Category: Figure manufacturer origin

Asuna – Aincrad ver – Sword Art Online

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

Front:

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

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

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

Left:

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

Right:

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

Back:

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

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

She-Hulk – Marvel

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

Front:

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

Left:

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

Right:

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

Back:

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

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

Crash Bandicoot – First 4 Figures

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

So here he is:

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

Face close-up:

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

Left:

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

Right:

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

Back:

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

Base:

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

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

Gelmar – Devilman

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

So here he is:

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

Face close-up:

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

Gelmar’s “slug”:

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

And for the reason he’s rubbery:

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

Close-ups of this part:

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

Top of Gelmar’s head:

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

Left:

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

Right:

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

Back:

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

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

Alien – Clear ver – Alien Resurrection

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

Front:

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

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

Left:

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

Head close-up:

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

Right:

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

Arm close-up:

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

Back:

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

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

Yoko Kurama – Yu Yu Hakusho

This figure I’m not familiar with the source material, but I couldn’t turn down a wolf dude, so I preordered him. 

And thus he arrived at my house:

From the photos on MFC it wasn’t clear if the translucent parts were tinted blue or purple – I’d say they’re a bluey grey. Not entirely sure my photos are also clear in this regard – camera felt like nudging the white balance into the blueish range. 

I love the motion in his clothing, and his face is sculpted well. His skin has been given a decent amount of shading, which helps his muscles stand out. I like the effect of the translucent hair, but not sure it works as well as the promo art. 

Face close-up:

I like the ears and his expression. Here we can see the seam where the arm can be exchanged – I like the fact they’ve included an exchangeable part by default (unlike Kaneki Ken…) and the seam isn’t too visible when displaying the figure. 

Close-up of the alternate arm:

I like this arm too, but for the photoshoot, it can get in the way of his face. His tendons are sculpted well on this arm, and the hand looks good.

Front with the alt arm:

As shown by this photo, viewing angle is important if you choose to use this arm part. However, it does make for a better generic pose than him pointing at his head. 

Left:

This arm is also painted well, and has a good amount of detail sculpted on his hand. Clothes also work well, and I like the way his hair flows over his shoulder.

Right:

Here we get a first look at the tail – and it shows why I’m on the fence about translucent hair. It’s a nice effect in isolation, but doesn’t really give the impression of being hair. I’ll just admire the shading on his shoes and feet. 

Back:

The sculpt lines in the hair are well done – it does convey the different hair textures well. Also having the sculpted strands is nice, and adds detail to the figure. 

Base:

The base has a ring underneath, to make him appear as if he’s slightly floating on this wind disc. A relatively simple base for Kotobukiya, but still looks good. The silver print and the transparent blue plastic work well and complement the figure. 

Overall, I’m happy with this figure – there is more paint detail on this one than there usually is for Kotobukiya figures, and well, he’s a wolf dude :P. I’d prefer if the hair was the more purplish colour in the promo photos, but suspect that would be less canon. Looking at images of him, his hair colour does vary somewhat, but probably tends more to grey than purple. Would recommend this figure, if you like his design. There aren’t too many figures of this guy, and the other “main” one has some unfortunate arm seams. 

Kaneki Ken – Awakened Ver – Tokyo Ghoul

This figure I was considering chasing down in the aftermarket, as I liked the design, but then found Kotobukiya was doing a repainted re-release. So I PO’d that instead. 

So here he is:

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I love this figure, and the base works well with him. The paintwork is really nice, and the upgraded kagune were definitely worth waiting for – I love the transparent plastic they’ve used, and think it looks much better than the pictures of the original that I’ve seen. 

He also has some nice paint details, with the shading on the shorts and his nails being painted. 

Face:

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One mini-controversy with this figure is they didn’t re-release the bonus head – you can use it if you have it, but you’ll be relying on sourcing the old release. I’m not too bothered about it myself. The head itself is painted well, and looks good in isolation. 

Close-up of part of the kagune:

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Shiny, glossy :). We can also see some paint shading on his hand here too. 

