Gwendolyn – Alter – Odin Sphere

I bought this figure from a seller on MFC, along with tomorrow’s figure. I’ve been debating getting this one, but with shipping & import, it was adding up a little high, but this seller was in the UK, so no import, woo. 

So here she is:

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I love the pose on this figure – the thin line with the wings outstretched makes for a dramatic pose. I was also attracted to this figure thanks to the blue hues in her wings. 

Close-up of her spear:

I love the crystal on the end of this, with its gentle blue colour. The moon gives the staff a good focal point too. 

Close-up of her face:

She’s clearly looking at something, but not sure the expression goes with the pose? She has a cute face tough, and her upper body is moulded well. Love the little tiara on her head, and her hair looks good.

Close-up of her wing:

I love the translucenty look of these wings, and the subtle gradients. Gives the figure some colour without being overpowering. The downward angle means they also show well when viewed from the front. 

Left:

Bit hard to photograph well from the sides, but here we can see her holding her spear aloft, and her left leg poised to show movement. 

Close-up of her leg:

She also has mini wings attached to her knees. These ones are more brightly coloured, and the purple was a good inclusion. The metal parts of her armour here are nice and shiny. 

Right:

More wing covering up her face :P. The pins on her skirt are painted well. Her right leg has metal pins into the base, and she stands sturdily. 

More leg close-up:

Some creases behind the knee, which is nice, and the lovely sculpting on the knee wings. 

Back:

Her dress is flared out, showing us she’s likely landing on the tree stump, which explains the more neutral expression. 

Close-up of her back:

Bit of a seam on the back of her dress, but I’m assuming this is going to be her zip. The gold choker gives a good look to her neck. The dress is separate from the body, which helps with the overall realistic look. Love the way the dress flows in the wind. 

Close-up of the base:

The base is very detailed and well-painted imo. Plenty of shading in the dirt and the plants – even some dirt on the plant to the left of this photo. It does have a more anime vibe than a realistic one, but I think this fits well. 

Overall, I really like this figure, and glad I finally picked it up. If you want a more “sophisticated” statue of Gwendolyn, I think this is a good one. And likely cheaper than Alter’s new one… which will probably come out after this blog does… 

Assassin – Fate/Zero – Banpresto DXF

This is a figure I’ve been considering buying for years. After getting Caster, and seeing her in a shop in Belgium, I decided I would. The price was a bit high at the shop I was at, but found AmiAmi was selling her nice n’ cheap… cheaper than the store I was in, even with shipping factored in. So I left the shop and ordered her 😛

A week or two after I got back she arrived:

One notable thing about her is she’s nowhere near as heavy as Caster. Also… a lot less parts. The sculpt and the paint are still good though. She isn’t as impressive as caster, but she’s still a solid figure. Her body is sculpted well, and she looks the part. 

Left:

There’s not much shading to speak of – this figure largely relies on natural light to provide that. The knives on her hip look and “feel” very basic. Feel they could’ve done something here. The bandings on her wrist and leg could’ve done with some paint accents to make them more leathery or something. 

Right:

Bit of a seam not-in-hiding here, on her middle. And her wrist. The bangles on her wrist are nice though, along with the ones around her neck. The creases on her clothes feel nice and realistic. 

Back:

I think her hair helps sell this figure. I love the shades of blue running through the hair. I feel the sides and front of her hair work better than the back of it, though… which is probably a good thing, seeing as I won’t be staring at this angle much. 

Overall, I love the pose of this figure, and for some reason, I have a soft spot for Assassin from Fate/Zero. I’m not surprised she goes for less than the other DXF servants do, as she’s not as impressive, but she’s still a solid figure imo. However, if you want an in-proportion figure of her it’s… this one or this one. So. Yeah. This one it is! 

Accel World – Toy’s Works Collection… the other one

Finally ordered the other set of figures… but as separate lots, as it was cheaper than ordering the 5 as a set at Suruga-ya. Go figure. It was just these 5 mini-figures, just to see if Suruga-ya had small boxes. And the answer was… kind of. The box fit into small packet, so I didn’t have to pay for repackaging, but man, they were overpacked:

So yeah…. probably worse than AmiAmi. Probably doesn’t make much odds domestically for the shipping cost, and the domestic shipping is free when you spend over ¥1,500, so it mostly costs me the repackaging fee. 

First of the figures we have is Black Lotus:

It’s an OK figure, but I prefer the Dengeki one, as that one a bit better and a more matte plastic. Plus the Dengeki one has the purple parts in her head “fins”. 

