Category: Eastern

Medusa vs. Medusa: Sega & Banpresto

Time for something slightly different… a “bonus” blog, comparing two Medusa (aka Rider) prize figures. For a Fate character, Medusa’s been a bit shafted in the figure department – most of her figures are from 2010 or earlier. Then after an 8-year drought, a figure was released! Aaaand it was a mediocre bunny by Funnyknights. Then a few figures of her Fate/Grand Order appearance, which I’m personally not fond of.
Then we get… two prize figures! I’ll take what I can get! There were some debates of which people favoured, but me being me, I went for both.

This blog is intended as a one-off – mostly to compare these two figures and an excuse to use some new photography lights I’ve recently purchased.

Pricing

Due to the weird shipping situation, I’m going to quote prices without shipping for this blog.
Price I paid for Sega SPM Rider: ¥1,800
Price I paid for Banpresto EXQ Rider: ¥800

The Banpresto figure was opened, so I got it cheaper than the current market value (~¥1,500). Sega’s can now be had for around ¥1,200 plus shipping – I was rather overeager to get it, so ended up paying a bit more to not risk missing out. Wasn’t sure how popular she was going to be, seeing as it had been a long time since a F/SN Medusa figure had been released.

Promo shots

This is the main images we had to go on, prior to the actual release:
https://i.ibb.co/bg82hQp/promo-shots.png

Much was left up to the imagination, how would the flowing hair work? What kind of stands would they have? What would the final paint finish be like?

Continue reading “Medusa vs. Medusa: Sega & Banpresto” →

Official vs Bootleg: FREEing Shiro (Cat ver; S-Style)

This figure was intended to be the first entry of Official vs Bootleg… and here we are at OvB number 9! This bootleg was released several months before the official product was released, so I was super-curious how it turned out.

Want to vote on which figures you’d like to see in the Official vs Bootleg series? Head over to the OvB voting site!

Pricing

MSRP (without tax): ¥3,685
Price I paid for the official (inc shipping): ¥4,210 (£29.45)
Price I paid for the bootleg (inc shipping): $14.58 (£10.42)

I pre-ordered the official figure.

For this one, I did not get the box with the bootleg, so we’ll be skipping that portion – though the bootleg box is very different from the official from the photos I’ve seen. And like a good portion of S-Style bootleg boxes, it has a window whilst the official ones do not, which is a massive clue to it not being an official S-Style figure.
This figure also does not have any accessories, so it’s straight onto the base.

Base

Side-by-side:

Yep, don’t think we can get much more different. Like the other official S-Style figures, the official base is a cog shape. For Shiro, her base is a darkish blue and does not have any pegs as she can stand on her own. The bootleg however… is a roundish fluffy thing that likes to shed feathers. Being cheaply made, its final shape cannot really be called circular, as it contains many irregularities.

Bottom:

For the official, we have the standard copyright notice and a central support to keep the base sturdy. The bootleg has been sewn to a piece of fabric, so there is some finishing work going on here. And no, they haven’t put any copyright info down here.

And here’s a picture for an exact size comparison:

Bootleg base is a decent bit bigger than the official. If the bootleg base was done more professionally, I think it could be preferable to the plastic discs these figures come with – they don’t tend to be well-liked. I think they’re OK, and I do like interlocking them when I’m displaying S-Style figures in a group, but I do agree some of them are a bit too gaudy-coloured.

Personally I display this figure with no base, so no actual points to award here really. As far as telling which is which, I’m not sure you could mix these two up. If the bootleg base wasn’t as poorly produced, I think it could be a contender for this figure as it is more interesting than a cog that doesn’t fit with the figure’s aesthetic.
Due to the fact the bootleg base sheds and isn’t a proper shape, I’d recommend buying something separately if you want her on a fluffy base.

Figure spin-around

https://i.ibb.co/k5mmv9Q/spin-front.jpg

Continue reading “Official vs Bootleg: FREEing Shiro (Cat ver; S-Style)” →

Official vs Bootleg: Figma Alien

This blog is part 3 of 3 of the Alien Blog Series, so for those of you who are not into Alien, feel free to rejoice :P.

