Category: Figure manufacturer origin

Joker, Harley, Cyborg & Mr Freeze – Metal Nanofigs

Ended up getting some more Nanofigs from Asda. Not sure quite why I keep doing this… oh yeah – they’re cheap… 

So first up, Joker:

Well-painted, for such a small figure. He has purple boots though… and the shiny jacket might be an acquired taste, 

Left:

A little bit of an ear going on, and a very red smile. Hair has some shape to it. 

Right:

Bit more definition in the green hair paint on this side. And a sea of shiny purple. Good thing I like shiny purple.

Back:

Some details in the sculpt back here. Am happy with this nanofig. 

Next up, how did his ‘partner’ Harley go?

Ah. Hm. Yeah, she didn’t fare so well. Missed paint on her hair, by the bat and the lines aren’t too crisp on the jacket. Not sure what’s going on with the bat, being flesh-coloured… that doesn’t quite work. She has a full face though, unlike some of the nanofigs, which is a nice change. 

Left:

Yeah, definitely evidence of some painty mess here.

Right:

Seems to be some mess going on with her hip, and her foot seems poorly moulded. Or maybe overpainted. 

Back:

Faaail. A number of black marks, and not much attention paid to paint edges. You can’t see the back of the figures, and this one shows it. 

Cyborg:

Recognisably Cyborg, but he does have some mutant growths on his shoulders. There isn’t a large amount of detail in the paintwork, but what’s there has largely been done neatly. 

Left:

A sea of silver. Think some definition has been lost in the legs from the thick paint apps, but probably better this than seeing through the paint. 

Right:

Head paint has been done well, rest of it is what it is, lol.

Back:

Yeah, looking decent back here, no real complaints. 

Overall, he’s pretty decent, but does suffer from the lack of paint details these figures have. 

Lastly, Mr Freeze:

Mr Melty Face! His head looks distinctly mutant, like they couldn’t decide if it was his helmet or his head. I think it would’ve looked far better if they shortened his skull, so he didn’t have his helmet on. Paint on his left arm looks like a “yeah, that’s about right” job. Rest of the paint, such as it is, looks like it has gone where it was supposed to. 

Left:

Not much definition here. Looks OK. 

Right:

His glove and boot lack detail in the moulding imo, and look overly plain. 

Back:

One large paint gouge here, at his mid-back :(. His left glove looks really good from this angle, with the gun… looks better here than on the front!

Overall, Mr Freeze looks OK, barring that stupid head. Argh. Goggles could’ve done with more work too. 

My favourite out of these is the Joker. Harley is probably the weakest out of this set. For less than £2 each, they’re pretty decent, and better than what you can get out of some pricier blind bags. And you can pick the ones you want! Wouldn’t recommend ordering these off the internet (unless you’ve got good pics of the ones you’re buying) as the paint jobs can vary massively. Did try to pick the better looking ones, where I could. I remember there only being one Mr Freeze though. 

Kyoshinhei – Figma SP-043

This Figma I was looking at on and off, for ordering. I ended up getting a promotional code from Solaris Japan, so I decided to use it on this fellah:

This review’s been a long time in coming, due to the fact the stand was missing in the one I was sent :(. Contacted Solaris, who sent a replacement straight out, so all worked out in the end :D. This dude doesn’t have the ability to stand without it, so yeah. Wasn’t gonna settle for no stand! 

Love his big wings – these don’t feel too delicate, which is nice. The texture on his body is well done, and detailed.

Side with the wings:

They have some depth to them, which helps them stand out. He has a butt spike stand and a claw stand part. I’m happy with him standing, so went with spiking him in the butt. Certain poses probably work better with the claw stand, but I like the butt spike, as they’re good at holding Figma in place. 

Back:

Yeah, he’s another dude that exceeds the size of my backdrop… The contrast between the spines on his wings and the wings themselves is nice. Does give him a really striking appearance. 

Here he is with his ‘weapon’:

He comes with two sets of hands – ones in the first photo and these to hold the spike, which looks disturbingly like frozen pee. It can be a bit awkward to move him around once it is in his hands though – the spike is pretty thin, so I wouldn’t try to stress it too much – if you’re playing around with him, I’d recommend detaching the spike halves, then connecting them when ready. 

Above, with the pee spike:

This thing is pretty big! Here we can also see the multitude of spikes he has on his body, without the wings. The back spikes are the wing replacement parts. I think both configurations look really good. When I bought him, I planned to display him with wings, no questions, but upon getting him out of the box, I then debated, prior to setting on yes, wings. 

Close-up of his front, and alternate head:

Here we have him chomping on… something. Or maybe spitting? Here I’m showing my ignorance of the source material ¬¬. Love the sculpt and paint on his body though. Lovely amount of texture and detail, and enough soft parts to keep him poseable. 

