Tag Archives: imports

Mar 18 2017

Sword Art Online: Asuna Loading Figure by Taito

It’s Anime Saturday again! I’ve come here to open anime figures and drink coffee, and I’m all out of coffee. Nah, not really. I just put on a fresh pot. And just to remind you that these Saturdays aren’t always about adding to my beloved KanColle collection, I thought I’d check out something new from Sword Art Online. I’ve looked at plenty of Asuna figures, including both Figmas and prize figures, but this one is another cool little piece from Taito and it features her dialing into the game and downloading her outfit.

The packaging holds no surprises, as we’ve seen this sort of thing before. It’s a fully enclosed box with perforations on the sides for handles. It’s colorful, it’s collector friendly, and the figure inside comes wrapped in plastic. Unwrap her, plug her foot into her base and she’s all set to go!

Here we see Asuna, accessing the interface for the game and I presume she’s loading her avatar’s Knights of Blood outfit from the top down, because the lower part of her jacket is clear, as if its in the process of downloading, and she’s barefoot, so I presume her boots are next to materialize. This is a clever idea for a variant and I think the way they did it turned out splendidly. From the skirt up, her outfit is fully realized, and I’ve made it no secret that this is my favorite look for Asuna.

The paint on this piece is very well done, particularly all the red trim on the white costume, with just a little bit of yellow. It’s a beautiful deco. If I had one minor complaint it would be that some of the plastic on her coat looks a little waxier than usual, but it’s nothing that I’m really all that upset about and it probably isn’t even worth my mentioning it.

I like the portrait, although I’m not one hundred percent sure what they were going for here. She looks surprised. Maybe Kirito walked in on her changing? Whatever the case, it’s cute and it’s definitely Asuna. As always, her eyes are beautifully printed, and I really dig the dynamic flow of her hair.

The game interface is pretty cool too. It’s basically just a slab of translucent plastic with a little paintwork to suggest she’s accessing her character screen. Considering that this is a budget prize figure, I think they pulled off the effect quite well.

The base is as simple as you can get. It’s just a clear plastic disc with a raised incline to plug her left foot into. Part of me wishes that Taito would just stick with one kind of base for each series of figures. As it is we get all different shapes and sizes, some clear and some opaque, some with logos, some without. Oh well, it’s too late for that now.

Let’s face it, every figure company under the sun has had their crack at Asuna. I could probably fill a shelf just on the releases of her in her Blood Knight outfit alone. So it’s nice to know that some companies are trying for some that are unusual, like her Aincrad Fencer outfit and this Loading version. The figure is excellent, and at this point I expect nothing less from Taito’s work. And at a ridiculously low price $16 shipped, I couldn’t be happier with her on my shelf.

Mar 6 2017

Marvel Comics: Spider-Gwen Bishoujo Statue by Kotobukiya

I know, riiiiight? It’s been forever and a day since I last looked at one of Kotobukiya’s Bishoujo statues and I have no excuses other than I’ve been prioritizing Marvel Legends so as not to fall too far behind. But it’s crazy to think that I haven’t visited with this line since the Summer of last year, and the last Marvel Bishoujo I showcased here was Ms. Van Dyne all the way back in October of 2015. Holy hell, that’s way too long. So today I’m opening up a brand new Marvel gal for this collection and it is indeed, Gwen Stacey, aka Spider-Gwen!

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The box is pretty typical for the comic book based Bishoujos. It’s mostly white with some great artwork from Shunya Yamashita. You get plenty of windows to let the light in and the statue comes between two clear plastic trays. Spider-Gwen is one of the very few Marvel books that I’m current with (at least in collected trade format), and I enjoy it a fair bit. But if I’m honest, Marvel’s comics have been going through some really weird phases these days and I find it pushing me to spend more time reading DC’s ReBirth. But that’s an entirely different discussion for a different time and place. Gwen’s set up only requires you to peg her left foot into the base. She comes with her unmasked portrait, but I’m actually going to start with her masked.

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And here she is, and she is fantastic! There’s a lot to love here, but straightaway, it’s the balance of this statue that really impresses me. With just her left heel touching the base, Gwen pulls off a fantastic gravity-defying pose, as she pulls back her right hand to throw a punch and her left hand reaches out to thwip out another web. Not only does the composition of this piece just exude energy, but it also allows you to get a great look at the figure from every angle. Koto has done some amazing poses for their Marvel and DC ladies over the years, but this is without a doubt one of my favorites and it suits the character perfectly.

