Author: tharglet

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. 

Asuna – Aincrad ver – Sword Art Online

As I don’t have many figures of Asuna, I decided I wanted a scale of her, and this one cropped up on MFC for a decent price. 

Front:

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I was attracted to this figure by the pose and the golden rings. For this one, I think the promo version looks a fair bit more attractive than the final product, but it’s still a decent figure. I like her outfit and the rings, but they’re not as shiny as the promo version would suggest. The base is also a flatter colour – would’ve been nice to have more shading on this. 

For me, the weakest part of the figure is the hair:

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It has been nicely sculpted, but the paint makes it feel a bit plasticky. I feel it could’ve done with some darker shades. The rest of the details on this figure though, have been painted decently well, and the lines are nice and clean.

Left:

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Here we can see her launching herself from the pillar – I do like this pose. They’ve included the braiding in here hair, so that’s nice. The clothes are sculpted well, and include creases.

Right:

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Here is her sword – this detaches at the hilt. She holds it well, and looks good. Her hilt is also a part that has to be attached. I think this picture also partly captures the plastic finish to her hair. The shading looks nice, and I love the way it’s flowing out in different directions… but that finish… 

Back:

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Her cloak looks good from the back, and the pillar has paint details from the back. The texture on the broken part of pillar looks good too. 

Overall, I think this figure is decent, and worth what I paid for it. I think the RRP is a bit much for it, what with the hair and the other smaller downgrades from the promo version. She seems fairly available in the aftermarket, and you can probably get her for a decent price.

She-Hulk – Marvel

I bought this at the same time as the Crash Bandicoot, And I managed to squeeze both into my luggage. And some DVDs. And some Minecraft papercraft…. This one is a fair bit smaller than Crash though. 

Front:

The sculpt is nice, but the paint feels a bit flat, and slightly squiffy in places. The face and hair are painted nicely, along with the shoes at this angle, but the purple paint is a bit missing in spots around the edges of her leotard, and a bit of lumpiness in the white paint. With this lighting, she doesn’t look too flat, but the green paint is all one colour, so it can feel a lot flatter in certain lighting conditions.

Left:

Here you can see some of the missed purple paint. Also some weird lines on the back of her legs.I think her hair looks like it’s in need of a wash…

Right:

Again, there’s some strange lines on her leg, on the lower half this time. White paint went a bit squiffy at the top of her right shoe. Hair and paint edges on her leotard are better on this side though. 

Back:

Hair looks good, but the paint edges look odd in a few places. And again, one of those strange lines running down her leg. 

Overall, it’s an OK figure for what I paid. I think some extra QC wouldn’t have been amiss on this one. Not sure I could recommend this figure though. 

Crash Bandicoot – First 4 Figures

This figure I came across on a work trip…. then had to use my best Tetris skills to fit it into my luggage… being an EasyJet flight, I only had the one case to work with… but I did it! 

So here he is:

I love the clean line and bold colours. Certainly a figure that will stand out on most shelves. The painting is neat, and I love the sculpted tongue. 

Face close-up:

I like the way they’ve blended some yellow paint around his mouth, to add some shading to his fur. He also has super-shiny eyes to contrast with his skin. 

Left:

He looks good from the side, even with the cartoonish proportions. I think they’ve done a good job with his body shape. 

Right:

Looks good from this side, though you can see a seam on the side of his body. Looks a little odd, but not hugely noticeable. His shoes look good and are neatly painted.

Back:

From the back, you can appreciate the fur texture he has. They’ve also painted a light orange area on his back, so it isn’t totally plain back here. His gloves look good – the straps are well sculpted, and there’s edging around the edges, on the fingers. He’s got a couple of creases in his trousers too, which adds to the detail. 

Base:

Sadly you can’t see much of the logo, but what’s visible is printed crisply and looks good. 

Overall, I’m really happy I managed to get him home in one piece. I love the colours and the pose, and would recommend this figure to a fan of the series. 

Gelmar – Devilman

Wandering around Yahoo! Auctions Japan for Devilman merch, I came across this Gelmar figure, and decided I’d bid on him. He didn’t come with a box, which was advantageous for me, so I could pack him with another item (which will be featured in a future blog, but not for some time). 

So here he is:

I love his blue, shiny colour and his overall design. His sculpting is also fairly detailed. 

Face close-up:

He does have a bit of a paint scratch on one tooth, but it’s not too bad. The wings on his head are detailed nicely, and I like the tentacley things sticking out from the sides. The teeth also have a couple of different coloured paints, which adds to their detail. 

Gelmar’s “slug”:

Rawrgh. He’s also painted well, in the places that were painted. Due to this part being partially rubbery, he was sticky with plasticiser, but I washed most of it off. He did smell a bit because of it too. 

And for the reason he’s rubbery:

He contains some unfortunate souls! Getting this part out isn’t too bad, but putting it back in can be a pain – it only fits in properly in one orientation, so it can take some fiddling to get it right. 

Close-ups of this part:

Looks like he’s munched up these dudes well. This part is nicely sculpted and painted. 

Top of Gelmar’s head:

Here you can see some of the shininess of the blue parts. He has a well sculpted spine, and I like the claws protruding from his shoulders.

Left:

I like the fact he has very different textures on his harms to his body – the contrast works well, and the details definitely make up for the lack of varying colours in the character design. 

Right:

I love the overall monstrous shape of his body. With his tail, he’s pretty stable, but for me, his tail does slip out easily if I move him. Loving all the small details and his clawed hands.

Back:

His back isn’t short of details in the sculpt, which is nice. Here you can see where his tail part is two segments, for the soft rubber part. The blend is handled reasonably well though. He does have some limited articulation, but other than moving his harms, none of it is really worth messing about with for me. 

Overall, I’m really happy I decided to go for this figure. I love his devilish appearance, and the blue metallic colour is attractive to me. Would recommend this figure, but he can sometimes be pricey in the aftermarket. He does have other colour variants, but I don’t think I’ll attempt to chase them down.. however I’d consider buying one if I see one come up at a reasonable price if I’m on the hunt for Devilman loot again. 

Alien – Clear ver – Alien Resurrection

Saw this dude on Mandarake and decided to add him to an order. Was on the fence as I don’t always go in for clear versions of things, but the coloured version of this figure I have is in poor condition, and, well, it’s a Xeno. 

Front:

I was pleasantly surprised by this figure – the details are reasonably visible, thanks to the figure size and the yellowish tint. Not sure if the yellow tint is intentional or something that’s developed over time, but it works for me, lol. 

And yeah… I still had the Demogorgon on the table… He will balance without a stand, but he’s much easier to balance with one. 

Left:

I like the tail on these figures – works well to counterbalance the figure, and looks good. I like the details in the sculpt on the legs and his chest.

Head close-up:

He doesn’t have any detail on his dome, but the side moulding makes up for it. Plenty of tendony things going on here. 

Right:

His “pipes” have a nice texture sculpted onto then. His splayed feet do help significantly in balancing him too.

Arm close-up:

I like the flange detail, and they’ve also captures the round markings. His arms also rotate at the shoulder, which gives you some customisability to his pose. His hips also rotate, which is mostly useful for balancing purposes, and you can rotate his head a bit, but I don’t find that too useful. His tail can also rotate at the base, if you want it pointing sideways.

Back:

Here we can see his spine is sculpted, and some of the details on his legs. The tail works well with the pose.

Overall, I’m happy I got this. I wouldn’t pay a huge amount for him, but for the bargain price I paid, I’m certainly happy with him.