Month: March 2018

Figure Spotlight – Kotobukiya Raven

This was a figure that I had to have, once I saw it. Not sure what time elapsed between the wanting and the actual buying – think I did have to wait for funds – but this is a figure I really like. 

image

And here she is, casting a spell at you :D. The paintwork is really nice on this, and the sculpting has nice, bold lines without being overly fussy. Also move the smile on her face. 

Here’s a shot showing how she stands:

image

The cape is also her stand – this was one of the things that drew me to this figure – the fact she doesn’t need a plastic disc to stand. And she stands up sturdily too. 

Here’s the cape from the back:

image

Imo the cape looks nice from every angle, and doesn’t look ‘tortured’ into being the stand. I can see people not liking her shiny, blue look, but I love the colour, so it doesn’t detract for me. 

Figure Spotlight – Halloween Chan

This one was one of those figures that I had on my wishlist for ages, then fiiinnally got round to buying many months (possibly years?) later. 

She came in a very yellowed box, but the figure seems to be fine. 

And here she is:

image

Not as nice as the promo shots, but still cute, and I’m a sucker for purple. 

Here’s a closeup of the pumpkin and her face:

image

And a side shot, which shows how she “floats” in the air:

image

The downside of this stand is that the stand plastic is VERY wobbly. Originally had her in a detolf, but when you walked past she’d wobble, so I moved her to a shelf that’s firmly attached to the wall, where she gets to sit without wobbling.

Back of the figure:

image

Nice pair o’ wings, and her hair is pretty nice. Would be nice if it was a bit more visible from the front, but it’s OK. 

Initially I found this figure pretty underwhelming when I first opened it, but now she’s an OK part of my collection. She sits somewhere in the middle of likeage. 

Figure Spotlight – Durotan Big Fig

Bought this from an Amazon lightning deal in 2016. He was about the same price as the small versions at the time XD. 

image

And big he is! Far taller than the board I usually use for photographing figures… Admire my “quality” background! For this kind of figure, I was surprised about the amount of detail in it – most of these large figures look very “meh”. He does suffer from looking like a lump o’ plastic – mostly because of the chest area. 

Though the back suffers more… it looks like he’s had a hunter have good ol’ go at him:

image

The large screw holes are a bit of a shame, as the sculpting here is nice too, especially his hair. He does live in a corner currently, so I don’t see the back of him often. 

And the sides of him:

image
image

Not much to say about these angles. He does have some seam marks on his arms that you can see in the pics, but again, not bad for this kind of figure. 

Happy with my purchase, and he does a fine job of guarding the vivarium. 

Shiro – Swimsuit ver.

When the Nippon-Yasan sale hit, this figure was the first thing I grabbed, before leafing through the rest of the sale, and making final decisions on what figures I’d buy and which ones I could let slide. I did see this for sale in the last N-Y sale, but stupidly passed on it. So it was nice to have the chance again!

Due to her canonical age, here’s a picture of her face for the blogbot:

image


So for random passers-by and people who clicked to see the full post, here’s the full picture:

image

I love Shiro’s colours, and they have been rendered very competently here. Her hair is nice and vibrant, and has been given an outfit to match. The gradients are really nice. My minor gripe is the white spot on the front of her hair is a little on the large side, and I’d prefer it more blue than white.

Here’s a shot of the top of her head:

image

Her crown is a nice, shiny golden colour, with brightly coloured gems, and I feel strongly matches her intended design. 

Shiro front-on:

image

I like the way they’ve shaded the ribbons dangling from her top. I like the blended tones in her stockings too. The underside of her jacket has been painted really well – the pattern looks nice, and well-rendered. 

Left side:

image

Love her hair. The strands have been sculpted well, and I love the way they’re flicking in different directions. 

Shiro’s right:

image

Here you can see her shoulder where she’s shrugging out of her jacket. 

Back:

image

Here you can see the inner pattern of her jacket clearly – here it is red and blue, and blends into green and yellow at the bottom. You can glimpse the blending from the front of the figure – it’s impressive they went to this detail, when you can barely see it. She also has a bow on the back of her neck, where her top is tied, which is a nice detail. They’ve also modelled the cords on her jacket. 

The base is super plain – not sure if I’m a fan of this. It does help the figure stand out more, which is helpful due to her diminutive stature. It also means it doesn’t really add anything to the figure either. I maybe tempted to add an overlay for it, possibly of the NGNL logo. 

Overall, I really like this figure – the colours are very nice, the sculpting has been very nicely done. She’s quite an expensive figure though, so depending on how much you’re willing to spend will probably dictate if this figure ends up in your collection. 

(For me, this figure I’m not sure she goes with her given age, which goes for a lot of Japanese characters. Some people find her to be in an ‘attractive’ pose, but tbh, I don’t feel she gives off that vibe).


