Sep 29 2014

Street Fighter: Cammy Bishoujo Statue by Kotobukiya

In their never ending (and hugely successful) campaign to separate me from all my monies, Kotobukiya has expanded their line of Bishoujo statues to include the Street Fighter franchise. Their first release was Chun-Li and she was absolutely fantastic. I think their second choice was an obvious one. It had to be Cammy. Now as much as I love Chun-Li, Cammy and me, we got a much stronger bond. You see, I don’t only know her from Street Fighter but also from the ludicrous amount of time I’ve put into playing as her in Cannon Spike on the Dreamcast. Dear god, I love that game so much that just by mentioning it I’m required to summon all my willpower not to go play it right now. Ok, hang on… I’ll be right back.

What? No, I wasn’t playing Cannon Spike! I went to take pictures of the package. And there it is! It seems as if Koto has been reserving their white boxes for the comic book ladies and going with these black boxes for their peripheral lines like Street Fighter and Tekken. I kind of prefer the white because it makes all that gorgeous artwork stand out more and I think it accentuates the statue inside a little better, but that’s all just a matter of personal taste. Aside from the coloring of the box, everything else here should be instantly familiar to any Bishoujo collector. You get a generous window on the front and smaller ones on the top and side panels. The box is decked out all around with the gorgeous character art of Shunya Yamashita and the back shows a shot of the actual statue. The coming soon shot on the back is none other than Juri. I gotta be honest, I’m surprised that their third outing for the line isn’t Sakura, but I’m down with Juri too, especially since we’ve already had a look at the statue.

And there she is… absolutely gorgeous. Let’s kick things off with composition. Cammy assumes a wide stance and is turned at the torso to eye the opponent behind her. She’s got one hand balled in a fist and drawn close to her cheek and the other arm stretched out to zero in on her foe. For once, Koto didn’t have a free flowing mane of hair to work with, but they went all out on Cammy’s long and snaking braids, which swirl beautifully around her person, and she’s even got a couple sprigs of hair arching down off of her forehead. One of the things I love the most about this statue is the way the composition works on several display angles. In fact, I’m not even sure, what the intended “centered” position of the statue is, because I can find two positions, or “sweet spots” where she looks perfect.

The first of these“sweet spots” features a prominent view of Cammy’s caboose. That thong has always been one of her most captivating features and that fact has certainly translated to this statue. When viewed from directly behind, Cammy has one arm reaching straight out and her right eye peeking out at the beholder. The second angle that I really like turns the statue about a quarter clockwise and brings her face forward and places her derriere in profile. Here, her attention is focused to her left which makes for a great place to put Chun-Li.

With her green leotard and combat boots Cammy is a much simpler design than Chun-Li, but there’s still plenty of great detail where it’s needed. I love that the tops of her boot laces are sculpted in separate pieces of soft plastic and you can see her socks peaking up above her boots. The paintwork is immaculate, right down to the camo patterns on her legs. She’s even got little panel lines and rivets on her wrist bracers. The creases on leotard and her beret look great as does the carefully sculpted braiding in her long hair. The muscle tone in her arms, shoulders, and thighs is all beautifully defined as is the underlying bone structure in her pelvis.

As for the portrait, with only two Street Fighter statues so far, I still think that this sub-line features some of Koto’s finest head sculpts in the entire Bishoujo line. It might be just because the Street Fighter gals fit the bishoujo style without having to be compromised as much as the Marvel and DC ladies, but whatever the case their work here has been phenomenal. With all that having been said, I think Cammy here possibly has my favorite head sculpt out of all the Bishoujo’s in my collection. I know that’s saying a lot, but there’s just something about her eyes and the sly smile on her lips that does it for me.

As always, the paintwork here is superb. Most of the Bishoujo pieces in my collection showcase the contrast between the matte of the ladies’ skin and a glossy latex costume, but Cammy here is almost entirely matte. She does have a bright red metallic sheen on her arm bracers, but that’s it. The rest of the statue relies on a nice deep hunter green for her leotard as well as the camo paint on her legs, a matching red for both her beret and socks, and pleasing yellow for her hair. The paint lines are all crisp and there’s no slop anywhere to be found.

And then there’s the stand. Cammy comes on what is basically a clear oval base that looks like it’s laid onto the circular style base that Chun-Li featured. Once again, the bottom of the disc comes off and you can insert one of two printed clear overlays into the base and button it back up, or leave them out entirely if you prefer. Your choices of graphics are either a plain Street Fighter logo or a piece of character art, and as with Chun-Li, I’m going with the logo. I’m still not a big fan of this system, as the bottom and insert tends to fall out when I pick up the statues. I do, however appreciate that it allows you to position the logo to accommodate the angle you choose to display the statue. Then again, I know who Cammy is and where she came from, so I don’t really need the base to tell me.

While many statues on the market these days are creeping forever upward in price, Koto has managed to keep their Bishoujo line fairly centered. Cammy set me back a mere $55 and for the quality and workmanship on display here, I think that’s a pretty damn great price, especially when other companies are offering cold cast pieces at about the same scale with weaker paint and sculpts for almost double the price. I know I say this in just about every Koto review that I write, but I still think these pieces are some of the best values in statues on the market today and that’s a big reason as to why I keep coming back and having to expand my shelves. Naturally I’ve already got Juri pre-ordered, but it’s going to be a long wait, so maybe I’ll have to hold myself over by picking up some more of the Tekken ladies.

