Sep 3 2016

Figma (FigFix #006) “Kantai Collection” Mutsu (Half Damage Version) by Max Factory

Back toward the beginning of the Summer, I dipped my toe into Figma’s FigFix series with the Half Damage version of Shimakaze. These are mostly non-articulated Figma scaled figures, which allow Max Factory to produce very specific versions of the characters without re-releasing a costlier fully jointed figure. In the case of KanColle, they’ve been using this series to create the battle damaged versions of the Fleet Girls, and I’m all for that! Today I’m looking at Secretary Ship Mutsu. I’ve had her regular Figma for a while now, and still haven’t gotten around to Featuring her here, but since this one just came in, I thought I’d bump it to the head of the line.

The FigFix boxes are basically the same as a regular Figma package. Shimakaze’s was a lot more colorful, but Mutsu’s is a return to far more muted colors that better match the regular KanColle Figmas. If I stand this box on the shelf next to the one for my regular Mutsu, the differences are negligible. There’s a window on the front to show you the figure and some of her armaments and the back panel shows multiple photos of the figure all set up. As always, the box is collector friendly, but if you choose not to keep it you get the usual Figma branded ziploc bag for the extra parts. Mutsu is a Nagato Class Battleship with a some major firepower to attach, so let’s get her all set up! I’m going to start with her all kitted out and work from there…

And here is poor Mutsu after having taken what looks like a heavy pounding, and by that I mean battle damage. For godsakes, get your minds out of the gutter, people! For fans of the anime, it’s an unconventional look since Mutsu and Nagato didn’t see action until the very last episode and they emerged from that epic battle unscathed. Nonetheless, she can certainly get damaged in the game and one of her more endearing quotes is when she refers to being in the repair dock “fixing her make-up.” She features a standard Figma stand, which plugs into a socket in the back of her gear and in this case it’s a requirement, because she isn’t posed in a way that she can stand on her own. She’s hunched over with her clothing badly torn and clutching her left shoulder while her right hand rests on her knee. The detailed sculpt and sharp paint are right on par with the regular Figma releases.

Ahoy, Captain… fan service spotted in the aft section! Ooooh, my! Her armaments consist of her four battered 41cm Twin Gun mounts, which feature the bulk of the articulation in this piece. They peg into the sides of her arming belt where they have rotating hinges. The upper shoulder guns can pivot and the barrels will raise and lower. The lower guns can hinge up and down as well as pivot, and they’re barrels can raise and lower as well. While I haven’t Featured her here yet, it’s worth noting that the battered armaments are compatible with the regular Figma Mutsu’s and vice versa. The anchor that pegs to her leg features a real chain that wraps around her leg, travels behind her gear and pegs into the right hip of her arming belt.

The portrait here is excellent, but then I’m biased because Mutsu is my favorite of all the Fleet Girls. I just think she’s adorable. Here we see her hair a little more ruffled than on the regular release, and she has her long antenna protruding from the top of her head. When viewed from dead on, her expression makes her look rather weary from returning from a hard fight. If I look at her from a little above, she seems to have a more determined look. Her green eyes are perfectly printed and her mouth is slightly open. She’s also very nearly busting out of her torn top. The face is a standard removable Figma style and is interchangeable with the regular Mutsu Figma, which is a really cool bonus if you’re like me and couldn’t resist picking up both. The head is also ball jointed, although it’s restricted mostly to turning from side to side.

Removing Mutsu’s gun assemblies makes for another fine display option. When I eventually get all my KanColle Figmas set up, I may display this one without the guns and the regular Mutsu with hers, just to mix things up a little. With the guns out of the way, you can also get a better look at the sculpting and paint that went into her outfit. As pointed out earlier, her heavy arming belt is required for her to work with the regular stand. You can, however remove it by pulling the figure apart at the waist and grabbing a Bandai stand with a claw on it to support her.

The skirt is conveniently attached to the arming belt, so Mutsu is revealing quite a bit if you take it off.

Given my love for KanColle in general, and Mutsu in particular, it should come as no surprise that I adore this piece. The idea of releasing static damaged versions of the Fleet Girls in scale with the regular Figmas is a clever one, and while I have no doubt some may scoff at the idea of a Figma without articulation, I’m very happy with the two I now own. Granted, I bought the Shimakaze FigFix just because her regular Figma isn’t in my budget right now, but I couldn’t resist owning both versions of Mutsu. Of course it doesn’t hurt that at $37, she’s just a fraction of the price of a regular Figma. Whether I’m going to be double dipping on any of the others I can’t say yet, although if I come across Nagato at a good price, she’d be hard to resist.

Jul 30 2016

Figma “Arpeggio of the Blue Steel” Iona by Max Factory

By now, y’all know how much I love me my Kantai Collection and the exploits of the Fleet Girls. Well, then it should come as no surprise, that I’m also extremely fond of Arpeggio of the Blue Steel. It too has WWII style ships, a naval war against alien fleets, and some adorable girls at the helm. In reality the two series are really quite different, but they’re both near and dear to my heart. Figma didn’t go too deep with AotBS, but they did produce a figure of Iona, the Mental Model of the renegade Fleet of Fog submarine I-401. Not to be confused with the I-401 from KanColle that I looked at last week. See? Similar, but different.

