Month: November 2018

Klan Klang – Keyrings!

So in a few of my orders I snuck in a few Klan Klang keyrings, so let’s see what ones I got…

First up, one of her in a casual outfit:

A cute keyring, decently painted, though I find her outfit a bit indistinct from the front, with all the bits it has. Do love all the tiny details on the back though. 

This keyring also came with a second part:

Queedlun Rea! Or however you want to spell it… Klan Klang’s conveyance. I like the chibi design, which fits with the chibi keyring. No design on the back, so you want to ensure this part always faces forward when on display. 

Second we have micronized Klan Klang:

The painting is a bit rougher on this one, but the design holds up. The back pattern hasn’t got any gold highlights though. Would be nicer if her headband was a bit of a darker shade – looks a bit sat-in-the-sun coloured, but I guess they matched it with her outfit to reduce the amount of paints required. 

Micronized Klan Klang with a strap:

This one was rather cheat-y by Banpresto – it’s the same mould and paint scheme as the previous, only this one has a lobster clasp attached, instead of a chain and a ring. This makes it better for an ita bag, as you then don’t have a long, dangly chain to deal with. The paint seems a bit neater on this one, but it’s probably luck of the draw a bit with these minor prize items. I do really like the design of the strap though – lovely shade of purple, and features a Queedlun Rea silhouette. I think the font choice also works well. 

Now for a macronized Klan Klang:

Again, the lighter shade is used here for her headband and ties. No particular reason to do so either… but hey. It’s probably been all sorts of shades in the show. I like the little smile, but I think the eyes aren’t as good as the other keyrings. The suit is painted well for such a small item, though it doesn’t hold up to close scrutiny. Nicely detailed though, and I really wanted Klan Klang in her suit, so definitely happy with this keyring.

What’s better than Klan Klang in her suit?

Klan Klang with some armaments! The eyes seem to work better for this one, despite being pretty much the same as the previous keyring. Paint seems a bit neater, but they’ve seemingly sacrificed line width detail for the closer paint, but I still think it looks good. I like all the little details on the armaments, and thnk they did a good job with these. 

I think the last one is my favourite of these, but none of the others are bad. I’d prefer if the strap one wasn’t a straight-up dupe of another keyring, but having a different attachment does help differentiate it. So now to Klan-Klang up all my stuff!

Klan Klang – Chibi figures – Macross Frontier

Now for two chibi-styled prize figures of Klan Klang. 

First one is Klan Klang in her “Lovely Bomber” outfit:

Here she sports something other than her pink headband, and a prettied-up guitar. I love the vibrant blue of her hair, and her outfit works well, for its small size. 

Sides:

Hair seam isn’t doing any hiding, but the sides of her uniform are neatly painted, and I like the shoulderpads she’s wearing. She also has blue hairbands to match her blue “Lovely Bomber” headband. 

Back:

Plenty of hair back here, and a nod to her usual hairstyle. 

Base:

Ah, Japanese translation, how we love thee. The logo is decently visible too, and her feet don’t obscure it too much, which is a nice touch. Her shoes look nice too. 

Now for a micronized Klan Klang:

Here she is in her micronized outfit. I think the cute face fits, but not totally sold on the skin tone. Her outfit is nice and vibrant, and features all the major features. Paint is a bit over the lines in places, but not excessively bad. Worst bit for me is the pink that doesn’t quite go to her right-hand-side of the headband. 

Sides:

Hair looks good, has some shading and joins up well. She has some stubby ribbon bits, which I think are fair for the smallness of the figure and the chibi style. Her ears are nicely pointed, and look good pointing out of her hair. 

Back:

Her hair flows to the side on this figure, so we can see the back of her uniform… or at least some of it, thanks to the support. The support on this figure actually works well. The hair coming out from behind her headband is overemphasised on here, compared to some of her counterparts. Looks a bit odd like this, but not too offputting. She does seem to have pink glasses-cleaners in her hair though, than the sheer fabric she actually has. 

Base:

Base looks OK, and does the job. Fits Klan Klang, by being a representation of her headband though. 

Overall, I’m happy with both of these figures. Overall, I think the quality of the Lovely Bomber figure is higher, but I prefer the micronized version for her outfit. 

Klan Klang – midi figures – Macross Frontier

Today there shall be not just one figure, but two! You lucky blog reader, you. 

Both these figures are by Bandai – one blind box, one just boxed. 

First up, Klan Klang in a casual uniform:

Quite a cute figure, and I like the translucent blue base. The colours work well with this figure. There’s a small amount of shading, but nothing to write home about – the dark bit on the skirt looks a bit like a grease stain imo, but the hair is nice. 

