Sep 22 2015

Tekken: Nina Williams Bishoujo Statue by Kotobukiya

Collecting Koto’s Bishoujo statues these days is like trying to keep your head above water. The releases are coming fast and furious and if you don’t keep up you’ll die in a watery grave. Actually, no you’ll just have to pay a lot more for what you missed out on through the secondary market, because most of these statues, particularly in the Tekken series, shoot up in price like crazy as soon as they’re discontinued. Yes, sadly, I have to face facts that there’s at least one Tekken gal that will probably never land on my shelves for this very reason, (I’m looking at you, Alisa Boscono!) and I’ll probably eventually lay down the $80 or so bucks that Jun Kazama is going for these days. I didn’t want that to happen with Nina Williams, because she’s been my gal ever since I first played the original Tekken.

Nina comes in a rather compact window box. Don’t forget the Tekken pieces are scaled slightly smaller than Koto’s other Bishoujo lines. The box is black, features the Tekken Tag Torunament 2 logo and some great shots of the artwork by Shunya Yamashita, which inspired this piece. The back panel has some shots of the statue, a little blurb about Nina and a teaser image for the next release, which just so happens to be Nina’s sister, Anna. Inside the box, Nina is wrapped in plastic and secured between two clear plastic trays. She comes attached to her base and all ready for display, but I found it easier to remove the base to get all that plastic off of her. Thus far all, or at least most, of these statues have been from characters introduced later in the series, but Nina’s been around as long as the franchise has and even starred in her own game on the PlayStation 2, Death by Degrees, which shipped with a Tekken 5 Demo Disk. This gal has done it all!

And here she is in all her glory. she’s caught turning around and winding up for a lethal side kick. Koto loves showing off the balance on these pieces with the girls often posing on only one leg and these are often my favorites. This one in particular works really well from multiple angles, either with Nina looking straight out from the display shelf, or kicking off to the side.

In keeping with the theme of this series, Koto went for Nina’s modern look. I believe she first wore this outfit in Tekken 5 and she’s been donning this as her Player 1 outfit ever since. She’s wearing a two-piece purple camo tactical suit (because… video games!), which allows her to show off a little mid-riff, with the top belted to her bottom in the front and back. The pants include integral high-heeled boots, wrapped with belts, silver reinforced plates on the interior of her legs, armored knee-pads, and a sheathed combat knife strapped to her right thigh. Her top is a bevy of straps and belts with long sleeves, thick gloves, and bare shoulders.

Nina’s portrait is a thing of beauty. She wears a sly smile on her perfectly painted lips with her pretty eyes glancing off to the side. Somebody’s about to get a whooping! Her blonde hair is cinched in a ponytail with strands framing her face and blowing every which way. Interesingtly, Koto seems to be shying away from the transparent hair effect in some of their current pieces. I’ve always been a fan of that look, but I can’t say as I really miss it here.

The coloring on this piece is overall rather soft and muted, even with the crazy purple camo pattern on her tactical suit. Even the metallic silver used on her legs isn’t the super shiny stuff that Koto likes to use. You do get some high gloss purple on the insides of her legs near the knees, the back of her collar, and some more used on the soles of her boots. The paint is immaculate with plenty of silver used on the buckles and rivets holding her straps together. As always the skin tones are perfect.

The base consists of the simple clear disk we’ve been seeing on all the Tekken pieces. While I find these are tough to keep free of fingerprints, I appreciate the economy of space they present. As always, you get a number of graphical inlays that you can put inside the base to customize your statue. I do believe I’ll end up going with the character art.

I have to admit, when I started collecting the Tekken Bishoujos way back in 2012, I never imagined Koto would keep it going this long. What’s even more impressive is that the line ran for three whole years before releasing a primary character like Nina Williams. That right there was probably a sign that they were in it for the long haul. I grabbed this statue for the ridiculous low price of $45, which is practically unheard of these days, but even at the full retail of around $60ish, I think she’s well worth the money.

Aug 29 2015

DC Comics: Batwoman Bishoujo Statue by Kotobukiya

What time is it? Time for more Bishoujo of course! With Koto now running Street Fighter, Tekken, Marvel, and DC lines of these wonderful statues it’s getting harder and harder for me to keep up. And in the world of Bishoujo statues if you don’t keep up, you’re likely going to be paying for it later when you’re hunting down discontinued pieces. To that end, today I’m checking out Batwoman, a character that I have very little history with but simply couldn’t resist having on my Bishoujo shelf once I saw the preview images. Besides, it’s hard to resist a red head in a tight leather bodysuit, even if she does play for the other team.