Want to vote on which figures you’d like to see in the Official vs Bootleg series? Head over to the OvB voting site!

Pricing

MSRP (without tax): ¥8,148
Price I paid for the official (inc shipping): ¥8,122 (£59.60)
Price I paid for the bootleg (inc shipping): $13.80 (£10.77)

The official figure I preordered.

Box

Figma bootlegs commonly come with their box, so I have a box for both the official and the bootleg.
Front:

https://i.ibb.co/KwFRHLq/box-front.jpg

Instantly we have two bits of missing text on the box – the Max Factory and GSC logos in the top left and the Fox logo and copyright in the bottom left.
Interestingly, we still have the “10 years anniversary” print on the plastic window, though the colouration is different.
The colour depth is also significantly poorer on the bootleg box – if you look in the bottom right where the box says “ALIEN”, you’ll notice the Alien’s tail a lot less distinct on the bootleg.

Continue reading “Official vs Bootleg: Figma Alien” →

Official vs Bootleg: Kaiyodo Revoltech Alien Queen

Now for the first articulated figure of Official vs Bootleg, plus part 2 of 3 of Alien Blog Series. This Alien Queen was a bootleg I remember considering buying when I didn’t know very many places to get Japanese figures and really wanted an Alien Queen figure. In the end, I didn’t buy the bootleg back then, but was one of the first figures I wanted to do for Official vs Bootleg, and now finally I’ve gotten around to writing this blog. Yay!

Want to vote on which figures you’d like to see in the Official vs Bootleg series? Head over to the OvB voting site!

For the official figure, mine isn’t in the greatest condition as I bought it as part of Mandarake’s “Urban Mines”. One of the spines is broken, and the jaw has been reglued, which means I don’t have the inner jaw in place.

Mandarake used to have an auction subsite called “Urban Mines”. Here they would sell anything that they got traded in and didn’t want to put up for sale on their site. Figures were sold “as-is” and wasn’t uncommon for them to be broken or dirty, though a number of items were perfectly fine. Job lots were also fairly frequent – they’d bundle a bunch of figures together and sell as a lot. This wasn’t part of a lot, but there were some good deals to be had with the job lots… and surprises as they’d only take one photo of the items already packaged to go.
Auctions used to start from a bid of ¥1, but was changed to ¥100. Then not too long after this change, the Urban Mines auctions were retired. My wallet may have rejoiced, but I do miss leafing through the auctions for exciting (and cheap!) things.

Pricing

MSRP (without tax): ¥3,429
Price I paid for the official (inc shipping): ¥2,000 (£18.66)
Price I paid for the bootleg (inc shipping): £14.97

I bought this item in “as-is” condition from the Mandarake Urban Mine.

Box

Front:

https://i.ibb.co/2gHnNXM/box-front.jpg

The front of the box is a direct copy, so not too much difference here. The print quality isn’t so good on the bootleg, and the colours are incorrect. Comparing the plate part of her head, we can see the bootleg box lacks some of the yellow colouring, and comparing her leg we can see where the print is blurry compared to the official.

Continue reading “Official vs Bootleg: Kaiyodo Revoltech Alien Queen” →

Official vs Bootleg: Play Arts Kai Xenomorph Spitter

Seeing as Alien Day is just around the corner, I’ve decided to group together my blogs connected to the franchise. This blog is part 1 of a 3-part series.

This bootleg figure was one that intrigued me by the pictures – the title of this one said “action figure” and “model toy”, with the images looking not very articulated. So with the curiosity of what exactly I was going to get, I shoved this one in my basket.

Want to vote on which figures you’d like to see in the Official vs Bootleg series? Head over to the OvB voting site!

Pricing

A bit like comparing apples and oranges here, but I’ll include the prices anyway.

