It’s been a couple of months since the last preorder post, so it’s a good time for a new one. A lot of very nice figures have gone up for order recently, and there was also all that weirdness between Orchid Seed and Amiami, so there’s a lot to talk about; let’s get to it.
December
Mei Misaki from Another
Certainly a distinctive figure, this is not a product that I’d expect Griffon to make. I try to stay away from the whole “tiering” thing of manufacturers – I’ve got some figures from Good Smile Company, Alter, and Max Factory that I don’t think are that great, and I’ve got some figures from less-esteemed makers such as Kotobukiya and Yamato that I think look fantastic – but frankly, many of the earliest figures I bought are Griffon figures and I’ve had a long time to form an opinion of their quality. That opinion isn’t positive but that said, many of those figures are Ikkitousen figures, and perhaps their low quality is excusable not just because they are old figures but also because not many makers seem to put much effort into making Ikkitousen figures (that peculiar gold-plated Ryomou figure that Daiki Kougyou put out a while back is an example of a rather uninspired effort). Really, the only thing that makes me hesitate about this figure is the record of its manufacturer. I suppose the fact that I know nothing about Another should also give me pause, but being clueless about a character doesn’t compel me to rule it out. I’ll call this one a maybe and see if any of the big Japanese sites get some sample shots up.
Yoko Ritona from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
Yamato continues branching out into poseable stuff with this relatively large-sized Yoko action figure. There are a couple of reasons I’m not big into action figures; the main one is that the most popular brands – Figmas and Revoltechs – are quite small, being about 1/12 scale. The other reason is that I just don’t play with my toys much; the poseability and accessories that Figmas come with become a drawback, since I have to store them someplace and I have to avoid misplacing them. That said, Yamato’s toys seem to be a good deal larger than Figmas – Yoko is listed as 22 centimeters tall, which would make her around 1/8 scale, and that’d be large enough that I could incorporate her into photoshoots and use her in some of my stock sets. My main sources of hesitation are her price – 9,280 yen at Amiami – and her face, which sort of reminds me of Sanrio’s Keroppi character. I wonder if it’s just my imagination.
January
Mikado from Daiteikoku
Fresh off issuing their Retia Adolf figure, Kaitendoh is continuing their Daiteikoku line with this figure of Mikado, the cutest, most upbeat emperor in the galaxy. I liked the Adolf figure a lot, and Mikado is one of my favorite characters in Daiteikoku, so it didn’t take much consideration for me to put this on my order list. Like Adolf, this figure was sculpted by Ken Yokota, who also made a number of GSC’s best-regarded figures, and I wonder if he’ll be making more stuff for Kaitendoh.
Suzuha Amane from Steins;Gate
Back when I reviewed Kotobukiya’s Kurisu Makise, Steins;Gate was a rather obscure Xbox 360 visual novel. Since then, it’s gained a large fanbase, thanks to a well-received anime. I think it’s also been ported to the PS3. I have neither played the game nor watched the anime (though it’s on the list of stuff I should watch, joining Clannad, Last Exile, the second half of Fate/zero, and the seventh DVD volume of Angelic Layer), so I’m judging this figure purely on its visual appeal. I’m a big fan of cute girls in tight sportswear, and so I like Suzuha’s outfit quite a bit. I also like the contrast between her bike-riding exercise and her unhealthy soft drink consumption. I went ahead and ordered this figure, since I’m sure it’ll be a high-quality figure and I might get to watching Steins;Gate by the time it comes out.
Tamaki Kousaka from To Heart 2
Few characters have the sort of popularity that Tamaki has – at least amongst figure manufacturers. We’ve seen all sorts of Tamaki figures, and now Orca Toys is making one of Tamaki in a bunnysuit. Unlike FREEing’s figures, Tamaki is 1/5 scale, so while she’s a bit smaller than their line, she’s still going to be quite large. Although I have to think that my collection doesn’t need another Tamaki figure – particularly being that I wouldn’t name her one of my favorite characters – it’s going to be hard for me to resist this one. She looks fantastic – Amiami has a bunch of pictures of her – and there really isn’t anything negative I can say about her, except apparently that Orca Toys might be a spinoff of Okayama Figure Engineering. Okayama is, along with Native and Giga Pulse, one of three figure makers who almost exclusively make ero figures. It’s telling that despite my fondness for ero figures, I don’t own a single one of their products. Nonetheless, Tamaki looks really nice and I’m hoping that the final product matches the sample photos.
February
Fate T. Harlaown from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS
This post would not be complete without a Fate Testarossa figure. This one is manufactured by FREEing, the latest in their long-running line of bunnygirl figures. I’m not a huge fan of bunnygirl figures – I like the suits but I don’t care as much for the ears and tails – but Fate looks pretty great (as does the Tamaki shown above). I liked FREEing’s Nymph and I’m sure Fate will be just as good.
I’ve ordered both Fate and Nanoha, but I’m not sure if I’m going to get Hayate; I know very little about Hayate’s character and I don’t think her character design is as attractive as the other two lead characters.
Kuroyukihime from Accel World
Accel World is one of those anime series that got a good deal of hype before and during its run. My interest in the show lasted about ten minutes, which is about as long as it took for me to recognize the lead male’s voice actor. The lead girl has a very nice character design, but it’s difficult for me to get past the idiocy of the show’s premise and my dislike of the pig (the pig is the lead male, if anyone is curious). The pig seems to be removable, so if I get it, I might put something else in Kuroyukihime’s lap and then mutilate Porky.
