Tag: freeing

Red Pyramid Thing- Silent Hill – Figma

This was the figure I bought with Miku – Pyramid Head from Silent Hill. This was one that I was dithering about buying, as it’s not a franchise where I’ve actually played the game, but I’m sort of fascinated by Pyramid Head. 

So I decided to buy him, as I could do so for a reasonable price:

So.. the differences between this one and Miku… Here we can see there’s a lot more detail and texture. He has sculpting and shading on his arms, which I think works well. What doesn’t quite so well is what’s supposed to be his gloves – just sort of looks like his hands are miscoloured somehow. 

The pyramid looks nice though, and his dress looks good with the creases, buckles and rips. Here we also see him with his spear, which I particularly like the paintwork on the pointy end. 

Left:

Here we get to see… some sloppy brains. I think they’ve done some good things at the side to help hid the joint. The shading on his arm helps to give it a fleshy texture. We can also see he has articulated toes, to help pose him. 

Right:

Ouch, that nail in the brain has got to hurt! Shading looks good here too, and a fabric semaline sculpted into the side of his clothing, to add detail. 

Back:

Here we have some leather scraps nicely sculpted & painted. I like the power stance he naturally has, and the shape of his body. Brain has some paint details to emphasise the wrinkles in it. 

Hm, let’s get a closer look at his brain:

Gorey! I like the way they’ve fully painted this. Definitely helps with the horror vibe.

Back part:

Yeah, that guy’s gotta have a headache! 

Accessories:

Here are his other hands, which appear saran-wrapped. This other neck piece, on the left, has a hole where you can put the base part of the spear “through” his neck – I though this was a really cool addition, but I’m probably not going to use it as I like him wielding the spear, and I’ll likely keep knocking it out or it getting in the way if I put him with other figures. The large knife looks good, but I wish the wash followed the curve of the blade. Overall some OK accessories. 

I do really like this Figma. I have a soft spot for horror stuff, and this dude fits the bill. If you can pick him up at a reasonable price, I think fans would be happy with him as an action figure. He seems to lack much competition in the action figure market. Sort of surprised someone like NECA hasn’t picked him up, but hey, we have this one at least 😀

Sonia Blanche – Shining Beach Heroines – FREEing S-Style

Lastly, we have Sonia Blanche:

Originally I didn’t order this one, as I wasn’t aiming to collect the set. Then I decided I wanted all the S-Style figures, so I waited until she was near release for pre-orders to re-open. She came up on Nippon Yasan, pay immediately. So I did. Then a few days later she got delayed a month. D’oh. Out of the three, I think this one is the least visually interesting. She does seem very happy to see the beach though! I think she has a nice bikini top, and the bows on her shoes are very nice. 

Left side:

Plenty of side-boob going on there. And she has some nicely sculpted bows on the side of her bikini bottoms. Her hairs have strands to them, making it a lot less plain than just one moulded section. The ponytail towards the front of her hair is a nice touch. 

Right side:

She isn’t hiding too much ;). Her hair looks good from this angle imo. 

Back:

I think the hair works well on this figure. The back of this figure is sculpted well, and painted well. Not too much to say really!

Overall, I’ve warmed up to this figure since owning her, but I still think she’s the visually least interesting of the three, so I’d only recommend her to anyone who wants a Sonia Blanche figure, or people who are nutters like me who are collecting the set. She’s definitely not the worst of the set – there isn’t anything wrong with her imo, unlike some of the others, she’s just a happy beach figure. 

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. 

Excela Noa Aura – Shining Beach Heroines – FREEing S-Style

Finally the Shining Resonance S-Style figures were released, after a month’s delay. 

First up, we have Excela Noa Aura:

The thing that attracted to me was her colour scheme – love the black-purple-pink, with her grey hair complementing them. Her pose isn’t overly exciting, but it does convey personality. She has an anklet, which is a nice added detail, and I love the bow on her swimsuit top. 

Left:

Not too much to see here, but a good body shape. I love the ruffled skirt. 

