Jan 22 2015

Transformers: Masterpiece Ultra Magnus (MP-22) by Takara

Ultra Magnus… The Big Guy… Muchacho Ultramissio… Even his name oozes gravitas. He was voiced by the great Robert Stack in the 1986 movie and he deals with things on his own timetable. I can still remember seeing Transformers: The Movie in the theater. I was 14 years old and when The Matrix chose Hot Rod over Ultra Magnus I stood up, threw my large cola at the screen and screamed: “This is f’cking bullshit!” and stormed out. I may be misremembering that day. It might not have really went down like that, but either way, I’m certain that emotions ran high. Even at 14, I couldn’t comprehend why the gestalt of Autobot Wisdom would make Hot Rod the leader of the Autobots over Magnus. Magnus was bigger, more mature, clearly smarter, he didn’t whine. He didn’t go fishing with little boys either. Maybe it was a message to kids about how being a douchebag will get you ahead in life. Maybe not. Either way, I was convinced Magnus was “the man” and he got cheated. Of course, all this waxing nostalgic over Magnus is just a prelude for a look at a figure that hardly needs any introduction. We’ve all been wowed by pictures of MP-22 for a long while now and he’s finally out. I’ve had a couple of weeks to get to know him, so let’s give this bad boy his due. I’m going to do this all in one shot, so it’s going to be a long one!

The box is big and crazy heavy. I think there’s diecast in there… I can smell it! Well, maybe not, but I can certainly feel it. The box is exactly the same size as the one used for MP Soundwave, but don’t let that fool you about Magnus’ size. The presentation here should hold no surprises for collectors of the line as the deco is the same as we’ve been getting all along. There are lots of great pictures of the toy and the text is most definitely not friendly to us Western dopes who can only read one language. Inside the box Magnus comes packaged in his robot form and secured between two clear plastic trays. You also get an extra pair of fists, an alternate faceplate, his gun, and the teeny tiny Spike and Daniel figures. The only change to the presentation here is the instruction booklet. Yup, you get an actual booklet and not a folded sheet. Takara gave it a redesign with some lovely art on the cover. Let’s kick things off with Magnus’s alt mode.

Yessiree, that sure is Magnus in his alt mode! His car carrier mode has always been one that stressed fuction over form. It’s certainly more utilitarian than sexy, and that hasn’t changed for the Masterpiece version. You basically get a cab pulling a red, white, and blue framework with two platforms for carrying his Autobot chums into battle. The frame contains some beautifully sculpted detail work, but it’s a bit at odds with the hollow portions on the beams and some exposed screw holes. There are sculpted Autobot insignia on the sides and his two missile launchers rest comfortably at the front “shoulders” of the trailer and can each rotate 360-degrees. This mode is satisfyingly large and faithful to the original, but to me it isn’t all that impressive to look at unless it’s loaded with cars. That’s not a slight against this toy, but just my general feeling about Magnus’ alt mode by its very nature. That having been said, Takara certainly did a fine job with what they had to work with and I’m particularly thrilled with the way the coloring on the figure turned out.

Speaking of being loaded with cars… Magnus’ trailer can fit four of the MP cars. I refrain from using the term “comfortably fit” because they are definitely bumper to bumper, but it works and I’m cool with that. The rear tailgate drops down to form a ramp and you can even angle down the top platform so they can drive up there. All you have to do is untab both sides at the top to fold it down and it’ll even angle downward with a car in the front. This kind of thing goes a long way to make this a fun and worthwhile alt mode.

Having stayed away from all reviews and previews, I was surprised to find that Magnus’ cab is indeed detachable. Turn him over and you find a button which releases the cab from its hitching post. Can I also say how damn impressive it is to see such intricately sculpted detailing in a plate underneath the cab that will hardly ever be visible? Of course, you can also see Magnus’ head staring right back at you. Hi, there! Thankfully, there’s enough clearance so Magnus doesn’t scrape his face on the pavement while driving.

Magnus’ cab is a spot-on recreation of the MP-10 cab, minus a lot of the seams from Prime’s transformation and a differently configured back half. All the sculpted rivets and panel lines are there and the chrome grill and headlamps are dang near identical. The only major difference is the coloring, which includes Magnus’ red, animation accurate front bumper. Yeah… it’s red! suck it haterz!!! Ahem, suffice it to say Magnus’ cab is a winner and the two look great when parked side by side. And while MP-22’s cab is detachable, you do not have to detach it for the transformation.

Why “Roll Out” When You Can Ride?

So, speaking of transformations, let’s check out Magnus’ robot mode. While I’m going from alt mode to robot mode in this feature, the first time Magnus’ transformation is experienced is while going the other way around. I didn’t try to intuit the process, but rather went step-by-step with the instructions. If you don’t know already, MP-22 is not built around a core MP-10 figure and I know at least a few people who find that blasphemous. I can see their point, but I’m rather pleased with the creativity and freshness at work in this figure’s new engineering. The transformation is fairly clean and simple with excellent tolerances, although there are a few hinged plates that definitely require caution. Getting the gist of the way the change works was pretty easy for me, but actually squaring off the car carrier and locking everything into place at the end took me a few tries. You really need to have Magnus’ hips and knees perfectly positioned to make it all go together and there really aren’t any guides to do it. I did, however find that it was much easier to feel my way through the trailer’s final steps with subsequent transformations. In the end there were at least a few of those lovely “gee whiz” moments when I saw how certain things worked.

In robot mode, Ultra Magnus lives up to his name and big time. He’s taller than MP-10 and he absolutely towers over the MP Autobot cars. He also needs to watch where he steps when he’s around Bumblebee. As someone who has had to do some adjusting to the MP scale between Optimus and the other Autobots, I’m actually pretty fine with MP-22’s giant frame. I’ll throw it out there that Magnus’s robot mode is not as streamlined or clean as MP-10’s, but then there’s a lot more going on here as he absorbs his trailer into his robot mode, and all without a bit of parts-forming or even having to separate from the cab. With that being the case, I’m perfectly fine with some visible hinges on the figure. In fact, the only other negative thing I have to say about Magnus (I come to praise Magnus, not bury him!) is that there’s some mold flashing on the front of his forearms and in a few less conspicuous places. It’s not terrible, but on a $190 toy, I could have done without it.