The best thing about Accel World is that it inspired this piece of fan art by noted artist Matsuryuu.
And speaking of Kotobukiya, if anyone wants their Inia Sestina school swimsuit figure, your best bet might be at Amazon, where they’re selling her for $47.49 shipped. That’s not a bad deal at all. Unless you live outside the US, I guess.
Shizuru Nakatsu from Rewrite
Besides Griffon, BEAT is the other company I tend to stay away from. I’ve got a couple of their figures – their Tamaki doesn’t look that great and Wind Goddess Rafale is the queen of leaners, on top of not looking that great. However, Shizuru looks pretty nice, nice enough to overcome my misgivings. I like her expression, her big twintails, and her squiggly-looking legs. I also like that her bikini top can be removed. BEAT is making two versions of this figure, one with an eyepatch and a pink swimsuit and the one depicted above, which is the one I ordered.
March
Cryska Barchenowa from Muv-Luv Alternative Total Eclipse
An apparent tradition amongst figure makers holds that female mecha pilots cannot be sculpted standing up. I’m at a loss to explain why this is so, but it seems the great majority of Evangelion figures have Rei, Asuka, and the new girl either lying on the ground or sitting or kneeling or reclining on something (the 1/6 scale Max Factory figures are a notable exception). This tradition is carrying over to Total Eclipse, where it seems that not only can they not be sculpted standing up, they have to wear only swimsuits or their underwear. That’s rather unfortunate, since I really like their pilot suits, and I wasn’t going to consider buying this figure because I already have Alphamax’s earlier Cryska figure. Then I noticed that this figure is listed at 1/6 scale and my interest perked up (with me, it doesn’t take much). Now I’m thinking that I’ll order this figure; maybe it’s not the Cryska figure I’m looking forward to, but hey, it’s big, it’s relatively cheap, and it’s got her in her panties. It doesn’t take much.
Nanoha Takamachi from Magical Girl Record Nanoha Force
I was really interested in this figure, up until I saw the price tag, and then I was like “Holy fook” and my enthusiasm evaporated. I’ll get the bunnygirl figure instead; for the same price, it’s a lot bigger and it’s got a much better ass.
Rana Linchen from Freezing
FREEing is finally following up their figures of Satellizer and Ingrid with Rana Linchen and Ganessa Roland (not yet available for order but visible in Rana’s promo photos). Rana – the happy Tibetan homewrecker – was one of the few things I liked about Freezing, and the show would’ve been a lot more watchable had the focus been on the relationship between her and Satellizer (incidentally, some of the doujinshi published by Freezing’s creator is centered on those two). Rana looks pretty nice – maybe not fantastic, but pretty nice – and I think I’m going to order this figure.
Commander Shepard from Mass Effect 3
If anyone doubts that Kotobukiya’s Bishoujo line is directed squarely at Western customers, one need only look at this figure to dispel that notion. Given the sexed-up treatment that other characters have received (the Ghostbusters girl, notably), I’m surprised that they didn’t cut the midriff and ass out of her armor. I might have even preferred such modifications but nonetheless, I still like how this figure looks, and the Bishoujo figures are always available at reasonable prices in the US. Although I haven’t played Mass Effect 3 yet – or 2, or beaten 1 – I think I’m going to get this figure; Shepard looks assertive as well as sexy, and I like her Heisman Trophy pose, too.
I’m still kinda hoping they do some Mortal Kombat Bishoujo figures someday.
April
Homura Akemi from Magica Puella Magica Madoka
I’m not planning on getting this figure, but it is interesting to compare and contrast the reception this figure is getting with the reaction to gangsta lean Saber. They actually have very similar faces, with heavy eyelids, very large irises, and full lips. From what I can tell, people seem to be slightly more enthusiastic about Homura than Saber, though that may be in part due to Homura’s price tag, which is a good deal cheaper than Saber’s.
Man, I like her tights, though. And I like her face, much like I like gangsta lean Saber. I shouldn’t have included her here; now I’m thinking maybe I should get her.
Yui Takamura from Muv-Luv Alternative Total Eclipse
This figure of Yui is the 1/6 scale counterpart to the Cryska we just looked at. Like her commie colleague, a large part of her appeal stems from her lack of pants and her large size. If I get Cryska, I’ll probably get Yui too. Looking at the picture, though, I can’t help thinking that something about her legs looks kinda off. Maybe it’s the taper of her thighs.
The Yui figure I’m really waiting for is Kotobukiya’s figure, though. It looks like it’s going to be fantastic. However, though Yui is wearing her pilot suit and is standing up, the placeholder art for Cryska and Inia shows them lying down. I guess you have to take what you can get.
May
Mai Shiranui from The King of Fighters XIII
Before they started making PVC figures of popular anime characters in swimwear, Alphamax made really expensive polystone statues, mostly of characters nobody had ever heard of. One of the better-known characters they made a statue of was Mai Shiranui. Now they’re making a much cheaper PVC figure of Mai. It looks much the same, with Mai flashing a friendly smile while thrusting her backside out. It looks pretty nice, it’s 1/6 scale, and the price is good, so I might order this figure even though I own the larger polystone statue (if I do, I’ll probably get the black one; there’s also a version with her customary red outfit). One thing I don’t like is that this figure drops her widow’s peak hairline, giving her face kind of a teardrop-shaped look that I don’t really care for.
