Tag: eastern figures

Rinna Mayfield – Shining Beach Heroines – FREEing S-Style

Next up, Rinna Mayfield:

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Uh, wait, something seems to be wrong with this… Hair is not supposed to defy gravity… 

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Ah, that’s better! That looks like the prototype shots! I totally didn’t have to redo these shots at a later date, owing to not noticing her head was on backwards… Nope. Nosiree. What attracted me to this one was her interesting pose and nice combination of colours. In the promo shots the swimsuit looked blue, but I think this more turquoise colour works better. I like the way her hair hangs – with one ponytail flicking upwards, and one dangling down. 

Other side:

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Bit of a gap where her leg connects to her body. I love the hairbands – they look like flowers to me, and here is a close-up of them:

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The hair is also nice – enough detail to make it look like hair to me, and the shading is nicely done. 

Front of her body:

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Ended up focusing on her hair braid, but that’s probably the most exciting part of this angle. Little bit of globby paint visible, but not noticeable unless you’re looking for it. Here you can see where she’s scratching her ear/head. 

Back:

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Her backside looks good, not much to report on this angle. She does look to lean a bit with her legs though.She doesn’t seem to be standing in the stablest of angles, with her toes pointed inwards, but she is in a turning position. 

Top:

Here you can see the way her hair flows over hr back – I like the way they did this. The top of her hair seam isn’t the best though. It’s sort of hidden near her ear, but less so on the very top of her head. There aren’t any seam issues on her back. 

Close-up of her bikini:

Love the bow dangling down from it, and there’s some wrinkle lines. It also sits on her, instead of being a part of her, which is nice. 

Overall, I really like this figure now that I’ve figured her head was on backwards.The paintwork is really nice, with a good choice of colours, and her pose is dynamic and interesting. 

Klan Klang – Pearl ver.

Today, we have the pearl version of Klan:

As you can probably see, her hair and dress are shiny on this version, and she sports the same expression and pose. Her eyes are also green instead of blue on this one, but anime couldn’t seem to make its mind up what colour her eyes are. 

Left side:

Here you can see the shiny finish on her hair and dress. Looks nicer on the dress than the hair. The pink of her headband is more of a hot pink, and personally I prefer the colour used on the normal version. 

Right side:

This side really shows off the shine in her hair. 

Back:

Glossy! Not sure the gloss really works for her hair, but the dress is nice as being pearly. 

So after reviewing them both, which do I prefer? My vote would have to go to the normal version. I like the headband more on the original, which looks kinda faded on the special edition (I checked pics – it looks like it’s meant to be like it is), and the gloss on the hair looks kind of odd. However, as my figure collection was Klanless, I have space for both of these Klan figures :D. 

Klan Klang – Normal ver.

I was looking at this Klan figure, and saw there was two versions. Couldn’t make my mind up which I wanted, so I did the obvious thing and ordered both. Yep. 

So today we have the normal version:

I love her smiling expression, and the shade of her hair. She has a nice matte finish, which is a rarity for prize figures. Her dress also features some shading. The logo is rendered well on her hairband. 

Left:

I love the way they have her leaning forward slightly – it really adds to the pose. Her sideboob and armpit are sculpted well, and her fingers are nicely rendered. With the way they’ve done the hair on her head, it goes some way to hide the seam line.

Right:

Looks good on this side too. Love the splay of hair that’s on top of the ribbon. 

Back:

Some nice flows of hair, sculpted in a way so they don’t look plain. Her hair looks really nice from this angle, and her dress looks good. I like the bow on the back, and the fact she has some of her back revealed. 

She’s on the shorter side of things, as far as prize figures go, but she is a very nice figure. Certainly happy with her for the price I paid. 

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. 

Expelled From Paradise “Figgy” Figure Set

This is a set of 6 small figures based on characters from Expelled from Paradise, though it’s mostly Angela Balzac. I’ve not seen Expelled from Paradise (I should fix that really…) but I really like Angela’s look. This set of figures was made by Aniplex, and saw a limited release, though at the time of writing, Mandarake do have a few sets, which is where I bought them. 

For small figures, they were pricey, but the quality I feel justifies the price. 

First up:

This was the one that attracted me to the set – I found her pose funny. She’s designed to flop over a glass edge, or similar. Currently I have her propped on this piece of paper, though I may find her something transparent to “flop” over. 

Her backside:

Painting on this side is a little out-of-place on this side, but these things are tiny so it’s not a surprise they’re not perfect. She’s roughly 5cm/1.8in big, for scale. 

Here she is from the side:

I find her well-painted for the most part, and the colours are nice and vivid.

Kneeling Angela:

She really should have something for her hands to perch on, otherwise she sits sideways like this. I’ve seen a picture of her resting on a cup handle, and that worked well. Hm, maybe I need to get one of those glass espresso/tea cups. 

From the back:

Bit of missing paint there on the right leg… didn’t notice that until doing this blog XD. Her backside looks good though. On closer inspection, I’m not sure what’s gone on with the paint on the left disc. Oops. 

