Category: Statues (non-articulated figures)

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. 

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:

image

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:

image

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:

image

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

Left:

image

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

Right:

image

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:

image

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. 

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!). 

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. 

Hatsune Miku – Vocaloid – VN02

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

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

Face:

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

Left:

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

Right:

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

Closeup of the speakers:

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

Inside view:

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

The rest of the back:

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

OK, back to the backside!

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

Back of the base:

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

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

Luna Luna – Queen’s Blade Rebellion

This was one figure I was planning to pick up prior to visiting Japan, after seeing it on the Mandarake website. 

Here’s her upper half, in her clothed form:

Even clothed, she’s not really that SFW, but we’ll get onto that in a minute. Her top sits nicely, and definitely looks like part of the figure when she’s wearing it, so her clothed option is definitely viable if you’re not so fond of having boobs hangin’ out. I love her four tentacles posed around her head, and her hands posed in a very dancer-ish way. I love the small details here – her rings and nail polish are both well done. 


So let’s have a look at the rest of her:

Yep. Nothin’ hanging out here at all. All good. Perfectly fine for the in-laws. Her body is well-sculpted and she has a range of details – from her shoes, to the bells on her thighs, and the gold beading encircling her lower body. Her hair also has a wonderful gradient in it, and the blending looks good. 

Back:

Here we can see where her headpiece reaches around the back of her head and also has a nice range of colour. Her hair gradient feels both subtle and vibrant. With her clothing, it dangles down and hides her bum from view. The clothing has a nice sheen to it, and I like the fact it is translucent. From this side, we can see her tentacles also have metal rings on them, which are nicely sculpted and painted. 

Now for some disassembly:

There’s a fair amount to disassemble here – both her arms, and the two tentacles that aren’t wrapper around her arms, plus her head. 

After that, we can take her top off and begin reassembling her:

Aww, still looking a bit sad here.

Assembled:

And this feels the way the figure has been designed to be displayed. Her pose somehow feels better like this to me. And the clear base definitely doesn’t do anything to distract the eye. 

Face:

I like the way her nipples don’t have the severe shading a lot of other figures seem to have. This feels much more natural. Here we can also admire the fastener for the beads around her midriff, if you’re not too distracted by boobs. 

Photo of her a bit less close:

Here we can see how two of the tentacles jut out from her arms, and are nicely curled around them. And her purple protrusion, that also acts as a clip for her body jewellery. Is it a penis? Is it not? Sources say no, but that doesn’t say it isn’t hangin’ out there like one. Nope, totally wasn’t this feature that attracted me to this figure. Not at all. Nope. 

Legs:

I love the amount of detail put into her shoe – from the vibrant, well-painted colours to the creasing down by the sole. The leg behind her fishnets feels a bit flat though, and some of her skin could do with a bit more shading imo. 

Other leg:

I like these small bells dangling down, and their flowery appearance. The top of her fishnets also is nicely coloured and designed. Some of the green paint didn’t quite reach the edges, but I feel this is a minor gripe. 

“Flower”:

Clearly not a real one, but it definitely seems to be doing its job. The translucent plastic is nicely coloured. 

Left:

Her pose feels very dynamic from this angle, and she is quite a lithe body type. 

Upper half:

I like her neckpiece from this angle. and her hair’s pretty. The seamlines feel nicely hidden in her hair. 

Right:

Maybe her leg is bulging a little bit too much here? The bell/flower on her leg dangles well, and feels correct for the pose. 

Closeup on the hairpiece:

It’s not terribly easy to photo, but I love the greenish colours, and the metallic finish. She’s also got some moon earrings on, one of which can be see at this angle. 

Back:

And here we can see her shapely backside. I love the way the jewellery has been don on her back, and finished the model nicely. Her hair is probably the most vibrant from this angle.

Overall, I’m really happy with this figure and glad I got her. She’s a nice piece of (tentacly) colour, in an interesting and dynamic pose. I love the darker skin tone, and the amount of smaller details that went into this figure. If you like this kind of figure, I’d recommend her. 

