Category: Trading & Small figures

Miki Makimura – Devilman – Futura 20th Century Cartoonist Collection

Today we have a mini-diorama trading figure, featuring Miki:

I like this little figure, even though her skin colour is somewhat off. She should really be a pink colour, not an odd shade of brown. I do like the choice of base though, fits in with one of the episodes of Devilman, and having the arm reaching up, Miki unawares feels solid thematically. 

Miki front-on:

I like her expression, though I don’t think it quite works when viewed like this. Her hair is OK, but does lack detail. Her dress is nice – sculpted well with the creases, and the paintwork here is neat. Her legs going into her dress look a litle odd, but that’s to do with the fact you attach her legs to her body here. Would probably look less unnatural if the legs connected higher up, and made it look like her dress was lying on her legs, instead of floating above. 

Base:

The base is painted & sculpted well, and has some texture to it. The figure was a pain to assemble though, and definitely needed warming to get the parts together. I assembled this away from my usual location, so it was… awkward. 

Left:

I like the way Miki’s arm is resting on her hip. Here we can see how the demon arm joint is shaped to ensure the hand can only attach in the correct orientation. It will sort of attach in other orientations, but will only sit right if you have it like this. 

Right:

Here it really does look like it is grasping for Miki. Watch out! Here we can see the paint is rather messy around her slipper, but not too bad elsewhere. She doesn’t have an unsightly hair seam either, which I really like. Is a seamline running down her arm you can see here, though. 

Back:

The arm looks good from the back. I like the stripey effect, and they’ve blended the mud paint quite well, so it definitely looks like it’s rising out of the ground. 

Closeup of the arm:

Yep, definitely a fan of the paintwork on the arm. The sculpting is really nice too – we can see the tendons in the hand, and the claws are nicely done. Definitely gives off a devilish appearance. 

Overall, I really like this mini-figure. If you’re OK with Miki being kind of ashen, I’d recommend it. This one seems to be rather common, so shouldn’t be too expensive to pick up. 

Keimi – One Piece – Rare Colour ver

Bought this one as a singular figure in a store selling unboxed trading figures. I believe they had both variants from this set, but I thought this was the prettier one:

I thought the white top went better with her pink tail (the other one had a black top with a gold star). The paint is iffy in a couple of spots (most notably n her top straps), but decent overall. Pappug also looks very happy indeed. 

Face:

I find her hair a bit of an “off” colour – not the nicest shade of green imo. For me this is the weakest bit of the figure. The painting around the edges of her top is a close second though – this mess is pretty visible. At least it didn’t go over her stomach. Her jewellery additions are nice, even if they are a bit roughly painted.

Pappug:

Strangely, he seems a bit better painted than the main figure! The sculpting on him is really nice too – the hat looks excellent, and I love his mouth. With the teeth sculpted in the way they are, it’s avoided some of the oddness that teeth on figures sometimes can have. 

Left:

Here, Pappug looks really nice from the side, and Keimi mostly does too. Her hand is a bit of an odd shape though imo. The top is nicely sculpted though, with the creases. 

Right:

Pappug still looks good, and I’m loving the sheen on her tail. The scales are also sculpted nice and evenly. I also love the shape of her waist.

Back:

The back of her hair is sculpted well, The back of her necklace has been painted neater than the the top part of her top. The bottom ins lovely and neat though. The top of her butt fin is a bit of a mess imo – looking at pics this should be more even with the top of her fin. The base is just smooth on the back, but not bothered by the lack of detail here. Imo the base does its job and does look good with the figure, but it only sort of fits thematically. Does look like she’s sitting on an iceberg, which I don’t think would be too comfortable!

Overall, I’m happy with this trading figure, and think she looks pretty. I haven’t read/watched One Piece, but I do like mermaids, and she hits the spot. 

Mari… and a bit more Mari – Evangelion

Going to make this blog a twofer. These two items I got from an “Evangelion” vending machine – it wasn’t any specific series, but rather just random small Evangelion figures in gacha balls. I was going to buy some more items from it the next day when I had more change, but sadly I forgot to store the location. D’oh. 