Iona is #263 in the ongoing Figma line. She comes in one of the smaller and more compact window boxes with a blue and black deco. The window gives you a glimpse of the figure and all the goodies inside. As always, it’s collector friendly and even has one of those branded Figma ziploc bags to help you store all those parts if you don’t want to keep the box. I’ve been really pressed for time this week, so today’s Feature will be relatively quick, but Iona is a fairly simple figure, so I think I can do her justice in a short amount of time…

Here she is out of the box and looking pretty sweet. If you’re familiar with the anime, than the obvious thing to point out here is that this is not her better known, dark blue outfit. I actually like this look a lot, but I think it was an odd choice to go with for what will likely be her one and only Figma. Her outfit and hair consist of a matching powder blue, white, and lavender, all of which conspires to give her a very pale and almost ghostly appearance. That having been said, the detail here is quite nice, particularly on the laced boots and the straps that hang off her top and down across her hips.

Of course, you get a standard Figma stand with the articulated arm. From the back, you can see that her long hair is articulated to allow the arm access to the peg hole in her back. If you look closely, you should be able to make out the Fleet Insignia printed just above her butt.

It wouldn’t be a Figma figure if it didn’t come with a whole bunch of hands. In this case, there are four pairs, including: Fists, relaxed hands, splayed finger hands, and accessory holding hands. You also get a pointing right hand, and another right hand that is permanently attached to a little tea cup. One thing to watch out for are her teeny-tiny wrist cuffs, which will fall off when you swap out the hands. Iona also comes with three different swap out faces, which include a surprised expression, a neutral expression, and one with a slight smile. Switching these is as easy as always, you just pull off the front hair piece, pull off the face, tab in the new face, and replace the hair. All of the expressions are pretty damn adorable, and her large green eyes are immaculately printed on each portrait.

As if all that wasn’t enough, Iona also comes with an alternate lower half, which has her sitting down. This piece requires you to pop the boots off of her legs and attach them to these legs, then pull the figure apart at the waist and attach the upper half of the figure to this piece via a ball jointed peg. Here’s where I like to use the teacup and saucer that she comes with to have her taking some time off from running the I-401 and enjoy a nice cup of tea. Fair warning, the “tea” in the cup isn’t fixed in place and will fall out if you turn the cup over. If that happens, good luck finding it again!

Iona comes with one other accessory and that’s a little pink starfish. She was rather obsessed with the squishy little animals in the series and those accessory holding hands work pretty well with it.

And last, but not least, Iona comes with a complex system of parts to replicate her holographic interface with the I-401. In the series, this consisted of three bands of data displays, which encircled her. Here it’s recreated with three translucent plastic strips that are attached to a special arm on the back of the figure stand. It works… sort of. I give Max Factory major credit for trying, but in the end, I had mixed results with this set up. It’s also extremely frustrating to work with and I could never get the data rings positioned just the way I wanted. A cool idea, nonetheless.

Iona is a very nice figure and I’m glad that the Figma line threw some support behind this anime, because I really do enjoy it a lot. At only 12 episodes, It’s a short run, but I’ve probably been through it three or four times. If you want more, there’s also a Manga and a couple of films. Obviously, I would have liked to see more of the Mental Models recreated in figure form, or even some of the crew of the I-401, but if they were only going to do one figure, Iona was the logical choice. She doesn’t come with as much stuff as a lot of my other recent Figma purchases, but at around $35 the price certainly reflects that. If I had one gripe, it would be the choice of costume, but I’m already eyeing some other figures of her, to get that more traditional look.

Jul 2 2016

Figma “Gargantia on the Verderus Planet” Amy by Max Factory

I find it terribly frustrating when I love an anime and there’s so little merchandising connected to it and that’s certainly been the case with Gargantia. There was potential for several characters to get figures, not to mention Ledo’s mech (which, admittedly did get a rather limited and pricey release), but in the end, Amy was really the only breakout star to get the plastic treatment and even there we just got a statue from MegaHouse and today’s featured Figma figure. Wow, try saying that five times fast! And while I would have loved to get Figmas of Ledo or Bellows, I’ll happily take Amy because she remains such a tremendously endearing character.

The packaging here is fairly typical for the Figma line. It’s a simple window box that manages to be pretty compact, despite the wide range of stuff inside. The deco is a lot more conservative when compared to the Sword Art Online figures. It’s not flashy, but it gets the job done and is totally collector friendly so you have somewhere to store all of those extra goodies. The figure and accessories come on one tray with a second tray for Amy’s hang-glider behind it.

Amy looks as adorable as ever and comes donning her little tribal outfit with cut-off top, skimpy dress, sandals, and shoulder wrap. There’s nothing terribly complex about her costume, but they certainly nailed it for this figure. The shoulder wrap is made of soft plastic and the strap that is meant to hold it on is only attached to one side to give it a little more leeway when posing the arms. The paint here is nice and clean and the skin tones are warm and consistent.

In addition to a whole passel of hands, Amy comes with three different portraits. The standard one features a big open-mouth smile, large beautifully printed eyes and perfectly captures the character. The second has her eyes closed and another big grin, this time showing her sparkly whites. The final one has her looking slightly perturbed, which is about as angry as Amy gets. While three portraits are standard for your average Figma, I would have liked something a little more neutral in there, but then again, I wouldn’t swap out any of the ones she came with to get it. Besides, who am I kidding? The standard face is going to stay on this figure most of the time, anyway.