MSRP (without tax): ¥8,800
Price I paid for the official (inc shipping): £59.99
Price I paid for the bootleg (inc shipping): $18.83 (£14.68)

For the official, I bought it in the aftermarket (from a UK retailer – Zavvi)

Now, let’s get the less intriguing bit out of the way…

Base

https://i.ibb.co/gw3Bch5/stands-side.jpg

Here we can see the the bootleg base is a very close replica of the official one, only in black plastic. There is one major flaw with the bootleg though – and that’s the part with the hexagonal holes is made from a flexible plastic. If the stand is in use, this is fine, but trying to pull the damn thing apart to adjust it is a serious pain.

Grabber:

https://i.ibb.co/mzjVj5F/stand-top.jpg

Not much to say here. Works, does the job.

Base’s base:

https://i.ibb.co/1J9mqnC/bases-bottom.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/8YMmsg5/bases-underneath.jpg

The official one (if you look verryyy closely) has a Play Arts Kai logo on the top at the front, and has a copyright statement underneath the support stand. Bootleg is flat black.

Figure

OK! Now for the exciting bit! Let’s see our friends side-by-side!

https://i.ibb.co/FHxYjxp/pak-both.jpg

Here’s me (poorly) trying to get them in roughly the same pose. Indeed the bootleggers have made a static statue based on an articulated figure!

Continue reading “Official vs Bootleg: Play Arts Kai Xenomorph Spitter” →

Official vs Bootleg: Native/Rocket Boy Dva

Today’s figure is very much NFSW – Rocket Boy’s Dva. Definitely not Blizzard’s D.Va.

Want to vote on which figures you’d like to see in the Official vs Bootleg series? Head over to the OvB voting site!

Pricing

MSRP (without tax): ¥14,455
Price I paid for the official (inc shipping): ¥18,640 (£124.04)
Price I paid for the bootleg (inc shipping): $22.60 (£17.17)

The official figure I preordered.

Box

When I was taking these photos, I apparently decided to have the bootleg box on the left instead of the right. Not sure why I did that, and it isn’t as if I could accidentally mix them up! Well, now you can see why I chose to label the images instead of relying on convention!

Front:

https://i.ibb.co/kX5bd28/boxes-front.jpg

The bootleg certainly lacks the subtlety of the original! No hiding what you’re buying here, though this choice does make it questionable for instore sale. Well, at least you get to see what you’re buying?
As well as the large window that has been added, the “DVA” text has been shrunk and moved into the corner so it isn’t cut off by the window, and the details are printed in white instead of silver. The bootleg box is looking worse for wear as it was shipped flat.

Continue reading “Official vs Bootleg: Native/Rocket Boy Dva” →

Official vs Bootleg: Kotobukiya Kirishima Touka

Today’s figure is Kirishima Touka from Tokyo Ghoul:re, the second (main) series in Tokyo Ghoul.

This was also the first figure that I needed a hammer to assemble – assembling the official was easy enough, but the bootleg had other ideas in mind. The bootleg only came in a (very smashed) blister, so let’s get straight to the figure-reviewing.

Want to vote on which figures you’d like to see in the Official vs Bootleg series? Head over to the OvB voting site!

Pricing

NEW section, starting from this blog. In this section I will list the MSRP (manufacturer’s suggested retail price), the price I paid for the official and bootleg including shipping (as the bootleg prices normally include shipping in the price) and state whether I PO’d the official figure or bought it in the aftermarket.

MSRP (without tax): ¥12,000
Price I paid for the official (inc shipping): ¥11,970 (£82.58)
Price I paid for the bootleg (inc shipping): £10.40

For the official figure, I pre-ordered.

Spin-around

Time to take a figure tour!

https://i.ibb.co/94bF5tx/touka-spin-front.jpg
Continue reading “Official vs Bootleg: Kotobukiya Kirishima Touka” →

Official vs Bootleg: Kotobukiya Harley Quinn (Bishoujo New 52)

This figure is the first one that was not on the original poll, but I suspect it would have garnered a reasonable number of votes, so here she is.

