The next three blogs will be dedicated to Ena Hoshijiro. This blog will be about the ACG version, the next blog will be about the FuRyu version (as I bought this prior to starting this blog), and the third blog will be comparing the two. 

First… some history with me and this figure. Originally saw this one up for preorder, but couldn’t really afford it, and I couldn’t find much out about it, so I didn’t preorder it, despite wanting to. Instead, I went for the FuRyu version, which had the added advantage of already being released. I remember searching a lot for it on eBay until it popped up at a good price, and I went for it. 

Recently, I went to search for the ACG version, to see what happened to it, only to find the price had severely bombed, to a price comparable to the FuRyu figure. To compare, I paid £20 shipped for the FuRyu one, and I paid just under £28 shipped for this one. There aren’t very many photos of the actual ACG figure, so I decided to just go for it. And super-glad I never preordered it for £80-90!!

So, with the backstory out of the way, here she is:

I honestly don’t think they did a bad job with her, but I can see why her price dropped. She’s not really comparable to the expensive scales I own, but there’s definitely some nice detailing in her. If you look at the picture above, you’ll see three of her tentacles have been formed into hearts. Personally, I think it would have been better to stick with one at her hand, and maybe the more subtle one towards the bottom. Not keen on the upper one. 

A closeup of the hand heart:

I like the path this tentacle takes, and did go “d’aww” when I first saw it. 

Here’s a shot of the top of her body:

I don’t find her face too far off what it should look like, but it could’ve done with some paint detail to make it look a little less flat imo. The shading on her “placental” parts is nice though, and gives them a rich variety in colour. The bit on her leg could do with some tweaking to make it look less blood dribble and more “connector”. One leg is shaded more than the other, not sure this was a good decision, but for me I don’t really see both legs at once. 

A shot from the back:

Some nice shading in her hair, but a pretty obvious seam line. The tentacles are attached nicely, with some proper “holes” for them to come out of.

A shot from behind the figure:

She certainly looks tentacley, and I like that. I think if they got rid of those silly, tight kinks I’d be totally happy with the tentacles. 

Now for closeup of the stand:

Hm. Floor tile. The original artwork showed her with a black stand, which may have been a better bet. It’s grown on me a bit, but my initial thoughts is that it would have been better with a black, smaller base to contrast against Hoshijiro, and make her stand out. I think the base could’ve done with some weathering, and maybe the pen she used in the series… almost tempted to add the latter to the base, to give me something to look at. 

She’s also a good figure if you prefer your Hoshijiro less covered in… meat. I don’t think her hair colour is particularly accurate, but I’m happy to ignore that, as I like the colour. I think she’s a solid figure for the price I paid, but I think her original asking price was too much, so not surprised her price tanked. 

Out of all the Black Friday sales, this was my only purchase, and I bought this from HobbyLink Japan. I don’t have much Mari in my collection, but in recent months, I’ve decided I need more Mari. So this one contributes to the total:

The blue and pink really work well as a colour scheme imo, It’s definitely prize-figurish, so I wouldn’t have paid a lot for it… and I didn’t. 

Here’s a close-up of her face:

I like the way she’s posed, her hair and glasses are nice, but her top is a bit of a mess, especially with the black paint. They seem to have tried to make a semitransparent bit on her chest with the number on, but I don’t feel it works too well. The collar is nice though. 

Here she is from the back: 

The number decal bit is done well, and still liking the hair, but the blue stripes are a bit shaky. 

Here is a close-up of her bacl:

The paint shading in her hair is nice, but below her top, there’s definite evidence of sloppy paint. At least the red paint on this one is fast, unlike my other large Mari figure! Isn’t shiny though. 

With this figure, the pose works for me, but it is let down with fairly visible paint faults. This is a figure I’m likely to display at a distance, so that the paint flaws aren’t as noticeable. I think it’s an OK figure for the price I paid. 

This is the last part of the MFC loot. And it had to be Evangelion :P.

Here they are both together:

These figures can be stood up as shown – there’s a foldout stand on the back – or hung up like pictures. Or laid down flat, if that’s how you roll. Currently considering mounting these on a wall somewhere.

First up, a closer look at Rei:

I love the weird, transparent clothing. One nice feature of it is that it does let you see more of the figure. Can’t imagine translucent nightwear irl would be made of anything comfortable enough to sleep in… I also like the wing pattern behind these figures – gives you the feeling that they’re dreaming, as well as being something related to Evangelion. Just a shame the frames are so plasticky. 

