This figure came in two flavours – Memory Entanglement and Forgotten Festival. The second one had an Egyptian theme, but I preferred the straight-up tape-themed one, so that’s one I went for. I pre-ordered via the WeArtDoing Taobao store, and this figure cost CN¥1,180 plus CN¥13 local delivery. Shipping from China to UK was CN¥235. Which brings us to a total cost of CN¥1,428.
Box
The front of the box features the artwork for the figure. “Sleeping Beauty” is one of WeArtDoing’s figure lines, but this one seems to be wide awake. We also have what feels like “decorative text” phrases. The artwork is nice, but does feel somewhat bland with the font choices and amount of negative space. It’s not a bad box, but not one that stands out to me.
Back:
Not too much to see here. The standard “information block” you usually see on Chinese figure boxes in the second column and vague English translation in the third. In the top-left we have a sticker which details which variant is in the box – WeArtDoing normally only do one box variant and this is the only way you can tell which one is inside prior to opening it.
Side:
The side design is simple and effective. The tape may be doing weird things, but this may well be a supernatural tape.
Inside:
Not too many slots here, so not much to figure out. Though for people who already own WeArtDoing figures there may be a glaring omission – no card slot. A card was included, but it sat on top of the tapes in the top slot. The top small square contains the figure’s blindfold, bottom one is empty – I think this is for the other variant’s accessories. The vaguely anchor-shaped slot is the stand, and finally the blob-shaped one is for the figure itself.
Overall, the figure box is decent and reasonably compact given the pieces. I don’t think it’s my favourite WAD box, but it still looks good and protects the pieces in transit.
The figure
Let’s have a quick look at the stand first:
It’s a large and solid stand – shouldn’t have any issues of the tape falling off this bad boy. The fur base does stretch up the angled bit – personally I would’ve preferred the fur to stop at the very bottom as this area will likely be an annoying dust magnet. But hey, if you do rock the base at least it won’t mar whatever it is sat on.
Putting the first half of the tape case on the stand:
Without the figure, there isn’t too much to see here – just a furry pad for the figure to rest against. It’s nice and plush.
Putting the figure in the case:
A cool idea but for me the figure is too obscured. The face ends up being covered by either the print or the bar across the tape window.
Spin-around with the full case:
The container is very faithful to two stacked tapes. I like the fake tape labels on the side.
Taking off the lid:
The figure magnetically sticks to the base. The magnet strength is decent – it’s enough to hold the figure, but if you do nudge her she will likely slip. The tape wrapping around her body also works to censor anything too spicy. I like the way it’s not too much and there are loose parts spooling out around the figure. The hair also has a tapelike quality to me too.
Back:
The back of the figure is unsurprisingly very flat. Here we can see the shading on the hair better – her hair gets lighter towards the tips Apparently mine did have an oopsie – on her leg one of the tape strands has come loose. May reglue this at some point.
Chest:
She’s decently appointed in this area, but not overdone. There are a couple of joins visible in the photo, but I don’t feel like they stand out when viewing the figure.
Foot:
Apparently I failed to get a decent photo of her legs/feet. I like the way this bit of tape wraps around her leg and her feet have been sculpted well. They have even posed her toes which is a nice detail to see. The paint shading is also good in this area.
Face:
The camera struggled with the stark black background so did my best to edit these…
Her face is cute, and I like the open eyes and contemplative expression. She also has a nicely sculpted ear peeking through her hair. From this angle you can see there is some thickness to the tape – but this is a necessary compromise so that it isn’t too fragile.
If you want to increase the bondage theming, she also comes with an eye mask:
I think she looks good like this, but I prefer having eyes visible. It seems to stay well, though getting it in place is a little fiddly.
If you want to see the lid but don’t want it covering her, can pose it alongside like this:
It’s not a “realistic” display, but I like the way it looks. If I can make space, I will likely display it like this. The lid magnetises to one side of the box, so not at risk of slipping or moving. I was hoping to display her with the case closed, but it obscures the figure too much for my liking. I like her seductive pose and the way her body is more realistic proportions. The long hair goes with her “tapelike” nature.
If mass-producing company created this figure, it would likely be cheaper. For this figure, you’re paying a premium for small batch (limited to 698 for each variant) and unique theming. For me, I’m happy to pay the premium but if you’re looking for “value for money”, WeArtDoing isn’t likely a brand on your radar.
Overall, I’m happy with the design and the quality of this figure. It’s definitely a unique piece with a thought-out base, though I wish the tape window design didn’t cover her face.