Tag: western figures

Figure Spotlight – Kabuki

And more Diamond Select! Though, again, I got this one cheap. I got interested in Kabuki, after getting a figure of Scarab, because she looked cool. I then found this figure on Amazon, put it on my wishlist, and watched the price slowly drop. Once it was at a point where I couldn’t not buy it, I bought it. So here she is:

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Her main body looks a little overly plain in real life. Maybe could have done with something to break up the block colour, and make her appear more detailed. Her weapon and pose are nice though. 

The base also really adds to the figure. Here’s a closeup:

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And one of the lantern:

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It’s nice to have a base that adds to the figure – probably one of the better things with Diamond Select – they do try to make a base that goes with the character, though some of them are horrible misses. This one (and the Sin City ones) go nicely with their figures. Just a shame the figures could do with a little work. This one being a statue does work for it – no awkward joints to be seen here. 

The back of this figure also works:

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Almost a shame the tattoo isn’t visible from the front of the figure, but that’s how the character is in the comics, so can’t fault Diamond Select for that. It’s a nice rendition though, but for some reason mine seems to have a mark on her shoulder. 

If displayed at a distance, this figure does look bold and striking. Up close, you can see the paint errors and from the front she looks kinda plain. I’d recommend getting this one at a discount. 

Figure Spotlight – Sin City figures

To keep the content goin’ on this blog, I’ve decided to make some entries about figures I’ve obtained prior to starting this blog. These blogs will start with the title “Figure Spotlight” and largely feature 1-3 figures. 

Today’s post will be about two Sin City figures I bought at MCM one year. These figures were made by Diamond Select.

First up, Nancy. 

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This was the one of the two I really wanted, but the deal was 2 figures for a price, so I go this one and Hartigan. You may notice that the guns are still rubber-banded in place – didn’t take the rubber bands off, as I don’t think she’ll have a particularly great grip on the guns if I do. In future, I may need to take the bands off if they begin to perish. Paint job is mostly OK, but you can see some WTF going on in the crotch area. Posing this figure isn’t a whole lotta fun, and both of these have the silly thigh swivel. Stupid cut legs… 

Here she is from the side:

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Mostly looking OK. Hiding the gravity-defying tassels in this photo :P. 

Aaand the back:

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Yep, Diamond Select plain give up here. These figures are definitely designed to be put up against a wall. 

Now onto Hartigan:

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Again, left his weapons rubber banded, so I don’t have to deal with them being dropped. I also find his thigh cut more annoying to look at than Nancy’s as it is more visible with the less busy pants. Not shown: errant blob of white paint behind his tie. 

Here he is from the side:

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And the back:

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His back is nicely done, but you’re not gonna wanna look at it when he’s on the stand. Kind of a shame really. 

I like the way the figures have been done in black and white to match the film, and the sculpting for the most part is OK. Nancy’s tassels are a mess though. The issues are fairly par-for-the-course for Diamond Select figures, which is why I only tend to buy them on deep discount. These two were no exception, happy for the price I paid, but I wouldn’t pay regular price for them. 

Lucidique 12″

OK, so I haven’t totally banned myself from buying stuff… Found this in a store for a good price, though it is damaged. Think I paid a fair price, given the damage – she still looks cool though:

The weapon in her right hand has had the end snapped off, there’s supposed to be one more hook she holds in that hand instead, and a couple of her horns have the ends missing, though this isn’t particularly visible from the front. 

Here’s a close-up of her face:

Yeah, she’s lookin’ at you :).

Here she is next to the smaller Lucidique I already owned:

About twice as tall – note the hook in the right hand of the smaller figure – that’s the one missing from the larger one. I do have the weapons for the smaller one, but they’re currently in storage. 

When I was buying this figure, I asked the store-owner “can I have a closer look at Lucidique?” (as she was high on a shelf). He didn’t know who she was XD. Should’ve have asked if I could take a closer look at the figure that looks like it jumped out of Clive Barkers’ imagination :P. Instead, I asked if I could have a look at the figure next to the Torchwood one… 

She currently stands next to the 12″ Pinhead figure, and they look great together 😀

Heroes of Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes

After I went to the Horror Con in Birmingham, we went for a quick jaunt through Gloucester to kill some time, whereupon I picked up this figure:

And her back:

A post to Reddit later, plus some research, I found out this figure was from a series of blind bags. 

