Category: Eastern

Hatsune Miku – FREEing S-Style

I have decided to try and collect most of the FREEing S-Style figures, so long as I can get them for a reasonable price. Four of them have recently entered my collection, from various sources, with more on the way.

This one I got from Solaris Japan, using a discount code, to make it a price I was willing to pay. 

I saw a bootleg of this one online recently, and yeah, the real thing is far nicer! I wouldn’t say it is free from paint flaws, but you have to look close to notice them. Love the large, flowing hair, and the dynamic pose. 

Her left:

You can see her headphones here, which are nicely painted. Her hair flows nicely, and you can appreciate the sculpting on her body.

Right side:

She has a light bit on the outermost bit of hair – not sure how I feel about it. It does stop the hair from being one solid mass of green, but I think it is a little too light. 

Her back:

Lovely shading on her back, which helps her look real. Her backside is nicely sculpted, and no, I didn’t take a pantsu shot, so this is what you’re gonna get today. 

Still loving these small figures, and I think they’ve done an excellent job for Miku, which is probably why she’s harder to find and more expensive if you do. 

Alter Ayanami Rei

Been thinking of buying this figure on and off, but found it on local eBay for a price too good to pass up. Did say unopened, but she may’ve been out of the box before, but she shows no marks, so all good with me 🙂

Here she is with her default hairpiece:

With her pose, she’s rather awkward to photograph, but she looks really nice irl. 

Here is a top-down picture, showing her pose:

The rest of the shots in this blog will be with her hairpiece with her interface headset, I prefer her with it. 

Here is her underside:

Certain parts of her are flat on this side, but it isn’t hugely visible from this photo. The painting is still well done on this side though, despite the fact most people won’t see much of it. 

Here she is from the front:

You get a nice look at her suit, but not her face. 

Here she is from her back:

Her backpack is nicely done, and her body well-sculpted. Also her soles are correctly detailed. 

Here is a more top-down view:

She looks nice from the top, and is probably the view you’ll mostly see. 

Unless you display her feet-first:

This is quite a cute angle for her, and you can see her face 🙂

She did come with a black base, with “Evangelion 1.0″ on it, but for me, it doesn’t add much to the figure, so I left it in the box. 

However, I do have this base:

She just fits on this base, and the mirror allows you to see more of her from above. This was the base that came with Shamsiel Shahal. 

Here she is with her body reflected:

Looking at her face:

Backpack:

And finally, her backside:

Shapely!

The paint is really well done on this figure, and especially so for an older figure. She’s quite small, and will likely fit on the palm of your hand, but if you can pick this up fora  good price, and you’re a Rei fan, i would recommend her. I picked her up for £34, though I usually see her for £45ish. Both hair pieces are well-shaded, and a great option imo. 

Nagisa Kaworu – G.E.M

Had my eye on this figure, then it unexpectedly came up for sale on MFC for a good price, so I had to nab him. Can’t have too much Kaworu:

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Tall, lanky bugger – hopefully he’ll fit on your screen 😛

Love the shininess they’ve given him, and his hair has a good amount of shading. The red of the smaller parts of his figure has been used as an accent colour, which works well.

Left side:

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A good use of different finishes in evidence here, plus the unique shape of the stand to get him into the chosen pose. Is a very minimal stand, but does make a statement. 

Right side:

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Still shiny!

Back:

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A nice bum, but not quite as nice as the one on the FREEing figure. Nothing to complain about here.

He’s a very striking figure, and a good one to have in an Evangelion collection. He has a simple appearance, but there is a decent amount of detail in there, if you’re looking at it. I think I slightly prefer the FREEing one over this one, but I still like him a lot. 

Queen of Pain Nendoroid

Ordered this before Christmas, and was supposed to get it between Christmas and New Year. Got half of my order, then a dispatch notice. Waited five working days, and then asked the shop where the other item was at. Turns out the fulfilment centre messed up, and the shop owner managed to rectify the issue. 

So finally, Queen of Pain:

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I decided to go with the secondary faceplace, and equip the wings. This character seems to work well with Nendoroid proportions – not familiar with the character herself, but blue demon-y thing? Sign me up! 

One thing I’d say for the front is the cut for the articulation is a bit odd, though I’m not the only one to comment on that. 

Her left side:

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Especially with the second faceplate, she seems to be a bit gappy in the hair. I may try to heat this at some point, and see if I can get her to go together fully. Some cute horns though 🙂

Right side:

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Her ponytail articulates, which is a nice touch, and is in the lowest position here. 