Side:

Back:

Overall the sculpt seems good. I haven’t straightened out the pointy bits, but the box does advise heating these in water and straightening them. They’re not too bad on this one, so haven’t tried fixing them up. 

Harayuki with food:

I love this cute Haruyuki Arita. The paint is really well done on Arita, pancakes are slightly on the sloppy side, but not really noticeably so for me. Love the stars in his eyes… he must be happy to have a whole stack of pancakes to himself!

Arita playing squash:

Another iconic activity of Arita’s. Love the little eyebrows, conveying concentration. I really like these Aritas, as he’s depicted doing two of his most iconic activities – eating and playing squash. Really fits with the character, and gives him more accessories than all the other little avatar-Aritas I have. 

Scarlet Rain, with gun:

The one thing I really like about the Scarlet Rain figures – they have a bit more articulation than the others, and you can move her arms and head pieces around. However, the finish on her head on both figures I received is a bit rough. Not sure if this is an issue peculiar to mine, or a problem with the manufacture. She’s lovely and shiny though, and the colours stand out well. Kinda sad that they didn’t put the wires into the figure, that they had on the box art – she usually has two wires coming from her back, or can do. 

Scarlet Rain in grump-mode:

Yep, this is the Red King we know and love :). Again, this one has the funny finish on her head. There isn’t a huge amount to differentiate between these two Scarlet Rain figures, but with the poseable parts, it is possible to make them look sufficiently different. 

Overall, I’m happy with this set, and my favourite figures out of this set are the Aritas. If it weren’t for the oddity of the finish on the Scarlet Rain figures, I’d probably like them a lot more. I paid £4.20 each (with shipping factored in), which is around about the asking price for these kinds of small figures. If you can pick them up for a few quid each, and are an Accel World fan, I’d definitely recommend the Aritas, and possibly the Scarlet Rains… or maybe whichever’s your favourite. The Black Lotus… I prefer the Dengeki one, though this one was half the cost. So if you were to get one, I’d recommend the Dengeki one, unless you want this set, or you don’t want to spend more on the Dengeki one (if you can find it…). 

Harley Quinn – Arkham Knight – DC Collectables

Bought this from Hawkin’s Bazaar, of all places. They were doing a sale, and she was a good price, so I picked her up:

As far as Harleys go, this figure isn’t super-special, but is decent-enough looking for the tenner I paid. I like the creases in her clothing, and she’s got some blush on her face, making it stand out more. She is a mild pain to pose though – hard to get her to hold the bat like I want her to. The paint is largely crisp and clean, but paint jobs do vary between figures, so I picked from the best I was looking at. Some of them the white overpaint wasn’t quite thick enough to hide her uniform underneath. 

Face close-up:

I do rather like the face on this figure. The flashing on the hat does make it look a bit like a blow-up hat, lol. Maybe it is? The furry balls on her hat and chest are meh, but they are on most figures, and these seem decent enough. 

Close-up of the bat:

Yep, looks like the quintessential Harley bat. Ruffs have a bit of stray paint on her wrists, but are well-sculpted. 

Left:

Looks OK from this angle. 

Right:

Some creasing at her middle and on her arm. Not sure they fully committed to the outfit wrinkles from this side. Note she has none on her legs. 

Back:

Here they seem to be a little undecided if they were committing to put wrinkles in her outfit or not, too. She does have a butt though… Her neck looks odd from this angle too. The paint is good on her outfit though.

And one of the major annoyances with this figure:

No. Stand. Holes. And she’s not easy to stand up on her own – she’s pretty finnicky, so can suddenly go SPLAT. Why DC Collectables, do you have to do this? Why no peg holes…? 

I think this might be quite a divisive figure – the shininess is going to appeal to some, but not so much to others. Not surprised this one has binned, but I think it’s a fairly solid figure for half the RRP. Though you may want to consider including a claw stand into your purchase so she doesn’t fall over. Currently I have her propped up against an acrylic stair stand, so she doesn’t fall over. 

Asuna – Noodle Stopper – Sword Art Online

Upon arriving home from my travels, I had this figure to unbox:

Asuna, from Sword Art Online, in noodle-stopping form. Or more like a shelf-edge figure… not sure how many people are actually going to use these figures to keep the steam in their Cup-o-Noodles. Initially I wasn’t going to get either of the SAO noodle stoppers, but upon seeing this one, I decided to order her, and I’m glad I did. FuRyu have done a really good job with her!