June
Lucifer from The Seven Deadly Sins
There was a bit of drama surrounding this figure a few weeks ago after it disappeared from Amiami’s listings. It turns out that all Orchid Seed products have been removed from Amiami, apparently because of concerns regarding international distribution. Or somesuch. I ordered this figure from Hobby Search, where it is still available. Hopefully whatever business reasons Orchid Seed had for withdrawing their products from Amiami do not affect Hobby Search or HLJ.
Unlike the previous two Seven Deadly Sins figures, Lucifer is being sold through normal retail channels (aside from Amiami). That’s a great thing since she has my favorite design of the seven characters and that saves me quite a bit of money. She looks great and there wasn’t really any question that I wouldn’t order her. At least, unless Orchid Seed pulls their stuff from Hobby Search. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen.
MOOOOOAAAAARRRRRRRRRRR BOOBS AND BUTTS YAY!!!!
*drool*
So many hot girlies on their way!!
Mai, Yui, Cryska, and Kuroyukihime! Oh My! <3
Shizuru's cute :3
Fate and Tamaki look the same, just different hair, and posing….but they're still hot! 😛
Shizuru is really cute, she’s not the sort of character I think I usually like, and she comes from a manufacturer that I don’t have a lot of confidence in, but somehow I’m really looking forward to her. Plus there are probably a lot of different ways I could take her picture.
Hey, I have one of these on order. How rare our tastes overlap. Only a handful of others were even on my figure radar, but I opted not to order them (Nanoha, Mei, Lucifer) for various reasons. I did order the hell out of Kuroyuki though, she’s gorgeous; and since Porky can be removed there’s no reason not to get her. A couple other figures of her feature him quite prominently, and so I shunned them because he was such a terrible character. (though does get better toward the end of the series, for what it’s worth).
Nanoha just isn’t my kettle of fish, I’ll just hunt Mandarake until I get Alter’s StrikerS version at a decent price. Even if it will take some juggling of my displays to fit her in. >.<
Lucifer (all of the Seven Deadly Sins girls, actually) had my attention, but I passed on her because she had a significant breast enlargement from illustration to figure. She looked great in the original illustration, but they made them so much larger for the figure as to be a complete turnoff. Also not hugely keen on how her face came out.
Mei… well, the series was hilarious for its obviously Higurashi inspired gore, but Griffon is Griffon. I can say that as someone who owns almost 30 of their figures (similar to Ikkitousen, Griffon seem to be the only company doing many of the Touhou cast at all, not just main/most popular characters. I just took a photo of a group a little while ago, actually: http://myfigurecollection.net/picture/553970&ref=user%3AAsako (playing with my new 15mm lens). So I know Griffon's flaws well, very hit and miss. But if you think she looks good, go for it. That's what matters, ultimately. It is certainly unique with her coffin and doll.
Peculiar indeed. Yeah, the piggy is a big problem and the main reason the Kotobukiya figure got my interest was that he can be thrown away. I will have to take your word for it that he becomes a better character as the show progresses (Shu became a better character in Guilty Crown too as it went on, and thinking back on it, I’m not sure he was the character I disliked the most in that show).
I’m still kinda expecting that StrikerS Nanoha will get a re-release from Alter one of these days. They seem to be re-releasing a lot of stuff, and Nanoha would fit the profile, particularly since they’re still producing so much stuff from the series. It’d be nice if they also re-released Signum, since that’s the other StrikerS figure I’m interested in.
Hmm, yep, Griffon’s quality looks like it hasn’t changed a whole lot, as you say. Their skin tones always seem to be kind of on the drab side (though this isn’t just their problem; Inori looks kinda like that, too, I think). That said, their school swimsuit maid Sasara figure was one of my favorite figures back in the day, and it’s still a figure I like a lot, despite its relatively mediocre level of craftsmanship. Hopefully some sample shots of Mei will show up.
Really want to thank you for your website and reviews. It was actually your reviews of two figures that got my interested, that I began my figure collection, by purchasing two items showcased in your reviews: Mai Shiranui 1/6 from Max Factory, and Princess Solange by empty.
While I think I paid far too much for the figures, I do not regret doing so, thanks to the incredible level of detail in the figures, from Solange’s beautiful, bounteous hair to Mai’s fit arms and sexy pose. I do plan on expanding my collection with carefully picked figures, but I believe that the lateness into the game will be costly. In fact, most of the figures I want range from $250-700, which I believe is too much.
It is precisely to avoid being exploited that tentaclearmada has gained a new follower, to help me the initiated make better choices in acquiring brand new, pristine figures at a fair price. This is why I am asking for you to share with me what reputable online stores I can follow to purchase my figures.
To give you an idea of the figures I want, here is a brief look:
Daiki Kanu Unchou: I love the figure’s thick legs, the power of her pose, to her marvelously sculpted abs which you can really appreciate under overcast lightning.
Orchid Seed Masane Amaha: This figure is simply utterly unbridled voluptuousness. The level of detail in crafting Masane’s torso is fascinating, the figure exudes an intense, jovial energy and is simply capped by a coquettish wink that begs you to examine further.
Kinu Nishimura Morrigan: There is nothing more to say other than Morrigan completely honors her race of succubus. Sensual. That is the only fair way to label this figure. It is hard to study an area of Morrigan’s body without lingering too much.
As you can see, if I intend on getting these figures, I would be juggling a lot of money. My sources like ebay/amazon, pretty much offer the same prices. If you can point to the right direction where I could find thise figures: brand new, defect free and at a good price, I would appreciate it!