With minor quibbles out of the way, I can get to the good stuff, and the fact is that I love this figure so much it’s hard to know where to begin, so let me just meander in my adulation. The proportions are absolutely epic. I love the giant, powerful legs and the lateral rockers in the feet. He’s as solid and stable a figure as they come, mostly thanks to the clever placement of the diecast and the satisfyingly strong ratcheting joints. The powerful arms feature the same contoured forearms seen in the Sunbow animated Magnus and the shoulder-mounted rocket launchers can be angled forward (my preference) or up or down. I’m also very happy with the length of the extended shoulder pylons. Despite being rather iconic to the character’s designs, the height of these varied a lot in the cartoon, but they look absolutely perfect on the figure. He also features a crisp, sculpted Autobot insignia on his right shoulder. And the colors! I mentioned how much I love the coloring on this figure while discussing the alt mode, but it bears repeating here. The red, blue, and white plastics are all so vibrant and fresh looking.

Even from the back, Magnus looks good. Yeah, he’s got an open gap behind his head, but this is me not caring about that. There’s also a fold down hatch to store the extra faceplate on the figure, which is a wonderful little touch and a spot to store a second faceplate, which I presume was included with an exclusive. The cab forms a pretty solid backpack that isn’t too bulky. Some have complained about Magnus’ butt-flap, but I can’t deal with that right now.

The head sculpt? Pure love! I had a little shock when I took my figure out of the box and saw a huge blemish on the crest of his helmet, but it turned out to be just fluff that wiped right off. I think the eyes are just right and I like the stoic expression of his stock face. Swapping in the screaming face is super easy. You just lift the front of the head off, unpeg the face plate and peg in the new one. The white Prime face hidden behind the face was a cool surprise and also kind of creepy because it’s missing the bottom part of the mouth plate. The extra face is pretty good, particularly with action poses, but I will likely stick with the stock expression for display.

Magnus’ chest opens up by hinging up the blue bar and swinging out the doors. Inside it reveals a beautifully detailed Matrix Chamber, which comfortably fits the Matrix included with MP-10. The extra pair of hands are designed specifically for Magnus to hold the Matrix. I dunno, maybe it’s just me, but at $190, you couldn’t toss in another Matrix, Takara? I mean, I realize that most people investing in this figure probably have MP-10 also, but c’mon guys. You’re including accessories designed to work with an accessory not included in the box. Give us a little something-something.

Yeah, you also get the Spike and Daniel figures, but Daniel looks weird and I really don’t care about them as accessories. The paintwork on their future outfits looks good, but Takara still couldn’t spring for some paint to detail the faces. I would have happily traded this pair for a second Matrix packed in, if only because it would have saved me the hassle of opening up my MP-10 box to fetch his out of his trailer to include in the photos.

Lastly, Magnus comes with his trusty rifle. It’s got a tab on the handle to help him hold it in his articulated fingers. Pretty standard Masterpiece Transformer stuff. I have absolutely no memory of Magnus’ weapon in the G1 cartoon, so this isn’t really an iconic accessory to me, but a nice looking gun, nonetheless.

If you can’t tell, MP-22 turned out to be everything I could have hoped and dreamed for. He’s an absolutely superb figure and well worthy of the name “Masterpiece.” Just looking at him up there on my rapidly growing MP shelves, he is certainly vying for my favorite spot in this line so far. And yet, I almost didn’t get him. He retails for $189.99. That seemed really steep to me at first, although a lot of that gut reaction may have come from timing. This guy was due to ship right around the time I was beginning to make Flex Pays on about $1,000 worth of Hot Toys figures as well as expecting some rather pricey pre-orders to come due. As always, I was trying to be fiscally responsible and not go the credit card route. Remember, kids, don’t use plastic to buy plastic… that road leads to ruin! Anyway, the price tag was high enough that I decided to cancel my pre-order and gamble on the likelihood that he would be around long enough to pick him up later. As it happened, I got some Christmas monies and decided to use it to make Magnus a Christmas present. In hindsight, the price is probably not as bad as the initial sticker shock. Afterall, MP Soundwave originally retailed at $159 and there are still e-tailers asking $199 for MP Grimlock. But 200 bucks is still 200 bucks… know what I’m saying? My point is, yes it’s a lot of money, but for how big and hefty and beautifully done this figure is, I can’t complain about the price, at least not when you put it into the proper context of other Masterpiece figures. He’s still readily available at most retailers, so had I waited I probably wouldn’t have missed out, but I’m just mighty happy to have him on my shelf right now.

Jan 21 2015

The Avengers: Thor ArtFX+ Statue by Kotobukiya

It was way back in October when I looked at my last acquisition in Koto’s Avengers ArtFX+ Statues. I’m digging this series a lot, but I managed to let the last two releases fall under my radar. Now that the Holiday craziness is past, I took the time to pick up my next two figures in the series… today we’ll be checking out The Mighty Thor!

I was a little surprised by the size of Thor’s box, but it makes sense that it should be a little bigger than Black Widow’s or Cap’s, both because of his bulkier size and the nature of his pose. I’ll go ahead and mention once again that I like these more conventional boxes a lot better than the fragile clear plastic boxes that Koto used for their DC ArtFX+ line. They may not be as flashy or artsy-fartsy, but they’re durable, colorful, and I’ll certainly be keeping them in case I ever need to put the statues in storage or for the next time I move. Inside the box, Thor comes between two plastic trays and in five parts (legs, torso with cape, two arms, and head) with an additional two parts that make up Mjolnir. Yes, as with The Avengers, there is some assembly required. Luckily, Thor is pretty much plug-and-play. Each part features a tab that is shaped to fit in specific socket and while some of the fits are rather tight, everything went together without a hitch.