Left:

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Lotsa kagune. I like the way his feet are posed, and standing on the rock. 

Right:

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His pose, what you can see of it, looks good from this angle too. The broken handcuffs are painted well, and have a sense of motion to them. 

Back:

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The back of his shirt is sculpted well, and you can also see the band for his mask back here. The kagune comes out nicely from his back, pushing his shirt out of the way. 

Overall, I’m really happy with this figure, and definitely think this is one of Kotobukiya’s nicer figures. Worth the price I paid imo, though he will now have gone up in the aftermarket. Would recommend it, and not surprised it’s gone up in the aftermarket. 

Aquaman – Justice League

This figure I was on the fence about buying, and decided to go for it, before I lost the opportunity to get it at a reasonable price. 

So here he is:

Whilst I’m not much of an Aquaman fan, I like the shininess and the colours of this figure. The copper-green colour scheme is very eye-catching, especially with the metallic effect paint. The belt has also been sculpted well, and complements the figure. 

One thing that’s a pain is his trident:

It looks nice, but he doesn’t hold it too well – it’ll easily slip through his hand, which makes it awkward if you’re moving him off the shelf… To remedy this, I’ve used a balled-up Glu Dot on his hand to hold the trident in place. I have him displayed slightly above eye-level, so the Glu Dot isn’t visible, but I don’t think it’s even that noticeable in the above shot. 

Face:

I like his face – not sure what it’s supposed to look like, but I think it has been done well in terms of general sculpt and paint. The hair has a nice sculpt to it too. We can also admire the edging on his collar here too. 

Base:

The base is the standard Artfx+ affair, with the Justice League logo, rendered nicely in silver. The base is magnetic, as these figures have magnets in their feet to hold them to the base. For him, the magnets aren’t strong enough to pick up the base, but it does help him stand up for sure. 

Left:

I love the curved parts on his suit, and the glossiness of the green. Almost think his gloves could’ve done with some kind of edging to make them less plain though. They feel like they end prematurely somehow. His sideburn is well done on this side though. 

Right:

The join on his leg is pretty noticeable from the side. Probably the largest flaw with the figure, outside of his slippery weapon and the fact it’s Aquaman. Still liking the fins on his outfit. 

Back:

Bit of a square arse… Not sure what’s going on with that. Especially with the creases moulded underneath on his legs, it seems to emphases the odd shape  :(. I think the rest of the back of his legs looks OK, though the shiny patterns do make it look a bit like he’s got rubber-legs. For his back, I think it’s better ignore most of him from the waist down, but the suit top texture looks good, and his hair looks decent enough. 

Overall, not a bad figure, but not worth RRP. I’ve usually seen him for sale around the £35 mark, which is a fair price. I think with the lack of extra colour and shading that other characters get, maybe he should have been given a lower price point out of the gate. 

Power Armor – Fallout 4

So… I actually bought a Dorb again…

And it’s this cute looking dude here:

Personally, I think this is one of the better looking Dorbz, and I’m still thinking that when he’s out of the box. The head has been done well – the finish on the helpet is good, and there is a decent amount of detail to be seen here. 

Left:

The paint is neat, there is a seamline, but that would be hard to hide on a flat surface like this. Shiny! 

Right:

I can see one stray brush mark on his helmet, but other than that, paint look good, Like the gun thing he’s holding, but this is that part where I admit to not playing Fallout 4 and subsequently not knowing anything about it. 

Back:

Nice bit of detailing back here on the helmet, and the body looks decent for its stylised fashion.

Top:

Definitely got that Dorb-y shape to him. Seams are a bit of a mess though. Well, he was put together on the wastelands, so we can’t be too hard on him :P. Would be better of the seam wasn’t so rough-hewn and misaligned though.

Overall, I think he’s good for the money I paid. I got him for £3 at B&M. I think it’d be a hard sell at over a fiver tbh. Still think he’s a decent-looking Dorbz, so would recommend if you like the style. 

AG-SYS – Wipeout

And this was the one I was waiting for, before I bought the other, as they’re 2 for £20 at GAME. 