:
Thanks for the kind words. Yeah, it can be pretty difficult to locate older figures, but it can be done. The best place to look would be Mandarake; they sell new and pre-owned figures and they have a gigantic inventory. The next best place to look might be Yahoo Japan Auctions; there’s a ton of stuff there, but generally you will need to use a proxy service to bid on items listed there. You could also try Rakuten, which is sort of like Amazon Marketplaces; I haven’t bought anything from there, but they do seem to welcome overseas customers.
I removed your links since the URLs weren’t formatted right, so the links just went to an error page. I can guess which figures you are talking about, though. Well, not so much the Kanu one, since Daiki Kougyou has made so many Kanu figures, but if it’s the recent one with her school uniform, that one should be pretty easy to buy from Amiami or Hobby Search (if it’s any of the miko figures, I wish you good luck finding those, since the last time I heard, they were selling on the secondary market at huge markups). I’m assuming the Masane figure you speak of is the one with the beer tankard; there are a few on YJA right now at relatively typical prices (it looks like maybe 8k to 12k yen is typical). I’ve seen at Mandarake in the past, though they don’t seem to have any right now. There’s also a special edition version of that figure with tanned skin that goes for a lot more. Morrigan … yeah, that’s gonna be tough, there one up on YJA at 30k bid/39k buyout, which is a helluva markup.
I have been hearing great things about Amiami’s pre-owned section. I would also make an account on my figure collection and add the ones you like to your wishlist.
Every couple of days check the posts on the figure’s page and see if any have shown up for sale as there seems to be a dedicated few people that update when stuff appears for sale.
For some reason, none of the Deadly Sins thus far has compelled me to order. They are obviously well-sculpted figures oozing with sexuality, but their particular styles are just not to my liking. The Mai PVC, on the other hand, seems like an easy buy for me. I just need to consider it a few more times. I might cancel my pre-order on Kuroyukihime to buy her state-side instead (a good $20 cheaper IIRC).
I rate manufacturers according to quality control. It makes little sense to say that a figure will be amazing just because Alter or Volks is making it despite an uninspired sculpt. But it does make sense to wait until release to see if Griffon fucked over yet another potentially gorgeous figure.
Yeah, I don’t think that’s actually too surprising. Asmodeus I could have skipped because she’s built really thick, thicker than I usually like. Leviathan I could have skipped because I don’t like her horns as much as the other girls’. Lucifer I wasn’t going to skip. I might get Satan, assuming Orchid Seed doesn’t pull a fast one on the usual retail channels, but I think I will skip the rest.
I think that’s a good call to get Kuroyukihime from a domestic source; I saw her at $80 at BBTS and I’m guessing that if she shows up on Amazon, she’ll be cheaper and she’ll have free super saver shipping.
I think I usually rate makers based on how often they make figures that appeal to me. I tend to rate makers like Yamato and Daiki Kougyou higher than a lot of people do because I own so many of their products. I tend to rate GSC lower than a lot of people because I don’t buy a lot of their stuff, and my position on nendoroids is well-known. It shouldn’t be surprising that Native is probably one of my two most favorite makers.
Mei, next to Sayame, has been one of this year’s highlights for me in terms of uniqueness. She does look fantastic, pale twin and all. However, having been unveiled just six months ago and officially painted in early October I do wonder if they’re able to actually release her this year. She may just be that much of an interesting subject that it’ll be worthwhile regardless of quality uncertainties.
Yui Takamura had massive potential but I find that Alphamax messed up her facial expression, which looks great in the illustration; everything else is nicely sculpted if we exclude the addition of underwear. The execution was better with Cryska Barchenowa I think.
I’d say Rana Linchen was worth the wait, having been delayed thanks to the inflation of bunnygirl figures. She does look rather uncomfortable in that pose, similar to Satellizer but I think it all works. FREEing have done a good job with their Freezing lineup and Rana (plus Ganessa) is looking promising.
I noticed that Griffon’s preorder-to-release intervals seem to be much shorter than other makers (I remember back when Saber Alter went up for preorder, with a six-month lead time from then to release date. I thought that was nuts, but now it seems to be normal.). I need to check if they got Yozora out on time, I remember she was scheduled for release this month and I passed on her because I had so much stuff scheduled to drop this month (and then all of it got pushed to November. I had Daiki’s Kanu Unchou bundled with Reiko Wingfield, racing Miku, Izumi from se.kirara, and some other figures; Kanu’s the only one of them to get released last month, and I might as well have asked for them to ship her a couple of weeks ago).
Yeah, the Alphamax Total Eclipse figures are still kinda bugging me, in terms of face and sculpt. The girls look really uncomfortable, which is not unrealistic given they’re not wearing pants, but it’s still kinda bothersome.
Rana does look pretty nice. I was kinda hoping her fundoshi would have a little less backside coverage but it is all good nonetheless. I still wish they were all standing up, though, since I have no idea where I’m going to put them. I’ve got Satellizer laying on top of bike Saber’s box since I have no place else to put her.
In the last few months there wasn’t much I’d like to have, which might be good in terms of space. Seems like the big company’s are sleeping, I want to see the Wonfes stuff painted already.
I guess you would like Misaki Mei from Another, aside from her demure dress she was kinda sexy with her voice and behaviour ^0^ I don’t really trust Griffon at all in terms of quality.