Back:

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The shading in her hair is nicely done, and I do like the rings in the hair. Also, copyright of Valve :P. 

Here are the other items she comes with:

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The dagger can go into the hand shown, but won’t go smoothly without heat, which is why I didn’t equip it for these shots. You also get a spare joint (yeah, the GSC logo is on it, just not that side). 

Overall, I’m happy with her, as a figure. She came with less accessories than I’d expect for a Nendoroid, but that will matter to me less over time, as I don’t tend to play that much with my figures. One annoying feature is that her arms tend to pop out when you rotate them, and the bottom half of her arm can come off. This leads to you having to push the bits back fully home once you’re done moving stuff. She is cute and well-painted though. I paid about the going rate for her – I don’t think she’s worth any more than that, but she’s probably on the cheaper end for Nendos. 

Morrigan Noodle Stoppers

Ordered these, was excitedly anticipating them until I got the Yoko one, pondered cancelling order, then remembered the order with a retailer than doesn’t officially support cancellations, so decided definitely not. Fortunately I think these ones turned out better than the Yoko one. 

I ordered both variants, here they both are:

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Should’ve swapped them in this shot – 1P/default coloring on the right, 2P on the left. These figures could grace your noodles whilst they’re cooking but their pose is perfect for a shelf edge. 

First up, 1P:

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I love the pose chosen, and the shading in her hair is nice. The print on the leggings has been done well, and is crisp. She has a mix of shiny and non-shiny finish – was ‘promised’ for Yoko, but this shows FuRyu can do it. 

Left side:

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Her hand is nicely posed, the left wing helping to keep your noodles shut. The white edging on her top doesn’t have the best finish though. For the most part, the wings were painted well – but there are a couple of lines where the purple paint wasn’t applied thick enough. 

Right side:

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Yeah, she’s regardin’ you. And finding you wanting. Bit of a seam here on her leggings, but is one of the nicer ones for prize figures. 

Her back:

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The shading on her hair is nice, but there is a bit of much on her hair, which I’m not sure if I can clean up. 

Close-up of her face:

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It has been nicely done imo, you can just about see the dodgy painting of the orange bit though. The hair mould is crisp, but the way the paint went on, it does make it look a bit clumpy. On the 1P one, it’s not so noticeable, but it does feel a bit overly square. 

Back of the wing:

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Shiny!

Front:

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The black line I didn’t notice until I processed this photo – fortunately it usually falls into the shadows. The purple and black do provide a nice, crisp contrast.

Now onto 2P:

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This one has a less shiny finish, but it’s nice to have some variety. She’s exactly the same mould as the 1P one. 

Her left:

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Clothing edging does look neater on this one, and the leggings are just as spiffy. 

Right:

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Same look of disapproval. But here you cna really notice the squareness of her hair. It just looks… so very square. And the yellow paint seems to emphasise this. Also she seems to have slopped some orange paint on her hand here. Oh well. 

Back:

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The shading is less distinctive on this one. To the naked eye. it can look very flat, in terms of colouring, which makes the hair look more unnatural. In this shot, it doesn’t look as bad as I had in my head. 

I’m pleased with the pair, and glad I ordered both. I think the less ambitious design to the Yoko noodle stopper helped improve the quality of these figures. If I were to change something about these figures, it would be the hair, but displayed on a shelf it looks fine. My favourite parts of the figure is the paintwork on the legs and the face. Her legs are shaded very well, which makes them stand out. Would recommend these figures, if you like what you see. 

Shamsiel Shahal

Found this figure some time ago, and had it in my “to order” list. I did plan to order her in November/December, but then I spent too much and left it. Finally went for her in January. 

Here she is on her mirror base:

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I rather like the mirror base – I’ll probably use it for her, but if she ends up somewhere where the mirror base doesn’t work for her, I’ll use it for some other figure. 

Here is what she looks like from the top with the mirror base:

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Giving you all the angles, if she’s cast off. 

Here she is not sitting on the base:

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The side joint in her outfit has a habit of being a bit loose. In regards to the paint job, the shading on her right knee is a bit odd. 

Close-up of her face:

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Certainly a smiley, happy demoness! I like the way she has a tiny li’l ponytail tucked away there. 

Her left & right sides:

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She looks nice from the sides, but she does have a floating hand. I may fix this at some point, but there is a chance it may fix itself. The joint for her clothing is visible in the second pic – at least it’s positioned where it doesn’t really show if you’re not casting her off. 

Her back:

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I really love these transparent wings. And her tail is cute. From the back, she looks the same, cast off or not. The red nicely complements the purple and green of her outfit. 