Cards on the table, Thor’s Marvel NOW! design is not one of my favorite looks for the character, although now that I mention it, Thor is currently a woman, so this version is actually already out of date. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t dislike it at all, I just think the black tunic is a little bland compared to other treatments of the character, especially when everyone else’s costume seems to be getting panel lined up the ass. Also, does The Odinson really need a “T” on his belt buckle? That’s just tacky. But hey, I’m not here to pick apart the character design, but rather take a look at what Koto did with it, and it will probably be no surprise to anyone reading, that I think they did a splendid job.

Some of the high points of the costume sculpt include the chiseled muscles showing through the tunic, as well as the checkered pattern making up the texture on his arm and leg armor. The circular points of armor on his chest look sharp and there’s some truly impressive scrollwork carved into his his belt. The flares at the tops of his boots look great and I really dig the sweeping motion of his cape, which adds just the right amount of energy to what is a powerful, yet static pose. And how about that pose? He’s got Mjolnir held out in front of him and his off-hand balled into a fist. The composition works well when viewed from several angles and I always take that as the sign of a well thought out piece.

The portrait on this statue is possibly a bit narrow, but it’s nicely counterbalanced by the beautiful job they did on his helmet. I love the rivets and panel lines as well as the majestic placement of the side fins. I could have gone for a little more ferocity in his expression, but what’s here works fine for me.

The paintwork on this statue is mostly solid. I’ll nitpick a little that the matte black used for the tunic shows a little inconsistency to the finish. Maybe that conforms to the fact that it’s supposed to be cloth or leather. There are also a few stray black marks on the leg armor. Otherwise the what’s here is pretty great. The metallic silver they used looks spectacular, particularly on the helmet and armor circlets and it all contrasts quite nicely with the matte black of the tunic and red of the cape. The fleshtone is clean and the paintwork on the face is immaculate.

As always, the statue comes with a metallic black square base that works in conjunction with the magnets embedded in Thor’s boots to hold him upright. Although, honestly, Thor is stable enough to stand just fine on his own.

I picked up Thor for right around $40 and that sure is a fantastic price for what you get. If you’re a statue collector on a budget or don’t have the expansive space necessary for the Sixth-Scale or Quarter-Scale pieces this Tenth-Scale line simply can’t be beat. Thor continues the expectation of quality and workmanship in Koto’s Avenger’s ArtFX+ line and I’m as excited as ever to complete this collection. My next look at this line will be Hawkeye, and he’s already in my collection and waiting for his chance at the spotlight. The final release, Iron Man should be following along sometime next month!

Dec 23 2014

DC Comics: Starfire Bishoujo Statue by Kotobukiya

BISHOUJO! Y’all know I love it and it’s been a couple of months since I last checked in on this magnificent line of sexy statues by the great peeps at Kotobukiya. Over the last few months, we’ve seen some amazing teaser artwork and a number of finished pieces coming down the line, but today’s entry is one that I was very excited about because Koriand’r was practically born to be in this line of statues. Indeed, it’s hard to believe it took Koto this long to get around to giving her the Bishoujo makeover. I’m really anxious to get this piece out of the box, so let’s just jump right in, shall we?

If you have any experience with this line than Starfire’s packaging should be readily familiar. You get a mostly white, window box with some glorious and colorful character art by Shunya Yamashita. The Bishoujo boxes vary in size depending on the composition of the individual statues, but I’d say Starfire’s is slightly larger than most. There’s a large window on the front and smaller ones on the top and right side panels to let some light in and give you a tease of what’s inside the box.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a piece of Shunya Yamashita’s art that I didn’t love, but this one definitely has to be one of my favorites. I mean it’s just absolutely gorgeous. Can the actual statue inside possibly live up to this? We’re about to find out.

Oh, my! Starfire comes out of the box all ready for display. You don’t even have to plug her into the base because… well, she doesn’t really have one. I’ll come back to that in a bit, but let’s start off with the composition. While Koto’s Bishoujo statues have featured many different styles and poses over the years, it’s hard to forget that the foundation of this series has always been one of pure cheesecake and Starfire’s statue embraces that idea wholeheartedly. This here is a good old fashioned T&A show and Starfire looks rather proud of that fact. The young princess from Tamaran is leaning forward on a strategically placed outcropping of alien rock with one foot on the ground and the other bent up behind her. With derriere jutting out prominently behind her and chest squeezed together between her arms, she gazes off to the side with an expression that redefines the word coy. If you’ve been reading Red Hood & The Outlaws then I think you’ll agree that every aspect of this statue fits the current take on Starfire’s character perfectly.

Before I get into the particulars of the costume, or at least what little there is of it, something must be said about how exquisitely Koto tackled Starfire’s hair. These statues have almost always featured the dramatic windblown look when dealing with the subjects’ hair and in this case Starfire gave them a chance to run absolutely wild with it. And yes, the results are quite awesome. The translucent orange hair beautifully frames her face and proceeds to snake down and around the left side of her body and wrapping around to end in curls at the front of the statue’s feet. It adds a wonderful sense of energy to what is an otherwise fairly static pose and the direction of the hair is strategically designed so as not to cover up anything, um… important.

Speaking of covering things up, Starfire’s trademark outfit does very little of that. In fact the bulk of her outfit comes from her thigh high boots and arm bracers. The rest amounts to little more than a very revealing space swimsuit, which seems barely up to the task of containing Starfire’s rather expansive assets. The outfit is painted with a striking iridescent purple with red metallic stones at the tops of her boots as well as in her collar and arm bracers. The purple sheen of her costume contrasts beautifully with the soft orange tones of her alien skin. I will point out that there are a few small areas where the paint lines between the costume and skin aren’t quite as immaculate as I’m used to seeing on the statues in this line, but I’m really nitpicking here, because it’s still far better than the quality of paint I’ve seen on far more expensive statues produced by other companies. Also, these fleeting areas aren’t in prominant locations, so you really need to look to find them.