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Gwen is somewhat unique among the Bishoujos in that she requires very little detailed sculpting and features a nearly entirely matte painted finish. Now, I don’t want to undercut the fantastic job they did with all her curves and contours, but apart from her lovely shape, the only real detail here from the neck down can be found on the cut web patterns on her arms and underarms, cut lines just below her knees, and on her shoes. You also get cut lines to reinforce the paint lines. Keep in mind, none of this is a criticism at all, quite the contrary, it’s totally appropriate for the character design and also serves to make Spider-Gwen a refreshingly simple figure.

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The other distinctive thing here that I mentioned was the completely matte finish, except for her shoes. Koto does indeed love their high gloss paints and in truth it does seem to go so well with so many of the super hero costumes. In this case, they were right to avoid it. The white here looks so bright and clean and the black is smooth and consistent. The plastic Koto uses for these takes white and black so well, which has sometimes been a problem with lines like Diamond’s Marvel and DC Galleries, which often show rubbing. The red webbing and blue shoes serve to break up the black and white costume beautifully. If I were to nitpick just a bit, the red in the webbing inserts doesn’t quite line up with the cut lines, but it’s not something that bothers me.

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One thing that does, however, bother me is how I’m going to choose which head to display her with. The hooded and masked head is superb. It goes on all as one piece and there are tabs on the hood to make it connect with the body. The sculpted and painted web patterns inside the hood look great and the mauve spray that defines her eyes is spot on. It’s amazing how quickly this costume has become iconic for me and that’s a strong argument to go with this this option. On the other hand…

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The unmasked portrait really conveys what the Bishoujo line is all about. This option is achieved with two pieces. The lowered hood tabs in first and then the head after that, and the combo is splendid. Gwen is one of those characters that fits right in with the Bishoujo style without a lot of tweaking at all. Her eyes and hair are perfect and that sly little smile is one of the best expressions Koto has done for this line. In the end, I’m probably going to go unmasked. The last time this decision was such a dilemma was with Koto’s Batwoman.

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The base is a raised disc with an incline, very similar to the kind used for Wonder Woman v2. This one is painted with a black and white city skyline and a mauve sky to match her costume deco. It really matches the art styling of the comic very well.

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Spider-Gwen is quite simply Bishoujo perfection. What’s more, even if you aren’t a fan of Koto’s Bishoujo line (WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU??), and you’re just looking for a really nice Spider-Gwen statue, you could display this statue with the masked portrait and no one would be any the wiser. And I should toss in here how great it is, after such a long absence, to be opening one of Koto’s lovely Bishoujo statues again. It goes without saying that it’s particularly nice to come back to such a very strong entry in the series. It’s true there have been a couple of Marvel gals that I skipped. I wasn’t really keen on their She-Hulk and I haven’t gotten around to picking up Lady Deadpool yet. Fortunately, there are a lot of Bishoujo ladies hitting the shelves either right now or very soon, so it’s safe to say I’ll have some more Bishoujos featured here again in the coming months, particularly Squirrel Girl, Harley Quinn v2, Wonder Girl, Lady Thor, Lady Loki, and Street Fighter’s Ibuki. So sit tight, Bishoujo fans. Things are going to start heating up again real soon.

Mar 4 2017

Arpeggio of the Blue Steel Ars Nova DC: Iona by SEGA

Who’s ready for another Anime Saturday, eh? I’ve got quite a backlog of anime gals I want to get around to opening up and today I’m just pulling one at random off the pile. It’s Iona, the Mental Model of the renegade Fleet of Fog submarine I-401 from Arpeggio of the Blue Steel! If you haven’t seen this series yet, I highly recommend it and at only twelve episodes plus Cadenza, it’s a pretty quick ride. A while back I looked at Max Factory’s Figma of Iona and today I’m checking out Taito’s prize figure.

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The figure comes in a fully enclosed box with perforations on the side to make handles. It’s pretty standard stuff for a prize figure, but it’s colorful, collector friendly, and features a shot of the figure on the front and some artwork from the anime on the side panel. There’s precious little in the way of English on the package, so you really need to know what you’re looking at here. Like Figma’s Iona, this one is also based off of her look from the post-series film and not from the series itself. That’s fine, but one of these days, I’d like to get a figure of Iona in her darker blue sailor uniform.