Now to cast her off:

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It took a little bit to work out how to disassemble her, and I think I made a bit of a split in her clothing :(. Fortunately it didn’t go all the way through, so I could strengthen it, if I clothe her again. She did have a couple of paint transfers on her legs, but I managed to pretty much get rid of them with an eraser. 

For casting her off, you take the legs off first, then the top will come off the neck. As far as parts removal goes, it’s only the legs and the head. 

Close-ups of her clothes:

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It was the upper silver ring I damaged (assuming it wasn’t damaged before – this was a secondhand figure). Kind of amusing to see a green blob of paint – this does suggest the green paint transfer I saw was actually stray paint, rather than rubbed off. The ball and chain feel like metal, and is a nice detail. 

Here she is, reassembled and cast off:

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There are some dents in her legs, where the garters “latch” onto. If you view her from certain angles, you can see these dents, but when she’s displayed, they’re not really visible. 

Here’s a close-up shot showing one of them:

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Kinda wish they didn’t make dents for the garters, and just left enough room in the right spots. Probably an effort to prevent paint transfer, and keep the garters from popping out. 

Close-up of her chest:

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A pair of pretty assets to finish on (the blog that is!), with some very pink nipples, lol. Her stomach is well-defined, which I like. 


Imo, both the clothed and cast off options are solid ones, so you could do either, and not feel cheated. I was a bit iffy about her when I first got her, but I’ve since warmed up to her, and think that she’s a good addition to my collection. 

Ranka Lee – N.A. version

In my large Mandarake order, this was the only thing that wasn’t Devilman-related. Have had this in my Mandarake wishlist for a few months, for when I was ready to do an oversized order. Note this is a cast-off figure, though she does have her nipples covered, even when cast off. 

Here she is, looking at her stand:

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The top can be cast off, and the wings weren’t initially attached to the stand – the stand itself has two clear pegs to push them onto. 

Here’s a close-up of the heart on the stand:

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I guess the stand is OP :P. 

And here she is on the stand:

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She fits quite nicely on it, and I plan to display her on the stand. The first thing that hit me was her hair – it’s very green and to me, looks like a failed dye job. Looking back on the MFC pics, maybe some aren’t quite as distinct as mine, but one or two of the pics I looked at, there was probably some heavy post-processing. Other oddity for me is the hip crease – didn’t notice at first, but looking at it, I find it a bit strange, even if it would be accurate. 

Here is her back, with her top on:

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I expected her to be holding her top, but she’s not. There’s not much flexibility in the top, so this is how the figure is meant to be. Her pose from behind has “life” to it, but she works better from the front imo. 


Now to cast her off:

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Her head was quite tightly on, so I heated it some to ease it off. On mine, there’s a bit of a mark on one of the stars, and seems to be an error in manufacturing, as she was sealed. It probably is slightly more noticeable in the photo than irl. 

Right, now to put her head back on!

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Her pose works really well for her cast-off option. She has a very nicely sculpted body. 

Here she is from the opposite side:

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Lookin’ nice from this side. 

Her back:

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She has a much cleaner appearance without the top form the back, and her pose looks a lot more like stretching. 

Chest shot:

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That hair… Ah well, she’s got a nice belly goin’ on. 

I think this figure is a good demonstration that small boobs can and do work, and there’s not the need for all characters to have water balloons for a chest. Would be nice to have some more variety in anime, but hey, don’t think I’ll be particularly winning on that front. 


When I initially picked the box up for this figure, she was a lot smaller than I imagined, but opening her up and inspecting her, she’s a nice, quality figure worth the price. Haven’t fully decided if I’m going to display her with her top or not. Maybe I’ll switch her now and then. 

Devilman Lady

Had my eye on this figure for some time, but she wouldn’t fit in a SAL small packet, so it was a long time before I ordered her. Despite this, she was a bit bigger than I was expecting.

Here she is out of the box, with her accessory:

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Can see why this figure is cheap to get hold of, but I still love the colour. 

Here is a ¾ view:

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She’s not a bad figure, but she’s nothing amazing either. Definitely more on the “toy” side of things. Her hands have the annoying ability to pop out though, which is kind of annoying. 

Back view:

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Not a huge lot to see here, not as plain as some figures, but a definite lessening of detail. 

She does come with a stand:

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At first, I thought this was decorative scenery, hence it not featuring in the pics above. The arm doesn’t really slot into the hole on this dead creature. Might be able to get it in with some heat, but I don’t think it’s designed for you to put it in there. Shame, as you could play-act out the scene, if it did. 