As we’ve seen here many times before, the comic inspired statues come in white window boxes chock full of colorful artwork by Shunya Yamashita along with some pictures of the statue itself. The boxes sizes vary based on the pose of the statue inside, but in this case we get a pretty big box to incorporate this one’s bold stance. Batwoman is nestled between two clear plastic trays and everything is totally collector friendly. which is why I quite literally have a closet full of Bishoujo boxes. There’s no assembly required as Batwoman comes permanently attached to her base and all ready for display.

The back panel of the box has a blurb about Batwoman and like I said, I don’t encounter her a lot in my funnybook reading adventures. The last time was probably in the 52 run back in 2006 and before that you’d have to go all the way back to the early 80s when I was reading a lot of comics from the 70’s and that was a different version of the character altogether. And not to upstage Ms. Kane, but Koto went and put a teaser image for the next Bishoujo and it is indeed Zatanna. I’ve been waiting for her to get the Bishoujo treatment for a long while and she is easily my most anticipated statue right now. Sorry, Kate, back to you now.

If there’s ever been a fine example of me not having to be too into a character to enjoy a statue, this is it because this piece is drop dead gorgeous. I mean, y’all know that this line can practically do no wrong by me, but I was still taken aback by just how beautiful this statue turned out. There’s a lot of things going on here to gush about, but I’m going to go with what strikes me first and that’s the colors. Granted, there’s precious little diversity here, just a black body suit and crimson accents, but the black and the crimson go together so indescribably well. It’s like my eyes are having sex right now. But not with each other. Because that would be creepy.

The entirety of Kate’s bodysuit features a high gloss “new car” finish with a slightly less lustrous finish used for the red boots, gauntlets, belt and bat symbol. The cape switches things up with a matte black finish for the outside and a slightly more glossy crimson finish for the interior. I used to think the black and gold of Batgirl’s costume was the snazziest thing I’ve ever seen, but Ms. Kane here trumps it easily and a lot of that is due to Koto choosing just the perfect shade of crimson and the right balance of matte and gloss for this piece. Have I said it’s gorgeous yet? It’s gorgeous! I also love how Koto just busted out the silver paint for those two tiny shoulder clasps on the cape.

Of course, the pose is quite spectacular too. Batwoman has her legs in a wide stance with her weight tossed to her left hip, her head cocked to the left while regarding her open palm. Meanwhile she swooshes her cape around her with her right hand. Koto has done some remarkable things with capes in this line before, but holy hell is this great. It adds a lot of energy and excitement to what is otherwise predominantly a cheesecake pose. And that’s what I call great composition! It also doesn’t hurt that she’s moving it out of the way so we can get a clear look at her hinder. Mmm… Bat Hinder…

And that brings us to the portrait and to me this one is all about the hair and the lips. Kate’s lush red hair blows behind her forming some perfect little curls and with one wave of strands passing under her chin. The angular mask with the whited out eyes looks great and her tiny lips are just perfect.

Ah, but the fine folks at Koto also included a bonus unmasked portrait via a swappable head. The optional head features some sharp paint for the lovely emerald eyes and red lips and she’s sans wig and sporting her shorter, but still red, hair. This is killing me, because I think this head looks great on the statue, but I’m still going to have to go with the masked head most of the time and it’s a shame to relegate such a fine portrait to the box. Sometimes options are painful.

As always, the Bishoujo line keeps me guessing when it comes to the base designs. You literally never know what you’re going to get. In this case we get a simple oval base painted metallic crimson and with “Batwoman” etched into it. I can only remember one other time where Koto included the character name on the base of one of their character statues and that was Powergirl. Either way, I like it a lot.

Batwoman is another superb addition to this line and I’m actually surprised by how she’s shot straight up to the top of my favorites list. Maybe not the tippy top, but she’s definitely up there among the winners circle and with 26 of these on my shelf, that’s no small feat. I was able to grab her for around $55, which is a little under retail and right in that sweet spot where I think I’m getting an incredible value. With several new Bishoujo pieces out there right now for me to pick up, I was considering setting Ms. Kane as a low priority, but now that I have her in hand I’m certainly glad I didn’t.

Aug 18 2015

Marvel: Jubilee Bishoujo Statue by Kotobukiya

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.

