Category: Eastern

Tiger & Lunatic – Tiger & Bunny World Collectable Figures Vol. 3

Today’s two figures will be Tiger in his suit and Lunatic. 

Here we have Wild Tiger:

In this figure we get to see his face and his suit, which is a rarity with his figures. I like the fact he’s wearing his eye mask under the suit… like he needs it. The paint on his is really nice, but a little less neat on the suit, The clear pieces of his suit are nice – on his should, arm and helmet. Though, like the Bunny figure, the tint is too pale on the green parts. 

Left:

Not too much to see here. 

Right:

Paint is fairly neat, and I think he’s posed well.

Back:

His pose also works well from he back. He has a few small details painted too, which makes the figure look good – his boots, bit on his back, and the green parts on the back of his helmet. 

Overall I like this figure – and he’s a welcome addition to my collection for the different pose. 

Now for the villain of the piece, Lunatic:

His head is painted well, and his hand, but the green paint feels rather rushed on his right of his cape. The white lines on his trousers have come out well, though. 

Left:

His head is painted well, but again, paint on the cape looks rushed, and there’s a bit of a transfer mark in the middle. Think he needs to give his cape a wash!

Right:

Ditto the remarks for his left-hand side.

Back:

The green and blue paint seem a fair bit neater back here than the sides, but still has some slop and misses. Black paint didn’t feel like going within the lines on his collar. 

I’m really impressed with his head, and the sculpt overall, but the paint on his cape is rather the letdown. One to display at a distance… which fits Lunatic. But it would’ve been nicer if the painter paid a bit more time to his cape. 

Bunny – Tiger & Bunny World Collectable Figures Vol. 3

I will be doing these trading figures in pairs, as there are 8 of them, and a week of blogs dedicated to these guys feels a bit much.

So, today’s pair is… Bunny & Bunny. 

Barnaby in his casual outfit:

The sculpting on this duded is pretty nice, and the paint is mostly neat. I especially like his hair, and the amount of details that went into his jeans – the stud, the belt and the linework. 

Left:

Here we can see some of the red of his jacket escaping int the white, and some dodgy texturing on the hair, which is a lot less apparent from the front. Jeans and shoes loog good though.  The cream part on his shoulder doesn’t match the white on the main part of his jacket, which makes it look a little odd to me.

Right:

Hair has a nicer finish on this side, seam is fairly well hidden imo. 

Back:

Hair sculpt is good, jeans look good from all the angles imo, as well as the boots, belt paint is a bit suspect back here though. 

Overall, I think this is a good trading figure and has a good likeness to Barnaby Brooks Jr. 

Bunny, darkness edition:

From a first glance, this figure looks pretty good, but does have its flaws – the one that isn’t so apparent from the photos is the side fins on his head do fall off rather easily. They do stay, so long as he isn’t nudged, though. This figure does have a fair number of fine lines, which I think does show the limits of painting on small trading figures – it does feel a bit uneven in places. 

Left:

I think the fins on the sides of his head could’ve done with a bit more dye, so that his head didn’t show so clearly through these parts. Lower arm guard colour looks about right. I do like this use of transparent parts.

Right:

Mostly more of the same. I like this pose though – “ready for action”. Paint on his collar looks a little dinged up. 

Back:

The backpack parts are nicely shaped, but appear to be a different colour to the rest of the pinkish parts. Would’ve been nice if the pinkish parts coordinated more. I think the proportions have gone a little odd due to the chibification though – I feel as if the backpack is a bit too wide, and doesn’t sit how it should. 

Overall, a decent likeness, but best not looked at form the back. 

Food Keychains – Daiso

No trip to Japan is complete with a visit to Daiso. And I noticed the food items on ball chains, and had to buy some. I limited myself to three, so here are the three I picked.

First up, a fried egg:

Mmm, nicely fried. 

Back is plain:

Rice n’ stuff:

Not sure what the pink stuff is, but it does spring onion and seaweed. 

Noodles:

Also some egg in this one :). I like the fact this one includes chopsticks too. 

All three look tasty, but can confirm they are not. Well, they don’t have much taste to them… lol. But they do look really good, and only cost ¥108 each. 

Crane & Rabbit Gachapon

And now for the last of the random gacha. First item today is a crane origami gashapon:

These were in various colours, glad I got a blue one, as I like the colour blue. This crane has a soft rubbery feel, and does look like a paper crane. 