Catwoman – New 52 – ARTFX+

This figure was pretty much an instabuy when I saw it… after some price-checking.

So here she is, out of the box:

They’ve nailed the shiny outfit she wears, though the zipper doesn’t feel super-detailed. I like her pose, as it conveys her confidence and strength. Her collar also looks nice, and her lipstick is painted well. The base is the standard Kotobukiya magnetic stand that they use for their Western property figures.

Left:

Here we can see she is endowed, but not overly so. There are a couple of creases in her outfit, and her buckles on her boots are painted well. Here we get a look at her whip – this is mostly a cord, which looks OK at a distance, but would prefer if it was something with a poseable wire.

Right:

Her small ears on her hood work well. Buckles on this side are also well painted and sculpted – I like the way they’re not perfectly even. Here we can also see her spiked gloves, which look good.

Back:

Here we see a bunch of creasing in the back of her outfit – I do like the fact they have sculpted it like this, instead of totally flat, like most Catwoman figures. The band for her goggles looks a little odd though – just doesn’t feel like it’s any particular material.

She also has switchable goggles, here is a close-up of the ones used in the above figures:

These goggles are pretty decent. Please ignoe the dust on her chest… Here we can see the lack of sculpt detail in the zipper, above the zipper itself. Would’ve been nicer if the teeth of the zipper were more defined.

Without glasses:

Her eyes are painted well, though her eyes do look a little bloodshot, as it seems the eyelid edge paint went a bit walkies into the whites of her eyes. If you look just above her eyes, on the sides of her hood, you can see the indentations that the glasses attach to. Looking at the zipper pull in this shot, it does appear to be a bit distorted.

Alternative glasses:

After trying these pair of glasses on her, I think these are the ones I will display her with. I like the way they are see-through, so you can see her eyes. The orange colour is nice too.

Overall, this figure is fairly decent, but does have a couple of flaws. I could recommend it at a good price, but not worth an inflated aftermarket price. Personally, I quite like this figure, and am happy to add another Catwoman to my collection.

Al Azif – Demonbane – Crystal ver

This Al Azif was the version I was glad I didn’t spend all the money on, but I saw it super-cheap in Lashingbang, so decided to go for it. There were a few notes on its condition, but they were mainly related to the box, which was definitely in poor condition (the glue had gone on it).

So let’s look at this ‘special’ version of Al Azif by BEAT:

Personally, she doesn’t look bad like I thought she might. The purple hair actually works decently well, helped by the shading in her fringe. The sculpt is the same as the other, so it has that going for it. The outfit still looks nice and frilly, and her bows are well-sculpted. However, in this version, she doesn’t have any shading on her top, and instead it’s a pearlscent finish, which does look a little odd. Her skin is also a different tone, compared to the other, but looks OK. The base is identical.

Face:

Here we see her face, wit the colours, it looks more doll-like to me, like a Western-style kid’s doll. I like the effect of her hair on her head, and she is neatly painted. The hair being plain but translucent lower down doesn’t help the figure though, but I don’t mind this.

Left:

Here we see even her socks got the shiny treatment. Her floating “cookies” look good, and have avoided being made shiny. I still like her pose, and her top is realistically creased. We can also see how her hair isn’t entirely one colour, which is one thing I was afraid of, which would’ve made the figure look cheesier than it does.

Right:

‘Nother side, another cookie. The bows are all looking good and neatly painted. Here we can see how her skin is paler than it is on the other one. They have done some shading on her leg, by her sock, which really helps the sock look like a sock, instead of paint on her leg.

Back:

Here we see on mine there’s some “freckling” going on, on the back of her legs. Pretty sure this is discolouration, and likely won’t be present on other ones of this figure. From the back, her hair looks like it’s a large hard-boiled sweet to me and it’d be some berry flavour, lol. The ribbon entwines her hair nicely, and I do like the sculptwork that went into this.