Right side:

He’s quite a lithe chap, some visibility of joints on his arm. Most of them are pretty well hidden, worst offender is the elbows. 

Back:

The spikes are well-blended into his back, and really look a part of him. The separate parts that cover up the places where the wings go blend in well, and don’t look out of place. I live the amount of detailing with all the dimples back here. Gives him a strong, gnarled monster vibe. 

Close-up on the spikes:

The orange really compliments his look, and it’s transparency without looking naff. So that’s a strong positive to me :). 

Overall, I love this figure and glad I got him. It’s fiddly doing the wing switch, as you need to pull out his joints, so it’s not something you’d want to do regularly. I love his looks, as I’m a sucker for monstery things, especially those with wings, so this one definitely ticks the boxes. Definitely wouldn’t want to meet him on a dark night! Would recommend him, but not at a high premium, as he doesn’t come with too many extras for a Figma, but he certainly looks good imo, and poses well. 

Harley Quinn – Arkham Knight – DC Collectables

This one I bought at Hawkins Bazaar, who had a few characters on clearance. But some of them are being sold at B&M for cheaper, so if you see figures there, check if they’re in B&M or TK Maxx first. 

Here is Harley Quinn, based on her appearance in Arkham Knight (not played the game, but does she appear in both of her outfits?):

Most of the paintwork is well done, but there are a few dodgy bits here and there. The paint quality varied between figures, so I picked the best one. Some of them, the white paint was encroached upon by the black/red paint. 

This figure is very shiny. Not sure if I’m a fan of the look or not. Wish the black line on her left side was a bit straighter. The diamonds on her leggings are painted nicely though. 

Close-up of her face:

I like the rouge on her face, the lipstick and eyes are painted very well. Not too much of a fan of the “blow-up” hat look. The hat has been given seams like it’s an inflatable, not sure if this is intentional detail, but not really a fan. The creases are nicely realised. Some of the white n her collar does seem to let some of the undercoat show through, but not too badly on mine. 

Left:

Here you get to see the extent of the shiny. Does make it look like she’s wearing some plastic-y fetish suit. The colours are very vibrant though. 

Right:

Looks fine from this angle, other than some previously made points. 

Back:

Quite a bit of creasing detail throughout her body and hat. The pom-pom balls are nice. Her neck looks odd from this angle though, from the way they’ve done the joint. 

And now for some notes about posing her:

Why, DC, why?! No hopes in her feet to add a stand, so you’ll either have to go for no stand or a claw stand. Without a stand, she’s a bit finnicky to stand up. You can get her to stand, but she will be prone to falling over. Also getting her to hold her bat can be troublesome, though looks good once you get her to hold it properly. 

Overall, I can see why this figure was reduced. She’s a bit of a pain to pose, and I think the shiny look would be polarising between collectors. She articulates well, but this is let down by the lack of stand. If you see this for around a tenner, and you like the look of her (and prepared to throw in a stand if you can’t prop her up), I’d recommend her. But I’d recommend also leafing through the stock to ensure you get one with a minimal amount of paint flaws. 

Manic – Scary Fairy

Bought this at a comic shop that was selling it off for £5:

One scary fairy, as the box promised! From a distance, this figure looks good. It’s also weighty, made out of some kind of resin. 

If you look closely at the hair and the logo on his T-shirt especially, you can see the sloppiness in the paint. 

Hair close-up:

Here you can see where the black doesn’t quite go into the gaps at the front, and some places where it’s escaping onto the white paint

Left:

Not too much to see. Though having the trouser base colour the same as the skin colour makes it look odd from the side. Paint isn’t too bad this side.

Right:

Couple of little bits of stray paint, and some little white marks in the hair. Not too much different from the other side.

Back:

Wing attachment could’ve done with some more hiding. But I do like the wings -they’re made out of a clear plastic, and are mostly painted neatly. However, would’ve been nice if they added to the central connector so it’d appear more “in keeping” with the wings. 

Overall, I wouldn’t recommend paying a lot for these figures, but it is a nice, fun figure, that’s a bit unusual. Due to the weight, they’re probably not economical to be shipped internationally, so I’d recommend looking for them domestically where possible. 

Batman – Q-Fig

I’ve been holding off buying this particular Q-Fig, as it looks like kid Batman. But then B&M reduced them to £3 so I went… why not? 

The paint job is decent, but the sculpt…. Batboy! Not entirely sure what they were aiming for when they did this, especially as subsequent Q-Figs didn’t have this young-age style. The stone effect on the eagle is nice though. And the whiteboard speech bubble is a nice touch (I used the supplied whiteboard marker to write on the speech bubble). 

Right:

Here we can see his very basically sculpted body, which adds to it being “kid Batman” rather than some kind of chibi Batman. One mould line visible on his fingers. 

Back:

Not much to look at back here. 