Last, but not least, I’m very happy with the way the portrait turned out. I’ve commented before that there are some characters that just aren’t suited to the Bishoujo art style and it takes a lot of effort to make it work (I’m still debating whether or not I will pick up the She-Hulk Bishoujo. I almost never skip these releases, but I’m not sold on her yet). Koriand’r, however, is just perfectly suited to the look. I’m absolutely in love with what they did with her eyes, right down to the emerald paint. And just look at her perfect little mouth with lips slightly parted to flash a glimpse of her white teeth. Wonderful stuff! Ok, thanks for humoring me. You can now go back to looking at her butt and ta-ta’s again.

As I mentioned earlier, the statue doesn’t really feature a base, only the rocky formation that she’s leaning on. The rock formation is well done and it reminds me of the deliciously retro styrofoam rocks that were used as set dressing on a lot of the Classic Star Trek episodes. When she came out of the box, Starfire’s right foot featured a clear plastic support, but oddly enough all it seems to do is throw off the statue’s balance. Take it off and Starfire stands perfectly fine on the shelf. I can’t help but wonder why that piece was even included since it doesn’t seem to serve any purpose. At first, I wasn’t sure how I felt about Starfire not having any base at all, but once I got her on the shelf containing my DC Bishoujo’s I found myself totally fine with it. In fact, I kind of appreciate the economy of space it provides, especially when looking at how ridiculously large the base is on my Ghostbusters Bishoujo Lucy statue.

The prices on these statues have been fluctuating a bit between releases, with some shipping in the $50 range and others creeping up as high as $70. Starfire landed at $65, which seems to be the new average, at least for the statues that are shipping and pre-ordering now. Considering how tough it is to find a decent looking statue these days at under $100, I’m still totally comfortable with the retail on these beauties. In fact, I probably would have been just as happy with this piece if I had been forced to pay a bit more, but let’s not tell Kotobukiya that, eh? The box previews Batwoman as a forthcoming release, and I’ve already seen final pictures of the Jubilee Bishoujo. My next acquisition in the line, however, should be rolling in early next month and she is kind of a special one that raises some interesting questions about the line. It’s Batgirl and she is a reissue of a statue that has been out of circulation for a little while.

Dec 16 2014

Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet: Amy and Grace 1/8 Scale Statue by MegaHouse

If you haven’t seen Gargantia on the Verduous Planet, I highly recommend giving it a watch, especially since it’s easily accessible on Crunchyroll. At only 13 episodes it’s relatively short and yet oh, so good. It’s sort of hails from the giant mech genre only with a rather unique spin. You don’t get to see a lot of traditional mech on alien combat, but then watching a super advanced battle suit take out a fleet of relatively primitive pirates was pure bliss. The series also does a splendid job with character motivations and portraying the interaction of two different cultures. Alas, despite being a year old and having a great cast of characters, the anime hasn’t spawned a lot of figures or statues, and what has come out has been almost entirely centered around the energetic inter-fleet delivery girl, Amy. Amy’s great and all, but I’d like to have seen Ledo, Bellows, or Pinion immortalized in plastic as well. An articulated Machine Caliber would have been nice too. But I like Amy a lot, so at least that’s something.

The last time I purchased a MegaHouse product it was a Nami statue from One Piece and it turned out to be a bootleg, so Amy here will still hold the honor of being the first official MegaHouse piece in my collection. The statue comes in a colorful box with a large window on the front panel and smaller ones on the side and top panels. There are lots of pictures of the statue, but not much in the way of artwork from the anime. The statue itself comes between two clear plastic trays and it includes several pieces to round out the display.

I should take this opportunity to point out that I pre-ordered Amy without a lot of information about the statue. In fact, apart from a teaser of the portrait, I didn’t even see any photos, so when the final composition of this piece was revealed it was a little surprising to me. Nonetheless, there aren’t a lot of other options to put Amy in my collection, so I let the pre-order ride and decided to judge the final results when I had it in hand. The obvious way to go would have been to have her running with her satchel on her arm, or possibly clutching the grab bar of her kite. Instead, we get her reclining with her messenger bag to her side and resting her tootsies, with one foot in the air, no doubt after putting in a long day of deliveries. It almost looks like she’s meant to be kicking up water with her right foot. It’s was a decidedly odd way to go, maybe even borderline fetishistic, although I suppose it’s not without its charms and in the end I think it still manages to capture the essence of the character.

Unconventional pose or not, both the detail and coloring on this piece are absolutely fantastic. They did an amazing job with her outfit, particularly with the rumpling of her skirt and top and her little half-jacket is crafted in soft plastic and is removable. Even the skirt is crafted as a separate piece and laid onto the figure, albeit it isn’t removable. The belts and buckles are very neatly painted as are the aboriginal patterns decorating her clothing. The soft nature of the paintwork on the outfit along with the lightly tanned skin tones gives the statue a warm and pleasing look that replicates the tropical nature of the anime artwork quite well.

I’ve seen mixed reactions to the portrait, but I don’t have any issues with it at all. Amy’s sporting a playful expression that certainly fits the whimsical nature of the pose. The paintwork on the eyes is flawless and I’m very happy with all the little detail work that went into her hair, particularly the two small braids.

Amy comes with a clear, square plastic base with the series logo etched on the front in white. There’s a small contoured bump on the base, which is designed to fit in a… um, strategic place and allow her to recline. It can be a bit tricky getting it right and it’s not a secure connection, so if you bump the shelf she’s displayed on, the figure is likely to slide or reposition itself.

As for the extra parts, you get Amy’s satchel, her sandals, and her little buddy, Grace. There are no instructions on how to place these pieces, so you’re left to your own imagination or else you can consult the bevy of official product photos that are now available online. The official look has the satchel looped around her right elbow and resting beside her with Grace poised on top of it or scampering onto Amy’s lap. Her right sandal can be dangled on the extended fingers of her right hand and the other one can be placed on the base. They really went all out with the detail on these extra pieces. The messenger bag is a very vibrant shade of blue and has the straps and buckles as well as the large ornamental feather on the clasp. Grace is also just adorable and looks great when sitting on the satchel.