Amy features your standard Figma articulation, which means it’s pretty damn great. The skirt is a little bit more restrictive to the hips than I would like, but you can still get a decent range of motion out of them. In fact, the only thing I really couldn’t get her to do is stick her hands through the shoulder holes in her wrap like she does a few times in the series. If this was a Figuart, they might have included a pair of static arms to swap in for that pose and it would have been cool, but I’m not going to knock off any points for that. Besides, I don’t even give points!

In addition to all the hands and extra faces, Amy comes with her messenger bag and her faithful little buddy, Grace. The bag is cast as a single piece of plastic with some excellent paintwork. It can be slung comfortably over her shoulder, allowing her to make her deliveries to the different ships throughout the flotilla. Grace the squirrel is a remarkable piece of work simply because she is so damn tiny and yet features so much detail. She’s posed with one paw stretched ever so slightly out and her bushy tail up.

And then there’s this beauty! Max Factory could have easily packed in everything we’ve seen so far and Amy would have been a solid release, but nope. They decided to cram a whole hang-glider into that box as well as some extra components to the stand to allow for different display options. The glider itself is composed of three pieces that easily tab into each other and can easily be taken apart. There’s a special clear connector that goes into the middle of the glider to hold it up, and a second connector to plug into Amy’s back and clip onto the arm of the stand, allowing it to support both the figure and glider. It’s clever and the whole thing goes well above and beyond.

Amy comes with some gripping hands that can be wrapped around the bars, but I’m happy enough just using her pair of relaxed hands for it.

I think she looks great posed coming in for a landing, but the extra stand bits make it so you can also get her horizontal and in mid flight. Working with all these connectors and getting the figure posed just right can be rather fiddly, but the addition of this glider takes what was a solid release and dials it up even higher.

It should come as no surprise that I adore this figure. Sure, I would love to see more figures from Gargantia, but if they’re only going to focus on one character, then it might as well be Amy. She’s been on the market for a little while now, but unlike a lot of Figmas, her price has remained ridiculously reasonable. I paid $40 for mine, which would have been a great deal even if it weren’t for the giant hang-glider accessory. I honestly feel like I’m in the minority when it comes to my love for this series, and while it’s a shame it doesn’t get more appreciation, at least it means I was able to get this Figma for pretty cheap!

Jun 18 2016

Figma (FigFix #001) “Kantai Collection” Shimakaze (Half Damage Version) by Max Factory

It’s an exciting (and somewhat delayed) Anime Saturday today, because not only am I checking out a new KanColle figure but also my very first Figma FigFix! FigFix is a relatively new(ish) line, which I believe started in 2014, and the best analogy I can make is that these are sort of to Figmas what Figuarts Zeros are to Figuarts. In other words, non-articulated. But keep in mind, that’s coming from someone who has yet to own a Figuart Zero, so that analogy could be flawed. Anyway, I picked up Shimakaze because she’s a real hoot in the series and right now her actual Figma is netting prices that are a bit too rich for my blood, so I thought this would be a good way to get her into my collection, at least for now.

The package is very similar to that of a regular Figma and distinguished mainly by the brighter colors. You still get a window looking in on a tray with a lot of parts. If it weren’t for the FigFix on the box, I’d be hard pressed to identify this as something different, at least at first glance. Shimakaze is the very first release in this series! Let’s get it open and set her up.

Shimakaze is displayed on a standard Figma stand, which is necessary because her pose has her hovering with legs bent and not able to stand. I really enjoy the fact that Figma went with the “half-damaged” version here, because it still allows room for this and the regular Figma release in any display. Speaking of which, Shimakaze is not only perfectly scaled to display with regular Figmas, but her face is also removable and compatible with the faces of the regular Shimakaze Figma, so if you have the other figure, you can change her expression. Again, I really dig the way they made the two able to interact and compliment each other.

Shimakaze is clad in what’s left of her familiar uniform. Her top has mostly been obliterated leaving behind just enough for a smidgen of modesty. Her low riding skirt shows that one of the straps on her underwear has snapped, and her colorful, candy-striped stockings have holes in them. About the only thing that’s survived intact are her rudder boots and her gloves. As always with Figmas, the paint is bright and clean.

On her back, Shimakaze is armed with her five-tube torpedo launcher, which sets her apart from Fubuki, Mutsuki, and Yuudachi who all wear their torpedoes on her hips. This also makes her attack style rather distinctive and I love the way she drifts to the side and bends forward to unload these babies into the water. The launcher assembly is removable from the figure and the arm for the stand pegs right into it.

The portrait is excellent. She has a hilarious surprised expression as if she still can’t believe she got hit. her detached anchor is sculpted to part of her hair as if its been blasted off. Even her bunny ear hair ribbon is tattered. The skin tones on the figure are smooth and even and she even has a little bit of red in her cheeks showing that she’s embarrassed the enemy scored a hit on her. The neck is the only articulation on this piece, and once again, you can change out the expression if you own the regular Figma of the character, although I think the expression here is perfect.

Of course, you can’t have Shimakaze without her posse of Rensouhou-chan backing her up. These adorable little animated gun mounts come in three different sizes and have some articulation in their heads and guns. The smallest pegs into an arm that curves up from the main stand to allow him to hover just over her shoulder.