And lastly, a gashapon from a set called Cage la Usagi, which translates to Rabbit Cafe:

A cute little gacha, but probably not one I’m going to display. It’s nicely done, but doesn’t really appeal to me. I’d like to see more of the rabbit. Might have somewhere where I might sneak it into at some point, but this one is likely headed to the drawer of trading figures. 

Hresvelgr & Ram – Frame Arms Girls & Re:Zero

Another couple of gashapon today. 

First up, Hresvelgr:

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Here we have one of the Frame Arms Girls creeping out of their box. This series is ordinarily model kits by Kotobukiya, so this is what these are based on. The boxes for model kits often look like this – a plain cardboard bottom, with the artwork printed on the lid. 

Front:

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Aww, cute face. The reason I went for one of these gacha was because they looked so cute in their boxes.

Sides:

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Paint’s a bit messy, but does the job. 

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Top of the box isn’t a replica of the model kit boxes, but does a good job of replicating the feel. 

Ram from Re:Zero:

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At the time I went to Japan, there was a lot of Re:Zero merch about the place, but I haven’t seen the show. I decided the gashapon looked pretty, so decided to go for one. And I got Ram. Personally, I prefer Rem, due to the blue hair. Overall, the paint on this gashapon is OK, but a bit blobby on her hair. 

Other photos:

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I think this gacha has been sculpted decently well, and would make for a nice charm. 

Devil & Butt-head gachapon

So… going to classify today’s blog items as “misbehaving”. Because why not. 

First up, Butthead from Beavis and Butt-head:

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Had to get a gacha from this machine, seeing as I felt it was a very random thing to be producing gacha for in this day and age… The hair is nicely shaded and sculpted, and the face looks good. Rest of him… does the job. He’s on half a sofa, as Beavis comes with the other half, but I didn’t feel like buying any others of this set. 

Other angles:

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Looks decent from the other angles imo. With the side of the couch painted, it doesn’t look too distracting for being one half.

Next up, a devil:

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This one I got from a gacha shop rather than a machine. They were selling him for his RRP, so hey, that’s good with me. I like the overall design, though it would’ve been nice if his wing claws were black, Even for a gacha, this guy was cheap though, lol. His main design flaw is he’s hard to stand up – has a habit of rolling over, despite having his loincloth designed to help him stand. As he ain’t standing on his feet. 

Side:

Here we can see how he sits on his loincloth. After bending it a bit, he did stand up a bit easier. Neck looks a bit too thick from this angle.

Back:

He has some texture moulded into his wings, so isn’t entirely plain here. Overall, an OK gacha, but nothing special.

Parasyte… and parasite!

More gacha, and something a bit different. This blog will focus on the gross. 

First up is a Parasyte charm:

The outside of this charm is pretty nifty, but the print in the middle spoils it – it’s not very high-quality, and it shows. Would be nice to have more contrast in the print, and a bit of a higher resolution. I’d also settle for a Migi-themed charm, without the pic. Migi’s eye has been nicely done. 

Back of the charm:

Some details on the digits, and a big ol’ logo. I like the dangling blade part too. Just a shame the front ain’t so pretty. 

Now from Parasyte to parasite:

This li’l guy is what it says on the top – Nybelinia Surmenicola. This dude likes to parasitise certain sea creatures. Bought this at the Meguro Parasitological Museum (as the bottom of it says), was a bit of a different museum to visit – kinda small, but interesting. 

And now for something that sorta fits the theme, another gacha, and this guy is called Chad the Gross:

This is his “normal” colours – the characters came in two varieties. This guy seems to be playing the cello, in his sparkly, see-through slimy glory. I love the colour of his hair, and the eyes stand out well. Was attracted to buying one of these because they reminded me of 90s/00s toys. And I don’t feel disappointed.

Other shots:

Looking at the figure stand, I’m not sure if they intended this to be a stool or a growth. I’m gonna go with growth, because that fits the “The Gross” theme. An hey, would be kinda cool to have another limb to act as a chair, no? 

Overall, I really like the colours on this guy, and he’s a cool, little, almost-nostalgic figure, so he’s going somewhere in the collection. 

Hope today’s blog wasn’t too scary!

Mediamon & “Sorry” – Digimon & Bekkon Robotonics

So… time for some gachas! 