Here’s a closeup on Rei:

Rei’s well-posed, but the paint definitely lack detail, largely owing to these being prize figures. For a prize figure, I’d be happy with this prize though. 

Now onto Asuka:

Less transparency going on here, but with Asuka’s hair, there’s more detail to look at. I’d prefer her nightwear to match her flavour of red than pink, but that’s a minor gripe. Like with Rei, she has wings, but hers are less noticeable at first. 

Closeup on Asuka:

And a closeup on her face:

Yep, she seems happy and comfortable. 

I feel these two an interesting add to my collection. The frames are glow-in-the-dark, hence the kinda cheap look. Did look into whether they’re easily removable if I decided to change them, but the answer was no. Personally I’d prefer the bed “window” to be a bit clearer, to make the wings stand out more – in Asuka’s case, I think the artwork went a little too dark, which doesn’t help them stand out. 

If you’re short on shelves, these are a pair designed for your wall :). 

Today’s figure is Saber by Wave. No figure collection is complete without a few different Sabers, after all.

This one was packaged with her standing on the base – no assembly required. She has a nice-looking belly, and the ribbons give her a good “finish” of a figure that could’ve been quite plain. 

Here’s a more side-on view, showing one of the bows:

Nicely sculped and painted. I feel as if she could risk being a bit happier though!

Here’s a side shot showing off her hair:

And one from the back to show the bow more clearly:

Nicely coordinated with her side bows :). Unusually for a Wave figure, she actually comes with a second hair choice:

Side view:

I like this hairpiece, but I prefer the more “Saber” one. I feel it fits better, and I like the coordinating bows. 

The paint shading is very nice in this figure, and the blue bows really pulls her together as a figure. Don’t have any major complaints with her, she could be a bit more smiley, but that’s kinda Saber’s thing. 

I don’t know much about this character, but I was captivated by her looks and pose. There isn’t anything ‘critical’ shown, but I think she is more on the NSFW side in pose and coverage imo. So let’s start will a less direct shot of her:

In some ways, her face reminds me of my own, but my coworkers may disagree (um, do you? :P)

, especially as I haven’t worn glasses in many years . I definitely don’t have that sidetail though!

A more front-on shot, showing her pose and belly more:

I love the colours of her clothes – the back and canary yellow work well together. 

Here’s her back:

Hair is pretty simple, but does the job. 

I like this figure. It’s fairly simple in its way, but there’s something that captivates me. Part of it is her expression and pose, though. 

This figure I almost requested my husband to buy as one of my Christmas presents… until I found something else I wanted XD. Was attracted to her by the yellow and blue colour scheme.

Mmm, shiny. And what a look she gives, lol. 

A closeup of the face:

Again, the hair is a bit meh with the paint, makes her look a bit sun-faded imo, but the sculpt is better. Here’s a back shot, showing the hair sculpt:

Not much goin’ on on top, but plenty of movement out back. You can also see the stand that holds her leg – was dubious about it at first, but it does make her much solid standing up, so it’s staying. 

Here is her left side:

Lots of wiry details, and a clear shot of the stand. 

And t’other side:

Both her hands are posed well, adding to her pose. I like the way the clothes are on her body, especially with the top being a separate piece. 

My favourite things about this figure are the blue, her belly and her collar. Not sure how I feel about her facial expression, but it does make her stand out. 

Next up, Sheryl Nome. I saw this figure on Mandarake, and did think about adding her to one of my recent purchases, but decided to go for something else instead. Glad I waited, as I was able to add her to my MFC bonanza. 

For a prize figure, her body is nicely painted, but her hair quality definitely says “prize figure” to me. She took a little bit of heating to slot her waist into her legs. Dunno why, but her outfit appeals to me. 

Here she is from the back:

Again, the hair kinda lets it down a bit. The body has some nice touches – the metal detailing on her tube top/bra, creases in her knickers, sculpting of her back – but the hair colour just doesn’t seem that well blended. 

Here’s a closeup of her back & glasses:

Attention to detail was put into her hand pose. 

Here’s her right side:

And the left:

Some nice attention to detail in the sculpt, though you can see a little bit of a gap where she joins in the above pic. Might be able to fix it with a bit more of a shove. 