Overall, it’s a well-painted figure, but the sculpt really lets it down. It’s not sold as “kid Batman”, and it fails at being chibi-Batman. I can see why many of these got to the “final discount” stage at B&M. A few more details in the sculpt could’ve added some age to him, which would’ve made for a better overall figure. I can see people being rather disappointed with this, when it was included in Loot Crate. If you’re OK with it being kid Batman, it’s an OK figure though. And you have the added feature of the whiteboard, 

Sinclair – Bad Taste Bears

Saw this in a collectables store, and simply had to buy it, seeing as it’s become topical again:

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So what’s he surprised about, with his VR? Is it Skyrim?

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Ah, probably not Skyrim…. maybe Witcher? 

Left:

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Here we see the haptic feedback system. We’re not here yet, but hopefully we won’t need to wear a large “backpack” when we do get there… However, it looks like it works well, judging by a certain part of the sculpt. Some bits of stray paint, but nothing too significant. 

Right:

Pretty much the same story as the left, but there’s a bit more of the black wires that haven’t been painted properly. It doesn’t show too much, but it’s pretty obvious if you’re looking closely at it. Having one of the wires as a real wire is a nice touch though. 

Back:

Ah, VR as imagined in the early 2000s. Such an industrial-looking box. Should imagine these days, it’d be a sleek black box. Maybe even teadrop-shaped. 

Top:

At first,  I thought this was way too fat, but on reflect, I think it’s fairly comparable to a Rift/Vive. 

Overall, I like this bear. The sculpting is good, and the subject is amusing. However, the painting is a bit lacking in a couple of places, which brings it down a bit. Now to see what the actual future brings for VR!

Hal Jordan – Test Pilot – Mattel

Saw this figure loose at a collectable figure store. Wasn’t sure who it was, until I did a bunch of research. 

Turns out it’s Hal Jordan as a test pilot:

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The figure isn’t in pristine condition, but he was cheap, and I liked his spacesuit outfit. The helmet “glass” is a neat-looking shimmering blue. 

Left:

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His clothes are moulded well for a cheap figure, and the paint is surprisingly not messy. Here you can also see the translucency of his helmet. The colouring is basic, but I think that was a good choice, to avoid colouring mistakes.

Back:

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Backpack looks OK, but it might’ve been nice to have it not in a block colour. It’s not really a collectable figure, so it’ll do. Sculpt works fine imo. 

Without the helmet:

Not much detail in the face – quite reminiscent of much older figures. I don’t think there’s enough detail there to match it up with any particular drawing/actor. With him without his helmet on, it’s clear his crotch is the colour of his top half. Would’ve been nice if his crotch was made to match his pants, not his top. 

Back:

Some creasing on his jacket, which is nice to see. Stops him from being totally plain back here, when they could’ve easily gone for a flat sculpt, what with the backpack accessory. Hair also has a good patterning to it. 

Overall, I like this figure. In some places it’s pretty basic, but his clothes have had a decent amount of attention put into the sculpt. His hands have been curled in a way which makes him look like he should have an accessory – and the pictures that I found on the internet seem to imply he didn’t come with one. Would’ve been nice to have a tiny lantern, or a more neutral hand pose. Overall, I’m happy with this random pickup. 

Ghost – Dark Horse Comics

This was a random pickup at a local game collectables store. Been eyeing this one up the last few times I’ve been in (actually… think I eyed her up the first time I went in there…) and finally decided I’d buy her. 

So here she is, finally escaped from her plastic prison:

She probably wouldn’t appeal to people used to more modern figures, and definitely seems to lurk in a transitional period between older style and newer style figures. She lacks any kind of leg articulation, and her skin is shiny om her body, which can be seen on her chest. The face aims for more realism, but still seems rooted in an older style. Her belt comes separately, and you clip this around her waist. 

You can also take off her cape:

She does look a bit odd like this though. The white cap doesn’t quite work on its own. Doesn’t  look like she does in the comic provided. Despite the lack of articulation she’s a bit of a pig to balance too. She holds her guns well though, but doesn’t look right without them.

Let’s explore more what she looks like with the cape, by looking at her left side:

The cape has been somewhat crudely moulded to fit around her arm. Which has a pretty obvious seam line. I do like this white, glossy paint though. 

Back:

Some creases, but lacks the more lifelike look they’d give a modern figure. She has some nice high-heeled boots, but that’s part of the source of her poor balance. 

Right, without the cape:

Ignore the mess on her shoe – that’s white tack. Seam a bit less obvious in the arm, and her glove has better painting on this side. Here you can start to see the fabric cap the white bit under the cape is supposed to be. 

Back:

They’ve aimed to make it look like the hair cap is moving around with her movement. This helps it look clothlike form this angle, but it’s just too severe a shape to work without the cape at the front imo. 

