Being someone who dislikes world PVP combat in MMO games, I didn’t have much interest in playing Lineage II when it first came out. However, I loved the character designs, particularly the female dark elves, and eventually I gave it a shot. I liked my dark elf fighter’s starting costume very much, but even that wasn’t enough to overcome the monotony of the gameplay and I called it quits after my free one-month trial period.
I still like the character designs though, and I’m glad to see several figure manufacturers bringing sculpts bearing their likenesses to market. Orchid Seed is the latest to do so, and here we have the elf. No name, no character class, just Elf – although one can infer from her staff that she is some sort of finger-waggling, babble-chanting spell-flinger, as these sorts of conventions are eternal in this genre.
Being that I played only a dark elf during my brief stint in Aden, I’m not familiar with the background concerning the lighter-skinned elves, and since most MMOs I’ve played have had very facile stories (if any drunks out there are looking for a new way to get wasted, go visit WoWWiki and click on random articles. Every time you read about a character who starts out good but becomes corrupted and falls into evil, take a drink), I’m sure it’s not particularly enthralling, anyway.
Elf is nominally sculpted in 1/7 scale and is about 21.5 centimeters tall from her toes to the top of her head. Now being that she is wearing heels, she is technically shorter than that, which puts her at well under five feet tall if she were real. While elves are often depicted as being shorter than humans, I don’t believe that the Lineage II elves are that much smaller, and so this is yet another case of a figure manufacturer having slept through division lessons in elementary school. Now, I’ll concede that out of the four basic arithmetic operations that one learns in grade school, division is probably the hardest, since you have to deal with those ugly remainders, and for some inexplicable reason you start off learning long division by writing out the numbers horizontally, but then you get to middle school and they tell you to write them as rational numbers and you don’t see the long division stuff again unless you major in engineering and they make you expand partial fractions by using polynomial long division which uses the grade school notation, which is confusing as hell.
Err, yeah, so Orchid Seed sucks at math. On the plus side, as Good Smile Company’s Human Elf and Dark Elf are in 1/8 scale, this allows Orchid Seed’s version to fit in with those other figures. On the negative side, because of her more realistic styling, she really does look small; her head is considerably smaller than a typical 1/8 scale anime-style figure.
Orchid Seed provides a typical transparent plastic disc as the base; this one is labeled “ELF” in case anyone isn’t sure what he or she is looking at, and it’s also quite small, which is appreciated. They also present a choice of weapons, an elaborate staff or a sword quite reminiscent of the one that the dark elf wields. Unfortunately, I snapped it in half; both weapons can separate to slide into the elf’s left hand, but I broke off the mounting peg while removing it from her grasp. Oops.
The elf effects very muted colors, with pale skin, gold and white clothing, and blue eyes so light they look almost colorless. It’s a low-key scheme that directs attention to the sculpt, which is a bit atypical for an anime-inspired figure. She has a relatively small head, a reasonably realistic upper body build, and very wide hips and elongated legs. One hip is thrust to the side, highlighting her narrow waist, and her slender arms and fingers convey an impression of fragility.
Unsurprisingly for an Orchid Seed figure, her clothes are removable. Her torso separates just above her bustline, which slightly complicates the task of removing or replacing her skirt, since it needs to be pulled over her breasts. Her head and arms also detach, and happily Orchid Seed has provided some arm bands to conceal the detachment points.
Her skirt and jacket are made of somewhat flexible plastic, a bit like Good Smile Company’s Shuraki figures. More unusually, her arms are similarly flexible, which makes it more difficult than it needs to be to firmly reattach her arms while she is wearing her jacket. Her legs feel much more solid, which may allay leaning concerns.
You know, I don’t provide descriptive identifiers in my post tags, but maybe I should. I’m thinking I might introduce a tag titled “epic ass” and this figure seems to be a good example of such. Who else merits such a tag? Metatron for sure, certainly Canal and the Dark Magician … really need to re-shoot the latter one of these days …
Looking up close at the photos, there are some visible seam lines, particularly on her arms, and there are some green stains on her right knee and elbow; I’m not sure if they were there or if they were caused by the green mat I used in my pictures. Knowing my clumsiness, I’m thinking it’s probably the latter. There are also some specks in her paint job that are obvious when viewed with a macro lens, and there are a few other smudges, most noticeably on her backside. I’m not sure if that was caused by the skirt or not.
Despite those technical problems, I like this figure a lot. The elf was the figure I was perhaps looking most forward to, and I have to admit that she falls a bit short of my expectations, particularly due to her smaller-than-expected size, but otherwise, I’m quite pleased with how she looks. She’s very pretty, she looks great without her skirt, and being that I’m an easy person to please, I don’t need much more than that to call this a good figure.