And talking about voting… I now have a website where you can register your interest in what figures I feature in the Official vs Bootleg series. The website is https://ovbvote.tharglet.me.uk. You can vote for figures in my collection that are marked as having a counterfeit version on MFC and that I haven’t already planned to blog or blogged about.
If you have any questions/comments about the site, feel free to comment down below or send a PM on MFC.

And now for the main feature!

The bootleg didn’t come with a box, so no box comparison for this one. So let’s get straight onto the figure!

Spin-around

Continue reading “Official vs Bootleg: Kotobukiya Harley Quinn (Bishoujo New 52)” →

Official vs Bootleg: Aquamarine Hatsuse Izuna

Today’s blog brings us Hatsuse Izuna by Aquamarine. And one not by Aquamarine.

I did not get the box with the bootleg, so there will be no box comparison. Though there were two problems with the bootleg figure prior to the final photoshoot – on arrival, her foot was snapped off, and then her tail became unglued prior to the test photoshoot. Not the best start!
Here are some photos of the damage, which I repaired before the photoshoot:

Base

For this figure, the base is a very plain one:

The official is an off-white, and the bootleg is stark white. Not a huge difference, unless you have them side-by-side.

Bottom of the bases:

On the official, we have the copyright information. And the bootleg has some sticky residue from the tape holding it into the remains of the blister packaging, plus some of my hair (might’ve had this lying around my room for awhile…).

The bases feel the same, so from visual inspection it’s only the colour and the copyright information that are noticeable differences. The official base weighs 40g and the bootleg weighs 36g, so there is some difference in the plastic used. On a personal level, I don’t like either base, and don’t use the official one with my official figure – she currently sits on a glass shelf, so the base only has the attribute of taking up space. However, the bootleg does show that the official base isn’t quite as plain as it could be.

Figure spin-around

Here are some photos showing the figures side-by-side in the same shot:

Continue reading “Official vs Bootleg: Aquamarine Hatsuse Izuna” →

Official vs Bootleg: Jibril – Great War Ver.

For my inaugural Official Vs Bootleg, I’ve chosen to do the most-voted for option: Jibril. I own the Great War version, as I liked the darker wings and more warlike vibe.

The official version of this figure can be found on MFC here.

Images will be clickable throughout the blog, if you wish to see the full-sized images.

As this is the first blog, see if you can guess which side I have the bootleg on in this picture:

So… did you guess correctly which figure is which?

I should imagine most of you worked out which is which :). To me, the thing that stands out the most is the drunken angle which she is holding her scythe – her arm on this side has been mis-manufactured, causing this kind of odd angle. This, coupled with her expression, makes the bootleg look drunk to me, and she’s in the kind of state where she can hold onto things, but not really too concerned with what angle they’re at.

Continue reading “Official vs Bootleg: Jibril – Great War Ver.” →

Rei Ayanami – Seaside ver

This figure I bought secondhand from another user on MFC.

image

She has a small chip on her leg, that was there when I bought her. She’s a very tall figure and quite heavy, as she’s cold cast. 

Left view:

image

Some detail to be seen here, in her armpit and wrinkle on her swimsuit. 

Right view:

image

Little bit of a mark here too, at the bottom of her swimsuit. Doesn’t really affect looking at the front of the figure, and that side of her is obscured from where I chose to place her, so I forgot it was there, until I got her out for these photos. 

Back:

image

Some detail to be seen here, but nothing that stands out to me. The dent in the sand on the base is a nice touch. Being a heavier material, it does cast some of its own shadows, but there’s no shading in the paint. This leaves her looking rather plain compared to other figures, especially as her skin tone is paler than the concept art for this figure. 

She’s rather a mediocre part of my collection. I don’t regret buying her, but she doesn’t particularly stand out, either. 