Overall I think this an OK figure. I paid £10 for her, which I think is fair. I don’t think this figure will particularly appeal to many people, especially as I think she’s not a well-known character. I think she really is a product of her time, and online sources suggest she was manufactured in 1998, which would seem about right for her style. And I’m pretty sure I put her belt on backward for this review… erm. Oops. I think she looks pretty neat with the cape, which is why I bought her. If you don’t mind her half-90s, half-2000s look, I think she’s decent overall.  

Nomad – Mass Effect 3

Wasn’t originally interested in this, but GAME was selling ‘em off for £3, so hey, why not. Not actually played the 3rd in the series, but I’ve had enough quality time with the Mako to pretend I’ve actually driven this one. 

It’s a decent little die-cast car. Not really surprised these have ended up significantly reduced from their original £10 price tag. It feels more substantial than a Hot Wheels car, but not so much I’d pay a big premium for it. 

Back:

The sculpt and paint job seem to be good on it – the lines seem nice and crisp. 

Top:

Looks nice and neat from the top.

Side:

Cuts a nice profile. Some silver details nestling in there. 

Bottom:

Sculpted and painted here too. So you do get something decent for your money, but I debate if this more “grown up” Hot Wheels affair is really worth the RRP. Which is probably why every GAME seemed to have a few they were flogging off at the time I bought this one, and there’s probably a number of them still floating around. 

If you want a small ND1, then this does the job. Not sure how many people really want a little Nomad, but the manufacturer clearly overestimated, though if you want one, I don’t think this one will disappoint. 

Alexa Bliss – WWE Elite Series

Normally I wouldn’t consider buying a wrestling figure, but upon seeing this one, and it being on sale, I decided to get it:

At first, I thought it was a cross-dressing bloke. On further research, she’s female, and they did a bit of a poor job with the head sculpt. Sorry Alexa :(. So that was probably why she’s on sale, oops. Her head is squarer than it should be, which was the source of my confusion. I was mostly attracted to this figure, due to the bright colours, though. 

Another thing my research dug up is the belt and the bits on her hands should be shiny – I find it odd they didn’t use silver paint on these, especially as they’ve used silver elsewhere on the figure. 

Also the sculpt – it seems they went for customising the body and the face, but the arms and legs are probably generic sculpts. 

I love the hair, outfit and boots on this figure, but the arms seem kind of generic and don’t really fit. They’ve done her makeup, so that’s a nice touch. 

Left:

One pink pom-pom comin’ up! Here we can see the blend of the dye in her hair – the blend job is so-so. Some of a seam showing on her hip.

Right:

Rather disappointed they didn’t put her hand jewellery in silver. Think it would’ve looked much better, but it’s not very delicate, so not true-to-life. And a blue pom-pom! Dye blend in her hair seems better on this side. 

Back:

Here you can see how the paint in the hair differs on the two sides. Her top straps are nice and shiny – this is definitely one of the selling pints of this figure. Here you can see that the top of her boots is a separate part – this helps with articulation. The poofy bits on her back aren’t terribly accurate to real life, but OK for a cheap figure. Not really finding this “elite” series to really be elite, which is likely why they’ve hit the bargain bin. 

And one last thing on articulation:

Her waist has plenty of it! 

I think this figure is a fine one as a cheap one for the kids, if you get it cheap. It’s not hugely accurate to her real look imo, so I don’t see her much as a collector’s item. I paid £10 for her, so she was definitely on the cheaper side of things, though I think the regular price was £20 or something, which is just too much imo. She did come with a base, but it is a cheap piece of rubbish and I wouldn’t recommend it. 

If a quality articulated figure manufacturer made her, I’d definitely buy it though – love this outfit, and I don’t think the figure does it justice. But it’s OK for a tenner and not knowing who she was prior…

Coon – South Park: Fractured But Whole

Saw the collector’s edition being sold off in GAME, and I didn’t own the game, so I went for it. £25 isn’t bad for a game and a figure. I haven’t played much of the game yet – seems to have a slow start, but I have photographed the figure it came with. So let’s have a look at that:

This is Cartman as Coon, the main character in the game. This figure is pretty large. Love the bold colours, and the paint’s been kept within the lines, which helps the figure “pop”. Gotta hand it to Ubisoft, they’re cranking out some nice collectables currently. 

Close-up on that claw:

Vicious. Don’t want to be clawed with those. 

Left:

Looking the part from this side. I think they’ve transferred Cartman into three dimensions well – doesn’t feel too fat, yet fat enough. Bit of dodgy paint on this side, with the black strap heading to his ear. Ah well. 

Right:

Not much to see here tbh. 

Back:

Some well-done folds in his cape, and the coon logo. And his coon tail. They’ve even replicated the knot that holds his ear band on. On close inspection, he does have stray brown paint on the back of his right here. Hm, sloppy. 

Bottom:

Ooh, two years ago. Guess it was about time the game went on clearance :P. The base of his tail is flat, so he sits well, and is very stable. 