This first item I got from a ¥100 random item gacha – no idea what I was going to get.

And I got Mediamon:

Overall, a decent gacha item, but not one I’m particularly interested in. I think he may have gone into my Drawer of Purgatory already (every house has one of those… right?). The quality seems decent, but I have no familiarity with the source material, so can’t pass too much comment about him. 

This gacha I wasn’t sure what it was supposed to be, so I decided to grab an item out of it anyway:

Apparently this is some kind of mascot for Bekkon Robotonics, and this particular gacha item was entitled “Sorry”. Here we seem to have two cats with masks walking along… interesting mascot action!

Some more pics:

Well, now I have something for a “loljapanese” display. This one is also likely to live in the Drawer of Purgatory, unless I have room for a random display. Maybe I could squeeze these into an ita bag of some sort? 

So yeah. That was two random gachas I ended up with. Because I like shoving money into gacha machines. 

Sirene – Devilman

Bought this figure from a store that sells gachapon/trading figures loose in small bags. Post tagged NSFW, as Sirene doesn’t know what clothes are. 

So enjoy this SFW shot to start with:

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Her face looks OK from the side, but we can see my bugbear with this figure in the first shot… the head wings keep falling off :(. She’s a bit of a fall-to-bits figure, which is not really shown in the photos. At some point I may use some tack or glue to stick her together, if it gets too annoying. 


Front:

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She comes with a little plastic stand to help her stay upright, but it does a mediocre job. The sculpting, however, is really nice – the wings are feathery, we can see her collarbones, and her forearms and shins are detailed. The paintwork is mostly neat, but leaves a bit to be desired in the shading department. Overall, this isn’t too bad as it is a small trading figure. 

Face:

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Here we can see the wings are well-textured, and her nipples well-defined. Her right arm can move around a bit, but it’s not meaningful movement – more of an artefact of assembly. 

Left:

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Her boobs are decently shaped, but maybe needed a bit more of an attachment to her body. The side crease seems to go a little high. Here we can see also where her arm has come slightly off from the peg. 

Right:

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Some copyright notices here… and a seamline up her body. Her body feels a bit oddly shaped from this angle to me. Her feet are nicely sculpted though. Talons could’ve done with being painted black though. 


Back:

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Her hair looks nice from the back, between the wings. Her tail looks odd, but that’s more to do with character design… Her shoulder blades look too flat, on the upper parts, but it’s nice to see some shape to her back.

Overall, it’s a fairly solid trading figure, if you can get it to not fall apart. Its flaws mostly seem to reside in making a small figure to a budget, so I’m happy with it. Might have to heat her legs to sort out her stance, though. And add something to her to stop parts falling off…

Vending Machine Gachapon

OK, what would you like out of a vending machine? How about more vending machines! 

So I paid my money, and got my machine:

Erm. Um. So my first go at the machine got me the bonus drink set:

So then I had plenty of things to vend! There were 2 trays like the above in the box, so plenty of cans. 

Here’s a couple of close-ups:

This above shot shows the issue with these cans – the glue doesn’t stick overly well to the plastic, so they do become unwrapped a bit easily. Though the design is simple, but nice. 

So that left me needing to give the gachapon a second go:

Yay! I got me a vending machine! The design is nice and detailed, and looks very much like the vending machines you find all over Japan.

So let’s load ‘er up and give it a go:

Yay! Cans! It works decently well, but will often vend multiples with one press. Occasionally cans can get stuck, due to the aforementioned sticker issue. 

Now for a tour of the machine. Sides:

Hair is, uh, optional extra. Here we can see the slots that guide the door on the front of the machine, and the bars that guide the can release mechanism. These parts move smoothly in their slots.

Apparently I didn’t take a pic of the back, but it features a small slot-in door at the top (think mini battery compartment), where the cans can be inserted. 

Whee, this thing is fun:

The machine itself came with the one Power Horse Can, shown in the bottom-right of the above photo. 

Close-up of the Power Horse can:

Print is a bit blurry, but it is a very small item. Does the job.

I’m glad I got the cans first – it’s much more fun to play with when you have more than one can. I also love the fact it’s a working machine. Happy I went for this gacha :). 

Fate/Stay Night keychains

Here’s four keychains based on characters from the Fate franchise – two of Medusa (Rider), one of Rin Tohsaka and one of Gilgamesh.

