Tag: fate

Gilles de Rais – Fate/Grand Order Duel

This was the Fate/Grand Order Duel figure that I saw and wanted. I’ve always been a fan of Gilles de Rais’s look. Being a less popular character, this figure was also cheap, which was a bonus. 

So let’s have a look at him:

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From the front, he looks decent, but I don’t like the fact he looks down – it would be nicer if he was looking a bit higher so his face was visible when looking front-on. I wouldn’t mind him looking slightly down, as that fits Gilles, but from this angle you don’t really get to see his face.

So here’s his face:

His face has been sculpted well, and has his angular look. Hair and outfit are both neatly painted, and the pink and blues chosen work well together. His rungs look good too. 

Left:

The paintwork on his arm has been done well, and the shading throughout his cloak looks really good. Definitely doesn’t have the shading issue of the prize figure. The points on his collar are nice and crisp. 

Right:

Here we see him holding his book with a claw-like grip. The book has been done well, especially for a small piece. The cloak has also been well -shaded on this side, and we can see the shading on his upper collar too. 

Back:

Props for the stand not getting in the way on this one – I like the fact they’ve gone for a shorter stand so we can appreciate his cape. The back looks really good to me – with the differing shades of blues from the upper and lower halves, and the shading within each part.

Top of his cape:

His hair his sculpted well, and his colour is nicely sculpted and painted. The spikes are slightly different, giving it a more clothinglike appearance. 

Overall, I think this is a really nice figure of Gilles, if small. As a character without a lot of figures, it’s nice to have a quality one, even if it isn’t a scale. 

Cú Chulainn – Fate/Grand Order Duel

This figure is part of a tabletop game version of Fate/Grand Order by Aniplex. Not interested in the game, but some of these figures looked nice for the second-hand price so decided to pick a few of them up. 

Today, I’m looking at Cú Chulainn (Berserker):

Was attracted to this one by the colours and the overall design – love the tattooing on his chest, and the purplish colours of his outfit. And him looking half-demon was icing on the cake :). 

Face:

Love the mischievous grin :). The paint and print are all nice and crisp, without much paint bleed. Some is visible in the white parts, if you look close up. His ruff looks decent given the figure’s size and price point. 

Left:

Here we can see he has a tail – love the long, black spikyness of it, and the red lines complement it well. The ruffs around his ankle look odd, but this is part of the character’s design. However, I notice some fanart do miss these out, and he does look better for it imo. 

Right:

He looks nice from this side too, and we get to look at his spear – I love the red, shiny colour and the fact they’ve included some texture on the handle. 

Spear tip close-up:

I love these small details included on the tip, which give it more detail. 

Back:

Not too much to see here – we have a supporting stand which goes up into his collar, which does keep him upright. The stand itself is entirely flat, so this is the only form of peg on the figure (hence him having one foot up in the air in the first photo). He seems stable enough though. I think the base compliments the figure well, and I like the icon included on the front that tells you his class. 

Overall, I’m very happy with this figure and glad I got him. The colours work well, and there’s plenty of detail to see in the paint and the sculpt. Even if you’re uninterested in the game, these seem like decent figures to display. Though some of the popular characters may set you back a bit. 

Rider – Fate/Stay Night – Blindfolded ver

After getting the incorrect version last time, I managed to order the right one this time!

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Aha! The Rider trading figure I wanted! And this one is in better condition too – bonus. She’s in a very similar pose, only she has her blindfold on, which for me, makes Rider feel more complete. The sculptwork is good, and the paint is neatly done – not overly fancy, but it feels like the correct colours.

Left:

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Standing with her back arched, she feels ready to pounce with her blade. I like this slightly unusual pose. 

Right:

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The hair has been made to flow nicely around her arms, which I like. 

Back:

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Her hair has some shading, which helps to give it depth. It’s sculpted well, and works for Rider. She can hold her blade either way up, but I felt this worked best. 

This trading figure is a nice one, and definitely a higher quality than a lot of small figures, though it’ll likely a bit pricier due to this fact. Does feel in keeping with GSC’s quality, and am glad to have finally found and got around to buying it. 

Saber – Maid ver. – Fate/Hollow Ataraxia

This figure I got from a Discord user. 