Rei Ayanami – Poolside Ver – Evangelion

This figure was part of a Suruga-ya order. Unfortunately, this one had an unpictured extra – cigarette smell :/. So this figure got a couple of baths too… 

Here she is, assembled with the pool piece:

I like the pose for this figure, which is why I chose it. Figure quality isn’t great as she’s a small gachapon figure. Main thing that bothers me is the kinda strange paint job on her hair – not sure what’s going on with the shading there. 

She also has a leg piece:

.. so you can do this if you really want to. Could look cool on a shelf ledge like this, or some kind of custom display.

However, it’s more so you can do this:

If you’d prefer to display her without the poolside, this piece allows her to look complete. Though her pose is a bit odd without the poolside. 

Some other angles without the pool:

“Don’t look at me”:

Back:

Here you can see where her parts need to be shoved together a bit more.. Her foot is nicely sculpted, and we do have some wrinkling in her bikini bottoms.

Front:

Not too much to see here. However, you can see the paint job that looks like some ink was spilled on her head… Probably needed to use a lighter blue here. 

Other side:

Not too much to see on this side. Hair is nicely sculpted, pool handle looks good.

View from below:

She has some nice sculpting on her body, giving her good body definition. 

Overall, she’s decent for a gacha figure, and would recommend as a “bonus” item to an order. Hopefully if you get one though, it won’t come with bonus smoke smell like mine :

Alien – Real Action Heroes

This was another random discovery on Mandarake. The description and picture didn’t match, but decided to go for it anyway and see which of the Real Action Heroes Alien figures this was…. and it turned out to be neither of the ones I was guessing it was. This one is #41. 

Here he is, on a Play Arts Kai stand:

image

S’cuse the derpy pose XD. Some of the threads on the joints had become loose, so I added some PTFE tape, so this is slightly visible due to his transparent nature. If it ever bothers me, I’ll replace the PTFE tape with clear nail polish, but PTFE tape is what I had to hand. 

Overall, he’s one cool-looking dude, but it is a rubbery plastic outer, so it had got very sticky with age – ended up giving him two baths to get rid of the sticky residue. 

‘Face’:

image

Scratches on his teeth were prior damage. Could get some silver paint/marker to fix this. His mouth has been sculpted well, and he has his inner mouth, as any Alien should. 

Crotch (because apparently I deemed this as a shot worth taking):

image

Here we can see some of the mechanisms, and the way his rubber suit is almost like a swimsuit. 

Feet:

image

Here we have some shiny silver toes. Paint and sculpt is nice. 

Left:

image

Love the sculpt on the side of his head, and he’s a decently poseable figure. Even with his joints tightened, he doesn’t stand too well on his own, so I’d recommend getting a stand, if you get any of these Alien figures. 

Hand:

image

These hands are just the rubbery plastic, plus some silver painting on his fingernails. 

He does have a second pair of hands:

These are hard plastic, with a singular wrist joint. I prefer the spiky ones.

Right:

Looking symmetrical to the left side. 

Back ‘pipes’ side:

Details look nice and crisp. 

Back:

Not too much to see back here, but we can now get a good look at his tail. 

Tail joint:

This is the part I dislike most about this figure – the tail goes onto a rubberised “spike” so it can fall off easily and isn’t poseable. Wish they had a hinged joint here, so you could move his tail to the side at lest. 

Tail in all its glory:

This thing is long and does pose issues when placing him on a shelf. The rubberised nub does allow it to bend to the side a bit, but can be knocked off in the process. 

Tail tip:

Nice bit of sculpting to end his tail. 

Head dome:

The details in here are sculpted nicely, and the transparent dome works well. You do get some dots on the dome, from the spikes pressing against it. This is also probably some of the plasticiser that’s leaked out over time too. 

Overall, I really like this figure, especially for the price I paid. He hasn’t aged too well, but the faults are mostly minor and fixable. For anyone interested, for getting off the plasticiser (sticky stuff) I used either hand soap or washing-up liquid, or possibly both. And some good ol’ fashioned elbow grease. Due to his head already having some potentially liquid dots in there already, I was careful not to dunk his head in the water, just in case it leaked (which would be a pain to fix). 