From the top:

Her back and hair look nice. Some of the green isn’t quite where it’s supposed to be on the clips, if you inspect her closely. Her back is nicely done though, and her hair. 

“Standing” Angela:

She’s designed to rest on the edge of a glass,but currently I have her propped up on some white tack so she stands up. I like the way these figures smile. 

Back:

Her hair is nice, again, the green isn’t quite sure where it wants to be on her clips. Legs are painted well, along with her back. 

Now for Angela in a different outfit:

At first, I wasn’t sure this was her, from the change in hair tone, but My Figure Collection tells me that, yes this is Angela. Nice to have a different outfit & pose, and this one is well-sculpted – the sculpting in this set is really good. 

Back:

Her shapely backside, and hair. All looking nice. 

More front-on shot to show off her swimsuit:

I like the holes design, and they have rendered it well.

From the top:

Hair seam, but that’s to be expected. He hairband is painted well, and the sculpting of her body shape is nice. 

Now for the two figures that aren’t Balzac! First we have Dingo:

The quality of the paint on this guy impressed me when I got him out of the box. There’s a lot of small details painted on him. Here we can see the details on the guitar, and the details of the sculpt in his trousers and shirt. 

On the end of the guitar, we have a small part painted, and we have his holstered gun, which also helps him stay sat upright. Here we can also see the ripples moulded in his waistcoat. 

From the back:

Here we can admire the sculpt of his hair, and the waistcoat buttons that have been painted well. They’ve also snuck the copyright notice onto the back of his guitar, which stops it from detracting from the figure. I really like this figure of the set. 

And lastly, Frontier Setter:

He’s a bit “drunk”. Need to sort that out. His paint is more straightforward than the others, but nicely done. He has an “action” pose, which is nice. Not much action, but more interesting than just standing there. 

Back:

Bit of paint slop on the left leg there, but otherwise OK I think.

Side:

Looks good from this angle, got some small dots painted on the wheels for the axles. Looks like a good sculpt. 

Overall, I like these figures – not sure if they stand up to close scrutiny, but they’re a nice set of fun figures, if you want something small to prop on a glass or sneak into a display somewhere. The paint flaws imo are much more visible in these close-ups than they are in real life, due to their size. In price, they’re about as much as a Titan Vinyl, or similar blind-box figure. I’d much rather have these! 

Morrigan Aensland – Large Prize Figure!

Now for a jumbo prize figure of Morrigan:

This is one large lady and I still haven’t fully sorted her legs out ><. They have bent over time, so she wouldn’t stand up properly out of the box. Did try to set them into the correct positions, but failed thus far. Also the box… was in a REALLY bad condition – looks like mould had grown on the inner part of the box, and the glue had failed on the window for the box. Chucked out the inner of the box as I don’t really want to “collect” some mould! 

I really like this figure, though she is a bit on the simplistic side, in terms of finish. She has some paint detail on her skin, but not so much anywhere else. The bats on her leggings are nicely done though, if she’ll stand up kkthx. 

Left side:

Her wings are a good size, and look good from the front and sizes. Here you can see there is some crease detailing in her top, but it’s not really visible from the front. The white tassels are a nice addition. 

Right side:

Not too much different from the left, so I’ll mention the obvious side boob – yep, plenty of that. Her hair does look like a “lump” of green, not sure what they could’ve done to alleviate that, maybe have more shape on the bottom? It’s also thick as this is where her wings attach, as we’ll see in this next shot:

Getting these wings in was a bit of a pain. They could’ve possibly done with using more “regular” pegs, but I guess they didn’t due to weight and getting them to stay. Once they’re in there, they’ll stay though. I had to heat up her hair to get it to relent enough to get the lugs in. We can also admire her backside from this angle, and the ends of her gloves, which have been done nicely. 

So let’s get some close-ups in. Here’s her face:

Here I noticed the slight abrasions on her hair grumble. They don’t particularly show from a distance though. She has some lighter paint on her collarbone – for a figure of this size, it really helps that they actually did some shading on her – it’d end up looking pretty flat if they didn’t. Some stray white paint, but not too much. Her lips have been done nicely. 

Arms:

An obvious seam here, but not visible from the front. The purple-pink of her gloves is nice. In the previous shot, you can see they’ve also moulded the edges on her gloves, which is a nice detail. 

My main gripe with this figure is she’s overly shiny from the front, but that’s not uncommon in prize figures, especially older ones. If there were more readily-available Morrigan figures, I may not have got this one, but for an affordable Morrigan figure, I’m happy with her. Just need to fix them legs properly… 

Morrigan & Lilith – Summer Edition

These figures are part of a set of summer figures, however I was only interested in the Darkstalker figures of the set. They do come with a segmented beach base, but I didn’t take photos of this. Here is the pair posed together:

These are small, older trading figures, so they’re not super-detailed, but they are posted and painted well for the most part. 

Let’s have a closer look at Morrigan:

Hair is rough around the seam, but the face is painted nicely, along with her bracelets and wings. Yes, this is Morrigan, despite the palette swap ;). There is a bit of stray paint on the upper parts of her top, but it’s not much. 