Front:

She’s a pretty impressive figure in her own way, with a strong stance. I love the dark metallic blue of her outfit, and the attention to detail in the sculpting. 

Face close-up:

She’s a happy maid :). The figure definitely has an older feel to me, not that I mind. Hair is nicely sculpted, and I like her collar. 

Mop:

I like the way this mop sits on the base – it’s moulded to sit on the edge of the base, which I like. A fair amount of detail has been put into the mop, which I appreciate. The tassels are also shaded well.

Left:

There is a nice sheer effect to her leggings, and her shoes have been painted neatly. I like the bands around her leg, which match nicely with her outfit. Her hair has been done well to hide any seamlines. 

Right:

This shot shows the shiny blue of her outfit quite well on her skirt. Her hair is blended quite well to her neck. She holds the mop quite well, and it doesn’t seem prone to falling over. 

Back:

I love the way her back shows through the dress – it certainly adds a focal point to her back. The painting on her back really adds to the depth. The bow is also nicely presented on her dress, and helps show she’s moving her hips a bit to the side, causing movement to her dress. 

Hair close-up:

I love the details put into her hair – the sculpt is very nice. The bow is also really nicely sculpted and painted to match her dress. 

Top-down view:

Here we can see the cuffs she’s wearing got some attention too – the cufflinks are painted nicely, and there’s some texture here. Her nails are also painted neatly. 

For what could be a very simple figure, there is a lot of attention to detail, and I think it’s a really nice looking figure. There is an updated version of her, with a nicer base, so I’d likely suggest that one, especially as it seems to be around the same price secondhand. But this one definitely isn’t a bad figure, and I’d recommend it. Would be nice if the base was less plain, though. If it wasn’t for the fact I got a really good deal on this one, I may have gone for the updated version, but I could still recommend this one. 

Fate/Stay Night keychains

Here’s four keychains based on characters from the Fate franchise – two of Medusa (Rider), one of Rin Tohsaka and one of Gilgamesh.

First Rider keychain:

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This is a new piece of merchandise, based on the new movie (Heaven’s Feel). Haven’t seen it yet, but I’ve been liking Rider’s look on the merch that’s been coming out. Love her outfit on this keychain, plus her hair is nicely done too. 

Back:

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Nope, not much to see here. The back print seems to have a decent feel to it, and doesn’t feel it’ll scratch off too easily, but isn’t covered (most Japanese print keychains seem to be like this). There are some translucenty black squares around the outside, but I don’t feel it brings anything special to the keychain.

Second Rider keychain:

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Thought this one was quite cute, and I liked the fact it had an extra dangly bit. This keychain is metal, so it is a bit weighty. The print on this one is enclosed between the metal backing and clear sealant on the front. Not entirely sure what the gold cube represents, but hey. 

Back:

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Nice brushed effect on the back. And some copyright text. 

Rin Tohsaka:

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I got this in a convenience store, and can’t find any reference to this exact keychain on the internet – there is another very similar one that’s larger. Rin looks good on this keychain, and I also like it for this:

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As the design is printed on the front face, it has a 3D effect, which gives it some depth. I like this effect, though the design isn’t protected with any kind of coating. 

Back:

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Not too much to see here. Not hugely thick print, but deffo does the job. 

Gilgamesh:

I got this in a blind box, so didn’t get this one by choice. Not a fan of Gilgamesh in this form – much prefer him in his armour, so I didn’t recognise who this was at first. Thinking I may try and sell this one. 

Back:

Nice logo on the back. Not totally boring! Also there’s an earphone jack, so you can attach it to your phone if you like…

And that concludes my Fate keychain collection! And now I get to stop typing keychain and resume being English. 

Caster – Fate/Zero

GillesThis figure I bought for cheap, as he’s missing his base, but he doesn’t really need it:

And also because it’s Gilles De Rais. I find his expression a little on the odd side, but what’s there is well-painted. He has a bit of a seamline in his hair, but nothing too drastic. I can see a bit of paint slop on the bottom of his dress, but the rest is painted nicely, including the pattern on his left arm. 

