Figure Spotlight – Halloween Chan

This one was one of those figures that I had on my wishlist for ages, then fiiinnally got round to buying many months (possibly years?) later. 

She came in a very yellowed box, but the figure seems to be fine. 

And here she is:

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Not as nice as the promo shots, but still cute, and I’m a sucker for purple. 

Here’s a closeup of the pumpkin and her face:

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And a side shot, which shows how she “floats” in the air:

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The downside of this stand is that the stand plastic is VERY wobbly. Originally had her in a detolf, but when you walked past she’d wobble, so I moved her to a shelf that’s firmly attached to the wall, where she gets to sit without wobbling.

Back of the figure:

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Nice pair o’ wings, and her hair is pretty nice. Would be nice if it was a bit more visible from the front, but it’s OK. 

Initially I found this figure pretty underwhelming when I first opened it, but now she’s an OK part of my collection. She sits somewhere in the middle of likeage. 

Figure Spotlight – Durotan Big Fig

Bought this from an Amazon lightning deal in 2016. He was about the same price as the small versions at the time XD. 

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And big he is! Far taller than the board I usually use for photographing figures… Admire my “quality” background! For this kind of figure, I was surprised about the amount of detail in it – most of these large figures look very “meh”. He does suffer from looking like a lump o’ plastic – mostly because of the chest area. 

Though the back suffers more… it looks like he’s had a hunter have good ol’ go at him:

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The large screw holes are a bit of a shame, as the sculpting here is nice too, especially his hair. He does live in a corner currently, so I don’t see the back of him often. 

And the sides of him:

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Not much to say about these angles. He does have some seam marks on his arms that you can see in the pics, but again, not bad for this kind of figure. 

Happy with my purchase, and he does a fine job of guarding the vivarium. 

Shiro – Swimsuit ver.

When the Nippon-Yasan sale hit, this figure was the first thing I grabbed, before leafing through the rest of the sale, and making final decisions on what figures I’d buy and which ones I could let slide. I did see this for sale in the last N-Y sale, but stupidly passed on it. So it was nice to have the chance again!

Due to her canonical age, here’s a picture of her face for the blogbot:

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So for random passers-by and people who clicked to see the full post, here’s the full picture:

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I love Shiro’s colours, and they have been rendered very competently here. Her hair is nice and vibrant, and has been given an outfit to match. The gradients are really nice. My minor gripe is the white spot on the front of her hair is a little on the large side, and I’d prefer it more blue than white.

Here’s a shot of the top of her head:

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Her crown is a nice, shiny golden colour, with brightly coloured gems, and I feel strongly matches her intended design. 

Shiro front-on:

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I like the way they’ve shaded the ribbons dangling from her top. I like the blended tones in her stockings too. The underside of her jacket has been painted really well – the pattern looks nice, and well-rendered. 

Left side:

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Love her hair. The strands have been sculpted well, and I love the way they’re flicking in different directions. 

Shiro’s right:

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Here you can see her shoulder where she’s shrugging out of her jacket. 

Back:

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Here you can see the inner pattern of her jacket clearly – here it is red and blue, and blends into green and yellow at the bottom. You can glimpse the blending from the front of the figure – it’s impressive they went to this detail, when you can barely see it. She also has a bow on the back of her neck, where her top is tied, which is a nice detail. They’ve also modelled the cords on her jacket. 

The base is super plain – not sure if I’m a fan of this. It does help the figure stand out more, which is helpful due to her diminutive stature. It also means it doesn’t really add anything to the figure either. I maybe tempted to add an overlay for it, possibly of the NGNL logo. 

Overall, I really like this figure – the colours are very nice, the sculpting has been very nicely done. She’s quite an expensive figure though, so depending on how much you’re willing to spend will probably dictate if this figure ends up in your collection. 

(For me, this figure I’m not sure she goes with her given age, which goes for a lot of Japanese characters. Some people find her to be in an ‘attractive’ pose, but tbh, I don’t feel she gives off that vibe).