Overall, I like this figure, but recommend picking this one up cheap. She’s not bad, but not as good as the other version, which is what I suspected. If you’re looking at images of the box, this one should have a black sticker on the front to state it is the crystal version, if you’re looking out for it.

Here are the two figures side-by-side:

Here we can see the original version has a more natural skin tone, and the extra shading in the top that helps it stand out. The shiny finish on the crystal one is interesting and a bit different, but I think the lack of other paint details drag it down significantly. The hair I think is a personal choice – it definitely doesn’t look as bad as I thought it would, but I’m probably still going to go for the original version’s hair.

If I were to recommend one, I’d definitely say save up for the original version, though I don’t think the crystal version is as bad of an option as I originally thought. I’d only recommend getting both, if you’re like me and you really want both… for reasons my brain won’t explain.

Lala Satalin Deviluke – Metamo ver – To Love Ru

Aaannd now for a figure I got before Japan, but didn’t blog about… because I had to take more pics. Reason why shown later in the blog.

So here she is:

Definitely a happy Lala! I like the shading in her hair and her smiling expression. Her tail curves nicely around her, and the shower makes this figure a bit different from most figures. 

Face close-up:

Yep, diggin’ that grin and Peke (the hair decoration). The curls on the top of her head looks good, and her cleavage has been well done. The thin line of dark paint in her mouth adds a good element of definition. Here we can also see there’s some shading painted onto her skin too. 

Left:

She’s moulded nicely from this side – we can see the detail in her toes. In a way, she’s a fairly plain figure, but the shading in her hair really helps her not be boring. 

Tail close-up:

Her tail is nice, done with a shiny finish, which I think fits Lala. The tail can be rotated and displayed at differing angles. Here we can see a seam on her leg, but it does appear they’ve done some work to help hide it, so it’s not super-noticeable. 

Right:

Here we see more of the shower, which definitely helps her stand up – without it she can bend over a bit. The hair is nicely sculpted around her ear.

Back:

Her backside looks good, but the back of her leg has been interestingly sculpted. We can see here they’ve attempted to sculpt tendons, but it looks a bit wrong to me. Love the way her tail is a big feature from this angle. 

But wait, what’s this?

What’s going on? Britain is having a summer? Wait what? One of the selling points for this figure is that it changes colour when it gets hot – on the day I took the first set of photos it was hot enough for this to start happening. This should start happening around 30C, which is very hot for the UK. So she had a stint in the fridge before the above pics, then I couldn’t be bothered to heat her up and take more. 

So here’s some shots from the second photo shoot:

It transforms well, and will stay like this for a long time. Ended up putting her in the fridge to turn her back – I think between certain temperatures she will stay whatever colour she is, which is a nice thing. I think both options looks good, but I prefer the black version, so back in the fridge she went for awhile :P. 

Overall, I think this is a decent figure. I think she’s a cut above a prize figure, but not really comparable with scale figures. I think her original RRP might’ve been a bit on the high side, and the price I got her for, the aftermarket agreed. Glad to finally have a Lala figure that doesn’t break the bank. 

Jack the Assassin – Fate/Grand Order

This was one of the figures on my “to buy” list when I headed to Japan – it was one of two Jack figures I was thinking of buying, and I decided to go with this one.

So let’s look at her out of the box:

I like the pose, but not sold on her expression. According the the promo shots, I actually have her daggers in her hands the wrong way up, but honestly, I prefer them pointing upwards rather than downwards (please don’t shoot me Fate fans!). 

Face:

I like her eyes and the scar. Here we can see the paint job is mediocre – the edges on her top are a bit messy. and the straps on her arm have paint all over the shop. 

Left:

I like the diamond parts on her leg. Her hair looks OK, but isn’t particularly detailed. The side of her top is nicely detailed, and I do love the knife holders on her back.

Right:

She looks good from this side. Still likin’ the knives and the details on her top. 