The other two have their own stands with ball jointed arms to allow you to customize your display exactly the way you like. Each of these little buggers are also depicted in damaged mode with their guns bent and the look of anguished defeat on their adorable little faces. The crossed band aids on the biggest of them is a wonderful little touch. Of course, these little buggers will make excellent accessories for the regular Shimakaze Figma as well.

I really had no idea what to expect when I ordered this, but in the end it really is exactly what it claims to be. It’s a Figma without the articulation. It sounds like a ridiculous concept, since Figmas are all about the pose-ability, but I’m proof positive that these serve a purpose. Shimakaze’s regular Figma tends to go for around $75-80 these days, whereas I was able to pick up the FigFix for closer to $40. I wouldn’t normally find these non-articulated versions to be acceptable replacements for the regular ones, but it does offer a nice alternative in this case. I haven’t actually featured any of the regular KanColle Figmas here yet, but I have a growing collection of them and at the very least now I can display Shimakaze with them and she’ll do fine until I can track down the regular version.

Feb 3 2016

Figma “Sword Art Online” Asuna by Max Factory

It seems like forever since I last dipped into my stack of Figmas or Figuarts, so I’m remedying that today by opening a figure that is long past due. Even way back in August of last year, when I featured Figma Kirito, I had poor Asuna waiting to be opened and I guess she just got buried by other receivings, and further buried by a lot of unfinished business with Figuarts Sailor Moon. I’ll get to it eventually!!! In this case, however, it’s kind of ironic that it took me so long to opener her, because when I missed out on the original release, I came pretty close to paying an awful lot of money for this figure. Luckily, I procrastinated and like Kirito she got a re-release at a far more reasonable price.

I always love the Figma presentation. It’s a window box that shows the figure and accessories quite nicely. It’s compact, relatively understated and just feels so simple and elegant. The fact that it’s collector friendly is a must, because there are so many accessories and extras to keep track of. You also get shots of the character on the side panels, which is great for easy reference because I keep my Figma boxes lined up on a bookcase shelf. Obviously most of the copy on the box is in Japanese, but you do get a little bit of English. SAO is pretty far up there on my list of favorite anime series, so even though it took me a while to get to her, finally getting this figure on my shelf is a pretty big deal for me.

I loved Asuna in SAO’s first arc, not so much later when they turned her into a damsel in distress and all she had to do was sit in a cage and get terrorized for most of the series. Original Asuna was refreshingly strong and skilled and her Knights of Blood costume is my favorite design in the series even though I’m not sure I can put my finger on exactly why. I guess there’s something about that immaculate white outfit with the striking red and orange trim, and the smattering of cruciform emblems that just looks so damn good. The ensemble is rounded off with some really nice silver paint on her chest and belt. I can’t think of anyone besides Max Factory who could have recreated this outfit so brilliantly in a figure in this scale. The contrast of colors and the various layers make for an absolutely gorgeous figure.

Asuna comes with a total of three portraits, although the amount of variety here is a little deceptive. The figure is boxed with a happy face and the other two are her angry and determined fighting faces. They’re very similar only one has the eyes looking off to the side and the other has a little flushed color in her cheeks. As always, changing these faces is as easy as removing the front hair piece and doing a quick pop and swap. She has four bendy strands of hair that fall down, two in front of her shoulders and two behind.

The rest of her hair cascades down her back on a ball joint and herein lies my one and only nitpick about the figure. The hair has to be angled pretty far back to make room for the stand’s back peg. That’s fine for action poses, but for simple standing poses, it’s not always what I’m going for. Now, in fairness, they did include an adapter piece to help, but it’s still limiting in what it will do. Yes, it’s possible to get Asuna to stand without being attached to the arm and base, but it’s not easy. Between her skirt and all that hair, she tends to be a little back-heavy. But if that’s the worst thing I can come up with, this figure is still doing pretty fine by me.

Of course, being a Figma Asuna comes with a bunch of extra hands. The figure is boxed with a pair of relaxed hands, but you also get a pair of splayed hands, fists, regular sword holding hands, and a pair of angled sword holding hands for thrusting. The hands swap out really easily, but I had to be extra careful not to lose the tiny cuffs that just float between the arm and hand. Once you take the hands off, there’s nothing holding them on.

And speaking of swords, Asuna comes with two. You get Lambent Light in its red scabbard and what I assume is Wind Fleuret, although the hilt doesn’t exactly match what I remember seeing in the anime. Then again, it’s been a while. As with Kirito, these blades are extremely fragile, probably more so in this case, but they look great and fit into the scabbards well enough so that they aren’t difficult to remove. The scabbards peg into a keyhole on the side of her skirt. It’s really hard to decide which of the blades I like more on the figure. Chances are I’ll go with Lambent Light just because the scabbard adds a little extra pop to the color scheme.

Lastly, you get an effect part, which is much better than the cumbersome ones that came with Kirito. Yeah, I’m not generally a huge fan of effect parts, but I could actually see myself swapping this one out on display every now and again, whereas Kirito’s just stay in the box.

The articulation here is exactly what I’ve come to expect from Figmas and is obviously excellent. The joints are all solid and have a great range of motion. The skirt does impede her lower half a little more in some cases, but there are few poses that I tried to do that I couldn’t achieve. And with the extra hands and expressions, the sky really is the limit. New Figmas reside on my desk for a while so that I can keep picking them up and playing with them and Asuna will be no different.