 

Nitta Minami – Sleeping Little Devil

From the worst Nitta to this one… And wow, what a difference. This one was one of the things that I got in the Nippon-Yasan sale, and I’m glad I did:

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And wow, what a figure. The colours and shapes make for a very striking figure, and it’s a super-cute pose. The red “velvet” base is a very nice touch too. 

Close-up of her face:

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Here is her cute smile, as she snuggles up with her tail :). I love the little heart earrings, and the horns on her hairband.

Here’s an upper shot showing more of the hairband:

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The top of her hair isn’t much to write home about, but the colours of ht horns, and the studs are nice touches. Here you can also see the details on her tail. 

Close-up on her skirt/boots:

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The paint and sculpting are impressive on her clothing. Her nails are nicely done too. Impressed with the way the zips have turned out. 

Her left:

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Some lovely details on her skirt and gloves. Her sleeves have been done as a semitransparent material, and the effect looks really good. 

Close-up of the skirt detail:

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Loving this attention-to-detail in the figure. 

Right side:

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Her tail is curled around her arms, in a pleasing way.

Back:

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She has a pair of stiletto heels, that match her outfit. The hair looks really good from the back, and you can see some of her left wing here. 

Close-up of her wing:

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One of my minor gripes about this figure is the smallness of these wings. It would be nice if they were more distinctive, and stuck out more. But hey, she’s just cosplaying, so these’ll have to do :P. 

And just to complete all the angles:

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She’s well-sculpted down here too! Love the fact they’ve taken the time to make her look good at all the angles. 

I have very little to complain about this figure, and think she was well worth the money. The sculpt and painting are both really strong, and I think anyone interested in this figure should get it, assuming they have the funds. 

And as a bonus, here’s the instructions it came with:

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If you can’t read the highlighted parts:

  • Do not point, wave or throw the product at others. Product is designed for amusement purposes only.
  • Product will not stand on its own. Please use the stand included

*points figure threateningly at her husband*. Hm, nope, she didn’t spontaneously combust… And I don’t think I’ll be throwing her! But she does amuse… 

Also love the fact these instructions came with a sitting figure – she does stand just fine on any ol’ flat surface, but she doesn’t seem happy about it.. 

Yep, the fun of generic instructions!

Melissa Seraphy – Good Smile Company

Someone linked this figure in a Discord chat, and I decided I wanted it. Shortly after, I found it a bit cheaper on Mandarake (below the customs limit, yay!), so went for it:

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Cute demonic things are my weakness! Also loved the pumpkin. Her pose is also very cute, and I love the design of her top. 

Left:

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Cute bow on the pumpkin :). Here you can see a couple of marks – probably the first thing I’ve bought from Mandarake where I could find marks. They’re not hugely noticeable though. 

Here is a close-up of the bow:

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The bow has been nicely sculpted and painted. 

Here is a close-up of the pumpkin face:

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The eyes and mouth are clear plastic, and you can just about see her legs through it. There is a nice gradient of orange on the pumpkin itself. 

Right side:

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Not much excitement here, so here’s some words on the base. The base itself is translucent grey plastic, with a peg that sits into the pumpkin. There is a pattern on the base, but honestly I don’t like the look of it overall. With her on the base, it doesn’t look so bad imo. 

Back:

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Her wings and hair are nice, and the pumpkin looks lovely and shiny from this side. Here you can see the stand piece that holds the pumpkin (and her) up. 


You can also take the pumpkin off and display her without it:

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This stand is a cheap one from China, but surprisingly holds her up well. When I looked up pictures of her, I wondered why someone had balanced her in the back half of the pumpkin – turns out that’s the only way of using the original stand to hold her. 

Taking her out of the pumpkin was paint-transfer-city, however. She had several bits of orange paint around her midriff and ankles. Most of them came off with an eraser, but one on the ankle is a lot more obstinate, and maybe part scratch. She does look amazingly cute out of the pumpkin. 

Close-up of her upper half:

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If she was wearing some pants/knickers that matched her top, it’d be a no-brainer for me to display her without the pumpkin. As it is, I’m on the fence about it. Maybe one day I’ll get two of her… 

From the back:

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OK, didn’t get a good shot of her backside, thanks to the stand, but she looks nice from this angle. On her left leg, you can see a dot – the obstinate paint transfer. 