So, first up, the Mari figure I got:

This figure wouldn’t be something I’d ordinarily buy, but once I got her out, I was like.. yep, I want this. I like the fact she has a guitar – it makes it a more interesting figure. I also like her happy expression – is almost infectious. She’s been neatly painted, and I like that her glasses have been sculpted as a separate part.

Left:

From the side she’s OK, a couple of paint flaws. The ear sculpt is rather basic and a little odd. 

Right:

The paint is neater on this side, which make it look better. I like her pigtails. 

Back:

Yep. Pretty plain back here. Not much to this view. Guess you could admire her pigtails? 

Overall she’s good for a gacha ball, even if she wasn’t officially a gacha figure XD. 

And now for the other Mari, a keychain:

I already had the Rei version of this keychain, so this one can match with it. 

Other views:

She’s an OK little keychain. The paint is decently done, and the sculpting is good. As I’m not a big Mari fan, she won’t be up front and centre in my collection, but she passes muster to be part of my keychain collection.

Kaworu Nagisa – Evangelion – Portraits

And one more Kaworu for the road:

His hair is OK, but has a bit of a mould line. His shirt is nicely sculpted, and his undershirt neatly painted. His trousers look good, and moulded well around his hands. Or where his hands would be…. Belt paint is OK, but a bit scruffy in places. I like the sculpt job on his trainers – the laces stand out form the rest of the shoe, which not all sculpts capture. The base has been made to make it look like he’s floating a bit, which kind of works. My main downside to looking at him from the front is they have his head tilted too far down so you can’t see his face much. Would’ve liked to see his face feature more. 

Left:

His hair has a fair amount of detailed moulding from the sides – all the spikes have been sculpted. The arm goes convincingly go into his pocket, and looks good. There is a small detail on his sleeve, which is a nice touch. 

Right:

Hair also good looks from this side, and we can admire his ear on this side too – it’s been sculpted well. The collar is possibly slightly blobby, but doesn’t bother me. I like the creases in his clothes, and they look good. 

Back:

Here we can see his hair is shaded, which shows some from the sides too. His back pockets are sculpted well, and the belt painted neatly back here. 

Would recommend this as a small figure of Kaworu. If you don’t mind him looking at his shoes, he’s a nicely sculpted and painted trading figure. 

Kaworu Nagisa – Evangelion – Deformation Mini

Hm, it’s been a couple of days without Evangelion figures… let’s have another!

This time Kaworu:

This guy I bought loose at a Hobby Off. Not sure “cute” goes with Kaworu, but… he does look good cute! The hair has some purplish shading, which adds some depth. He’s been painted neatly, and the colours look good.

Left:

The purple shading continues on this side, and we have a couple of those stylised shine spots. He also has a bit of hair sticking up. 

Right:

More fancy shiny spots. His sleeve looking somewhat solid.. His hands don’t have much detail, but do the job. Hair seam trying to show itself on this side. I like the way his hair is spiky at the bottom. 

Back:

Hair looks OK from the back, and has a decent amount of shape to it. Back is painted well too. 

The stand itself isn’t anything too special and mostly does the job. He can be quite easy to knock out of the stand, or simply fall over. He’s not the worst for it, but it does look like the previous owner had that issue too, as there is a paint transfer on the base from his foot. 

Overall, he’s a decent little chibi imo. Would recommend if you want chibi Kaworu. And you know you do 😛

Mio Honda – Idolm@aster – Gasha Portraits

This was the most expensive gachapon figure I got from a gachapon machine whilst I was in Japan:

And personally, I think she was worth it. The sculpting is really good for a trading figure, and the paintwork has a fair amount of details. 

I love her happy expression and pose, and the shading in her hair. The jewellery is nicely painted, which is especially good on a small figure. I love the bright colours they’ve used on her bikini, and the colours are blended well. The only real issue I have with the front of this figure is the join above her bikini bottoms – it doesn’t quite go together, and leaves a little gap. 

Face:

Here we can see the small details on her face – where she’s blushing. The painting is mostly really neat, with only some small bits outside of the lines. Her bust has been well-sculpted, and look like boobs instead of balloons. 

Left:

Here you can see the gap at the front a bit better. The lettering on her bikini top is crisp and clear. Her hair seam is quite nicely hidden. 

