Now here’s a figure that I’m still a bit surprised to own, mainly because I didn’t buy it. E2046 does a monthly drawing where they give away free stuff to people who post product feedback. Guess who won the most recent draw?
Isabella Valentine is one of the best-known characters of Namco’s long-running Soul series. A franchise stalwart, she first appeared in Soul Calibur – the second game in the series – and is certainly one of the most recognizable video game characters around. In the games, her morality is somewhat ambiguous – she generally seems to have good intentions but is nonetheless presented as a dominatrix who loves to deal out pain, and her grasp on her sanity is tenuous at best. This particular figure depicts her as she appeared in Soul Calibur III; she wears even less clothing in Soul Calibur IV.
A bit of research indicates that this figure was sculpted by Eiji Nakayama, who also apparently did Good Smile Company’s Iroha and Beat’s recent Chouun Shiryuu. Enterbrain and ebCraft brought this figure to PVC format and to be blunt, it looks horrific. However, the figure that I own is an E2046 Gathering figure which means that it is a recast painted in E2046’s workshop, and happily, I think its quality is far better than the mass production version.
Standing 28 centimeters tall, Ivy is a big figure and seems even more substantial due to her sculpt. She brings the boom here, with full thighs and breasts and butt. In the games, she does have a bit of heft to her, and I don’t mind a bit of thickness, so I think her body sculpt looks great.
The pose is a bit boring but as it is derived from official art, there’s not much that one can do about that.
There are a few obvious deviations from the source; in the picture, Ivy’s looking off to the side and her arm is extended towards the left, and her stance is a bit wider.
This figure is hand-painted and E2046 has done a very nice job with the colors, particularly the metal parts of her outfit. The gold details on the plates covering her ankles are particularly outstanding. The white parts of her clothes have a luminous sheen that complements the metallic gold color very nicely.
Her hair has some odd orange-colored streaks through it, and I’m not sure what those are supposed to be. They aren’t too noticeable at a normal viewing distance, but seen up close and magnified on a computer screen, they are hard to miss.
Ivy has her choice of weapons; her familiar extended whip, and its retracted sword form:
The sword is very nicely detailed, with a series of runes inscribed on the fuller. Nonetheless, the whip form looks too cool not to show off so that’s what she’s going to be equipped with.
My opinion may be influenced by me winning the contest, but I think Ivy looks great. She’s got a sculpt that I find attractive and the paint is very good, and you can’t beat the price I got her for.
I’ve played and own the four main Soul Calibur games, although I admit that I’m pretty bad at all of them. I mainly use Seung Mina; I’m really terrible with Ivy. Whenever I use her, I usually just mash buttons until I can get her whip extended.
I really like the body and details of the small amount of clothing she’s wearing as well as the sword, but the face too less resembling (for me) to the illustration made me give up the buying. But it’s true that she’s really better than the PVC.
Why did you have to remind me of Choun!
Just when I thought that I was able to lock her away somewhere deep,deep in my mind and threw away the key you come and bust open that door.
How come everyones lucky with E2046?
I like the piantjob on thsi one but honestly its no wonder with Gatherings great artists.
Im horribly in fighting games aswell and I love to Play Ivy and Cassandra 😛
>> Lylibellule
I think the figure would’ve been a bit better if it stuck with the wide-set stance, which looks a lot more dramatic. I can’t argue with the price though XD
>> Blowfish
Ha, you can’t outrun the internet! Choun is going to be with you as long as the internet lasts. I looked up Ivy’s sculptor information and saw Choun there and I was like, “Hey, I know someone who has that figure.”
I lost out in the office Christmas party raffle and my fantasy football team got clobbered in the league championship game, so I’m glad I won something this month XD
I have the mass produced PVC version and recently its started to lean forward.
Now this I totally didn’t expect, her pose seems pretty straight and doesn’t show any obvious imbalance, unlike a lot of figures.
I’ve had her for quite a few months now and its only recently that it developed this ‘leaning problem’ (probably from the summer heat).
Does anyone have this problem with this figure?
I don’t have that problem, though my version is a recast and I’m not certain if the material used is stronger than normal PVC. I’m also not certain of Enterbrain’s usual quality, but I do have one Beat figure (the guy who sculpted this figure has sculpted a Beat figure), and it is suffering from one of the most pronounced and hilarious leaning problems I’ve ever seen. It pretty much looks like this.
Damn whoever made this statue did an amazing job on Ivy’s hot ass.
… Holy $#!T !!! Ivy is one of my favorite Soul Calibur characters (her being in my 1st place spot). I really wish I could be as good as the few players that main her, as well. I totally suck, but that doesn’t change my opinion of her! ^ ^
I’ve never gotten the hang of using Ivy … actually, I’m really bad at Soul Calibur in general, though I really like the game, and I’m looking forward to V. I generally like to use Seung Mina, though I heard she’s not a very powerful character.