Side view:

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She has some details on her knickers, which make them look nice, if you’re into that kind of thing. Maybe if I get some matching PVC, I could fashion some shorts… 


I think she looks nice with or without the pumpkin, though if you get her secondhand, be prepared to deal with pumpkin paint transfers. If you’d like to display her out of the pumpkin, you’ll likely want to get a replacement stand, to support her in place. I don’t like the look of the pumpkin open – it has four peg-holes for the front half of the pumpkin to peg into, which doesn’t make it look great. 

Pleased with this figure, for the price I paid. 

Alleyne – Queen’s Blade – Orchid Seed

This figure I was thinking of preordering, but saw one come up at a good price on MFC, so I went for it. Negotiated a bit more of a discount, due to peg damage (yeah, and it’s deffo not one I’m fixing with a bit of glue…). 

Aand this arrived:

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Not surprised the Hermes lady skedaddled that day, and didn’t check to see if I was in (though she doesn’t normally). 

By the merciful Postal Gremlins she was fine though:

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There is one paint scratch in her hair, but the seller’s shots don’t show that part of her hair, so not sure if that happened in transit or not. Due to the scratch’s location, it was probably prior to transit ><. 

But… she’s definitely a stunning figure. And that peg ain’t gonna be fixed – it’s a hollow peg, which allows for a metal reinforcement rod to sit inside of it, so it’ll need re-architecting to act as a peg again. She stands reasonably well as-is though. 

Alleyne’s left:

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I love the leaf details on her arms. The colours work well together and they’re nicely detailed.

Alleyne’s right:

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I like the way her hair flows over her arm. Her body sculpt is very much in evidence here – muscly and looking realistic. 

Her back:

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Her hair flows nicely down her back, and she has some detailed butt-leaves. Unfortunately with the leaf-panties they’ve only put in one peg, so they’re very difficult to get off – had to watch a video to see how it was done, as I don’t have her instructions. Also, due to the way they come off, it’s likely to be paint transfer city, so not in a hurry to do that. Already had to remove some transfers from her hair and chest leaves, and I know there are a couple on her backside. I have the feeling that she may have not been cast off before, hence the parts rubbing some, and transferring paint. 


Alleyne with her top cast off:

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Her nipples are painted nicely and realistically, which is a nice change from several of the cast-offs I own. Her arm decorations help her from looking super-plain when cast off. 

Chest close-up:

Love the details in her sculpt :). 

Alleyne’s right:

Alleyne’s left:

Not much to add on these angles. As I didn’t cast off her bottom half, I didn’t take another picture of her behind. 


Overall, I think this a very nice figure, where dressed and cast-off work well. Just a shame that they didn’t put two fasteners in her underwear to make her a lot easier to cast-off & redress. She is quite tall, and a good, chunky size. If you like what you see, I would recommend this figure. If buying secondhand, definitely find out about peg condition  she does stand OK on the one peg, but is a little on the wobbly side. 

Ryuko Matoi – Kill La Kill – Phat

With the re-issue of this figure, I thought about pre-ordering it, but missed the pre-order period. When kicking around on Nippon Yasan, I noticed they had her in stock for a decent price, so went ahead and ordered her:

Here I have both of the blade parts in her hands, though you’re not really supposed to do this, so removed the longer blade for the rest of this review. On the subject of the blades, both are really nicely painted, and have shading on them. 

Here is a close-up of the shorter blade:

Probably a little hard to see in that photo, but if you look closely, you’ll see it’s not an even shade of red. 

Let’s get a little closer:

My main gripe with this figure is the pose doesn’t really show her off. Imo she needs to be displayed higher than eye-level for you to see her well, and her twisted body can lead her looking like she’s hiding her details from certain angles. The broken ground is nicely painted, and feels like it should be heavier than it really is Sadly the piece you put in, which has the clear peg, is not too well painted on mine. Initially it is a similar piece without the plastic peg, but I don’t really want to risk her bending over time… though on the subject of bending… When I was putting her in the base, I did try to warm her legs to get her to bend, but I think there’s reinforcement in them, so didn’t have much luck with that… so she might stay up just fine over time. However, with them providing the support, I’m not going to risk it.