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.

Aug 12 2015

Armor Girls Project: Mobile Suit Girl Wing Gundam (EW Version) by Bandai Tamashii Nations

“Mobile Suit Meets Girl!” That pithy little catch phrase on the package pretty much sums up the topic of today’s Feature. Armor Girl Project is what you get when you take a cute anime style gal and fit her with armor stylized after the iconic Mobile Suits of Gundam fame. Or in this case, it’s when you take a roughly Figuarts-style figure and bundle it with a dozen or so pieces of armor. It’s an interesting concept that I probably never would have experienced if I hadn’t stumbled upon an online retailer unloading a couple of these sets for half off. Bandai produced several of these sets and the one we’re looking at today is the Wing Gundam Endless Waltz Version.

I love the packaging because it’s so damn busy! I mean it’s a veritable visual explosion. The front shows a great picture of the figure all armored up and has a number of hexagonal windows giving you a peak at what’s inside. Flip the box over and you get a little taste of what you’re in for. Holy shit, I can’t wait!

Inside the box you get a multi-layered clear plastic tray with the figure surrounded by all those armor parts, weapons, extra hands, extra head, a base with a multi hinged stand, and a folded instruction sheet. Let’s start off with a look at the basic figure…

The figure definitely has a Figuarts feel to it only not quite as refined. She’s wearing what reminds me of a typical plugsuit-type outfit that a lot of these young gals piloting mechs seem to wear these days. The figure features some nice paintwork and detailing, and is quite solid with stiff joints and the ability to stand beautifully on her own. The head sculpt is typical cutesy fare with purple hair and a cowlick blowing up on the top of her head. While there are two heads included (one armored up and one regular), you can use either portrait with either head. I tend to go with the happier one for the base figure and keep the other portrait in the armored up head. The face and hair swap is handled much the same way as any Figuarts or Figma figure, although I’m not crazy about the way the head uses an angled peg to secure it as it leads to some floppy head syndrome.

The figure definitely goes for a more cutesy look than overly sexualized. I realize the two things can be synonymous when it comes to Japanese figures, but not so much in this case. The figure includes some slots and sockets required to attach the armor pieces, but there’s nothing there that’s so unsightly that it wrecks the aesthetics should you want to display her on her own. But what’s the point of that, eh? Let’s get her armored up. We’ll start with the feet and work our way up…

The feet un-peg and are replaced with the booted mech-style feet. The lower leg armor consists of a front piece that pegs on, a back sleeve that slides onto the leg and a rather complex assembly that pegs on the back and wraps around. It includes three ball jointed armor plates, that I like to think are intended as some kind of air brakes for when she’s flying. These leg assemblies look amazingly complex on the figure and while the plates have a habit of popping off the ball joints from time to time, they are quite well engineered. Next comes the belt assembly…

This assembly pegs into the back of her waist and wraps around to the front. These plates are all either hinged or ball jointed to allow for a decent amount of articulation in the hips. It’s a solid fit and works really well. And that brings us to the arms…

These are the only pieces in the set that I have an issue with. You un-peg the hands and slide them on and they’re just supposed to stay in place based on a snug fit as you push them up the arm. They work OK, but they tend to slide down when I’m handling the figure and cause some other issues with the weapons, which I’ll get to in a bit. The blade pieces are removable and the longer blades angled back toward the elbows are hinged. I should point out that this figure comes with a lot more hands then I’m bothering with. I’m settling for a fist on her left arm and a weapon holding hand on her right. Next comes the chest harness and shoulders…

This assembly pegs into her back and connects around her front with a ball joint. The shoulders than hinge forward and rest in place. Because they levitate over the actual shoulders, they don’t inhibit arm movement at all, although I do find myself having to re-position them a lot when posing her. Now it’s time to swap heads…

The alternate head features the iconic forehead crest and additional side pieces to drive the Mobile Suit homage home. Again, I prefer to use the more somber face for the armored up version, but you can swap out either one that suits your fancy. I wish the eyes were facing forward, as both faces have them looking off to the side and it can make getting the desired look when posing them a bit awkward. With the armored head attached, we’re just about done. The only thing left to do is attach the wings…