Sep 19 2014

Muv Luv Alternative Total Eclipse: Yui Takamura Pilot Suit Statue by Kotobukiya

Back when I did my feature on S.H. Figuarts Sailor Moon, I recounted how I originally got into anime back around the mid 90’s. I can’t say as I have that same passion (or obsession) for anime these days, but lately I have been spending a lot more time chilling out with a drink in front of Crunchyroll and one of the series I quite enjoyed was Muv Luv Alternative Total Eclipse. I found a lot of the characters endearing, the BETA are creepy as all hell, and the mech fights are just plain fun. I knew that Kotobukiya did statues for this series because I’ve spent some time admiring the pictures of them over at Tyjos’s Space (man, that dude has some great stuff!), but I decided that I was only going to go in if I bought (all three) as a set, and my monies always seemed to be going somewhere else. Fast forward to a couple weeks ago when Entertainment Earth had a sale that put these ladies at almost half off, and I just couldn’t hold out anymore. Today I’m kicking off the Muv Luv Love with a look at Yui.

Dang, this is a big box, but then at 1:7 scale, Yui is a little larger than even the tallest of my Koto Bishoujos and a lot larger than the 1:10 scale ArtFx+ pieces. Size notwithstanding, if you own any of Koto’s PCV statues, then the packaging here should be fairly familiar to you. You get a big window on the front giving you a peek at the statue between her clear plastic trays with a cut-out in the top tray to give you a better look at the face. There are additional windows on the sides and top panel to let more light in. Surprisingly, there’s no art from the show, instead the box is decked out completely with photos of the actual statue. I don’t think it’s as artsy as the Bishoujo packages, but it is collector friendly and it certainly gets the job done.

Ah, is there anything better than the fresh smell of a PCV statue coming out of the box? I think not. Once out of the box, Yui requires a little bit of assembly. First, you have to plug the figure into the base via her right foot. She attaches very easily and her left hand serves as a guide as it comes to rest right on the crumbling concrete wall and is also secured by a tab. Next, you slide her katana sword into her hand. Again, it goes in nice and easy. Lastly you get a few extra pieces of individually wrapped concrete debris that you can place on the base wherever you want. For now, I’m opting to leave them out.

And there we have Yui Takamura, descendent from a noble line of Samurai, member of the Imperial Guard, and looking mighty hot in her pilot suit. The composition of the statue places Yui taking a moment out of action to mug for the camera. She’s leaning on a piece of destroyed concrete wall with her left hand and her right foot is slightly up. Her right hip is thrown out and she holds her trusty sword at her side. I like it a lot!

As is emphasized in the show, the rubbery pilot suits are skin tight and basically vacuum sealed onto the wearer’s body, which leaves very little to the imagination. What I really like about it is that the suit design contrasts all the copious curves of Yui’s body with some more angular pieces, particularly in the boots, hips, and shoulders. It’s a design that accentuates the idea of pilot and machine working together. As Yui herself would point out, “The horse and the rider are one!” Plus, Yui’s got a really nice ass.

The deco here reflects the rather distinctive coloring of Yui’s pilot suit, which includes the black, purple, and yellow that matches her Type 00 mech. There’s a nice variation in paint finish on the figure, with the black parts having the most brilliant sheen and consequently creating a spectacular effect on her chest area. All of the paint lines are incorporated into the sculpt, which gives the suit a nice, complex look and helps to keep the paint lines clean.

The portrait is excellent, although I’ll confess I find Yui’s face to be overpowered by the incredible job Koto did on her wild mane of hair. The windblown look is nothing new for Koto, they often do it to death, but Yui’s hair is just majestically blown out everywhere and it looks incredible from every angle. The lower part of her face is framed by the chin piece and the paintwork on her large eyes is impeccable.

Yui’s katana is cast in fairly soft plastic, but it’s rigid enough to keep the blade from warping. There’s detailed sculpting on the grip’s wrapping and decorations on the tsuba. The hamon line on the blade is also painted.

The base is a realistic slice of a crumbling urban setting. The cross section of the broken concrete looks particularly good as do the craters and fissures running throughout the wall. While the base itself is rather shallow and hollow, the wall pieces have a lot of weight, adding a decent amount of heft to the piece.

Even with dozens of their pieces in my collection, Kotobukiya still manages to impress me with every new statue I buy, and that remains to be the case with Yui here. This is a gorgeous statue with all the wonderful design, sculpting, and paintwork that I have come to expect from these craftsmen. It’s true that I was hesitant to invest in a new line of statues, but now that I’ve got her on my shelf I’ve got no regrets. She’s a great piece for fans of the show or just anyone who wants to grace their shelves with a hot chick in a mech pilot suit. Next week, I’ll keep the Muv Luv love going with a look at the first of The Scarlet Twins… Cryska.

Aug 8 2014

Marvel: Spider-Woman Bishoujo Statue by Kotobukiya

It’s Bishoujo time again! Those nefarious money vampires at Koto have been especially prolific lately and it seems like at least once a week we’re seeing artwork or prototype pics of new and upcoming statues. It was just a couple weeks ago that I looked at their new Bishoujo Wonder Woman and hot on the heels of her arrival comes Spider-Woman. Jessica Drew has been sitting in my Pile of Loot for a little while and now she’s here and waiting to be opened. Let’s do it!

The packaging here is right in line with what we’ve been seeing from all the Marvel and DC Bishoujo statues. You get a white window box with some gorgeous character artwork by Shunya Yamashita. Collectors may be surprised to find that the box is a lot smaller than those used for most of these statues, but that’s because of Spider-Woman’s pose, but fear not. She’s still crafted in the same 1/8 scale as Koto’s other Bishoujo offerings. The back of the box teases us with Jubilee, another great character choice for the line and we’ve already seen some pictures of that statue from Koto online and yes I’ve already got her pre-ordered, dammit!

As usual, the statue comes wrapped in plastic and sandwiched between two plastic trays. You can get a good peek at her through all the windows in the box, but you’ll have to get in there and unwrap her to really appreciate what you’re getting. She comes separated from her base, and while the pegs are a bit of a tight fit, I got her in without too much trouble. Giggity.

