This one appears to be an older version of her, with longer hair:

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Here she is, fully dressed. She has a more detailed costume than the other one. She also has more display options due to this – her outfit is two pieces.

From the left:

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You get a good look at her leg from this side, and you can see her outstretched arm. 

Right side:

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Here, her body is almost front-on, and it looks like I’ve nudged her cloak. Oops. Also her foot is floating – would be nice if they included another foot stand, like the other figure, to ensure she’s stable. With some fiddling, she may have her toes down on the stand though.

Back:

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The light shines well off the back of her cloak/robe. She also has the nice detail on the back of it, flowing with her movement. Her hair also adds to her sense of movement. 

Now for her cast-off:

She has a noticeably larger chest than the other one, and her skin has a fair amount of detail on it. Her pose really works with her cast off. 

Left side:

A nice view of her backside :). There is a stray dot on there, which i did start off trying to remove, but it looks like a mole to me, so decided to leave it XD. Give her a little bit more detail! 

Right side:

This angle gives you the best view of her fromt. Her nipples have been painted well, and I love the way her muscles show. 

Back:

Her nice, flowing hair, and some more admiring of her backside.

Izuruha with her outer robe on:

I feel as if this frames her quite nicely. She will also work with just her tunic on, but didn’t take any photos with her tunic and no robe. 

Semi-cast-off, from the back:

You get a bit of side-boob when she doesn’t have her tunic on.


She’s  very nice figure, and you can pick her up quite cheaply, if you like her. I suspect if the franchise was more popular, these figures would be more popular. 

Izuruha – MegaHouse – Normal ver

The next two blogs will be two figures of Izuruha. I saw someone selling these figures on MFC, and wanted them… came back to seeing them again, and this time actually messaged the seller! After agreeing their price, they were soon on their way to me. These figures are cast-off, so there will be female nudity. 

As for Ru/Li/Lu/Ra, I can’t really find out much about it on the internet, so these figures are just because I like them :). 

Enough waffle, now for some figure:

The clothing is very nice in its own regard – I love the way you can see her body through the clothing, but only partially. Also it’s blue and purple… and that’s a winner for me :P. I’ll probably display her cast-off though. 

Left side:

Not too much to say about this angle. Hair looks OK, stand supports her well. 

Right side:

You get a good preview of her body from this side:P I like the way they have her holding her top upwards, and not just for the view :P. It can sit quite nicely on her hand, which makes it flow well. It’s a hard piece, but it can take a little bit to get it settled in the right place to display. 

Back view:

Her robe has a hood, which is a nice touch. The top also catches the light nicely. 

Now to remove the robe:

This version of her has small breasts, compared to the other one, to go with the short hair. Her nipples and skin are very nicely painted, though she’s not really sculpted down below. She has a very nice-looking skin texture.

From the sides:

Her body is very well shaped imo, and the dynamic pose shows it off well.

From the back:

And a very nice backside too. 


Overall, I’m pleased with this figure, but undecided if I’m going to display her cast off or not. I will probably display one clothed (or partially so) and the other cast off. Unless I get the blonde versions… then I’ll cast off one pair, and dress the other. 

Tomorrow, more Izuruha!

Predalien – Eaglemoss

This is the third of three figures… and the reason the blogs about these figures got delayed.

Here’s the reason why:

Yeah, how did this pass QA?! The figure was pretty recessed in the box, so not convinced this happened during shipping. 

So a grumbly email and another wait… and we have:

This dude, who hasn’t been headbutting stuff lately! However, I think his paint job is slightly dodgier in places – note the unpainted bit on her hand, but that’s far less annoying than a scratch. 

So let’s look at the entire front of him:

They’ve chosen a very dynamic pose, which adds to the figure. There’s a good amount of contrast in the dark and light areas of his body. 

Left side:

He’s quite dark on  this size. Here you can see the dreads that are part of the signs he’s a predalien, along with his feet and colouring. 

Right side:

Here you can see his tail – which is definitely one of the selling points of this figure. Almost looks like he’s holding it from this angle! The painting has been nicely done on his tail, and the leg sculpts look very nice from this angle. Can see a couple of places where the dark overpainting didn’t quite get into the gaps, which is a bit of a shame. Guess the person who painted this one didn’t quite have enough paint on their brush or poke him enough. 

Back:

Some nice details back here, but not so easy to photograph them from this angle. Love the alien backpieces. Horns? Spikes? Protrusions?