On returning home, I found I could buy a box of ‘em for a tenner. So the logical thing? Buy an entire box!

The box also shows what you can get:

Upon opening the first, I found out why these were being flogged off cheap – these are in the UK, and the cards that come with them are in Spanish and Portuguese. I can sorta read Spanish, so I can get the gist of what each character is supposed to be, and Google Translate the rest :P. 

The instruction manual comes with two games you can play with these figures – the first is a simple vs game, where you basically battle cards. The second involves knocking characters over with the provided marbles (you get one marble with each figure). Especially because of the marble game, some of these figures are surprisingly hard to stand up, 

So what did I get from the bags? Some dupes for sure! Let’s run through the teams, in the order on the above box.

First up is the Academy, who live in the City of Wisdom:

Got 4/6 of these.

The Necropolis, who live in the City of the Undead:

5/6.. one of two near-complete teams. The axe-wielding dudes you have to warm their hands up to get the axes in there. 

Haven, from the City of Griffins and Men:

4/6. Interesting name they have for their city, lol.

Inferno, from the City of Demons:

2/6. Was reallllyy hoping for more of these guys! Though you know what I was saying about getting stuff to stand up? These are, by far, the worst offenders – they’re all leaning against the board in this shot ‘cos the buggers just wouldn’t stay put. 

Finally, Silvan, from the City of the Elves:

5/6. Got a lot of these dudes too, but less dupes than the Necropolis set. 

Do wish there were less dupes per box, but they’re obviously randomly packed. On the fence about getting more – some part of me would like a more complete set, especially because some of them that I’m missing do look cool, but on the other hand, I’m likely just to be drowning in more dupes!

Uh, anyone wanna trade some dupes?

Morty

So this post was supposed to be two figures… but on arrival there was only one. Further inspection revealed I was only billed (thus far) for one figure, and the other one is “awaiting stock”. D’oh. 

So here he is:

Hm. Well. I don’t have much positive to say about this figure. Kinda wish I didn’t buy it now :(. He bends at the elbows and knees, but not at the hips or shoulders… Those joints merely wiggle in and out a bit. One of his feet also has a habit of falling off, if moved. So yeah. Here’s the back:

Nothing much to see here! Move along! 

I’ll probably keep these as they’re Rick and Morty, but if some decent quality figs come along I’ll be sorely tempted to sell these and trade up. Half-expecting these to bargain bin at some point. 

Conquering Queen

This figure was my final purchase at the Horror Con. There were two I was potentially interested in – this one and one called Guilty Secrets, of a lady untying a red corset. Still think I made the right decision:

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Love her clothes and the use of colour in the figure. The sword is a bit awkwardly placed for side-viewing though. 

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Here’s the dragon skeleton’s head. Note the way the sword obscures her face and body somewhat. 

Here’s the dragon skeleton and skull on the other side:

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I do like the way the dragon skeleton surrounds the throne. This figure is currently living on the lounge table, encouraging me to keep it tidy. 

Jersey Devil

And here’s the third and final figure I bought from the same seller:

A li’l cute Jersey Devil. Yeah, he likes to be called cute, I’m sure of it!

Here he is from the side, showing off his horns:

And his back:

Whilst he does have articulation, it isn’t the best. I also have him stuck with some white tack under his feet, so that he’d stay up for the photos – he’s really hard to balance! 

He works far more as a display piece than a poseable figure – the sculpt and paint are nice, but there isn’t much articulation, and there’s not a right lot you can do with what’s there. Could’ve also done with a peg hole, to help with the balance issues, but hey, white tack works, and his feet are big enough you can stick him down and it won’t show. 

Hellboy! Anung Un Rama

Here’s a character I’ve been thinking of getting a figure of, on and off through the years. And now I finally have one! Without completely breaking the bank. This is the second of three figures I bought from the same seller:

Seems like wide stances is a thing for this Mezco range of figures… I’ve put his gun in the holster for now, as I’m currently too lazy to go downstairs to warm up his hand XD. Here he is from the side, with the fire crown more in focus:

Doing some searches, I don’t actually have the fire crown in the right place in my photos… ah well XD. 