Morrigan’s front:

Here you can see the stray paint, were they didn’t manage to get clean edges. Around her hips there’s a join, hence why those lines are clean. The bat has been done well, and the straps are OK. 

Her back:

Not much to see here, but some moulding has been done in her hair. Most things are pretty flat back here. 

Opposite side:

She looks good from this angle mostly, but she does have a seam running up her leg. I think the black and purple wings work well. Most Morrigan figures have a more pinkish colour for her wings, so not sure if this counts as palette swap or not :P.

Now for Lilith:

She’s stolen Morrigan’s hair dye for the day. Unlike Morrigan, her wings are definitely a palette swap, as she’s usually red “struts” with black wings. Bit of stray paint on her skirt, and an… interesting expression. 

Her front:

A simple outfit. The shorts are nice, but the top looks super-flat and a bit out-of-place because of that. Looks like I might have to attack her belly with an eraser and see if I can clean up some of those blobs… Hair is a bit flat. 

Back:

Hair is very flat here. Back of her top looks nice, and I like the way they’ve don her wings. If it weren’t fro the hair, I don’t think I would have any complaints about this angle. 

Opposite side:

Leg seam line is more noticeable on this side, but other than that, pretty much the same story as the rest of it. OK, with a couple of minor flaws. 

As two separate figures they’re OK prize figures, but together, they look like a very cute pair, which is how I intend to display them. So if you get one, for maximum enjoyment, I’d recommend buying the other, so you can pose them as designed :). 

Lilith – Christmas figure – Banpresto

I bought a bunch of Lilith and Morrigan figures from Mandarake recently. First up, we have Lilith, ready for Christmas:

This figure is made to fit with other figures, so there is a chance I’ll make a custom base for her. With this figure, I like the striking red and yellow colour scheme, which makes her a bit different. However, the mould line in her hair is not-so-good. She was a cheap prize figure though. 

Left side:

Some shininess, and that finish older prize figures tend to have. The cane is mostly painted well. I like the texture they managed to achieve on the white fluffy areas. Hair is simplistic, but that’s sorta to be expected with an old, small figure like this.

Right side:

I like her pose. Her pointing fingers are a bit drowned in paint though, I like the way her wing curls around her. 

Back:

No real detail on the back of the wings, but I like the finish. Is a seam running up her leg, but this angle isn’t really much of a viewing angle. The base looks nice, and would probably look really good… if I had the set. If I did a custom base/modified this base, I’d likely keep the cream splats, as they’re done well. These both peg into the base, and her scarf/stole is a separate piece. Rest of her is pre-assembled. 

I’d only recommend this figure to people who are interested in collecting older prize figures. 

Vaan – Final Fantasy XII – Play Arts

This is the second of the two Final Fantasy figures I bought. Vaan:

I was less enthralled with him, as his joins on his arms have nothing to hide them. Not a big fan of articulated figures where the joints are visible in the fleshy parts. But his outfit makes up for this – I love the white design on his pants, and his medallion. I love the amount of details in his clothes, even though he has less of them than Ashe. And my collection could do with some more bare-chested males :P. 

Vaan’s left:

His gauntlets are nicely moulded and painted. The elbow joint isn’t so bad, but the shoulder joint does make it look a bit like he’s had a shoulderpad implanted in his flesh. His hair looks more natural than Ashe’s though.

Right side:

I love the strap detailing on his trousers, and here we can see his sword, which is equally as impractical and ornate as Ashe’s. 

Back:

Love the back of his chestpiece. His butt is nothing exciting, but he has some well-moulded wrinkles in his trousers, showing their bagginss. Hair nicely finished at the back.

Close-up of his sword:

The hilt of the sword was broken away from the upper blade part, so the break location was about as good as you’re going to get. However, I couldn’t feel a “true” position for the hilt to line up with the other part correctly, so I had to glue it the best I could. Either the break’s been repaired before, or possibly some of the plastic has rubbed away. So I got it as straight as I possibly could, and it doesn’t really show too much. Depending how I pose him, the wonk won’t be terribly obvious, but I guess if the break annoys me, I’ll have to split it again, file down the surfaces until flat, and re-glue. 

An unexpected, but welcome pair of figures to my collection. Really happy with the detail for the price I paid. These figures seem to be reasonably cheap online, but not quite as cheap as I got them for. I would recommend these figures if you like their looks, or into the characters, and don’t mind the articulation points. 

Ashe – Final Fantasy XII – Play Arts

I found two of these Play Arts figures for sale for a good price at a local store. I debated over just buying Ashe as I liked her appearance, or if I should buy both and sell one. 

In the end I’ve decided to keep both, as I wanted to keep Ashe, and it turns out Vaan had a broken sword (probably been broken for some time, looking at the break), and he was a good looker too. They were definitely both secondhand, as there was a good amount of dust on their stands, and the figures themselves. A quick visit with the duster fixed that though. 