Close-up of the base of his tail:

The moulding and paint transition from his back to his tail is very nice. And ridges have been replicated well.

The end of the tail:

Mmm, wouldn’t want to get hit with that! A suitably vicious tail!

Close-up of the base:

The mould of the broken mask is nice, but there is some silver slop at the top of the mask on the base, which can show from some angles and look a little odd if you’re looking close. At this angle though, it looks nice. Base is painted well – love the rust details on the grate. 

This one is my second favourite. If it wasn’t for the dark overpainting paint flaws, he’d be vying for the top spot, but he just isn’t quite up to the swimming alien for me. 

Swimming Alien – Eaglemoss

This is the second of the three Eaglemoss figures I bought. 

Swimming Xeno! I really like this figure, and is probably my favourite of the three. 

Here he is swimming the other way round on his base:

Not sure which display option looks best. His tail is impressively moulded and painted, and I love the way it sticks out. His head is shiny, which is a nice touch. He also looks like he’s swimming, so that’s a definite bonus!

Here is his other side:

Not much in between the two sides. Both look fine.

Here is a close-up on his back end:

Looks nice :).

And the front end:

Here you can see the shiny effect on his head, and his back “spikes” reaching up above him.

From above:

Head so shiny, you can see me! His pose does look kind of flat from the top, but that’s no biggie to me. 

And his belly:

He has a hole for the post that holds him above the base, but the paint shading has been done well on him. With the glossy finish on his legs, he could almost be wet. 

Close-up of the base:

A nice range of props, coloured green to match the film and look underwatery. See? They can blend paint! 

I love this dude – he will take up a decent amount of space, being so long, but with the rod, he can stand above other small figures, so he shouldn’t be too bad to display. 

Deacon Alien – Eaglemoss

This is the first of three figures I recently ordered from the Eaglemoss store, as I noticed them having a sale on. Unfortunately, the Eaglemoss store is still rubbish – no order status, takes ages to dispatch and aren’t quite up to speed with this new-fangled technology called bubblewrap:

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Deacon’s box got crushed, but fortunately they now use HUGE boxes, so the figure survived just fine. Not so nice for more dedicated collectors, getting a crushed box though. 

So here’s the Deacon himself:

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Full-body shot, focused on the body:

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He’s… OK. Bit of a disappointment tbh – the paint job isn’t blended at all, so he looks like he’s had paint slopped on him. Mould is pretty nice though, and I like the scenery they’ve given on his tile:

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Mmm, some ‘lovely’ entrails… 

Left side:

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That dark green paint… it almost works in a couple of spots, but meh. Looks like I painted it! Also a paint slop I didn’t notice until I did this photographs, sigh. Maybe I could repaint this…? 

Right side:

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I love the pose they chose for the mouth – nice to see them showing off his proto-jaw. The detail put into the neck and leg muscles is nice too. Still a shame about that damn paint! The base was painted nicely though. 

Back:

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Lovely mould work on the spine. The green lines almost work on his butt. 

The two things that disappoint me about this figure are the green paint blobs and his size. Due to his pose, he looks really tiny compared to the other figures in this range. I think it would’ve been nicer if they did him at a bit of a bigger scale, but then he wouldn’t be proportionally accurate to the others in this series and his diminutive size. 

Luka Megurine – FREEing S-Style

This was the last of the old releases of S-Style figures, prior to me deciding to collect them. I had this one shipped from the US, via a forwarder. The process went smoothly, and now I have all the currently-released S-Style figures!

So here she is:

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Not the best one to round out the set, but certainly not the worst either. Bit of a paint error goin’ on at her midriff, but the rest of the paint is fine. I think she also may be a bit more tan than she should be in places – this can happen over time with displayed figures, but I don’t have another one to compare. 

Left side:

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Nice detail including her hand holding her headphones. The pattern on her headphones has also been nicely reproduced, and her hair flows well.

Right side:

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Her hair flows behind her here, and you can see her headphones & mic. Also you can see her painted fingernails, which is a nice touch. 

Back:

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Some nice shading going on in her hair, instead of being one flat, boring colour. These are the things that makes these figures nicer than most of the figures of this size. 

Happy to finally have all of the set! I’m in the process of organising a display cabinet, so I’ll eventually have these figures all displayed together. It’s likely to be awhile though – need to sort out some LED lighting, so it could be a month before I get to blog about it!