Face close-up:

Not too much to the face, but looks OK. Here we can see some of the smaller flaws with the paint, but overall, pretty decent. 

Sides:

Her hair is positioned so that it doesn’t foul with the stand, which was nice for assembly. The shaded ends of her hair show up well here, which is one of the things I like about this figure. I also like the little logo on her socks. Her shoes are also nicely detailed and painted neatly. 

Back:

Hair shading looks overly severe here – would’ve been nice to see more blending. Back of her clothes looks good though.

Top of her hair:

Some mould-blobbyness, but not too bad. The hair ties are translucent, which is nice to see. 

Overall, a nice-looking figure, competently painted, but could do with a bit more blending of colours in places.

Next up, half-age Klan Klang:

I accidentally ended up with two of these, so here’s just the one of them. She’s wearing her suit that she wears when she’s macronized in this figure, which is a mildly interesting choice. I like her in her suit though, so fine by me. On both of these figures, the paint is noticeably dodgy in places – here you can definitely see some paint errors on her legs. Again, she’s posed so you can see some of her long hair form the front. They have included some small details, like the SMS logo, but it’d be nicer if the paint job wasn’t quite so sloppy. 

Sides:

Again, some derpy paint, but the sculpting and pose hold up. 

Back:

Her back is fairly obscured, so not much to see here like this. The main details are there though, but we’ll just have to admire the bows on her shoes. She was a tad fiddly to pose initially, but she’s fine once done. The clear stand holds her well, without being too distracting from the figure. Her hair ties are not translucent though :P. 

I think the first one is the clear winner, in terms of overall quality. I like the idea of the half-age figures, but their execution leaves something to be desired. I do like seeing Klan Klang in her suit, but the paint issues let the figure down as a whole. 

Klan Klang – Macronized ver – Banpresto

Now for a large Klan Klang! This one was an Ichiban Kuji prize figure:

And this figure certainly is large, to match her macro size! I love the shiny purple of her uniform, and the much more serious expression, to match her personality in macro mode. I love the bold colours of her uniform, which have been replicated nicely here. She does lack detailed shading though, due to her price status. 

Face:

Her face has been sculpted decently well, though I think her mouth is a little on the big side. We have the SMS logo on her uniform, but it looks a little elongated. Her chest is large like it is in the anime… but looks like they’re defying gravity a bit. Most of the black lines around here are neatly done. 

Left:

Here we can see she has her hand on her hip and is leaning forward slightly, to suit her stance. I like the way her hair curls around her body on this side. There’s a seam in her hair by her shoulders, but it is decently blended imo. 

Right:

Aand that’s some platforms to be using for piloting! Obviously doesn’t bother her, though… I like all the detailed creases in her uniform, and the hair down the side of her face is sculpted well. 

Helmet:

Here we can see some dodgy painting, but not too bad overall. She holds the helmet well, but I seem to recall there was some hairdryer action to get her to hold it in the first place. I’d recommend warming her hand to get it in there, as I think there’s a high chance of accidentally scraping some paint. I do wonder how comfortable a helmet is with all that hair though. 

Back:

Here we see they’ve done plenty of details on the back of her suit too, which really helps complete the design. The hair looks good, and is nicely out of the way so you can appreciate the detail they’ve put into this figure. 

Hair close-up:

Here we can see the sculpting is done well, but her hair ties are not translucent on this figure – not unexpected for a prize figure. I like the way they’ve done the hair underneath her headband though. 

Heels:

I like these little bows on the back of her heels – that little bit of girlishness that stays with her in macronized form. The sculpt isn’t too detailed, but they do the job. 

Overall, I do like this figure. I think it definitely has a prize figure feel irl, but it was very reasonably priced when I bought it (and I was able to kindly ask the store I bought it from to pack it so it fit into SAL small packet, which was awesome). Overall, I’d recommend this as an affordable version of Klan Klang, though shipping might be a bit high if the store doesn’t pack it tightly. Thankfully my local mail service isn’t too brutal with parcels, so her box wasn’t even dented on arrival. 

Klan Klang – Micronized Ver – Alpha x Omega – Macross Frontier

And now for some Klan Klang… as I went out and bought a whole bunch o’ Klan Klang figures & merch…

First up, we have the micronized version of her by Alpha x Omega:

And she’s very cute! Only Alpha x Omega produced any kind of premium scale figure of her, and thankfully this one is a nice one! They also did a macro version of her, but Santa’s told me I’m not seeing that one until Christmas… 

I think the pose works well – it gives off the playful vibe that micronized Klan Klang has. I can imagine she’s running up to one of the other characters and gesturing towards them. 