Right:

Not sure how well these high-heels will work on the beach… The bows in her hair are nice though, and match the bands around her arms. She also has a small black bow on her skirt. 

Back:

Some concession to sculpting in her hair, but it has emphasised a mould line, sadly. Her back is nice though – I think the join lines are nicely concealed, and the shading is good. Her hair strands flow nicely around her, as if she’s just turned her head. 

I love this figure, mostly for the colours. Would’ve been nice if her hair bows were more visible from the front – in her promo pics I did wonder what kind of hair accessory they were, as they looked flatter/straighter. Now I have her, they’re clearly bows on her hair ties. She seems quite a reserved character, so I see her as being on the edge of the beach. 

Rias Gremory – Highschool DxD – FREEing S-Style

This figure is the second of the pair, and was the one I was looking forward to most:

I love her playful pose, and I have a liking for Rias’s design. The white swimsuit complements Rias well. 

Left side:

Here you can see more of her top, which just rests on her hand. It’s pretty stable, but due to the static nature of the plastic, it can look a little odd if it doesn’t sit right on her hand. Here you can see some of the lovely shades in her hair.

Right:

No too much to say about this angle – you can see her nicely-sculpted swimsuit bottom, and her similar pose to Akeno. 

Back:

Red flowing hair, what’s not to love?

Close-up of the top:

Nicely detailed and painted. Despite the drawback of getting it to sit on her hand, it’s been very nicely done otherwise.

And now to the figure’s flaw:

The ahoge. This is a separate part, and no matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to get it all the way in, or at least fully hide the unpainted part. Wish they painted it all the way down. Not entirely sure why they decided to make it a separate part – pretty sure it would’ve fit in the box attached – but having it like this is just annoying. Being so thin, it’s a bit nerve-wracking pushing it in, and hoping not to break it. If it wasn’t for this, I’d have this one as one of my favourites. It’s still up there but… sigh. 

Akeno Himejima – Highschool DxD – FREEing S-Style

With the Highschool DxD S-Style figures, I missed the initial pre-orders, and decided to wait until release to pick them up. A bit before they were to be released, AmiAmi opened up their pre-orders for them again, and I was able to add them to another open order I had. 

First up, we have Akeno Himejima:

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Her top is separate, and is to be threaded under her arm/hand. Her head and her hair are separate parts to assemble, but the rest of her is pre-assembled.

Both of the Highschool DxD figures are hiding their nipples with their hands, which makes them somewhat different to the rest of the S-Style figures. 

Left side:

I love the hair on this figure – long and flowing. The green and dark blue colours of her swimsuit fit nicely with the rest ofthe figure. 

Right side:

Her arm is attached as per the other figures, but was not a separate part in the box. Not checked if it is glued or not. The bow on her swimsuit bottom has been done well. 

Back:

Here you can really appreciate the flowing nature of her hair, and the orange of her bow. The hair is fairly stiff plastic, so needed to be careful not to”ping” it and break it. Would be better if it was slightly softer imo. 

Close-up of her hair bow:

The paint is nicely done, and is a lovely colour. 

I love this figure, and feel like the quality of this line is increasing. It’s not “epic tier”, but they’re certainly very nice figures. 

Luka Megurine – FREEing S-Style

This was the last of the old releases of S-Style figures, prior to me deciding to collect them. I had this one shipped from the US, via a forwarder. The process went smoothly, and now I have all the currently-released S-Style figures!

So here she is:

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Not the best one to round out the set, but certainly not the worst either. Bit of a paint error goin’ on at her midriff, but the rest of the paint is fine. I think she also may be a bit more tan than she should be in places – this can happen over time with displayed figures, but I don’t have another one to compare. 

Left side:

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Nice detail including her hand holding her headphones. The pattern on her headphones has also been nicely reproduced, and her hair flows well.

Right side:

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Her hair flows behind her here, and you can see her headphones & mic. Also you can see her painted fingernails, which is a nice touch. 