 

Nitta Minami – Sleeping Little Devil

From the worst Nitta to this one… And wow, what a difference. This one was one of the things that I got in the Nippon-Yasan sale, and I’m glad I did:

image

And wow, what a figure. The colours and shapes make for a very striking figure, and it’s a super-cute pose. The red “velvet” base is a very nice touch too. 

Close-up of her face:

image

Here is her cute smile, as she snuggles up with her tail :). I love the little heart earrings, and the horns on her hairband.

Here’s an upper shot showing more of the hairband:

image

The top of her hair isn’t much to write home about, but the colours of ht horns, and the studs are nice touches. Here you can also see the details on her tail. 

Close-up on her skirt/boots:

image

The paint and sculpting are impressive on her clothing. Her nails are nicely done too. Impressed with the way the zips have turned out. 

Her left:

image

Some lovely details on her skirt and gloves. Her sleeves have been done as a semitransparent material, and the effect looks really good. 

Close-up of the skirt detail:

image

Loving this attention-to-detail in the figure. 

Right side:

image

Her tail is curled around her arms, in a pleasing way.

Back:

image

She has a pair of stiletto heels, that match her outfit. The hair looks really good from the back, and you can see some of her left wing here. 

Close-up of her wing:

image

One of my minor gripes about this figure is the smallness of these wings. It would be nice if they were more distinctive, and stuck out more. But hey, she’s just cosplaying, so these’ll have to do :P. 

And just to complete all the angles:

image

She’s well-sculpted down here too! Love the fact they’ve taken the time to make her look good at all the angles. 

I have very little to complain about this figure, and think she was well worth the money. The sculpt and painting are both really strong, and I think anyone interested in this figure should get it, assuming they have the funds. 

And as a bonus, here’s the instructions it came with:

image

If you can’t read the highlighted parts:

  • Do not point, wave or throw the product at others. Product is designed for amusement purposes only.
  • Product will not stand on its own. Please use the stand included

*points figure threateningly at her husband*. Hm, nope, she didn’t spontaneously combust… And I don’t think I’ll be throwing her! But she does amuse… 

Also love the fact these instructions came with a sitting figure – she does stand just fine on any ol’ flat surface, but she doesn’t seem happy about it.. 

Yep, the fun of generic instructions!

Melissa Seraphy – Good Smile Company

Someone linked this figure in a Discord chat, and I decided I wanted it. Shortly after, I found it a bit cheaper on Mandarake (below the customs limit, yay!), so went for it:

image

Cute demonic things are my weakness! Also loved the pumpkin. Her pose is also very cute, and I love the design of her top. 

Left:

image

Cute bow on the pumpkin :). Here you can see a couple of marks – probably the first thing I’ve bought from Mandarake where I could find marks. They’re not hugely noticeable though. 

Here is a close-up of the bow:

image

The bow has been nicely sculpted and painted. 

Here is a close-up of the pumpkin face:

image

The eyes and mouth are clear plastic, and you can just about see her legs through it. There is a nice gradient of orange on the pumpkin itself. 

Right side:

image

Not much excitement here, so here’s some words on the base. The base itself is translucent grey plastic, with a peg that sits into the pumpkin. There is a pattern on the base, but honestly I don’t like the look of it overall. With her on the base, it doesn’t look so bad imo. 

Back:

image

Her wings and hair are nice, and the pumpkin looks lovely and shiny from this side. Here you can see the stand piece that holds the pumpkin (and her) up. 


You can also take the pumpkin off and display her without it:

image

This stand is a cheap one from China, but surprisingly holds her up well. When I looked up pictures of her, I wondered why someone had balanced her in the back half of the pumpkin – turns out that’s the only way of using the original stand to hold her. 

Taking her out of the pumpkin was paint-transfer-city, however. She had several bits of orange paint around her midriff and ankles. Most of them came off with an eraser, but one on the ankle is a lot more obstinate, and maybe part scratch. She does look amazingly cute out of the pumpkin. 

Close-up of her upper half:

image

If she was wearing some pants/knickers that matched her top, it’d be a no-brainer for me to display her without the pumpkin. As it is, I’m on the fence about it. Maybe one day I’ll get two of her… 

From the back:

image

OK, didn’t get a good shot of her backside, thanks to the stand, but she looks nice from this angle. On her left leg, you can see a dot – the obstinate paint transfer. 

Side view:

image

She has some details on her knickers, which make them look nice, if you’re into that kind of thing. Maybe if I get some matching PVC, I could fashion some shorts… 


I think she looks nice with or without the pumpkin, though if you get her secondhand, be prepared to deal with pumpkin paint transfers. If you’d like to display her out of the pumpkin, you’ll likely want to get a replacement stand, to support her in place. I don’t like the look of the pumpkin open – it has four peg-holes for the front half of the pumpkin to peg into, which doesn’t make it look great. 