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And here she out of the box, plugged into her base, and ready to go. At just under 8 1/2-inches, Inoa is closer to a fully scaled figure than your average prize figure. She actually scales perfectly with SEGA’s “Super Premium” releases. I like the pose well enough. Iona is balancing on her right foot with her left foot kicked up behind her a bit. Her arms are out away from her sides and her hair is kicking up around them. There’s a nice sense of kinetism to the composition and it shows off the figure splendidly.

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As mentioned, the costume is the two-tone paler blue version, which most of the Iona merch tends to gravitate towards. She has a white sailor’s collar with blue striping, a pink neckerchief, white knee-high socks, and tall white boots with blue lacing. She also has her fleet insignia on the lower back of her blouse.

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The portrait is pretty basic. I like the printing on her pale blue eyes and she offers a hint of a smile. The paint is overall fairly solid on this figure, although there are a few little blemishes here and there and the lines could be a little crisper. Still, I’ve got no complaints. afterall, these are the little things that set a twenty dollar figure apart from a hundred and twenty dollar figure.

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I like the base a lot. It consists of a raised black disc with white printing, which includes the fleet insignia, some hexagons and the title of the anime with “Ars Nova DC” in English.

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Now here’s the kicker: I paid less than $13 for Iona shipped from Amazon, where she’s still available at the time this review goes to press. THIRTEEN BUCKS! I’m still gobsmacked by what a great deal she is. Sure, there are better versions of Iona out there, if you’re looking to spend five to ten times that, and those figures are most definitely worth it. But, I get a kick out of hunting these less expensive prize figures, mainly because they still look great and I can put a lot more characters on my shelf and still stay within budget. Also SEGA does have a version of her in her darker outfit, and yes it happens to be on the way to me!

Feb 11 2017

KanColle: Battleship Nagato “Super Premium” Prize Figure by SEGA

Hooray! Anime Saturday is back again! I’m having a lazy morning, sipping some coffee and opening up a brand new Kantai Collection “Super Premium” figure from SEGA. I last visited with this line back in May of last year when I looked at the three Destroyers: Fubuki, Mutsuki, and Yuudachi. These are technically still prize figures, but they’re also closer to fully scaled figures and I found them to be remarkable, especially considering how ridiculously cheap they were. Today, I’m checking out the big mama of them all, Secretary Ship Nagato! And what lies ahead are some choppy waters filled with both delight and disappointment.

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While the Destroyers came in window boxes, Nagato comes in a fully enclosed and very colorful box with lots of pictures and very little in the way of English text. It’s a pretty damn big box too! The Destroyers were large for prize figures and Nagato is similarly scaled, measuring in at a little over 9-inches tall. Between that and her wide stance, the box had to be considerably larger. Inside, the figure comes nestled between two clear plastic trays with the stand detached. All you have to do is plug her into the base and she’s good to go. But wait… that’s it? Isn’t there something missing? Well, that’s the disappointing part, and I’ll save that for the end.

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…because everything else here is nothing but wonderful. Nagato is absolutely gorgeous and it’s hard to believe that she qualifies as a prize figure by any stretch of the imagination. The Secretary Ships, Nagato and Mutsu are my favorite two character designs from the anime and it’s awesome to see one of them get this Super Premium format treatment. The costume includes her sleek rudder boots, crimson stockings, which are held up by straps that attach to her armament belt, and secured by adorable little anchor snaps! She has a very short white skirt, and her cut-off top exposes her midriff and shoulders, and her long, finger-less gloves. I also love the simple but effective pose here.  She’s looks so damn majestic standing there with her right hand on her rigging belt and her left arm thrust out, about to issue the order to attack the cursed Abyssinal Fleet.

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The quality of plastic and paintwork on this figure are both exceptional. The colors are vibrant and the lines are so sharp, you really need to get in pretty close to see any imperfections. When you take a budget-priced prize figure and blow it up to this scale, I would expect to see plenty of opportunities for sloppy paint work, but there’s simply no evidence of that here. What’s more, the skin tones are soft and even and the plastic looks and feels great.

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The portrait is spot on, with Nagato offering up a characteristically stern and defiant expression. I really dig the way her long hair crowns the head and blows majestically in the breeze and her big beautiful eyes are perfectly printed. Naturally, the head sculpt includes her radar and antenna array.

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The simple black disc base is absolutely huge to accommodate her wide stance, but it looks kind of vacant. It also has a rectangular outline in the front. What could that be for? So, yeah… here comes the disappointing part. She’s obviously missing her 41cm Twin Gun Mount. This was one of the rare cases where the figure and armaments were sold separately. The Outfitting Kit included a second stand to display the gun mount independently, but you could also combine it with the figure and stand. I knew this going in, but the seller stated that both were included. When just the figure arrived and I challenged the seller, the response was ship it back for a refund. The truth was, I love the figure, and opted to take a hit and keep her.

