Category: Statues (non-articulated figures)

Len Kagamine & Sam Flynn

Two figures that don’t really have anything to do with each other… but I opened both on the day of writing. 

First up, Sam Flynn. Decided to pick him up at last, was one of the Disney Infinity figures I was pondering getting:

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Here’s a closeup on his disc-holding hand. The scupltwork from this angle does look good:

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And from the other side. His leg does look like it’s got an extra joint from this angle!

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Overall, a good figure, especially for the price I paid. I wouldn’t want to pay a lot for them, so the clearance discounts on these figures has been nice.

Next up, Len Kagamine. I saw this figure on a Black Friday deal, but found it straight-up cheaper on Amazon UK. As I have a Prime trial right now, I got him the very next day after ordering. Here he is, out of the box:

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D’awww. small and cute! He came in 3 pieces, plus the base. Not entirely sure why they didn’t package him assembled, lol. He even came with an instruction sheet, not that one is really needed! 

Here is a shot of his right-hand side:

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And one of his left:

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And the obligatory back shot:

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The figure is very nicely painted, and is the quality of a miniature scale. However he is tiny. I was expecting him to be small – after all, he was advertised as 1/12, but somehow getting him out of the box, he was still smaller than I thought:

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Doesn’t exactly tower over the Infinity figure, but at least he has the quality of a larger scale put into the wash. I’d say he’s worth the RRP, but not much more. Largely, his price seems to have gone up in the aftermarket, but for his retail price, he’s a fine-if-small figure. 

Figure Spotlight – [BOOTLEG] Amberlash

OK, pre-warning: if you don’t like bootlegs, look away now. Unfortunately at the time I got this, the “real thing” wasn’t really available, and even if you could find one it’d would’ve been waayyy beyond my budget. So I went for the bootleg, as I really had to have a succubus in my collection. 

At the time, I was fairly impressed with it, barring the painting on the left-hand-side of her panties. Having a closer look today, yeah, there’s definitely a sucky paint job going on:

The official one has gold paint, this one has… bronze paint. It’s not entirely horrible, but does lack the contrast of the original. You can also see her torso doesn’t sit right – tempted to glue that up properly, and it’ll probably help a lot with her balance… oh yeah, she likes to fall over. 

Wasn’t sure if the gap was there originally, but looking at eBay, where there’s photos of the bootleg, this seems to be a regular feature of the bootleg. 

Here’s a more front-on shot showing the escaping torso:

Let’s move to the side:

Annd stare at the diseased transition from body to wing. The painting of this part is horrible on both sides, and would definitely be one of the bits I’d look at repainting, if I do. I have one plastic model figure that I plan to repaint, and if this goes well, I may look at repainting this one to some extent. As well as sortin’ that torso. 

Finally, her back:

Hm, this pic shows the least of the paint flaws! Could almost be the real thing from this angle… 

For a bootleg, it still isn’t a bad effort. The sculpt has been preserved, and there doesn’t seem to be much noticeable degradation of the mould. The paint job is very noticeably sloppy in places, so if I decide to make a foray into garage kits, this would be definitely a figure I’d look at touching up/repainting. 

Figure Spotlight – Kabuki

And more Diamond Select! Though, again, I got this one cheap. I got interested in Kabuki, after getting a figure of Scarab, because she looked cool. I then found this figure on Amazon, put it on my wishlist, and watched the price slowly drop. Once it was at a point where I couldn’t not buy it, I bought it. So here she is:

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Her main body looks a little overly plain in real life. Maybe could have done with something to break up the block colour, and make her appear more detailed. Her weapon and pose are nice though. 

The base also really adds to the figure. Here’s a closeup:

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And one of the lantern:

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It’s nice to have a base that adds to the figure – probably one of the better things with Diamond Select – they do try to make a base that goes with the character, though some of them are horrible misses. This one (and the Sin City ones) go nicely with their figures. Just a shame the figures could do with a little work. This one being a statue does work for it – no awkward joints to be seen here. 

The back of this figure also works:

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Almost a shame the tattoo isn’t visible from the front of the figure, but that’s how the character is in the comics, so can’t fault Diamond Select for that. It’s a nice rendition though, but for some reason mine seems to have a mark on her shoulder. 

If displayed at a distance, this figure does look bold and striking. Up close, you can see the paint errors and from the front she looks kinda plain. I’d recommend getting this one at a discount. 

Figure Spotlight – Sin City figures

To keep the content goin’ on this blog, I’ve decided to make some entries about figures I’ve obtained prior to starting this blog. These blogs will start with the title “Figure Spotlight” and largely feature 1-3 figures. 

Today’s post will be about two Sin City figures I bought at MCM one year. These figures were made by Diamond Select.

First up, Nancy. 