Misato Katsuragi – Moto Riders ver – Evangelion

This was a figure I decided I wanted when I saw it. Came across it on Mandarake, where it quickly made its way to my basket.

Here she is:

Some of the “free” dust can still be seen on the base. This time it wasn’t my fault it was dusty! The thing that attracted me to this figure was her outfit. I like the cute look of her face, and the skintight outfit has been done nicely for a prize figure. 

Face:

Her face is fairly decent, and I like the expression. Hair is a bit “eh”, but decent enough for a prize figure. I like the choker they’ve added to her neck. Her chest is actually a soft rubber, if you like to poke your figures. An interesting additional feature for a prize figure.

So… let’s see if she has her scar:

Nope, can’t find it anywhere down there. Due to the rubbery material used for her chest, I’m not surprised it wasn’t included. On her had, the rubber has denatured slightly, but her body seems fine. 

The zip on her uniform has been painted neatly. Sculpting is OK for the zip – looks a bit thick close-up but OK with a bit of distance.

Left:

Here she’s leaning forward slightly, and she has a shapely upper body. I like that they’ve included some shading on her suit, instead of leaving it flat-coloured. 

Right:

The creasing on her clothing looks good, and the boots have been done well. Her hair I’m not so keen on, but it does the job. Though to me, her hair doesn’t feel quite right – her hair is overly flat in places, which looks odd next to the more sculpted parts. 

Back:

Hair looks good from the back – I do like the way it flows. 

Overall, I’m pleased with this figure, though I do wonder how the rubberised bits will age. 

Freddy Krueger – A Nightmare on Elm Street – Bishoujo v2

Now for another horror-themed figure – Fredd Krueger, but perhaps not as you’ve seen him before!

This figure is part of Kotobukiya’s Bishoujo line, which has a few gender-swapped characters, this being one of them.

So here he, uh, she is:

A very sultry-looking Freddy. I love the face and the pose from the front. With the second edition, they slimmed down the base and reshaped it a bit, to make it fit with the figure more. The base does the job, but I don’t have many feelings towards it.

Face:

I love the way the lip gloss has been done, and the hair is an interesting effect, but feels a tad green which I find a little off-putting. The glove has been sculpted and painted well. Her top is fairly decent, but doesn’t have a proper ripped effect going on with the edging, which is a minor downside to the figure.

This close-up also shows the issue I have with her body shape – her back looks rather broken at certain angles… especially this one! She’s fine from the front, but some of the side angles aren’t very flattering.

Chest:

Her cleavage has been done well, and I like the cute bra under the top.


Left:

With her arm covering her back, she doesn’t look so broken. Love the dimple in the hat, and the strands in her hair. Her boots are also nicely sculpted, and I think they pulled the ring detail off well.

Stocking close-up:

Her stocking looks especially good on this figure, and they’ve even included the stocking seam at the back, which I thought was a nice touch.

Right:

The blood effect isn’t terribly realistic, and could’ve done with a bit more shading to it. The flat red makes it look kinda bad imo. The shape of the paint works, but there’s no depth to the wound. I think a little bit of an edge would have helped.

Back:

Again, lookin’ kinda bent. However, her back is otherwise sculpted well, and the shorts are really well done. Here the “off” hair shade shows up the most I think, and could’ve done with being a tad more yellow in my opinion. He doesn’t have any hair, so it would’ve been nice to give it a more complimentary shade now he has some.

Shorts close-up:

Love the logo on the back of the shorts! The detailing on these is nice, and the frayed jeans effect I think works here. The stitching has been detailed, which really adds to the realistic look.

Overall, I’m happy with this figure, and glad to have finally got around to getting it. I think the hair could’ve been done in a better colour, which is my main gripe. Seeing as I don’t move my figures around too much, I can display her at a favourable angle, so not too bothered about the oddly shaped back. I think it’d bother me more if it wasn’t for the hair though.