I like the way they’ve done her outfit – her jacket is overlaid on her dress(?), which gives her outfit some depth. Her boots are also sculpted at the top – they’re not a separate part, but there’s some depth there so it doesn’t look like she’s got painted-on boots. 

The shading in the paint is all very nice, and helps add detail to the figure. The details are also painted cleanly, which is especially important for the gold edging. 

Face:

She has a very cute face, and her mouth is painted well. Here we can see the jacket – the gold paint mostly holds up close-up – if I had to nitpick, the ends of the gold piping on the jacket edge are a bit dodgy. The creases work well, and she also has a small pocket here. Her hairband is done as a separate piece, which helps it feel like a band. They’ve even included some sculpt details in her ear, which is nice to see. 

Outfit:

The pink-blue border holds up well, and I love the contrast between the gold and the blue on the erm… tie bits? I like the way the ribbon she’s wearing curls nicely down and helps emphasise her movement. We can see a bit of a seam close-up here, but it has been blended well, and could potentially be regarded as a seam in her clothing, as would exist in a real dress. 

Left:

I live her playful, stretched out pose. She’s also got an interesting heel design going on there… I love the little pink ribbons on her cuffs. The base holds her well but personally I would’ve preferred for her front foot to actually be on the base, instead of her being “midair”. 

Right:

Here we can see she’s got the “SMS” on her ribbon, as well as the base. Nice attention to detail there. Her hair flows well around her body, and is well-shaded. Contrast is probably a bit too high in the photo… the figure is fine. 

Back:

Here we see she’s got a small gold detail on her back, so they haven’t neglected the back of her outfit. There’s also an intentional seam on the jacket, plus a paint detail on the back of her boots. 

Hair close-up:

Here we can see they’ve done her hair ribbons in translucent plastic. I think they could’ve done with a tad more paint/dye, but they do the job. 

Overall, I’m really pleased with this figure and glad I got it. I think this is a solid figure for Klan Klang in her micro form, which is good… as there aren’t a lot of figures of her. It was nice to be able to get a figure that wasn’t a prize figure for her. 

Alien Warrior – Alien Vs Predator

This xenomorph is based upon one in AvP, according to the box. This one I randomly came across on Suruga-ya and thus I decided to order it:

And he’s a big mofo… bigger than my backboard. In terms of painting… he’s black. And a bit more black. So,um, nothing to talk about here as regards paint… but the moulding makes up for this. 

‘Face’:

He has a translucent dome, but you can’t really see through it – just the vague shape underneath. The detail in the moulding is visible here – I love the texture on the webbing bits of its mouth. 

Chest:

The bones look good on the chest, and plenty of details further down. 

Left:

I like the preparing-to-leap pose. It’s also done so it’s fairy well balanced, and will happily stand on a flat surface. 

Arm close-up:

Again, good sculptwork that captures the textures and details of a xenomorph well. 

Right:

From this site, its tail tries to stab the camera :P. The back pipes stick out well, and we have the other wibbly protrusion here too. 

Side of head:

Liking the details on the neck, but the shoulder ridges look a little odd – there’s not a huge amount of texture on them, and I’m not convinced over the way the arms join into it. 

Back:

A lovely amount of sculpting back here – I like the spine and the lines that join up to it. Its hips stick out nicely too.

Tail:

One vicious-looking tail! Love the end of the tail. 

Overall, I like this figure. It’s a big, solid figure that’s well-sculpted, and balances well. If you want a cheapish statically-posed Alien figure, I would recommend this FuRyu series of figures. 

VF-1 – Macross

This one was added to a small order. 

And it is small:

This is a gachapon toy of the VF-1 from Macross. Or Robotech if you prefer. It’s decently detailed for a gachapon figure, but does have a habit of falling apart. 

Right:

Logo on the gun is rendered well, and I like the little details in the sculpt. The paintwork is neat, but doesn’t have much detail to it. 

Front:

Vrrooom. 

Back:

Engines are sculpted here, and you can see the VF-1′s feet. for when it is gerwalk mode. 

Top:

Here you can see the way it is twisting from not wanting to stay assembled. I like the little logo on the wing.

Bottom:

Here you can see a hole for the stand. There are two holes here, for an extra accessory you get with one of the other gachapon figures. I like the fact they’ve done the plating on the wings… even if it is obscured by copyright info… 

Overall, an OK little figure, but does have the disadvantage of liking to fall apart. Kinda wish Kinder Eggs had things like this, but this wouldn’t fit in a Kinder Egg. Hm. 