Back:

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Some nice shading going on in her hair, instead of being one flat, boring colour. These are the things that makes these figures nicer than most of the figures of this size. 

Happy to finally have all of the set! I’m in the process of organising a display cabinet, so I’ll eventually have these figures all displayed together. It’s likely to be awhile though – need to sort out some LED lighting, so it could be a month before I get to blog about it! 

Shion Toudou – FREEing S-Style

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

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

Opposite side:

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

Her back:

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

From the top:

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

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

Mirei Minami – FREEing S-Style

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

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

Her front:

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

Her left side:

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

Her back:

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

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

Maho Nishizumi – FREEing S-Style

Following on from yesterday, here is Maho:

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

Here she is from the side:

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

Right side:

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

Back:

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

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

Miho Nishizumi – FREEing S-Style

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

So, let’s get onto Miho:

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

Miho’s left side:

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

Right side:

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

Back:

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

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

Ram – FREEing S-Style

Yesterday was Rem, today is Ram:

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

Side:

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

Other side:

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

Back:

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

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

Rem – FREEing S-Style

Pre-order Rem and Ram as a pair, and they look pretty together:

This blog will focus on Rem:

She has an expression that looks like she’s about to eat that ice lolly :D. She looks really nice from the front, though it’s a pain to get her to hold the lolly :/. 

Side:

Her pose looks really good from this angle, and the details in her hair are really nicely done. 

Other side:

She looks fine from this side, bit of wandering white paint on her skirt. Getting her arms in fully was a bit of a pain, which is slightly visible here. 

Back:

Aaand this angle shows the downside of the new middle joint design. Both of these new figures were hard to get their middles to connect correctly, and not leave a gap at the back. Admittedly I won’t be looking at this angle much, but it is annoying. Also if you’re hoping you can display her without her skirt, this is not an option – it is attached to her legs. 

Barring her middle joint, she is nicely sculpted and painted, and looks good. The two downsides are the middle joint not quite going in fully, and the fact her hand isn’t moulded to hold her ice lolly well. I could probably heat and mould her hand to hold it better, which I may do if she drops it. However, it does seem to stay in place, if you get it balanced. 

Super Sonico – FREEing S-Style

This is the last 1/12 feature for a little while, as I have other figures to show! 

So… here she is:

This is the only Sonico figure I own, which is mildly unusual considering the size of my figure collection. She is a nice Sonico imo – an interesting choice of pose, and she’s nicely sculpted and painted.

Here is her right side:

I like the fact she has something to hold, but the ice-cream is a bit too easy to knock out of her hand. Would be nicer if she gripped it a bit more, or it was a bit of a higher angle so it was more gravity-assisted. The headphones are nicely detailed. 

Here she is from the back:

Her hair flows nicely, and I like the gradient in it. 

And the angle I’m sure some are here to see:

She seems pretty well featured in this regard. Out of Sonico figures, there are better candidates, but I think it works well enough for this figure. 

I like this figure – for me, she comes somewhere in the middle for the FREEing 1/12 figures I currently own. She’s not my favourite, but she’s not my least favourite either. I think she will look great with the rest though. 

Shimamura Uzuki – FREEing S-Style

This is the last of the three Idolm@aster figures that were released together in the S-Style series. I planned to get this one anyway, as her pose was rather different from the rest of the S-Style figures.

So here she is:

I love her smiling face, and the blue of her swimsuit is a very nice colour. Kinda wish the base matched her swimsuit more, or they matched the stands for the Idom@ster figures. Due to her pose, she’s very tiny though. 

Left side:

Her hair is nice and detailed, but evidence of seams, which is a bit of a shame. 

Right side:

This side looks much nicer, and showcases her hair better. Some nice shading on the swimsuit, plus some wrinkle lines on the suit. 

Back:

Her hair in detail! Probably a little on the shiny side, but her backside has been sculpted well. 

Top:

This shows the main issue of the hair: the sudden change between the hair on the top of her head, to the hair lower down. Her back looks nice though.