Shot of the face:

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Yeah, that’s one not-happy creature.You can also see the peg in the bottom left. She was a bit of a squish to get on, but a stand is very much needed to get her to balance. Was thinking of digging up one of my disc stands, but this one is so much cooler, now I know it’s a stand.

Back of the stand:

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Yeah, nothing to see here, move along.


This figure seems to be fairly widely available. She’ll cost you far more in postage than her initial cost, but if you like her, she’s not too expensive to pick up. This figure is definitely not for everyone, so I’d only recommend buying if you like what you see here. Arm articulation works OK, though the hands can come off easily (they’re just a straight piece of plastic linking them, no ball), but the leg articulation is kinda pointless. The top of leg articulation just ends up looking funny due to the shape of her leg and being a cut joint, and she won’t balance well in most positions. I think this figure may have had more of a market if they went into full toy mode, and made the hands stay on, lol. I like her as a display piece, but I’m unfussy and love purple. And demons. 

Welvath- Highway Star ver

Another figure from Devilman :). This time it’s Welvath:

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… if you have monstrous faces for boobs, do they count as boobs? In the show, she has the ability to split her arms a number of times and make mouths from them. She’s a vicious, yet fancy, lady. She comes with three heads, by default she has this one, with her eye popping out. Here’s a shot with her head turned to the side:

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She can definitely see you! Up close: 

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There’s some nice paint detail in this figure, which also can be seen in this close-up. Her tattoos are crisp, and the boob-faces are detailed.

Here’s her accessories:

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In the first photo, she’s wearing the boa, and these are the other two heads. I may put the one on the left on her at one point – it’s my second favourite of the heads. 

Here is a close-up of her arm:

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Bitey! I love the paint on these parts. 

Here is her left side:

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Quite a bit of definition in the side of her chest. In her current state, she has a habit of leaning forward – at the time of writing, I have her laying down as she leaned a bit more, and I will likely bend her legs a bit to try and balance her so she doesn’t lean so much. I may end up with a gripping stand around her middle to prevent leaning, if I can’t balance her after adjusting her. 

Right side:

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I like her arm band, and the feet are in better focus than most of the other photos… Her toes are well-sculpted, and the paint job is nice. 

Now for her back:

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Not as much paint detail back here, but not sure how much it really needs it. A well-defined backside though. Again, a nice job on the mould. 

Picture of her base:

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She only has one peg, like all of the other Fewture figures. Tbh, she’d be better off with two, due to her pose. 

The box shows the default coloured version:

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Personally I much prefer this alternate colour version, as purple is one of my favourite colours. I find this to be one of the more impressive figures of the set, and I’m tempted to buy some of the others… however, some of them (like this one) have large boxes, which means they’re too big for SAL small packet, so I have to go SAL postal parcel. 


I’m super-happy with this figure, and once I’ve sorted out her leanings, she’ll grace my shelves somewhere. 

Saylos

This dude is from Devliman. Saw him in the show, had to get the figure. 

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Love the colouring, the spikes and the head tentacles. 

And also this base:

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This base is a skeleton of Devilman. I didn’t know about these bases prior to buying this figure, and now I kind of want the rest of the set. I did look around, but it’ll be hard to get the set. Maybe one day. 

Here’s a close-up of his face:

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Grrowwl. Not sure if the black wash effect really worked – it look nice in the darker areas, but a bit like dirt in other places. 

Seylos’s left:

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Some nice, big well-posed clases :). Here you can see where the wash is a bit uneven, leading me to be a bit on the fence about it. 

Lastly, his back:

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He has some nice head tentacles – lots o’ short ones, and the long one with the large spike. They can be moved around a bit, but they’re not actually bendy. His arm claws also look nice and menacing from this angle. 

Close-up on the tentacles:

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I like the way the larger tentacle has a bunch more detail on it. Black wash looks nice on it. 

After the photoshoot, I played with the figure. He’s very poseable, and good fun to pose. The joints have a good range of motion – you can get him into some kind of sitting pose, and you can be quite expressive with him. I may choose to have him somewhere I can pick up and play with him, with his posing potential. 

Akira Fudo

This guy is the dude who became/is Devilman. This figure portrays him as his mostly human form. Without further ado, here he is:

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Mmm, nice chest! And those are some very long legs, lol. I like the fact he has some metal chain accessories. He also has some very emo makeup.

Here is his right side, showing his tattoos:

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The tattoos are nicely done, and there is some nice definition in the arm. His neck looks a little on the long side though, and he’s pretty shiny due to the plastic he’s been made of and the finish chosen. Fairly typical of this kind of figure.