Here he is from the back:

The seller had a handful of the Hellboy variants – chose to go for this one, as I prefer the look of Hellboy in his “full” form. Mmm, nice horns.. and here is a closeup of them:

Is a nicely-painted and sculpted figure… and this one doesn’t have any blue blobs of Abe :P. Just wish these Mezco figures were less forced to look like they’re riding an invisible horse!

Abraham “Abe” Sapien

This was one of the three figures in my first purchase at Horror Con in Birmingham. I wasn’t planning on going, but my husband saw one of his friends was exhibiting his books there, so we went for an impromptu visit :D. So I ended up spending most of my November budget in October… oops. 

Second to robotic things, I like amphibious things. I love Abe’s design and colour. Unfortunately it looks like he got a little too close to Hellboy in the factory and he has a dot of red paint on his right arm – is visible in the above picture. 

He also has some nice finnage going on:

The belt is an extra – he has a belt to go on his belt XD. 

And here he is saying hi with all his gear on:

The rebreather collar snaps on satisfyingly, and stays shut, though I’ll display him with his gearless head, as per the first pic. The other head has found its home on a twist-on wire connector (Americans are probably more familiar with these). that lives on top of my monitor. 

He also came with a baby Sammael:

Aww, cute :P. 

Post-Post-NORCON

After dinner on the same day, my husband got bored, so we went shopping. We arrived at a small shopping complex not long before Smyths shut. In my mad dash around Smyths, I picked up two items.

The first was a zombie chicken jokey:

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He has a large clear plastic bit, to ensure it stands up, which is useful:

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So not so aesthetically pleasing from the side, but I don’t find this to be an issue.

And the second was a Nano Metalfigs Harley Quinn:

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For its size and price, it’s not a bad little figure. If I’m in the vicinity of a Smyths again, I might see if they have any of the other characters I like, but some do look rather suspect. 

We also visited TK Maxx,and I picked up a Suicide Squad Joker figure, for a price I was willing to pay:

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He looks OK, but does have a case of “wanking hand” and nothing to hold. 

Here he is from the back:

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Not too much to see here, but there is detailing on his jacket. 

On the Sunday, we visited a Toys R Us, and I picked up a Domez blind bag. The figure I got was…:

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Bane! My favoured ones would have been Catwoman and Joker, but Bane was a solid option. The sculpt on this is OK, but the paint job is a bit meh (see mostly his right hand…) The white mark is actually a bit of fluff on the dome, rather than a scratch. 

Here’s his backside:

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Bane currently lives as a dash ornament, and seems to stay still on the anti-slip matting, despite my husband’s driving…so he’ll stay there for the time being. Despite the paint job, I may pick up some more of these or the Deadpool ones if I see them at a reasonable price. 

NORCON!

Went to NORCON t’other weekend, and came out with much loots. Some at the con itself, and some in Norwich itself. This blog will cover the items I bought at the con

First up, we have Deadpool! An’ a big one at that:

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He’s happy to be outta the box! And apparently famished from the journey to his new home:

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He came with plenty of accessories:

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And two heads. First one is with half-a-mask:

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And the second is this bizarre contraption!

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Which has a movable jaw, and spinning propellor. Here’s a view of the side of this head:

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I also got a Walter White from the same seller:

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And some bonus accessories, of one not mentioned on the box:

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I have one of him in a yellow biohazard suit, but I wanted a Walter that was in his normal getup, so happy to get this one, and cheap too! These Mezco figures do lack articulation, but the sculpts are detailed and well done. There’s some small areas of sloppy paint, but from a small distance, they are some nice-looking figures.

Next we have an Xenomorph Lurker from the Hiya toys.

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Close-up of the xenomorph:

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Closeup of the head detail:

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Close-up of the facehugger:

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Most of the places I’ve seen selling these, the price was too high to bother for such a small figure. On opening and playing with this figure, I’m glad to have not paid more than £15 for it. The detail is nice, but the interchangeable hands, whilst nice, seem a bit overkill for such a figure. The joints, especially at the elbows are a bit awkward. Some of them are a bit reluctant to be joints, and some aren’t particularly stiff, which is probably largely due to the joint type and size. The tail poses nicely.  

Here’s a Borg figure I picked up:

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This figure looked better “in the flesh” than I expected, and the price was right, so I picked it up.

