Category: Statues (non-articulated figures)

Super Sonico – FREEing S-Style

This is the last 1/12 feature for a little while, as I have other figures to show! 

So… here she is:

This is the only Sonico figure I own, which is mildly unusual considering the size of my figure collection. She is a nice Sonico imo – an interesting choice of pose, and she’s nicely sculpted and painted.

Here is her right side:

I like the fact she has something to hold, but the ice-cream is a bit too easy to knock out of her hand. Would be nicer if she gripped it a bit more, or it was a bit of a higher angle so it was more gravity-assisted. The headphones are nicely detailed. 

Here she is from the back:

Her hair flows nicely, and I like the gradient in it. 

And the angle I’m sure some are here to see:

She seems pretty well featured in this regard. Out of Sonico figures, there are better candidates, but I think it works well enough for this figure. 

I like this figure – for me, she comes somewhere in the middle for the FREEing 1/12 figures I currently own. She’s not my favourite, but she’s not my least favourite either. I think she will look great with the rest though. 

Shimamura Uzuki – FREEing S-Style

This is the last of the three Idolm@aster figures that were released together in the S-Style series. I planned to get this one anyway, as her pose was rather different from the rest of the S-Style figures.

So here she is:

I love her smiling face, and the blue of her swimsuit is a very nice colour. Kinda wish the base matched her swimsuit more, or they matched the stands for the Idom@ster figures. Due to her pose, she’s very tiny though. 

Left side:

Her hair is nice and detailed, but evidence of seams, which is a bit of a shame. 

Right side:

This side looks much nicer, and showcases her hair better. Some nice shading on the swimsuit, plus some wrinkle lines on the suit. 

Back:

Her hair in detail! Probably a little on the shiny side, but her backside has been sculpted well. 

Top:

This shows the main issue of the hair: the sudden change between the hair on the top of her head, to the hair lower down. Her back looks nice though.

Underneath shot:

She doesn’t have any pegs to hold her to the base, so you can sit her wherever :). 

Chest writing:

The writing on her to translates to Uzuki (her name). 

Overall, I like this figure, though she does feel very small, due to her pose. She’s painted nicely, but imo, it would’ve been nicer if they made her slightly bigger, though she is a scale. 

Nitta Minami – FREEing S-Style

After getting Anastasia, I decided to get the rest of the “set”. This one was the one I was most on the fence about, but she was the cheapest of the bunch. So let’s see what we got:

She looks cute, I love the swimsuit, but she looks a little “flat faced”. Imo, she looks better than the promo shots, though.

Left side:

Even with a “simple” pose, they’ve managed to add some dynamicness to it. The fold in her hair is a nice touch. The hair is more shaded than the promo shots, which helps with her overall look. 

Right side:

Not too much different than the left, though her hair appears to sit more naturally this side.

Back:

Some nice shading work on this side, with her hands clasped behind. 

She is probably one of the plainer S-Style figures, but imo she matches up to the quality of the others. 

Rin Kagamine – FREEing S-Style

Another Vocaloid – Rin Kagamine. Ever since getting Len, I’ve planned on getting her. Was checking up on Mandarake recently, and saw she was available, so nabbed her quick. 

She has a super-cute pose, and is the perfect companion for Len. Didn’t take any pics of them together during this photoshoot, but I do plan to do some group photoshoots, once I have more of the S-Style figures.

Here she is from her left:

Her headphones/headband are very nicely done. 

Right side:

One cute, waving hand, plus you can see the shading in the tips of her hair. 

Her back:

Her back is sculpted nicely, along with the bow on her back. 

Overall, she’s a very nice, cute figure, but I have had one issue with her:

Her middle is a bit curmudgeonly, and is a pain to fully get rid of the gap between her midriff and her skirt. I did imagine to improve matters for these photos, but she does seem a bit prone to not going together 100%. However, the skirt is removable, if you want to display her just in her pants.

Hatsune Miku – FREEing S-Style

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

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

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

Her left:

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

Right side:

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

Her back:

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

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

Alter Ayanami Rei

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

Here she is with her default hairpiece:

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

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

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

Here is her underside:

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

Here she is from the front:

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

Here she is from her back:

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

Here is a more top-down view:

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

Unless you display her feet-first:

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

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

However, I do have this base:

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

Here she is with her body reflected:

Looking at her face:

Backpack:

And finally, her backside:

Shapely!

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

Powerloader & Alien

So this was a figure that came with a game… OK, it was Colonial Marines: Collector’s Edition. I decided to look up how much the game itself is worth out of morbid curiosity – you can buy it for £2.49, and get it posted to your door. Yeah.. 