Overall, I think this is a decent collectable and glad I got it. As long as the game doesn’t suck, I reckon I got a good deal. 

Succubus – Chara-Ani

This figure I’ve been considering on and off, as I have a liking for succubi. Finally decided to pull the trigger and buy her. Weirdly, in the two listings Solaris Japan had, one could be shipped by small parcel, and the other… could not. Thankfully the cheaper listing allowed small packet shipping. She did fill up nearly all of the shipping box, but she survived fine. 

So here she is:

The chain is a loose part that hooks to her necklace, and you wrap around her body, in whichever way is pleasing to you. I love the pearlescent finish on her top, but I wish there was more contrast between her top and her body. I bought the normal edition, so don’t have the limited edition hand and tail. Would’ve liked those parts, but not prepared to pay a few k yen for them. 

Close-up of her face:

A wonderful cheek “o” expression. Love the colour of her eyes. Her tiara feels kind of flat though, and not quite painted to the corners, making it feel not-quite-there. 

Close-up of the chains:

I do really like the chain that comes with the figure, and is probably my favourite part. 

Close-up of her right leg:

Love the glossy shininess, and the gold colouring, but the gold paint is a bit off in places, which doesn’t give this figure a very premium feel. 

Tail end:

The shading is very nice on the tail, and the little golden ring. Here you can see a bit of sloppy paint around her panties. Not sure if things are particularly well-sculpted around here, the sides of the panties look a little on the odd side to me. And large black panties over a leotard? The black framing works well, but up close it’s a bit… hmm. 

Left:

She’s posed well, and here you can see the odd design they went for the panties… or whatever they are. I guess she’s Supergirl gone bad :P. I do like the gold blade parts on the back of her boots. 

She’s pegged to the base by the black lump under her shoe – this part is permanently attached to her shoe, and the base peg goes into this. The upside of this is she sits on the base very organically. 

Right:

I like the way she has one figure poking out – gives a more natural pose feel. Again, that gravity-defying loop on her panties though. Her hair looks good from this angle – love the messy look they’ve gone for. 

Back:

Here you can see a good chunk of the heart-shaped base they’ve gone for. Props for the non-boring base. Here you can see where I haven’t neatened up the chain :P. Her leotard is shown to be more of a different elasticated top, and I do like they’ve done this, so it shows more skin. Her hair is sculpted well back here. 

Top of her head:

Pretty decent seamline, and she’s got 4 head wings. Flapflapflapflap. 

Close-up of her back:

The tail has a bit of a gap. Not really tried to fix this, as she’s displayed where it doesn’t show. Here we see a nicely posed hand, with pink nail polish. I do like her back overall. 

With this figure, it has a good amount of strong points, and I’m glad I got her. But there’s just some bits lacking in the paint job, which hold the figure back and doesn’t make it worth full price for me. If you can pick her up cheaply, and prepared for a few minorish paint flaws, then maybe this is the figure for you. 

Minecraft Diorama – Mining Mountain

I saw these mini-dioramas online, complete with poor reviews thanks to size. Especially for the original price, I wasn’t ever going to get one of these. 

Saw one at TK Maxx for a bit cheaper, and decided that was the best deal I was gonna get to judge it for myself. So let’s see!

Here it is out of the box:

Even with the small box, half of it is padding. So if you see the box for one of these, it’s roughly half the height of the box. I’d regard this thing as palm-sized – I can hold it comfortably in one hand. The grey piece underneath it is a connector you can use to connect multiple of these dioramas together, if you get more than one. 

Close-up of Steve’s back:

Yeah, these scratches were fresh out of the box. Can also see the crummy paint job on his pants. Not quality. He’s also leaking shirt onto his left arm. 

Left:

Kinda wish this cobweb was moveable. That would make for more of a feature. Either that, or have the holes in it like it should. This cobweb is made out of a rubbery material. 

Right:

The upper grass block is actually quite nicely done. Not so much for the one “hiding” the action feature. 

Back:

/yawn. Can’t we even get a spider decal back here…?

So… the action feature! Will it redeem this? Upon pushing Steve down, let’s see what happens:

We get some coal. Hm. Let’s try again:

Gold. Now we’re getting somewhere…

Third time’s the charm?:

Diamond! Yay! 

I think the action feature is pretty neat, but doesn’t redeem this overall. I paid £10 for this, and well… it’s not great. It could’ve really done with some spare bits – maybe some tools for Steve and/or a couple of critters to play with. A spider and a creeper would’ve been well-received. A chest would’ve been a nifty addition for that cavelike feel. Overall, I think this thing is worth a fiver at best. It’s too small to make a good toy, without much interactivity. It could’ve been like a Minecraft Polly Pocket, but without a couple of other mini-figures, it lacks that value. If you already have some of the blind box micro figures, this set would combo well with those though… but then that’s adding to the cost just to make it fun… 

Overall wouldn’t recommend unless you can get one cheap in good condition. Or you just have to have everything Minecraft.