Pleased with this figure, for the price I paid. 

Alleyne – Queen’s Blade – Orchid Seed

This figure I was thinking of preordering, but saw one come up at a good price on MFC, so I went for it. Negotiated a bit more of a discount, due to peg damage (yeah, and it’s deffo not one I’m fixing with a bit of glue…). 

Aand this arrived:

image

Not surprised the Hermes lady skedaddled that day, and didn’t check to see if I was in (though she doesn’t normally). 

By the merciful Postal Gremlins she was fine though:

image

There is one paint scratch in her hair, but the seller’s shots don’t show that part of her hair, so not sure if that happened in transit or not. Due to the scratch’s location, it was probably prior to transit ><. 

But… she’s definitely a stunning figure. And that peg ain’t gonna be fixed – it’s a hollow peg, which allows for a metal reinforcement rod to sit inside of it, so it’ll need re-architecting to act as a peg again. She stands reasonably well as-is though. 

Alleyne’s left:

image

I love the leaf details on her arms. The colours work well together and they’re nicely detailed.

Alleyne’s right:

image

I like the way her hair flows over her arm. Her body sculpt is very much in evidence here – muscly and looking realistic. 

Her back:

image

Her hair flows nicely down her back, and she has some detailed butt-leaves. Unfortunately with the leaf-panties they’ve only put in one peg, so they’re very difficult to get off – had to watch a video to see how it was done, as I don’t have her instructions. Also, due to the way they come off, it’s likely to be paint transfer city, so not in a hurry to do that. Already had to remove some transfers from her hair and chest leaves, and I know there are a couple on her backside. I have the feeling that she may have not been cast off before, hence the parts rubbing some, and transferring paint. 


Alleyne with her top cast off:

image

Her nipples are painted nicely and realistically, which is a nice change from several of the cast-offs I own. Her arm decorations help her from looking super-plain when cast off. 

Chest close-up:

Love the details in her sculpt :). 

Alleyne’s right:

Alleyne’s left:

Not much to add on these angles. As I didn’t cast off her bottom half, I didn’t take another picture of her behind. 


Overall, I think this a very nice figure, where dressed and cast-off work well. Just a shame that they didn’t put two fasteners in her underwear to make her a lot easier to cast-off & redress. She is quite tall, and a good, chunky size. If you like what you see, I would recommend this figure. If buying secondhand, definitely find out about peg condition  she does stand OK on the one peg, but is a little on the wobbly side. 

Ryuko Matoi – Kill La Kill – Phat

With the re-issue of this figure, I thought about pre-ordering it, but missed the pre-order period. When kicking around on Nippon Yasan, I noticed they had her in stock for a decent price, so went ahead and ordered her:

Here I have both of the blade parts in her hands, though you’re not really supposed to do this, so removed the longer blade for the rest of this review. On the subject of the blades, both are really nicely painted, and have shading on them. 

Here is a close-up of the shorter blade:

Probably a little hard to see in that photo, but if you look closely, you’ll see it’s not an even shade of red. 

Let’s get a little closer:

My main gripe with this figure is the pose doesn’t really show her off. Imo she needs to be displayed higher than eye-level for you to see her well, and her twisted body can lead her looking like she’s hiding her details from certain angles. The broken ground is nicely painted, and feels like it should be heavier than it really is Sadly the piece you put in, which has the clear peg, is not too well painted on mine. Initially it is a similar piece without the plastic peg, but I don’t really want to risk her bending over time… though on the subject of bending… When I was putting her in the base, I did try to warm her legs to get her to bend, but I think there’s reinforcement in them, so didn’t have much luck with that… so she might stay up just fine over time. However, with them providing the support, I’m not going to risk it.

Slightly angled view:

Looks more imposing this way. 

Matoi’s right:

Some definite side-boob in evidence. Her hand is at a funny angle, but this is just a round peg, so you can correct that. She also has another hand that’s splayed, which is the one she’s initially “equipped” with. I have this one on, as she was holding the long scissor blade. Some nice-looking upper leg there.

Left: 

I think her body looks nice form this angle, but the back strap looks too flat. More on that later. Her clothes are shiny, which can be seen here, which might not be to everyone’s taste. 

Matoi’s back from above:

I do like the back of the suit here- it’s really well done. Back strap does actually look OK in this photo. 

Arse:

That boob really wants to make a showing :P. I think the back strap in isolation maybe doesn’t look as bad as when you’re looking at the figure irl. I think it’s mostly because it’s done in a different technique than the front ones (this one is part of the figure, whilst the others float) that makes it look odd. I think they may have used a separate sculpted piece, like the front straps, to make it not look like a tattoo in comparison. 