Front:

Her feet seem really detailed, with her toes. She also has a good amount of shading in her hair, which not all of these figures do. Most of the red lines are pretty neat, a bit wobbly on her left hand boob, but nowhere as bad as the initial pics implied it could be. She has a good amount of definition around her stomach and neck/collar area. 

I love the expression on her face, and her face has been well-painted. No complaints here from me. 

Left:

Here we can see the cross detail on her swimsuit top, which has been crisply done. Her hairstyle has been well-recreated, with her plaits and mini-ponytail. Love the way they have her ear sticking out, and the towel over her lap looks good. 

Right:

The large bow looks really good, along with the one on the back of her swimsuit top. She also has well-defined shoulderblades. The cuff around her wrist has been painted well. 

Back:

Here’s the back of her, which does a look a bit prize-figure-y in sculpt, but the shading is really nice. She rests well on a flat surface, with her backside, hair and hand. Left arm looks a little funny on the join,but tbh, it’s a minor complaint. 

Overall, I really like this figure, especially for the price I paid. I’d recommend this figure to anyone who’d like a figure of Asuna to perch on the edge of a shelf or similar location. Mine currently sits on the edge of the vivarium :). 

Devilman Keyrings

I had some promotional credit from a proxy service that I wanted to try out, so decided to go for a cheap item. I found these Banpresto Devilman keyrings on a “Buy it now”, and decided they were a good option. 

The proxying worked fine, with no issues, so that was good. 

Firstly we have this small Devilman keyring, that was already on one of my keyring display bars:

He was the smallest of the three keyrings, and of a decent quality.

Next up, a larger version of Devilman’s movie appearance:

With the larger size, there’s a lot more detail in the sculpt and the paintwork. I prefer the expression on the other keyring though. 

Devilman in his original cartoon form:

The sculpt isn’t hugely detailed, but gets the Devilman feel across. Logo on his belt is a bit squiffy. but his face is nicely rendered. Not sure if I’ll put this one on display, but it’s nice to have it. Might as well have one figure in his original appearance :P. 

Overall I’m happy I went for these keyrings. 

Crysis 2 – Grunt

This is the last of the three Crysis 2 action figures I bought:

This guy has the same articulation as the stalker. The hips are ball joints, so you can get them to stand up fairly easily. 

Close-up of the face:

Can see a paint chip there (d’oh), but the red eyes have been painted well. I feel more attention was paid to painting these guys than the suit, even though the paint is still a bit shonky.

Close-up of his gun hand:

Here we actually have a detail painted on the weapon! Mould is a bit muddy, and doing a quick image search for these dudes, it looks like that some of the flat area shouldn’t exist. Not entirely surprised they’ve simplified it in this way.

Left:

Looks like this dude’s been on a diet. Cuts a good profile though. Here you can see where the tentacles were hard to get into the body again, and leave a small gap. 

Right:

Much the same as the left. Silver bits look good. I like the purple fade, even if this doesn’t seem to be too accurate, according to my image search. 

Back:

Again with the silly screw hole! Kinda wish that wasn’t there. The areas where the tentacles plug in aren’t well hidden on this one either. At least he’s painted and moulded back here. 

Overall, I’m happy with these figures. I wouldn’t recommend paying a lot for them, and I wouldn’t say they’re particularly collector’s items, but if you want a small, cool action figure (or to pose them in compromising ways *ahem*), then they’re good for that. 

Crysis 2 – Alcatraz 2.0 Nanosuit

Next up, a dude inna nanosuit:

Paint job is OK, a bit rough, but does the job. Though the most intriguing thing to me is the hand posing. I mean, you can do this with him:

And he seems to be as miffed as I am about the situation. Not quite sure why they decided to mould a static pointing finger, when these figures don’t have replaceable parts. 

He does come with a variety of guns, however:

… but with the single-colour paint job and the lack in depth in some places (especially the pistol) they look like painted wooden replicas.

Let’s see if the dude in the suit thinks so:

Yes, I guess he does, if he’s going to spin one on his finger like that… I guess that’s why he’s pointing :P. 

Hey, look at this stash of wooden weapons I’ve found!:

Well, at least they fit in his other hand, mostly. 

Left:

Looks OK on this side. Some escaping silver paint on his leg. 

Right:

Some silver paint escapage here too. Shoulder seam is less visible on this side – wish all the seams were like that. 