First Rider keychain:

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This is a new piece of merchandise, based on the new movie (Heaven’s Feel). Haven’t seen it yet, but I’ve been liking Rider’s look on the merch that’s been coming out. Love her outfit on this keychain, plus her hair is nicely done too. 

Back:

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Nope, not much to see here. The back print seems to have a decent feel to it, and doesn’t feel it’ll scratch off too easily, but isn’t covered (most Japanese print keychains seem to be like this). There are some translucenty black squares around the outside, but I don’t feel it brings anything special to the keychain.

Second Rider keychain:

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Thought this one was quite cute, and I liked the fact it had an extra dangly bit. This keychain is metal, so it is a bit weighty. The print on this one is enclosed between the metal backing and clear sealant on the front. Not entirely sure what the gold cube represents, but hey. 

Back:

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Nice brushed effect on the back. And some copyright text. 

Rin Tohsaka:

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I got this in a convenience store, and can’t find any reference to this exact keychain on the internet – there is another very similar one that’s larger. Rin looks good on this keychain, and I also like it for this:

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As the design is printed on the front face, it has a 3D effect, which gives it some depth. I like this effect, though the design isn’t protected with any kind of coating. 

Back:

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Not too much to see here. Not hugely thick print, but deffo does the job. 

Gilgamesh:

I got this in a blind box, so didn’t get this one by choice. Not a fan of Gilgamesh in this form – much prefer him in his armour, so I didn’t recognise who this was at first. Thinking I may try and sell this one. 

Back:

Nice logo on the back. Not totally boring! Also there’s an earphone jack, so you can attach it to your phone if you like…

And that concludes my Fate keychain collection! And now I get to stop typing keychain and resume being English. 

Silver Crow – Accel World – Be@rbrick

Here is a Be@rbrick of Silver Crow:

Hi me! When I went to buy this, I had to ask at the counter for it – turns out they had just about every other Be@rbrick on display, but not this one, despite having three or more in the drawer… He was one of the specific items I was after, so was glad to get him. 

Love the shiny visor they’ve given him, and the Silver Crow design has translated reasonably well to Be@rbrick form. The lines are nice and crisp, and the design has many key features to make it recognisably Silver Crow. No wings though. 

Left:

Here we see his “power” gauntlets, and the twiddly design bits on his arm. And he’s not quite as slender as Silver Crow himself! Some nice linework gives his helmet a techno feel.

Right:

Same design here, as the left. Still definitely bear-shaped instead of Crow-shaped, but that is to be expected.

Back:

Here we have a bit of a spine decoration, and the plates where his wings would protrude from, should he deploy them. Be@rbrick isn’t in the habit of giving accessories to their bears, so this design choice makes sense. He has some detailing on the back of his legs and head, to finish off his design.

Overall, I’m happy with this Be@rbrick, especially as he was decently cheap. I feel the design was translated well, especially given the very different body types – it’s still very much recognisable as Silver Crow imo, whilst fitting to the Be@rbrick shape. A nice bit of small merch to add to the Accel World collection. 

Smile Slimes! – Dragon Quest

Here are a couple of Smile Slime items. I’ve not played Dragon Quest, but I have a soft spot for these squishy fellows.

First up, a magnet set:

Their cute faces have been done well, and I love the translucent effect.

Back:

These flat backs stick to surfaces well. Have had them stuck to various radiators in the house, plus they just about fit on the Detolf handles. My favourite one is a tie between the purple one (on account of being purple) or the blue one, as the colours fit well together… and it’s the traditional colours. 

I also had a go at a Dragon Quest gacha and got this fellow:

He’s made of a soft, smooth rubber, and is air-filled. Was quite strange picking him up for the first time! Not quite what I expected. 

Back:

Nothin’ much to see here. Not sure what you’d expect, really. 

Overall, an OK gacha. Still undecided if I like the fact he’s air-filled or not – at least if he does burst, he won’t make a mess. 

So keep smilin’ and slimin’ out there!