As I mentioned earlier, I came damn close to paying over $100 for Asuna, but thankfully Max Factory re-issued her and I was able to get her for half that, and I’m pretty sure she’s still readily available at a good price. I can’t say enough how much I adore this figure and having her on the shelf just makes me want to see Figma roll out some more SAO loving. While I’m not as big a fan of the Gun Gale arc, a re-issue of Sinon would be most welcome and I’m still on the fence over whether or not to pick up that version of Kirito. The Alfheim version of Asuna will likely be my next target, and I should would enjoy it if they released a Leafa.

Aug 14 2015

Figma “Sword Art Online” Kirito by Max Factory

Where does the time go? It seems like Anime Import Week just started and here we are on the last day. Well, I started this week with a look at a Sword Art Online statue and now I’m dipping into that wonderful anime again to end the week with a look at Kirito from the Figma action figure line. This is Kirito from the first story arc and also my favorite look for the character.

We saw the standard Figma packaging yesterday with Muv Luv’s Yui Takamura and this is pretty much the same thing. It’s a great little package that doesn’t waste a lot of space. You get a sizeable window to see the figure inside and the side panel shows the figure, which is great if you’re like me and store these boxes lined up on a bookshelf. Of course, everything is collector friendly, and they even provide a custom Figma Ziploc baggie to keep your extra bits in if you aren’t going to save the box. In addition to the figure, the box contains a sprue with three extra pairs of hands, two additional portraits, two swords and scabbards, two connection pieces to attach the swords to the back, a figure stand, and a folded instruction sheet.

IT’S A BEATER!!! Yes, Kirito features his avatar’s trademark costume, which is nearly all black with some gray trim. He has his long duster, which is hinged at the back so the flaps can easily give way for those more extreme poses. It also allows the coat to be billowed out or worn closer to the legs. The straps all look good and the paint is sharp and even with no flubs that I can see. While the figure isn’t over encumbered with detail, it matches the character’s design perfectly.

There are three swappable portraits: A standard face, an angry attack face, and a slightly sad face. If you have any experience with a Figma or Figuart then changing the faces out should be readily familiar. You just remove the front of the hair piece, remove the face, slap the new one on and replace the hair. My only gripe here is I wish they would have included a more serious face instead of the sad face. But in the end, he’s probably going to spend most of his life on the shelf in mid attack, so I’ll probably go with the attack face most of the time anyway.

Naturally, Kirito comes with his two swords, Elucidator and Dark Repulser, and both swords come with a functional scabbard. There’s also two connection pieces to wear the sword on the back. One is designed to just hold Elucidator and it angles it off over his shoulder for easy access.

Despite being the weaker of the two swords, Elucidator is still my favorite. I just really dig the design where the blade meets the hilt and the darker coloring on the face of the blade. The blade features a stiff plastic blade, so no worries about warping, and it looks great in his hand. The super thin connection at the top of the hilt does worry me though. It doesn’t look like it would take much to snap it, and I’m not about to try the pose on the back of the package that has him holding it while it’s still in the scabbard.

The other connection piece allows Kirito to wear both swords crisscrossed on his back.

And while Elucidator is my clear favorite, I don’t want to take anything away from Dark Repulser, because it too is a beautiful piece of weaponry. The blue plastic they used for the blade gives it an almost ethereal glow and there’s some particularly nice detail work on the crossguard.

Kirito also comes with a couple of effect parts for the swords that fit over the blades and are supposed to make them look like they are in mid swing. Effect parts are usually hit or miss with me, but I have to say I think these are especially awful. They fit the blades well, but I don’t think they look all that great and they’re so damn heavy, it’s hard to keep Kirito’s arm raised with them attached. The one for Dark Repulser is the better of the two, just because it matches the color of the blade. Points for trying, but I can’t imagine these will ever come out of the package again.

The stand is exactly the same as the one included with every other Figma I’ve featured. It’s a simple clear base with a support arm that pegs into the base and into the back of the figure. There are three hinges, and overall it gets the job done, but the bases on these always looked and felt rather flimsy to me.

Kirito was one of those characters that I just had to have on my shelf, and I’ve got to say this is a fantastic figure. Part of the problem with getting into an anime series late is when I like it and I want to buy figures or statues, they’re only available at high prices through secondary sellers. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case here. Kirito set me back about $45, which isn’t a bad deal for a Figma these days. I’m pretty sure this is the re-issue figure as the original was going for quite a lot of money. As long as it’s an authentic product from Max Factory, I don’t care much about primary or secondary releases, I’m just glad to get him without having to spend a lot. Similarly, I recently picked up the re-release of Asuna, so you can expect a Feature on her to turn up here in the next couple of weeks.

Aug 13 2015

Figma “Muv-Luv Alternative Total Eclipse” Yui Takamura by Max Factory

Anime Import Week is entering its final phase as I’m finishing it off with two Figmas from two anime series for which I have a lot of affection. Today’s, however, is one that inexplicably none of my anime-watching friends (OK, all three of them) have ever seen and that is the excellent Muv-Luv Alternative Total Eclipse. Previously, I’ve looked at three pieces of merch from this series in the form of Kotobukiya’s 1/8 Scale Statues of Yui Takamura, Inia Sestina, and Cryska Barchenowa. Today I’m checking out Figma’s version of Yui.