Kuroyukihime – Black Dress ver

A small figure for today:

A small chibi figure of Kuroyukihime, from Accel World. With this figure, I like the hair and the outfit, but not sure if the face fits – her face seems to lack the “severity” of Kuroyukihime, as it is rounded and her expression is almost smiling. Just feel it could be tweaked a bit to give off more of a Kuro vibe… However, what is there looks nice for what it is. Her dress is nicely sculpted, and her shoes fit well with the outfit – my only real complaint is that the flower is pretty much covering up the silver butterfly detail at the top. I feel the flower could’ve been a tad smaller so the butterfly could show. 

Mask:

Bendy! Haven’t got around to fixing this – some heat and cold water should fix this, but this figure is going to be prone to this part bending.. Well, better than it breaking tbh. The mask itself looks the part and is painted well.

Left:

Not too much to see from the sides. The hair strands look nice, but not too much detail in her hair otherwise. She has a sculpted ear, which is nice, and her shoes look good.

Right:

Here we get the mast, but it does appear to float from this side, as she isn’t gripping it. 

Back:

Again, not too much to see. I do like the strands on the lower half of her hair though. Just wish there was more to her upper hair so she looks a little less like a billiard ball, though this is fairly typical for chibi figures. At least the shade is nice and compliments her. 

Overall, I find this above average for chibi trading figures, as the design means there isn’t a bunch of paint slop. I don’t think it’s winning any awards for being a Kuroyukihime figure, but in its way, it is a nice figure. Just be prepared to have to straighten out the mask handle. This figure is usually pretty cheap though, if it comes up, so it is good for the price.

Gekkoukiba no Majo Lilith – Puzzle & Dragons

Along with yesterday’s figure, I bought this small figure of Lilith:

Was surprised by the small details on this figure, and the crown she wears has been nicely done. With the crown, the paint looks neat, and the colours compliment each other. 

Close-up:

The clothes… of what little she has… have been printed well. The small parts on her leg are nice and neat. Love her scythe too – the purple-gold works really well imo. 

Left:

On this side, she sports a dark wing. We can also see a cute heart-shaped earring here too. I like the way her hair flows too.

Right:

On this side, her hair seam is a bit more obvious, but not too bad. This side she has a red and white wing, which we can just about see from this angle. 

Closer look at the sides of her outfit:

More material here, than the clothes on her body! Nicely painted though, with very minimal painting errors. Has a good amount of detail to it too. 

Back:

The strands of her hair are sculpted well, and flow nicely. There isn’t any paint shading on her hair, which is a minor negative, but it still looks nice. 

Overall, I’m pleased with this small figure, and glad to add it to my collection.

Kakusei Minerva – Puzzle & Dragons

Again… finding myself buying Puzzle & Dragons figures, because the company that makes them does such a nice job of them. 

Here’s today’s figure:

And, wow, there’s plenty to look at here. Her wings come as four separate parts to attach, and her sword arm as a couple of pieces. Thankfully this one wasn’t in need of extra stand pieces, so she wasn’t too hard to build – just getting the wings and sword assembled in the right order. 

Face:

Her eyes are nicely printed, and the sculpting is really nice – I love her face, and the hair has been nicely done too. The red and yellow on the crown has been blended smoothly into a nice transition. Love the pale pink metallic armour too. The paint here is also clean. 

Ball:

The ball has an obvious seam, but the texturing on it is nice. The black parts on the edges of her armour contrast well. 

Left:

The sides are dominated by the wings – there isn’t any shading on the wings, but the deep sculpt does help make up for this. Love the shiny orange of the sword.

Closeup of the sword on this side:

The handle is a very nice sculpt, and the “runes” on the sword look really good. The lines are nice and clean on the sword, plus the gold and orange compliment each other nicely. 

Leg:

Love these orange spikes. Lots of sculpted details here, though the sculpted details don’t have any paint detail to them. However, that probably counts in the figure’s favour, as it’s less chance of a sloppy pant job but still looks good. 