At about 1/8 Scale, Amy fits in quite nicely with my ever expanding collection of Kotobukiya ladies, although tipping the scales at just over $100, that same sense of fantastic value that I get with Koto isn’t there. I know, MegaHouse stuff tends to run more and I can’t deny the workmanship that went into this piece, so I can’t say I have any regrets. Yes, I would have preferred a more conventional pose, but when I admire this piece on my shelf, it’s hard to argue with the end result. It’s probably unlikely that we’ll be seeing a lot more merchandising from Gargantia coming down the pipes, but Amy did get the Figma treatment, and I can definitely see myself picking up that figure in the not too distant future.

Dec 9 2014

DC Comics: ArtFX+ Batgirl Statue by Kotobukiya

If you haven’t heard, Batgirl is getting a costume makeover and so I’m starting to snap up whatever statues and figures I can that are based on her previous New 52 design because, well, I really dig it. In fact, it’s probably my favorite New 52 costume. A couple of weeks back we looked at DC Collectibles’ Batgirl figure and now it’s time to look at Kotobukiya’s effort with their ArtFX+ treatment of Babs Gordon. Yeah, I said I was going to stop collecting these once I finished the core Justice League team, but these little 1/10 Scale statues are such a great value for the money I can’t resist them and my ArtFX+ Catwoman was looking rather lonely on the shelf anyway because the Justice League was shunning her.

As with the other DC ArtFX+ statues, Batgirl comes in this clear box that practically doubles as a display case. The left side panel has some translucent artwork and the back panel is frosted over, but otherwise it gives you an unprecidented opportunity to inspect the statue while still new in the box. I really like this packaging design in theory, but it’s not terribly practical. The sides are prone to scratching and the corners are easily crushed and chipped. I usually save my statue boxes, but these just aren’t worth taking up the space because frankly I don’t think they’ll survive storage for any length of time. Unlike some of Koto’s ArtFx+ statues, there’s no assembly required here, you just get her out of the box and stand her on her base.

At 1/10 Scale, Batgirl stands at about seven inches, which is a really comfortable size that allows for just the right amount of detail without taking up a ridiculous amount of space. Koto has kept the DC statues in this range in museum-style poses, which works for me as long as they continue to remain consistent. Batgirl is standing with one hand on her hip and the other on her belt and shifting her weight to one side. It’s a nice, heroic stance and maybe just a wee bit coy. The cape is mostly form fitting, bellowing out a little at the bottom, but her hair is windswept to the side so you do get a little bit of energy conveyed in the composition.

The portrait here is quite good. It still sports a bit of the anime vibe that we’ve been seeing in this line since the beginning. That style made the other characters look appropriately younger, but I think here Batgirl looks older than she should be. Still, that’s the only thing I can gripe about, so all in all not bad.

This line has been pretty great about showcasing the New 52 costumes. Yeah, I get it, not everyone likes them, but I don’t have a big problem with them and I’ve already mentioned that I love this look for Batgirl. The suit features all the sculpted panel lines and scalloped armor, as well as the segmented belt and those adorable little bat cutouts at the tops of her boots. Every detail in the outfit is part of the sculpt, even the bat symbol on her chest, which is something that DC stipulated way back in the first printings of the comics. The bat clasp on her cape is present, but not painted, which is technically not accurate to the art, but I do prefer it. If you glance back at my review of the DCC Batgirl figure, you’ll see I’m not a big fan of having that bit painted.

The DC statues in this line have all featured metallic paint finishes and Batgirl here is no different. The high gloss black for the body suit looks great and it contrasts beautifully with the matte black used for the cowl and cape, with the interior of the cape painted metallic purple. The boots, gauntlets, belt, and insignia are all painted with a beautiful metallic gold. Some may argue that it should be yellow, but in fairness different companies have portrayed it both ways in the past. These were yellow on the DC Collectibles figure, but gold on Mattel’s DC Unlimited figure. Normally, I think I prefer the yellow, but I think the gold works best here given the metallic finish of the piece. The overall paint quality here is almost perfect. My statue had a white spot on the back of her head, which might have been a chip. Either way, it was easy to fix with a black modeling marker.

As always, you get a simple, black square stand, which is made of metal to work with the magnets on the bottom of Batgirl’s feet. It’s nice to get the support, but in this case Batgirl can also stand quite well on her own without the magnetic assistance.

As much as I’m looking forward to Batgirl’s chic new redesign, I’ll still be sad to see this costume get retired. I now have three different examples of it in my collection, and I’ll likely go for the Cover Girls of the DC Universe statue before moving on. As for the DC ArtFx+ line, I’d like to say I’m done with it now, but truth be told when I come across these in the $35 range, they’re just too hard to resist. They’re gorgeous little statues with great craftsmanship for the cost. In fact, I’m still eying up the Supergirl and Nightwing, and the upcoming Green Arrow will be a definite “must have” for my shelf.

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.

Nov 7 2014

Transformers: Masterpiece Alert (MP-14) by Takara

Yes, it’s Transformers ~~Thursday~~ Friday and UPS dropped off an awesome package of Masterpiece goodness yesterday so I decided to bump the weekly Transformers feature back one day so I could cover one of those figures instead of dumpster diving into the Unicron Trilogy totes for feature fodder. If you’re new to the party, you should know that I was soured on the current crop of MP figures when my first Lambor arrived as a QC catastrophe. The paint was crap and I unloaded the figure and decided I was going to pass on this line. But when the Datsuns started shipping, I couldn’t resist and I noted a marked improvement in the paintwork and was instantly smitten. I quickly pre-ordered the second issues of Lambor and Red Alert. Lambor arrived a while back and he was damn good and now Red Alert is now here too!

While he may be the second issue of the figure, the package doesn’t seem to have changed. Red Alert comes in a box that should be readily familiar to anyone collecting the line. It’s completely enclosed and will suitably match the other recent Takara MP boxes on your shelf. While we know him as Red Alert, the box bears his Takara name as just Alert. As expected, much of the copy on the box is in Japanese, but the figure’s name and number are clearly readable to us Westerners and as with Lambor, this box also indicates that the product is licensed by Lamborghini. Red Alert comes packaged in his alt mode and nestled in a clear plastic tray with his accessories in the tray beside him.