Slightly angled view:

Looks more imposing this way. 

Matoi’s right:

Some definite side-boob in evidence. Her hand is at a funny angle, but this is just a round peg, so you can correct that. She also has another hand that’s splayed, which is the one she’s initially “equipped” with. I have this one on, as she was holding the long scissor blade. Some nice-looking upper leg there.

Left: 

I think her body looks nice form this angle, but the back strap looks too flat. More on that later. Her clothes are shiny, which can be seen here, which might not be to everyone’s taste. 

Matoi’s back from above:

I do like the back of the suit here- it’s really well done. Back strap does actually look OK in this photo. 

Arse:

That boob really wants to make a showing :P. I think the back strap in isolation maybe doesn’t look as bad as when you’re looking at the figure irl. I think it’s mostly because it’s done in a different technique than the front ones (this one is part of the figure, whilst the others float) that makes it look odd. I think they may have used a separate sculpted piece, like the front straps, to make it not look like a tattoo in comparison. 

One thing I didn’t capture with these photos is some of the red paint is a bit sloppy on the lines on her boots. Bit of a shame for a more expensive figure. Waiting to see if this one grows on me some more, but it’s not quite as epic as the pictures of it made me feel. In the right spot this one could work, though. 

The Atom – Darkest Night

This is a figure I’ve thought about buying on and off, and found him for a decent price at a local action figure store. I bought the Indigo Lantern figure some time ago, and have since thought about buying The Atom to go with her.

So here he is:

Looking all strong and muscly… and indigo. He does have a nice colour scheme about him, and is mostly nicely painted. 

Close-up of his upper half:

The body paint has been done nicely, can see some stray paint around his belt, but it isn’t anything too noticeable. I like his blue tattoos, which have been nicely rendered in shiny blue paint, though I’d prefer for his nipples to not be trying to escape the shot. Could do with being nearer the middle imo. And a bit of paint to make them into nipples, rather than growths. 

Staff closeup:

Ooh, look, you can see me in it! I do like these shiny jewels in the staves the Indigo Tribe have, along with their rough-hewn look.

Right side:

Some nice woodlike texture going on with the staff. Shoulder armour a bit high, but that’s so the arm can articulate. If this was a more modern figure, this would likely either be made out of a softer material so it could flex, or have a joint to move. 

Left side:

Some concession to creases in his clothing. His boots look mildly unnatural in terms of texture, but that’s not a biggie for me. 

Back:

Here we have his butt. Nicely painted, but it would be good if that upper gold chain connected in with his butt flap. What’s that for anyway? I guess if you see it flapping, not in the wind, you know it’s time to move. 

Overall, I like this figure, especially considering it’s an older figure – from what I can find, he was released in 2011. I love the bases for these series – simple, yet eye-catching and thematic. I wish more modern action figures could come with bases like these, though you’re mostly lucky to get a base at all. Ah well, still got a pile of NECA discs in my drawer. 

Cyborg – Metals Die-Cast

This is the second thing I picked up in the Toys R Us sale. 

Die-cast Cyborg:

I had three to choose from, and the paint job did differ between the three. One of them had quite sloppy painting with the silver on the cyborg part on his left eye, so I’d recommend inspecting these figures prior to buying. 

The sculpt is nice, and gives the figure texture it would otherwise not have. With the lack of shading though, his face looks somewhat flat in places. His eyebrow looks more comic-book-y than the rest of him imo as well. 

Back:

Use of different shades of grey help make him stand out. It’s nice to see this detail here. 

Left:

Looks OK, not much to say about this angle.

Right:

Looking at this photo… his hair does rather look like a brown orange XD. Can see a little bit of silver slop – this is the kind of thing to look out for when buying these figures. His arm looks a bit.. bouldery. 

Overall, I think it’s an OK figure. If you like it, it’s a nice figure, but I think it’s a bit 50-50. It also depends if you like this Cyborg design. I mostly bought it because it was Cyborg and reasonably priced, with the discount. 