Arm close-up:

They tried to make the bandages on her arm look dirty, but I’m not sure I like the effect. However, I do really dig the daggers – they’re a detailed shape, and the paint with the gradient is really nice. Definitely one of the highlights of this figure.

Side of the knife sheathes:

Here we see some of paint marks that aren’t uncommon on certain prize figures. Other than that, the sheathes are pretty nice. 

Back:

Here we have a bag o’ tricks and all them sheathes. She looks really good from this angle. 

Close-up of her back:

The pack is painted decently well, but the knives are a little bit of a mess. Not too much of a problem, as they’re on her back. 

Front shot:

Her outfit is an interesting one… looks like she forgot her trousers this morning :P. The body is sculpted decently well, with some definition near her hips and groin, and she has a belly button. 

Overall, it’s an OK prize figure. She should be pretty cheap to get hold of – I wouldn’t recommend spending a whole load on this figure due to her flaws, but she is a reasonably decent figure imo. 

Yozora Mikazuki – Haganai NEXT

Here’s a figure I bought on my first day in Japan:

image

This figure is by the most-likely-defunct Griffon Enterprise. The thing that attracted me to this figure was her outfit – I love the shiny, red colour and the spikiness :). I also like her horns and the leg warmers(?). I like the detail that went into the legwear – the creases are nice and detailed, and the shading is well done. 

Face:

She has quite a cute face. Love the eyes, rest of the face doesn’t feel too detailed. Her necklace is nicely done though, and looks cute, if morbid. Her horns are a pleasing shade of blue, and are well shaded. 

Midriff:

This angle emphasises where the top doesn’t quite meet her boob properly, on the left-hand side of this photo. I don’t find it too noticeable on the shelf, but if you look up close, it’s pretty obvious under certain lighting conditions. The red is spiffy though. The black lines feel a bit shakily painted up close. I like the fact they’ve painted her fingernails. 

One thing that did stand out to me further away was the way the strap doesn’t quite line up between the different areas of her skin. Again, the problem is worse on her right side. I feel the joins on this figure could’ve been done much better, because it is a bit shoddy in places. On her legs, the thin lines are painted well. 

Feet :

I like her shoes, and more spikes down here too :). Whilst I can’t read the plaque, I think they’ve stuffed too much information here, and it doesn’t look aesthetically pleasing. I think it would’ve been better to stick to two bits of info and not the pile here. Her name and the series would’ve been enough imo, though the moons are nice. 

Left:

Her hair looks nice, and those shiny clothes are still looking good. I like the way the top of her legwear creases, and the bottom. 

Right:

This side is pretty much a repeat of the other side, but here you can see the side of her knickers. They look OK from a distance like this, but up close it does look a bit of a mess :(. Hair and ribbon looks good though.

Back:

Her hair has a good amount of motion, and has been sculpted with a decent amount of detail. Here we can see a couple of ribbons in her hair – this detail is nice. 

She also comes with this hairpiece:

This hairpiece is the same as the part with the horns in, only without the horns… what’s the point of this? Pfft. Though if you prefer her without horns, hey, it’s an option. Not a very compelling one for me, alas. Personally I’d be happier to have less seams in her hair, but I guess some people would like this piece. 

Overall, she’s an OK figure, but I wouldn’t pay a lot for her. I paid £42 for her, and tbh, that feels like the most I’d probably pay for it. She was sold for a bit more than that at release, so not surprised she’s gone down somewhat in the aftermarket. Now I own this one, I don’t feel like buying the more common black variant – I think owning just this one is enough. If you’re OK with some flaws in your figure, you may like this one if you can get it for a reasonable price, otherwise I wouldn’t recommend it. She is shiny though.

Seiki Hokuhou – Kantai Collection

This figure was a bit of a random buy for me. I was considering the scale, but the price for it turned out to be quite hefty, so I set my heart on getting one or two of the KanColle prize figures, as I don’t play KanColle, but I like some of the character designs.