You also get this collector coin that comes in a Matrix style cardboard sleeve. The two ends slide out to reveal the coin. It’s a nice collectors piece, I guess, and it does add value to the package, but these things are really lost on me and I don’t really see the point. Let’s go ahead and start with his alt mode.

Ah, the 80’s! It was an era when DeLoreans could travel in time and Fire Marshals patrolled the streets in their official Lamborghini Countaches. Seems legit. If you aren’t up to speed on your G1 Transformers, Red Alert was a repaint of Sideswipe back then and he still is today in the MP line. The Countache was easily my favorite car as a kid, and I’m pretty sure I owe that to its representation in the Transformers. This auto mode still looks fantastic, although I sometimes have difficulty lining up the seams on the sides, just like I do with Lambor. I don’t think it’s a problem with the figure, but rather that everything needs to be aligned perfectly and I’m not always hitting that perfection. Lambor’s aesthetics were a little more forgiving about the seams lining up as he was just solid red, whereas Red Alert has lettering and a symbol on his door that make any little misalignment more obvious.

The paint on my figure is excellent with crisp lettering and no real slop to speak of. It’s also worth noting that the white paint used on the clear plastic canopy matches the rest of the white body much better than the red paint does on Lambor. Some of the black paint apps look a little tacky, but they’re aren’t to the touch. The Autobot emblem and Fire Department deco on the hood looks amazing as does the teeny tiny lettering just above the rear bumper. Aside from the deco, the only other difference between the two cars is Red Alert’s light bar. It’s translucent red plastic with white paint. It also has the roof notch so you can plug in the missile launcher and rifle and weaponize his alt mode.

Despite a few minor tweaks to the mold, Red Alert transforms the same as Lambor. I hadn’t transformed Lambor back to auto mode since I reviewed him, so I was a little concerned to see how it was going to go with Red Alert, but it’s an intuitive transformation and I didn’t even have to consult the instructions once.

Man, do I love the way this mold looks in robot mode. It’s the little things like the way those plates from the rear of the car cover the ankle joints or the way the canopy collapses in on itself to keep his silhouette looking clean. The only difference in the body between Red Alert and Lambor is the addition of the vestigial wheels on the shoulders. I’m still not sure how I feel about these things. I think the fact that they’re smaller than they should be is a nice nod to the mass shifting that has been a part of the Transformers Universe since the beginning. I also dig the effort to give Red Alert something distinctive over Lambor, but to be honest, I don’t think I would have missed them if they were left off.

The deco in robot mode shows a lot less white and a lot more red and black. In a sense he looks a bit like Lambor’s color pallet reversed. It’s mostly all the same colors, they’re just all switched around. The sharp and gorgeous deco on the hood is just as great on Red Alert’s chest and the silver paint on his forearms looks really sharp. Lambor and Red Alert are both such amazing looking figures, I honestly don’t know that I could choose a favorite between them.

Red Alert features a new head sculpt, which looks right on target. It is fairly close to the Lambor face, but the “helmet” hits all the right points between these two characters. He also comes with an effects part that clips on to his “horns” to simulate his sparking, malfunctioning and paranoid brain. It’s a fun piece to include, but probably not something that I’ll get a lot of use out of.

You also get repaints of the same shoulder cannon and rifle that came with Lambor. The cannon is sculpted in red plastic and the back is painted in metallic silver, making it look more like a missile launcher than Lambor’s solid white weapon. As with Lambor, the piece can mount on either of Red Alert’s shoulders.

The rifle is sculpted in red plastic and left unpainted. I think a few paint hits would have went a long way on the gun, as it isn’t as impressive looking as Lambor’s silver rifle. I also have the same problem getting him to hold it snugly as I did with Lambor. The handle does tab into the hand, but when you close the fingers around it, it seems to knock it out of the slot. He can still hold it OK, but it’s not as solid as the Datsuns hold their guns.

I adored this mold the first time around and I haven’t lost any love for it. While I haven’t yet ponied up for the Tiger Tracks or G2 versions, I am very happy own the mold again as Red Alert. The figure is truly a work of art and also shows that Takara isn’t letting their QC slip back to the days of the original Lambor release. I’m really glad Takara reissued this guy as I’m not just about caught up on my MP Autobots. Yeah, there’s still one missing… the big guy himself, Optimus Prime, and thanks to another timely reissue I’ll check him out on the next Transformers Thursday.

Nov 6 2014

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

[I know, it’s Thursday… where the hell are the Transformers at? Fear not fans of change-a-bots, I’m only bumping this week’s TFT back a day and for reasons that will be made clear tomorrow. In the meantime, the feature I had planned for Friday will get bumped up to fill today’s slot. Enjoy!]

It’s been over a month since I last looked at one of Figuarts’ Sailor Scouts so today I’m checking out the third release in the line, Sailor Mars. Yeah, I’m way behind on these releases and I really need to work on getting caught up! When I looked at Mercury, I commented on how the anime really picked up for me with the addition of a second Sailor Scout for Usagi to play off of. Well, that sentiment is tripled after episode 10 when Sailor Mars joins the team. Ami may have made Usagi look bad on a regular basis because of how seriously she took her new found responsibilities, but the two still got along pretty well. Feisty Rei, on the other hand, was more like a rival and that lead to some great fun. As much as I dig Ami, she tends to be a pretty stereotypical character, whereas Rei comes across as a bit more complex. Needless to say I was super excited to get Mars into my collection.

I love the packaging on these ladies! Mars comes in the same style of compact window box as the previous two Scouts. The deco is personalized to fit Mars with yellow, orange, and red and there’s a picture of the figure on the front beside the window. Surprisingly, there’s no artwork from the anime or manga, instead you just get lots of photos of the toy inside. As expected, the majority of the copy on the box is in Japanese with just enough english to tell you what you’re getting. Inside the box the figure comes on a clear plastic tray with all her bits spread out to the side and the entire package is, of course, collector friendly. The hands and faces even come in their own covered tray to keep them from flying all over the place when you open it. There is, however, still one loose hand and a scroll in the main tray so a modicum of caution should still be applied.