Mammon – Seven Deadly Sins

This figure I got super-cheap as the owner no longer had her box, and has glued her to the base, due to the fact she had a wobbling issue. This figure is cast-off, which will be shown in this blog, hence the NSFW tag. 

She displays just fine, so the issues aren’t an issue for me:

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The rest of the photos won’t feature the basket, as it’s pretty easy to knock out of her hand (… and I forgot to bring it downstairs for the first few pics I took…). 

Here’s the veggies up close:

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Tis a mean-looking set of veggies! I don’t think I will eat these… 

Mammon with her full base:

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This base allows her to stand at the back of a shelf and remain visible :). But you can display her as per the first pic, if she has too much height. 

Close-up of the “Mammon” side of the base:

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And the other side, which tells you what sin she is:

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Bit of a scratch on the base on the “GREED” heart, but it isn’t too bad. Love the horned demon o this side of the base. 

Base from the top:

Is a large thing, the two dark dots top and bottom are pegs that go into the upper base. As these are evenly spaced, you can pick which side of this base is facing forward (Greed or Mammon). 

Close-up of the part of the base she stands on:

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Coins being the perfect companion to greed. The gold lines on her legs are really nicely done and sharp. 

Front:

She has a very nicely sculpted and painted face, nicely framed by her horns. I love the way her hair curls at the front, though the complexity of her hair does make her assembly a bit awkward when casting her off. The gold lines on her clothing offer a good amount of contrast and give a more sophisticated feel to the figure. The black print on her stockings is also crisp and stands out well. 

Left:

Left… or is it front? Because here you have a lot of front! Here you can see the black print better, and the shading in her stockings. They’ve also put a heart in her thong, which is a nice attention to detail. Her cast-off clothes look really good imo – some cast-off figures have the issue that the clothes look a little iffy. but here they are shaded and have hidden connectors. 

Right:

Love the little bat above her backside :). She has the wings every succubus should have, though these are detachable. Her cape nicely frames her shapely backside. 

Back:

Here you can see the sheer amount of hair she has. They’ve gone to a fair amount of trouble to sculpt all these strands, and I think it has paid off. We can see some of the underside colouring of her wing too, which is a reasonably vibrant red. Her horns are also shaded, which is evident here. 

Underside of the wings and cape:

Love the red and black contrast under here.

Close-up of the bat:

Some of the paint has gone a bit walkies on this part – little bit evident on the claw and I think the bat face a bit. Still love this little detail. 

Mammon without the wings:

She also comes with the strap part shown above, if you want a clearer view of her backside, or just don’t like your women winged. This strap forms a heart with the top of her dress, ad has a little heart-shaped ring to join the straps together. 

Close-up of the straps:

All the small details here were well thought out. 

Now for some less-dressed shots.

Casting her off:

Her head and right arm come off, which allows you to remove the clothing on her shoulders, and her top. The top is three pieces which fasten together – the two boob cups, and a part which clips to her neck. 

As her shoulder clothing piece comes off, you have a few choices in terms of dress level:

I personally think she looks best with her top off, but her shoulder piece on, which is the middle of these three shots. 

Cast-off, no wings:

If you want a view of all the assets. I think the colour is a little too strong on the nipples, but it works. 

My preferred level of cast-off:

Yeah, gotta have the wings! 


Really glad I bought this figure – she’s an excellent figure, and I could easily recommend her. Though these figures usually go for a fair amount of money, and upon owning this one, I can see why. Glad I had the opportunity to purchase this one. 

Gwendolyn – Alter – Odin Sphere

I bought this figure from a seller on MFC, along with tomorrow’s figure. I’ve been debating getting this one, but with shipping & import, it was adding up a little high, but this seller was in the UK, so no import, woo. 

So here she is:

image

I love the pose on this figure – the thin line with the wings outstretched makes for a dramatic pose. I was also attracted to this figure thanks to the blue hues in her wings. 

Close-up of her spear:

I love the crystal on the end of this, with its gentle blue colour. The moon gives the staff a good focal point too. 

Close-up of her face:

She’s clearly looking at something, but not sure the expression goes with the pose? She has a cute face tough, and her upper body is moulded well. Love the little tiara on her head, and her hair looks good.

Close-up of her wing:

I love the translucenty look of these wings, and the subtle gradients. Gives the figure some colour without being overpowering. The downward angle means they also show well when viewed from the front. 

Left:

Bit hard to photograph well from the sides, but here we can see her holding her spear aloft, and her left leg poised to show movement. 

Close-up of her leg:

She also has mini wings attached to her knees. These ones are more brightly coloured, and the purple was a good inclusion. The metal parts of her armour here are nice and shiny. 

Right:

More wing covering up her face :P. The pins on her skirt are painted well. Her right leg has metal pins into the base, and she stands sturdily. 