Orchid Seed has shown off a female dwarf figure already, and it appears that they’ll be doing a dark elf figure as well. I’m thinking that I’ll be passing on the dwarf, but I’m interested in seeing their dark elf rendition.
For another review, check out foo-bar-baz, who’s had his since before New Year’s Day.
It’s a panty party, yay!
That should be the Majestic Robe set, L61 and up, and she’s holding Staff of the mothertree, L61+, and I see that you have the Sword of Miracles, L61+ from the dark elf model.
You should take a pic of her with GSC’s Human Elf and Dark Elf so we can see how her size compares. But for an Orchid Seed figure I think she came out really nice! Definitely the hottest Elf figure! She totally beats out Elwing from Shining Wind or Alleyne from Queen’s Blade. I think I might take that back one day but for now she is the best looking one. I’m glad I was able to get her since she sold out pretty fast.
Oh and you lost me on the division talk. I hate math. 🙁
>> Panzerfan
Ah, so these are actual items from the game, thank you for the clarification. I’m hoping Orchid Seed rolls with heavy doom plate for their dark elf figure … at least, I think that’s what it’s called.
>> Ami
I did take a few but I didn’t like the way they turned out … ehh … yeah, I’ll toss one up there. I put in a link to foo-bar-baz too since he’s also get a triple L2 figure picture; it looks like his dark elf figure has the same leaning problems as mine.
I’m not sure how I’d rank elf figures; E2046’s dark magician used to be my favorite figure, and GSC’s dark elf is a strong contender too, but Orchid Seed’s figure is definitely sexy. And that reminds me, I need to look around for Alleyne.
I lost myself on the mathspeak, too. I suck at math; I flunked single var calc on my first attempt and I pushed off probability until my last semester.
Geh Tier your killing me with these nicely sculpted backside figures eh…I think I saved every damn picture from this shoot. >_>
Marvelous job though…I know you said you didn’t play an Elf so I guess you didn’t mean to but you really captured the feeling of their starter area to me with a few of the shots having the flowers in the BG!
Looking at her is making me anticipate TERA online even more though…same people behind L2 so heres hoping they make some figures of the awesome models from there as well in due time eh! ~_^
I remember having a huge shitstorm with a friend about the character design featured by this figure. In retrospect, I probably would have had a much better opinion of her getup if I wasn’t expected believe she’s supposed to fight in that. Seriously, lace and high heels do NOT work on a battlefield… *looks at Saber Lily* Oh wait…
I second the notion of “epic ass”, by the way =)
You’re so fast at getting these reviews up! I just got my Elf yesterday and finished taking some pics. Definitely agree with you on the ass, but I think I’ll be displaying her with her clothes on. LOL
Nice figure – how did you find attaching her to the stand? My Elf doesn’t seem to fit too well into the stubs on the base – her legs don’t seem all that strong either, so I hope she doesn’t develop any leaning.
Gotta watch out for the staff and sword, they’re so fragile and pointy – I kept stabbing myself with them while taking pictures. LOL
Epic. Ass.
Hehe..I knew it won’t be “true” 1/7. I don’t trust scales anyway.
But damn she looks good. I like the muted color scheme and looks nice paired with GSC Dark Elf.
I heard there’s a WonderFest variant of this. Any info of that?
>> Ashlotte
Thanks! Yeah, I never did see the light side elf starting zone … when I can’t think of anything to use for a backdrop and I don’t want to go with straight black or white, I roll with flowers. They’re cheap and they usually look pretty good. Wish I had something for the background so it wasn’t completely black, though.
Yeah, I’m liking how TERA looks. Which is to say, I like how that one race looks … uhh, the Castanics I think, or something like that … they chucked out this trailer that was basically all fanservice and I was like, “Hmm, this looks like an MMO I can play.”
>> Chag
I always figure realism goes out the window whenever you’re dealing with the fantasy genre … I don’t know anything about elves, I’ve never seen an elf so I don’t know what they’d be like in real life. Although then again, one of my college roommates had curiously pointed ears … it was hard to resist the temptation to call him Legolas … maybe I’ll ask him and see if he knows.
(Quicky aside: when I read certain forums, sometimes I hear people say “OMG, that person’s clothing is so skimpy/impractical/unrealistic, how can she possibly fight in that?” And I’m reminded of the book Black Hawk Down, which documents the Battle of Mogadishu, mostly from the American point of view. In it, we learn that a number of US Army Rangers didn’t bother wearing underpants to battle, and that several of them had their trousers blown off, burned off, or cut off during the fight. So there were American troops engaged in a firefight with it all hanging out. I figure if elite Army troops can fight like that, then warrior girls going into battle in the fantasy genre can wear whatever they like.)