Obviously, much of Mars’ outfit is similar to that of Sailor Moon and Mercury’s. You get the same sculpted pleated skirt as well as the large bows on her chest and back. Aside from the coloring, the only obvious difference in Mars’ costume is that she’s wearing high heels instead of boots. The heels look good, but they provide quite a challenge when getting the figure to stand on her own. I didn’t have nearly as much trouble with Sailor Moon or Mercury.

Mars features four swappable faces. You get the stock, smiley face, the serious face, the eyes closed in concentration face, and the shouty face. The switch is made simply by removing the front of the hair piece, pulling off the old face and pegging on the new one. They’re all pretty good portraits, but I will likely stick with the serious face for Rei as I think it reflects her personality the best. The head sculpt also features Mars’ two tiny star earrings and a copious mane of black hair. The hair has hinged pieces on the sides so you can fan it out more to convey movement in action poses, or collapse it so it falls flat behind her.

The paintwork has been solid on my Sailor Scout figures so far, with just a few very minor spots of uneven application or visible brush strokes. Mars’ paint, however, is pretty much perfect. I can’t find anything to nit pick at all. The red used for her skirt, collar, rear bow, and shoes is nice and bright and I dig the metallic purple and red used for the bow on her front. The pearlescent white on her top and gloves looks great as ever and the skin tones are all clean and even.

Hands! Hands! HANDS!!! As expected, Mars comes with a lot of hands… five pairs and an extra, depending on how you count. She comes with her relaxed hands attached. She also has a pair of fists, a pair of slightly less balled up fists, a pair with fingers splayed out, a right hand with index finger pointed, and a single piece with both hands attached to recreate her FIIIIIRE SOUL! attack. You also get a single right hand designed to hold her Ofuda scroll.

The included stand is the same as we’ve seen with the last two Sailor Scouts only with personalized paint on the base. It’s clear plastic with a heart shape base and a hinged arm that can delicately support the figure around the waist or under the arms. While I do love these stands, it’s worth noting that Mars’ long hair tends to interfere with the placement of the gripping arm. The previously mentioned hinges in her hair do help to create a gap and accommodate it, but to make it work you need to turn Mars’ head a bit.

Apart from her extra portraits and gaggle of hands, Mars is a bit light on the accessories. In fact all she comes with is a single Ofuda scroll and man is it tiny. It’s designed to fit between the fingers of one specific hand and it does work well for that, but I can’t help but think it would have been better if they had sculpted it as part of the hand. They did that with Sailor Moon’s “Moon Tiara Action” effect and that was a much bigger piece than this little scrap of plastic.

I picked up Sailor Mars for a little under forty bucks and I think that’s a great deal for what you get. Sure, Mars feels wanting in accessories when compared to Sailor Moon and Mercury. Tossing in a fire effect part would have gone a long way to help alleviate that, but it’s not something that dampens my love of the figure. The articulation makes for a figure that’s hard to put down and I could literally spend hours just swapping out hands and coming up with different poses for her. As my first real experience with Figuarts, these figures have been impressing the hell out of me and I’m having a blast building the team and fiddling about with them as I revisit some of my favorite episodes of the classic anime as well. Yeah, there’s also Crystal too, but I haven’t completely made up my mind about that one yet. I’ll try not to let so much time pass before revisiting this line, because Sailor Jupiter is next on my shelf waiting to be featured!

Oct 27 2014

Muv Luv Alternative Total Eclipse: Inia Sestina Pilot Suit Statue by Kotobukiya

I promised myself I would try to put some things to bed before the end of the month and that included wrapping up my look at Kotobukiya’s three statues based on the anime series Muv Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse. I started with Yui back in September and then Cryska and now it’s time to look at the younger half of the Scarlet Twins, Inia.

By now we know what to expect from the packaging for this line. The box features windows to let you get a peek at the statue inside and the deco relies on pictures of the statue itself, rather than any character art from the anime. It’s also worth noting that these boxes are a lot less Western-friendly than Koto’s Bishoujo and ArtFX+ packaging. In other words there’s very little English apart from the name fo the series and statue. Because of the orientation of the statues, Yui’s box was very tall, Cryska’s was landscaped, and Inia’s is a little bit in between. As always, the box is collector friendly and the statue comes wrapped in plastic and between two clear plastic trays. The only assembly required is attaching the figure to the base.

The composition of this piece has Inia sitting on a little mound of shattered concrete rubble with her legs out in front of her. She has one hand resting on the base and the other drawn up to her left shoulder. I think it’s a great pose because it shows off the suit really well and compliments the other two statues beautifully. Inia is the youngest of the three ladies, and it’s reflected in her slightly smaller stature, but not so much in her rather outrageous measurements.

The Crimson Twins are co-pilots and as such their pilot suits are designed en suite making them almost identical. The only profound difference that I can see is that Inia is missing the pauldron that’s present on Cryska’s left shoulder. Otherwise, you get the same great contrasts of curvy skin-tight latex with the bulkier boots and a few slightly armored bits here and there. I liked this suit a lot on Cryska and it still looks great on Inia.

The portrait here features Inia’s unmistakable wide and innocent eyes that reflect her younger age. Despite having nearly identical suits, there’s certainly no mistaking which pilot is which. The face sculpt is intentionally soft, as with the other two statues, but the paint used for the eyes is sharp and immaculate. Inia has much longer hair than Cryska and Koto went all out showcasing that. They do love their windblown hair effects and in this case I think they outdid themselves. It splays out all around Inia’s back almost like a cape and it looks fabulous. I especially like the one collection of strands that snakes across her front just below her chin. Inia’s hair is the same pale purple as Cryska’s, but it has more of a silvery metallic sheen to it which looks great.

Speaking of paint, the deco on Inia’s suit is identical to that of Cryska’s. You get the same slight matte purple and black along with high gloss pale blue and some mint green accents. Once again, the paintwork here is excellent just about all the paint lines are incorporated into the sculpt, making them sharp and better defined. It’s not as flashy as Yui’s suit, but it sure does look nice.