This blog will be about Ashe:

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I love her outfit, and the sword designs are amazing. Let’s get a little closer and look at Ashe’s outfit:

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The hair paint & sculpt isn’t anything amazing, but I can forgive that for the rest of her. The outfit is sufficiently detailed and well-painted. The colours are striking and complimentary, which is what drew me to this figure, along with the metalwork details. I guess it took her a long time to get dressed in the morning though!” That’s a lot of clothing pieces to put on! 

Left side:

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She has a ring on, which is painted well. A small detail on the cuff of her boots too. Despite the sculpted nature of the hair, it just doesn’t look quite right somehow to me. 

Right side:

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Not much to say about this side, but we can admire the massive sword for a bit. 

Once you’re done, here’s her back:

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The attention-to-detail on the front has been carried on around the back. Her outermost top also splits at the back, allowing you to see the lower layers, which is a nice touch. Can’t let those layers go to waste! I’ve managed to cover up the gold trim pattern on the outermost layers in most of the shots (doh), but they’re nicely painted, and I like the pattern. 

A close-up of her sword:

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I’m a sucker for the blue crystals embedded in her sword, and I love the ornate, if impractical, design. I’m guessing it uses some enchantments to be useful in battle, lol. Maybe I should play/watch someone play some Final Fantasy… 

Asuka Langely – Sega HG Christmas Figure

This one was a random bid on the Urban Mine auction, and shows what older prize figures are like. This one is Asuka, crossed with Christmas:

Yeah, that’s the last shot of the cake you’re going to get. It’s a big lump of white, and not particularly attractive. Unfortunately, as an urban mine item, not much care was taken when packing her, and she wasn’t tied to the box any more. This meant she rattled around, and one of her antlers broke off :(. Fortunately there was enough of the peg on the antler, I was able to jam it back in there, and it stayed. I may glue it one day, or leave it as-is. 

Without the stand:

I love the glossiness of her red outfit, the lesser glossiness of her skin? Not so much. I’m not sure who chose to give her purple leggings, but I don’t think it was a person with good aesthetics. The seamline on her leggings isn’t pretty either. But there’s something cute and different about this figure, which makes me not hate it. If it wasn’t for the purple leggings, I could probably forgive all the other flaws. She does look very plasticky though, which is the reputation for prize figures, though things are moving on these days. 

Right:

Quite an obvious seam in her hair, and some shoes to match her top. The cuffs are OK, but simplistic. 

Left:

Pretty much the same as the other side, though you can see the cotton balls on her shoes, which is +1 to detail. Some stray plastic lumps in her hair. She has some creases in her top, but not in her pants.

Back:

Her hair is one block colour, but there is some hair lines moulded in, stopping it from looking completely plain. Her shoes are nicely sculpted. 

Close-up of the holly on her neck:

This detail is nicely done and thematic. 

Not really sure I could recommend this figure to anyone, but for £4.76, it sated my curiosity to see exactly what this figure looked like irl, and can be a part of “weird stuff corner”. The stand is likely to be relegated to a drawer, but it could gain a new lease of life if I choose to decorate it and use it as a riser somewhere. 

I-19 – Kan Colle – Taito

I saw this figure on the Urban Mines, but it got bidded too high for me to bother with. But because I loved her blue-and-pink hair too much, I went shopping around for her, and found her cheap on Amazon. I had seen the figure previously, but didn’t go for it that time, but the Urban Mine auction reminded me she still existed. 

So here she is:

I love her hair and her outfit is revealing, without revealing too much. She was an arse to put together though – the pieces don’t fit quite right, and her hand won’t ever go into the top torpedo, even with heat/bending, but she will sit still in this position, unless you try to move her. Then she’ll fall off, and the two

torpedoes attached together will fall apart ><. 

Her right:

Here you can see the destroyed torpedo that sits in the middle. Nice to have some difference between the torpedoes, and does make an interesting base, which was the other thing that attracted me to this figure. Here you can see some stray blue paint on her back though. Outside of her head, the painting is decidedly average. 

Left:

Here you can see the shininess of the prize figure plastic on her leg, though her right leg is less shiny. There is some shading in the skin paint, so that’s a nice feature. Also there’s a scratch on the bottom torpedo for me. Swimsuit edge also didn’t get blue paint, so that looks a little odd to me, but I think is only really visible on close inspection. Her feet are moulded nicely. 

Back:

Here you can see where her hand doesn’t quite reach properly to the lug on the top torpedo. It just won’t go on mine, and I’d have to do some serious bending of the entire figure before that peg would have a hope of going into place. Her arm simply doesn’t reach down far enough for it to plug in on mine, but I did see an assembly video where they did get her to fit in properly. The stray blue marks on her back aren’t visible in this shot, but they are a bit annoying. 

Close-up of her hair:

I love the colours and accessories in her hair, even though it’s a bit cheapy prize-figure-y. The eye decals are really nice, along with the blush marks. Her chewing on a pin(?) makes her look really cute. 