This big moveable Yoko looks like fun, the larger size is good, so the figure won’t look odd next to the other 1/8 scale figures. I have set my eyes on the moveable Sonico nurse which has the same size, I really like her faces.
Yeah this Tamaki looks incredible good with her well shaped bosom and the meaty thighs.
The whole body language of her is really sexy, I’d really like to get her next.
I couldn’t stand Accel World as well mainly thx to the short and fat reincarnation of Shu.
Nevertheless Kuroyukihime is a pretty girl and this figure is beautifully sculpted.
I really want to see Koto’s Yui painted, since her suit is the best. I also would like to see Cui Yifei and Tarisa as figures. When did Muv Luv turn into a harem anime? I wanted the final battle against the Beta not that, even though the girls are great ^^
It’s strange what Orchid Seed did, I thought they need every possible customer, since other shops still have their stuff it must be some dispute between AmiAmi and them.
I didn’t get Lucifer, but Im looking forward to Belzebub and Mammon, hehe yeah Mammon seems cool. Im looking forward to the “The Seven Deadly Sins” anime, hopefully they include the same kind of humor like in Hyakka Ryouran or itmight turn out overly ecchi XD
I must admit that when I see Mei’s design, “sexy” is not the word that comes to mind, and so my interest in both her and her anime have increased. Maybe I should give it a look; I’ve heard good things about it.
I’m also interested in Yamato’s Rei Ayanami poseable figure, which they keep showing at the figure conventions. I’ve actually got a bunch of poseable Rei figures, now that I think about it … the Figma, this little one that came with a volume of the manga, the 1/6 scale Medicom doll; the Neuromancer figure wouldn’t look out of place. I had overlooked that Yamato would be making a Sonico figure in the same line, but I guess that’s not surprising; nobody seems to be showing as much love for Sonico as Yamato, it seems.
Tamaki looks really good. I’ve got too many Tamakis but this one is really hard to pass on. In fact, I guess I can’t pass on her since I’ve ordered her and HS and Amiami seem to not be too thrilled if you ask them to cancel. (I wonder how they react if you ask them to switch an order; I was kinda thinking of switching my order for Daiki Kougyou’s white girl Elsa to the tanned girl Elsa).
Ahh, it is good to know that my appraisal of Accel World is a common one. I really hope that some good shows with more confident male characters come up. As silly as that Estetica (I’m sure I didn’t spell that right) show was, it was nice to see a show with a male character who wasn’t a complete wuss (it was also pretty funny how he punches nuns in the crotch).
I must admit that I didn’t think Total Eclipse was going to become a total harem anime, but I guess it shouldn’t be surprised. That’s still kinda disappointing, though. I’m way behind in watching it, so I haven’t yet seen the scenes with the Chinese girl, but I heard that she immediately sets her sights on Yuuya, so hopefully that’s fun to watch.
I really hope that whatever is up with Orchid Seed is just between them and Amiami, as you say. It’s gonna really, really suck if, a couple months from now, Hobby Search and HLJ suddenly announce they’re pulling Orchid Seed products off of their international sites.
There is nothing wrong with that! GIven the way that fanservice in anime is going, I’m kinda expecting the show to make Samurai Girls look like Pokemon.
At least I thought she was sexy, she’s no vamp, but Msaki has something I find quite attractive 🙂
Im not sure if this articulated Sonico figure was from Yamato or CM, but anyway it’s the same concept of a moveable bigger figure.
After they departed from Russia, it totally took the harem route, Yuuya bought flowers for Inia and Cryska. The chinese girl is really cute, even though she’s too full of herself and a bit like a boar 😀 It’s not that I dislike such cute things, but I’d rather want to see some Beta battles in this show.
Ah, the Chinese girl has finally made her appearance. That is good to hear. Though yeah, it is discouraging to hear that the show is basically like Infinite Stratos or something. Not that IS was a terrible show (though it made a poor first impression on me), but I was hoping for something more action-oriented, with lots of slaughter on both sides.
“Dawn Star” is stamped and pre-ordered! Also pre-ordered her from HS because of the weirdo business decision of Orchidseed. Hopefully it won’t be pulled out there too………….
Hopefully not; it would truly suck if they pulled it (and it would really suck if they said they couldn’t honor orders. I don’t expect that will happen, but it is kinda odd how so many Orchid Seed products have “no fixed date” as their expected release dates now).
Noticed that too with their latest Ignis bride figure………..”no fixed date?”
I wonder what is up with that. Not that I have any experience in the figure business, but I’d kinda think that whenever you’re involved in manufacturing, you have to have some timetable for getting your products into the factory and out to the market. Curious that they’ve basically said they have no idea when they’ll be sold.
Good picks. The ones on my radar are Tamaki, Cryska, and Bunny Fate. It seems like a new Fate figure comes out every month, so I’m a little oversaturated by that brand, but that said, it’s a nice figure. I hope you can remove the bunny ears. The only one I’ve actually ordered (as of lunch today) is Mai Shiranui. She’s been my holy grail forever, but previous versions of her either had Mickey Mouse ears or were insanely expensive. So this looks like The One, and over at AmiAmi, she’s actually kind of cheap, all things considered.
Removing the ears would be nice, though I’m expecting that they will be fixed. Mai looks fantastic, though. Well, aside from her haircut, but I figure that with a figure like that, you’re not really buying it for the haircut. Plus the price is quite reasonable, as you point out; she’s a lot cheaper than I expected her to be (not that I expected that this figure would be released at all; I was really surprised when I saw her at Hobby Search a couple days ago).