Groot Evolution – Marvel Legends

Visited a nearby Toys R Us, and found they were having a closing down sale, so decided to pick up a couple of items – first being Groot:

His face sculpt is really nice, and the body is… mostly nice. It does give a wooden feel, but… it’s also plasticky too. 

Here’s the close-up of his face:

His eyes look really nice, and his face feels woody and detailed. 

Back of his head:

The head is nicely sculpted , and here you can also see the twiggy parts on his arms, which help hide the shoulder joints. They’re not super-effective though. 

Let’s “zoom out” to his back:

Not much hiding that back joint, but the wooded texture is nicely spread throughout. You can see the extra bits in his arm joints, which help to hide the joint when flexed. 

Side shot:

Head looks good from all the angles. This angle does rather show the sculpting off – it’s nicely detailed so it doesn’t feel entirely “action figure”. I could imagine if Mattel made this, it would look much flatter. 

He is also decently poseable:

He’s reaching out for you! Groot! Maybe if I watched the film I could come up with a decent tagline here… Or maybe just more “groot”. 

Upper shot of the above pose:

Being the evolution set, it also came with kid Groot:

I used a macro lens here – you can see the print dots in a couple of places, but these aren’t really visible when you’re looking at him.

And baby Groot:

D’aww. Ditto for the print dots. 

The pot Groot stands up nicely, and is a good display piece. The kid Groot is somewhat harder to stand up, and is annoying, which is a bit of a shame. It would’ve been nice if they provided a clip base for him to stand in. When I decide where to display him, I’ll likely stick him down with a glue dot. 

Overall, I am happy with this figure. Due to the fact his legs come as separate pieces, he can lose his lower legs when you’re trying to pose him, but it’s not a massive issue. I don’t think I would’ve paid full price for him, but he’s definitely good if you pick him up for a discount. He certainly has the height compared to other similar figures, due to the aforementioned separated legs – it allowed Marvel to make him tower above figures in the same line, yet keep the same box format. 

Sheryl Nome – Banpresto SQ

This was the second of the two figures I got from the seller that contacted me on MFC:

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And wow, what a figure she is. The outfit is what attracted me to this figure, and the amount of detail. She’s especially nice for a prize figure.

Her left:

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That’s a mess of hair! A lot of different pieces plus some of her outfit.

Her right:

Her face captures that mid-singing moment. I do really like her top, but wish she’d picked some shorts that matched better with it, though both are well-presented here. No accounting for taste 😛

Her back:

Here you can really see the flowing parts of her outfit, which look really nice. The support on her left leg looks a little odd from the back, as she seems to be mid-step.

From the top:

Here you can see the bow/fascinator in her hair, and where all the strands meet up. Looks more natural than some more expensive figures. 

Now for some close-ups. Here is one of her upper half:

Slight miracle she hasn’t lost her shorts! I do love that top though. 

Face:

I do love her expression. Yeah, the end of the mic is broken – not been tempted to glue this yet. This was done prior to my owning of the figure (was mentioned by the seller). I may wait for it to be knocked off before gluing it though, as it doesn’t really show once positioned.

She even has a ring:

For a prize figure, she is very nice. My main gripe would be the skin – it could do with a bit of shading. Overall, she is a very nice figure, and glad I chose her.

Akira – Mon-sieur Bome

Whilst I was in the process of buying yesterday’s figure, I got a message from another MFC user, offering me more loots :D. I’ve bought a number of their figures previously, so they gave me first dibs on some figures they were giving away, in payment for the postage.

This was the first of two things I was interested in:

When I was unboxing her, I found out that she is also cast-off, which was a surprise. It did say on the MFC page, but I didn’t notice. 

Here is her left side, which is her main viewing angle:

I like her purple dress, and the detail of the sculpting in her hair.

Looking at the front:

She has a cute face, and the maid outfit works well. 

Her right side:

I like the bows she has spread around her outfit – here you can see one on her arm. She also has some hairclips in her hair, one of which is visible here. 

Her back:

Her ribbon looks nice on her back, and her outfit looks a bit more revealing from this angle. 

Underneath view:

Some flatness to be seen. She balanced surprisingly easily like this. 