One thing I didn’t capture with these photos is some of the red paint is a bit sloppy on the lines on her boots. Bit of a shame for a more expensive figure. Waiting to see if this one grows on me some more, but it’s not quite as epic as the pictures of it made me feel. In the right spot this one could work, though. 

The Atom – Darkest Night

This is a figure I’ve thought about buying on and off, and found him for a decent price at a local action figure store. I bought the Indigo Lantern figure some time ago, and have since thought about buying The Atom to go with her.

So here he is:

Looking all strong and muscly… and indigo. He does have a nice colour scheme about him, and is mostly nicely painted. 

Close-up of his upper half:

The body paint has been done nicely, can see some stray paint around his belt, but it isn’t anything too noticeable. I like his blue tattoos, which have been nicely rendered in shiny blue paint, though I’d prefer for his nipples to not be trying to escape the shot. Could do with being nearer the middle imo. And a bit of paint to make them into nipples, rather than growths. 

Staff closeup:

Ooh, look, you can see me in it! I do like these shiny jewels in the staves the Indigo Tribe have, along with their rough-hewn look.

Right side:

Some nice woodlike texture going on with the staff. Shoulder armour a bit high, but that’s so the arm can articulate. If this was a more modern figure, this would likely either be made out of a softer material so it could flex, or have a joint to move. 

Left side:

Some concession to creases in his clothing. His boots look mildly unnatural in terms of texture, but that’s not a biggie for me. 

Back:

Here we have his butt. Nicely painted, but it would be good if that upper gold chain connected in with his butt flap. What’s that for anyway? I guess if you see it flapping, not in the wind, you know it’s time to move. 

Overall, I like this figure, especially considering it’s an older figure – from what I can find, he was released in 2011. I love the bases for these series – simple, yet eye-catching and thematic. I wish more modern action figures could come with bases like these, though you’re mostly lucky to get a base at all. Ah well, still got a pile of NECA discs in my drawer. 

Cyborg – Metals Die-Cast

This is the second thing I picked up in the Toys R Us sale. 

Die-cast Cyborg:

I had three to choose from, and the paint job did differ between the three. One of them had quite sloppy painting with the silver on the cyborg part on his left eye, so I’d recommend inspecting these figures prior to buying. 

The sculpt is nice, and gives the figure texture it would otherwise not have. With the lack of shading though, his face looks somewhat flat in places. His eyebrow looks more comic-book-y than the rest of him imo as well. 

Back:

Use of different shades of grey help make him stand out. It’s nice to see this detail here. 

Left:

Looks OK, not much to say about this angle.

Right:

Looking at this photo… his hair does rather look like a brown orange XD. Can see a little bit of silver slop – this is the kind of thing to look out for when buying these figures. His arm looks a bit.. bouldery. 

Overall, I think it’s an OK figure. If you like it, it’s a nice figure, but I think it’s a bit 50-50. It also depends if you like this Cyborg design. I mostly bought it because it was Cyborg and reasonably priced, with the discount. 

Groot Evolution – Marvel Legends

Visited a nearby Toys R Us, and found they were having a closing down sale, so decided to pick up a couple of items – first being Groot:

His face sculpt is really nice, and the body is… mostly nice. It does give a wooden feel, but… it’s also plasticky too. 

Here’s the close-up of his face:

His eyes look really nice, and his face feels woody and detailed. 

Back of his head:

The head is nicely sculpted , and here you can also see the twiggy parts on his arms, which help hide the shoulder joints. They’re not super-effective though. 

Let’s “zoom out” to his back:

Not much hiding that back joint, but the wooded texture is nicely spread throughout. You can see the extra bits in his arm joints, which help to hide the joint when flexed. 

Side shot:

Head looks good from all the angles. This angle does rather show the sculpting off – it’s nicely detailed so it doesn’t feel entirely “action figure”. I could imagine if Mattel made this, it would look much flatter. 

He is also decently poseable:

He’s reaching out for you! Groot! Maybe if I watched the film I could come up with a decent tagline here… Or maybe just more “groot”. 

Upper shot of the above pose:

Being the evolution set, it also came with kid Groot:

I used a macro lens here – you can see the print dots in a couple of places, but these aren’t really visible when you’re looking at him.

And baby Groot:

D’aww. Ditto for the print dots. 

The pot Groot stands up nicely, and is a good display piece. The kid Groot is somewhat harder to stand up, and is annoying, which is a bit of a shame. It would’ve been nice if they provided a clip base for him to stand in. When I decide where to display him, I’ll likely stick him down with a glue dot. 

Overall, I am happy with this figure. Due to the fact his legs come as separate pieces, he can lose his lower legs when you’re trying to pose him, but it’s not a massive issue. I don’t think I would’ve paid full price for him, but he’s definitely good if you pick him up for a discount. He certainly has the height compared to other similar figures, due to the aforementioned separated legs – it allowed Marvel to make him tower above figures in the same line, yet keep the same box format.