Back:

Probably the best bit of the silver painting on his back, with the spine reinforcement. 

Overall, I think this one is more in the vein of a kid’s toy than a collectable. Some detail is there, but the production quality doesn’t seem to 100% be there, and the odd choice of the pointing hand. The guns with no paint accents also give it a more “toy” feel than collectable. 

Crysis 2 – Stalker

One of the stores that I occasionally frequent has decided to start selling these off, so I have bought three of these Crysis 2 mini action figures. Maybe one day I’ll actually play Crysis…

First one was this Stalker:

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Let’s say hello to this mean fellah:

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The arm articulation was better than I expected, even if it isn’t much – he rotates at the shoulders, but also at the “hands”. The arms are slightly bendable, but not poseable. The paint from the front is OK, but nothing special. 

Left:

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One mean lookin’ maw, there. Love the “hand”/arm attachment. The fade effect on the back tentacles is pretty good. One pretty visible seam across the top of his back there, though. 

Right:

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Similar story here as tot eh left, but the back portions line up a bit better, however are still gappy. 

Back:

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Here you can see where the back tentacles plug into his back. Kinda gappy. Also the screw head, hm. 

A closer look at that dark lump on his left:

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Unfortunately some of the paint flaked off not long after getting him. His back isn’t the greatest angle, so not too miffed about it. Also had to trim one of the alignment lugs on one of the tentacles, as it simply wouldn’t go in with it on. 

These figures cost me £4 apiece, not sure I would’ve wanted to pay the full price of £8, but happy with what I got for the price. Shame about the paint flake :(. 

EVA-13 – Revoltech

Initially I missed the re-release of this figure, but then randomly found it in stock again on AmiAmi. Wasting no time, I ordered it – stuff like this doesn’t tend to stay in stock for long with AmiAmi if it comes back into the store. 

Here he is in his “default” configuration:

Decided to equip him with both the lances, so most of the shots will feature these. Other options available, and will be shown later in this review. 

I love the shiny purple paint, and the yellow & green that complements it. He also articulates well imo, and his midriff segments bend pleasingly. I prefer a more stoic pose though. 

Left:

Here he is… having a bit of a nap apparently. The paint is nice and striking, but a wee bit uneven in spots. Not really noticeable from the distance I’m taking photos at. 

Right:

Closer look. Here you can see a bit of a paint flaw, in the black paint on his upper arm, where it spills into the green stripe near his elbow. And a bit of an uneven line going into the canary yellow. Whilst the paint job is mildly iffy in places, the articulation seems plentiful, and feels good. 

Close-up of the head:

Paint job  is OK; like all the little details in the mould. And ofc, you’ve got that wonderful impaling spike on his head :D. 

Back:

Some nice painting and moulding on his back – love the silver bits running down the middle. 

Here are the other spare parts, not shown in the rest of this review:

Plenty of hands to choose from, if you don’t want him wielding the spears of destiny. Also has the gun, if you wish to go for a less epic weapon. 

Also in accessories is the AT field:

That sits on an arm…:

…which can be attached to the stand. Then you need to balance EVA-13 up on his own, which he will do. Though I’d prefer to have a separate stand, tbh. 

And after taking this pic, I realised I was some parts short. So I went to dig up the other bag of spare parts, and assemble him in the configuration I really wanted him in:

Yeah, much better! This form consists of a new upper torso and two more arms. The uppermost purple V in his chest is rubbery, and sits above the joint that attaches into the grey part of his torso. With the extra arms, the spears are far more stable, so now I can have him hold them aloft, and not worry about them swinging out of place, like with two arms. 

Some more views:

Looking good :).

Close-up of the arms:

Love the shiny silver, and the cuff that both the lower arms have. Does make assembling on his lower hands a little on the awkward side. 

Overall, I really like this dude. He’s probably not as good as a Figma, but he comes at a lower price point, and far more accessories. Really happy to have him, and will be getting more of the Evangelion Evolution re-releases. I won’t be getting all of them – just a select few. 

Dva – Native

This figure is a futanari figure, so this is definitely a NSFW blog.

So let’s start with a SFW pic:

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She has a very cute face, that has been well-painted. Love the shading underneath her fringe, and the slight smile. 

Here’s the “company is coming around” configuration:

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The pasties covering her nipples are made out of metal, and she has magnets in her boobs. This makes them stay put, yet be easy to take off and put on. I like this! This figure benefits from strong lighting – her skin is quite plain, as far as paint jobs go, but in the light, it adds a fair amount of natural shadow, as seein in the pic. I love the shiny purple of her ribbons, and the methods used to hide the figure’s seamlines. 