(For those who are not in the know, Colonial Marines is notoriously terrible). 

So here’s the figure:

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Maybe they should have produced this figure, and just shelved the whole game idea. I bought this for £19.50, though most of the auctions tend to run at £25-30 at time of writing. 

The paintwork on the powerloader is especially impressive – the alien is mostly done with a blue wash type of thing, which looks a little odd in places, but works from a distance. 

Let’s get a little closer to the action:

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That’s one desperate xeno trying to get in there! The alien has nicely wedged itself up there, without clipping or anything. 

Let’s see how the marine feels about this:

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He doesn’t look too happy about it, and also his teeth have turned to flesh! Bit sad they missed his mouth, when it looks like everything else was painted. 

Let’s see how the alien is getting along:

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Bit hard to get a shot of his face, but it is nicely sculpted. Still looking hungry, I see. 

Back of the diorama:

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Amazingly, they’ve even textured the back of the diorama stand! Also a lot of attention to detail in the paintwork on this side of the powerloader. Love the dirty weathering effects.

Back of the powerloader:

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All the wiring and gubbins you’d expect. Plus the cute little light on the top, and the aerials. 

Now for the alien’s backside… is it as pretty?

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I would say… not quite. From this angle, the blue wash looks a little blobby in places. You can see him prepairing to grab onto the powerloader’s arm for more stability, though. 

From the top:

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Bit of a random shot, but came out better than expected. The detail on the alien’s head looks good, and it emphasises the alien’s pose. 

All in all, I really like this figure, and can see why it has held its value, more so than some of the other game collectables I’ve picked up over the years. The game also came with some iron-on patches and a map of the ship on tracing paper. The other touchy-feely bits were crap. I do feel I got a good figure for my money, and hey, I also have a joke present for anyone with a PS3… 

Nagisa Kaworu – G.E.M

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

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

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

Left side:

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

Right side:

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Still shiny!

Back:

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

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

Morrigan Noodle Stoppers

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

I ordered both variants, here they both are:

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

First up, 1P:

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

Left side:

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

Right side:

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

Her back:

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

Close-up of her face:

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

Back of the wing:

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Shiny!

Front:

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

Now onto 2P:

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

Her left:

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

Right:

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

Back:

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

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

Shamsiel Shahal

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

Here she is on her mirror base:

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

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

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

Here she is not sitting on the base:

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

Close-up of her face:

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

Her left & right sides:

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

Her back:

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


Now to cast her off:

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

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

Close-ups of her clothes:

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

Here she is, reassembled and cast off:

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

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

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

Close-up of her chest:

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


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

Ranka Lee – N.A. version

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

Here she is, looking at her stand:

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

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

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I guess the stand is OP :P. 

And here she is on the stand:

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

Here is her back, with her top on:

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


Now to cast her off:

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

Right, now to put her head back on!

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

Here she is from the opposite side:

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Lookin’ nice from this side. 

Her back:

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

Chest shot:

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

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


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

Yoko Litner Noodle Stopper – Part 2

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

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

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

Here she is from the back:

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

From the top:

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

And finally the rear shot:

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

Now to compare the two:

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

Here’s the undersides:

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

Above:

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

Lastly, here are two backsides to contrast and compare:

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

Yoko Litner Noodle Stopper – Part 1

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

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

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

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

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And a more side-on view:

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

Here she is from the back:

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

Opposite side:

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

So what is her underside like?

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

Here’s a close-up of the waist:

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

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

First up, the back of her hair: 

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

Some weird black mark under the sealant: 

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Also some thigh gap going on, on the left. 

Sealant, what sealant?:

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

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

Anastasia S-Style

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

Here she is:

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

Here she is from the left side:

And the right:

And her back:

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

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

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

And with the top on:

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

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

Top from the left:

And the right:

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

And from the back:

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

Closeup of the hood:

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

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

Poison Ivy

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

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

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

Right hand side:

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

Left side:

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

Back:

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

The base and her shoes:

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

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

Tiger & Bunny: Kotetsu and Blue Rose

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

First up, Kotetsu:

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

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

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

From the right side:

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

Left side:

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

Finally, his back:

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

All in all, pleased with my pic.

Next up, Blue Rose:

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

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

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

Here’s two shots of her sides:

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

Her back:

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

Here are her other parts:

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

The other things she can say:

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

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

Devilman & Migi

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

So here’s Devilman by Bandai:

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

Here he is from the front of his body:

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

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The explosion is two pieces pegged to the base. 