Hatsune Miku – Vocaloid – VN02

This figure I wanted for a long time, but because she won’t fit into a SAL small packet so held off ordering her, as the postage would be more than the figure secondhand. Plus customs fees on top of that… So this was one of the few figures on my “hit list” when I went to Japan, as putting her in a suitcase would be MUCH cheaper.
So I did:

Upon unboxing her, she turned out to be really dusty, so had to give her a good wash. I love the pose of this figure, and the shades of green, even though they aren’t very “Miku”. The figure took some effort to assemble – main issue is getting the leg protrusion lined up with the notch in the base so she stands solidly. I love the detail in this figure – her costume has a lot of details in it, and I like her face. I can see this figure not being too appealing to people who are distinctively fans of Miku, as it’s kinda fairly far off her normal design. For me, I love the future tech aesthetic. 

Face:

The face looks really nice to me – her skin is reasonably plain, but the parts of her face work together as a whole for me. I love the detail in the hair – the strands are really well-sculpted here. She also has a bit of a videogame character vibe going on, what with the green part jutting out, which if Dead Space is to be believed, is where you keep your HUD. 

Left:

Here you can see the large amount of movement in the figure – I love the way her hair curls up and backwards over her, and the clear tips. The fading-to-clear theme is also repeated on her sleeves. Here you can see where her knee support goes into the stand – the way the stand is part of the figure is another reason this figure stood out to me. It’s also surprisingly stable, which was something I was worried about, given her pose. Here we also see the speakers(?) attached to her back – these weren’t too hard to attach to the figure (and come separate in the box). I also love the shiny boots. 

Right:

Here is mostly more of what we saw in the left side. Here we can see her boots are held up by suspenders, and some of the speaker inside the stand. The white crest that juts up from it holds her quite sturdily. Her gloves and boots have been given similar designs, which helps tie the figure together thematically. 

Closeup of the speakers:

These parts have lots of small details, mostly painted ones too. The lines running around them help sell the technology feel of the figure, plus there’s some pink accents in there. I also love the holes, and their green edging.

Inside view:

They certainly didn’t slack on the details here either. Lots of small gold accents here, with some smaller dots. If you’re not busy being distracted by her backside in this shot… which is well-curved, and her legs are well-sculpted at the top, and give a lifelike loot. 

The rest of the back:

I love the gold bands around the bottom of her head, and the green parts running down her spine. This is a figure that can look good at any angle, should you have somewhere to display it where it can be viewed from different directions. 

OK, back to the backside!

I took this more for the spine detail, and upper back detail. But it features her backside a fair bit too. I like the fact they’ve sculpted creases back here too, as well as on her front. I’m a sucker for armoured spines, so I do like her back design. Here you can see where the speakers connect too – the gold parts have the pegs attached. All of the paint is neat, which is very nice. I feel maybe the back of her hair could do with a few more lines to make it feel less plastic, but that’s definitely not a biggie. 

Back of the base:

Looks good from all the angles imo. I do like the way these parts curl and crest over – only downside is the speaker isn’t very visible from many angles, though this isn’t a bother for me. Though it seems a partly odd choice to mostly hide it this way. 

Overall, I’d highly recommend this figure, if you like the look of it. I think with the colour scheme and theme, it probably is a bit of a Marmite figure, hence its lower price in the aftermarket. Though the postage cost is probably going to bite, unless you’re used to EMS/SAL parcel, or shipping other stuff with it. Or if you’re super-patient there is surface shipping… So I’d say this one probably isn’t for the Miku fan, but rather for people who love the themes in this figure. Or if you want a figure you can display on a higher shelf and it still look good – her leaning pose is really good for this. 

Mandarake Be@rbrick

As one of my favourite stores… I decided to buy a piece of store merch…yup. And it was the most expensive thing I bought at that Mandarake, lol. 

Presenting the Mandarake Be@rbrick:

It has the standard articulation of a Be@rbrick – ball joints for the arms and legs,and the head swivels. They had a lot of these for sale, so no shortage in supply, but at ¥1,800 they’re not cheap. However, this is the average price for the special releases, and this one does the added advantage of glowing in the dark. So you can profess your love of Mandarake at all hours of the day… Hm. 

Print on the front is well done, and is crisp. 

Left:

Yep, standard Be@rbrick thing going on here. 

Right:

Back:

Overall, it’s a very niche thing to own. So erm, you could buy one if you want one? I bought it for its randomness and the fact I like Mandarake. They’ve been helpful when I’ve needed to contact them, and I’ve been happy with the stuff I’ve purchased, so was happy to buy this too. 

Just sad that the Urban Mines no longer exist, ah well, one less place to nickel and dime my bank account to death! But seeing all the random shite was fun… as well as getting good deals now and then. 