Right:

The hair seam is more obvious on this side, but still reasonable. The hair shading is a bit off – the back is shaded quite differently from the front. Her pose looks good and is quite dynamic.

Back:

Her hair looks good from the back, and the bow on her top is sculpted well. The stripes on her bottoms look good, and follow the contours on her backside. I also like the details on the top of her bracelet, which you can see from this angle. 

Hey, look at this!

… from this angle she ain’t just pointing at herself…

Overall, I’m really happy with this figure. I might not be into Idolm@aster, but this is a nice figure in its own right. Glad I got this gachapon. 

Rei Ayanami – Evangelion – Portraits – Nurse ver

And the last in this series of Reis!

One to make you feel better:

This one is also in the Portraits series of figures. Not sure if Rei would have the best bedside manner as a nurse… but here we are! The paint is a bit iffy in her stripes, but the shading on her dress does add a fair bit to this figure. 

Left:

She has a blue bow detail on her sleeve, but it looks a bit like a paint mistake. Would’ve been nice if this was a separate part. The stand holds her well, and its positioning makes it the least obtrusive it can be for the style of holder chosen. The band on her slipper is painted well and is sculpted, which makes it look good.

Right:

She has a seam in her hair, but decent for a trading figure. 

Back:

One more paint-bow back here, and some nice shading. I like the way the slipper bands dig into her skin slightly. Her hair is a bit too rounded and smooth, especially compared to the one I reviewed yesterday. The shading is still nice though.

If you want a small nurse Rei, this one hits the spot. I like collecting these Portraits figures, as they’re usually of good quality for a reasonable price. 

Rei Ayanami – Evangelion – Portraits – Spear of Longinus

More Rei? Yes, more Rei. Good news, I’m nearly out of Reis to blog about. 

So let’s look at today’s Rei:

I had a certain lack of Reis without spears, and now I have a good number, including this one. I love the pose, and the metallic blue used on her suit. With these figures, they often use this blue for the special “hidden” versions, and I think it makes a nice change from the black her suit normally is. 

The paint is nice on this one, with shading on her hair and suit. The spear is transparent plastic, same as the base, which makes it look a little cheapy, but I think it’s still OK. 

Left:

Her body is posed well, and I like the way she’s leaning slightly forward. 

Right:

I like the lance, but it’s not particularly detailed in its sculpt – it does the job, but not much more than that. She holds it well though, and we can see the paint detail on her palms. The black lines 

Back:

The darker blue on the hair gives the hair some depth, and the hair is nicely sculpted. Her backpack is nicely painted, and looks the part. Her backside is well sculpted, and has some shading for depth. I do rather like the paint job on this figure.

Overall, the figure itself is well-painted and looks the part, however the Spear isn’t the best. As long as you’re OK with that, I’d recommend this figure.

Rei Ayanami – Evangelion – On the Beach

Just a small figure today, Rei on the beach:

I have a couple of this series of figures already, so I was excited to see the Rei from this set. These figures aren’t overly complex in their design, but they’re nicely painted. The base is a rather straightforward affair – clear blue plastic, with Eva@School on it, with a slot for the background. The background is nice, and complements the figure. I like the angel that’s been included in the backdrop. 

I like her expression – I feel it captures her detachment. The ball she’s sat on also includes an angel symbol – a nice inclusion of the theme. The swimsuit also captures the essence of Rei’s plugsuit, but I do think the grey almost-penises look a bit odd. The hair has a subtle gradient, preventing it from being bland and flat. 

Left:

Here we can see the angel-on-the-beachball clearer. Edging on it is a bit unclean, but it’s easily recognisable and does the job. Here we see some overemphasised highlight marks on her hair – not sure if I’m a fan of this style of highlight. Hairclip looks good too.

Right:

Seam isn’t overly bad in the hair. Beachball looks good from this side, and we can see where her hair sticks out a bit on the front half. 

Back:

Bit of a paint mess on the ball. Hair is neatly painted on the back. They’ve reduced some of the plainness with the shine marks, but I don’t think you’ll really be looking at this side much, especially with her backdrop. They’ve given her some of a backpack, but I think this looks kind of odd, and a flat swimsuit would’ve worked better, though an actual backpack could’ve worked for a beach trip? Gotta have something to carry the beach supplies!