If your interested, you can get a Limited Edition brunette version of Commander Shepard from the Bioware Store directly. They are the only ones stocking this version.
http://biowarestore.com/collectibles/statues/female-commander-shepard-bishoujo-statue-exclusive-edition.html
Depends if you want brunette or red head. Tough choice for me, I couldn’t decide so ordered both =P
Ah, thank you; I did not know about that. Kinda interesting it’s being sold by Bioware instead of directly by Kotobukiya (and I kinda wonder how the more hardcore Mass Effect fans feel about the figure; I notice that sometimes, there’s some antipathy between JRPG and western RPG fans). I have this thing for redheads, but the dark hair version has kind of a sinister, sultry edge to it that I like.
This may be long as usual with the preorder posts. What can I say? I like these posts.
I may as well start with the ones I just plain have no interest in. Mei, Fate, Nanoha, Rana, Shepard, and Mai. I also don’t really like Yoko because she is an action figure. I love Yoko’s design normally (the pink thigh-highs are sexy), but this just isn’t for me.
As for the Seven Deadly Sins figures, the only thing I don’t like are the horns on them. Lucifer looks great but the horns aren’t for me. I did preorder Leviathan because I liked her look and her horns are barely noticeable. The only other one that interests me is the loli (Gluttony).
The next three I am not ordering but I wanted to mention why. Homura has a nice sculpt and the leggings are awesome (figure would be worth the price for these alone), but her face is just ugly to me. Shizuru is great, with her legs and body, but it just seems too plain to me. Suzuha…I was super excited when I saw this listed on Amiami. The bicycle, clothes, pose, and everything is awesome, but her eyes bug the heck out of me. If her eyes wouldn’t have been so yellow and big she would have been preordered.
Now for the figures I like, but won’t order. Tamaki’s pose is great and she looks good as usual and I love her nice curvy legs. I really should find a Tamaki figure just for the heck of it and add her to my collection.
MIkado also looks nice. She has a plain pose, but she makes up for it in her personality. I also really like the leg bands. This sculptor does a great job and I think I may start watching his stuff when it comes out. This is one I may need to look for after release.
Kuroyukihime is another figure I really like. I like the wings and color scheme and I think the pig is adorable. I probably won’t get her, but I like that this figure has a lot of little things that make it interesting.
And finally on to Yui and Cryska. I love one and am indifferent to the other. Yui doesn’t do anything for me like Cryska does. Cryska has bright hair and a sexier pose. I like Yui’s beverage, but I like how Cryska is holding her dog tags much more. I also think Cryska’s underwear is a much better color and her jacket is way more interesting. I haven’t ordered Cryska yet, but that button is pretty hard to resist.
I’m not really a big fan of horns, either; in fact, I have a demon girl figure where I seriously thought about trying to cut the horns off and painting over the damage. I’ve since changed my mind a bit, probably because I played a draenei character in World of Warcraft for a while, but I still have preferences as to what shape I like. I like Lucifer’s horns a lot, since they look sort of like my Warcraft character’s; I don’t like stubby horns or horns that go straight up or sideways as much.
Ha, if you don’t like Homura’s face, I am going to guess you will not be too fond of gangsta lean Saber. I need to get her pictures shot one of these days.
You should definitely get a Tamaki. Or perhaps not, since there are so many of her that it seems like a collection without a Tamaki is a rare thing. I wonder why a character who doesn’t seem that popular amongst anime fans (probably because the To Heart anime series have been mostly forgettable) gets so many figures.
Mikado’s personality is a big reasons why I like that figure. She’s a great character in Daiteikoku, and she can even command a battle fleet in certain game routes. Besides that, she really is cute.
I’m kinda cooling on the two Total Eclipse figures now. I feel like I would either get both or none, and Yui’s legs are looking really weird to me; like they’re way too stiff or something. I still need to catch up on the anime, though, and if I find myself warming up to the characters, I might change my mind again.
For me I’d go for the Nanoha Rising Heart Fortress Mode. I’d would look good with my Execlica Meteor from Alter XD. As for Total Eclipse I might with go with Kotobukiya’s Yui, Inia and Cryska in pilot suit 1/7 line, the Yui prototype looks promising. Also I might suggest Kuroyuki Hime with her Black Lotus avatar bust from Max Factory if you dislike haru XD ( I’m going for that as the proto looks quite promising)
She probably will! I will give FREEing props for making such an elaborate figure, and her price isn’t that far off what Exelica went for back in the day, too. (For a really elaborate mecha musume setup, you could also get that Amiami figure of Infinite Stratos’s Houki.)
I saw the unpainted picture of the Kuroyukihime bust just a few moments ago; the sculpt really does look fantastic. Unfortunately, I’m not a big fan of busts; I wish it were a full figure instead. Her navel really looks very sexy, though.
2012 is really not the end of the world isn’t? More boobs and butts to arrive, that’s for sure. And the 1/4 loli fate painted image has already been leaked from 4chan I suppose. As a Nanoha fan, I’m also a bit disappointed on the her Force version due to her face and the pricetag that beats the exceed mode version. And alphamax is getting aggressive in their releases as well.
Speaking of accel world, I love the premise but I hate the main chara. He’s such a fag, as always but I like the concept of the anime itself. Yuki Kaji will have a hard time looking for more roles since he’s always typecasted to be a fag. Looking forward for some charred Porky later, hehe. Have you also looked Sword Art Online? Technically it came from the same writer and some rumors that it was a prequel to Accel World. I might be wrong though.