This particular borg figure doesn’t seem to come up for sale as much in the UK as some of the other Playmates ones, and this one looks more detailed and nicer than the other ones. However, the accessories gave me a laugh (they weren’t visible in the packaging):

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Interesting colour scheme they have there! Base isn’t properly painted (skimped around the Borg symbol) and rather cumbersome, so I switched it out for a Reaction base. Ah, figures from the 90s. 

Just as I was leaving, I spotted a Species II figure I considered buying some months ago, then forgot about:

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Side shot:

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She also comes with this standee, but due to its size, this one’s gonna stay in storage, at least for now:

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She also come with a closed-mouth head, but didn’t photograph that. Not too much to see with it. 

Like the Borg figure, this is one that’s easier to get in the US than the UK, and if it does come up for auction, it’s usually a pretty high price, so was happy to get this for a tenner.

And that concludes my NORCON loot!

Aki Ross & Deadpool

Went for a trip to the cash point… decided to make a detour to the one place within walking distance that sells figures. Found two things that appealed to me.

First is Aki Ross from Final Fantasy. I haven’t played the FF games, but I liked the look of this character. Also she was cheap 😀

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Second thing I bought was a Deadpool keyring:

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Can’t go wrong with a bit o’ Deadpool!

Yummy Keychain

Was donating some stuff in a charity shop, and saw this keyring for 50p:

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Thought it looked cute, so had to get it for my hangables rails. So now I have a happy cup o’ coffee looking down on me :). 

The keyring is by Kidrobot, and is part of the Yummy Breakfast range. 

Small Miscellany!

Here’s some little bits that I’ve picked up, that probably don’t need a whole blog post of their own. 

First up, two small bits from the Gloucester action figure shop, Mystique and a Lizard dude from Spiderman:

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An Illidan figure from Blizzard’s Cute But Deadly range. Sadly didn’t come with the base, but fortunately he stands up on his own (was looking into modify a base for him, but he doesn’t really need it):

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Love these little figures, but they were pricey! I’ve now got all the series 2 ones I want. Still may pick up a Kerrigan from series 1 if one comes up cheap enough, but not really mad over owning one (seeing as I don’t play SC). 

And finally, a dog alien from Konami’s Alien series:

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And that’s the last one of the Konami figures I wanted! Other ones I’m not so bothered about – mostly the ships, which go for a lot and I care less about them than the xeno ones. If I saw a ship one going cheap, I’d probably pick it up, but I’m not actively searching for them any more. 

And that concludes my little stuff 😀 

Star Wars Vehicles

And here’s something random and left-of-field for me: some Star Wars vehicles. Whilst I’m not big into Star Wars, I do find some of the vehicle and character designs really neat. Went in the Cash Converters to look at the random crap, and let my husband roam the electricals section. 

They had a huge bunch of these De Agostini Star Wars vehicles, and set myself a limit of picking my two favourite. Which turned into 3 😛

First up was a no-brainer for me, as I have a thing for Grievous:

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A cool vehicle to match up with a cool character design :). The details in these small models is impressive. 

Next up, something that caught my eye with its unique outline and clear display of weaponry:

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I’ve placed the backdrops behind these, as it does help reflect the light and show them up more, on the shelves they live on. 

And a ship style I’m a sucker for… long, thin and pointy:

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And here’s a shot showing the top (and what it is :P):

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They did come with a plastic tub you can leave on top of them but I find it obscures them too much. The magazines did come with them too, but haven’t got around to reading them, as of the time I’m writing this blog. However, I did have a flick through, and there’s diagrams of the vehicles, which is neat. Probably a bunch of interesting things in the words too, when I get around to reading them. And not sleeping off the cold/flu thing I had recently 🙁

Gloucester Antique Centre

If one trip to Gloucester wasn’t enough…. I went again… the following week. Due to the rainstorms, I never got to go to the Gloucester New Antiques Centre, and still really wanted to go. Managed to talk my husband into going, and he wasn’t disappointed, lol. An amazing place with a lot of things and unexpected finds.

First up, I bought a Warcraft Mystery Mini. The box was sealed, but managed to get a character I’m happy with, Blackhand:

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Neatly detailed, but deffo some sloppy paintwork on it (not really taken pics that shows the wandering paint blobs). I paid around half the going rate, which I think was a fair price to pay. I find the RRP a bit much to pay for these. 

And the super-random finds… Evangelion merch!