Now for her cast-off “mode”:

Whilst you can fully cast her off, her midriff looks a little strange to me, with the ridge under her corset. 

Close-up of her chest:

Nicely sculpted, but her nipples aren’t particularly painted. Would’ve been nicer if her nipples were a bit darker, but hey, better than the bright pink some cast-offs get. 

From the back:

She looks surprisingly good from the back, considering the front. This angle works, and I don’t have any major complaints.

Here is how I am likely to display her – half dressed:

The skirt matches up with her corset, removing the odd look. Her chest looks good, without it looking like she’s oddly dressed/covered.

Close-up of her front without her top:

The ring in her collar acts as a subtle hint she’s more of an entertainer than maid, but doesn’t really attract the eye if she’s not cast-off. 

From the back:

All options seem to work just fine from the back! 

I like this figure, glad I chose to get her. I was on the fence about her for ages, but she looks better in person than I imagined. 

Alice – Queen’s Gate – Alpha x Omega

Saw someone selling their collection on MFC, and asked about buying this figure. One of the figure’s accessories was broken, so he charged the lower price for her. 

Here she is with her clothes on:

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And here’s a photo of her with the unbroken gun that attaches to her waist:

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Honestly, I think the guns look a little weird, so I’m happy to display her without them. They attach to her top, so you can’t display them with her, if she’s cast off. In this shot, the breakage that occurred during shipping also shows >< – her left cuff. Due to it being shadowed by her pose normally, the glued bit doesn’t really show. 

She has very nicely moulded hair, and I live her hair accessories. All are nicely painted and sculpted. 

Here is the gun from the side:

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The gun has a peg on the back, which is how it attaches to her clothes. Bit of an odd way to attach. I think it would’ve been nicer if they had pegs on the sides, so that it could dangle downwards/backwards. 

So what’s she like without the gun?

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The hole is visible, but not a biggie. Top looks nice. 

Top from underneath:

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There’s a lot of nice detail on the top, and is a viable display option, unlike some cast-off figures.

Side shot:

Here are some pics of her top whilst she’s not wearing it:

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Bit hard to take pics of her wearing it due to her pose, but it’s a very nice top, and clips together well. Have had issues with other pegged cast-off clothing, but this one seems to work. 


Some clothed shots that are probably NSFW:

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Her clothing does nothing to cover her backside :P. Here she is from the back cast off:

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Not much difference! A nicely-sculpted backside though. Her remaining clothes have some well-placed crease lines, and you can see where they press into her body. 

Now for the definitely NSFW:

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Her chest isn’t super-visible from the front, but you do see more of her legs.

Side shots:

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She has a nicely-sculpted, lithe body. I like the way her tail is joined to her body – a lot of demonic-type figures have the tail just kind of stuck there, but with ALice, hers has some form of attachment to her back. The guns she holds are also super-detailed. 

Chest close-up:

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She seems to like to stay mostly SFW :P. Her expression looks good from this angle too. 


With this figure, I also like the way her tail curls around her leg, and was one of the things that attracted me to it. I also love the way her hair flows. She works as a cast-off or as a non-cast-off, whichever you prefer. I find the paint quality really good on her, but not sure if I’d pay full aftermarket price for her. If you like Alice, I’d say this is a solid figure of her. Well, erm, on the point of solidity – might want to ensure her dangling parts are still attached prior to buying. 

Mari Makinami Illustrious – Figma

With Rei on order, I decided to buy Mari too, as she’s the cheapest of the three, poor Mari. 

I deceided to go with her screaming face, and left her with the red cuffs/light. There are green pieces for her wrists and chest light, if you want her in ‘berzerker’ mode. 

Front of Mari:

Looks almost if her eyes are closed on this photo, but they’re not. 

Close-up of her face:

Her chest piece sadly looks a little odd, if it isn’t straight. I half-wonder if they’d have been better off without this articulation, or had more of her on her upper half, so she doesn’t look… kind of robot-ish when her upper half is rotated. Those pointy chest pieces don’t help, lol. Rei is articulated in the same way, but with the consistency of colour and roundness, it looks a lot less odd. 

