I’m sure I’ve said this before, but I’ve never been a big fan of the Jubilee character. She was annoying as hell in the otherwise enjoyable animated X-Men series from 1992 and I guess that has unfortunately forever stained her character in my eyes. That’s OK, though, because I don’t have to be in love with a character to appreciate when Koto gives them the Bishoujo treatment and in this case I found myself actually excited to get my hands on this statue. After all, if I can find room on my shelf for Kitty Pryde, why not Jubilee?
As usual, the statue comes in a white window box that features some gorgeous artwork from Shunya Yamashita and some pictures of the statue itself. The “Coming Soon” teaser on the back is She-Hulk, which is the first comic-related Bishoujo that I’m passing on. There’s’ just something about her face that is off-putting for me. Maybe if she turns up for cheap I’ll give her a try. Anyway, inside the box, the figure is secured between two clear plastic trays and the only assembly required is pegging her into the base and deciding which glasses to put on her head. Not much else to say here, so let’s dig right in.
Egads, there’s so much to love here, I don’t know where to begin. First off, the pose is great. Jubilee is standing with legs apart, her left hand stretched out to one side and her right hand drawn upward as if ready to unleash a fireworks show. Actually, I get a chuckle because if you put a microphone in her right hand it would look like she was doing an Elvis impersonation. I would have expected something a little more frivolous and playful for this character, but I do like what we got quite a bit. It’s definitely a mugged shot, but you still get a hint of energy.
The outfit hits all the familiar points of Jubilee’s costume only diminished quite a bit, because skimpy outfits and Bishoujo go so well together. she’s wearing blue and white high top sneakers, a pair of teeny blue shorts with a belt slung low on her hips, a very small and tight tube top and her trademark yellow jacket, which has been cut in half. While there isn’t a whole lot to her outfit, what is here is packed with great detail. The sneakers feature individually sculpted and painted laces, with the top laces undone, and I really like how the legs actually disappear into the sneakers. It adds a lot of credibility and they don’t just look like part of the sculpt. The shorts feature all the wrinkles and stitching and the belt buckle is a well-defined “X” with another “X” pinned to her chest. The belt is actually sculpted in place, but I think it would have been neat if it was just left to hang loose.
The jacket looks exceptionally good. It’s bright, glossy yellow and I love the way it whips up around her, complete with that stylish 90’s high collar and bunched up sleeves. Jubilee also features a black arm wrap on her left arm and some bangles and a black featureless glove on her right. The paint on her costume doesn’t miss a beat and, as always, the high gloss paint contrasts beautifully with the softer tones of her skin. There’s a constant war on my Bishoujo shelves between the forces of color and darkness Jubilee will definitely help balance out the color among some of the darker decos like Storm, X-23, Black Widow, and the like.
The portrait here is nothing short of fantastic. It’s almost a shame that because of the angle of her head you need to be at eye level or lower to really appreciate how great Jubilee’s face turned out. The paint on the eyes and lips are perfect and she’s very pretty. The short hair is sculpted in layers and is certainly one of the more complex hair sculpts I’ve seen out of this line. The portrait is rounded out nicely by a pair of earrings and a choker collar with a pink “X” pendant hanging down. Right now, I’d have to say this ranks as one of my favorite Bishoujo portraits to date.
You get two pairs of sunglasses, one rectangular futuristic style and one regular. Swapping them out is as easy as slipping them on and off of her head. I haven’t quite decided which ones to go with, but since changing them is so easy, I may just do a swap every now and again. The glasses are the only place on the statue where the paint is anything less than perfect. The pink paint is a little uneven on the rims and you do get a couple of flecks of pink on the glass itself, but nothing too bad.
But minor paint flubs not withstanding, if there’s one place where this statue falters a bit for me it’s the base. Jubilee comes on a simple clear plastic disc base, nothing new there, but in this case it’s been yellowed and has sparkles added. It casts some interesting colors when viewed from some angles, but most of the time it just reminds me of old, yellowed plastic, which is probably the opposite of the look they were going for here. It’s not a deal breaker for me, but I do wish they had gone a different route. I tend to waver on the clear plastic stands, but I would have definitely preferred it to what we got here.
And so Koto has worked their magic on me again, proving that I don’t even need a strong attachment to the character to appreciate the beautiful design and workmanship they put into these pieces. Jubilee is actually the 25th Bishoujo statue on my shelf, and 26 is already sitting in the corner waiting to be opened. It’s hard for me to think of a line that has been as consistently exceptional as this one. As for price, it took me a little while to find this statue for under $60 and even then it was only by a few dollars. I fear the days of snagging Bishoujos for under that mark are almost behind us. That’s not to say I don’t still find good value in these pieces, but with Kotobukiya seeming to ramp up production these days, it gets more expensive to keep up. And considering that I’ve suffered the penalty of not keeping up before (crazy after-market prices), the pressure is on to pick these up as soon as they come out if I’m going to keep satiating my Bishoujo fix.
FigureFan Zero 