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Nagato set me back $40 shipped, which admittedly would have been an amazing price for both the figure and Gun Mount. But hell, even for just the figure, the price seems right. And besides, Nagato spent 95% of the anime without her weaponry, so she’s absolutely fine displayed this way. In that regard, it feels like a crime to come away from this beautiful figure with any sense of disappointment. She’s simply amazing in every way. But in the end, I couldn’t let it stand, so I’ve got her Gun Mount coming from another seller in Japan. Naturally, when it arrives I’ll get her all kitted out and we’ll take a second look!

Jan 28 2017

KanColle: Shimakaze (Four Seasons of Chinjufu Naval Base) by Banpresto

Anime Saturday has been gone for a while, I know, but I’m really making an effort to bring it back. This morning, for example, I resisted the urge to stay in bed and read comics and instead, I got up and opened one of the many prize figures that I have stacked in the corner begging for attention. And since it’s been ages since I opened a new KanColle Fleet Girl, that’s exactly what I’m doing today. Let’s have a look at another Shimakaze!

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Yup, I love me some Shimakaze, and this is actually my first Fleet Girl from Banpresto, all the others have been from Taito and SEGA. I stumbled upon this figure one night while doing a little inebriated Amazon browsing and was shocked because I had never seen her before. Yes, I do have most of these prize figures tucked away on a Wish List for easy ordering. Anyway, the price was right and there was only one available so I jumped on it! The figure comes in a fully enclosed box with virtually no English text at all, so this is one of those cases where you really need to know what you’re looking at. There is a familiar Kantai Collection logo on the box, but it too is in Japanese. Inside, the figure itself comes in two parts and needs to be tabbed together. The dock also requires the posts to be plugged into it. The assembly is easy-peasy and when you’re done, here’s what you get…

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Lovely! Shimakaze relaxes on a dock about to start munching on a piece of watermelon while her faithful Rensouhou-Chan stands beside her and looks to be begging for scraps. Now, I’m calling this a dock, but I’ll concede that it might be intended as a table. I’m going with dock because Shimakaze has her trademark striped stockings and rudder boots off, so I’m assuming that she’s paddling her toes in the water. If this was one of Taito’s releases, it would probably have fallen under their “Day Off” series. Neither figure attaches to the dock, so you’re free to place them wherever you want.

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The sculpt here is quite good, although maybe just a tad softer than what I’m used to seeing from the other guys. And while Shimakaze is partly out of uniform from the knees down, everything above that should be readily familiar to any fan of the character. She has her low riding blue pleated skirt, exposing her G-string, her cut-off sailor-style top, with big buttons and black necktie, and her long white gloves with blue and yellow cuffs at her biceps. And no figure of Shimakaze would be complete without her bunny ears hair ribbon. The paint is overall solid. It could be a little sharper in some areas, but there’s nothing overtly bad here when it comes to the paint quality.

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The portrait is excellent. I happen to be a fan of Shimakaze’s more vexed expressions, but here she’s just clearly happy to be enjoying a little down time, and that’s cool. The large eyes are beautifully printed and her pale blonde hair is parted down the back and blowing off to the sides.

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Rensouhou-Chan is as adorable as ever. This is one of the smaller Rensouhou from her retinue. His sculpt is complete with his little flipper arms and bright yellow propeller tail. His guns rise up from his head like antenna and he has an adorable little face painted on the front of his turret head.

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One cool thing is that this Shimakaze fits almost perfectly into the life preserver base from my Taito figure. It’s crazy how well this works despite the two figures being made by two different companies.

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There’s no doubt that this was an impulse buy. I hit that 1-Click Buy It Now the moment I saw it and I’m not disappointed. At about $21 shipped, it’s a pretty decent price. I’ve certainly gotten better Taito Fleet Girl pieces for less, but those were just ridiculously good deals, so I’m not going to hold it against this gal. I’m a sucker for Shimakaze, and I’ll pretty much buy her figures no matter who puts them out.

Dec 10 2016

KanColle: Myoko Class Heavy Cruiser Ashigara Kai II by SEGA

What, What? You want more KanColle? Of course you do! Everyone surely must share my borderline obsessive love for collecting figures from a browser game-slash-anime series, right? Well, that’s a good thing because I do indeed have more Kantai Collection love coming your way on this beautiful Anime Saturday morning. Today I’m checking out another character exclusive to the game and it is indeed The Myoko Class Heavy Cruiser, Ashigara, in her second upgrade, and oh boy is she a beauty!