The wing assembly pegs in like a backpack with a “T” shaped tab and a hole in the back to accommodate the arm for the stand, and here’s where the stand really comes into play because the wings can make her a little back heavy and difficult to stand. They’re also absolutely magnificent and with them finally attached I can’t help but be in awe of how beautiful this figure looks. The iconic white, red, blue, and yellow coloring is so crisp and gorgeous and it’s made all the more spectacular from knowing I built this up from the base figure. The impressive wing assembly features hinges to allow them to be angled back and each individual wing plate is also hinged so that you can spread them out into a formidable plumage of cutesy mechanized death. And speaking of death, let’s talk weapons…

The figure includes the Buster Rifle and Shield. The shield attaches via a swivel arm that tabs into the forearm armor and it works fairly well. This piece adds some more brilliant red to the already fabulous color scheme and there’s some crisp writing tampo’d onto it.

The Buster Rifle can be a bitch to get on. It attaches in two places, with the grip going into the figure’s hand and the stock tabbing into the top of the arm armor. I’ve found it best to un-peg the hand, wrap it around the grip, then re-peg it and tab the stock. The real pain is getting the hand to peg back in again, but once it’s in it stays put pretty well. Before wrapping it up, let’s take a look at the stand and one extra weapon accessory…

The base is a giant white hexagon with three sockets to accommodate stand arms, although the set only comes with one. It’s a clear plastic piece with hinges at the base, midway up and at the point where it pegs into the figure. The middle hinge can be a little weak, but the top and bottom are more than enough to support the figure when she’s all armored up. As for the extra weapon, it’s a Beam Saber, which is a fun accessory for the base figure to wield.

These sets generally run in the $50-60 range and while they’ve been out of production for a little bit, they still seem to be plentiful on various online retailers. I picked up mine on clearance for $25 and I couldn’t be happier. I’ve had this box lying around for months and it’s crazy to me that it took this long for me to sit down and put it together, especially when the end result is such an awe inspiring display piece. I mean, I look at this thing and all I can say is… Wow! The coloring is just so beautiful and the mix of curvy girl and angular armor works splendidly. I have one more of these sets to build, which is the Custom Angelic Version, and I’m going to try not to wait so long to get to it.

Aug 11 2015

S.H. Figuarts: Sailor Uranus by Bandai Tamashii Nations

Japanese Import Week continues and it’s time to put another notch in my tiara with Sailor Uranus. Yes, I have a tiara and yes, I put notches in it every time I get a new one of these gals! Uranus has been sitting on “To Do” stack for very long time now, so let’s go ahead and give her her due.

After featuring six figures in this series, the packaging should be readily familiar. It’s a colorful and elegantly compact window box that shows off the figure and features a lot of photos of her in action. Most of the copy on the box is in Japanese, but there’s just enough English to keep us western collectors from being too confused. As always, the box is collector friendly and it helps to have somewhere to put all the extra little bits and bobs. I should note that like Neptune, I have very little familiarity with this character as I never had access to the later episodes of the anime when Uranus finally made her appearance. What little I do know comes from reading about the series. One of these days I’ll have to finish it.

Despite knowing so little about the character, I have to say that next to Sailor Mercury, Uranus may be my favorite figure in this series so far. No, it’s not that her outfit is dramatically different from the other gals, but rather it’s probably that blonde pixie cut that’s scratching my itch… metaphorically speaking of course.

The outfit consists of the same pleated skirt and giant bows, front and back. Most of these gals have unique footwear and in this case, Uranus is sporting a pair of very 80’s looking high-heeled boots. You get the same pearlescent white paint for most of the outfit and a very deep metallic blue (possibly purple?) for her skirt, boots, collar, and butt bow. The bow on her front is painted yellow. As always, the paint is pretty much flawless.

Besides a crazy amount of articulation, Uranus comes with the usual bevy of extra bits, including a few that are intended for another figure, which I’ll get to later. For starters, you get three additional faces. There’s the stock face is smiling ever so slightly, two slightly purturbed faces, one with the eyes looking off to the side, and one angry shouty, URANUS PLANET POWER, MAKE UP!” face.

Hands! It wouldn’t be a Figuart without tons and tons of hands. In addition to the usual culprets, Uranus also comes with a right hand designed for holding her Space Sword.

Bandai started something new with the release of Neptune, which is continued here and that’s the inclusion of a set of arms that are sculpted together, in this case crossed in front of her. These are attached by popping the regular arms off at the sleeve and replacing them with these. It’s a neat idea and the pose looks great, but dammit if those tiny little white sleeves don’t try to pop off and get lost almost every time.