His left side:

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No tattoos here, but some good arm definition. Bracelet is nicely done.

His back:

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A fair amount of attention has been paid to his back – a lot of detail in his trousers, and his muscles are well-defined.

He also comes with the Demon Mask:

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It fits on head decently well – was a bit of a squish getting it on, but there he is, with his eyes staring out.

Back of the mask:

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Not a super-interesting angle, but the detail is there.

Finally, you can remove his head:

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And stick on a new one:

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This is his half-Devilman head, with mini-head-wings. With his head being removable, you can also remove his necklace, if you so wish.

Here is a side shot showing the wings in a bit more detail:

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Both the heads are solid picks imo, but I will likely display him with this one mostly. His face is too pretty for the Demon Mask, so I’ll likely display it separately.

My collection needed more sexy males, and I find he fits the bill ;).

Mico – Default ver & Limited Color ver

Note: this post will feature boobs scattered throughout. If you’re at work, you’ve now been warned. 

After failing to buy the default (green) version from Mandarake, I decided to pick up the black version (limited color ver)  in my large SAHRA order. Some time later, the green version popped up on Yahoo! Auctions Japan, so I decided to go for it, via Buyee. After bidding slightly more than intended, I managed to win her, and worked out cheaper than buying her at Y! marketplace/Amazon. 

As I ordered the limited color version first, I shall talk about her first:

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Was hard to get the focus correct when photographing her, due to her monochrome nature. 

Though for a monochrome figure, she reflects the light well to give her detail:

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The back moulding gives you something to look at. 


Here she is without Tollg:

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She has some details in black, but most of the detail is from the light reflecting off her. On her right side, she does look to have some minor scuffing on her bottom rib, but it isn’t a biggie. 

As this one is effectively the least detailed of the three, I will likely display her in her tube:

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I won’t be demoing the light feature again in this blog – all three of the tubes are the same, barring the paint colour. This one the plastic seems to be in a less scratched state than the purple Mico’s. 

Now onto normal-coloured Mico:

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Happy to have her in her ‘original’ colours. Her Tollg has a different colour painted for its eyes. Kinda need to get to the part of the anime series that features her!

Here she is from the back:

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Same as the backside of the purple version.

Without Tollg:

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Even more neon than the purple version, especially her lips! Her vein colours match her Tollg. 

Here’s a ¾ view showing more of her veins:

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Happy to have her, and really liking having most of the set – at least the ones I was interested in. 


With these two, the bases are inversions:

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I found this mildly interesting :). 

Here are all three of the Micos I now own:

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There is a fourth silver one, but I’m unlikely to buy it, mostly due to availability, and owning the limited black ver kinda covers the monochrome angle.

If you’re feeling adventurous, you can switch around their Tollgs for an interesting look:

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I do rather like the purple Tollg on the black Mico. 

Here are the three tubes:

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The darker one belongs to the black Mico, middle one is the default one, and the blue one goes with Acid Purple Mico. 

Here are the tops of the tubes, showing the matching details:

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Not decided if I’m going to display them in proximity of each other or not – will probably come down to space constraints. 

Parfom Gwendolyn

This figure I was on the fence about ordering, up until her near-release. Went for it, without many days to go. Then she got delayed ><.

Fiiiinally in the new year she turned up!

And wow, is she pretty! These Parfom figures aren’t exactly cheap, but I’m definitely impressed with this one. My only real complaint is the chest articulation, as it tends to look a little odd if she’s not dead-centre. Oh, and the branches to assemble on the “fancy” stand were a pain!

Here she is on the stand sideways:

Her small wings look quite cute. 

Back, on the stand:

Here you can see where the detailed base slots over the clear base. Initially, I didn’t realise it did this, and thought she had to balance on it. I then looked her up on MFC, and saw the arm of the clear stand in one picture, and figured it out. Her arm joints do look a little strange from the back, plus some gapping from the aforementioned chest joint. 

Left side:

The leaves were much of a pain in the backside to put on than they look. There’s only small dents where they hook in, and no reference pics in the instructions. They’re also not poseable – I split a glued joint whilst trying to figure out how they were supposed to go on the thinner one (on right of pic above). Fortunately it was just some weak glue that gave way, so I glued it back together. 

She she comes with three faces:

… and that wasn’t one of them. 

Shocked face:

Sleeping face:

The semiserious face is in the other shots, so no real need for another close-up. 