So here is Seiki Hokuhou:

I liked this one as she looks quite cute, and I like all of the extras around her. With the present and the items she’s holding, it feels like it’s her birthday :).

Close-up of her face:

She has a bit of a worried expression, some food and a li’l plane. Nothing here is super-detailed, but what’s there looks good. I think he eye print could do with a little bit more vibrancy – it feels a little on the faded side. The Japanese sweet has a couple of flaws, but nothing seriously bothersome for me. Her hair has been done in a plainer style, but it’s one that works with this figure.

“Fiery chain chomp” companion:

These guys are cute, but quite basically printed. Here you can see the dots in the printing process, and I’m not using the macro lens here. From a distance they look OK, but close up, you can see this detail.

Present:

This present has been nicely done, and has a lovely anchor detail that has been sculpted well. Love the themeing here. The ribbon looks good and is flowing in the imaginary airflow around her. Dress side:

Here they’ve even thought to detail her underwear underneath her dress, which even has a little bow painted on. The dress shading itself is subtle, but effective. This is a figure that couldn’t be left plain without looking super-dull.

Left:

Here we see the bottom layer of the sweet is trying to run away. Pretty sure that’s not intentional. The edging on the cloth it sits on could’ve done with some work – the white edging would’ve been nicer if it had been fully painted red imo. The present is looking very spiffy though – it is shaded well, and he red band is crisp on this side. The dress also looks good, and a decent amount of sculpting went into the rips in her dress.

Right:

The back of her hair has a fair amount of life, and looks good. The poles the accessories are sitting on aren’t exactly hiding, so you have to wilfully ignore them.

Back:

Here we can see a greater amount of shading on her dress, which is what partly makes this figure. We can also see her feet and legs are well-posed and give her a good sense of motion. The anklets and bracelets she wears are also nice details.

Pantsu:

Yep, she has a pair of black panties. For those that care. I like the fact they’ve detailed them in. Here we can also see that her toes are sculpted well.

Overall, I think this is a decent prize figure. It’s one of the ones that is well-shaded, which is a win in my book. If I were to make one change, it’d be make the face print a bit more vibrant. And then align the sweet properly, though this probably isn’t incorrect on other instances of this figure. I’d recommend this figure to anyone who is interested in owning her. I think she’s reasonably available at a good price.

Oshino Shinobu – Monogatari – Ver.2

I was pretty sure I’d end up with at least one Oshino figure by the end of my Japan holiday. My only surprise is that I managed to keep it to one. Whilst I’m not familiar with

Monogatari

, I do rather like Shinobu’s design, and this one was on my “to buy” list due to the wings.

So here she is:

She’s definitely a cute figure, but… as we go on to see… her quality is somewhat lacking. Her hair and expression are nice, and the wings… cute li’l devil wings. I know some people have passed on this figure due to the fact they aren’t character-appropriate, but for me I’m a sucker for wings and therefore don’t care. Barring her skirt, she is pretty much plain, flat colours. If you look near her bracelet, you’ll see a bit of a seam too.

Left:

Here we see the obvious seam in her hair, and a bit of a weird sticky-out bit behind her ear. It looks OK from the front though, If you look near her ankle, there is a bit of a flaw in the finish. On her skirt, you’ll also see a bit of a grubby mark – there were a few of these on the figure. If it wasn’t for these marks, the skirt would look good. She’s also posed nicely, which is what attracted me to this figure. So at least there’s that.

Right:

… I think she’s broken her neck! Yeah.. this angle ain’ pretty! Her shoes are nice, but here you can see where I had issues getting her into the base – she didn’t slot in nicely. The bows feel a bit “plonked on” and aren’t exactly the pinnacle of sculpting. For me, this lacklustre effort emphasises the overall plainness of her dress. But that neck… she doesn’t look odd from the front, but the side angle makes me think “The Exorcist”. I feel they could have made this figure with her not quite as side-on so she didn’t look like she has broken her neck.