First up

Nagisa Kaworu:

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He’s supposed to come with a pole & clip, but this one didn’t have it. He doesn’t really need it though, and hasn’t leaned much. If he does, I’ll warm him up and give him a good straightening. He was on the stand backwards when I bought him, and turning him around made him stand up straighter… lol. 

And a figure that I’ve seen online, that I’ve weirdly wanted, but couldn’t really justify getting imported, of Ikari Shinji:

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A lesser quality than those in the Portraits range, but a rather stand-out trading figure, which is why I wanted to pick it up. 

Eaglemoss Alien Queen

Suddenly…. a wild super-large box appears! Wasn’t quite prepared for the size of this one. Thought they must have padded the box for the figure, but nope, it was taking up the whole of the box sent!

For a metal-based figure, this thing is large. It came as three separate pieces – the tail, her body and the base. Once assembled, it’s rigid, and I’m not worried about it disassembling itself, so that’s good. The detailing and paintwork are both nice. Due to my shit lighting, the base looks a bit arse in the post-editing, but Eaglemoss has some high-quality photos.

And here’s more of my derpy ones:

This last picture has less editing, so the base looks much more like it does irl. Went hunting for a discount code (which I found!) as I thought I might be slightly disappointed by it but nope… totally happy I got this one. With the code, I’d say it was worth it. 

Lara and… Lara

Bought these from an action figure and other geekery store in Gloucester. On the same day as the con. As if I didn’t spend enough money there 😛

First up, this one is currently decorating my box-boxes. I put all of my figure boxes in 80L tubs, and once one or two are full, I take them up into the loft. 

So here’s Lara and a Doberman:

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And here’s Lara with a tiger:

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The “spear” in her hand is a magic arrow from the NECA Sylvanas figure, seen in an earlier post. Not really sure how you’re supposed to combine it with Sylvanas (and other people who have reviewed her aren’t sure either!) but thought it looked perfect in Lara’s hand :D. Was also pleased this one fits quite neatly into the “new” Gnedbys I got recently (full pic coming in a later post). 

Gloucester Comic Con

Went to yet another con (yeah, bank balance miiight be lookin’ at me funny) and yep, bought some more stuff! 

First up, we have Sylvanas, my favourite of the things I picked up. Been trying to find this online, and so few places are selling it… basically only eBay sellers, and none of the retailers would provide any info of if they have it in stock/will have it in stock. Plenty of Raynor, either for sale or pre-order but no Sylvanas! Fortunately I spied her at an OK price at the con, and just had to buy her:

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Yeah, she’s a weird shade o’ blue, but other than that, she’s well-painted and sculpted. The cape came out better than I was expecting, and is a decent bit of material… not packed particularly well in the box though. I’m a bit of a sucker for Sylvanas so had to get this. 

Next up, an alien warrior. Kinda wish I didn’t buy this, as it isn’t in great condition, so it gets to live in a slightly random corner:

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Next up, a little Doc Oc:

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Bought it from the same dealer I bought some stuff from in one of the other cons, he was cheap n’ cute, so picked him up. 

And finally, Ursol from Dark Crystal (a Reaction figure):

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And just to show her longitude:

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Looking at the eBay sold listings, I paid a fair price for her. A nicely detailed figure, with the added bonus of it annoying my husband. who really dislikes the Skeksis. Is a little bit of sloppy painting if you look too closely, but on the whole a nice figure imo. 

Ame-Comi Brainiac!

Had this one shipped all the way from the US. Once I knew it existed, I had to get it, and managed to find one reasonably priced… mostly because the box had seen far better days. Impatiently waited for this, especially as it took the seller at least 5 days to dispatch:

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And here’s her back, also pretty:

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An’ a side shot for good measure:

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Really love this figure, and it is nicely detailed. Am a bit of a sucker for cyborg creations, so this figure is right up my alley. Used to play DCUO, so kinda got into Brainiac and his creations there. 

One downside of this figure was how they designed the packaging – one thing I’d read up about this figure was how it rubs against the packaging, and my was certainly not an exception:

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Fortunately the missing paint on the middle dot isn’t very visible to the naked eye, so it doesn’t dent my enjoyment of this figure. Glad I was able to pick this figure up at a reasonable price, as most were more expensive base price & shipping. Also there wouldn’t have been a guarantee that the paint wouldn’t be scratched, even if I was paying more, as it was a noted issue with this figure.