She has some large wings you can use instead of the small ones:

From the front:

They also have a joint, so they’re poseable:

Initially I wasn’t planning on using them, but after taking these photos, I changed my mind. 

And here is a pose of her on the base with her large wings:

Pretty!

Here she is with the shield, which I didn’t pose her with:

I love the range of accessories the figure comes with, and the colours and design of this character really appeals to me, so glad to have bought at least one version of her. 

The next few pics go into detail of the accessories she comes with, and the base, so if this post isn’t enthralling, feel free to stop reading here.

All of the Parfoms come with a clear base:

These bases can be locked together, using some connectors that come with them, but I don’t see myself doing that.

This is how the base fits into the fancy base:

Kinda wish the other Parfoms came with some kind of “stage”, or you could buy one separately to suit them. Maybe they’ll do the latter if enough people suggest it. This one really adds to the figure, without being too massive. 

Spare parts:

The small red blob is initially attached into the bottom of the berries she’s holding in the above pics. If you want her to hold the berries, you swap in a piece that has a clear plastic bit for her to hold, but if you just want them in the scene, you can leave the red blob in, and it looks like a full set of berries. 

Here’s the large wings, when not plugged into her body:

The smaller wings just have a static plastic rod to attach them, which I think is enough for them. The real fun is in these larger wings :). 

And here’s some pantsu, for those who read this far:

Not totally hiding the articulation gaps, but doing the job! 

Yoko Litner Noodle Stopper – Part 2

So this post will be dedicated to showcasing the replacement Yoko, and comparing it to the original one. Fortunately this one came in one piece, and is less flawed than the first.

So here she is, on the Pasta n’ Sauce:

Looking much better than the first one – no snapped noodle, and the paint has reached the “corner” of her pants. Sadly the grey smudge just above her stocking is a mark like the other one had, but on her backside. 

Here she is from the back:

Nothing here to complain about. The tiny dot on her hair is fluff. 

From the top:

She looks better from this angle too – none of her back is shiny like the previous, studs are better painted on this one too (but not perfect – would be a difficult bit to paint tbh). 

And finally the rear shot:

No random grey dots here. I think most people will find this shot agreeable :P. 

Now to compare the two:

Seeing double! Feel free to play spot the difference :). 

Here’s the undersides:

Note how the one on the right is slightly less attached together properly, but the new one has a bit of stray white paint on her pants. 

Above:

Not sure if it’ll really show in the above shot without zooming in, but the back of the new one is attached better. Also the belt is painted better on the second (left). 

Lastly, here are two backsides to contrast and compare:

Yep, comparing… If you get to this paragraph, well done! Also I’m pleased with the replacement, and is more in line with what I hoped for. It’s not flaw-free, but for the price, you can’t really expect that. Still would strongly recommend using these as display pieces only, but it is a second lottery if you’re going to get one that looks like it should have passed QC or not. 

Yoko Litner Noodle Stopper – Part 1

Saw this up for preorder, decided to go for it, as I wanted a Yoko figure, and this was inexpensive, and a small form factor, so it wouldn’t take up too much space. Unfortunately, my first one came partially broken, and a number of flaws.

I didn’t have a small noodle pot to hand, so here she is stopping some Pasta n’ Sauce:

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From this shot, you can see where the top hair chopstick has been snapped off – it doesn’t show too much from this angle, but it is shorter than it should be. 

Here’s a close-up of her face, which is probably her best angle:

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And a more side-on view:

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In this shot, you can see where the black paint didn’t quite get to the corner of her pants. Her face is nice though. 

Here she is from the back:

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You can see the chopstick breakage from here, plus a mark on her backside. Her stockings are nicely done though. 

Opposite side:

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This angle’s actually pretty good for lack-of-flaws. The details ion her boots is nice, and the way her hair flows is nice. 

So what is her underside like?

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Super-flat so she can act as a noodle stopper! The bra on this one is decently painted, especially compared to some others I saw, however the pants-body joint is a mess. 

Here’s a close-up of the waist:

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Yuck. Looks almost like someone tried to take her apart :/. Some of the silver blocks are bootleg-level of quality, sigh. 

The next few shots will be closeups of the flaws I’ve found.

First up, the back of her hair: 

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There is some clumpy paint, and a black scuff. Note the broken hair decoration – I had a quick feel of the other one – this figure would make for a bad noodle stopper, as it’d be awfully easy to break these, especially if you had to clean her. 

Some weird black mark under the sealant: 

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Also some thigh gap going on, on the left. 