Underneath shot:

She doesn’t have any pegs to hold her to the base, so you can sit her wherever :). 

Chest writing:

The writing on her to translates to Uzuki (her name). 

Overall, I like this figure, though she does feel very small, due to her pose. She’s painted nicely, but imo, it would’ve been nicer if they made her slightly bigger, though she is a scale. 

Nitta Minami – FREEing S-Style

After getting Anastasia, I decided to get the rest of the “set”. This one was the one I was most on the fence about, but she was the cheapest of the bunch. So let’s see what we got:

She looks cute, I love the swimsuit, but she looks a little “flat faced”. Imo, she looks better than the promo shots, though.

Left side:

Even with a “simple” pose, they’ve managed to add some dynamicness to it. The fold in her hair is a nice touch. The hair is more shaded than the promo shots, which helps with her overall look. 

Right side:

Not too much different than the left, though her hair appears to sit more naturally this side.

Back:

Some nice shading work on this side, with her hands clasped behind. 

She is probably one of the plainer S-Style figures, but imo she matches up to the quality of the others. 

Rin Kagamine – FREEing S-Style

Another Vocaloid – Rin Kagamine. Ever since getting Len, I’ve planned on getting her. Was checking up on Mandarake recently, and saw she was available, so nabbed her quick. 

She has a super-cute pose, and is the perfect companion for Len. Didn’t take any pics of them together during this photoshoot, but I do plan to do some group photoshoots, once I have more of the S-Style figures.

Here she is from her left:

Her headphones/headband are very nicely done. 

Right side:

One cute, waving hand, plus you can see the shading in the tips of her hair. 

Her back:

Her back is sculpted nicely, along with the bow on her back. 

Overall, she’s a very nice, cute figure, but I have had one issue with her:

Her middle is a bit curmudgeonly, and is a pain to fully get rid of the gap between her midriff and her skirt. I did imagine to improve matters for these photos, but she does seem a bit prone to not going together 100%. However, the skirt is removable, if you want to display her just in her pants.

Hatsune Miku – FREEing S-Style

I have decided to try and collect most of the FREEing S-Style figures, so long as I can get them for a reasonable price. Four of them have recently entered my collection, from various sources, with more on the way.

This one I got from Solaris Japan, using a discount code, to make it a price I was willing to pay. 

I saw a bootleg of this one online recently, and yeah, the real thing is far nicer! I wouldn’t say it is free from paint flaws, but you have to look close to notice them. Love the large, flowing hair, and the dynamic pose. 

Her left:

You can see her headphones here, which are nicely painted. Her hair flows nicely, and you can appreciate the sculpting on her body.

Right side:

She has a light bit on the outermost bit of hair – not sure how I feel about it. It does stop the hair from being one solid mass of green, but I think it is a little too light. 

Her back:

Lovely shading on her back, which helps her look real. Her backside is nicely sculpted, and no, I didn’t take a pantsu shot, so this is what you’re gonna get today. 

Still loving these small figures, and I think they’ve done an excellent job for Miku, which is probably why she’s harder to find and more expensive if you do. 

Nagisa Kaworu – G.E.M

Had my eye on this figure, then it unexpectedly came up for sale on MFC for a good price, so I had to nab him. Can’t have too much Kaworu:

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Tall, lanky bugger – hopefully he’ll fit on your screen 😛

Love the shininess they’ve given him, and his hair has a good amount of shading. The red of the smaller parts of his figure has been used as an accent colour, which works well.

Left side:

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A good use of different finishes in evidence here, plus the unique shape of the stand to get him into the chosen pose. Is a very minimal stand, but does make a statement. 

Right side:

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Still shiny!

Back:

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A nice bum, but not quite as nice as the one on the FREEing figure. Nothing to complain about here.

He’s a very striking figure, and a good one to have in an Evangelion collection. He has a simple appearance, but there is a decent amount of detail in there, if you’re looking at it. I think I slightly prefer the FREEing one over this one, but I still like him a lot.