Miki Makimura – Devilman – Futura 20th Century Cartoonist Collection

Today we have a mini-diorama trading figure, featuring Miki:

I like this little figure, even though her skin colour is somewhat off. She should really be a pink colour, not an odd shade of brown. I do like the choice of base though, fits in with one of the episodes of Devilman, and having the arm reaching up, Miki unawares feels solid thematically. 

Miki front-on:

I like her expression, though I don’t think it quite works when viewed like this. Her hair is OK, but does lack detail. Her dress is nice – sculpted well with the creases, and the paintwork here is neat. Her legs going into her dress look a litle odd, but that’s to do with the fact you attach her legs to her body here. Would probably look less unnatural if the legs connected higher up, and made it look like her dress was lying on her legs, instead of floating above. 

Base:

The base is painted & sculpted well, and has some texture to it. The figure was a pain to assemble though, and definitely needed warming to get the parts together. I assembled this away from my usual location, so it was… awkward. 

Left:

I like the way Miki’s arm is resting on her hip. Here we can see how the demon arm joint is shaped to ensure the hand can only attach in the correct orientation. It will sort of attach in other orientations, but will only sit right if you have it like this. 

Right:

Here it really does look like it is grasping for Miki. Watch out! Here we can see the paint is rather messy around her slipper, but not too bad elsewhere. She doesn’t have an unsightly hair seam either, which I really like. Is a seamline running down her arm you can see here, though. 

Back:

The arm looks good from the back. I like the stripey effect, and they’ve blended the mud paint quite well, so it definitely looks like it’s rising out of the ground. 

Closeup of the arm:

Yep, definitely a fan of the paintwork on the arm. The sculpting is really nice too – we can see the tendons in the hand, and the claws are nicely done. Definitely gives off a devilish appearance. 

Overall, I really like this mini-figure. If you’re OK with Miki being kind of ashen, I’d recommend it. This one seems to be rather common, so shouldn’t be too expensive to pick up. 

Microman Izamu

So… this thing seems to be from the Japanese equivalent of the 80s toys that had cartoons made for them. Initially, this was a toy series that had its own backstory, which eventually got a manga and a TV series… in a similar style to some other toy lines in the West. Also part of this toyline was the inspiration and basis for Transformers! 

This part of the series, the toys were marketed as being 1:1 size and were masquerading as action figures on their visit to Earth… Old toy lines, amirite? 

So this one is called Izamu:

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I bought him, as he was one of the cheaper ones, and I liked the gold-purple colour scheme. Some of them were pretty pricey for what they were, and I guess those were the popular characters, lol. 

Standing straight:

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He does have a fair amount of retro toy feel going on about him, though his hinges have been incorporated well into the design, so they don’t look bad. He’s decently articulated, and has the ability to stand (which is easier, given his small size). I like the shapes of his armour pieces, making his look interesting and detailed. 

Left:

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Here we have his arm cannon, which has a decent amount of moulding detail. The clear parts of this figure manage to look good,without overwhelming the “look” of the figure. The silver plastic isn’t the best, but hey, cheap small action figure. The sculpt detail helps make up for the lack of any detail paint, not that you’d expect a paint job on this kind of figure. 

Closeup of the gun:

I like this cross design, and the different levels used in the design to make it stand out. 

Right:

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I like the way they’ve added a gold detail to his right arm, so it doesn’t look overly plain. Here we can see how the cannon isn’t his actual left arm, but rather attached to it (though it is a part of the figure and doesn’t remove). Here we can also see how his head being silver gives it more definition, and does look better than if it was transparent. 

Back:

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We can see he’s fully committed to the masquerading-as-a-toy bit by the Takara stamped on his backside P. One screwhead back here – almost feels as if they missed a trick by putting it below the circular part, instead of inside. The sculptwork does go around it though, so it doesn’t look super out-of-place. Here you can see how older toys without ankle articulation are harder to balance :P. The details on the purple part of his back are really nice, and shows they thought about the back of the figure too. 

Overall, I’d recommend this line, if you’re a fan of the designs and into this retro aesthetic. The articulation is decent, and you can get a good range of poses with him imo. Better than some modern equivalents, but not the super-articulated ones (though some of the latter do suffer from being too dainty, and being awkward to pose as a result…). 