Dva’s base:

This thing is big. Takes up most of a shelf of a detolf cabinet… The texture’s nice, and the butt divot does help keep her in place, but there’s no shading in the paint. Fortunately Dva mostly covers it, so it isn’t too much of an eyesore. And she certainly is a distraction, lol. 

Close-up of her with the pasties:

The paint appears to be thickly applied, and is a good, solid layer. Also shiny, which makes them nice, if you’d like to display her with them. 

Here she is without her pasties:

Yep, those look like a pair of nipples on a couple o’ melons. They’re big, but somehow don’t look ridiculous like some anime figures can do. 

Close-up on the flower in her hair:

Nice, vibrant colours, that contrast well with her hair. 

Let’s look at her different downstairs options, before looking at the rest of her in detail.

First up, if you want to keep her 100% woman:

Just the string, with some well-sculpted inner female parts. Not sure if she has a labia majora? 

If you want her to be futanari but not have everything on show:

You get this option, where she has a bright blue condom. The condom has a moulded ridge at the bottom, so it doesn’t appear painted on, which I thought was a nice touch. 

And for the full futanari effect:

One member please! It does have a particularly dark tip to it, which is a bit odd, but I honestly don’t mind it. Is a bit of an odd choice, but hey. Does ensure it contrasts strongly with her body and doesn’t blend in with it, from a front-on view. 

With this part, there is a labia minora visible underneath:

S’cuse the blurry shot. Was trying to hold her and focus the camera at the same time… maybe I should’ve taken the part off first. But I think this shot gets across what’s there, though it really isn’t visible when she’s on display. 

Close-up of her left leg:

I love the purple bows – the shiny purple is a lovely colour. The bottom part of her leg detaches, so you can slip the golden ring onto her ankle. The golden rings are packed separately in the box, so no need to worry about paint transfer. 

Right leg:

One nicely sculpted leg. Not much to say about this one. Some suggestions of shading in the paint, but not a lot. 

Midsection:

Yeah, this shot for your work PC wallpaper :P. The strings are nicely moulded, and slightly dig into her flesh. Hate it when they overdo it with the tightness, but I think this is a nice balance. The gold rings are also painted well, without stray paint. 

Left:

Here we can see she is arching her back slightly. Nothing too strenuous. The ribbon on her leg hangs down nicely. 

Close-up of her side:

The black strings are neatly painted. 

Right:

Here we can see where she’s resting her hand behind her, and the subtle shading in her hair. 

Close-up of her arm:

The band is nicely placed on her arm, and here is the other bangle you can place on her, if you’d like. Her lower arm detaches, so you can slip this on easily. Some people have complained her hand doesn’t lean on the base, but for mine, it does to some extent, and looks fine from the front. 

Close-up of the bangle:

Shiny 🙂 Here you can see where her hand does touch a bit to one side, but not so much in the middle. 

Back:

Yeah, bit of a seam visible here, but I love the gradient in her hair. And a nice shot of the penis :P. 

Lastly, here’s a shot of one of the penises not attached:

This peg simply plugs into the front of her, and the pieces stay there snugly. The penises are easy to remove, but the female parts are a bit of a pain to get out. Was able to do it with a fingernail from the bottom point. Once you’ve loosened them a bit, they’re easy to pull out. With the snug fit though, it does make the thong/genitalia parts look seamless though, which is good. 


This was an expensive figure, and an even more expensive one to get in the aftermarket. Glad I decided to be decisive about my preorder (had to do it through a third party too as Native won’t ship to my country :/), so I was able to get her at a more reasonable price. I think it would’ve been nice to have a bit more shading on her skin, but in the right light, she looks amazing. If you like a chick with a dick ;). though the options to display her without are both viable. 

Cute But Deadly – Kerrigan

Now back to series 1 of the Cute But Deadlies! Finally caved and bought this one on eBay, after missing out on her a few times in the past:

Glad to finally have her, though she cost a bit more than I initially planned to spend on her. But Kerrigan is worth it, even if I don’t play Starcraft :P. Love her angry, screaming face. And she’s a character that can make purple, brown and green work. The wings on her back can be moved up and down. 

Left:

She’s been to the stylist, and has plenty of purple, wormlike hair. 