A couple of close-ups of the stand:

I love the idea of this stand, but it sort of failed in execution, due to the imprecise nature of the manufacture. at first the destroyed torpedo wouldn’t stay in place properly, but with a bit of shoving of the top torpedo, it now sits in place better, but will still pop out on occasion. If I could get both of I-19′s pegs in, it would likely hold together a bit better. I’d love to see something like this on a more expensive figure. 

Overall, I like this figure. Once displayed, she looks nice, but she does have a notable amount of flaws. I’d probably only recommend this to anyone who really likes the look of this figure, and if you find her relatively cheap (she cost me £13.58 inc postage). Still loving the hair and the eyes, lol. 

Puzzle & Dragons – Abiding Sniper Dragonbound, Myr

I ended up staring at the Eikoh prize on Mandarke again, and couldn’t resist buying this one:

Unfortunately there are a couple of scrapes on her hair, but the rest of her is OK. The plastic backdrop slots into the stand, but because it was rolled up in the box, it curls inwards. Not a big fan of it, so I’ll display her without it, but it is nicely printed if you like it – just be prepared to store it under some books for awhile to get it flattened! 

Here she is without the sheet:

I love the use of colour in this character, and she’s got lots of shiny bits! The pearly coat is a lovely colour and sheen. She has a few bows on her outfit, which helps her look fancier. 

Left side:

Here we can see her tail, done in copper and bronze, and her clawed feet. The balloon she wields in her left hand is also well done. 

Right:

Here she is, leaning forward, wielding her supersoaker. I love the way it’s a water gun, rather than gun-gun. You can also see the lovely blend of copper and could on the underside of her wing. I do rather like her outfit too. 

Back:

The lovely pearlescent finish on her coat is very much visible here, along with the detail in the coat, where she’s got ribbon parts in the gaps. I love these little additions. The wings are also striking, have a good amount of detail on the back. 

Her back:

Here you can fully admire her wings :). The paint blend is really nice, along with the shininess. Also she has her tail flicking out – I really like the tail too. 

Now for some detail shots. Let’s get a close-up of her gun:

Cute, threatening, and watery. The pump bit seems a bit bent, but that’s likely fixable. Here we notice she’s also got gold hands. 

The balloon:

Nicely painted and moulded, plus she has some quite detailed cuffs, to offset the plain fabric of her coat. She has some copper claws on these fingers. Here you can also see where the ribbons weren’t painted quite right – both sets of ribbons are painted a bit sloppily. 

Here’s a close-up of the ribbons on the right side:

I love this as a detail, shame the orange paint didn’t quite go right. 

Close-up of her foot:

Nice set of dragon feet :). Not sure if she needed a size bigger sandals, but it does mean her claws aren’t confined by the shoe. 

Back of horns:

Lovely colouring here. 

Wings:

Love the way these shine, along with the coat. Also here you can see her coat has a hood, should she wish to use it. 

Warning: pantsu. 

Here’s how the tail attaches to her backside:

That’s some precision tailoring :P. Though pretty much what I expected for a prize figure. Here you can see the nice moulding and painting that went into the tail. 

I really like this figure, and it’s a shame that there are a couple of marks on her hair. One isn’t so bad, but the other is minorly distracting. I’ll just pretend they’re both hair highlights. Well worth buying for me, even though I’m unlikely to ever play Puzzle & Dragons. 

Urban Mine – Tiger & Bunny – Part 2

Now for the reason I bid on this lot! The J-Prizes! The set consists of 5 figures, plus one secret. With 9 boxes in this lot, I was semi-confident I’d get the “base” 5, but the secret was less likely, as it may’ve been someone trying to get the secret, and palmed off their duplicates. 

So let’s see what we got! 

Let’s start with the obvious character in the set, Kotetsu:

The paint is about average for this kind of figure. The bases for these figures are nice – they all include a logo and the character’s name. I like his pose in this figure. 

Back:

All the details you’d expect back here. A nice addition is they’ve got the fastener on the back of his hat. 

Now for Blue Rose, the character I wanted most in this set:

She’s nicely done, and the paint’s good considering her small size. I got two of these Blue Rose figures, but one had a broken ice vine :(. But hey, I got two, so I had one intact Blue Rose! Also the finish on the two Blue Rose headpieces is different – this one is mottled, and the other one is flat, and probably unfinished. There was a bit of a mark on the other headpiece too, so I went with this head, with the textured finish. 

Back:

A good amount of detail on her hair, for a prize figure. And a good shot of teh vines – don’t want to be missing one of those! This one could’ve easily ended up messy with the paint, but most of it is really good. Bit of slop on the back of the headpiece, but the more important paint on her body is good. 

Next up, Dragon Kid:

They’ve done a really good job on her too. Love her bright colours. She doesn’t have her logos in her discs, but I can’t say I miss those, lol. The gold & silver paint work, which is a nice thing to see. 

Back:

Her staff and headpiece are the most striking things in this figure, and have been replicated well, in chibi form. 

Now for Ivan Karelin, aka Origami Cyclone:

This one, for some strange reason, tends to prefer to rotate moreso than the others. I like his clothes on this figure. 