Last, but not least, Uranus comes with her Space Sword, which is an awesomely garish sword that looks like something you might win with enough tickets at Chuck E Cheese. I freaking love it and she looks great holding it, especially when she’s unleashing, “SPACE SWORD BLASTER!”

As for those extra bits? Uranus comes with a love-struck face and set of hands designed for Sailor Moon. Yes, this will come in handy when I finally get Tuxedo Mask!

Even after seven figures, I still get a kick out of opening these gals and playing around with them, although it’s also nice to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Tuxedo Mask is out now and I still have to double back and pick up Sailor Venus. Pluto is the one hold out that Bandai has been teasing us with forever and it seems like she’s finally going to be released some time later this year, and that’s where i can finally get off. Nope, no Chibi Moon for me. Super Sailor Moon? Hmmm…. maaaaaybe, but that’s only if my willpower gives in.

Aug 10 2015

Sword Art Online: Leafa 1/8 Scale Statue by Griffon

It’s import week and that means that today kicks off a whole week of goodies from the land of the Rising Sun. This is where I make a concerted effort to clear out some of the figures and statues on my new receivings pile, all with the common theme of being anime related. Today also counts as a couple of firsts for me, as I’m opening up my first statue from Griffon and also my very first piece of merch from Sword Art Online! It’s Leafa!

The box is right about what I expect from a Japanese statue package. It’s colorful, it features a lot of shots of the piece, some artwork and some windows to let the light in. None of the pictures on the box really do the statue justice, and I have to say if it was an enclosed box they probably would have scared me off. Inside the box, the statue is wrapped in plastic and encased between two clear plastic trays. Pretty standard stuff. The statue comes separate from the base, but all you have to do is peg her feet into it and put the sword in her hand and she’s all ready to go.

My anime viewing habits are pretty erratic these days, but it seems like at least once every couple of months, I’ll latch onto a new series and binge it and I did just that with SAO quite a few months back and only now started re-watching it again. Leafa comes from the second story arc of SAO, where Kirito must venture back into the Virtual MMO world to save Asuna from captivity with the help of his sister, aka Leafa.

Leafa comes in her familar green and white outfit with her dress billowing out around her. She cuts a nice figure as she stands with heels together, left hand poised by her scabbard and her sword held out to her right side. Her face is angled downward and she’s peering up out of the corner of her eyes. As this is my first Griffon statue, I didn’t know what to expect. I wasn’t anticipating anything on the level of Kotobukiya or MegaHouse, but I have to say I’m very satisfied with the quality here, especially considering the price, but I’ll get to that in a bit.

Almost every detail on the statue is part of the sculpt, rather than just paint. This includes the cut outs in her stockings, the white trim on her dress, and even the striping on her half coat. Everything about her outfit is made to look layered. I’m not just talking about things like the sculpted belt, but the half coat is actually sculpted from a separate piece of plastic and laid onto the figure. It really shows that they went the extra mile and it brings a lot of credibility to the sculpt and makes for a very interesting looking piece.

The portrait is soft and simple, as is often the case with these statues, but the paintwork on her eyes is exceptional, her pointy elf ears are on full display, and the tiny little choker collar is a great detail. The sculpted hair is also particularly well executed as it swirls behind her in a ponytail.

The sword is composed of a nice, stiff piece of plastic with a shiny silver blade. The hamon line is even visibly painted on if you look close enough. Some might argue about the lack of wings on Leafa’s back, but in a standing pose like this, they wouldn’t have been visible anyway, so I’m fine with their omission. As great as the sculpt is, the overall quality of the paint has the chops to back it up. I really love the soft shade of green they used for her outfit and when blended with the white, brown and yellow it makes for a warm and pleasing floral motif that perfectly suits the character design.

If I had one complaint, it would be the base. It’s a simple black disc with a beveled edge, and that’s fine, but it’s hollow underneath, which makes it feel rather flimsy. Granted, it looks good and it’s only something one would notice by picking it up and handling it, but it feels like a statue of this quality could have used a sturdier base to rest on.

I have no idea what the original retail on this piece was, but just from poking around Griffon’s stuff seems to be anywhere from $75 to $100 (although their recent Sinon statue is going for around $150!), which sounds about right for a statue of this size and quality. I had it on my Amazon wish list for a while and one day happened to notice it dropped to $15! Normally, I would have written it off as a bootleg, because god knows I’ve been burned before with Amazon and bootleg statues, but in this case I knew the seller and they had a good rep. Besides, at fifteen bucks, I figured what did I have to lose and the answer was nothing. It’s since bumped up quite a bit, but is still available for under $50 and at that price I still would have been quite satisfied.