Right:

I love the way the wings come out of her back, also the small detail on the back of her right leg. 

Back:

Lots of purple tentacles. What’s not to love?!

Glad I finally caved and got her. Always wanted something Kerrigan. Maybe one day I’ll get a scale of her or something. 

Cute But Deadly – Rainbow Goblin

After buying the two boxes from GAME, I walked into a collectable store and found this for a fiver:

One of the ones I really wanted, for less than the box price! Woo! I have the “normal” goblin, but I really wanted to have the rainbow one to go with him. I took a risk in buying him, as I hadn’t opened up the other boxes yet, but if I ended up with two, I could very likely get my money back on this one via selling it. But I didn’t get a dupe of this one, so happy days!

Left side:

Another figure with bright and vibrant colours :). Love the smiley cloud on his bag. And that cheeky grin he’s sporting. 

Right:

Aww, a little heart. Love the purple they’ve painted his outfit with. Love the little swords poking out of his loot bag. 

Front:

He has a good headbutting head. And I love his pale blue colour. 

Back:

Here we can have a closer look at his loot. See a little bit of stray grey paint, but nothing particularly noticeable. 

Overall, I really like this figure, and was super-glad to be able to get him 😀

Cute But Deadly – Pharah

GAME had reduced the price on the Cute But Deadly Series II figures, so I picked up two of the boxes. One of them was a repeat (Tyrande), but the other one was Pharah:

I don’t play Overwatch, but this little figure is too amazing to give up. I love the bold, striking colours and that screaming expression. Which came off like shock, in an ad-hoc picture of a lewd figure I sent to a Discord channel I’m in. Oops, haha. 

Left:

Some stray yellow paint at the top, but other than that, painted well. Surprisingly the smaller details are neater than the big ones.

Right:

Similar story here. This side is pretty much a mirror-image of the other one. This one pegs into the stand, but also propped up by the downward-pointing fins. 

Back:

Plain-looking for the back of her head, but the fins jutting out of her back prevent her looking totally plain. Love this part of the character’s design. 

Overall, I really like this character, even though I don’t have any familiarity with her. The paintwork is largely good, and the expression interesting, and would likely work well in photoshoots. I still think these are a bit on the pricey side in the UK, but the quality does justify a higher price tag than a lot of other blind boxes imo. 

Vasquez – Aliens – NECA

The day after FACTS, we decided to wander around the town we were staying in. Found a couple of comic book shops, but only made one purchase. Things were largely overpriced, and arguably this one was, but she’s hard to get a hold of now, and she has a bootleg version, if eBay auctions from China are anything to go by. Reallly should have bought her when I had the opportunity to, but nope. Decided to pay the premium, as this one had officially been imported (via heo), so I could guarantee it was not a fake. 

So here she is:

And wow, I’m not actually salty about overpaying. This is one of the figures I reckon NECA knocked it out of the park with. The sculpt and the paint both work for me, though the lack of assembly instructions was frustrating. Please stop this NECA, with your more complicated figures. 

Close-up of her face:

It has an almost lifelike quality to it, which impressed me. The bandanna print is crisp. We can also see some wear and tear on her armour, and the writing is nearly done. The cross on her neck has been neatly done too, which was a nice surprise. 

Close-up on the smartgun:

This thing is cool but it was interesting working out how to assemble the piece that hangs off. The muzzle flare can be removed, if you have trouble fitting it all in a display. The detail in the mould is good. 

Left:

Some nice detailing in the fabric of her trousers, and a pocket. Here you can see the assorted equipment she has. The shoulder camera was a pain to get in – she has a rubbery strap with a hole in, which didn’t quite align with the hole in the back. Some heat helped me move the strap hole into alignment with the back hole though, and I got the pest in. 

Also love the paint detail in her shoes. 

Close-up of her arm:

The ties around her arm have been done well. The articulation in her arm is decently hidden for an action figure. 

Right:

The satchel is well-detailed with folds and stretch marks. Again, nice detail on the trousers and the boots. 

Back:

Here you can see the problematic strap that runs from her left side, up to the middle of her back. However, once the piece was in, it really completes her look. 

Close-up of her camera:

I’m seeing a little bit of stray plastic looking at this photo I could cut off… Lots of little details in the moulding of this piece – grip handles, texture on the side of the camera box, and the bits and pieces of the camera itself. 

And to round this blog out, an action shot:

Yeah, this figure looks really good and isn’t too hard to stand up. Had some issues at the beginning, but she behaved for most of this photo shoot, which was a boon. 