I’m thinking I’m going to have to put that tag into effect.
>> VF
I aim to be first! Well, mainly I like taking pictures. I haven’t played my 360 since last November. I haven’t watched television since the Super Bowl. All my other hobbies have sorta been put on the backburner in recent times. (Though when Record of Agarest War comes out, I’m going to try to make some time for that.)
I did have a bit of difficulty getting her firmly propped up on the stand, and you can see in most of my full-body pictures that one of her feet isn’t pushed all the way in. Actually, neither of her feet are pushed all the way in. I’m hoping that she doesn’t start leaning over, too.
Yeah, I’m trying to be extra-careful with the staff now, since it’s the only weapon she’s got now.
>> DaSaru
She does! I dunno why it’s so hard for figure manufacturers to get the scale right … all you do is take a guess at the character’s actual height and divide it by the figure height … it’s not rocket surgery … they even make machines that’ll do the hard parts for you.
Yeah, there was a Wonder Festival variant that has white hair. I didn’t like it quite as much. Here it is … I’m thinking it mighta looked a bit better with maybe a blue and gold-colored blouse and skirt or something.
Hiya! Nice stuff. I guess mine is on the way. Flying with some snail mail. I decided to buy this figure due to the promo photos which caught my eyes. However, I must say that from some angles, she doesn’t look that great. Probably, I should just look at her from nice angle. 🙂
She looks good actually.
better then what i expected to be honest.
i was kinda interested in her, but meh i got so much in my wish list…plus im broke lol
I love the background you used 🙂
Pingback: Orchid Seed: Elf Mage (Lineage II)
FUCK O_O
THIS IS DELISCOUS!
I was looking into this but I ended up buying the Hattori Kiriko one. I still think this one is a piece of art.
>> softz
Always a good plan. I need to think about that myself, whether to display her from a front or back angle. Hope you get yours soon!
>> Fabrice
She does! I was expecting something great so I’m a little bit disappointed that she only ended up pretty good. Yeah, I’m broke too … need to scrounge up some money so I can get my car’s suspension checked out, it’s been making strange noises that it shouldn’t be making.
>> phossil
Thanks! I’m hoping the flowers divert attention from the plain black background. One of these days I’ll summon up the courage to shoot on something that’s not black or white.
>> GREW
It is! Or she is. Something like that.
>> Alex
Funny how I didn’t get any new figures through most of March, and then a half dozen figures that I’m interested in get released right at the beginning of April. I’m still going to hope for a Kiriko figure with a darker paint job. And maybe a bigger butt. I know that last one won’t happen but stranger prayers have been answered before.
This is great – you ordered Elf too! 🙂 Mine arrived with Velvet, but will remain in the box ’cause I have nowhere to put her. Like you, I’m slightly disappointed by her size. Personally, I wish she were 1/6 scale.
As usual, ALL of your shots are GREAT, but I love the way picture #7 captures the angles of her body! Her legs almost seem to go on forever! Gotta give props for the pose they chose for Elf tho… If that isn’t a Victoria’s Secret runway worthy pose, I don’t know what is! Combine that with the innocent yet sexy look on her face…
I’m looking around the room again!
Thanks! 1/6 scale would’ve been epic … it would’ve vaulted this figure far higher in my esteem. I’m hoping Orchid Seed doesn’t screw up on the scale size with some of their future stuff, especially Happoubi Jin (motorbike) Rider … I’ve got my fingers crossed on that since their Hustler figure really is about 1/7 scale.
I’m thinking I’ma box up some of the figures that I don’t like quite as much and put them in storage to clear out room for my newer stuff. It’s hard to figure out which ones I don’t like, though.
WonderFest..is..just..the..hair..? I hope the price difference isn’t all that much for such a small difference.
They shoulda had like fully different color and/or weapons. Bleh.
Yep, that’s it, as far as I know. I think it was around the normal price but of course, being a convention exclusive tacks on a billion more fees. A spiffier staff would’ve been nice, maybe something with some little crystals on the end or something.
mmm really love the lighting in those first two pics… nice and warm, really complements the figure imo ^^
the “epic ass” tag should be implemented immediately 😛
she looks good with the other lineage figures… personally the human mage never quite did it for me but she seems to be a good back up dancer for this elf ^_^
I think that is a very good suggestion. Haha, yeah, I like the human mage figure but she’s my least favorite of the three L2 figures I have (and she’s behind E2046’s L2-inspired figures in my esteem, too). That’s okay though, the elves need groupies XD
As much as I hate Elves this figue is quite a beauty.
From an aesthetic view I usually prefer more realistic rendered figure over the typical anime look.