The packaging is pretty standard stuff, especially if you have a few Figmas in your collection. You get a window box that offers a good look at the figure and I love how the side panel of the box displays artwork of the figure for easy reference, because I tend to keep these lined up on a bookshelf. As far as packages go, it’s simple, attractive, functional, and collector friendly, so what more could you want?

Inside the box you get the figure, two additional portriats, two swords (one in scabbard and one out), a sprue of three additional pairs of hands, a figure stand, instruction sheet, and the ubiquitious Figma Ziploc bag for the extra parts.

Yui comes clad in her Type-00 Fortified Pilot Suit, which is recreated here in splendid detail. It’s a design that manages to preserve her shapely curves and yet adds on some more angular armor bits in strategic places, like her boots, wrists, and shoulders. Every part of the suit’s detail, including the panel lines, are part of the sculpt and the mustard, black, and purple paint is beautifully applied with just the right amount of sheen. The only quality issue I can see on my figure is a little nick to the paint on her left knee.This is easily my favorite, and arguably the most distinctive, TSF pilot suit in the series, and this figure nails the look perfectly.

Yui’s portraits include a somewhat passive face, a slightly sad face, and a shouty face, all of which include the sculpted chin and cheek guards from her suit. The hair is cast in a very soft plastic, which is very helpful since there’s a lot of it and some of it cascades down the front of her shoulders in two strands. It still makes it a little difficult to get a full range of motion out of her neck articulation, but I’d like to imagine the suit would have had some restrictive tendencies as well.

The hands include a pair of fists, a pair of relaxed hands, and two pairs designed for holding the sword, one rather tightly and another angling it.

Lastly, we have the two versions of the sword. The unsheathed version features a silver blade, although no painted hamon line, and a nicely detailed grim and tsuba. The version in the scabbard has the option to pull out the hilt piece if you want her holding both the loose sword and the scabbard, which is a great little touch. The scabbard doesn’t attach anywhere to the figure, but then I don’t remember her ever actually wearing it, so I’m going to say that’s accurate.

The figure stand is typical Figma fare. It’s functional, but I tend to find these stands to feel rather cheap, particularly in the base. I’ll also note here that the peg that secures into the back is not a good fit and I really have to twist it and apply a lot of force to get it in far enough to support the figure. In this regard, I tend to prefer the quality and design of Figuarts stands over these.

I’ve had my eye on this figure for a while now and only recently pulled the trigger because she turned up at a great price on Amazon, which put her at under $40. Yeah, I already have Koto’s superb statue of her, but she’s a great character with a great design, and ultimately I decided that I needed her in poseable figure form as well. I don’t believe that Inia ever got the Figma treatment, but Cryska did, and I’m certainly satisfied enough with this figure that I can easily see myself picking her up at some point down the line.

Apr 7 2015

Figma “Legend of Zelda” Link (Skyward Sword) by Max Factory

Some time ago I got my first Figma figure and I was suitably impressed. I decided why not go for another and that leads me to today’s feature! I actually had Link pre-ordered back when he was first revealed but some budgeting cuts caused me to drop it. I always planned to get him later, but between the figure’s insane popularity and some importing issues he sold out fast and became extremely pricey on the second hand market causing me to write him off. Fast forward to now and he’s had a second release and is readily available at a fantastic price so it was only natural that I would avail myself of a second chance to add him to my collection. Better late than never!

Link comes in a colorful window box, which is a hell of a lot more compact than the one used for my Figam Mikasa Ackerman. Of course, Link’s box doesn’t have an entire set of Omni Directional Gear in there, so that’s understandable. The box features plenty of great shots of the character showing off all his display options and the window lets you see all the goodies quite clearly. Otherwise, there’s nothing terribly exciting about the package. Most of the box is lettered in Japanese, but there’s just enough English there to point out that this is Link from Skyward Sword. I’ll confess I haven’t played that one. In fact, the last Zelda game that I played through to completion was probably on the N64. Try not to take that as blasphemy or to diminish my love of Link. He’s just about as iconic as anything else from my childhood and the look of this figure is versatile enough to work perfectly for me even as a Zelda fan that has lost his way a long, long time ago. Inside the box, you get the figure, a swap-out yelling face and extra bangs, the Master Sword and Shield, a scabbard, a sprue with four extra pairs of hands, a figure stand, a sword-swooshing effect part, and a ziploc-style bag to hold all the accessories.

Ocarina of Time may have been the last serious time I spent with Link and a controller, but this figure represents my favorite look for the character. Yup, Link has to be one of the few cases where I prefer what the character evolved into over the nostalgia from my past. In fact, just looking at it makes me want to finally tear the cellophane off my copy of Skyward Sword and give it a play. This is a more mature Link than what I’m used to, but it doesn’t jump the shark and become too extreme and over-the-top. Nope, this Link is just right and the figure looks absolutely amazing. The green tunic is soft plastic and layered onto the figure, with the upper arms sculpted to look like sleeves. The pliable plastic below his belt gives the legs a lot of room to move. The bottom part of his shoulder rig is part of the torso sculpt, but the strap that actually goes over his shoulder is a seperate piece. He’s got a couple of pouches attached to the back of his belt and all the joints are fairly well concealed for this type of figure. There are two peg holes in his back, one for the stand and one for his scabbard.