Here he is from the back:

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Not too much to add here, still looking awesome.

Close-up of the wing:

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

Finally, Sirene and Devilman together:

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

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

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

Kaworu Nagsia

This was one of two figures I got as Christmas presents. This one I ended up ordering and having a sneak preview prior to Christmas.

And now I can finally appreciate him fully:

I love the shiny plugsuit, and the blue colour of it. Due to this and his pose, this figure is quite striking. 

Here is a close-up of his face:

Not much shading on his face, but it is nicely sculpted, and has good definition. 

Side of Kaworu:

Is a very arched pose, and he’s a very thin and tall chap :). Can also see where his hip bones jut out slightly, due to his slight build. 

The back of Kaworu:

Featuring one of his best features ;). He has a very shapely backside, so he might have to go in a mirrored cabinet, lol. The backpack is also nicely done. A decent amount of detail back here. 

I do love this figure – the colour and the pose really make it for me. He’s a figure I’m likely to pick up and appreciate, so I’m glad I asked for this for Christmas :). 

Sirene

Sirene is a character from Devilman. She’s a harpy with electric powers. This figure was on my Mandarake wishlist for some time, and my recent Urban Mine digging gave me the excuse to order it. 

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She’s designed to go with two other Devilman figures, but still looks great on her own. Am impressed with the detail in this figure. 

Here’s a close-up of the base:

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Her wings rest atop the branch, and her feet have some tiny little holes that her toes rest into. She’s a lot less easy to knock over than she first appears, which is nice. 

Close-up of her face:

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She’s got very big head wings here. 

She also has butt-wings:

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Never know when you might need to fan something away! Also there is a bit of a waterfall on this side, and the back is just “cut” water, rather than a waterfall. 

Back view of the figure:

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This shows how the back really is the back, but the branch has been done nicely. Her head wings are also highly detailed on the back, which is nice. This would be a good figure for a mirror cabinet. 

View showing the spike details:

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Glad I bought this figure – it exceeded expectations, and am now considering obtaining the rest have ordered Devliman. 

Ena Hoshijiro [Part 3] – Hoshi vs Hoshi

u So now I’ve introduced the two figures… let’s compare!

First off, the stands. FuRyu’s:

ACG’s:

Firstly, their holding capabilities… the ACG one is more awkward to get Hoshijiro onto, as it’s a bit of a tight fit, but she’s less prone to falling off it. If you so wish, you could actually pick Hoshijiro up, and have the stand come with her. However, the holder is actually visible from the front of the figure, unlike the FuRyu one. For the flat part of the base, I’m not particularly keen on either. ACG did try to do something to make it fit in with the figure, but I don’t think the amount of detail there justifies its size. The FuRyu one does the job of being a stand, and little else. I’d say the ACG stand wins out, but neither light my world on fire. 

OK, more important part, the figures!

With the ACG one looking matte, it definitely looks the more expensive of the two. Personally I prefer the ACG’s choice of Hoshijiro, as I like the flesh/meat mix more, but both are “valid” designs. For the hair colour, the FuRyu one is closer to the pics I can find. 

In terms of assembly, the FuRyu one was a mild pain, but it makes up for it in customisability. It would’ve been nice if ACG gave a couple of tentacle options, but it does have the added advantage that the tentacles can’t fall out :). 

The backs:

I do rather like the paint detailing on the ACG one. I feel if they did the hair shading brown instead of purple, it may have found more love. Both have clearly shaded parts, but the ACG one has stronger shading work. Which you’d expect from a scale. This angle does make the ACG support look less fugly than the FuRyu one though. 

Now for the bodies:

I think the ACG gets this one – there’s more to see of the FuRyu one from this angle, but I think the angle works better for the ACG one. I’m linking both from this angle though. 

Back view:

There’s more to see on the FuRyu one here. The ACG one is very “thin” from this angle. You can see a lot of the FuRyu tentacles here – the ACG ones have far better angles for seeing things. Also the seam line is apparent on the ACG one. 

All in all, I like them both, and they will have places in my collection. I think the ACG one is the nicer of the two, but they both have their strong points. Part of it comes down to what kind of Hoshijiro you like. With none of the other scales from other manufacturers panning out, these two are your main choices. The ACG one has potential – there could have been some additions and small changes that would have elevated it to a higher price imo, but I think its current price is a good one, if you like it and want to pick it up. 

Which Hoshijiro would you have gracing your shelves? Or would you choose ‘neither’ or ‘both’?