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The figure comes in a fully enclosed box with perforations on the sides to make handles. It’s pretty standard stuff for a prize figure, but it’s also quite attractive. You get some lovely shots of the figure as well as some gorgeous character art. There is, however, precious little in the way of English on the box. Practically none, in fact, so this is one of those situations where you really need to know what you’re buying. And since Ashigara is a full 1/7 scale figure, the box is pretty tall. The back panel features a picture with simple instructions on assembling Ashigara’s rather large gun mounts. Besides that, you just plug her into the base and she’s good to go.

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And check her out! Most of the KanColle prize figures I own are the smaller ships, basically destroyers and below, which makes sense based on their size and complexity versus the relatively low price point of these figures. But here, SEGA tackled one of the big mamas and brought us a full on Heavy Cruiser in her most powered up form. This is definitely one of the most complex figures I own in either SEGA or Taito’s KanColle lines and she is absolutely splendid.

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Ashigara’s final form, so to speak, sees her wearing a regal purple blouse with white piping, an extravagantly patterned neck tie, a short black skirt, white gloves, white stockings, and a pair of ankle boots. There’s a little bleed through on her white piping and the patterns on her tie could be a little sharper, but I still think the paint on sculpt on her outfit are fantastic for a figure in this price range.

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Her portrait is simple, but attractive. Her long brunette hair shows some stray strands blowing in the wind and she looks off to the side as she is about to unleash the full force of her guns on her hapless adversary.

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And my, what guns she has! As a heavy cruiser, Ashigara is armed to the teeth! Most notable are her two arm assemblies, patterned after the prows of ships. The right contains three turrets and the left two, and each of those turrets are equipped with twin 20.3cm guns. These are harnessed to her back and she clutches the handle on one with her left hand while the other hangs free.

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Next she has two tiny guns hanging off her belt. I’m going to assume these are anti-aircraft guns, but they aren’t called out in her in-game character stats, so I’m not certain.

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Finally, Ashigara features two 61cm quadruple oxygen-powered torpedo mounts, one strapped on each of her thighs. All of her weapons are cast in gray plastic and feature simple, but effective use of detail. The gun barrels are soft plastic, but all the guns on my figure are pretty straight.

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The base is a simple white hexagonal piece with her name and class printed in blue. I really appreciate that her name is properly orientated on the base to the angle that I’m most likely to display her. That was a minor quibble I had with last week’s Sword Art Online figure by SEGA.

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While Ashigara is a full 1/7 scale figure, she isn’t perfectly sized to go with any of my other SEGA KanColle girls. She’s about the same size as the Super Premium Destroyers (Fubuki, Yuudachi, and Mutsuki) but those are supposed to be younger girls and smaller ships, so Ashigara should be a little bigger. On the other hand SEGA’s Carriers, like Akagi are scaled smaller and closer to Taito’s prize figures. It’s not a big deal for me, as I’m just as happy having each character different, but it’s bound to irritate those looking for a more uniform display for their Fleet Girls.

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And here comes the best part of collecting these prize figures. How much was Ashigara? $18 shipped. Yes, Amazon continues to be a rich source for these imports with many of them shipping from inside the US and also qualifying for free Prime shipping. It’s such a treat not having to deal with long overseas shipping times and currency conversions when buying these imports. If it weren’t for Amazon as a resource, I probably would never have even realized this figure existed let alone have her standing on my shelf right now!

Dec 3 2016

Sword Art Online II: Lisbeth by SEGA

I wanted to start busting into my Kantai Collection Figmas for this weekend’s Anime Saturday, but work and holiday madness just didn’t allow it. As a result, I’m going to dig into my pile of Sword Art Online Prize Figures from SEGA and why not start with a character that doesn’t get a lot of merchandise? How about adorable blacksmith extraordinaire, Lisbeth!

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I’ve looked at some of SEGA’s Super Premium KanColle figures, but this is my first foray into their SAO line. While many of their KanColle pieces are actually fully scaled figures, these fall more into the 6 to 6 1/2-inch scale, which is not too shabby and fits in perfectly with Taito’s SAO offerings. The figure comes in a colorful, fully enclosed box with lots of pictures of what you’re getting. Inside, Lisbeth comes suspended in a plastic bubble and all you have to do is plug her into the base and she’s all ready for display.