Rider – Fate/Stay Night – Blindfolded ver

After getting the incorrect version last time, I managed to order the right one this time!

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Aha! The Rider trading figure I wanted! And this one is in better condition too – bonus. She’s in a very similar pose, only she has her blindfold on, which for me, makes Rider feel more complete. The sculptwork is good, and the paint is neatly done – not overly fancy, but it feels like the correct colours.

Left:

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Standing with her back arched, she feels ready to pounce with her blade. I like this slightly unusual pose. 

Right:

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The hair has been made to flow nicely around her arms, which I like. 

Back:

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Her hair has some shading, which helps to give it depth. It’s sculpted well, and works for Rider. She can hold her blade either way up, but I felt this worked best. 

This trading figure is a nice one, and definitely a higher quality than a lot of small figures, though it’ll likely a bit pricier due to this fact. Does feel in keeping with GSC’s quality, and am glad to have finally found and got around to buying it. 

Tablis – Evangelion

This was a figure I was considering for a long time, then finally had the opportunity to add it to a Suruga-ya order for a reasonable price:

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“No pants” Tablis – an angel from Evangelion. She comes with an alternate arm if you don’t want her holding the weapon, but where’s the fun in that? This figure of Tablis has a few hints to its human counterpart in the grey hair, orange undershirt and white overshirt. Not sure where he lost his pants to though. There is some underwear under that shirt though. I like the body sculpt, but the face feels overly simplistic compared.

Left:

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The wings have a nice amount of depth to them, and the stand holds them well, to prevent any kind of sagging over time. You could choose to leave this part off, if you wish to risk it. The shoes are nicely painted, but this side does look overly flat.

Right:

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Not too much extra to see here. Hair has a pretty decent sculpt.

Back:

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The wings are definitely the star feature of this figure – I love the shiny finish, and the sculptwork is really nice. Love all the different wing segments, which really adds to this figure. 

Weapon:

Here we have the words “TEST TYPE” and “A-17 TABRIS”. I like this little detail, but kind of wish it was on the other side or both sides, so it’d be showing in its natural position. The arm isn’t super-poseable, so it’s not easy to show the writing when displayed.

Really glad I decided to get this figure. For me, this concludes the ones of the set I was really after. There is another Rei-based one I’d like, but it’s rather hard to get hold of, so I’m not anticipating getting it. Overall, I’m pleased with this figure, and especially so with the wings. Would recommend these figures at a reasonable price, but they’re not super-detailed so wouldn’t recommend them much over their retail price. 

Locutus of Borg – Star Trek

Saw this figure, had to buy it:

A Locutus of Borg! That actually looks somewhat like what it’s supposed to be, which is a surprise for a Star Trek collectable. There’s a good amount of detail here – he seems to have the key elements the original design had. His head does seem a bit more elongated than Picard’s appears to be, but I can forgive it for the rest of the sculpt being solid. The paint accents that are there work well. 

Face close-up:

Looking Borg-y :D. Laser paint looks like it might’ve gone a bit walkies, but the rest of it looks good to me. 

Left:

Plenty of details on the arm, love the abundance of wires and small electronics-style details. The hair looks OK at this distance, but looks a bit like a grey smudge close up. 

Right:

The fearsome Borg “multitool”. Yeah, don’t think I want to be on the wrong side of that! Here you can see they’ve got a decent bunch of wires sculpted separately too. 

Close-up of the tool:

I like all the small details on this part, and there are some paint accents, to break up the blackness. In terms of colour scheme, they didn’t have much to work with, but they seemed to have squeezed in a few paint details here and there.

Back:

No shirking on the sculpt detail back here – there’s a goodly amount of detail, to complete Picard’s Borgification. 

Overall, I’m really happy I’ve added this figure to my collection. I paid £15 for him, which I feel is a fair price, but he usually retails above that… which, as nice as he is, I feel is too much for such a figure. There’s been a lot of duds as far as Star Trek collectables has been concerned, so it’s nice to see a nice one. 

Skull Kid – Majora’s Mask

This was a promo item from Nintendo, but I bought it at a collectable figures retailer. 

Here he is, all bright and shiny:

I love the colours on this figure, which is what attracted me to buying it. And the fact I’ll totally get around to playing some of the Zelda games I haven’t yet, which includes Majora’s Mask. This figure also came with a free layer of dust, which I’ve now mostly removed… Still some visible in the logo on the base cough. 