Kinda weird that she looks this innocent besides her skimpy outfit
I like both, but for some reason, I don’t really like too many American figures or statues. I do have one Sideshow Toys figure preordered but I think it’s kinda weird how a lot of the stuff I’ve seen from high-end manufacturers just looks blah to me.
I just ordered this off Amazon. I found an Amazon user selling the dark-elf for $300, but that’s beyond my budget. This white Elf is in a more respectable $130’ish range (new) and is stocked fairly well if you look in the right places. $130 sounds like a steal to me. Who knows, I might be able to resell it used in the future for a profit, if I can keep it maintained.
I forgot to mention, what I really like about this piece, ironically, is you can NOT see her nipples. This means it’s a great conversational piece without being downright offensively adult oriented. This is one thing that turned me off from the absolute best anime figurines is that they’re all exposed.
This is a figurine I will be proud to show off, whereas any other with exposed nipples I’d be too paranoid to take it out of my room, let alone show to others.
Yeah, she can be displayed in polite company, which is sort of a rarity with Orchid Seed’s stuff; they often don’t mind doing explicit figures, particular with a lot of stuff that they have scheduled. Me, I don’t mind figures that are explicit; I don’t invite over anyone who is going to be offended by plastic nipples.
So this just in: Starting July 2011, Orchid Seed is releasing a 2nd edition of this Lineage White Elf figurine. AmiAmi is accepting preorders for 5,980 Yen ($71.40).
http://www.orchidseed.co.jp/contents/91elfse/
http://www.amiami.jp/shop/?set=english&vgForm=ProductInfo&sku=FIG-MOE-2473&template=default/product/e_display.html
I’ve got two reasons why I hate this 2nd Edition over the 1st Edition:
1.) The 1st Edition’s blond hair complemented the elf’s divine nature, whereas the 2nd Edition’s pink hair looks unnatural. Most elves do NOT have pink hair, so what the hell? It detracts from the figurine, in my opinion.
2.) The weapons are a bit too much. The 1st Edition had a nice muted, yet elegant elvish staff, whereas the 2nd Edition’s staffs look like they’d be used by a mage or dark lord.
I don’t regret purchasing the First Edition over this one; however, I am concerned this is going to compromise the demand of the first figurine’s rarity. Though the figurine’s look nothing alike, I can’t foresee people spending x2 more money just for white hair, so this is going to hurt its resale value.
Now my question is why the hell isn’t Orchid Seed re-releasing the Dark Elf!?! That one was arguably more rare, so what the hell? Damn you Orchid Seed.
I don’t dig the version with the pink hair as much either. Maybe they could’ve changed the color of her clothes to match her hair better; the blonde hair looks perfect with her white and gold outfit but the pink hair looks a bit odd. And yeah, those weapons look really out of place, especially that huge silver cudgel. It looks about as inappropriate as Saber with a chainsaw.
If I’m thinking of the right dark elf, that was actually made by Good Smile Company; Orchid Seed has a dark elf figure in the works but they haven’t shown the sculpt for it yet. I’m looking forward to it, since it seems like it’s going to be closer to the L2 character models.
I’ll keep my eyes peeled for any Dark Elves from Orchid Seed then. I found someone selling the Lineage II Dark Elf for $300 on Amazon (assuming they’re still selling it), but that’s out of my price range, especially since it’s used.
Yeah, the old dark elf figure goes for insane prices. I’m really, really glad I got her for list price back when BBTS and Entertainment Earth mysteriously restocked her a couple years back.
lol so here’s a funny story: My family has a maid who comes every other Friday and she was cleaning my room the other day when she preceded to knock over my Lineage Elf II figurine. The figurine was fine (still looks brand new), but the staff broke in half.
The funny thing is when I came home, I saw the figurine put on its pedestal-thing, albeit awkwardly. This told me the maid was aware she knocked it over and tried to reposition it and make it up-right. I can only imagine what was going on through her mind while she was fondling my figurine to get it to stand-up, all while feeling guilty about damaging it. No surprise she avoided me that day and cleaned up mighty faster than usual.
I might try using super glue on the staff, but the thickness is so small, I have my doubts it would work. Moral of the story: Hide your figurines when strangers visit.
Ahh, that sucks; I’d be apoplectic if someone damaged one of my figures. It’s good that the figure itself isn’t damaged, though. I broke the staff on my figure as well, just trying to put it in her hand. I think a lot of people broke it, because when they announced the elf girl’s re-release, I recall they mentioned giving her a sturdier weapon.
That is a good moral indeed. However, in my case, I have so many figures that I’d need one of those secret rotating walls to hide mine, like in the Nazi castle in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.