Sealant, what sealant?:

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On her left hand side, you an see some mottled, shininess. This is present all across her back, and I’m pretty sure this is related to the sealant layer being done improperly. I’m not an expert though. Also the lower half of her body isn’t well contected into the strap, leaving a bit of a mess. A the very top of the pic, you can see where the purple paint has escaped its designated area. 

I was disappointed with this figure, and especially considering it arrived broken, I contacted the retailer to investigate my options. They very kindly sent me another one free of charge, part 2 will show pics of the replacement. 

Anastasia S-Style

Since finding out this series, I’ve set about buying some of the others that are already released. This one I saw for sale on a UK site for a good price, shortly after Christmas, so had to order it. 

Here she is:

Love the colour of her swimsuit, and she’s nicely posed. Love the necklace and charm details. 

Here she is from the left side:

And the right:

And her back:

Nicely sculpted posterior here. I find her hair slightly on the too-glossy side, but some of the post-editing may make it look a bit more distinctive than it actually is. 

She also comes with the option of an overshirt/top. To put her top on, you need to first take off her arms and head:

Not her prettiest angle! The dent on her right arm is where her forearm touches her upper arm, so this flat surface doesn’t show when she’s together. 

And with the top on:

It looks OK, but for me, it looks too much like a plastic mac, so I’m not planning to display her with it. There is some nice detailing in it though:

Zipper is well painted, and there’s the suggestion of some pockets. 

Top from the left:

And the right:

This side you can see where the top joins – it pops apart, so you can slip it over her shoulders. It comes apart and goes together with relative ease, so it’s unlikely you’re going to break the nubs, and it stays together well once assembled (have had figures where the clothes tend to pop apart). 

And from the back:

It hangs nicely over her. Is a pretty colour, but I prefer the purple more. 

Closeup of the hood:

Doesn’t look like a “true” hood from this angle, but you’re not likely to be looking at it like this. 

Happy with this figure, and glad they made the overshirt an optional accessory. Personally, I think she looks better without it, but I think it works if you like it. Whilst small, these figures have the quality of scale figures, which I think makes them great for collecting on a budget – of money and space. The line seems to be gaining popularity, as there are several being released in the next few months – some of which I have on pre-order. Hopefully I’ll be able to display the ones I buy as a collection together, but I don’t think I’ll pick up every release. 

Poison Ivy

I’ve had my eye on this one for a little bit, seeing as I saw it was released, but not really in the UK yet. Went to a local comic shop who were selling her for a good price, so I couldn’t resist picking her up, despite my December overspend.

The vine is a separate part, which can be posed however you like. The detail in her face is also impressive:

Looks like she paid special attention to her makeup this morning :). 

Right hand side:

Love the vibrant red colour of her hair. Her skin is also nicely painted, giving it a very skinlike appearance. 

Left side:

Hiding behind the leaves! I have them mostly going over her legs, are they are very much an expanse of green – on one side this does give you the place to display them, on the other hand she looks a bit too much on the bland side without the extra leaves. Her top is nice and leafy though – however, I’d prefer it if they prioritised the leaf shapes over the top shape, as it looks a little too flat imo. 

Back:

Perfect angle to admire her hair :). Maybe not as competent as more expensive figure manufacturers, but it does the job, in an eye-catching red. There uis a bunch of shades in there though, which does help it along. 

The base and her shoes:

A very simple base, but works surprisingly well. The boot painting is very eye-catching though, and I really like her footwear. The base is a translucent green, which matches the figure and probably looks better than the photo I took here. It’s not a base that’s going to win awards, but it works with the figure, and is more exciting than a plain disc, and doesn’t detract from the figure. 

This one is likely to have a prominent position in my new display cabinet… once it has been built… Can’t have too much Poison Ivy!

Tiger & Bunny: Kotetsu and Blue Rose

After pondering what I could pad my Mandarake order out with… I remembered I wanted to get some Tiger & Bunny figures. After some deliberation, I went for a Kotetsu prize figure and Chibi Arts Blue Rose. Ordinarily I wouldn’t go for a chibi figure, but Blue Rose seems to be woefully catered for in the figure market. 

First up, Kotetsu:

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Lookin’ nice from the front. Some good shading, most of the paintwork is good, a bit missed on the chin, but it’s not really noticeable. Not pictured are the way he fits into the base – he looks like he’s wearing platform shoes, but the extra “shoe” fits into the strangely shaped slots on the base. 

Here’s a close-up of the face to admire the beard paint:

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As you ca see, it doesn’t quite fit in the marked area, and there is some mould fuzz on his hand. For a prize figure though, the derps are minor. 