Ah, neat; I saw those photos of Fate after looking for them just now. It looks like the sculptor lavished just as much care on her backside as he did with Nanoha. Yeah, I wasn’t too thrilled with Fortress Nanoha’s face, either; the expression looks a bit off and it almost looks like there’s a crease running down the middle of her face. She also looks really young; I keep thinking that’s loli Nanoha rather than the adult Nanoha in Force. I’m going to guess that’s a figure we’ll see in the bargain sales section sometime after it comes out.
I had planned to watch at least the first few episodes of SAO, since I’ve heard so much about it (and seen so much doujinshi of it, when I was putting together my buy list for Comiket a few months ago). That is not encouraging news, then, that it comes from the same writer of Accel World. I didn’t know that but I guess it doesn’t surprise me since they both revolve around similar virtual world concepts. Just writing that also isn’t very encouraging because while I’ve played many MMOs before, I’m not a huge fan of the online virtual world concept (I like the idea of a virtual environment, but I generally don’t like the people who populate it).
I guess the sculptor need to make some defining assets on his figures. Since they are in a loli state, a well defined breast will be a no good so he invested it on the backside instead. As you may notice, their adult forms are opposite. Although they still have a decent butt, their breasts still make the overall impression. For me, the fortress mode Nanoha’s feature is not herself, but the weapon it carries. As a freeing figure, I guess it will make on a bargain bin sometime. I wonder if you got her summer holiday counterpart though.
I could agree with you more. I really hate the online gaming community due to many issues, usually the players. Some of them are total jerks as if they own the place and not to mention their idiotic vocabulary. Also, there’s also the admins and the game itself became a money making scene. That’s why I’m very disappointed about the generals 2 announcement to make it online instead. But overall, gaming nowadays is really no fun. They became more business oriented, no wonder why some great games before tend to suck in a newer sequels. (Still cannot get over about ff13).
Indeed! He knows that Fate’s butt is transcendent. Though yeah, it does seem that the boobs take greater prominence when they are adults (such as in those bunnysuit figures FREEing is making). I did get summer holiday Fate, and I just need to get around to building her set, which I’ve been really lazy about, since I’ve been watching television and I’ve also been sick for this last week. I cannot seem to shake this cold.
Haha, yeah, whenever I play MMOs, I play them as single-player games surrounded by semi-intelligent bots. I’m not a very social person and I’m typically not too interested in finding new people to play with; back when I played Warcraft, I stayed in a guild with a couple of real-life friends. That said, over time, I did meet a lot of cool people, and I even raided with one guild for about six months, and that was a lot of fun. (On the flip side, I did a lot of battleground PVP too, and I’d mostly rather forget what people were like there.)
Just a friendly warning: judging from the photos, that Yoko is going to have ugly joints and she isn’t going to be very poseable.
As to Accel World, I find Kuroyukihime’s other avatar’s (aka Black Lotus) design way more interesting – this one is just generic (Silver Crow and Scarlet Rain are great, too). But I doubt there will be non-poseable figures of the battle avatars.
Oh, and about the Muv-Luv figures – I hope these photos will make you happy:
http://www.nekomagic.com/?p=36129
On a side note – do you have a tumblr? Because I’m pretty sure this is yours:
http://wtfmanga.tumblr.com/post/35183240980/obama-won
…and I don’t see it neither here nor on MFC.
https://www.tentaclearmada.com/2009/06/tamaki-kousaka-from-to-heart-2-kaitendoh-black-lingerie-version/ Scroll down to picture #12.
Haha, right. Somehow, I was convinced that it’s a new photo, silly me. And I haven’t read all of Tier’s reviews.
Yeah, I’m gonna have to check again for some reviews of Ignis to see just how poseable she is; it defeats the purpose if she has big exposed joints but isn’t very poseable (like this one Play Arts figure I’ve got of Tifa Lockhart; she’s not a lot of fun to play with because her limbs don’t pose well).
Yui is definitely looking great. Hopefully some painted photos come out soon, I’ve got huge hopes for it.
Nah, I don’t have a Tumblr account. Thanks for the heads-up; it surprises me not at all to see that photo, though, since I’ve seen my photos all over the place (one of my pictures with the doll and Alter’s Aegis got some play on Tumblr). Generally I’m not too bothered to see a single photo somewhere (I mean, it’s the internet and stuff gets jacked all the time. I jacked a bunch of pictures for the header image of this post.); I get quite a bit more concerned if I see whole posts or large numbers of images scraped and posted somewhere else, though, which has happened with some frequency in the past.
Ah, yes, the Play Arts figures. So detailed and with such ugly joints, especially knees. I really, really wanted a Lightning figure (the first one), but her knees proved to be a total turn off. I’m serious.
I mean, figmas are obviously better in this matter, but even Revoltechs with their oftentimes ugly balljoints have better looking knees, for Christ’s sake.
Which reminds me – that Misaki figure has impressive kneecaps. No, really. Her knees are surprisingly realistic.
Actually, if I ever got into collecting non-poseable figures, I would consider buying her. It’s an interesting figure, with an actual idea behind it.
As to your work, I’m sorry that it gets stolen from you. I agree, seeing single photos posted elsewhere doesn’t hurt (especially on this particular tumblr ;)). Besides, I know that there are people who try to source things they post (it’s a bit of free publicity, then ;P).