And there she is out of the box and ready for display and oh man is she gorgeous! And yes, as the box suggests, she is small. Again, it’s not because she’s scaled any smaller, but because the composition here has her in a compact and low profile squat. Still, if you own Koto’s Bishoujo Mystique you should know what to expect here. It’s interesting to note that I’ve seen some critics of the original artwork and prototype of this piece suggested this pose was too suggestive or just downright vulgar and inappropriate. It’s certainly sexual, but that’s nothing new to this line and, indeed it’s the whole damn point. Besides, Spider-Woman here is definitely one of the most clothed Bishoujo statues in the entire line. With the exception of her face, she’s literally clad from head to toe, but that doesn’t stop this statue from leaving little to the imagination. And yet, her squat, with right fingers touching the base and her left fingers reaching out, mimics the kineticism of Jessica’s spider-like acrobatics remarkably well for a static piece. I not only think the pose here is appropriate, but totally in character for her, and while it may be no surprise to everyone who knows that I’m a shameless champion of this line, I think it’s absolutely exquisite.

And speaking of exquisite… let’s talk about the paintwork. Even though I started with the composition, the truth is that it’s the colors on this piece that first caught my eye. That’s saying a lot when you consider how alluring the sculpting is. The high gloss candy apple red that Koto used for her costume has to be seen in person to be believed. It’s so sumptuous that it’s almost like all this time I thought I was seeing the color red, but it’s always just been some dingy knock-off and only now am I seeing red in its original, brilliant form. And when you combine that with an equally impressive glossy luster in yellow, you have what is easily the most breathtakingly colored statue in my Bishoujo collection. Quite often, one of my favorite things about the coloring on these pieces is the contrast between the soft matte finish of the flesh tones and the sheen of whatever latex or leather the ladies happen to be wearing. Here that contrast is barely present. You get a little of it with the face and the hair and her translucent wings, but basically that red and yellow paint is carrying the day all by itself, and it carries it quite splendidly.

Jessica actually has two portraits with the change achieved by switching out the face. The stock portrait has her masked and you get that same beautiful red and yellow high gloss on her mask, with some heavy black outlines and white eyes. The windblown hair effect is pretty much a staple in this line, but here it feels like Koto went that little extra mile. The hair just feels more chaotic and complex and that extra effort pays off because it looks smashing right down to the semitransparent edges.

The alternate unmasked head is swapped in by removing the head from the neck post, taking off the bangs, and then pulling off the face. It’s quite similar to what I’ve seen with the S.H. Figuarts Sailor Moon figures. My first instinct was to dismiss the unmasked head because the masked version is just so iconic, but I think I’ve fallen in love with Jessica’s unmasked face. She has an almost wistful expression and yet a hint of a smile on her tiny mouth. She’s also got a set of beautiful green eyes and it’s almost a shame to cover them with that mask.

Most of the time when I get a Bishoujo statue with variants, I have a clear preference on which way I want to go with it. With Black Widow I always prefer the rifle over the knife; with Storm I opt to leave the effects parts off; And Kitty Pryde is always displayed with Lockheed perched on her arm. In this case, I’m not sure which way to go and I’ll likely be swapping the heads out every couple of weeks to enjoy them both.

Of course, with the Bishoujo line, you never know what Koto’s going to do for a base. In this case you get a simple black raised disc with a white spider-web pattern sculpted and painted onto it. It works perfectly for the character and the black really helps to accentuate the beauty of the costume’s red and yellow paint. Every time I decide that I want Koto to just standardize all of these damn bases, they pull something exceptional and unique like this and I back away from my argument. Another very cool thing about the base is that there’s a hidden compartment underneath where you can store the extra face. That’s plenty cool!

And so, it should come as no great surprise that I’m in love with another of Koto’s Bishoujo statues. With 17 of these beauties now under my belt, Spider-Woman here is just another example of why I’ll follow this line until Koto decides to kill it or I happen to finally succumb to alcohol poisoning. She may not be as big or imposing as some of the other statues in my display case, but she makes up for it in every other way. And even with the diminished stature, at $55 I still think she was a bargain. Jubilee or Starfire will likely be next, and after that we can look forward to She-Hulk, Wasp, and Zatanna, not to mention what Koto has in store for the Street Fighter and Tekken sub-lines. Life is indeed good!

Jul 15 2014

DC Comics: Armored Wonder Woman Bishoujo Statue by Kotobukiya

It’s time for more plastic crack from Kotobukiya. They get my paychecks direct deposited to them now to save me the trouble. What do they do with what’s left over? Ha, there’s never anything left over! Anyway, a couple of years back, Koto gave Wonder Woman the Bishoujo treatment and the result has remained hands down my favorite piece in my Bishoujo collection. When I heard they were doing her again, I was certainly intrigued. Could they improve upon perfection? And why bother trying? Well, the result is their new Armored Wonder Woman Bishoujo, a completely new take on everyone’s favorite Amazon from Themyscira. I had this lady sitting in the receivings pile for a little while now and today is the day I’m finally getting to open her. Can she rival the previous Wonder Woman release? Let’s find out!

If you’ve been collecting the line, the packaging here should be readily familiar to you. The statue comes in a two-sided window box with an extra window on top to let the light in. It gives you a passing peek at the statue itself, but she’s imprisoned behind plastic wrap and a couple of trays so you’ll need to get her out to fully appreciate her. The box is mostly white, but kitted out with plenty of colorful shots of the statue and the beautiful source art to make it exciting. The back of the box features a little blurb about Wonder Woman and, oh wait… what’s this?

Awwww…. Yeah! While Spider-Woman will be the next Bishoujo Statue I look at here at FFZ, Starfire is still due to ship this month. With the exception of maybe Zatanna, Starfire has been tops on my list of characters I wanted to see in this line. Needless to say, I’m really looking forward to her release. Ah, but let’s not steal any of Diana’s spotlight… back to Wonder Woman. The statue requires very little assembly. You need only plug her into the stand and she’s ready for display.