I’d recommend this figure. Yep. If you like her, and you can get hold of her, I’d say get this figure 😀

Blind Box Pack

The stall that sold me the Harley Quinn XXRay figure also had a blind bag on display, and I was, for whatever reason, determined to buy some kind of blind bag at FACTS. I looked around his stall, and he seemed to have a decent selection of blind box stuff, so I decided to go for it and buy the bag:

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So… let’s see what we got. The figures were brand new and sealed, but I didn’t take pics of the items whilst they were still boxed. 

First up was this “Vamou” figure:

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Decently made, lookin’ pretty dead. Would’ve preferred to get a purple one. The box was a choice of this dude in various colours. Not too interesting, but well-made. 

Side:

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Back:

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He’s decent enough, and has ended up on a shelf of other small collectables.

Next up was a Be@rbrick. Was kind of excited to get this, as I wanted to see what these are like. Inside I got one entitled “Animal”:

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An interesting texture, and the articulation was better than I thought it would be – the arms are on ball joints, so you can move them into many positions, unlike a minifig. The legs also bend outwards slightly. He can rotate at the hips, head and wrists, which is good. Not the best pattern, not the worst. He also came with a card, which I didn’t take a pic of, as it’s already in a drawer. 

Side:

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Back:

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Close-up of the text:

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Interesting addition on the back. I guess it makes the copyright text less boring! 

Lastly, Shah Mat chess pieces:

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Each set comes with 4 tiles that clip together (each tile is a separate piece) and a pawn. My bind box figure was the king, who is the rare one, uh, yay! If I could find a buyer, it would likely be worth something, but I don’t think people are clamouring for a chess set that you have to get through pricey blind boxes… They do make pretty display pieces though! 

Back:

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And they are cute. 

Overall, I felt I broke even on this. Buying the boxes would’ve likely cost me more, but would I have bought them….? I’d say definitely “no” for the Vamou, and a likely “no” for the Shah Mat dunnies. Though none of them are headed to the the “box of trading figures”, so I got things that I like. Maybe not the wisest use of €15, but it was a fun one. Out of blind bags, I could’ve done much worse, so glad how it turned out. 

And here concludes my loot at FACTS! Money well spent I say!

Harley Quinn – XXRay

The stall had a bunch of XXRay figures for €15, including this deluxe edition. Price is about average for the normal editions, but couldn’t resist this deluxe edition, especially as it was Harley Quinn. 

Here she is, out of the box:

I’m a sucker for novelty figures, and have been looking at these XXRay figures, but usually they’re either too expensive, or not a character I want. 

Her internals have been well-sculpted and painted. It’s nice having one of these figures, but I feel having a lot of them would be kind of “meh”, as they seem to largely do humanoid characters, so the internals don’t vary much. On the externals, there’s a couple of bits of stray paint (you can see one above her left bobble). 

For accessories, she comes with the hammer as pictured above, plus these pieces:

Unfortunately taking her apart is not easy, so I haven’t actually tried these pieces out, but it’s good they included other weapons for her to hold. I’d likely pick the hammer for her anyway, as it’s the most iconic item of the three. Bomb has a noticeable seam though, which isn’t so good. 

Left:

Here we see her, as if she was whole. Paintwork is mostly OK, with a little escaping here and there. 

Right:

Bony! I like the way they’ve done the cutaway. Her cutaway foot seems too flat though. Would’ve been good if these bones were raised like the ribs. 

Back:

Imo the back looks good. No real complaints back here. 

I think these XXRay figures are a neat idea, but I don’t think I’d collect a lot of them as it’s much of the same. Having a couple makes for a good novelty, having a collection would just water down their impact for me. All in all, I’m happy with this one and maybe I’ll pick up a Joker if I come across one going cheap or one or two others. If you like what you see, I would recommend them, but not paying a lot for them, as they aren’t that big. 

Chatterer 18″ – Hellraiser – NECA

Now for my largest purchase of FACTS! In price, as well as size… 

Though I couldn’t use the usual backdrop:

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… so I apologise if the photos are a bit meh today. 

Here he is displayed on a shelf, showing how big he is:

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Yeah, this dude towers over everything! 

So let’s get a closer look at him:

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His top is leather, whilst the rest of him is hard plastic. The leather overlay on the top is a really nice touch. I got this figure cheap, as it does have a few flaws – there’s a paint scratch on his lip, and most of his leg joints were glued by a previous owner, as well as being glued to the glass disc. I don’t mind him being attached to the disc – it certainly helps him stand, but the joints being seized is kinda annoying. 