Link’s head sculpt is right on the money. He’s still got a very youthful and anime-stylized look, but it toes that line of being more mature than the Link I remember from my youth. The paintwork on his eyes and mouth is immaculate and the fact that the hair is sculpted as a separate piece gives the portrait a lot of depth. There’s even a swivel cut in his cap, which was a very pleasant surprise. The alternate portrait is applied simply by pulling off the face and bangs (always creepy!) and plugging in the new pieces. The differences between the hair pieces is rather subtle to me, but the alternate face is a great feature to have for those action poses.

Link features a fantastic level of articulation which comes from packing rotating hinges and swivels in his arms and legs. You also get generous ball joints in his torso and neck, and even hinges in the toes of his boots.

HANDS! It wouldn’t be a Figma figure without tons of hands. Link comes with his pair of fists attached. You also get a pair of hands with splayed fingers, a pair of relaxed hands, a pair of of hands designed for holding the grip on the Master Sword and Shield, and a pair of hands designed to hold the Master Sword out at an angle. I love the sprue that Figma uses to hold the extra hands and I can’t believe that S.H. Figuarts hasn’t jumped on board with something similar. It’s a great system.

The Master Sword and scabbard are exquisitely reproduced both in sculpt and paintwork. From the subtle painted cross straps on the hilt to the blue hue of the blade and the etched Tri-Force near the hilt, this sword is a tiny little work of art only to be outdone by the ornate beauty of the scabbard. The gold paint used for the fixtures on the scabbard is sumptuous as is the glossy blue used for the sword’s hilt. The sword fits snugly into the scabbard and the pommel pulls off the end of the hilt to help get it into Link’s hand without damaging it. The scabbard features a peg so Link can wear it on his back.

Of course The Master Shield is no slouch either. It features a sculpted reinforced rim, a raised Tri-Force and some immaculate paintwork. The back of the shield features a wrist strap and a hand grip, both of which are pegged into place and can be removed to help get Link to brandish the shield or to have him wear it on his back in conjunction with the sword.

The effect part slides over the sword blade and is made of translucent blue plastic to simulate the swooshing blade. Effect parts… I can either take them or leave them. This one works pretty well and looks good, but I still doubt it’ll spend much time out of the box. And last, but not least, you get the standard Figma stand with the triple articulated arm that pegs into his back and works beautifully whether Link is just standing or jumping into action.

At about $40, this figure was a deal and a half, especially since it was so prohibitively expensive when it was first released. I’m so thrilled that he was eventually made available at a good price and put into wide circulation. This is without a doubt the definitive Link I need in my collection, unless I find a suitcase of cash on the street, in which case I would probably spring for the RAH version as well. This figure looks absolutely amazing and is so hard to put down once I get started fiddling about with him. Sure, you could argue that Figma could have invested more in the accessories to make him more of an all-inclusive Link. They could have at least given him some breakable pottery! But, honestly, with the Master Sword and Shield included, and so beautifully executed, what’s here still feels like a complete package to me.

Nov 19 2014

Figma “Attack on Titan” Mikasa Ackerman by Max Factory

I’ve been spending a lot of time unwinding after work in front of good old Crunchyroll and getting caught up on some anime. Granted, for every five series I start, I often only stick with maybe two, but Attack on Titan was certainly one of the keepers. Oddly enough what really made this show stick for me wasn’t the bizarre premise or the well fleshed out characters. Nope, it was that bitchin Omni Directional Mobility Gear. There’s something about that rig that is just so ridiculously anime and so brilliantly steampunk that I track from episode to episode waiting to see it showcased again. Damn, it looks so cool in action! Of course it wasn’t long into the show that I realized I had to have some plastic collectibles from this series on my shelf and while the obvious choice was Kotobukiya’s offerings, I actually took this opportunity to pick up my first Figma figure. I started with Mikasa Ackerman because, well she’s just a total badass.

After the compact boxes of S.H. Figuarts, I was pretty surprised at how big this package is. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a huge box, but it’s sizable enough to display the figure with all her gear spread out beside her in the plastic tray. The box won’t win any awards for flashy art design as it’s all very shockingly utilitarian. The front uses a window to let you see what you’re getting but until you get it all together it just looks like a figure with a bunch of parts. The side panels and back of the box, however, do show the figure in various action shots, which should be more than enough to make anyone want to buy it. In fact, there’s no actual character art from the anime anywhere to be found.

As one would expect, the box is totally collector friendly so you have somewhere to store all those extra bits and bobs when you’re not using them. And holy crap, does this figure come with a lot of stuff, which is especially impressive when you consider that the Omni Directional rig is mostly comprised of one complex ensemble of parts and cables. Not only is all her stuff spread out in one tray, but there’s another tray nested beneath it.

The basic figure is a fantastic representation of Mikasa in full uniform, and boy do I love the design of AoT’s military uniforms. They’re very evocative of the Classic Battlestar Galactica look to me and all the details are recreated here through a very solid sculpt. The half-jacket, skirt, and scarf are all cast in soft plastic and layered over the rest of the sculpted uniform. The various belts and buckles are all sculpted on and carefully painted. The emblem of the Survey Corps is printed neatly on her shoulders, back, and left breast pocket. She also comes with her billowing green cloak, which is attached to the figure simply by popping off the head and sitting it around her neck. As long as we’re on the subject of popping off Mikasa’s head, you can also remove her scarf and substitute it for a shirt collar piece. They really thought of everything!