Mask close-up:

I love the bright colours, and they’ve been rendered well on this figure. THe entire figure is neatly painted, which stands out mostly on the mask. The symbol on his hand is also nice and crisp. 

Left:

Love those shoes, thought I can’t imagine they’re too practical! All the pieces are neatly painted.

Right:

I’m in two minds about the weathering effects on the orange parts, but it does add needed detail to the figure, otherwise it’d look overly plasticky. I also like the Aztec-y design on the sides of the base.

Back:

Love all the splayed out spikey bits. Back doesn’t have too much to see, but what’s there is good.

Overall, I’m happy with this figure, and glad I was able to get it. 

Red Skull – Marvel

And finally, Red Skull:

Yep, he’s definitely got a red skull alright! The paint on his head is really good, and features all the details you’d expect a skull to have. However, not much are seems to have been taken when painting his sash, so that’s a bit blobby and weird. I like his screaming pose, but I don’t think they got his hand positions quite right – he looks more derped than angry because of it imo. 

Left:

Again, the head looks really nice. They’ve attempted painting a buckle on his belt, but the paint hasn’t gone on thick enough, and it looks like a smear. The pistol he’s holding does give off a German vibe, which matches what it is supposed to be. 

Right:

Sculpt looks nice, buttons could’ve done with a bit better paint job. I like the belt though. 

Back:

Paint doesn’t seem to have gone on quite right, and there’s a bit of brushmarks at the bottom. Sculptwork is passable, but his guns seem a little bent. Not sure what happened there. 

Overall, I think this is an OK figure. Again, some small paint tweaks could’ve elevated this figure into a better one, but my main complaint is with the guns – I think a little better posing could’ve gone a long way. 

Mephisto – Marvel

For the other two figures that I got with Lex, I picked characters that I think look cool, but probably should learn more about.

First pick was Mephisto:

An interesting pose, but one that’s not likely to all be in focus in one photo. The sculpt on this dude is nice, but not sure if he’s had a hard life prior to me buying him, or the paint wasn’t so good on his loincloth to begin with. Due to his red nature, the paint job is on the simpler side.

Left:

Here we can see he’s stretching out, though it is unclear where glove begins and arm starts – would be nice to get some more paint definition here for his glove, as it does look like it has mutated into being part of his arm. Or he’s wearing some kind of skin-coloured suit… 

Right:

Again, the sculpt failed to capture where glove starts and body ends. I like the fact they’ve sculpted his hand as doing something though. The side of body sculpt looks good, though, again, his boots could’ve done with a different shade of paint to differentiate them from his body. Hair looks nice though.

Back:

Cape does the job, and there’s some paint shading back here, which looks nice. Collar part of the cape looks a bit overly starched, compared with the rest of it though. 

Overall, he’s an OK figure. Could be much more if they painted his clothes properly. Wouldn’t recommend paying a premium price for this one. 

Lex Luthor – Chess Piece – DC

This figure I bought at an antiques store, that also has a few sellers that sell more modern collectables.There was a 3 figures for one price deal, and this one was my first choice:

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And here we have Lex Luthor brandishing some kryptonite. I love the way he is posed, making the most of the stand. The paint is also really good for the most part – not too much paint creeping out of the lines. I love the skull on hte base, and there’s also a “king” symbol to show which piece this is – a fitting role for Lex Luthor.

Side:

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Here we see he’s on his presidential campaign, to get as close to “king” as he can. I love the sculpt on the clothes, and the colour of his suit, but some of the sculpt lines are a bit strange- his heel on his right shoe seems to have an extra bit, and an odd like on his neck. Also not too sure about the ring – I don’t think it came out too well. 

Back:

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I like the way the seamlines on this figure follow the seams that a suit would have. The finish on his suit gives it a premium suit feel to me, and the creases in his clothes are sculpted well. Though it does look like that kryptonite is melting his hand… not sure if he should be handling it like that… 

Back of the chess piece:

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Here there’s also a marking to show it’s a king piece. I love the riveted metal effect on the base, and it really works to finish off the figure. 

Overall, I’m really glad to have him, even though I don’t intend to collect the rest of the set. For a small figure, it’s painted well and Lex doesn’t have too many good figures to choose from imo. Glad to have this in my collection, without having to buy the rest. 

VF-31J Siegfried – 35th Anniversary Cosplay

As someone with an eye for the slightly unusual, this figure appealed. However, let’s start with the less unusual part:

She wasn’t too bad of a built but yeah… those stickers on her chest… They really don’t stick well, and the middle blob is actually her belly button. Yes, they sculpted it, then gave you stickers to cover it… Still considering peeling these stickers off and painting her, as it looks so bad. 