Dress close up:

The top edging is a bit dodgy, and the strap is a bit uneven in the sculpt. I’m starting to wonder if those bows are erasers…

Feet:

The feet themselves are nicely done, and the bows here look OK. However the white paint on the shoes themselves is awful and is a blobby, bootleggy-style mess. One of her shoes there is a gap between the sole and the upper, but apparently I didn’t get a good photo of that. 

Back:

Her hair is definitely a big block of yellow… something. Has an old prize figure feel. Not too much to say about it.

Hair from the top:

I like the shapes in it, that’s about it. Doesn’t much look like hair. Could’ve really done with some shading.

Wings:

They’re pretty nice, paint a little shaky though. More notable on the right wing. These weren’t too hard to put in place, but did need heat to go. Her wrist accoutrements are nice, but I’m seeing some stray paint near her watch….

Overall, I wouldn’t recommend this figure. It’s not awful, but it isn’t great either. You could certainly do worse… like a bootleg. This figure was readily available at around 1k yen. I wouldn’t recommend paying more than that tbh, if you like it despite its flaws. Or y’know. Just don’t bother. 

Nathan Seymour – Tiger & Bunny – Banpresto

This figure I was considering buying prior to Japan, and came across whilst I was there, so decided to buy him. For Nathan, there are only two prepainted non-trading figures, and the other one was an exclusive, so if you’re a fan of this dude (not in costume) it’s slim pickings.

So let’s take a look what we got:

All in all, a pretty decent figure. Phew. Some paint flaws on the orange parts of his top, but the rest of it seems decent. His makeup has been replicated well, and he has shading throughout his outfit, which is definitely a bonus for a prize figure.

Face:

He has nice sculpt detail in his face, along with the makeup that matches with the show. I also like the ribbon around his neck, which is painted well, and I especially like the purple of the gem attached to it.

Left:

His hair and ruff look really good imo, and look pretty much like they’re supposed to. His earring is crisp and defined, which is good for such a small part. The clothes flow nicely, along with the shading present. We can see one seam down his coat, but it has been fairly well hidden.

Right:

Here we can see he has painted fingernails, which is good, and the different finishes. His coat is shiny, whilst the rest of him isn’t.

Back:

Here we can see his right hand has a ring on, and also has painted nails. The edge of his cuff could’ve done with a tad more orange paint though. His ruff is nicely shared though, and I like the hole in the back of his top – it adds a good amount of detail. His leggings and boots are nicely shaded, to complete the figure.

For a prize figure, this one is really good, so I am really happy with him. I’m glad they did a decent job on him as there is rather a lack of figures for the side characters of Tiger & Bunny, especially out of costume. He is one of my favourite side characters, despite being a bit too stereotypical in places. If you like this dude, I’d recommend this figure. It should also be pretty cheap to obtain, as these Tiger & Bunny figures don’t seem overly popular.

Mari Illustrious Makinami – Evangelion – Wave – Plugsuit ver.

There were many Maris to choose from, and I decided to go with this one:

I went with this one, as Wave figures tend to be better than prize figures and not too expensive. Also they’re not too big, which is a bonus when to use haven’t got infinite room. Out of the box, I am really pleased with this one – she is well-painted and sculpted, and the finish is really nice. She has a pretty basic stand, but I’m not too bothered by that.

I like the shininess of her plugsuit, and her expression fits her seriousness. The glasses are also well done.

Left:

Looking closely at the lines on her legs, they’re not perfect, but do the job. There is also a bit of a ridge where her legs connect to her body, where you can see the blue parts have been made to compensate for this. The side of her head looks good, though I think I’d prefer if her hair learned on her body, rather than stick out like it does. She doesn’t have much movement in her pose, so it makes it look a little odd to me.

Right:

Not too much different from the other side. Her headband paint is a bit better on this side, and her hair looks less odd, as it doesn’t look like it is floating of its own accord. The different coloured parts of the suit are well defined.