Managed to snag this one prior to the official release date (per GAME’s site). Was just there, chillin’ on the shelf, so I wasn’t leaving without it… and gladly they had the Feisar there too :D.

So here it is:

This ship ha a more interesting design than the other, what with having two distinct “halves”. The paintwork is nicely done, and it also has the weathering effect like the other.

Right:

This one has asymmetric paintwork, which is a nice attention to detail. Paintwork looks neat and crisp.

Top:

Love the overall shape of this one – a fair bit different from a bog-standard ship design. Also has its designation nicely painted down the middle. I also like the fact they’ve done the windows in transparent plastic, adding to the realism of the figure. 

Back:

Some nice detailing in the engine area here.

Underside:

They’ve actually painted down here on this one, which seems to be a step up from the previous one. Looks like they’ve learned from the last one.

And here are the pair together:

They look great together, and I’d definitely get more Wipeout ships, if they chose to release them. Even if this pair cost me £20… I’m not entirely sure they’re worth that much, but hey, captive audience unfortunately. They know how to pick their franchises! 

Feisar FX350 – Wipeout

This is the first of two Totaku based on ships from the game Wipeout. 

Right:

I like the dirty/weathered effect they’ve added, and the details and decals look good for the most part. However, that ladder looks kinda derpy for being painted on. Maybe they should’ve taken the time to mould that a bit at least… 

Left:

Ladder on this side actually looks less derpy in this shot, as it seems to have a bit more detailing and not be just black lines… hm… This side is pretty much a clone of the other, and looks good imo.

Front:

Hullo. Not much to see here!

Top:

Love the shape of these craft, lovely sleek design. 

Back:

The vroomy bits! Don’t look very vroomy though. 

Bottom:

Looks a bit like a bike seat! Not too much detail down here, but some at least. 

Overall, I like this figure. The detailing and paintwork is good, and I like the fact it sits on a ball joint, so you can position it at any angle you like. They’re fairly small figures though, and kind of expensive here, at £10 each. I don’t mind too much for these ones, as there isn’t really much Wipeout loot out there, and this one is done decently well. 

Zombie Pigman – Minecraft

This figure I picked up at the same time as the Demogorgon because I sort of semi-collect these figures… and he was a fiver.

Presenting… Zombie Pigman:

He’s gonna cut yah… I like the fact that this figure has been done with two levels on his head, instead of it being flat – it definitely gives extra depth and detail to the figure. The paint alignment is a bit eh in places, which isn’t unusual for these figures unfortunately. Overall though, it is faithful to the design in the game.

Left:

Here we see the design on the side, with the Zombie Pigman’s skull showing through. Sword looks OK, but the alignment has wonked over to the left a bit on mine. 

Right:

Figure looks OK, netherstone block looks good, but the print on the sword isn’t the best. 

Back:

Print alignment? Who ares about that? Erm, don’t think I’m going to look back here much if I can help it. 

Well, it’s one of the Minecraft figures. Paint’s janky, found an official distributor’s pic, and their pic wasn’t much better than mine… It doesn’t look quite so janky at a bit of a distance, so it is what it is. Nice to have an addition to the Minecraft shelf, though. 

Hela – Thor: Ragnarok

Here is a figure of Hela, from her appearance in Thor: Ragnarok:

This figure I kind of missed in stores, then had to pay UK RRP when I saw her in a figure store, and didn’t want to let her out of my grasp again. I love Hela’s look, and was happy to have an opportunity to have a larger figure of her, as I only have the Eaglemoss figure prior to this. 

In the box, she definitely looked the part, out of the box… let’s see. When I first got this figure, I put her on the kitchen table, but with no stand. She then ended falling over (on the table, not off it) and all four parts of her headpiece came out. And then they were a bugger to get back in, requiring the assistance of a hairdryer. So, erm, be careful of that. And that’s why I borrowed the Demogorgon’s stand for this photoshoot. 

Face:

I love the helmet, and the face is painted well. What I love less… is her cape. They’ve made it floating so it doesn’t restrict the movement of the arms, and so you can use it to hide her arm joint, but… it has a habit of going into a mess like in this photo. I’ll probably have to heat and then “freeze” it to get it to stay in a halfway decent spot :/. 