Sides:

Looks fine, pretty much the same as Rei. Only Mari. She was a bit easier in the leg department to pose properly in the char, but not sure there’s any actual reason behind that. 

Back:

Yep, still nowt to see here 😛 If it wasn’t for the arms poking out, you wouldn’t be able to tell if it was Rei’s or Mari’s chair. 

Closeup of the controls:

Quite a large joint joins the handle to the the arm. Not sure it goes within the theme, but I’m not too bothered about it. These are identical to Rei’s. 

Overall, I’m happy with Mari, but I’m pretty sure that chest joint helped dent the figure’s popularity. If you’re not after doing a whole bunch of poses with her, she works as a display piece. This coupled with Mari’s seeming lack of priority, these one is pretty cheap to pick up, so if you like what you see, I’d recommend it. 

Rei Ayanami – Figma

Decided to go for this Figma, despite the aftermarket price, as I really, really wanted it. One thing to note about this Figma blog and the next one – I’m not going to fully review the figures – they do come with more accessories than pictured, so this is NOT a full review. Just my thoughts 🙂

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After getting her out of the box and assembling I’m glad I got her :). She was a bit of a pain to put together, but once done… wow. I love having the plug chair for her to sit in.

Close-up of her face:

Shh, I’m trying to pilot a mecha here!

From the front:

She mostly sits nicely in the chair – getting her legs in the right position was a bit difficult. The sides of the chair near her legs swing out – which makes her easy to put in, but if her joints aren’t bent in the right way, she’ll push them open slightly. The body clip keeps her nicely in place. 

Sides of Rei in her chair:

I love the fact the controls are articulated, so you can pose her controlling the mech. Looking her completely side-on, the clip does have a bit of a long base, and does show a bit, but I think the main way of enjoying this figure is from a more front-on angle. You can also choose to omit the clip, and there is a piece that covers up the hole, if you wished to pin her in the seat differently. 

The double base configuration is interesting, and allows you to pose the seat in many different angles, if you want a more “In combat” pose. It also makes the chair decently sturdy. 

Back:

Not much to see here. Some sculpting here, but not a lot, however this angle isn’t one you’re gonna want 😛

Overall, I’m pleased with the figure, and she has a decent amount of poseabilty. The thing that really makes this figure is the chair though – it’s a really nice accessory to have. The most annoying thing about this figure is clip-on joint between the chair and the controls – it was a bit annoying to get on, and it can become unclipped when posing. 

If you wanted to display the chair and Rei separately, you could do this. The chair would have one stand, and Rei would have the other with the clip. Not tried balancing the chair without Rei, though, but I assume it would work… 

With new Figma coming in at the same price as Rei is in the aftermarket, she’s probably still value-for-money compared to new releases. I think she holds up well, and am glad to have her. 

Shion Toudou – FREEing S-Style

This is the second of the PriPara figures, and also has a distinct pose:

I like her purple hair and swimsuit top. The stripes really add to it, imo. 

Opposite side:

Her hair is painted well, and the towel wrinkles are nice. 

Her back:

She has a nicely-sculpted back, and I like the way she’s supporting herself with her left hand. 

From the top:

Here you can see more of her top – it’s nice to have one with a less plain costume. You can also see where the towel joins – and this is the part that annoys me about this figure. It’s quite hard to get it to clip around her, and you sort of need to, as the peg hole is in the towel! She doesn’t have a hole in her backside, so you could possibly display her without stand, but I wouldn’t be surprised if you had to support her somehow (the towel has a flat bottom). Would’ve been nice if she was stand-compatible without the towel.

Again, a nice, interesting pose, which helps keep this series varied. But again the stand is kind of the weakest part – needing the towel to place her on it, and the fact they don’t give you a second stand piece, so if you want her touching the ground, you need to pair her up with another figure. She’s designed to sit with Mirei, which she does well, but without another S-Style figure next to her, she looks a little odd and floaty due to her legs. 

Mirei Minami – FREEing S-Style

This character is from a show called PriPara, which I’ve come across before, but never watched. So let’s get on with lookin’ at the figure:

She’s in an interesting pose of sitting on a stone. Not sure what a grey block like this is doing at the beach.. ah, well, let’s imagine a stone wall here. The base is a violent orange – eye-catching, but probably a bit too so! I like her outfit and her hair – she feels a bit different from all the others.