Here he is from the back:

Shame the stand goes right in the middle of his jacket’s logo :(. Makes me almost wish for a hair stand, but those are far more annoying than peg stands. The purple shiny paint came out well. 

Now for Keith Goodman, aka Sky High:

Looking happy and optimistic, like his anime-self! His clothes and face are painted really well. 

Back:

Oops, a bit of a mark on the back of his hair, oh well. It’s a paint chip, so I can’t fix it easily. I do have a duplicate of Keith, so I may choose not to sell the duplicate. The chip doesn’t show when I’m displaying him though, so I may not bother getting the other head out. 

So that’s the five that were advertised… plus the non-mentioned dupe which was Dragon Kid. Did I get the secret? Why, yes I did! 

And who was it?

Just who?

Have you guessed yet?

Erm, did someone say something? Speak up!

It was Doc Saito!:

I laughed when I opened this one up – a perfect figure for the secret! The super-soft spoken mad engineer himself! As a character less prone to getting figures, for not really being one of the main stars, it was nice they included him in this set. I wouldn’t have ordinarily bought a Doc Saito figure, but upon having him, I realised how much I needed one :P. Paint isn’t the bes ton this one, but I’ll let that slide because… Doc Saito. 

Here is his back:

Yep, the back of Doc Saito. Nothing to see here, lol, but no chips either. 

Glad I got this set, and was worth the money imo. They’re a cute set of figures, and a welcome addition to my collection. 

Urban Mine – Evangelion, Gundam & Misc – Part 3

Now for the last of the Evangelion items. 

Let’s start off with a deformed-style Rei trading figure:

I don’t usually go in for this style of figure, but this one’s pretty cute, and well-done. The paint is really nice. The big *ahem* downside to this one is that her fat head doesn’t like to stay in the stand clip. Most of this kind of figure I’ve usually been able to find the sweet-spot where the figure will stay clipped in, but she loves to fall over if you move her. The shading in her hair is vibrant and attractive. Also she’s in her plugsuit, so that makes it more of a winner for me. 

Back:

Pretty obvious seam, but that’s pretty standard with these figures. Isn’t anything worth seeing on the back of her head, though the back of her body has been painted well, with the details you’d expect. I like this figure, and this will be going on display. 

Next, a keychain of Rei:

Here she is, very happy! It doesn’t look very “Rei” to me, but she’s still cute. 

Back:

Not too much to see here, but some shading in her hair, and her back has been painted well. 

She does pose well in front of a Nether portal:

I hung her here, soon after opening her. 

She comes with another part you’re supposed to connect her to:

She does look nice connected to this chain, but it’d dangle too much to go on the keychain bars. And she needs to guard the portal :P. 

Now here’s an interesting piece of Evangelion loot attached to my phone:

On the opposite side, it has Rei’s EVA:

The print is nice and vibrant, and a good design, given the space. Hence me attaching this to my phone. So what is it?

An extending ballpoint pen! More useful than the stylus I first wondered if it was. My finger suffices for my phone, but hey, a pen I might actually randomly need. I’ve left the nib protector on the pen, as I’m rarely likely to actually use this. It’s more of a decorative item that I can look at/fiddle with. Will keep it on my phone until it’s more annoying than soothing. Or it gets damaged badly. 

Time for a couple of different Evangelion characters. It can’t all be Rei! Just… mostly Rei :P. 

Here’s a figure of Asuka:

Cute! The card was a pain to get in place though. Love the plugsuit swimsuit! Would love to see this on a larger figure, and for the rest of the cast. Paint is good quality on her. 

Now for a Shinji. Funnily enough, I nearly bought this from someone, with some other Evangelion loot, but the asking price was too high. But he decided to pop up in my loot anyway!

A nice little figure. Not one I’d ordinarily choose, but will happily display now I have it. Love the angel details in the background. 

Some nice odds and ends! No real duds either, so I’m happy!

Urban Mine – Evangelion, Gundam & Misc – Part 2

Next up, let’s get onto some Evangelion loot! I opened one of the sealed inner bags and found… a full set of Portraits figures! Well, minus the secret one, but hey, 5 figures of a full set! I didn’t have any of series 2, so this was an amazing find for me! Well worth the £16 on its own! You wouldn’t normally get a full set for this price. So this loot was definitely a winner!

First up, Asuka Langley:

Looking very happy. A small scratch on her swimsuit top, d’oh. Other than that, she’s in good condition. The red swimsuit suits her – the secret figure in this set is her in a blue striped swimsuit, so I’m not overly fussed about it. Asuka’s colour is red. 

Back:

Lovely flow and shading in her hair. Her neuro clips are well-painted too. 

Now, ofc for a Rei:

Here she is in her plugsuit form, with the bandages from a…. not-so-good encounter. The bandage painting looks a little odd above her right breast. She has a pearlescent plugsuit, which is a nice touch – usually this form is a “secret colour” version in other sets, but is the standard colouring in this set. Her bandages appear to be done true to the anime. 

Back:

Some paint slop visible on the bandage around her hair. Her backpack has been nicely done. Not too much to say about the back, but she looks good.