The green paint on her top is done very nicely, and it is a nice, appealing (and shiny!) shade. With the lined pattern of her top though, I wish they didn’t bother with a cut joint tbh – figures like this always look stupid when it’s not properly aligned. 

Left:

The horns on her helmet have a good amount of depth to them, which makes them have an impressive look to them. Her sleeves are painted nicely, and she seems not too big in the chest area. 

Right:

Here you can see the cut joint being a bit blergh. Can we have extra foot/hip articulation and do away with this cut joint? Face looks nice though. 

Weapon:

A nice pattern to it, but fairly simple. Doing some quick web research, it is supposed to be just black, so we can let them get away with not putting paint accents on the weapon this time :). We can also see her painted fingernails here, which is a nice touch.

Back:

Cape looks decent enough on the back. Texture isn’t too plasticy and we have some shiny bits up top. Overall, probably one of the better capes I’ve seen on a PVC figure.

Overall, I’m glad I finally got her, and can see why she was a popular figure. She’s a decent bit ahead of other figures of this type, though she has a couple of annoying flaws. Wish the cape was a bit different so it wouldn’t float about like it does. Maybe have some kind of fastener on the ends of the loose parts so that they can be clipped in when you’re done posing? Also some glue for the helmet horns wouldn’t have gone amiss. 

Demogorgon – Stranger Things

This is a figure I aimed to chase down on release, and found it at a local comic book store for a good price.

So here he is:

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Love the paint on his erm, face? The body paint is also really good, and gives the figure extra depth and detail. 

“Face”:

The teeth are done well, and there’s some lovely blending in the red paint. Love the fact they’ve added the bony protrusions on its “leaves” as well as having he teeth ring. Wouldn’t want to get too up close and personal with that!

Left:

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He has been textured well throughout, and I like the clawed hands.

Right:

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The textures and colours are good on this side too. Joints blend in decently well, where they show. 

Back:

The leg joints are very square. It looks fine when he’s standing straight, but moving the legs at an angle like his left one is in this shot… looks a little odd. Again, the texturing is very good. The rest of the joints have been made to not stand out too much, so it’s just the leg joints that are an issue. 

Base:

The base has the logo on, but however you pose him, it’s going to obscure a good chunk of the logo. I like having a logo on the base, but feel it’s kind of pointless if the figure’s foot is going to cover it… still, it’s a nice touch, even if it isn’t the best execution.

Overall I really like this figure and glad I got him. Think he’s a bit prone to fally-over, but I’ll find out over time. He doesn’t seem too hard to balance, just that you will have to balance him to ensure he poses OK. If you wanted him in more of a fighting position, you may want to invest in a claw stand. Really glad I got him. 

Leafa – Sword Art Online – Noodle Stopper figure

Pre-ordered this one on AmiAmi, and finally got it just after I got back from holiday:

And yep, she came out cute :). I’m really happy with the way this one came out. The swimsuit is sculpted well – happy they’ve sculpted the top strap separately, and the hair is nicely shaded.The small green details have been painted nicely too. 

Close-up:

Looking close, one of the green lines on her bikini is actually way off… oops. Her hair decoration has a bit of stray green paint, but nothing too bad. She ha a goodly amount of detail in her body, which gives her a good look. Her eyes are pretty detailed, and the small details on her face are painted well.

Left:

The detail lines in her hair work well, with the shading that’s also present. I like the posing of her legs – it works well and she sits well, keeping my Mug Shot nicely stoppered. She also has some small details in her ear, which is a nice inclusion for a prize figure. My only minor complaint on this side is the strings on her bikini look a bit too wide. 

Right:

I like the way her hair tumbles down behind her, and the plaits look good. Her foot is well-sculpted and posed. The bow looks less “noodly” on this side. 

Back:

Her back has a nice realistic shape, and she has a bit of butt cleavage showing. The bow looks really good on the back. I like the way they’ve included some folds near the knot. 