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This was the one of the two I really wanted, but the deal was 2 figures for a price, so I go this one and Hartigan. You may notice that the guns are still rubber-banded in place – didn’t take the rubber bands off, as I don’t think she’ll have a particularly great grip on the guns if I do. In future, I may need to take the bands off if they begin to perish. Paint job is mostly OK, but you can see some WTF going on in the crotch area. Posing this figure isn’t a whole lotta fun, and both of these have the silly thigh swivel. Stupid cut legs… 

Here she is from the side:

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Mostly looking OK. Hiding the gravity-defying tassels in this photo :P. 

Aaand the back:

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Yep, Diamond Select plain give up here. These figures are definitely designed to be put up against a wall. 

Now onto Hartigan:

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Again, left his weapons rubber banded, so I don’t have to deal with them being dropped. I also find his thigh cut more annoying to look at than Nancy’s as it is more visible with the less busy pants. Not shown: errant blob of white paint behind his tie. 

Here he is from the side:

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And the back:

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His back is nicely done, but you’re not gonna wanna look at it when he’s on the stand. Kind of a shame really. 

I like the way the figures have been done in black and white to match the film, and the sculpting for the most part is OK. Nancy’s tassels are a mess though. The issues are fairly par-for-the-course for Diamond Select figures, which is why I only tend to buy them on deep discount. These two were no exception, happy for the price I paid, but I wouldn’t pay regular price for them. 

Non-genre Grab Box (S)

This was a box I got some time ago, which I started preparing a blog for, but never completed. So now I have my own blog, it’s time to post it 😀

Here is an overview of what the box contained:

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This blog will be about the figures and Re-Ment sets. 

Mickey Mouse

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This was the “star item” of the box. Alas, this was not something I was particularly interested in, and has been sold. 

Pikachu

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A plushie pikachu. Something else I wasn’t interested in. Looks nice for what it is, but I’m not a Pokemon fan. Did try to sell it, but hasn’t sold thus far.

Hecatonchier

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This is one of my favourite items from the box. Not truly familiar with the FF series, but this dude looks cool. And So. Many. Arms. It could sure give you a hand!

Baby Tiragon

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As it was a preowned box, most of the random item boxes were already open, and this was one of the open ones. Out of the things on the box, this was the least ‘cool’, so wasn’t surprised to get it. It’s a decent enough figure, but probably not worth trying to sell, so it sits atop one of my detolfs. 

Mothra Larva

Here’s the large packaging it came in:

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And the thing itself:

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Looked better when it was obscured by the packaging. I feel kinda sorry for anyone who won this in the Ichiban Kuji! You pays your money, you gets… your poop. It’s not very detailed, and has zero paintwork, which contributes significantly to it looking like an oddly shaped poop than a larva. It now lives amongst Poundland tat, and hasn’t eaten any of it, so I don’t see it mutating into Mothra any time soon. 

Petit Sushi-Go-Round

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These Re-Ment sets I didn’t initially open, but they sat around… so I opened them. All three were sealed. This one is a sushi set, and you can cut up the info sheet to put things on the screen. Not yet put anything on the screen, lol. 

Toy Story Toy Carnival

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This is probably my favourite of the three, as it’s toy story. Not much to say about it, but I do like the way the milkshake is Jessie-themed.

Rilakkuma Leisure Snack

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Weirdly, this one wasn’t on MFC when I looked, and I’m not big into Re-Ments, so didn’t bother adding it. Is cute, but the bits just sorta hang around on the wardrobe shelf. 

Wonda-Chan Asuka

Set up a bunch of watches on the Mandarake pages for this figure, and it didn’t take too long to strike gold! So despite last month’s overspend, this was one thing that was allowed to “jump the fence”. 

And here’s her back:

The pair looking great together, chilling with Etna:

Pleased I was finally able to obtain the pair at a reasonable price. On most other sites, they’re more money than I wanted to pay, but Mandarake delivered in the end :D. 

Asuka Emotion Style

Been looking at this listing for some time on eBay, and decided this’d come up in the November budget, if it was still around. At one point it got delisted for some days, so thought the shop must’ve got rid of it elsewhere, but it turned up again :D. Didn’t come with box, but the price was appropriately cheap. 

So here she is, in her smiley glory! Came a lot quicker than expected, as she was sent EMS. Wasn’t expecting that!

Here’s a side shot:

She’s in a bent-over pose, hence not everything being in focus in the first shot. Does give something to the figure, rather than being a “bog standard” Asuka. 

Due to her position, she’s also showing off one of her assets:

The blackish bits are a bit odd on her back though. I’ll be mostly looking at her from the front though. She’s nicely painted and sculpted, and I rather like this figure. 