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And hot damn, doesn’t she look great? There’s so many things I love about this figure, I’m not sure where to begin. This is, of course, Lisbeth’s ALO Avatar. I certainly wouldn’t have minded a figure of her in her SAO blacksmithing dress, but I’ll happily take her in her ALfheim adventuring gear, particularly since I love the ladies’ costume designs so much. The pose here is cute and she’s obviously mugging for the camera. She’s bent slightly over with one hand on her hip and the other up in the air, almost like she’s flexing.

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The actual armor plates are confined to a chest piece, hip plates, a left shoulder, and grieves. Under that can be seen a slightly poufy blouse, a sort of sideways sash, which just hangs down on the sides and leaves the front and back of her legs open, white ragged cut leggings, and boots. While the details on some of these prize figures can run soft, what’s here the sculpt is sharp and very well developed.

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Still, I think it’s the coloring on this figure that really sells it. The silver edging on the white armor looks fantastic and the red garment with yellow piping makes the whole thing pop beautifully. What’s more, the quality of the paint application is impressive for a figure in this price range. The lines are pretty sharp and the whites are bright. There’s virtually no slop or bleeding to speak of.

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The portrait is just perfect. Lisbeth offers a shy smile. Her gorgeous eyes are perfectly printed and she’s got a hint of freckles. Her short pink hair is kept in place with a little sculpted hairclip. The plastic used for the flesh tone is also quite good and not too waxy. And just check out the paint on her collar ribbon. It’s immaculate!

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The base is a simple white hexagon with Sword Art Online printed on it in both English and Japanese. My only complaint here is the orientation of the statue on the base in relation to the position of the lettering. To display it on my shelf from the ankle I like, I have to have the lettering skewed to one side. It’s probably not a big deal to most, but it aggravates my OCD.

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And, I couldn’t call it a day without an obligatory tushie shot.

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I was originally sticking with Taito for my SAO figures, but I had to go to SEGA to get Lisbeth on my shelf and after experiencing the quality of this piece, I quickly picked up some more. I’d say the quality on this one is on par with Taito’s Aincard Fencer Asuna, but quite a bit better than their ALfheim version of Sinon. Lisbeth set me back about $25, which is more than I’m used to paying for these figures, but I feel it’s still a good value for what you’re getting.

Nov 19 2016

KanColle: Destroyer Shimakaze by Taito

It’s been more than a few Anime Saturdays since I last tortured you all with my Kantai Collection obsession, so let’s visit with another one of Taito’s Fleet Girls. This time, it’s the adorable Shimakaze! Yes, for a change I’m actually looking at a character from the anime series and not just the video game!

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We’ve seen Taito’s packaging many times here, and there isn’t much different here. You get a fully enclosed box with some striping on the bottom half and lots of pictures of the figure inside. Despite Shimakaze kicking back in a life preserver, this release is not classified as one of Taito’s “Day Off” figures. I’m guessing that’s because Shimakaze is dressed in her uniform and not a swimsuit. Then again, some of the other “Day Offs” were in uniform. I’m so confused!!! Also, I know what you’re thinking. Hey, that looks an awful lot like the Submarine Ro-500 figure that you featured a few weeks back. Yes, there are certainly some similarities here, but it’s still an entirely new figure, preserver, and base.

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So, as already mentioned, Shimakaze reclines on a red and white life preserver and decked out in her uniform, but minus her armaments. Her outfit features her cut-off top, long gloves, blue skirt, exposed g-string, candy-striped stockings, and rudder boots. It’s all beautifully sculpted here and the skirt and top are layered onto the figure, which is always a bonus. Even the collar and neckerchief pops up off of the top to give it some added dimension and credibility. The figure itself simply rests in the tube, just like we saw with Ro-500, so you can pick her up and check her out from all angles.

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The life preserver sports a little less detail than R0’s, as it’s missing the rope running around the edges. And while I’m overall very happy with the sculpt here, I think the way the hair parts looks a little unnatural from the back. That having been said, it looks fine from the front and that’s the way I’ll be viewing the statue most of the time, so it isn’t a big deal.

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The portrait is fantastic and depicts Shimakaze with her traditional rabbit ear headband and perturbed expression. I’m interpreting the expression as her being annoyed at being knocked out of commission, hence the life preserver and lack of armaments, although it doesn’t explain why her uniform isn’t shredded, so I might be reading too much into that. On the downside, the above closeup shot shows that the quality of paintwork on this piece is really disappointing. The white ares show a lot of dirt and smudging and even her face and hair is rather dirty. The lines on her stockings are rough in some areas and there’s scratching on the preserver too. To be fair, if I’m viewing this piece from a display shelf, it’s not that bad, but the closer I get, the more noticeable it is. This is easily the worst paint on any of my Taito prize figures, and considering who the character is, that’s doubly disappointing.