Ooooh… my! The photos I’ve seen of this beauty just don’t do her justice. The first thing you may find yourself asking, “this is Armored Wonder Woman? Really???” Well, her boots look like they feature a little extra reinforcement so her feet will be OK, but I’m not sure a pleated skirt, bodice, and dainty cape constitutes armor. Not that I’m complaining mind you. Diana’s got her bullet-deflecting bracelets so why does she need armor? The composition here is a spectacular blend of action and glorious cheesecake muggery. Diana has one foot on the base with the other leg bent back, her left hip tossed to the side and her bracelets crossed, no doubt to deflect the onslaught of fanboy overtures. The piece displays great from a number of angles, but if you rotate her off to the side just a little bit, you can get her gaze looking straight at you and it makes for what I think is the statue’s sweet spot. As far as height is concerned, this statue is slightly taller than the previous Wonder Woman, but right in line pieces like Power Girl and Huntress. The only Bishoujo on my shelf that stands above her is Storm and that’s mostly because of the base.

So, let’s swing back and talk about her costume. The sexy high heeled boots feature intricately detailed buckles running up the outer sides and the somewhat chunky raised white bands do indeed give them a sense of extra fortification. The paintwork on the boots is truly exceptional. That deep, metallic red is absolutely gorgeous and contrasts beautifully with the matte white and metallic gold.

The skirt is fabricated from a light, slightly transparent blue plastic, which looks fantastic and naturally it’s kicking up in the back to showcase her star spangled panties. In this case, Wonder Woman could take a lesson from Mara Jade and lose the cape because it’s blocking the view. Of course, the cape does add a lot to the kineticism of the piece. It’s flowing out to the side and perfectly counterbalances the composition of her left foot reaching down to the base. The bodice follows the same outrageous coloring of the boots with that sumptuous metallic red paint and beautiful gold paint on her belt and eagle emblem. The right side of the belt features Diana’s coiled lasso and a finely detailed little snap to hold it in place.

The portrait here is everything I’ve come to love about this line. Her face is a little more angular than some and her eyes are a little better proportioned, making this piece a maybe a tad more accessible to the non-anime fans out there. Most of the Bishoujo’s feature a down-turned head, but Diana’s is more cocked to the side so her face isn’t really obscured and I like that a lot. The windblown hair effect is particularly good here and compliments the cape for a nice sense of energy. Naturally the paintwork on the face is immaculate and we get more of that lush metallic red and gold paint on her tiara.

The statue does actually feature a swappable left hand that’s holding a dagger. The dagger is a great looking piece and I’ll concede that it does work very well with the composition by throwing a little more balance to oppose the cape. As a matter of preference, however, I think I’ll stick to the dagger-less look for my display.

I’ve never been all that big on Wonder Woman using swords and such and I think the pose works better without it. Nonetheless, it’s always nice when you get some display options on pieces like this one. Somebody out there is going to prefer the look of the dagger.

Last up is the base. I’m sure I’ve said it before, but you never quite know which way Koto’s going to go with their bases. They’re either going to be the elaborate diorama-type (like we saw with the first Wonder Woman) or just simple and utilitarian and in this case they went with the latter. You get a very simple transparent blue circle that sweeps up at the back. I like the fact that the base is small, because my Bishoujo shelves are getting a little congested these days. However, I do kind of wish they had just gone for regular clear plastic because I’m not sure the blue tint makes much sense here. Maybe it was just to add a little more blue to the overall pallet.

I really tried hard not to come at this review as a comparison to the original Wonder Woman Bishoujo. In style and composition, the two statues are about as different as they can get and still be in the same line. The original strikes me as something that could still appeal to a Wonder Woman collector who doesn’t happen to enjoy the anime influences of this line. It also has a serene sense of nobility and beauty that’s quite remarkable. Now, that’s not to take away from this new version, which is an absolutely fantastic piece that goes for more energy but still manages to capture everything there is to say about the character. I think this one fits in with recent Bishoujo releases a little better than the previous one. Is the original release my favorite of the two? Had you asked me that based solely on the pictures of this new one, I’d say there was never any doubt. Now that I have them side by side, it’s a much harder decision. I think the original still holds its own as my favorite statue in my collection, but I never thought it would be this close and that’s a huge credit to this new version.

Armored Wonder Woman is readily available now at around $55-60 and that’s a hell of a deal for such a gorgeous piece of work. Of course, Koto has yet another Wonder Woman coming out soon in their ArtFX Sixth-Scale line and that one is looking mighty damn fine as well!

Jun 30 2014

The Avengers: Black Widow ArtFx+ Statue by Kotobukiya

Some of you may know that I’ve spent 2014 building my team of Justice League ArtFX+ statues and that I’ve really been enjoying this line. I finished off that team last month, but I still plan on picking up some of the stand-alone DC statues here and there. Of course, that’s not good enough for Koto. They need all my monies and so they’ve embarked on assembling The Avengers in the same format. The Hulk was the first amazing release in this line and now I have the second release in hand… Black Widow! I’ve had this statue on my receivings pile for a couple of weeks now and I’m more than ready to get her open and check her out!

Widow comes in a standard fully enclosed box. While some have enjoyed the artsy-fartsy packaging used for the DC line, I’m actually quite pleased Koto has returned to the more serviceable and storage-friendly boxes. The deco is exciting and it gives you a good idea of what’s in store for you inside. The statue itself comes suspended between two plastic trays and requires some assembling. Widow is comprised of four pieces (top half, bottom half, and arms) plus her two pistols. The statue just takes a couple moments to put together and didn’t require any scary pressure or force to make everything fit nice and snug.

First off, I’ve got to say how happy I am that Koto is going for the current comic versions of these characters, and that’s doubly the case with Black Widow. Not that I have anything against Scarlet Johansson as the movie Widow, but I really dig the character’s more traditional comic look here and it’s refreshing to see it portrayed in this series. Natasha is donning her gold disc belt and gold bracers, two aspects of her comic costume that I’ve grown particularly fond of over the years. No detail has been missed from her low drawn zipper and pistol holsters to the Black Widow emblem on her belt buckle. The gloss used on Widow’s suit is subtle enough to set it apart from the highly metalized deco on the Justice League statues, but still bright enough to make it snap. It contrasts great with the more matte gold used on the belt and bracers.