More leg close-up:

Some creases behind the knee, which is nice, and the lovely sculpting on the knee wings. 

Back:

Her dress is flared out, showing us she’s likely landing on the tree stump, which explains the more neutral expression. 

Close-up of her back:

Bit of a seam on the back of her dress, but I’m assuming this is going to be her zip. The gold choker gives a good look to her neck. The dress is separate from the body, which helps with the overall realistic look. Love the way the dress flows in the wind. 

Close-up of the base:

The base is very detailed and well-painted imo. Plenty of shading in the dirt and the plants – even some dirt on the plant to the left of this photo. It does have a more anime vibe than a realistic one, but I think this fits well. 

Overall, I really like this figure, and glad I finally picked it up. If you want a more “sophisticated” statue of Gwendolyn, I think this is a good one. And likely cheaper than Alter’s new one… which will probably come out after this blog does… 

Assassin – Fate/Zero – Banpresto DXF

This is a figure I’ve been considering buying for years. After getting Caster, and seeing her in a shop in Belgium, I decided I would. The price was a bit high at the shop I was at, but found AmiAmi was selling her nice n’ cheap… cheaper than the store I was in, even with shipping factored in. So I left the shop and ordered her 😛

A week or two after I got back she arrived:

One notable thing about her is she’s nowhere near as heavy as Caster. Also… a lot less parts. The sculpt and the paint are still good though. She isn’t as impressive as caster, but she’s still a solid figure. Her body is sculpted well, and she looks the part. 

Left:

There’s not much shading to speak of – this figure largely relies on natural light to provide that. The knives on her hip look and “feel” very basic. Feel they could’ve done something here. The bandings on her wrist and leg could’ve done with some paint accents to make them more leathery or something. 

Right:

Bit of a seam not-in-hiding here, on her middle. And her wrist. The bangles on her wrist are nice though, along with the ones around her neck. The creases on her clothes feel nice and realistic. 

Back:

I think her hair helps sell this figure. I love the shades of blue running through the hair. I feel the sides and front of her hair work better than the back of it, though… which is probably a good thing, seeing as I won’t be staring at this angle much. 

Overall, I love the pose of this figure, and for some reason, I have a soft spot for Assassin from Fate/Zero. I’m not surprised she goes for less than the other DXF servants do, as she’s not as impressive, but she’s still a solid figure imo. However, if you want an in-proportion figure of her it’s… this one or this one. So. Yeah. This one it is! 

Accel World – Toy’s Works Collection… the other one

Finally ordered the other set of figures… but as separate lots, as it was cheaper than ordering the 5 as a set at Suruga-ya. Go figure. It was just these 5 mini-figures, just to see if Suruga-ya had small boxes. And the answer was… kind of. The box fit into small packet, so I didn’t have to pay for repackaging, but man, they were overpacked:

So yeah…. probably worse than AmiAmi. Probably doesn’t make much odds domestically for the shipping cost, and the domestic shipping is free when you spend over ¥1,500, so it mostly costs me the repackaging fee. 

First of the figures we have is Black Lotus:

It’s an OK figure, but I prefer the Dengeki one, as that one a bit better and a more matte plastic. Plus the Dengeki one has the purple parts in her head “fins”. 

Side:

Back:

Overall the sculpt seems good. I haven’t straightened out the pointy bits, but the box does advise heating these in water and straightening them. They’re not too bad on this one, so haven’t tried fixing them up. 

Harayuki with food:

I love this cute Haruyuki Arita. The paint is really well done on Arita, pancakes are slightly on the sloppy side, but not really noticeably so for me. Love the stars in his eyes… he must be happy to have a whole stack of pancakes to himself!

Arita playing squash:

Another iconic activity of Arita’s. Love the little eyebrows, conveying concentration. I really like these Aritas, as he’s depicted doing two of his most iconic activities – eating and playing squash. Really fits with the character, and gives him more accessories than all the other little avatar-Aritas I have. 

Scarlet Rain, with gun:

The one thing I really like about the Scarlet Rain figures – they have a bit more articulation than the others, and you can move her arms and head pieces around. However, the finish on her head on both figures I received is a bit rough. Not sure if this is an issue peculiar to mine, or a problem with the manufacture. She’s lovely and shiny though, and the colours stand out well. Kinda sad that they didn’t put the wires into the figure, that they had on the box art – she usually has two wires coming from her back, or can do. 

Scarlet Rain in grump-mode:

Yep, this is the Red King we know and love :). Again, this one has the funny finish on her head. There isn’t a huge amount to differentiate between these two Scarlet Rain figures, but with the poseable parts, it is possible to make them look sufficiently different. 