Back:

A little sneaky gold bit! Funny what I notice when writing these blogs. Her hands look good and are well posed. Ridges where her legs join her body could’ve done with some tidying up. Her backpack looks good, and her hair makes more sense from this angle. Her hair is a soft rubbery plastic, so not too much chance of breaking it. There is some sculpting on the upper part of her hair, stopping it from being totally plain, which is nice.

Overall, I think this is a decent Mari figure, and a cut above a prize figure. However, the joins could have done with some work to make them less severe. If you can pick this one up at a reasonable price, and happy with a smaller figure, I’d recommend it.

Yuuki – Code Register – Banpresto EXQ

This figure I had a couple of goes at trying to win at a claw machine, and realised it probably wasn’t gonna happen, so ended up looking for it throughout my holiday. Ended up finding her cheapish without box:

Aww, cute figure. These Banpresto figures are certainly a good thing in the prize figure world. I love Yuuki’s hair colour. The sculpting is good. but similar to the other EXQ ones I have, the skin lacks shading. The dress has an embossed pattern on, which I’m on the fence about. It does add detail, but does look a bit like she’s bandaged. Paint on the hair band looks like it goes a bit far on mine. 

Face:

Here we can see where the hairband is either ridged or the paint goes too far. Decision up to he reader. She does have some blush on her face, which is a nice touch. I love her cute expression. On mine, if you look closely, the chest doesn’t quite marry up with the dress, but it doesn’t really show when on a shelf.

Left:

Her hair curls around her nicely, and we can see where she sits on the stand. Her stand holds her well. The sculpt of her ears is clean, and looks good.

Right:

Here we can see there is shading in the hair, and a couple of seams. The seams are pretty decently hidden. 

Back:

Here we can see where the hair goes from light to dark, to light again. The backs of her legs are sculpted nicely too. 

Overall, I’m glad I got this figure, but don’t think it’s worth more than I paid. Some of these new EXQ figures are really worth their aftermarket price, but this one I’m on the fence about. I’m glad to have her, but with the outfit and the hairband, I’m more on the fence about her than the other EXQ figures. 

Cyborg – Justice League (2017) – Kotobukiya

This figure I found was for sale at one of Mandarake stores I planned to visit, so put it on my “to buy list”.

And then bought it:

Whilst the film was a pile of poop (watched it on the plane), I quite like the design of Cyborg. Not convinced it rivals his comic book look, but I like it on its own merits. What I like about it: the red accents, the wires near his chin, and a couple of other details on his upper half. What I don’t like: The midriff feels overly fussy, his legs feel too “robot”. 

Face:

His face is nicely sculpted and painted, and I think Kotobukiya did a good job of this. The metal part fits well. His hair, however, looks rather on the painted-on side, which spoils it a bit. I really like his upper chest with the angular parts, red glow and wires. Love the show-of-strength pose. 

Stand:

The base is magnetic, so he sticks well to it. I like the logo, but the base being thing looks like more like a cheap coaster than a base for a figure. Wish they went for the thicker style the other western Kotobukiya figures came on. 

Left:

The pose doesn’t feel overdone from this angle, which I  like. The sculptwork is really nice and looks good from this angle.

Right:

The expression fits the pose from this side, but the hair being a bit shiny looks odd. ‘tis my main niggle with this figure. The shading on the metal parts is really nice and give it a lifelike feel. 

Back:

I really like the design of the back, and think it works better than the front… but that’s more DC’s fault. The fin effect is a lot less fussy than the randomness on the front, and the metal places help accent it. The shielding on the spine looks really good to me:

Here we can also see the number of paint effects going on, on the metal parts of the figure. I think they did a really good job with that. 

Overall, I think if you like this figure mostly relies on if you like DC’s design. Apart from the hair, I think Kotobukiya did a good job of recreating Cyborg in figure form, and am glad to have him, even though the film is poop. 

DC, stop making crap movies kkthx!