The head sculpt is a fine likeness for the character on screen. Mikasa is pretty, but not drop dead gorgeous and that’s reflected perfectly here. In fact, let me point out here that it’s rather refreshing to get a female anime figure that isn’t all skin and wanking material… says the guy with shelves full of Bishoujo statues. No, I’m serious! Anyway, Mikasa comes packaged with a fairly neutral face, which you can swap out for her slightly angrier face or her, “I’m going to carve a hunk of meat out of the back of your neck!” face. Face swapping is very similar to the Figuarts system and is as easy as pulling off the front of the hair. Speaking of which, I really love how they sculpted her ears even though they are almost entirely covered by the sculpted hair. It adds a lot of credibility to the portrait.

In addition to the extra faces, you also get an additional four pairs of hands. I love the fact that they come on a reusable hand sprue and not just in a tray. The figure comes wearing a pair of fists, but you also get relaxed hands, hands with the fingers splayed out, and hands designed to hold the sword hilts. The last pair is designed for holding something as well, but since they don’t have the separate fingers for the hilt guards, I’m not entirely sure why I need them. You also get an official Figma zip-lock bag to hold all the parts if for some reason you don’t want to keep the box.

As Mikasa is indeed my first Figma, allow me a moment to gush about how much I love the articulation. It’s so simple and yet so fun. I thought the Figuarts articulation was great, and to be fair I still think it is, but the jointing feels so much more solid on this figure. You get fully realized rotating hinges in the shoulders, elbows, wrists, knees, and ankles. The hips are ball jointed and there are also ball joints in the torso and neck and hinges in the feet. And even with all that poseability the figure is rock solid and beautifully balanced. I could get used to this! I’m anxious to get her kitted out with her gear, but before I do, let’s take a quick look at the stand, which is a requirement for getting the most out of displaying her with her gear.

Yes, the stand is the only thing in the box that doesn’t wow me. The base feels rather flimsy and light. The stand includes a clear arm hinged in three places with a peg that plugs into the upper hole on Mikasa’s back. There’s also a clear plug to stick in there if you want to display the figure without the stand. While the whole assembly may not feel all that substantial, I’ll give credit where it’s due because as we’ll soon see it is perfectly capable of holding the figure in all sorts of airborne poses.

As great as the figure itself is, I’m totally blown away by the way Max Factory managed to recreate the Omni Directional Mobility Gear. It’s paintstakingly recreated in one elaborate harness of steampunk ingenuity and possibly one of my all time favorite action figure accessories. The belt pegs into the lower hole on the figure’s back and the two scabbards-slash-gas canisters peg into the thighs with the holes for the grapples positioned just above the hips and the two control hilts pegging into the ends of the wires for her to hold in her hands. The whole thing is just superb and fits the figure beautifully. The scabbards are stocked with permanent replacement blades, but naturally you get a pair of blades to peg into the control hilts as well.

A long effect part simulating the propulsion trail from the expelled gas canister plugs into the valve on the top of the belt and into the peg in the stand. It can be a little tricky to balance the figure right, but you can sure get some great poses using this piece.

In fact, once I had Mikasa all kitted out with her Mobility Gear, I became totally enthralled with playing around with her. The combination of her poseability and the intricate recreation of her gear kept a smile on my face for at least an hour. Most of the time I get these figures for display pieces and after a little inspection and some time under the studio lights, they go onto the shelf to be admired in passing. Mikasa, on the other hand, she’s just impossible to put down.

But as much fun as it is posing Mikasa zipping along the rooftops and slashing at giants with her swords, the display options don’t end there. Nope, you also get two grapple lines an effect parts simulating the expelled gas from their firing points. Damn, if that effect isn’t well done! You also get some cord and clear plastic hooks, which I presume are so you can hang the figure in mid flight? I’m not sure. The instructions weren’t all that clear to me, and I didn’t want to mess around with it.

Holy crap, is this an amazing figure. Max Factory has manage to not only capture the character splendidly, but this figure captures just about everything that is cool about the show. There aren’t likely to be any Titans forthcoming, but then I could always strip down to a loin cloth and try to bite Mikasa’s head off. Yeah… I won’t do that. Aaaaaanyway… these folks sure went all out with every little detail and created a figure that not only looks incredible, but manages to be an absolute blast to play with. Even at $55 I think she was a pretty solid deal. The quality and execution on display here is top notch across the board. I was originally thinking that one Attack on Titans figure would be enough, after all, they all wear the same uniform and gear. Getting different characters is basically buying variants of the same figure. But now that I have Mikasa on the shelf, I may need to grab a few more figures for my Survey Corps. The variety of display options alone would make having multiple characters in this line worthwhile.

FigureFan Zero

Action Figure Reviews, Toys & Collectibles…

Tag Archives: figma

Figma (FigFix #006) “Kantai Collection” Mutsu (Half Damage Version) by Max Factory

Figma “Arpeggio of the Blue Steel” Iona by Max Factory

Figma “Gargantia on the Verderus Planet” Amy by Max Factory

Figma (FigFix #001) “Kantai Collection” Shimakaze (Half Damage Version) by Max Factory

Figma “Sword Art Online” Asuna by Max Factory

Figma “Sword Art Online” Kirito by Max Factory

Figma “Muv-Luv Alternative Total Eclipse” Yui Takamura by Max Factory

Figma “Legend of Zelda” Link (Skyward Sword) by Max Factory

Figma “Attack on Titan” Mikasa Ackerman by Max Factory

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