Jul 22 2015

Street Fighter: Juri Bishoujo Statue by Kotobukiya

Can this be? Has it really been four months since I last looked at one of Koto’s Bishoujo statues? Yes, I’m ashamed to say that is indeed the case and I am woefully behind on this little obsession of mine. I feel that Koto is partly to blame because they have really been upping the ante and releasing these things like crazy. I need to start scrambling to get caught up before the ones I missed start rising on the second-hand market, which is already the case with at least one of them. Anywho, back in March I checked out the lovely Julia Chang from their Tekken line, now we’re going back over to the Capcom side of the fence to look at Juri from Street Fighter!

Aww, yeah. We all know what to expect from this packaging by now. You get a window box, which gives you a little tease at what’s inside and a lot of great artwork from Shunya Yamashita. While the comic book statues come in white boxes, Koto has been releasing the video game pieces in these black ones. I’m still partial to the white, just because it’s a cleaner look and makes the artwork pop a little more. But hey, who’s complaining? Not me, because I got a new Bishoujo to open up. Let’s do it!

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Juri comes already attached to her stand and ready to go, although she can be removed from it if you want to. Once I got her out of the box, my first reaction was… Holy crap, look at those boobs! Actually, I meant to say that I was impressed with the size of this piece. The last couple Bishoujo’s I opened were from the Tekken series and those are scaled a bit smaller. In contrast, this is one big and beautiful figure!

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While both Chun-Li and Cammy are caught in mid action poses, I think Juri looks more like she’s posing for the “camera.” The box suggests she’s readying for a kick, but I don’t get that kind of energy from the composition here. That is not in any way a complaint, mind you, just an observation. Truth be told, I think this is a fantastic pose and I’m particularly fond of when Koto can get their statues to balance like this. Juri stands balanced on the toes of her left foot with her right leg drawn up at the knee, one hand on her hip and the other held aloft as if to say, “behold my bad ass sexiness!” Ooooh yeah!

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Juri’s outfit includes her puffy pants, a long belt, which bellows out at her side and a a rather revealing top that just amounts to a breast plate with a bunch of straps running to her back to make up a bitchin’ spider motif. Funny, I don’t remember Juri being quite so well endowed in the game, but she’s positively busting out of her top here. She’s also sporting some sleeves, finger-less gloves and spiked bracelets.

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The portrait here is a beautiful piece of work. Juri has a rather sly look as she glances off to the side and licks her lips. She seriously looks like she’s about to relish kicking the shit out of someone. The eyes are absolutely gorgeous and they did a wonderful job recreating her distinctive hairstyle.

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The coloring on this piece feels a little muted compared to most Bish statues, but that’s not a bad thing. It’s certainly in character. I think the fact that there’s no glossy aspects to her clothing is a big part of that. Instead of getting that contrast between the soft skin and the sheen of the clothes, everything is soft. The pallet is even a little more limited, with basically just black purple and gray. You do get a little bit of sheen on her belt buckle, her gloves, and the nail polish on her fingers and toes.

As with the previous Street Fighter statues, Juri comes on a clear disc stand with a choice of two inserts. One has the Street Fighter logo and the other a piece of Shunya Yamashita’s character art on which this statue was based. I’ve gone on plenty about how I’m torn over these clear bases. On the one hand, they look nice and don’t detract from the figure, on the other hand, they show fingerprints really easily and the bottoms have a tendency to fall out when you pick them up.

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And to the great surprise of absolutely no one, I’m in love with yet another one of Koto’s magnificent Bishoujo statues. Considering how iconic Chun-Li and Cammy are, it’s no small feat to say that Juri can easily hold her own on the shelf next to her fellow game gals and with Sakura and Poison coming up next, I expect great things to continue for this sub-line. Now, I just have to backtrack and pick up the ones I missed, like Jun Kazama and Nina Williams from Tekken, oh and I think Anna Williams is shipping soon. And Batwoman and Jubilee… good grief!