But the WHOLE reviews or photosets? Man, that sucks. I hope they don’t make it very difficult when you ask them to remove the stolen content.
Yeah, I was thinking of getting the Star Ocean 4 figure (uhh … Reimi I think her name is? I’ve forgotten what that game is about, which is for the best, I think), but the poor playability of Tifa was a deterrent, particularly given that Tifa’s posing restrictions weren’t due to her clothes getting in the way. I also just don’t do much with my action figures or dolls; even the large-sized dolls that I own tend to either just stand there, or I’ll just keep them in their boxes.
Yeah, it can be fairly annoying at times, seeing my photos up someplace where I don’t want them to be. If someone links back though, it’s usually okay, though. I actually tend to be more annoyed when someone scrapes my writing rather than the pictures, since I put a lot of time into writing and I think my personality is better reflected by it than the photos.
Well, there’s one thing I can tell you: your texts are a pleasure to read.
Your photos are flawless, but for me your rich and elegant style of writing is the main reason to read your reviews (I don’t even go beyond window-shopping with non-poseable figures! – not to mention dakimakuras, which don’t interest me at all – though as an aspiring artist I sometimes appreciate the skill).
TL;DR you’re one of the sources by means of which I hope my English gets more fluent and, I don’t know, varied? diversified?
Thanks for that XD I spend a lot of time writing, and I think it’s often harder for me to write about a figure than it is for me to take pictures of it. Some figures are easy to write about it but there are quite a few (like most swimsuit figures) where I like them but I have little to say, and it’s hard for me to express what I feel about them.
Ahh, I hope I am not too bad an influence XD Diversified would be a good and appropriate word, I think; there are a lot of writers I admire, and they write on all sorts of subjects, from sports to politics to movies to all the various genres of fiction.
Ah, Misaki Mei. I’m still pissed off that Griffon decided to release her so early, because I had no time to prepare for her whatsoever. I didn’t have space in my pre-orders so I’ll have to let her go. I’ll watch the user pics later to see whether my decision was the right one. Too bad, because I did like the show. Guess I’ll just track down Sega’s prizes instead.
Alter’s Suzuha was a no-brainer for me, because Steins;Gate was my favourite anime of last year and I liked the character too. I’ve already got figures of this show (including that Koto Kurisu, which I still think is awesome) but I never expected one of her to pop up. Nice surprise. She looks pretty detailed and since it’s Alter I’m not too worried about QC issues.
I’m getting Kuroyukihime as well, because she looks pretty awesome and I like her vivid color scheme. Not to mention I quite liked the show, and I don’t seem to despise the main character as much as some people do. Maybe I just have a higher tolerance for whiny characters, but Haruyuki really wasn’t that bad compared to, say, Ouma Shu (who I did think was one of my most hated characters). Because when the shit hits the fan, Haru at least keeps fighting till the bitter end and shows surprising resilience, whereas someone like Shu just runs away from the mission, cries like a little bitch or, well, becomes the Shührer. Not to mention he’s more interesting than his Gary Stu counterpart in SAO as well (which I think is a bad show). So yeah, I kinda like the addition. Gives some nice contrast too.
As for as the Muv-Luv figures go, I think I’ll stick with Koto’s pilot suit versions. Alphamax’ Cryska looks nice, but I want the pilot suit version more, and their Yui just looks kind of awkward to me. The show has interested me enough to get them anyway (even though it’s more of a faff-around-the-base show than actual mecha) and I already have Inia anyway.
I think I’m going to skip the Mass Effect figure because I’ve kinda lost interest in Mass Effect stuff. The ending of 3 has soured me so much on the series that I don’t want to be reminded of that every time I see her. And no, the extended ending still has a lot of problems.
I’m thinking that I’ll be taking the same approach with Mei, unless I watch Another, which probably isn’t going to happen any time soon given how large my backlog of shows is (I haven’t even started watching anything from this season, though I guess that’s not a big problem since there wasn’t much I was interested in to start with).
Yeah, I’m really taken with Suzuha’s style, even though I haven’t yet seen Steins;Gate (nor would I really class myself as a big fan of Huke’s style). I kinda thought Alter make make one of Kurisu, following GSC and Kotobukiya. It’s interesting how Alter often favors characters who aren’t the leads of their shows, though; they seem to like Fate a bit more than Nanoha, they’ve not made a Hakufu figure despite making a ton of figures of the Ikkitousen characters, and I think they’re doing a figure of Kazuno from Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere, even though she only appeared in a few episodes.
Ahhhh, man … the wimpy Shu, the Shührer, Jesus Shu … man, I’d put those memories in a neat little box that I hadn’t planned on opening until writing my review of Guilty Crown, but now they’re all coming back. I have to admit I’m basing my opinon of Haru mainly from his voice and his appearance, which perhaps isn’t fair, but I’m guessing that Accel World sticks to the typical anime conventions and that my opinion of him probably isn’t too far off the mark. You know, I actually felt some sympathy for Shu in the show, because Gai and everyone else kept kicking him around. There was a moment in one of the early arcs where Shu refuses to go on a mission and when it goes badly, Tsugumi screams something like “This is all your fault!” I had to roll my eyes at that.
I’m hearing that Total Eclipse is a total harem show now. I’m not too surprised by that (since it’s anime) but I really did not see that coming; I thought there’d be more alien-fighting and explosions and stuff.
Ahh, man, I gotta play through Mass Effect now. At least NBA 2K13 has lost some of its shine now so maybe I can get to that.