Rei in her school uniform:

A nice amount of detail in her, but the stand was a pig to get in place and work out what should be clipped XD. The paint has been done nicely, and her pose is good. 

Back:

Here you can see some nice shading on her dress, and her hand in motion. Her hair also has detail at the back, which is nice. 

Misato Katsuragi:

Looking very summery and ready for the beach! This is a bit of an odd set, as you have her and Asuka ready for the beach, and the others in their work clothes XD. I like Misato’s pose, but her expression looks a little shifty… what’s she plotting now? Love the little flowers on her sandals, and the beach outfit is a good style. 

Back:

Her hair has shading, but does look like a bit of a sudden colour change in this photo. Her backside has been sculpted well, and she has pockets that look good. I really like her shorts, lol. 

Lastly, Maya Ibuki:

Unfortunately, time has hit her badly. She has a small scratch at the bottom of her coat, but worst of all, it looks like the paint has deteriorated, and she has an overly dark spot across her chest. Other than that, she looks good from the front, which makes the ageing a shame. I like her studious, laptop-holding pose.

Back:

Some ageing visible here too – one dark spot on the back of her jacket, and her leggings have yellowed. Not too much to see on the back, but looks OK. 

All of these figures have a base with the NERV logo, which is a nice touch. Kinda wish all the Portraits figures had this base. It’s nice to own this set, even though there’s signs of ageing. A welcome addition to my collection!

Urban Mine – Evangelion, Gundam & Misc – Part 1

So… this month I hit the Mandarake mines pretty hard. The next five blogs will cover this auction:

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I bid on this auction, as I saw two of Rei Ayanami’s head, and Asuka’s in between. The rest I didn’t really pay much attention to, but I saw the bag labelled ¥315, so hey, if I didn’t bid much, I was probably onto a winner! I won the lot for ¥400, and with shipping it cost me £16.22. 

So… let’s see what I got. This blog will concentrate on the miscellaneous items, that aren’t Gundam or Evangelion-related. 

The first oddity that caught my eye, after emptying the bag of items was this dude:

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But who could he be? So I turned him round and had a look:

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Oh! Docomo! One of the mobile (cell) phone providers in Japan! I did some research, and indeed they have a mushroom for a mascot, and his name is Docomodake. Well, their branding went a lot more successful than whatever it was Orange tried to do many years ago in the UK… He’s a cute, well-made little guy. He definitely gets a spot on the keychain bar. 

Here’s a photo of his head:

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Lots of brightly-coloured spots! The other keychain part that he’s propped upon will be featured in a later blog. An interesting and different item! 

Next up, three figures of Rio Rollins Tachibana from Super Black Jack. Never come across this series before, so can’t comment too much from that perspective.

Our first figure is of her in her normal outfit, looking like a dealer:

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These figures are surprisingly well-made – the paint is very nicely done, and the poses are good. They all have a bit of a gappy midriff problem, but this is not too noticeable if you’re not up close to the figure. This one you can’t pick up by her upper half usually though – she likes to drop her legs! The detail in the moulds is also a bit higher than your average trading figure imo – the creases in her clothes have been done well, and the paint/decal on the cards is very crisp. 

Back:

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She looks good from this angle, though less detail in her hair. You can see her cufflinks here – nice to see details like that. The support stand is on a ball joint, which makes it easier to manoeuvre into position. 

Now for Rio in a maid outfit:

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She was a bit more of a pain to get on the stand, but she’s also very nicely done. Some white paint slop visible on her legs though, but it’s not a biggie. Her apron pins onto her skirt – this is OK when she’s displayed, but the pins aren’t that long, so if you pick her up, you can accidentally knock this off. 

Back:

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Looks good from this angle. She has a standard rod stand though. 

Now for the third and final Rio:

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Santa Rio! This was the first one of the three I assembled, and probably the worst one for midriff gap XD. Once I had this one open, I was decided I was going to keep all three of the Rio figures. I love her face and pose, and the quality of the paint job. The bent-over trinket in her hand is odd though, but pictures suggest it should be like that! There’s a nice use of pearly finish on her stockings. 

From the back:

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The sack has been done well, along with her Santa hat. Love the high-heeled boots too. Very pleased with these three figures.

Also in the Super Black Jack theme, there was these playing cards:

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I haven’t opened them, not sure if I will, as I don’t tend to get to play card games. I’d guess this would be a nice collectable for those who like this series though – very thematic. 

One last thing for this post, Yuo Hirasawa from K-on!:

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In tiny charm form. I left this in the bag, but just prior to writing this blog, I took her out. She has a 2D guitar attached to her strap, as well as her head. May sneak this onto one of the keychain bars, or she may be relegated to the Trading Figures drawer. She was a freebie with an Ashai drink, so coupled with her size, she’s not really worth anything. 

So thus far, we’ve had 3 nice trading figures and a DoCoMo mascot… Probably not worth £16 to me, but at least a chunk of that. Let’s see what the next blog brings!

