Tag: demonbane

Al Azif – Demonbane – Crystal ver

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

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

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

Face:

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

Left:

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

Right:

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

Back:

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

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

Here are the two figures side-by-side:

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

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

Al Azif – Max Factory

This is a figure I’ve gone back and forth on owning. As it’s Al Azif, I decided to add it to a recent large Mandarake order, as she’s over the customs limit, and it was a parcel that was going to go over anyway. 

Here she is:

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Dat frakkin’ wall. OK, let’s start with some of the nice stuff: The figure is very nice. I love the flowing of the hair and ribbons, and the colours are very nice. Her dress is well-sculpted and nicely painted. The figure part of this figure is really nice – it’s everything else I have to complain about! She comes pre-screwed to the bottom part of the stand, which isn’t the prettiest piece of plastic ever. Not a fan of the nondescript greyish colour, and it’s shiny. 

Left shot:

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Now to go more into this wall. Seeing it not sit strait, due to Al Azif resting on it, though I wouldn’t have been surprised if it wasn’t that, and I bent it from the sheer force you need for it to go in ><. Eagle-eyed viewers may also spot the white tack – the pin on the “cookie” on this side snapped off soon as I touched it up against the wall – it must’ve been stressed already, and snapped before I started applying force to push it through the wall. Argh. If you have this figure, and you do get both “cookies” pegged to the wall don’t take them out. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’d break during the process. At least with it white tacked, I can actually now move this one to any position I like… 

Right side:

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This one did peg OK, but I daren’t try and push it any further. This one luckily fouls less on the figure, so it doesn’t need to go in all the way. Here we can see her ribbons and hair in the wind, which looks very nice. 

Back:

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Here she is from the back. Her hair looks nice, and I like the way she’s propping herself up on the wall. Here you can see the remnant of the left cookie peg. I you look carefully on the upper right, you can also see a scratch on the wall. She was unopened, so I guess the wall rubbed up against part of the figure/box during shipping. 

Close-up of her face:

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I like the look on her face, but I’d prefer it if she had a head up a tad more, so you could see it from more angles. 

Close-up of her shoes:

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These have been nicely sculpted and painted. The tiny bows on her shoes are nice, and the big, flowing ribbons on her socks are well done. The socks are slightly raised in the sculpt, so that it doesn’t look like she’s got white legs. One of the differences that tend to separate scales from prizes – details like socks are actually moulded instead of just painted. 

Overall, I can recommend the figure, but not the stand. If I were to recommend an Al Azif figure, it would be the BEAT normal version. Both parts of the stand kinda look cheap imo, and if I get into replacing bases, this one would quite honestly be a candidate. I think if it weren’t for the issues I had with the stand during assembly, I would’ve felt more positive about this figure – she’s in a nice pose, well-painted and well-sculpted, but the stand detracts from this.