I don’t think this will be a fave fig, but she is a welcome addition to my collection :). Love the body, shame about the hair imo. 

So… this is the first of 8 figures I bought from a seller on MFC. They were doing a giveaway of prize figures (just pay postage), but they had a couple of things for sale that I wanted. So I helped empty their closet…. and will be filling mine! (Watch this space…). 

This figure is one I’ve wanted since its original release. I remember seeing it for preorder, but not really wanting to shell out so much for a figure. Ah, how things have changed… 

So here she is:

Mmm, shiny blue demon! The painting is REALLY nice in this figure, and I adore the posing. And those shiny wings:

Didn’t know that the wings would be shiny, and it adds to the figure. They’re also ribbed on the back:

Here’s a closeup of her face:

The expression matches her pose. This pic also shows off her wing claws 🙂

Here’s another closeup of her upper half, showing her left arm and the tail wrapped over it:

And finally a shot of her back:

Love this figure, when I finally have somewhere to display these figures, she’s going to have a prime location to stand in. 

I bought this fellah at a con, but amazingly wasn’t severely gouged for it. Would’ve been cheaper via Mandarake, but not by a whole lot, once shipping would be factored in. 

So here he is, in his full glory:

One fairly noticeable paint flaw on his leg there – but he is a prize figure, so paint flaws aren’t unknown. Most of the pics I’ve seen of him have some noticeable paint flaw somewhere. In some ways, the sculpt was a bit too ambitious for the painters, and all the straps are prone to making the smallest mistake look large. 

Front-on view:

The other downside to this figure: a few angles has his arm covering his face. Though the plus sides of this figure is his gear and jacket:

Both look really nice imo, and with the simpler paint job, it came out well. 

Here’s a view of the gear from the back: 

Almost looks like a different figure from the back. The wall makes a nice little addition to the figure, and gives it a lot more than a plain base would. Was one of the things that drew me to this figure. If I were to change one thing about this figure, it would be to move his arm so it wasn’t quite as in front of his face. This figure may also find itself becoming painting practice… if I can ensure that I’ll make less of a mess, instead of more. 

This figure was the first one I had to pay customs for! I remember coming across pictures of this figure and absolutely having to have it, due to the the transparent skirt and the pose. I was looking at Racing Miku figures, and the ones that I found, this was my favourite. And possibly still is. 

Searching around, I found it at prices I couldn’t afford. Then I managed to find one preowned on AmiAmi at a price I could stretch to! So I ordered it. Waited. Got a slip from Parcelforce, paid my moneys, and waited a bit more. Then eventually, she was with me!

And I could stare at her belly:

Up until this point, I don’t think I’d seen pics of the actual base, so that was a bit of a surprise. The promo shots always have a clear base, so was expecting something plainer. Still not a big fan of this base – would personally prefer it to be a plain colour, but this is more “Miku”. 

The pose is fun though, along with her expression. Her skirt is removable, but imo she looks far better with it on than without. She comes apart just underneath her chest so you can take it off. 

Here’s the back of her hair:

Lots of movement, lots of painful areas to dust. Other similar figures tend to have more rubbery hair, so they’re not as fragile but this one is quite tough plastic. Can be a bit nerve-wracking dusting it, but it’s stayed in one piece thus far. 

Still a quality figure in my collection, two years on. 

Set up a bunch of watches on the Mandarake pages for this figure, and it didn’t take too long to strike gold! So despite last month’s overspend, this was one thing that was allowed to “jump the fence”. 

And here’s her back:

The pair looking great together, chilling with Etna:

Pleased I was finally able to obtain the pair at a reasonable price. On most other sites, they’re more money than I wanted to pay, but Mandarake delivered in the end :D. 

Been looking at this listing for some time on eBay, and decided this’d come up in the November budget, if it was still around. At one point it got delisted for some days, so thought the shop must’ve got rid of it elsewhere, but it turned up again :D. Didn’t come with box, but the price was appropriately cheap. 

So here she is, in her smiley glory! Came a lot quicker than expected, as she was sent EMS. Wasn’t expecting that!

Here’s a side shot:

She’s in a bent-over pose, hence not everything being in focus in the first shot. Does give something to the figure, rather than being a “bog standard” Asuka. 

Due to her position, she’s also showing off one of her assets:

The blackish bits are a bit odd on her back though. I’ll be mostly looking at her from the front though. She’s nicely painted and sculpted, and I rather like this figure.