Overall, I really like this figure and would recommend her. She should be fairly cheap as she’s a prize figure, but that all depends on what her aftermarket does. Would still recommend her at more than I paid, as she’s possibly a bit nicer than other figures I have of this size (and paid more for!). 

Amon – Apocalypse of Devilman

The third and final figure of this set is Amon:

Big brute! He has a pretty large presence, with his bulky chest and muscly arms. He’s also the tallest of the three. I love the big head wings and the furry texturing on his legs. His torso also has a better blend than Devilman’s, making it a less jarring transition. 

Left:

Not too much to see on the site – the hairy arm texture looks good though, and his feet have a fair amount of sculptwork going on. Love the added veins. 

Right:

Here we see more hairy texturing – and the hair seems fairly well blended on his ankle to his foot. Those elbow claws must get in the way though!

Back:

Not a big fan of the sculpting on the red parts of his back – seems kind of.. unrefined? Not quite the same level of detail as the front of the figure for me. The rest of his back looks OK though, and he has a nice end to his tail.

Though for my figure, I knew he was coming in a sun-damaged box, but apparently the base is also prone to sun damage, and that had yellowed too – the other figures did have yellowing to their boxes but not to the bases. Hence why it is a more yellow piece in the other blogs.

And for this blog, here is all three together:

They do overlap a bit too much for my liking, but definitely look impressive as a set. Glad to finally have the set, even if one is a bit yellowed. Would recommend this set if you can get them at a reasonable price, but getting hold of Devilman and Amon might be quite the challenge. Saylos seems to be fairly readily available when I was hunting this set, but the other two… not so much. 

Super-glad I can now display them together!

Devilman – Apocalypse of Devilman

Ever since I got Saylos from this set, I’ve been wanting to get the other two. And thankfully both turned up on Mandarake! 

So here is Devilman:

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I love the blue-purple colouring of his body, and all the details in the body sculpt. The lower parts of his arms blend well to his arms, but below the torso… not so well. 

Face:

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His face looks good, and the antennae came out well. I love the little fangs poking out of his mouth. 

Left:

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Here we can see he leans forward slightly – this can be slightly annoying for balance, especially as his ankles aren’t the tightest joints. The body detailing extends to his sides, which I’m appreciating in this photo, and his hands look nice n’ spiky. 

Right:

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Here we can see more of his tail, which looks like it has a lethal end. I like the way it curls down to the side of his body. He has plenty of spiky details.

Back:

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The backs of his wings don’t really have any details to speak of, but the body has some sculpting. Here we can see how he is flicking his tail behind his back. 

Close-up of the wings:

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Here we can see the wings are hinged – I like the fact they included this articulation, so you have a bit more in terms of posing options for him. 

Overall I rather like this figure and glad I got him. Certainly a worthy addition to the set.

As a bonus picture, here are the three bases for all of the figures:

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Yes, one of them is a bit yellow, which I’ll go into in tomorrow’s blog. The skeleton effect is excellent, and does look very neat imo. Love the amount of designwork that went into these bases. Though having two foot pegs for all of the figures would’ve been nice… 

Izuruha – Ru/Li/Lu/Ra

Now for the fourth and final Izuruha:

Clothed, her body shows through the clothes, and gives a good silhouette, without showing anything off. I like the more serious expression on this one, contrasting with the smiling one on the other figure. 

Left:

With this figure I had to heat up the legs on the stand – when I first tried to assemble it, the back leg was very far off from the back stand – hence why I’m fairly sure the arm has drooped some on yesterday’s figure. 

Right:

Here you get to see a lot of her body. Sneaky side view :).

Back:

The creases are well done in the clothing, and there is a hood evident too. Hair is also nicely sculpted. Overall, I think she looks good clothed, if this is your preferred option. 

Now to cast her off:

She does look somewhat younger than the other version, so I can imagine this not appealing to some people. Again, the body is well-sculpted and painted giving it a lifelike feel. 

Left:

Again, the pose is fairly dynamic, giving a unique look to these figures. And look ma, no seams!