I honestly wasn’t expecting the portrait here to wow me as much as it did, but the pictures I’ve seen just didn’t do justice to Natasha’s gorgeous face in person. Her eyes are beautifully shaped and rather hypnotic and the paintwork used for both her emerald eyes and her crimson lips is absolutely immaculate. Widow’s hair has a bit of flow to it, but they went for something a little tamer than we usually see on the Bishoujo statues and I think it works wonderfully here.

The composition of this piece is equal parts action and seduction. Natasha is poised with pistols ready and her hip thrown slightly to the side. I love it. The pose is designed to put her form slightly in profile with her face turned off to the side. Having the pistols as separate accessories was an interesting choice, as it seems totally unnecessary. Her hands are sculpted to hold them and so if you display her without the guns, she looks a bit weird. Plus, they can’t go into the holsters, so I’m not sure why you would want to take them out of her hands anyway. I’m not really complaining, just puzzled.

As with all of the ArtFX+ line, Black Widow features a metal base that works with the magnets in the statue’s feet to keep it secure for display. You can position her anywhere on the base you want and you can even have them straddle combined bases when displaying multiple statues.

Widow set me back about $55. It’s fairly more than I was paying for the Justice League statues, but I still think it’s a pretty solid value. At 1/10^th Scale, Widow is a bit bigger than your average Marvel Legends figure and thus offers a nice compromise between detail and economy of display. What’s more The Hulk looks absolutely…. Smashing… when displayed beside her and I have no doubt this team is going to look fantastic when they’re finally all assembled together. Ah, but even if you aren’t planning on collecting a whole set, I’d still recommend this one as a fetching stand-alone piece. She’s a red-head, she’s hot, and she’s wearing leather… what’s not to like?

Jun 24 2014

Star Wars: Mara Jade Bishoujo Statue by Kotobukiya

It’s time for another installment of, “Kotobukiya is taking all my f’cking monies!” So far, they’ve raided my wallet for statues based on the DC, Marvel, Street Fighter, and even Ghostbusters licenses. Today I start down the Dark Path and forever will it dominate my bank account. It’s Star Wars Kotobukiya. Now, Koto is no stranger to the Star Wars license. They’ve been making ArtFX+ and Fine Art statues from the property for years, but they’ve just started introducing Star Wars to the Bishoujo line and that’s where I got on board. I’m starting with their second Star Wars Bishoujo, and it’s that red headed minx, Mara Jade.

The statue comes in a pretty simple black box with the Star Wars logo on the front and a rather limited window that shows off the statue’s portrait, as well as an arm socket. Yes, there is assembly required! The side panels show a shot of the statue as well as some of the line art. It’s not as flashy as the regular Bishoujo packages, but it works well enough for a Star Wars product. I will note that the packaging does its best to irritate my OCD. The front is clearly labeled as an ArtFX statue with no indication that it’s part of the Bishoujo line until you read the copy on the back of the box. Does it matter? Not really. What does matter is Koto equipped this gal with more than a few display options to embrace both her service to the Empire and her redemption. For the purposes of this feature I’m going to start out with my preferred method of display and then we’ll look at the other option.

Dayuum… check her out! Here’s living proof that Koto doesn’t have to show a lot of skin in a statue to make it sexy. Of course, a skin tight outfit and a killer bod does go a long way. Mara is wrapped in a two-tone blue bodysuit, which features all the usual little piping and wrinkles that they love to pack into these statue sculpts. I particularly like the um… ribbed padding on her inner thighs, the knee pads, and her high heeled combat boots. Yum! The use of both matte and gloss for the two materials also makes for a very dynamic contrast on this piece. Also, I’ll just go ahead and say it… that ass makes me want to cry.

In addition to the body suit, Mara sports a gun belt with a blaster sculpted into the holster and a snap down pouch on her backside. The blaster and holster look so good that I actually thought the pistol might come out. She also has straps on her biceps and a shoulder harness with a silver fixture clasp on the back. There’s a cloth scarf and a set of goggles, both of which are separate pieces and are added or removed by popping off the statue’s head.

The portrait here is exactly what I’ve come to expect from the Bishoujo line. Mara walks that line between cute and sexy. The face sculpt is quite soft and the paintwork on her lips, eyes and eyebrows is all immaculate. I’m also totally in love with how they did her flowing red hair. Just about every Koto Bishoujo statue goes for the windblown hair effect and they almost always nail it, but in this case, I think Mara’s hair just looks exceptionally well done. It also balances the composition of the piece quite nicely by countering her outstretched left arm. Mara’s right arm draws slightly behind her and the hand is sculpted to hold either of her lightsabers. The hilts on these are wonderfully detailed and they make use of a colored translucent plastic for the blade.

The statue’s base is a simple clear plastic disc right in line with what we’ve seen for the recent Chun-Li Bishoujo and the Tekken Bishoujos. It doesn’t waste any space as it’s barely larger than the figure itself and both the lightsaber and outstretched arm extend past it. The bottom of the base opens up and you can insert either a Rebel or Imperial insignia inside or you can leave it clear if you so choose. I’m not usually a big fan of these clear bases, but in this case I think the ability to display the emblem adds value. I’ve opted for the Imperial insignia and purple lightsaber for my regular display of this statue.

Of course, you do have options! Mara also comes with a removable, billowing cape that can be attached or removed by popping off the head. For this feature, I’ve chosen to go with the cape for the redeemed version of Mara and display it with the Luke Skywalker lightsaber and the Rebel insignia. Of course, you can mix and match all of this any way you want.