Left:

Detailing is nice on the arm, and a bit of a lack on the leg tbh. The halves don’t quite meet up in texture at the top. 

Right:

Here we can see better the arms have plenty of creases running round them, and various fake leather pieces making them up. Here the leg issue is better demonstrated – where crease lines don’t run from the back half of his leg to the front. The white dots are glue residue – I may attempt to remove these at some point, but this is from the haphazard efforts to force him into a stable position. 

Close-up of one of his hooks:

The blood effects are nice, and the chain is plastic, with fake rust. Looks good though. The top half of the hooks slide into his hand, an the bottom of the hook is attached to the chain, and clips into the other half. These fit easily and nicely in his hands, so no issues there. His arms have full mobility, but due to the way the arms have been designed with particular orientations in mind, this limits poseability, if you want things to line up. 

Back:

Back looks nice, and the leg hinges aren’t too visible. The screw on his backside is where the batteries live (he has an action feature!) and the switch is there to turn him on and off. 

Close-up of his back:

Here we see the switch, which says Off-On above it, and the leather overlaid on his flayed back. Kinda wish more of the figure was covered in material (it’s a rubbery plastic made to resemble leather). 

Close-up of his face:

Lovely amount of detail in the face, with the sculpt and the paint. Here you can quite clearly see the paint chip on his lip. I feel a lot of the detail in this figure is in his face. 

Side of head:

The metal wires have been well-painted, and moulded so they’re digging into his skin. 

Back of his head:

His head is slightly rotated – if you have his head straight, the removed flesh parts line up properly. Love the veins shown in his head. I think they did a good job back here. 

So action feature… what would chatterer’s action feature be? Well, he has a motion-activated chat:

Initially, it didn’t work when I put the batteries in, and it turned out that one of the battery terminals were corroded. Currently they’re replaced with a piece of foil, as it was the one bridging the two batteries. Probably won’t bother replacing the foil, but was really glad to find he still chatters, even if the motor is a bit noisy lol. 

Compiler – Story Image Figure – Yamato

I’m a sucker for StoryImageFigures if I see them cheaply enough. And this was the case with this one, at €5. 

So here she is:

I love the swimsuit she is wearing, and wish I could look good wearing one like that, but alas, it’d look odd on me. Not to mention that ring is probably metal and I have a nickel allergy… As an older figure, there’s a noticeable lack of dfetail in her face and hair. Some of the StoryImageFigures haven’t aged too well due to this, but on this one it isn’t enough to put me off it. The contrasting textures of her body and her swimsuit is nice.

Left:

She’s got a good pose, with one hand on her hip. Hair has some shading, They have gone for a poofy hair look, but it didn’t quite work in the mould I think. Just something about it seems to say “low detail”. 

Right:

This angle looks OK. Hair shading a bit suspect towards the top. Is a hair seam, but I don’t find it distracting. 

Back:

You can see where they’ve aimed to shade her hair, with the darkest parts on the ridges. Which I think worked. Just maybe needed to persist to the top. 

The stand is simplistic, but OK. Helps her stand up just fine, but the texture isn’t anything to write home about. She didn’t quite want to stand up originally – I think some bending has occurred in the box, but once I got her to settle, she’s been fine. 

A good addition to my collection, and was easy to place on a shelf, with a couple of other StoryImageFigures. Nice to get the odd small thing, now that I have a sizeable collection XD. 

Angry Groot – Eaglemoss

This figure originally came with “Marvel Fact Files – Cosmic Special Edition #5″. 

I, however, just bought the figure without the magazine:

Was drawn to this figure, due to its unusual look. Most Groot figures have him more tree-trunk-like, and this was more like spiky, angry tree. I love the shouting expression and his hairstyle. 

Left:

The paint job isn’t hugely complex, but it works. Most of the niceness of this figure is in the sculpt. 

Close-up of his arm:

Love the poking out parts of bark, and his hands look good, with the green emphasising his knuckles. 

Right:

Looks fine from this angle too. Some asymmetry going on, which is nice. 

Back:

I like the “flow” of the bark on his back. The shapes tessellate well and look good. Also a fan of that spiky hair 😀

I like this figure. The pose and facial expression convey a lot of emotion, and you can’t help but imagining him roaring. A welcome addition to my collection.