Her front:

She looks a bit odd from this angle, due to her bending her head so far around, though her hair looks good from this angle (woo, no seam!) and her clothes look nice. Whilst we’re looking at her shoes… she doesn’t fit in the lugs too well, and will fall out pretty easily if the stone isn’t there, which makes her a little awkward to set up, or if you move her, she can fall out. 

Her left side:

Hairball! Whilst it is oval-ish, the sculpt with the strands is nice. 

Her back:

Bit of an odd seam on the top edge of her top, and her short pockets look a little.. flat. Rest works just fine.

Overall, I like this figure, and it’s nice to have one of a different height, that can sit in front of the others. My main gripe would be the neon orange base – the pegs aren’t large enough to hold her properly, and the colour is just too neon. I think if they made it a darker orange, it’d complement the figure better. 

Maho Nishizumi – FREEing S-Style

Following on from yesterday, here is Maho:

She has a more interesting costume to Maho, and I prefer the colour… so she’s already winning :). 

Here she is from the side:

I think her hair works better than Maho’s though her pose is less dynamic.

Right side:

And this side of her hair is on a par with Maho’s. Looks OK from this side, but nothing particularly exciting.

Back:

The back of her swimsuit is even plainer than Maho’s, but that does make her look less “noodly”. Her pants are sculpted well, which seems a trend for these figures. 

I mildly prefer her to Maho, but these really are a pair, in design and ranking. I think they’re pretty solid entries, but won’t be among my favourites. 

Miho Nishizumi – FREEing S-Style

This is Miho Nishizumi from Girls Und Panzer. Haven’t watched Girls Und Panzer, but with the decision to collect all the S-Style figures, I bought this one and Maho together from Mandarake. I didn’t check the box status, so was surprised to find they were both factory-sealed, and hadn’t left their packaging. 

So, let’s get onto Miho:

I like the shading in the hair, and the “dancing at the beach” pose. 

Miho’s left side:

Hair seam ins’t in hiding, but she’s got nicely sculpted fabric on her swimsuit. Her pose makes her had to work out what her side is – so I went with the left side of her head. 

Right side:

She has the flatish hair some of these figures have, which makes it look flat. There is some shading back there though, which partially makes up for it. Very curvy spine going on from this angle.

Back:

Her hair looks nicer from the back, probably because there isn’t detailed bit meeting less detailed part. Not so keen one the swimsuit top at the back here – looks a bit like pink noodles stuck to her back. Photo doesn’t show the skin shading well, but it is there, like the others. She doesn’t seem to have shoulder blades like most of the others do either. 

A solidly OK entry. She was one of the cheaper ones to obtain, so I’m OK with her. 

Ram – FREEing S-Style

Yesterday was Rem, today is Ram:

Who is also enjoying her ice lolly :D. She, however, tends to hold hers a bit easier. For the most part, she looks really nice from the front, but I’m personally not so keen on the skirt shading – looks like she’s using an old skirt. I’d prefer if the colour was more uniform, like Ram’s. 

Side:

She looks OK from this angle, but I’m not so sure about the white wash on her hair. Think it needs to be a hint more pink so it doesn’t look white. Maybe a dark pink would’ve worked?

Other side:

Like Ram, Rem’s bow looks very nice. She is also sporting a very similar pose, albeit mirrored, which makes them a good pair. 

Back:

Again, this one forms a bit of a gap – visible on the left-hand side of this picture. Tried my darnest with trying to get it to fully marry up all the way around, but I don’t think it’s going to without filing the lug slightly, which I’m not keen on doing. As the small gap falls at the back, I’m going to leave it. 

Overall, I’m pleased with these figures as a pair. One nice feature in these new S-Style figures is their heads actually turn, to a decent extent. Previously, they were a shaped lug, which didn’t allow for movement. Also you can apparently swap the heads, but I don’t think these ones warrant head-swapping. Maybe I’ll play with this feature with some later figures. Just a shame that the middle lug doesn’t allow the midriffs to match up fully and correctly.