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The base is very similar in design to Ro-500’s base. It’s a simple clear disc that uses three support poles to hold up the life preserver, which pegs in securely.

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Of course, you can’t have a Shimakaze figure without her Rensouhous and in this case you get the largest of the gang. Rensouhou-chan comes in his own little life preserver with a propeller sculpted on the back. He seems happy enough, which further suggests that I’m off base on my theory that this is Shimakaze after she’s taken a crippling hit. Rensouhou-Chan didn’t escape the shoddy paint problem either. There’s quite a bit of dirt on the white parts of his preserver.

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Shimakaze looks great displayed next to Ro. Now, I’m guessing she looks upset because she doesn’t have an ice pop, or maybe because her paint job isn’t as good. I’ve had my eye on this figure for quite a few months, waiting to finally find one shipping from inside the US. I also had to pay a little more for her, but she was still under $25 shipped, and I still consider that a great deal. It’s just too bad that the one I got has a sub-par paint job. If I had to choose, I would much rather have had rough paint on one of the Fleet Girls from the game, rather than one of my beloved characters from the anime series. Given the relatively low price of the figure and how much I love the character, I’d be tempted to roll the dice and try again for a figure with better paint at some point down the line. If I get around to doing that, I’ll likely post an Addendum here to report on how I make out.

Nov 12 2016

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

I’m slowly wrapping things up with the S.H. Figuarts Sailor Moon line with just a few more figures to look at. In fact, today’s Feature will be the last of the Sailor Scouts! I’ll confess that I’m still considering Sailor Chibi Moon and I’ll most definitely be adding Tuxedo Mask to my Sailor Moon shelf at some point. And no, right now I have no plans to double dip by getting all the Super Sailor Scouts. Black Lady? Hmm… maybe. So, let’s press on and check out Pretty Guardian Sailor Venus… VENUS POWER… MAKE UP!!!!

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I’ve showcased this packaging enough times over the last two years that we should all know what to expect by now. It’s compact, colorful, and collector friendly. In other words, it’s pretty much perfect. The character art on the side panels also make these look fantastic when they’re all lined up on a bookshelf. I’ll be honest, I was not planning on buying Minako, because I had a weird love-hate relationship with her in the anime. But once I had all the other Sailor Scouts, her absence from my collection was just too much for my OCD to handle.

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Venus’ outfit is basically just a direct repaint of Sailor Moon’s, with the exception of her wearing shoes instead of boots. As a result, this is a pretty familiar figure to anyone who already owns Usagi, and even more so to those like me who saved Minako for last. The skirt and collar are painted with a very attractive metallic orange, as well as her shoes and the fringe on her gloves. The bow on her front is blue with a gold button and the rest of the outfit is the same pearlescent white that we’ve been seeing all along. Paint quality is generally not an issue with these figures and in keeping with tradition the paint here is exceptionally good and probably among the best out of all of my Scouts. I initially thought that Venus’ head sat unusually high on the neck, but it turns out I didn’t have it pushed all the way in for some of these shots. D’oh!

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There’s not as much to see from behind because of her copious mane of blonde hair that fans out behind her. She still has a bow on her back, under all that hair, and the more visible one up on the back of her head. The sides are connected by ball joints, so you can fan the hair out more or less depending on the look you’re going for. It also helps when you’re trying to sneak the arm of the stand in somewhere behind her. Despite all her hair, the balance on this figure isn’t bad at all and I’m actually surprised at how well she stands on her own most of the time, even with her tiny feet. In addition to the usual gaggle of extra hands, Venus comes with four faces with different expressions, each one more adorable than the last…

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You get the smile face, the stoic and serious face, the shouty face, and the delighted face. This is pretty standard stuff for an SHF release, but it gives you plenty of different display options. Each face is swapped out the usual way by removing the front of the hair. The printing for the eyes is nice and sharp and each face includes the detailed gold tiara and the tiny earrings.

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Two cool additions here are the extra hair piece with her glasses attached and the hand holding them. These are very welcome bonus pieces and go along way to give this figure a lot of personality. I particularly like the way they made the glasses part of the hair so you can use them with any of the different expressions.