Jun 2 2015

S.H. Figuarts: Sailor Neptune by Bandai Tamashii Nations

Holy hell, the last time I looked at any Figuarts Sailor Scouts was way back in April, so I’m going to remedy that today with a look at Sailor Neptune! Neptune and Uranus were each released right around the same time and I believe were some kind of Asian Exclusives. They were easy enough to get through my usual channels, but they did cost a little more. It’s worth mentioning that I’m moving into uncharted waters here (Ha!) in that Neptune is the first one of these figures I’m looking at where I have absolutely no first hand familiarity with the character, but rather only what I know from reading about the series. With the exception of maybe Saturn, I’ve been collecting these figures because of my attachment to the characters, but that was never going to stop me from completing my collection. NEPTUNE PLANET POWER… MAKE UP!

I’ve been through five figures in this series already, so the packaging should be familiar by now. These little window boxes are colorful, compact, elegant, and totally collector friendly. In other words, perfect! The deco is mostly blue to match Neptune’s color scheme and you get a fairly even mix of both Japanese and English lettering. Both the left and right panels of the box have images of the figure, which is great for lining them all up on a bookshelf and being able to pull out the one you want. The only other thing that sets this box apart from the others is the inclusion of the 20th Anniversary emblem on the lower left hand corner of the front of the box.

Neptune comes sporting her own variation of the classic Pretty Guardian Sailor outfit. You get the same pleated skirt, ruffled shoulders, and bows on the front and back. The biggest departure here are Neptune’s shorter gloves, which only extend a little past her wrists, and her high heel shoes, which are similar to Mars, only with ankle straps. The bulk of the costume comes painted in that wonderful pearlescent white. the bows are a very deep blue, and the skirt, shoes and collar are green.

The head sculpt features unique shoulder length blue hair, which looks a lot lighter in person than it does on the box art. I like the sculpt, but it feels like the coloring lost something in the translation. In addition to the somewhat neutral expression face that comes on the figure, you get three swappable faces. It’s pretty standard stuff for this line and include what I like to call, “shouty face,” “contemplative face,” and “happy face.” All the faces include the tiara sculpted into the forehead.

Neptune’s unique item is the Deep Aqua Mirror and it’s a pretty cool piece. It includes her symbol sculpted on the back and a silver painted front. She also comes with the standard heart shaped clear base with her name printed on it and a hinged arm to support the figure by the waist.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Figuarts without a ton of extra hands. In this case you get a crazy seven pairs, plus one piece with both hands clasped together. While the hands used to come in little compartments on the tray, SHF, has taken a page from Figma’s book and is now pegging the hands into these lovely little round blocks that all peg together like white LEGO minifigure heads. Anyone who has ever bumped the tray and had all the tiny hands scatter across the floor will no doubt appreciate this new system as much as me.

Neptune also features a first for the Sailor Moon line by including an extra pair of arms. These very specific, non-articulated arms peg right in at the sleeves and tab together at the wrists to give her a crossed arm pose, which probably couldn’t quite be reproduced with the regular arms, even given that wonderful level of articulation.

While I’ve managed to pick up nearly all of these figures right around the $35 range, Neptune jumped up to the $45 mark, probably because they are exclusives and I pre-ordered them rather then wait for a deal. Granted, that’s quite a price increase but I honestly felt these were a really good deal at $35 and so the extra ten bucks doesn’t seem like such a premium. Considering the quality of the figures and all the stuff you get, you could do a lot worse. I have one more figure in this line to look at, and that’s Sailor Uranus, but I still need to double back and pick up Sailor Venus. Also, Bandai has been busy with brand new reveals, including Tuxedo Mask, Super Sailor Soldier, and finally Sailor Pluto, so it looks like it’ll be a little while yet before I’m free of this series.

FigureFan Zero

Action Figure Reviews, Toys & Collectibles…

Tag Archives: imports

Tekken: Nina Williams Bishoujo Statue by Kotobukiya

DC Comics: Batwoman Bishoujo Statue by Kotobukiya

Marvel: Jubilee Bishoujo Statue by Kotobukiya

Figma “Sword Art Online” Kirito by Max Factory

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

Armor Girls Project: Mobile Suit Girl Wing Gundam (EW Version) by Bandai Tamashii Nations

S.H. Figuarts: Sailor Uranus by Bandai Tamashii Nations

Sword Art Online: Leafa 1/8 Scale Statue by Griffon

Street Fighter: Juri Bishoujo Statue by Kotobukiya

S.H. Figuarts: Sailor Neptune by Bandai Tamashii Nations

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