Oshino Shinobu

Decided to go though the Nippon Yasan sale, and see if there was anything unmissable. Turns out there was… and it featured… doughnuts!

I mean, a figure bathing in doughnuts, how could I not get this? I haven’t watched any of the Monogatari stuff, and I might have to now :P. Here’s a shot from the side:

Here’s a shot of her sans hat and the bathtub separated from the larger stand:

She does come out of the bathtub, but no photos shown of that here.The piece above her foot was REALLY hard to get out, and once I did, I found out why – it had been assembled prior to the paint drying ><. A couple of paint flakes adhered to the part that’s glued into the bathtub, so that part doesn’t show. For the curious, her body is just plain skin (if you want pics, there are some on MyFigureCollection). 

Now to see if my husband also tries to bathe in doughnuts… 

Conquering Queen

This figure was my final purchase at the Horror Con. There were two I was potentially interested in – this one and one called Guilty Secrets, of a lady untying a red corset. Still think I made the right decision:

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Love her clothes and the use of colour in the figure. The sword is a bit awkwardly placed for side-viewing though. 

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Here’s the dragon skeleton’s head. Note the way the sword obscures her face and body somewhat. 

Here’s the dragon skeleton and skull on the other side:

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I do like the way the dragon skeleton surrounds the throne. This figure is currently living on the lounge table, encouraging me to keep it tidy. 

Wonda-Chan Rei

Been looking at the Evangelion x Wonda-Chan figures over the last couple of months, but for the size of figure, they’re usually pretty expensive. But his one turned up in Mandarake for a good price:

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One of the ones I almost bought off a seller had a broken peg, on receiving it, I could understand why – the pegs are long and thin, and her legs are naturally a bit too narrow to peg straight on. For anyone getting this figure, I’d strongly recommend heating her legs to make them pliable. 

Here’s her back:

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And her cute butt :). Lovely paintwork, lovely colours. Decided to just buy her on her own instead of paying a bit more for the pair, as she’s the one I really wanted :). If I see the Asuka Wanda-Chan for a good price, I’ll buy though :). 

Graceful Valkyrie

Have been thinking of getting a Valkyrie figure for a bit, but saw this colour variation on Facebook buy-sell group. One trip to Mandarake, and this one made its way over the sea to me, for at least half the price:

Compared to the other Eikoh figures I’ve got in this range, this one’s a bit on the disappointing side. Her blade was a bit scuffed up, despite her box still being sealed. Most of her is nicely painted, but she just doesn’t seem to have the same impact as the others. 

The back of her also looks kinda plasticky:

Won’t be looking at her back much, so it isn’t a big deal, but maybe a little bit of paint would’ve helped with the expanse of white. 

She has grown on me a bit since I’ve got her, so I’m not disappointed by her, and she didn’t exactly break the bank. 

Kaworu Nagisa

This is a figure I’ve had on my Mandarake favourite list for some time:

His box was smaller than I thought it would be, but seems a decent size once out of the box. Here’s his box:

I do like his suit and his pose. And blue and purple. One more for the Evangelion collection 😀

Grab Box for Boys (S) – Figures

These are the figure items that were in the box.

Asuka Langley

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Probably my favourite item in the box, initially I did have this without the stand, but she does kinda need it over time, so I clipped it to her. Got more used to it, and when posed right, it doesn’t show too much. 

Sonsaku Hakufu

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Only found the variant of this figure on MFC, and not a lot of pics elsewhere on the internet. Found out who she was via the copyright info on the base.

Ayase Eli

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Had the fun of watching this thing wobble whilst I unboxed everything else! Not watched Love Live, so have no attachment to the character. Haven’t had any sensible offers for it, so she’s currently hiding out in a box.

Cagalli Yula Athha

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Was a right arse to get on the base as the legs were bent in too much, and not the greatest paint job. She sits in one of my detolfs, and is part of a series of figures that I have now got three of, all from boxes of random. 

Dizzy

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I like the design of this character. She sits among some other petits in one of my detolfs. 

Shamal

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No familiarity with this character. Getting these things onto the base is a pain! The pegs on the base don’t really do the jobs pegs are supposed to do, and she fell apart once ><. Got there in the end though.

Sheryl Nome

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Prone to some of the issues of the above figure, but is a character I’m mildly more interested in.

And that’s it for figures. Tomorrow will be the hangable/keyring items. 

Sachiel-XX & Chibi Lotus

Now first for a figure I’ve been pondering buying for…. a looong time. Saw it come and go on Mandarake.. saw the price drop on Amazon for awhile, but then it started going back up, so I pulled the trigger and went for it:

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Glad to finally have her, she mildly exceeded my expectations, which is good. She also came with two hands – the one with the blue rod through it, and one that matches her right hand. Yep, deffo going for the more exciting one.