Overall, it’s a decent small fig, if you don’t expect too much from it. I got it for a reasonable price, so for me she was worth it. 

Rei Ayanami – Evangelion – Gaf’s Door

Here we have a slightly unusual Rei figure:

image

Here we have Rei in an angelic form. Saw this at a Hobby Off, and had to buy it. The figure takes a decent amount of assembly – having to peg the pieces to the base and each other. Once done though, this is a small, impressive looking figure, imo. I like the fact the cross has some shading on it. One part of me would like to see more of Rei, though. 

Base:

The base is slightly translucent, reminiscent of LCL – the fluid used in the entry plugs. Ripple marks are sculpted around where the various parts attach to the base, giving it more depth. 

Left:

Here we can see… where the lance has come unpegged from the cross. Erm. Oh, and a slim appearance of Rei. I like the sky blue colour used for her, and the shape of the winged parts.

Right:

I think she looks a little too long and flat from the side, but other than that, she looks OK. The hair stands out well from the body. 

Back:

Wings arc well from the back and I like the attachment parts they’ve given them. Her pose looks good from the back.

Overall, I really like this figure – it’s a more unusual one, and has nice colours to it. Would recommend if you can find it for a decent price. 

Haruna Sairenji – To Love Ru

More chibi! Get yer chibi here! Today we have Sairenji from To Love Ru in a gym outfit:

The paint quality is really nice on this one – the eyes have a fair amount of detail, and I like the blush on her cheeks. Her hairclips and clothes are also painted neatly. I like the fact she has some animation in her pose, instead of being static. 

Left:

Hair has a pretty distinct seam in it, but the hair highlights look nice, She has some shading in her hair, which is a nice touch. 

Right:

Some blobby paint on this side, d’oh, but the same isn’t quite as bad. Otherwise, fairly the same as the other side.

Back:

Not too much to see here, move along. Though the pattern on the base is nice. 

Overall, I really like this Sairenji figure. The paint quality is a cut above most chibi figures I’ve seen, and looks like Sairenji. She also wasn’t a crazy price, like most of the the To Love Ru chibis, so glad to have her. Would recommend this figure. 

Wild Tiger – Tiger & Bunny

And now for some main character action:

Whilst I don’t usually go for chibis (yet I’m doing a series of blogs featuring them…) I do rather like this one, and well, in Japan they’re cheap, lol. I liked this one for the detail on it, and I like the clear part on his head. He’s been painted well, and he has a decent amount of detail – his eyes have the black inset, the silver parts have been split into separate parts, and he has the clear shoulderpads and the guards on his arms. 

Left:

His head does have the wideness of a chibi, but doesn’t feel drastic compared to Fire Emblem. The shapes work well, and the colours feel well-chosen.

Right:

Same as the left really. I like the detailing on his legs – he has the silver edging and the green part that goes around his anke. 

Back:

He’s sculpted well back here, and you have the details of the back of his helmet, and the shapes in the white portion of the back of his suit. Some small green paint details, which help add accents to the figure.

Overall, I rather like this chibi, and am glad to have bought it. His base is better than Fire Emblem’s as you can see more of the company logo, which is also helped by his wide stance. I’d recommend this chibi, if you want a Tiger chibi. 

Fire Emblem – Tiger & Bunny

This figure I found in a bargain bin, with only half of its packaging, so he was cheap:

I love the bright colours of Fire Emblem, and this one is painted well. The decal on his head is nice, and the blue contrasts nicely with the red. They’ve made good use of transparent plastic to have him making the small flame that he does in the show. His cape is also nice and bright. 

Left:

The tip of his mask has a nice gradient to it, and the stripes are painted neatly. I find his chibi head shape a bit awkward from the sides though – looks a bit too fat. 

Right:

Some stray mustard yellow on this side, and the head seam is a lot more obvious here. Didn’t quite go fully together in assembly. His gloves looks nice though, and the cape curves a bit, which is nice.

Back:

Really liking the gradient in his cape, and the detailing on it is good. It has a sculpted shape to it, which really helps, especially with the parts at the bottom. 