Overall, I’m happy with this set, and my favourite figures out of this set are the Aritas. If it weren’t for the oddity of the finish on the Scarlet Rain figures, I’d probably like them a lot more. I paid £4.20 each (with shipping factored in), which is around about the asking price for these kinds of small figures. If you can pick them up for a few quid each, and are an Accel World fan, I’d definitely recommend the Aritas, and possibly the Scarlet Rains… or maybe whichever’s your favourite. The Black Lotus… I prefer the Dengeki one, though this one was half the cost. So if you were to get one, I’d recommend the Dengeki one, unless you want this set, or you don’t want to spend more on the Dengeki one (if you can find it…). 

Harley Quinn – Arkham Knight – DC Collectables

Bought this from Hawkin’s Bazaar, of all places. They were doing a sale, and she was a good price, so I picked her up:

As far as Harleys go, this figure isn’t super-special, but is decent-enough looking for the tenner I paid. I like the creases in her clothing, and she’s got some blush on her face, making it stand out more. She is a mild pain to pose though – hard to get her to hold the bat like I want her to. The paint is largely crisp and clean, but paint jobs do vary between figures, so I picked from the best I was looking at. Some of them the white overpaint wasn’t quite thick enough to hide her uniform underneath. 

Face close-up:

I do rather like the face on this figure. The flashing on the hat does make it look a bit like a blow-up hat, lol. Maybe it is? The furry balls on her hat and chest are meh, but they are on most figures, and these seem decent enough. 

Close-up of the bat:

Yep, looks like the quintessential Harley bat. Ruffs have a bit of stray paint on her wrists, but are well-sculpted. 

Left:

Looks OK from this angle. 

Right:

Some creasing at her middle and on her arm. Not sure they fully committed to the outfit wrinkles from this side. Note she has none on her legs. 

Back:

Here they seem to be a little undecided if they were committing to put wrinkles in her outfit or not, too. She does have a butt though… Her neck looks odd from this angle too. The paint is good on her outfit though.

And one of the major annoyances with this figure:

No. Stand. Holes. And she’s not easy to stand up on her own – she’s pretty finnicky, so can suddenly go SPLAT. Why DC Collectables, do you have to do this? Why no peg holes…? 

I think this might be quite a divisive figure – the shininess is going to appeal to some, but not so much to others. Not surprised this one has binned, but I think it’s a fairly solid figure for half the RRP. Though you may want to consider including a claw stand into your purchase so she doesn’t fall over. Currently I have her propped up against an acrylic stair stand, so she doesn’t fall over. 

Asuna – Noodle Stopper – Sword Art Online

Upon arriving home from my travels, I had this figure to unbox:

Asuna, from Sword Art Online, in noodle-stopping form. Or more like a shelf-edge figure… not sure how many people are actually going to use these figures to keep the steam in their Cup-o-Noodles. Initially I wasn’t going to get either of the SAO noodle stoppers, but upon seeing this one, I decided to order her, and I’m glad I did. FuRyu have done a really good job with her!

Front:

Her feet seem really detailed, with her toes. She also has a good amount of shading in her hair, which not all of these figures do. Most of the red lines are pretty neat, a bit wobbly on her left hand boob, but nowhere as bad as the initial pics implied it could be. She has a good amount of definition around her stomach and neck/collar area. 

I love the expression on her face, and her face has been well-painted. No complaints here from me. 

Left:

Here we can see the cross detail on her swimsuit top, which has been crisply done. Her hairstyle has been well-recreated, with her plaits and mini-ponytail. Love the way they have her ear sticking out, and the towel over her lap looks good. 

Right:

The large bow looks really good, along with the one on the back of her swimsuit top. She also has well-defined shoulderblades. The cuff around her wrist has been painted well. 

Back:

Here’s the back of her, which does a look a bit prize-figure-y in sculpt, but the shading is really nice. She rests well on a flat surface, with her backside, hair and hand. Left arm looks a little funny on the join,but tbh, it’s a minor complaint. 

Overall, I really like this figure, especially for the price I paid. I’d recommend this figure to anyone who’d like a figure of Asuna to perch on the edge of a shelf or similar location. Mine currently sits on the edge of the vivarium :). 

Devilman Keyrings

I had some promotional credit from a proxy service that I wanted to try out, so decided to go for a cheap item. I found these Banpresto Devilman keyrings on a “Buy it now”, and decided they were a good option. 

The proxying worked fine, with no issues, so that was good. 

Firstly we have this small Devilman keyring, that was already on one of my keyring display bars:

He was the smallest of the three keyrings, and of a decent quality.

Next up, a larger version of Devilman’s movie appearance:

With the larger size, there’s a lot more detail in the sculpt and the paintwork. I prefer the expression on the other keyring though. 

Devilman in his original cartoon form:

The sculpt isn’t hugely detailed, but gets the Devilman feel across. Logo on his belt is a bit squiffy. but his face is nicely rendered. Not sure if I’ll put this one on display, but it’s nice to have it. Might as well have one figure in his original appearance :P. 

Overall I’m happy I went for these keyrings.