Right:

A bit of an interesting line from he leg to her stomach. Not quite sure that’s right, but it doesn’t look bad to me. 

Back:

Again, hair is well-sculpted and shaded. She has a more slender frame on this figure, and the backside to match. I like the fact you can see her shoulderblades. 


Overall, I like this figure as much as the other ones. I’d recommend them, if they’re your kind of figure, and they shouldn’t be too expensive to buy, if you find them for sale. 

Izuruha – Golden Diva ver – Ru/Li/Lu/Ra

After getting the blue/grey pair, I decided to eventually pick up the golden pair. 

This blog will be about the Golden Diva version:

I didn’t quite get her robe back on quite right when taking these pics… The blonde/gold versions are certainly more colourful. The outfit is pretty, and her hair flows well. 

Right:

I like the pose of this figure, which is why I ended up getting a second one of her XD. 

Back:

The robe does a good job of covering up the parts you may not want to see, if you prefer clothed figures, but leaves it so you can see her back, which has been sculpted well.

Now for the NSFW pictures.

Front:

The painting on her body is really good and looks natural. The other nice thing about these figures is the bodies are one piece of PVC, so there are no seams. The head is a separate part, so there is a connection there, but not visible normally, with it being under her chin/hair. 

Face/chest close-up:

Her face has been painted well, but her nose is a bit pointy. Her chest is painted well, and looks realistic. I like the fact her chest isn’t comical sized. 

Left:

Her body is sculpted well, and the curves look good. The hair also has some nice highlights to it. 

Right:

Her chest is probably most visible from this angle. I like the way the light works on this figure. I’m thinking her outstretched arm may have sagged a bit over time, and I may fix this at some point. I know from the next Izuruha figure I’ll be blogging about that these figures do bend a bit over time. 

Back:

The hair looks nice from the back, and so does her backside. We can see that her ankles have been sculpted well too. 

Overall, I really like these Izuruha figures, and this one isn’t an exception. If you like the figure (and not too bothered about source material – doesn’t seem like it’s something that’s particularly accessible outside of Japanese language things),I would recommend it. 

Geara Ghirarga – Gundam Build Divers

This figure I saw on AmiAmi, and was like… yes, I have to preorder that. I really want to build that. 

And build it I did:

Overall, it was a decent build – not too many stickers, I don’t remember any bits being overly complex on the main body. but the tail was fun. Also I probably need to tidy up the plastic nubs a bit here and there… My fault, not the kit’s fault. I do have some better cutters now… 

Left:

Here we have the articulated back parts, which look really good imo, and give the figure some decent depth. Also I like the design detail in the boots – and the yellow accents in general. 

Right:

Here he is, tail half-posed. His head looks menacing, with all the angular parts. I love these little details. 

The blue translucent parts come out of his back like so:

And, even cooler, you can shut them like so:

So need to tidy the plastic nubs…But I thought this was a pretty cool feature to have on a model kit. 

Both of the pods closed:

Some of the kits I’ve built, this would be a choice you’d have to make during building, but I love the fact that he transforms, so you can quickly and easily transform him between “stances”. Credit to the kit designers here!

Back:

Looks very angular from the back, and you can see the leg joints here, but they’re not disruptive to the design of the figure, which I like. The yellow accents contrast nicely.

Close-up of his upper back:

I like this cooling fin detail on this back. 

Tail:

Ahh, the tail. You have to be careful building this – the end segment only pushes on, so you have to be careful not to shove the next fin parts down onto it too hard. And the holes in the fins are only just big enough for them to fit on the wire, so some of them were buggers to get on. And then resulted in me knocking the end off, and then having to start over. You then have to wind the other end of the wire around some parts in the end part, to secure it in place. Adjusting this bit was a pain, and I’m not sure I got it quite right. Also the fins can turn over and go a bit all over the place – see the top of the tail. But the end result does look pretty nifty overall. 

You can also pull his tail off, and he can wield it, but I think I’ll leave it as a tail. If you like his design, I’d recommend giving this kit a go. Just… be patient with the tail.