Sinon – SAO: Code Register – Ocean Cat

And the third of these figures I purchased, Sinon:

This one doesn’t have any additional accessories, but does have a “full” stand. I love her cute pose, and well, she’s a cat. The shading on her face is a very nice touch. 

Left:

Here you can see the cat-paw detail on her swimsuit top – a nice continuation of the theme. She holds the ball well, and the motion in her top is nice. She also has her signature plaits, which is a necessary feature of Sinon.

Right:

Here’s her tail. This comes as a separate part, and plugs into a hole in her back. He has a hood on her top, but doesn’t look big enough for her head, lol. The colours of this figure work well imo.

Back:

Don’t think there’s much new to talk about from this angle. Her hair has been sculpted with a good amount of detail. Her foot pegs are a bit visible, which can make her foot look a little odd if you’re looking at her close-up. 

Overall, I’m very pleased with these figures. They’re nice and big, plus they’re painted well, with interesting sculpts. If you’re into these figure designs, I would happily recommend them. 

Leafa – SAO: Code Register – Aqua Sylphide

Time for our second of three Sword Art Online: Code Register prize figures.

This one is Leafa:

And man, she’s a pig to assemble. Body-to-legs is fine, but the ball is attached to her head. This made it a fun game of getting the hair slotted around her arms, then fighting with her bows & arms until each goes in the right places relative to each other. For anyone assembling it, I’d recommend threading her hair through her arms to get it in the vicinity, then heat up the bows so you can freely bend them around her arms, until everything’s in the right place, and hopefully you can jam her head down on her neck. 

She comes with some waves, identical to Asuna’s. She also has a stand base, but she doesn’t really need hers, unlike Asuna, who won’t sit right without hers. I’m going to use the stand anyway, as it’s not intrusive, and it’ll ensure she doesn’t bend over time. 

Elevated shot:

Here you can see how I’ve chosen to pose the waves, plus well, her assets that are seemingly competing with the beach-ball. 

From the front:

She has a very nice, smiling expression, and her hair has some lovely shades to it. All her bows flow nicely, and I find her skin less shiny and plain than Asuna’s. 

Left side:

Bit of a paint slop in evidence on her straps. The ball fits well in her hands, once assembled. The bottoms of her feet are sculpted nicely. 

Right:

Her wonderful hair sweeping around her. I love that they chose to do this, and the daintiness of her hand holding the ball. She also has a bow around her wrist, which is a nice attention to detail. 

Back:

A decent enough backside, plus some sculpting detail on her back. Most of the painting is within the lines, but a tiny bit lacking on the lower strap on mine. This is where she joins though. 

Closeup of the top of her hair:

Here you can see the ball is most definitely affixed to her hair. It looks a little odd if you look at it closely like this, but it looks fine from the front. 

Close-up of her back:

Hm, maybe her head needed one more shove :P. The back sculpt comes out nicely, and the ball appears to rest well in her hands, which I was worried about given the arrangement.

This was the first of the three figures I saw, and I really wanted to get this one. Certainly glad I did. 

Asuna – SAO: Code Register – Blue Marine ver.

I saw these prize figures for sale some time ago, but only recently decided to fit them into my budget. This is a set of four, but I only bought three of them, as the fourth was pricier than the other three, and I didn’t like it as much, as well as being a character I wasn’t attached to. 

So first up, Asuna:

She wasn’t too bad to assemble – head joint was a bit tight, but some heat and force sorted that out. However, she has a small stand underneath her backside (not visible here), which can be a bit of a pain to position correctly, but once in place, it stays fine. 

Elevated view:

The mould and details in the pose are all very nice. Main thing she lacks is shading on her skin, which leaves her looking prize-figure-y. When the light catches her right, she’s very nice looking though. 

From the top:

The seam hiding is better than some scales from the top! That was a bit of a surprise. The hair is really nice on this figure. Here you can see the two parts that make up the waves. These are a nice addition.

Asuna from the front, without the waves:

Just goin’ for her ice-cream. The flower in her hair is a very nice detail, and the curling of her feet give her more emotion in her pose. 

Left side:

Darn, didn’t get her ring in this shot, but it’s there and nicely painted… behind her hair. Which is very nice and blue indeed! Some decently sculpted side-boob, plus the plait in her hair, which is true to her design. The one major flaw with this figure is also visible here – the dent where her left knee is supposed to be sat in/covering up. It doesn’t seem quite the right shape, so I’m not sure bending her leg would be worth it, but it isn’t visible from a display angle. Kind of a shame, given the rest of this figure. 

Right side:

Here we get a better look at the flower, and her expression as she goes to eat her lolly. Here you can see the stand that I mentioned – the transparent blue nub underneath her backside. I like the way her ankles have the bones moulded in them. 

Back:

Some very blue hair, and the plastic stand. I really love the shades they’ve put in her hair – it really makes this figure eye-catching. The stand does its job, once you find the right place for it to sit. 

Overall, I’m really please with this figure. She’s a good size, and very nice for a prize figure. I’d say she looks a bit more plastic-y irl with her skin, but with the right lighting, she’s definitely good for the price.