The base has his company logo on, plus his name, though the logo is mostly obscured by his feet. Might’ve been better just to stick with whatever parts of the logo fit without his feet in the way, but eh. 

Again, this is a character without too many figures, so it’s nice to have him represented in my collection, even if it is in chibi form. 

Caster – Fate/Zero

GillesThis figure I bought for cheap, as he’s missing his base, but he doesn’t really need it:

And also because it’s Gilles De Rais. I find his expression a little on the odd side, but what’s there is well-painted. He has a bit of a seamline in his hair, but nothing too drastic. I can see a bit of paint slop on the bottom of his dress, but the rest is painted nicely, including the pattern on his left arm. 

Left:

Couple of seams visible here – one on the upper part of his clothing, and one in his hair, but they’re mostly hidden. Here we can see more of the linework on his arm, which looks really nice. Top has a bit of flow to it, which is nice to see.

Right:

Clothing seam is pretty well blended here. The points on his hair are sculpted nicely, and he has some fine details on his hand – you can see his rings and pointy fingernails. I love the red and blue of his… collar? Whatever it is. 

Back:

His cape hangs nicely, and the collar is painted well. Nothing to complain about here.

He’s definitely a decent chibi figure, and one I’m glad to have. I don’t think the stand really adds much (apart from ugly whiteness), so I don’t miss it at all. He doesn’t fall over either, due to his wide base for a chibi figure, so I think he looks great without it (and possibly why his previous owner no longer had it…). Glad to have another Giles to add to my collection, as there really aren’t many figures of him. 

Nagisa Kaworu – Evangelion – Gacahpon

This was from the same set as the Rei from yesterday:

His shirt has the same plasticy finish as Rei’s, but it’s more apparent as he has more shirt showing. Main finish issue for me though is his trousers – almost looks as if he’s wearing PVC pants due to the shininess. Hair sculpt is pretty decent, but his shirt is overly orange. Could’ve done with a slightly less bright paint here.

Face:

Hair is a bit rough, but that’s kind of to be expected by gacha figures. The moulding is nice though, and his face looks decent. 

Left:

Paint looks tidy, and the pose looks good. His hands go neatly into his pockets too. 

Right:

Hair also looks good from this side, creases in his clothes have been moulded nicely. 

Back:

Everything seems to be finished off nicely on this side. Belt and paint is neat. The texture on his trousers almost looks better on this side than the front, as it is less shiny. Shirt still looks like it’s made out of a thick binbag or something though.

Overall I’m happy with Kaworu, and both of these gacha figures. Glad I found the machine :). Just wish I didn’t get a double of each! Would’ve possibly tried my luck some more, had I more change at the time. Ah well. Happy with the two I did get!

Rei Ayanami – Evangelion – Gachapon figure

I found one ‘legit’ gachapon machine with Evangelion figures in it! This one was the first one out, and was Rei Ayanami:

An OK gacha – decently well painted for its small size, and straightforward to assemble. Not so keen on her hair colour though. Sculpt is decent, and looks good. Main complaint is the bow is painted on top, which makes it look translucent & odd. 

Left:

Can see where part of the dress was filled from in the mould. Seamline isn’t too bad, better hidden than some larger figures I’ve had. Shoe is a bit of a mess on the side. 

Right:

Skirt and shoe are both a bunch neater on this side. Hair also looks nicer here too. White sleeve looks a little odd – more plastic than shirt. 

Back:

Mould is decent at the back, and has a moulded seamline for her dress, lol. Paint also doesn’t quite go to her shoulder like one of the other Rei figures I blogged about… hm, maybe Rei just doesn’t have her dress go to her shoulder… 

Overall a decent gachapon figure. Nothing impressive, but does the job for the price point.

Taserface – Guardians of the Galaxy – Dorbz

Needed something cheap to meet the tax-free threshold… after dithering over the sale goods I settled on this dude, despite not seeing the film (yet):

I was attracted to him as he was… purpleish. From the front he looks decent – his beard has a good sculpted texture, and his face seems to be painted decently neatly. His outfit is also a detailed pattern. 