The cape is my big dilemma with this statue. It looks outstanding and it really adds a lot to the composition of the piece. It creates a lot of kineticism to the pose by pushing back away from her outstretched hand and it complements the flow of the hair quite nicely as well. The khaki color has some nice shading and I particularly like the little tears and fraying sculpted into the end. So what’s the dilemma? It covers up that fine ass, and I simply can’t have that. The sculptors at Kotobukiya no doubt poured hours, neigh possibly days into getting that ass so perfect and I will not allow it to be obscured by an additional garment, even if you could argue that it’s essential to the statue’s fully realized composition.

While I am still hemming and hawing over whether I need the Bishoujo Jaina Solo on my shelf, Mara Jade was a must buy the moment I saw her and she’s lived up to just about all my expectations. I will mention here that my particular statue has a stray mark of red paint on her left arm, just below the shoulder. It no doubt came from the hair and while it isn’t terrible, it’s worth pointing out because even with fifteen Bishoujo Statues under my belt, this is the first time I’ve ever had anything less than flawless paint. Honestly, I’ve seen far worse paint flubs on $200+ Bowen statues, so I’m not going to get all upset over it. At $55 Mara Jade is yet another example of what great value Kotobukiya offers in their products. She’s an absolutely gorgeous piece and she has an unprecedented amount of display options for the Bishoujo line. I can’t recommend her strongly enough.

Jun 10 2014

DC Comics: Cyborg ArtFX+ Statue by Kotobukiya

Well, it took a while, but my OCD finally got the better of me and forced me to complete my collection of Justice League ArtFX+ statues. I make it no secret that I was against Cyborg as part of the Justice League back when The New 52 was launching. I wouldn’t say I’ve come to eat those words, but I will say that I have enjoyed what they did with him and I no longer feel that he diluted the greatness of the team as much as I thought he would. His ability to assimilate the power to create Boom Tubes was probably alone worthy of his addition to the roster. So why drag my feet on buying this statue? I’m just not crazy about his New 52 design and this statue seemed to accentuate a lot of what I didn’t like about it. Nonetheless, I crumbled and bought him anyway. Let’s see if it was a good idea.

It’s been a while, so let’s talk about the packaging. These clear plastic boxes were a neat concept, but ultimately I don’t like them. The plastic is flimsy, it scratches easily and they don’t store well. I like the idea of assembling all the art panels together behind the statues as a display option, but I don’t have that kind of display space available, so that leaves much of the appeal here lost on me. Ultimately, I save my statue boxes in case I move or I need to pack them away because they’re being rotated out of display for a while. These boxes don’t really fit the bill for that purpose and so I’ve gone and pitched them. Suffice it to say I’m happy that the Avengers statues will come in proper cardboard boxes with styrofoam trays.

Cyborg features a very museum-style pose. He’s standing at attention with his chest out and his arms are hanging at his sides. Appropriately, Cyborg has the most complex sculpt of all the ArtFX+ Justice League statues. He looks magnificent! His cybernetic armor is replete with panel lines, overlapping plates, and beautiful contours. He’s bulkier than the other statues and while I’m overall happy with the proportions, I do think the feet are a little big when compared to most of the comic art… they look rather Mega Man-ish to me. Now, I’ve got no problem with The Blue Bomber, but I don’t necessarily need those aesthetics in my Justice League statues. I’m writing it off to the anime-style of these pieces. Don’t get me wrong, it’s nothing that ruins the statue for me, but I thought I’d mention it anyway.

One of the main attractions on this piece is his sonic arm cannon, which is delightfully complex. It’s got all sorts of bits coming off of it and great texturing. The red paintwork on the lights is a little uneven, but that might be intentional to create a light effect. The contoured backpack is another really nice feature of the statue. It has a retro-vibe to it that adds plenty of character to the design.

The portrait here is quite good. The face is a tad soft, but I think that works well when contrasting with the cyborg part of the head. He has a determined expression and a distinctive broad nose. Cyborg’s likeness is definitely the least anime-stylized of all these statues. The paint lines around between the skin and metal are all sharp.

Speaking of paint, there’s not a lot paint operations on the statue, but that’s because Cyborg is mostly silver. I love the finish they used on this piece. Ironically, despite intended as metal, it seems slightly more matte than the other statues’ costumes, but it looks spectacular. The only other paint worth mentioning besides the head and the red lights on the arm cannon are the red discs on his chest, belt, and backpack.

As with all of these statues, you get a black square metal stand with the “Justice League” logo on it. Cyborg has the magnets in the feet to help him stand, although I was surprised that even with such big feet he’s a little wobbly.

In the end, I’m glad I picked up Cyborg. At about $36 he was one of the more expensive statues in this line, but that’s still a crazy low price for such a wonderfully crafted piece. I can’t say that my Justice League display felt all that incomplete without him, but he sure looks great on the shelf with the rest of the team. I’ve certainly grown to accept the character as part of the team in the comics so why not have him in my display as well? And that wraps up the Justice League ArtFX+ line. I still have a couple of the stand-alone DC Comics ArtFX+ pieces to pick up, but next time we visit these statues it will be to look at Black Widow from The Avengers!

May 7 2014

DC Comics: Catwoman ArtFX+ Statue by Kotobukiya

If you haven’t heard by now, Koto has officially launched their Marvel line of ArtFX+ statues and if you missed it, you can check out my review of their first offering The Hulk. Nonetheless, I still have some unfinished business with the DC side of things, so today I’m stepping back to check out a piece that’s been sitting on my shelf for a while and yet has managed to elude the spotlight. It’s New 52 Catwoman!

While not part of the Justice League series, Catwoman comes in a box that matches the JL statues. You get a translucent and somewhat delicate plastic box with some nice artwork on two sides and two sides that offer a more or less unobstructed view of the statue. Of course Catwoman comes wrapped in plastic, so you’ll still need to bust her out to get a good look at her. Let’s do that now…

In case you’re still unfamiliar with the ArtFX+ line, they are in the 1/10 Scale, which puts them a bit bigger than your average 6-inch figure and yet not quite big enough to be in scale with Koto’s Bishoujo line. I find it to be a great scale because they don’t take up that much room and yet they’re still big enough for plenty of detail. In this case, however, Catwoman features her tight and sexy, shiny black catsuit, which doesn’t require a lot of intricate sculpting and instead lets Selina’s beautiful curves speak for themselves. The high gloss sheen looks great, and there are some strategically placed rumples, along with some satisfying details to the boots and gloves.