Her face was prepainted, but they give you a blank one, should you wish to paint your own, which I thought was a nice inclusion. 

Side:

I like the fact the hair is articulated, and the pink pieces in her hair. The headset looks good… but the bits on her hips are annoying. Not entirely sure what they’re supposed to represent, but for mine, on one side, it was hard to get it to sit right on the pegs that are there to ensure it articulates correctly. Also the stickers… they like to unstick themselves on this bit. If you look underneath the hip parts, you can see a sticker freeing itself – the parts that fold over on the stickers like to unstick. 

Back:

I like the look of the design back here, barring the escaping stickers. 

For balancing her, it’s a bit tricky with her small feet, but possible. Wouldn’t recommend – was a pain for these photos, so I’d recommend either displaying her with the VF-1 or fabricating some kind of stand/using putty to get her to stay.

And now for the pièce de résistance:

Here she is, riding the VF-1 in Gerwalk form! You initially make the plane in flight mode, but where’s the fun in that? She can be assembled into a walking mode, but it was such a pain to do the transformation, I couldn’t be arsed to change it to see what it looks like – and this is the main downfall of the kit. It pretty easily falls apart, which is so very annoying. The handlebars she’s holding can pop off, and then some of the associated parts can fall off. Some of the wing parts are also easy to knock off. 

The plane form is a bit flopsy from the ability to take it apart and “transform” it. 

And the stickers have the same issues as the ones on her body – they’ll peel and unfurl in places, especially for the ones that fold over a part. If you do want to paint it though, it comes with water decals, so you can use those for the writing after painting it. 

Left:

She does pose reasonably well on it, though getting her legs onto the stands is a bit of a challenge. Here you can see where one of her feet isn’t actually in place. D’oh. 

Right:

And here she is, standing almost properly. The nub on the foot stands does help to keep her in place whilst you pose her. I do like the way the legs are folded out for her to stand on. 

Back:

Booty shot :P. Looks OK from the back, not too much to see here. Getting the entire thing to balance can be a bit of a pain – at certain times, the plane did try to nosedive onto the mat. If you get the feet in the right positions, it should stand up OK though. 

Overall, I really like the unusualness of this kit, and it does look decent when built… if you ignore the stickers peeling off :/. I’d probably recommend this more as a kit that should be painted, rather than stickers due to this. And the not very helpful guide of how to stick them on – some are done during the build process, but the vast majority there’s some large pictures numbering all the stickers at the end – and one of them did require disassembling her to get it on properly. Some parts of the build were a massive pain in the butt, so I’d be prepared for the damn thing to fall apart at least once on you. 

I’d only recommend this kit, if you really want the end result. I wouldn’t class it as a particularly fun kit to build. 

Rem – Wedding ver – Re:Zero

I don’t usually go for wedding figures, but this one I felt was rather pretty and reasonably priced, being a prize figure, so I decided to buy her:

And, yeah, she’s really nice for a prize figure. I love the design, and the paint is neat. She has some decent translucent hair and the flowers contrast well with it. She hasn’t donned her dress yet, so she’s in her wedding lingerie… but with her veil and train. Rather the odd outfit if you think about it too much… She doesn’t have any shading to her, but the sculpting does leave her with some shadows to help out. I like the way this figure is constructed, as it has largely negated paint mess. 

Face:

Some white paint escaping on the top of her bra – that’s probably the largest paint flaw on mine. The flowers are sculpted well and look good. I like her shy/unsure facial expression and pose. 

Knickers:

These flowers are also done nicely, and you can see how the different coloured parts are separate pieces, for the most part. The other noticeable paint flaw for me is the yellow smudge on her glove, from the flower paint.

Feet:

These flowers have been painted neatly for the most part, but looks like some leaves got missed out, but not a surprise with their small size. Guess it avoids extra mess. I like the pale blue of these shoes. Not sure what’s going on with the strap/fold/thing on her left shoe though… 

Left:

I think she’s posed well, and I like the fact her straps are sculpted as a separate part – no weird foldy strap here. The veil and train look OK from this angle.

Right:

Her sides are sculpted well. Her socks feel more plastic than fabric, due to the finish and lack of shading paint. Her hair seam doesn’t show much, mostly due to the flowers.