Left:

Couple of seams visible here – one on the upper part of his clothing, and one in his hair, but they’re mostly hidden. Here we can see more of the linework on his arm, which looks really nice. Top has a bit of flow to it, which is nice to see.

Right:

Clothing seam is pretty well blended here. The points on his hair are sculpted nicely, and he has some fine details on his hand – you can see his rings and pointy fingernails. I love the red and blue of his… collar? Whatever it is. 

Back:

His cape hangs nicely, and the collar is painted well. Nothing to complain about here.

He’s definitely a decent chibi figure, and one I’m glad to have. I don’t think the stand really adds much (apart from ugly whiteness), so I don’t miss it at all. He doesn’t fall over either, due to his wide base for a chibi figure, so I think he looks great without it (and possibly why his previous owner no longer had it…). Glad to have another Giles to add to my collection, as there really aren’t many figures of him. 

Rider – Fate/Stay Night – Figma

This is a Figma I’ve wanted for awhile, but her aftermarket price is rather potty. Was hoping to see some re-releases of Rider figures due to Heaven’s Feel, but not much announced right now. Some new figures, but nothing that took my fancy.

So here I have the Rider Figma that I picked up in Japan:

… who was a “reasonable” price as she’s a bit damaged, and had no box. Here you can see where the rubbery purple stripe that goes along her top has been scraped off partially – when I display this, I will likely use her hair to cover it. 

Her legs have a weird gap where they join to her boots – looking at someone else’s pic this isn’t unique to mine. The colours are nice though, and look like Rider’s colours. The top has some detail in it, but not a huge amount. She is one of the earlier Figmas though. 

Face:

I like her masked faceplace – always preferred Rider with her blindfold. Her face is painted and sculpted nicely. Must ignore the mess. I like her collar, but the silver isn’t quite in all the places it needs to be – it’s painted on the front, but some silver paint on the top of it would make it look better imo. 

Left:

I like he hair, though her fringe is pretty loose. Not sure if that’s just mine or a common issue. Have to be a bit careful when posing her. Her spike-weapons are nice, and look the part. She also holds them well, and plenty of chain to pose should you wish to!

Right:

Lotsa hair! Her sleeves look OK, but nothing special. 

Back:

Here we can see the hair parts enough for the stand to fit through. The hair is super-flexible, so this isn’t an issue. Screws could do with replacing on this stand though. Or, erm, get another stand.

Weapon close-up:

Yep, lookin’ nice. It doesn’t feel particularly detailed, but I don’t think there’s a huge need for them to be.

Overall, I’m glad to have this figure, but I think it’d be really good if they did a “renewal” version with more detail. Whilst she has a lot of stranded hair, it’s pretty blandly done in execution, which I think would be improved in a newer version. Her legs could do with sorting so the joint shows itself yet, and some shading on her top wouldn’t be amiss. Overall she’s an OK Figma, and I’m glad to have her, but I wouldn’t have wanted to pay the full aftermarket price for her. Maybe with modern improvements, she’d be worth more to what Figma prices are now, but in her current incarnation, I’m less inclined to pay full whack. 

I’d say this one is for the Rider fans.

Jack the Assassin – Fate/Grand Order

This was one of the figures on my “to buy” list when I headed to Japan – it was one of two Jack figures I was thinking of buying, and I decided to go with this one.

So let’s look at her out of the box:

I like the pose, but not sold on her expression. According the the promo shots, I actually have her daggers in her hands the wrong way up, but honestly, I prefer them pointing upwards rather than downwards (please don’t shoot me Fate fans!). 

Face:

I like her eyes and the scar. Here we can see the paint job is mediocre – the edges on her top are a bit messy. and the straps on her arm have paint all over the shop. 

Left:

I like the diamond parts on her leg. Her hair looks OK, but isn’t particularly detailed. The side of her top is nicely detailed, and I do love the knife holders on her back.

Right:

She looks good from this side. Still likin’ the knives and the details on her top. 

Arm close-up:

They tried to make the bandages on her arm look dirty, but I’m not sure I like the effect. However, I do really dig the daggers – they’re a detailed shape, and the paint with the gradient is really nice. Definitely one of the highlights of this figure.

Side of the knife sheathes:

Here we see some of paint marks that aren’t uncommon on certain prize figures. Other than that, the sheathes are pretty nice. 