Right:

Here we see mostly wing, but we can see more details of the sword. 

So here’s this side of the sword:

The dragon sculpt is very eye-catching, along with the gold parts on the hilt. Really love this design and the bright colours of it. 

Back:

.. though that sword is bigger than her… strong lass! Here we can see the four wing parts, as she twists to wield the sword. Love the way the wings add to her motion. and that she has four of them. 

Wings from slightly above:

Where the light on the left obliterates the shading, their non-painted nature does rather show up, but doesn’t look bad where there are shadows. 

I think the weakest part of the figure is the ball in her hand – it’s supposed to be a fireball, and could’ve been doing with being more transparent to emphasise that imo, as it does look like she’s holding a crystal or something instead. However, it does look OK in its own right (well, maybe not the seam), so if you’re not bothered about accuracy I don’t think it’s that bad. The wings do look plasticky under stronger light, but not as bad as the guardian’s white wings. These have more depth and motion to them, which does reduce the plasticky look.

Overall, she’s a really nice figure for the price, and I would recommend her if you’re a fan or just like her design. 

Devilman mini-figure 4-Pack

This set I saw on YAJ first (iirc), but then found one of the Mandarake stores had it, so went and ordered it there. 

I’ll start with my favourite, the one similar to his original colours:

The first apparent downside of these figures – they don’t stand up, and no stands are provided. Not sure if Uni-Five intended for these to be unboxed…? Or maybe you’re supposed to carry these as charms? 

The sculpts for these figures are all the same – and thankfully it’s a decent sculpt. The details are somewhat obscured due to the clear plastic, but are there. We can see details of his face, and the small protrusions of his horns. I love the pose chosen – his arms crossed is a fitting pose. 

Back:

The texture on his legs looks good, and I like the way his tail curls around his leg. The wings also work well, and I do like his pose… even if he can’t stand on his own. 

So with the sculpt analysed, here are the other colours included in the set.

Red:

Probably my least favourite of the set. Bit too on the neon side. 

Black:

Looks OK, bit better than the red one.

Glow-in-the-dark:

Whilst his sculpt details are less obvious in the daytime, he does glow, and for that he’s my second favourite. 

Overall, I like this set, but is probably a set a fair few will just display in box as it has fairly eye-catching packaging:

For myself, I’ll likely get out some white-tack to help them stand, and display them amongst my collection. And maybe sneak one into an ita bag…

Gilles de Rais – Fate/Grand Order Duel

This was the Fate/Grand Order Duel figure that I saw and wanted. I’ve always been a fan of Gilles de Rais’s look. Being a less popular character, this figure was also cheap, which was a bonus. 

So let’s have a look at him:

image

From the front, he looks decent, but I don’t like the fact he looks down – it would be nicer if he was looking a bit higher so his face was visible when looking front-on. I wouldn’t mind him looking slightly down, as that fits Gilles, but from this angle you don’t really get to see his face.

So here’s his face:

His face has been sculpted well, and has his angular look. Hair and outfit are both neatly painted, and the pink and blues chosen work well together. His rungs look good too. 

Left:

The paintwork on his arm has been done well, and the shading throughout his cloak looks really good. Definitely doesn’t have the shading issue of the prize figure. The points on his collar are nice and crisp. 

Right:

Here we see him holding his book with a claw-like grip. The book has been done well, especially for a small piece. The cloak has also been well -shaded on this side, and we can see the shading on his upper collar too. 

Back:

Props for the stand not getting in the way on this one – I like the fact they’ve gone for a shorter stand so we can appreciate his cape. The back looks really good to me – with the differing shades of blues from the upper and lower halves, and the shading within each part.

Top of his cape:

His hair his sculpted well, and his colour is nicely sculpted and painted. The spikes are slightly different, giving it a more clothinglike appearance. 

Overall, I think this is a really nice figure of Gilles, if small. As a character without a lot of figures, it’s nice to have a quality one, even if it isn’t a scale.