Back:

In some of the photos I looked at of her prior to buying, I think the back looked better than it does irl – I think I’ve captured the plastic-y nature of the veil parts a bit more here. These parts are embossed on one side, and flat on the other. It’s not terrible, but I don’t think it’d fly on a scale figure. The lower part you need to push into her back, and for mine that was NOT an easy endeavour, and definitely required heating to get it into place… but once done, the connector is hidden, which I do like. From the front, I think these pieces look decent, but from the back it can make her look cheapy… but she is a prize figure. 

Overall, I think this is a strong prize figure, and worth picking up, if you want a decent budget figure that’s wedding-themed, if you can find her for a reasonable price. I bought her near her release, so she cost ¥2000 & postage. 

Hatsune Miku – Heart Hunter Ver – Vocaloid

This figure I thought about preordering, but ended up skipping on it. After release, I was on the fence about ordering her, then she ended up on sale at Nippon Yasan, so I ended up grabbing her:

And wow, she’s a nice figure. I was initially attracted to this figure, as she has a wings and a tail. The other parts that appealed were her pose, the bright colours and the varying finishes of her outfit. 

Face:

I love her face, and her mic is there, but doesn’t disrupt from the figure. I love the ribbon on her chest, and the ones in her hair contrast well with her hair. The hair looks OK from the front, but not sure on the finish – more about that later. 

Outfit:

I love the way the material has been stretched out over her chest, and the colours emphasise her body shape. The yellowy colour blended in with the salmon-y colour works really well, and is used to add depth and detail in many places. The belt has been well-painted, and the gold parts are all painted neatly. The purple edging used throughout also compliments the colours, and works well to finish the edges of our outfit. 

Heart:

I love the heart, and the creasing is done well, to show she’s standing on it. Love the little wings it has. Can see a tiny bit of paint smear when looking close to the bottom of her leggings. Not entirely sold on the moulded seam on the top of her shoe. The shiny purple of her leggings is nice though.

Side of her foot:

There’s a metal peg that goes up through her foot, protruding from the heart. She seems to be stable on it, and I’m not worried about her falling off/over. She will wobble when moved, due to the pose though. Love all the little details here, but there are some small bits of stray paint if you look closely. 

Left:

Her body is shaped well, and her clothes sit well on her body. I like the way the garters have been done separately and there’s a bit of a gap under her bum. 

Close-up of her outstretched arm:

Love the shading. And the heart cutouts, like the one here. Everything’s edged nicely. She also has some cute pink nail polish. 

Right:

Her pose looks good from this side too. Love the metallic shade of her stockings. The tail has a spot of shading on too, which I appreciate. Looks kinda sassy from this side.

Back:

Her wings are nicely shaded, and the ribs look good. I like the way they’ve added ribbed details to the back of her top, and the fact there are also window-hearts back here too.

Back of her hair:

This, for me, is the weakest part of the figure. Really not a fan of the finish that they’ve used on her hair – I guess it’s supposed to be pearlescent, but it comes off as “cheapy plastic”, without having extra shading in her braids. Some shading was done lower down, but I think it needs more shading to pull this finish off. Either that, or have the hair less super-shiny. 

Tail:

I love the way the tail curls round, and the sharp shape of the end, which contrasts nicely. I love the detail put into posing her fingers, and the detailing on her belt around her tail. 

Overall, I really like this figure and glad I decided to get it. It’s a very nice figure, and would make a statement on most shelves. Even if you’re not a Miku fan, I think this figure has an appeal of its own. Would happily recommend this figure, despite the hair, as the hair isn’t too bad from the front. 

Rei Ayanami – Swimsuit v1.5 – Evangelion

For awhile, I was toying with the idea of ordering the original version of this figure, but I didn’t quite like it enough to do so. Then I found out there was this v1.5 version, and went for it:

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The main differences between this one and the v1 is the hair and the matte finish to her swimsuit. The mould is the same for both versions.

Face:

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I love the soft faded effect to her hair, and am a sucker for translucent hair, despite its weirdness. I think her face has been rendered decently well for a prize figure. The matte texture certainly looks nicer than the shiny one imo, but it is more prone to showing up scuffs on the figure – of which there is a minor amount. She does have a seam line that is pretty noticeable on her left arm in this photo. 

Swimsuit:

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Here we can see they’ve added in wrinkle details, and seams to the swimsuit, but they haven’t added any markings to the labels. Usually the character’s name would be written in the space. Guess she’s borrowing a swimsuit for the day?

Left:

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Here we can get a good look at the shower – the finish is nicely rendered, but due to the way the peg is, it does lean a little. Overall, I like this piece, and seems to have all the details it needs. Unless you want some limescale 😛

Due to the way Rei is facing, this actually makes for a good viewing angle. I like her overall pose, and I think this side shows it off well.