Since the catsuit doesn’t require all that much attention to pull off, the sculptors went all out on the portrait. I love the way her collar splays out and the giant ring for the zipper is pulled down just enough to get a peek of kitty cleavage. I might add that the painted skin tone contrasts beautifully with all the black. Selina is wearing a tight choker and she has her goggles on with her beautiful painted eyes clearly visible behind the yellow tinted glasses. The paint on the face is quite flawless and her bright red lips are ever so slightly hinting at a smile. You do have a few display options here as well. The goggles are removable, although the sculpted strap that’s supposed to hold them in place is still there. You also get a second pair of goggles with larger and more opaque glasses, and these I don’t care for at all. I’m pretty sure I’ll be sticking with the stock goggles to display her most of the time.

The composition of the piece goes for pure seduction. Selina stands with her right hip jutting out ever so slightly and her left foot arching to the ground. She has her right hand resting on her hip and her left hand is drawn slightly behind her and holding her whip. The whip is made of string with a handle that splits apart so you can put the base of the handle into her hand from the bottom and peg the top in from the top. It works quite well and you can drape the whip through her right hand and coil it around her feet at the base for a very nice effect.

As with all ArtFX+ statues, Catwoman comes with a simple metal square base that works with the magnets in her feet to hold her securely. Catwoman can actually stand surprisingly well on her own, but it’s nice to get that extra bit of stability provided with the magnets. Unlike the Justice League bases, this one is left completely black with no logo or lettering.

Catwoman retails for around $40, but if you hunt around you can probably find her in the mid to low $30’s. I may sound like a broken record, but I find Koto’s statues to be some of the best values on the market. They’re particularly great if you can’t spare the monies or the display space for the big high end stuff like Bowen or Sideshow. Catwoman is a beautiful stand-alone piece and also a very nice companion to the Batman or Nightwing ArtFX+ statues.

Apr 11 2014

The Avengers: The Hulk ArtFX+ Statue by Kotobukiya

Yes, it’s time to give more money and attention to the wizards at Kotobukiya. Having done some amazing work with DC’s Justice League, they are now branching out their ArtFX+ line to include Marvel’s Avengers and for the first release they’re bringing in the big guns: It’s The Hulk and this statue is… dare I say it? Incredible!

The Hulk comes in a box that absolutely dwarfs the packaging used on most other statues in this line. Standing at a little over 12-inchs tall and nearly as wide, this is one epic box. Of course, The Hulk is a big boy, so this piece still conforms to the usual 1:10 scale of the ArtFX+ line. The box features some shots of the statue and a nice piece of artwork on the back featuring all The Avengers. It’s a nice teaser of the forthcoming releases. No offense to the artsy boxes Koto used for the Justice League, but this is the kind of box I like to get my statues in. It’s attractive, it’s collector friendly, and it’s durable for long term storage. The front of the box declares that this piece is a “pre-painted model kit” and while the Justice League statues didn’t require any assembly, it’s not uncommon for other ArtFX+ statues to require you to plug some pieces together.

Inside the box, The Hulk comes in three pieces all sandwiched between two clear trays. It’s not unlike the Iron Man ArtFX statue that I looked at last week. All you need to do is attach the two halves of the figure at the waist, pop on the head and you’re good to go. You also get two of the standard black metal square bases, because The Hulk is way too big for just one.

So, before I start gushing all over this piece, let me deal with the drawbacks. Because there are some seams that didn’t show up in any of the pre-production photos. Yes, The Hulk is a kit so seams are to be expected, but the arms come already attached, so the fact that they are running across his biceps is unfortunate. On most pieces, these wouldn’t be a problem, but since Hulk is mostly skin, the seams do stand out. I just have to keep reminding myself that as far as statues go, this one is a fairly low end piece.

And apart from those seams, it is indeed easy to forget that this is merely a $60 statue because the rest of it looks like something far better. I adored the metallic snap and relative simplicity of the Justice League statues, but there’s so much more opportunity to shine in a piece like this one. Koto went wild reproducing The Hulk’s muscles, veins and tendons, which all conspire to give this statue a feeling of pure power and rage. Even the composition, with one foot in front of the other and a fist winding up to smash, is just totally out of sight. This Hulk feels like a much higher end piece that has been shrunken down to the 1:10 scale range. And even in this scale, The Hulk stands at about ten inches tall! The portrait is every bit as stunning as the rest of the statue. The powerful furled brow, the broad nose, and the exposed teeth is indeed anger personified. This likeness is pure iconic Hulk through and through.

As wonderful as the sculpting is, it wouldn’t succeed without the proper coloring and this statue has the paintwork to make it work. The green skin tone looks perfect to me and with just enough wash to bring out the detail in the muscles. For a statue that is mostly green skin, there’s a ton of depth and variety to the coloring. The same goes for Hulk’s iconic purple shredded pants. Simply exceptional!

The bases work the same as previous ArtFX+ statues. They are simple black metal squares and they work with the magnets in the Hulk’s feet. You can slide them around to decide how you want your statue to sit on the shelf.

I’ll confess, I thought it a bit odd for Koto to lead with The Hulk, I would have bet on Captain America or Iron Man. But when you’re sitting on a piece this impressive, it doesn’t hurt to get it out at the front of the line. And everything about this piece is indeed just so goddamn impressive. What’s really great about this statue is that it totally succeeds as a stand-alone display piece. And that means he won’t look out of place waiting for the other statues to be released. Indeed, even if I had no interest in collecting a full Avengers line, I’d still happily grab this guy up and at the $60 price point, he feels like a bargain.