Back:

Here we have a bag o’ tricks and all them sheathes. She looks really good from this angle. 

Close-up of her back:

The pack is painted decently well, but the knives are a little bit of a mess. Not too much of a problem, as they’re on her back. 

Front shot:

Her outfit is an interesting one… looks like she forgot her trousers this morning :P. The body is sculpted decently well, with some definition near her hips and groin, and she has a belly button. 

Overall, it’s an OK prize figure. She should be pretty cheap to get hold of – I wouldn’t recommend spending a whole load on this figure due to her flaws, but she is a reasonably decent figure imo. 

Rin Tohsaka – Fate/Stay Night – Swimsuit Ver

Here we have another unexpected find on Suruga-ya – Alter’s Rin Tohsaka, swimsuit edition. I tried to buy this figure from someone on MFC, but then they messed me about and stopped replying to my messages :/, so this one was an insta-basket when I saw her.

So here she is:

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I feel she is a little plain in the face, but the rest of her works well. She doesn’t hold up favourably to modern figures, but she is good-looking for her age. The ring comes pre-attached to the figure, but the handles are separate pieces. Other than that, she just pegs to the base.

Closer look at her upper half:

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Here we can see that she isn’t shaded too much, which is the reason for her face appearing on the plain side. Her swimsuit is shaded though, which I think is much-needed, otherwise it’d feel very much prize figure. Her eyes are a nice shade of blue, which I think compliments her outfit. Her hair is not heavily shaded either, which I think shows, but doesn’t bother me. She has some hair shading at her crown and hair tips, so it isn’t totally flat.

Left:

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Here we see she has two deliberate seams in her outfit, which have been given realistic creasing. I like these, as it works well. Again, a lot of her skin shading is given by natural light, rather than paint. We can also see she has pink nail polish on her toes, which is a nice touch.

Close-up of the ring:

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Here we see the handles, which I think have been very nicely done. The handles slid in nicely, and I’m not concerned about them falling out. The ring itself, however, does have an appearance of the hard plastic it is made out of, rather than rubber. There are crease lines in it, but something about the paintwork on the flatter areas doesn’t really hide the fact it is plastic. It isn’t a deal-breaker for me, but I believe this is one area that would be improved on a modern figure.

Right:

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This picture probably best captures the plastic-ness of the ring. As we can see, her hair does have some shading in, but it is rather on the subtle side. And this picture makes me realise one of the big differences between this and a newer scale – the finishes are shinier and less varied than on a modern equivalent. Also she has a bit of a seamline down her arm. The swimsuit still looks really nice though.

Back:

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Here we can see the shiny, less-detailed hair. And the way the ring isn’t quite rubber. Nothing particularly bad about the figure, but it doesn’t hold up to modern standards.

Overall, I like this figure, though it does have its flaws. I’d mostly recommend it to Tohsaka fans, who aren’t put off by the quality of older figures. If you can find her for a reasonable price, I’d recommend her, but she was a hard one to find – after the sale fell through on MFC, I did try to find her, but with no luck. However, I’m glad to have found her for a reasonable price, even if I did need to forward her (Suruga-ya doesn’t do international ship

Assassin – Fate/Zero – Banpresto DXF

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

A week or two after I got back she arrived:

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

Left:

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

Right:

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

Back:

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

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

Rider – Fate/Zero

In my Suruga-ya order, I had two Rider figures. 

First one one is a chibi-style figure by Taito:

The paintwork is nice on this one, and she’s OK for a chibi.

Side shot:

Knife-onna-spike looks nice, hair seam, kinda average.

Back:

Some sculpting to convince us that she has hair. 

Now for a trading figure by GSC:

This one is really nice, but she hasn’t had the easiest life. There is a few marks on her. Thought I ordered the masked version, but looking back at my order… I didn’t. Oops. Her colours are represented well in this figure, and there’s some nice details in the moulding – with the secions on her boot, and the wrinkles in her clothes. Her face is nicely painted too. 

Back:

Some lovely shades going on in her hair, plus detail in the way it has been represented as strands. Her dagger has been well-sculpted, and looks nice. Really pleased with this figure, despite it being her non-blindfolded version.