Right:

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Here we can admire the details in her hair – she has a good number of strands moulded, which is a lot nicer than some prize figures where they just have the top of her hair smooth. 

Back:

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Erm, er, let’s try that again:

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Here we can see they’ve sculpted her spine and shoulder blades. The swimsuit hugs her backside, and is creased near her middle, which are all nice detail.s 

Base:

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I like the fact they’ve coloured the grout – this is also a feature new to the v1.5, and I think it really adds to the base. The shower drain has also been nicely done, and looks like a drain. Her foot does look a bit overly rectangular from this angle… but is nicely sculpted otherwise. 

Overall, I really like this figure and glad I got it. The shower could do with being a bit more stable, but I don’t think it’s critical, as it looks fine from the front, and not prone to falling out – just leaning a little. Glad I went for this one, and would recommend it. I don’t think there’s any reason to own both versions of this figure, and would recommend picking your preferred one. Looking at pictures of the other version, this is definitely my preferred version.

Black Aries –  Makai Tenshi Djibril

This was a figure I got along with the Saber Maid in yesterday’s blog. I hadn’t come across her before, but loved the design:

I love the pose of this character, the contrasting colours and the claw hand. Her hair also has a nice gradient, going from pink to purple. I also like the gold accents as they add some nice highlights to the figure.

Face:

I like the small marks on her face, and the claw from this angle looks menacing. The shading on her… leotard(?) looks very nice too. I love the small crystal on her belt, and the large bow looks good.

Left:

Here we can see the claw more front-on, and I love the crisp lines and details on it. Her hair looks nice, and has a good gradient to it. I also like the shading on her boots and gloves, so the black isn’t completely flat.

Right:

I love the gradients under her dress and the details on the bottom of her boots, plus they’e added creases where her ankle is bending the boots.

Back:

Here we finally get to see the wings that you attach as part of the assembly. In isolation, I think they look good,but they were a pain to get pegged in place. Due to the keying on the pegs, they don’t feel like the sturdiest of things, so I’d recommend being careful with them, lest the peg snaps. Once you’ve worked out which way they go in, and have them in place, they’re fine though. Love the motion in this figure, and I think this back shot really shows that off. 

Overall, I really like this figure, and glad I got her, despite not being familiar with her as a character. She only has this figure according to MFC, and at least it’s a very nice one if you are a fan, though. Would recommend this figure. She feels sturdy enough, and being an Alter figure, she’s likely to have support against leaning, so not too worried about that. With her relative obscurity, she seems to be fairly cheap to get hold of in the aftermarket.

Saber – Maid ver. – Fate/Hollow Ataraxia

This figure I got from a Discord user. 

Front:

She’s a pretty impressive figure in her own way, with a strong stance. I love the dark metallic blue of her outfit, and the attention to detail in the sculpting. 

Face close-up:

She’s a happy maid :). The figure definitely has an older feel to me, not that I mind. Hair is nicely sculpted, and I like her collar. 

Mop:

I like the way this mop sits on the base – it’s moulded to sit on the edge of the base, which I like. A fair amount of detail has been put into the mop, which I appreciate. The tassels are also shaded well.

Left:

There is a nice sheer effect to her leggings, and her shoes have been painted neatly. I like the bands around her leg, which match nicely with her outfit. Her hair has been done well to hide any seamlines. 

Right:

This shot shows the shiny blue of her outfit quite well on her skirt. Her hair is blended quite well to her neck. She holds the mop quite well, and it doesn’t seem prone to falling over. 

Back:

I love the way her back shows through the dress – it certainly adds a focal point to her back. The painting on her back really adds to the depth. The bow is also nicely presented on her dress, and helps show she’s moving her hips a bit to the side, causing movement to her dress. 

Hair close-up:

I love the details put into her hair – the sculpt is very nice. The bow is also really nicely sculpted and painted to match her dress. 

Top-down view:

Here we can see the cuffs she’s wearing got some attention too – the cufflinks are painted nicely, and there’s some texture here. Her nails are also painted neatly. 

For what could be a very simple figure, there is a lot of attention to detail, and I think it’s a really nice looking figure. There is an updated version of her, with a nicer base, so I’d likely suggest that one, especially as it seems to be around the same price secondhand. But this one definitely isn’t a bad figure, and I’d recommend it. Would be nice if the base was less plain, though. If it wasn’t for the fact I got a really good deal on this one, I may have gone for the updated version, but I could still recommend this one.