Apr 4 2014

Iron Man 3: Mark VII Armor ArtFX Statue by Kotobukiya

It’s no secret that Kotobukiya has been sucking down a whole lot of my money lately. It started with the Bishoujo line and then spread to their ArtFX+ statues. Now the epidemic has spread once again with my acquisition of one of their ArtFX statue kits. Not to be confused with the smaller 1/10 scale ArtFX+ the regular FX line consists of the full Sixth-Scale mamma-jamma’s. In my defense, I didn’t wander into this line by mistake, but rather with a single purpose in mind. I desperately wanted a Sixth Scale Mark VII Iron Man to display with my Hot Toys Avengers without having to blow the ridiculous amount of money that the Mark VII figure is going for these days. At least once a week I punch myself in the balls for not picking up that Hot Toys figure when I had the chance. Anyway, after a little searching around, this beauty seemed like a pretty good fit.

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The statue comes in a large and wide package that dwarfs most Sixth-Scale figure boxes. Because this statue is a kit by nature, there’s no window or anything to show you the goods inside, but it does feature some nice artwork and some photos of the assembled statue. It’s worth noting that while this box was re-branded to take advantage of the hype behind Iron Man 3, the statue is the exact same piece that was previously released under The Avengers moniker. Believe me I know, because through a comedy of errors I wound up getting two of these in the same week (one from IM3 and one from Avengers) and in the end due to seller mix-ups and terrible customer service, I didn’t have to pay for either one of them. Freebies! Gotta love em. Branding this statue as part of the third movie doesn’t make a lot of sense, seeing as how little the Mark VII armor was featured in the Iron Man 3, but I’m sure it was just to cash in on the marketing juggernaut.

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Avengers Assemble! Yup, as the box says this is a “pre-painted model kit” and as you can see assembly is required. The statue comes in four pieces (lower half, torso, arms) plus the base and the box for the electronics. You also get three button batteries. But not to worry, you don’t need to be Tony Stark to cobble this baby together. It’s a quick and easy job that just takes a few minutes. You pop the batteries into the box that sticks out of the bottom half of the figure, attach the arms to the torso and put the two halves together, lastly you plug the feet into the base and you’re good to go. Everything fits together very snugly and it is possible to disassemble it again without stressing any of the parts. Being a kit I was worried that this statue would be flimsy, but in hand that couldn’t be farther from the truth. The figure itself is solid and has a nice, satisfying heft to it. The base is made of lighter plastic and it is hollow underneath, but it still supports the figure beautifully. Once together you’d never know it was a kit.

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I really like the composition of this statue, mainly because it isn’t the now cliched “stop in the name of love” pose that has Iron Man firing off one of his palm repulsors. Hey, I dig that pose as much as the next guy, but it’s been done to death and it’s nice to see something a little fresh for this piece. In this case we see Tony in the process of channeling his repulsor power through his Arc Reactor. His elbows are bent and his hands are clenched into fists while the sheer power of the blast causes his feet to dig trenches into the ground. Awesome! In a sea of Iron Man collectibles, I think this one stands out primarily because of this pose. It works well and it really conveys a sense of sheer energy and excitement that makes for a great looking display piece.

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The Mark VII armor is hands down my favorite of any of the movieverse suits and I own enough 3D representations of it that I feel I know it intimately. I doubt anyone will ever do it as well as Hot Toys, but Koto took a swing here and I think they nailed it as best they can in statue form. Granted, the Mark VII is a fairly complex suit and it really does need a lot of individual and articulated pieces to make it stand up to close scrutiny. The sculpt here isn’t up to Hot Toys quality, it can’t be because it’s sculpted from solid plastic, but what’s here is still plenty detailed and I love it. The panel lines are all present and you even get some opened flaps on his legs. I also really dig the bulky stature of the upper body. One thing so many Iron Man figures get wrong is the scale. There’s supposed to be a guy in there and the proportions of this statue makes me believe it.

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I expect nearly flawless paintwork from my Koto statues, and the Mark VII here doesn’t disappoint. The metallic red luster on this figure has that supple new car shine that makes the armor appear as if it just rolled off the assembly line. The high gloss red contrasts nicely with the slightly duller silver and gold to create this iconic ensemble that has become so familiar to both movie and comic book fans alike.

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Of course, bases can sometimes make or break the composition of a statue and in this case, it definitely enhances and elevates the presentation. The way his feet are tearing into the ground adds excitement and intensity. What’s surprising is that the base is a simple hollow piece of plastic, but when viewed from above it looks like something far more substantial. Beyond just looking great, it serves the ultimate purpose of giving the figure a solid foundation to stand on.

The electronics consist of powerful LEDs in the chest and eyes. It’s nothing we haven’t seen before, but it’s nice and bright and makes for a striking effect. The concealed switch is easily accessible simply by removing his left shoulder plate. In addition to the regular on and off settings, there’s also a sensor setting that will light him up when it detects movement or changes in room lighting.

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Even though I wound up getting this piece for free, I went into the deal paying $120 for it. I was a little leery about spending that kind of money on something like this when I wasn’t sure what to expect, but Koto has never let me down in the past and they certainly haven’t now. The sculpt, paint, and sheer heft of the piece make it well worth the price. The pose is pure killer stuff and best of all this piece displays beautifully on my Hot Toys shelf, which is why I got it in the first place. But the best endorsement I can give this piece is that I’ll be hunting down some of Koto’s other statues in this ArtFX line. Because they just aren’t getting enough of my money as it is.

FigureFan Zero

Action Figure Reviews, Toys & Collectibles…

Tag Archives: kotobukiya

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DC Comics: Cyborg ArtFX+ Statue by Kotobukiya

DC Comics: Catwoman ArtFX+ Statue by Kotobukiya

The Avengers: The Hulk ArtFX+ Statue by Kotobukiya

Iron Man 3: Mark VII Armor ArtFX Statue by Kotobukiya

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