From the right side:

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He sadly has some marks on his hip, probably from rattlin’ around in his box. He hasn’t been out, but he was secondhand, so he may have been shaken around a bit. The marks don’t show from the front though.

Left side:

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Do love the accuracy of the moulding of the jewellery and hand. It’s also been nicely, which is a strong bonus in prize figures. 

Finally, his back:

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Some nice shading work here, if you want to admire his backside. Not doing it for me personally, but he does have good shoulders. 

All in all, pleased with my pic.

Next up, Blue Rose:

The speech bubble is of her catchphrase, and translates to:

“My ice may be a little cold, but your crime has been put completely on hold!”

She is a bit sticky with plasticiser, from being kept in her box, and she has some minor chipping on her headpiece, but this could be from when she was manufactured. This chibi works surprisingly well for me. 

Here’s two shots of her sides:

Her tendrils are nicely done in clear plastic, but her front hair doesn’t like to clip well into her back hair. May attempt to fix this at some point, with some hot air. Most of this figure slotted together surprisingly well, with the odd bits needing heating to get in place. 

Her back:

Tried to lean her against the board, but nah, she wasn’t gonna stand. Some details back here, which is nice. 

Here are her other parts:

Plenty of bits to choose from! The tiny guns go where here tiny holsters are on her legs (small blue lumps), if you don’t want her to be holding her guns. The arms in the top-right are the default ones, which she holds her hands out from her sides. I love the selection of items they provided. 

The other things she can say:

Yeah, I accidentally put the one in Japanese on its side… It translates to “I decided to believe my friends until the end as a hero”. At some point, I may swap in the Cutie Escape! one. 

Tiger & Bunny was a bit of an up and down show for me – some of it I loved, other bits I’m waiting for them to get on with it/less interested in what was going on. I may get figures of one or two of the characters, but I’m not going to be making a Tiger & Bunny display. Happy with my purchases though. 

Devilman & Migi

Shortly after writing the blog entry for Sirene… I went onto Mandarake and did an order, mainly for Devilman. Yep, I’m getting the set – the other one is moving around in the postal system, but may be some time before I see him.

So here’s Devilman by Bandai:

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This guy was rather the butt to assemble. Needed to heat up most of the parts, and the tail peg became very rubbery, which made it hard to insert. He was worth the assembly time though!

Here he is from the front of his body:

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Loving those wings, and the explosion. Here’s a closer shot showing the foot stomp (Deibru Smassshh~~), also showing some of the wing in more detail:

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The explosion is two pieces pegged to the base. 

Here he is from the back:

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Not too much to add here, still looking awesome.

Close-up of the wing:

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Love the way they’ve done the details and the shading on the wings, plus the translucent orange. 

Finally, Sirene and Devilman together:

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On his own, Devilman’s base does look lonely, and as if it should be part of something else. It looks a little lonely like this, but hopefully I should have the third figure soon! Really glad I found this set, it’s very nicely done, especially for the prices I got these two at, and hopefully the price I get the last one for. 

And as it’s just a short one to show, here’s Migi from this order:

He’s well-painted, and perfect to sticking to a Detolf :). 

Harley Quinn

This was the second figure for Christmas, but for this one I only saw the box beforehand, as it doesn’t have a window in the box (and the figure itself was in a well-taped polystyrene cube). 

And this one is ¾ of Harley Quinn – one of my favourite characters. This figure was more detailed than expected, so am pleased about that. I like the two textures used on the base. 

Here is a close-up of her face:

I like the expression she has, and the contrast in her face. Her ruff is pearlescent, which stops it from blending too much with the skin. 

Harley’s left side:

She has a tattoo on this side, which is a nice touch, and in this photo you can see the leather strap that holds the hammer in place. I thought this was a nice touch, as it does its job well, without being intrusive. It’s nice having the hammer as a separate part, as it helps it to look realistic (some figures have the accessories moulded in, and it always shows to some extent). 

Harley’s right:

Here you can see the detail on the hammer, which is nicely wood-like, and her nicely painted glove. The belt of bullets also looks good. 

Back of Harley:

She has a nice cape. but the paint in the middle isn’t quite done right, which is a bit of a shame. However, this doesn’t bother me much, as I won’t be seeing this side often.

Am glad I got this figure – it was nicer than I anticipated it to be, which is always a good thing. The mixed media, with the straps on the top and the leather holding the hammer are very nice touches, which help the figure stand out. I’m particularly pleased with the hammer’s texture too. 

Can never have too much Harley 🙂