Left:

Aaand here is where it gets messy. Bis body looks fine from the side – the print looks neat on his body. As for his head, his ears have been reduced to flat, barely-shaped pieces of plastic. And that seamline… not even a little bit of sanding? On his hair, there’s places where yellow paint have been blobbed about, and small areas where the paint is too thin. The purple paint on his hair shows some of the same issues. Looking at pics of the character via the magic of Google, these design pieces don’t fit at all… He does have bands in his hair, and the yellow seems even a bit brighter than the brightest one. And the purple bits? What? 

Right:

Smooth and seamy. Just.. blergh. Getting a feeling why this dude was on clearance now. At least the ear is actually ear-shaped here. I know he’s misshapen, but it should either be clearly so… or not. The other side looks like a mould fault rather than a sculpting thing. 

Back:

His hair does give the feel of a braided mess, which is accurate to the character, whilst being simplified to fit into the Dorbz design.

Top:

Let’s get to the bottom of the hair issues… or not. As far as I can tell, the purple bits are supposed to be bits of skin showing through his hair? Just makes him look like he’s got a poorly-painted centipede trying to make its way out of his skull… It doesn’t look good on this figure, and it doesn’t look like anything I can see from the movie. This figure would be much-improved if these pink tentacles were removed and the front bands were painted orangey yellow instead. 

All the major flaws, all at once:

Yeah. Blergh. His gun isn’t shown too well in most shots, as it’s mostly hidden. Shame, because it actually looks OK. 

Overall, can’t recommend. He looks OK from the front, from any other angle… well, a bit shit. I may use him for painting practice or something. Shame, as the body is really nice, and some minor tweaks would have him looking better from certain angles. Not sure why they didn’t sculpt his ears – whilst they are deformed in the movie, they weren’t completely flat like this. 

Rei Ayanami – Evangelion – Introjection ver

Here we have a small Rei trading figure:

Bought this one in Hobby Off, along with another small figure. I don’t usually go for Rei in her uniform, but this one was nicely painted and cheap. I like the fact they’ve added some shading detail to her hair, and her thoughtful pose. 

Left:

Seam on her side is a bit ugly. Socks are flat to her skin, making the tops look odd. Sculpt looks decent.

Right:

Again, another seam that isn’t particularly well neatened. Little bit of escaping paint on her sleeve. Other than that, she looks pretty neat.

Back:

Paint scuff on her collar, which shows badly from the back. Thankfully it is on the back! The back of the figure looks overly plain imo – I’m not sure much effort was put in here. The blue paint doesn’t quite get to her collar on the right hand side. I’ll just admire the base, which has some shading to it, which is a nice addition. Hair looks good from the back, so a bit of a shame the uniform is so “flat”. 

Overall, I don’t think I can complain for my ¥324. She looks really good from the front, which is what I care about most. A small, cheap addition to my collection, but probably not a figure I could recommend people get. Unless you’re really into Rei and you find it cheap, like I did. 

Lunatic & Origami Cyclone – Edge of Hero – Tiger & Bunny

I was perusing the small anime goods at Animate and was surprised to see a new collectable figure set for Tiger & Bunny. I thought they were relatively pricey, so I bought two, with a potential view to buy more if I liked the box contents to justify buying more. So here are the two I bought to see.

The first one to be unboxed turned out to be Lunatic:

These figures are REALLY small, so the macro lens made an outing. The plastic bridge he sits on is a stand that came with each of the figures, and can be used to display the figure and a card they came with, The stands are pretty big relative to the figure size, so I’m likely to display two on one stand.

And it’s only just now I remember that these figures came with display cards. That’s how exciting the card design is…

So, onto the figure itself. It’s definitely Lunatic’s colours, and it’s nice to see he has a fireball, even if it isn’t translucent. The paint is definitely a bit haphazard in places – noticeable on his legs and the green curves on the inner edges of his cloak. His face lacks detail though, and it makes it kinda look like he doesn’t have eyes. If they did his eyes in white it would have done, but a bit of extra detail on his head would have helped a lot.

Left:

Here we see an obvious seam, and the paint kind of giving up.

Right:

This side is far better than the other one, and the blend in his fireball is nice.