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The articulation is pretty standard stuff for an SH Figuart and as always I was able to pull off most of the moves I was looking for. The joints can be a little finicky sometimes, but in the end these figures are so much fun to play with and really hard to put down. The clear heart-shaped figure stand features Sailor Venus’ name and symbols in orange and matches the stands from the other Sailor Scouts. It’s not always easy to make it work with the hair, and I’ll confess that more and more, I’m finding these a lot more clunky than the peg system on Figmas.

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And naturally, you get Artemus the cat. This is more or less the same as Luna, the plastic kitty that came with Sailor Moon. She has articulation in the neck and tail and with a little coaxing he can usually stand on his own.

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In the end, I’m sure glad I didn’t skip this one. I wound up buying Venus from the Points of Articulation Podcast‘s Ebay page, which they use to offset costs of their production. If you aren’t a regular listener, I highly recommend becoming one. Phil and Justin have roots in both toys and gaming, and POA is the perfect dose of light-hearted toy banter, especially since the shows rarely go longer than an hour. I can always fit it in and I never miss an episode. They also tend to do more LEGO talk than the other toy Podcasts I listen to and that’s always a treat.

Oct 29 2016

Strike Witches: Perrine Clostermann 1/8 Scale Figure by Furyu

It’s another beautiful Anime Saturday here at FFZ and while I’d like to say I’ll be spending it split between anime watching and video gaming, the truth is I’ll be working most of the day. But at least I can still enjoy a little of the morning by having my coffee and checking out an anime figure. This time I’m going with another of Furyu’s “High Quality” Strike Witches.

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The package design is similar to the Charlotte Yeager figure I looked at quite a few months back. The figure comes in a colorful box with windows on the front and top. There’s very little in the way of English here, but at least it tells you who the character is and the name of the series. Although, if you didn’t already know that, I don’t know why you’d be buying this. While the packaging is collector friendly, the cardboard on these boxes tends to be really flimsy, so I don’t know how well these will hold up to storage. The base requires some very simple assembly before Perrine is ready for display.

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And here she is all set up and looking fantastic! If you aren’t familiar with the anime, Strike Witches follows the adventures of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing, comprised of young women who cast magic, have animal ears and tails, and fly around with pants that look like WWII fighter jets. They’re also our last line of defense against an alien invaders.

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Perrine is smartly dressed in her military-style blue tunic with gold buttons and striping on the sleeves. Her outfit consists of a fairly simple sculpt, but you do get some appropriate wrinkles, pockets, and the aforementioned buttons. The top features a slight billowing effect to suggest that she’s flying up high in the air and adds a little energy to the piece.

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The portrait here is pretty good. I like her surprised expression and they did a wonderful job with her glasses. The bright yellow paint on her wild, windblown hair is a bit splotchy in some places, but it’s not terrible. Her eyes are perfectly printed with an unusual yellow shade that matches her hair. Perrine’s familiar is the French Chartreux cat, so she has black cat ears popping out from her hair and a long cat tail protruding from under the back of her jacket. The tail is tastefully done, which is surprising when you consider how much fan service is in this series. Seriously, if you ever want to die of alcohol poisoning just play a drinking game called shot for panty shot. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

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Perrine’s Striker Unit is modeled after the French Arsenal VG-33 light fighter. It’s not an aircraft that I’m all that familiar with, certainly not as much as Charlotte’s P51 Mustang-inspired gear, but it looks great. you get some deep cut panel lines, details in the engine, and a grey and olive green camo deco. The props are cast in a clear plastic and they do spin.

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When not casting her formidable lightning based magic attacks, Perrine is partial toward wielding a Bren machine gun. The weapon is recreated here with a very detailed sculpt and nearly perfect paint job. It’s also easily removable from her hand so you can inspect it all over or even let a similarly scaled figure borrow it for a while.

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The base here is pretty much identical to the one that came with Charlotte. It uses a cup to cradle one nose of the Striker Unit and a clip to hold it further up. Oddly enough, I find the figure stands a little better if I don’t actually clip it to the leg, but rather just rest it there.

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I don’t know why it took me so long to come back to this line. I was very pleased with my Charlotte Yeager figure and this one makes me just as happy. In addition to enjoying the anime a lot, I really dig the contrast on these figures between the cute girl designs and the hyper realistic military hardware. The sculpt and paint on this figure are both remarkably good, especially for a piece in this price range. Yup, at $25 shipped, I’ll buy figures like this all day long and worry about where I’m going to find room for them later.