Here’s her back:

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Mildly shiny :). One wing balances on the support, other one doesn’t quite. Also… butt. That was a surprise butt 😛

And here’s a figure I got some time ago, and forgot to stuff in a blog… li’l chibi Black Lotus. Should’ve been posted in my Kuro-Lotus-a-thon! 

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She originally came with a magazine, and frequently is super-expensive. The price I paid was prolly a bit more than she’s really worth, but not gonna be deprivin’ me of food. 

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I did heat-treat some of her parts to get ‘em straight, swords looking a little bent in these photos, so may do those some day (not sure if I did originally). She has a bit more detail than I was expecting, and she stands well on her stand. 

Moar Catgirls!

I liked the other two so much… I went and bought the other two :P. The names of this pair are Takayama Maria (one in blue) and Hasegawa Kobato. 

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Hasegawa came with the small bunny rabbit :D. Here’s a slightly more upwards shot:

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Here they are from the back:

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And a more top-down view:

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Probably going to stick with the half-round bases (One came with a furry round base, and the other came with a round chequered, not furry base), and they’re currently sitting with me at the kitchen table until I get more shelving :D. 

Catgirls!

Was browsing MFC and came across this lovely pair for sale. 

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Had seen them previously on MFC, and wanted to get the set, and these came up at a good price, so had to buy. 

This one is called Mikazuki Yozora:

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And the pink one is called Kashiwazaki Sena:

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And here’s a shot from the back:

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They both came with a furry base, but you only really need one for the pair. 

I like these two so much, that I’ve decided to order the other pair in this set from Mandarake. The seller I bought these from had previously sold the other two, so needed to source them elsewhere. 

At the time of writing, I haven’t chosen where to display them, but some stuff may move about so they get a good spot 🙂

Oni Musume III

After the debacle that was the Oni Musume III purchase from Amazon UK, I looked around, and found that my best bet was the blue version from Amazon US. This time it was a fulfilled by Amazon item, so I was a lot more confident it’d be the right one this time!

And it was…

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The right one this time! 

Here’s a side-view showing more of her off:

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And the money shot:

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Nice butt 😛 Glad to finally have her, and it’s nice having the alternate colour scheme, as a contrast to the other one. 

Bishoujo Harley Quinn

Bought this from someone in France, as it was slightly cheaper to do so… and I feel it’s one of those figures that should have been in my collection already. 

So here she is:

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Love the way she’s even got two different two different colours of eye shadow. The hammer has a little peg, which is what keeps it in position, and seems to be working well thus far – she hasn’t dropped her hammer, and it stayed in place when I moved her for photographing. 

Here’s a shot showing off the hammer:

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And one from the other side:

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Love the pose she’s in, the striking colours and the detail in this figure. Kotobukiya put together some really nice figures, and am glad to have this one in my collection.

Death by Embracing

This figure… been wanting this one for a veerrryyy long time, but not been able to justify the cost of it on the secondhand market. At one point, it came up on Solaris Japan for a reasonable price, but then I missed out on it, due to funds.

Then it came up for a reasonable price again a few months ago. So I decided to order it just before I went on holiday, thinking I’d get it just after I got back. Only during the order process I noticed that it was sea shipping. And then thinking I could have ordered it two weeks ago ><, oh well.

So the wait was on. The long, looong wait. So how long was it? 73 days of wait… but totally happy to have it now! 

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Side of the figure:

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And her back:

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What was surprising is that I ordered a secondhand one, but this one seems to have never left the box! Well, she has now :P, and gone to the safety of one of my cupboards. 

The Kuroyukihime part of the figure can be displayed separately, which is a nice touch, but probably not something I’m likely to do. 

Kinda tempted to put an LED in the base, so it glows, but not totally sold on the idea as of yet. Maybe if I move and she’s in a Detolf or something… or I have the wiring/connectivity so it can either be easily toggled on/off outside of the cabinet, or synced up with the room lighting or something. 

So would I do sea shipping again? Probably not, unless the figure price is very touch-and-go to what I want to pay. £10 more for express shipping could quite well be the better option, lol. 

Kuroyukihime Swimsuit

Saw this on eBay and sent in an offer. After a bit of back-and-forth, a price was agreed on, and now I have her :D. 

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One pretty Kuroyu… uh how does this name go again… Kuroyukihime. Can never spell it. Already looked it up twice in the writing of this blog…

A slightly more top-down view:

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Love this figure, she was unopened, so she came with all the bits, but decided not to sit her on her sand tiles, as there’s not really enough room in the detolf where she’s sat, and she sits just fine on the shelf (I have another sitting Beach Queen, and she’s got a plastic rest on her stand, which is very much needed). 

Going to be getting some more Accel World figures in the post soon, so watch this space for more Accel goodies 😀