Back:

Paint on the back I think is an acceptable level of quality for such a small figure. The flaws are mostly small and not too noticeable. Some blue paint has gone walkies higher up on his back though – you can see two paint drips.

He does stay nicely on the stand, and doesn’t fall off too easily. It’s a decent sculpt for its size, but the painting of his face really lets the whole thing down imo. Not a big fan.

Now for the second, Origami Cyclone:

Here we see a lovely range of colour, which feels accurate to the show. However, where they put the colour… not so much. If the painting was done accurately, he would have been show-accurate, but there’s missing paint and slop all over the place. Most noticeable of this is on his chest – part of the blue triangle has been missed, giving him mutant chest. He also appears to have flesh-coloured armour on his right arm. The other paint miss I noticed fairly early on was the bit hanging from the middle of his belt, and the bit on his trousers. His hands and the upwards points on his mask haven’t been sculpted too well and are a fair bit blobby.

Let’s see if the back fares much better:

Erm, kinda, yeah… The oversized shuriken thing on his back looks pretty decent, but does have one mark on one blade. Gold edging paint is all over the place though, and one of this sword handles has been given a half-effort. Red edging on this “skirt” was given the other half effort. Also note the huge blobs of missed blue paint on his upper back – this looks truly awful when looking at the figure from the back. 

Overall, these figures were a neat idea, executed poorly. If they made them 1.5-2x bigger, I feel they could have done a much better paint job, and the details would be so much more visible. As it stands, they’re REALLY small and the paint’s a mess. After seeing these two, I was not inclined to buy any more. I would not recommend these figures to anyone tbh. If you want to buy small figures of Tiger & Bunny characters, just go buy some of the trading sets that are out there. 

Behemoth King & Marlboro – Final Fantasy XIII

These pair of creatures I picked up cheap at a Hobby Off, without boxes. I was impressed with the prices in the Hobby Offs I visited, even if they didn’t do tax-free shopping.

Firstly, let’s have a look at the Behemoth King:

Looking at these creatures close-up, there are many small details to be seen, such as the stitches on his sleeve, and the metal edging on his shoulder… ribbons? His tail curls around him nicely, and for this figure the “front” isn’t the best viewing angle, but you do get to see his face.

Left:

This I would regard as his viewing angle, as you can see mos of his pose. Here we see his tail has a heavy metal end that I’d definitely not want to tangle with! The muted blue and purple colour scheme works well, and definitely counteracts blandness in colour design for a creature, without going full-on fantasy. I also wouldn’t want to tangle with the clawed gloves he seems to be wearing on all his limbs. The weapon on his back is also nicely sculpted and painted.

Right:

Here we can see he has a good amount of shading in his back paint. The rock “stand” is largely visible from here, and the textures and colours on it are nice and feel like stone. The ribbons on his shoulder look like they are blowing in the wind, which is a nice touch.

Back:

Here we can see the ribbons (as I’m calling them…) are textured nicely and are shaded down their length. Also liking the spiky collars on his wrists/ankles.

Overall, I’m impressed with the quality of the sculpt and the paint for this figure, plus I love his overall design.

Now for Marlboro:

My research revealed, that yes, his name is a reference to the cigarettes, as he kills you with his stink. I love the detail of this creature’s design, and the muted colour scheme. He also feels kinda cute to me, by monster standards. Here we see him looking like he’s wrapped himself over a dead adventurer, who still had his sword. I love his big, gaping mouth, with all its teeth. The paintwork is quite detailed around here.

Left:

Here we see His Plantiness has orange tips on all his extremities. I like this touch in his design, and the paint seems blended well with the green, so there isn’t a harsh transition.

Right:

Again, more orange-ended tentacles, plus some skulls beneath him. Yeah, don’t think I want to tussle with those teeth.

Back:

Here we see an obvious join about halfway up his back – this is the only noticeable flaw imo. Here he also has some yellow accents on his vines, which adds some depth and detail to him. I think a decent amount of detail has been put into his sculpt, and definitely gives him a plantlike appearance.

Overall, I’m really happy with this figure too. On a personal level, I think Marlboro is my favourite of the two, but that’s down to creature design rather than quality. I could recommend these figures, who would like some more creaturey small figures in their collection.