While the bases of the three statues are not inter-connective, it’s obvious that Koto designed these three to display together. Besides the three bases sharing the same appropriate ruined concrete theme, each statue is orientated to a different height from Cryska lying on the ground to Inia reclining on a wall, to Yui standing straight up. It’s a nice bit of planning and I’ll confess that had Koto not done such a great job of coordinating the three pieces, I may have been content to just buy Yui. Of course, if you just fancy the Scarlet Twins, they look mighty good together as set too, but… aw, who am I kidding? I was always compelled to get all three. Unlike Cryska, Inia actually does get secured to her base via a tab in her left hand.

If you’ve been kicking around FFZ for any length of time then you probably already know that I’m an unabashed Kotobukiya fanatic. They do amazing workmanship for reasonable prices and they often touch on many of my favorite properties. When I first saw that they were working on statues for Total Eclipse, I knew I was going to have to pick them up. It took me a little while to get around to it, but now that these three ladies are on my shelf I’m so very glad that I did. Kotobukiya also released an additional two pilot suit statues from Muv Luv Alternative, although not from the Total Eclipse series: Meiya Mitsurugi and Kagami Sumika. Unlike Yui, Cryska, and Inia, these are characters that I’m not as familiar with, but I’m still considering adding them to my collection because I think they would look great with the trio I already have. Of course, Figma has also produced some figures based off the ladies of Total Eclipse, but that’s a rabbit hole I’m trying to avoid.

Oct 10 2014

Muv Luv Alternative Total Eclipse: Cryska Barchenowa Pilot Suit Statue by Kotobukiya

Last month I took a look at the first of Kotobukya’s 1:7 scale statues based on the lovely lady mech pilots of Muv Luv Alternative Total Eclipse. I meant to get back to these sooner, but my receivings pile runneth over and I’ve had tons of new stuff to look at. Let’s remedy that today by checking out my second acquisition in this line, Cryska Barchenowa, the elder of the infamous Scarlet Twins!

Cryska comes in the same style window box that we saw last time with Yui. The deco is more pink than yellow and the box is landscape orientated to reflect the horizontal composition of the statue. There’s no character artwork from the series, instead the deco relies solely on photos of the statue. I suppose that’s appropriate, since the windows are rather small and so you don’t really get a good look at the entire piece until you open up the box and get her out. While the box is bi-lingual up to a point, it isn’t as Western friendly as Koto’s Bishoujo and ArtFX packages The statue comes nestled between two clear plastic trays with some minor set up required. All you need to do is put the gun in her hand and lay the figure on the base. As usual, the box is totally collector friendly.

The composition on this piece is an interesting choice. Cryska is reclining on the ground with one hand propping her up and the other holding her sidearm. I like it a lot, but one could argue it doesn’t necessarily suit Cryska’s cold and strong-willed personality. On the other hand, the addition of the gun helps bring it back home and gives me the vibe that this is her posing for the TSF Pilots Calendar. Hey, in the series, the pilots all went out to a tropical island for a photo shoot, why not do one in their suits as well? Either way, it’s certainly a fine display of cheesecake, although not nearly as gratuitous as Koto’s last treatment of Cryska clad only in a red bikini and stockings.

As with Yui, Cryska is tightly encased in her pilot suit, which is a tantalizing mix of skin tight rubber and somewhat bulkier armored parts. In this case, however, I think Cryska’s sensuous curves far outshine the downplayed angular bits that make up her boots, gloves, and shoulder armor. Plus, Cryska’s two greatest assets are pretty much staring the beholder right in the face. Best not to linger, she is an Esper after all and she knows what you’re thinking. Still, the contrast works beautifully and I like to think that the design reflects the synergy of pilot and machine that is stressed so much in the anime.

The portrait here is quite nice, with Cryska’s face beautifully framed between the chin guard of her suit and her tussled purplish hair. Yes, I really love how they did the coloring on her hair. Her large eyes are beautifully painted as well.

Speaking of which, the paintwork on this statue is gorgeous. The base color of the plug suit is a very pale purple with a brilliant glossy sheen. Next up you have a matte purple for the legs and armor bits and trim. The arms feature both matte black and navy blue, and there are some mint green points located around her armor. I also can’t help but love those suggestive tattoo-like markings down near her nethers. The geometric patterns on her back and butt are quite nice too.

Cryska’s base simulates ruined concrete and perfectly matches the style of the one used for Yui. This one isn’t as elaborate as it just has one small piece of wall jutting up. Also, unlike Yui’s base, this one has no pegs to attach the figure to. She just lies right on top of it. You do still get some pieces of rubble to place around the base if you so desire. I’ve opted to leave these out for the time being.

Cryska retails for about $80, which granted is considerably more than Koto’s Bishoujo offerings, but I still think it’s well worth it for the quality and craftsmanship that you’re getting. Since buying these statues, I’ve been having a blast re-watching this series on Cruncyroll, albeit with my busy schedule, now I’m reduced to just a couple of episodes a week so it’ll take me a while to finish it again, but I’m enjoying it every bit as much as I did the first go round. Cryska is a great character and her mysterious nature was a big part of what kept me coming back for more during my initial viewing. Koto produced a beautiful statue here, which makes a fine stand-alone piece, but really begs to be displayed with the other ladies. Speaking of which, next week I’ll circle back and check out the other half of the infamous Scarlet Twins, Inia.

FigureFan Zero

Action Figure Reviews, Toys & Collectibles…

Tag Archives: imports

Transformers: Masterpiece Ultra Magnus (MP-22) by Takara

The Avengers: Thor ArtFX+ Statue by Kotobukiya

DC Comics: Starfire Bishoujo Statue by Kotobukiya

Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet: Amy and Grace 1/8 Scale Statue by MegaHouse

DC Comics: ArtFX+ Batgirl Statue by Kotobukiya

Figma “Attack on Titan” Mikasa Ackerman by Max Factory

Transformers: Masterpiece Alert (MP-14) by Takara

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

Muv Luv Alternative Total Eclipse: Inia Sestina Pilot Suit Statue by Kotobukiya

Muv Luv Alternative Total Eclipse: Cryska Barchenowa Pilot Suit Statue by Kotobukiya

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