Keimi – One Piece – Rare Colour ver

Bought this one as a singular figure in a store selling unboxed trading figures. I believe they had both variants from this set, but I thought this was the prettier one:

I thought the white top went better with her pink tail (the other one had a black top with a gold star). The paint is iffy in a couple of spots (most notably n her top straps), but decent overall. Pappug also looks very happy indeed. 

Face:

I find her hair a bit of an “off” colour – not the nicest shade of green imo. For me this is the weakest bit of the figure. The painting around the edges of her top is a close second though – this mess is pretty visible. At least it didn’t go over her stomach. Her jewellery additions are nice, even if they are a bit roughly painted.

Pappug:

Strangely, he seems a bit better painted than the main figure! The sculpting on him is really nice too – the hat looks excellent, and I love his mouth. With the teeth sculpted in the way they are, it’s avoided some of the oddness that teeth on figures sometimes can have. 

Left:

Here, Pappug looks really nice from the side, and Keimi mostly does too. Her hand is a bit of an odd shape though imo. The top is nicely sculpted though, with the creases. 

Right:

Pappug still looks good, and I’m loving the sheen on her tail. The scales are also sculpted nice and evenly. I also love the shape of her waist.

Back:

The back of her hair is sculpted well, The back of her necklace has been painted neater than the the top part of her top. The bottom ins lovely and neat though. The top of her butt fin is a bit of a mess imo – looking at pics this should be more even with the top of her fin. The base is just smooth on the back, but not bothered by the lack of detail here. Imo the base does its job and does look good with the figure, but it only sort of fits thematically. Does look like she’s sitting on an iceberg, which I don’t think would be too comfortable!

Overall, I’m happy with this trading figure, and think she looks pretty. I haven’t read/watched One Piece, but I do like mermaids, and she hits the spot. 

Mari… and a bit more Mari – Evangelion

Going to make this blog a twofer. These two items I got from an “Evangelion” vending machine – it wasn’t any specific series, but rather just random small Evangelion figures in gacha balls. I was going to buy some more items from it the next day when I had more change, but sadly I forgot to store the location. D’oh. 

So, first up, the Mari figure I got:

This figure wouldn’t be something I’d ordinarily buy, but once I got her out, I was like.. yep, I want this. I like the fact she has a guitar – it makes it a more interesting figure. I also like her happy expression – is almost infectious. She’s been neatly painted, and I like that her glasses have been sculpted as a separate part.

Left:

From the side she’s OK, a couple of paint flaws. The ear sculpt is rather basic and a little odd. 

Right:

The paint is neater on this side, which make it look better. I like her pigtails. 

Back:

Yep. Pretty plain back here. Not much to this view. Guess you could admire her pigtails? 

Overall she’s good for a gacha ball, even if she wasn’t officially a gacha figure XD. 

And now for the other Mari, a keychain:

I already had the Rei version of this keychain, so this one can match with it. 

Other views:

She’s an OK little keychain. The paint is decently done, and the sculpting is good. As I’m not a big Mari fan, she won’t be up front and centre in my collection, but she passes muster to be part of my keychain collection.

Kaworu Nagisa – Evangelion – Portraits

And one more Kaworu for the road:

His hair is OK, but has a bit of a mould line. His shirt is nicely sculpted, and his undershirt neatly painted. His trousers look good, and moulded well around his hands. Or where his hands would be…. Belt paint is OK, but a bit scruffy in places. I like the sculpt job on his trainers – the laces stand out form the rest of the shoe, which not all sculpts capture. The base has been made to make it look like he’s floating a bit, which kind of works. My main downside to looking at him from the front is they have his head tilted too far down so you can’t see his face much. Would’ve liked to see his face feature more. 

Left:

His hair has a fair amount of detailed moulding from the sides – all the spikes have been sculpted. The arm goes convincingly go into his pocket, and looks good. There is a small detail on his sleeve, which is a nice touch. 

Right:

Hair also good looks from this side, and we can admire his ear on this side too – it’s been sculpted well. The collar is possibly slightly blobby, but doesn’t bother me. I like the creases in his clothes, and they look good. 

Back:

Here we can see his hair is shaded, which shows some from the sides too. His back pockets are sculpted well, and the belt painted neatly back here. 

Would recommend this as a small figure of Kaworu. If you don’t mind him looking at his shoes, he’s a nicely sculpted and painted trading figure.