Another day, another Tamaki figure. Given how much I whine about there being too many Miku Hatsune figures, it’s fair to wonder why I don’t make the same complaint about Tamaki. There are a couple of reasons; the most obvious one is that Tamaki is very often sexualized (even by Leaf) while Miku is not. The other reason is that while Miku has a (more or less) accepted look (embodied in her original Good Smile Company figure), nobody really seems to care much about Tamaki’s official design, and that leads to wide variation amongst her figures. Such is the case with this figure, and as a special bonus, it comes from a (sort of) brand-new figure maker, which gives us something new to talk about.
That figure maker is Orca Toys, and this appears to be the first figure released under that brand name. A quick look at their product portfolio reveals that they are really big on Tamaki; indeed, it’s all Tamaki all the time, as their two other figures (at the time of this writing) are a recolored version of this figure and a Tamaki figure with some sort of cat ears. I do dig the white version of bunnysuit Tamaki, though; in fact, if I had known about it, I’d rather have gotten that one than this one.
That said, it appears that Orca Toys isn’t a completely new company; apparently they are related in some way to Okayama Figure Engineering. You might not know of Okayama Figure Engineering, and if you don’t, there’s a good reason for that; they make some of the most pornographic anime figures available through retail outlets, and so they tend to not get as much coverage as other figure makers. Furthermore, while I’ve gained something of a reputation for reviewing and preferring explicit figures, it is telling that I do not own any of their products. If you’ve never seen their stuff, I’ll just leave this link to their website here.
So it was with a good bit of trepidation that I ordered this figure. Tamaki looked pretty good in the product photos, good enough that if I hadn’t known of the company connection to OFE, I would have felt much more confident about buying this figure. I’m not certain what their relationship is – they might just have the same distributor – but at any rate, Orca Toys’s headquarters is listed as being in Okayama and their phone number is registered under the same company name that distributes OFE’s stuff, so there’s definitely some sort of link between the two figure manufacturers. Strange.
One of the reasons I decided to get this figure is that it is listed as 1/5 scale. As everyone who reads this site already knows, I like bigger figures. Tamaki, though, isn’t really 1/5 scale; she’s probably closer to 1/6 scale, and she’s actually a bit smaller than Native’s Super Sonico figure, which is conservatively listed as a 1/6 scale figure. This Tamaki is about 21 centimeters tall, excluding her big plastic white base, which she doesn’t really need for display.
As mentioned, many Tamaki figures exhibit widely varying design sensibilities, and Orca Toys’s figure is no different. She’s got very big, spiky bangs that hang over her eyes, and her triangular hair intakes – one of the trademark aspects of her character design – are mostly obscured by her bunny ears. The result is that she looks distinct from many of the other Tamaki figures out there.
Further, since her eyes are partially obscured, it is difficult to use them to evaluate her expression. Her mouth, though, gives her mood away; she’s sticking her tongue out in a playful, flirty, mischievous manner.
From other angles, though, her hand can cover up her mouth and her expression conveys a different sort of feeling; here, she looks as if she’s anxious about something.
Speaking of angles, her head is on a balljoint and can rotate a little bit. This is actually one of the most annoying aspects of this figure because holy God, it is really, really difficult to get her head reattached to her body (you have to detach it to remove the figure’s protective plastic sheet). I would have been much happier if they had just gone with the standard L-shaped peg that every other figure maker uses.
While Tamaki is often depicted in a sexualized manner, she doesn’t actually have that many explicit figures – at least, relative to her total number of figures. This figure, however, offers a good view of her rack. The front part of her bunnysuit can be detached and replaced with an open version that reveals the majesty of her chest.
Note that one could eschew replacing her bustier part but that leaves a big peg hole in her sternum.
Tamaki has a really nice chest; it’s quite large, even for Tamaki, who is often depicted as being rather busty. Her nipples are big as well, though lamentably not all that detailed; they look sort of like the ball joint that comprises her neck.
Besides her chest, she has some really sexy legs. Her fishnet stockings accentuate her legs, of course, and they are sculpted very nicely, with a realistic sense of shape and heft, rather than the very skinny legs lots of female anime characters have. The shape of her thighs is particularly appealing.
So is her sitting position, with her legs splayed out immodestly – not that Tamaki has ever been synonymous with modesty.
Surprisingly, this figure shows off a good bit of detail. Tamaki has painted fingernails, her costume and high heels feature the expected glossy finish, and her tail has a fuzzy look to it (though it has a big seam line running around its circumference).
Tamaki can be seated on a pink plastic cushion, which has indentations to keep her in place. She does not attach to her seat in any way, so one could have her sit on something else if one desires. The cushion looks pretty good – it even has four little feet rather than lying flat on the ground – and Tamaki is reasonably stable on it.
Somehow I’ve gotten this far without talking about the bunnysuit or the bunny ears. I must be getting inured against my aversion to such; perhaps I’m even starting to like them. Maybe.
Even accounting for the Tamaki tax, where character fatigue saps my opinion of a given figure, I like this figure a lot. It’s a sexy-looking figure, one where the sculptor did a great job giving Tamaki an attractive, adult-looking body. Moreover, I’m pleased that Orca Toys is capable of producing a fine figure; if only their partner company were capable of doing the same with their own figures.
You really do like your big girls. I have nothing of note to say about this figure, as I have zero interest in Tamaki, and also tend to dislike bunny suits. She does look surprisingly quality for a no-name manufacturer, though. Not exactly Alter level, but quite nice all the same.
I do! Though they can be tremendously inconvenient to photograph; I’ve got a couple of FREEing’s Freezing girls here and I do not have the space to easily photograph them (thanks in large part to their poses, admittedly). Regardless of any inconvenience to me, though, all other things being close, I will always go with the larger figure rather than a smaller one.
Well, this is a must-buy. 😀
I agree! Or rather, I’d definitely agree if one were not tired of Tamaki, and I guess I can’t say that I truly am since I keep buying them.
“it’s fair to wonder why I don’t make the same complaint about Tamaki.”
Because Tamaki has boobs! XD I’ve never seen a busty Miku, which would be great, then all her fans would rant “ewww boobs!” what a nice thought.
Ah anyway thanks for that review(and pictures, now I feel more positive about getting the white version. Even though white one differs in terms of hanf gesture and mouth.
I like that this is a lively and playful looking figure, her face is adorable. It’s funny to hear about a ball joint neck, in my opinion it’s a cool little feature to have some posing flexibility.
Bunnysuits are a bit hard to like, since they appear outdated nowadays like the nurse outfits, but well in the end it depends on the girl wearing it and Tamaki and her curves rock that outfit, she looks so sexy in it. I like this certain cast off feature where her boobs are still a little supported by the remains of the peeled down dress, the white inlay there is nice.
Aww her boobs look lovely (๑>ᴗ<๑)
After my doubts, It seems to be a nice first figure from Orca. You know I like giving new companies a chance, I used to be that way, but after some dissapointments Im more sceptical nowadays.
Indeed! That is a very succinct and apropos way to put it. A busty Miku would be great indeed; it’s unfortunate that they decided not to go that way. (I kinda wonder why characters with big twintails are often supplied with modest bust sizes; there was this character in this ero anime called Torikohime who had big boobs and big twintails and I thought she was really cute.)
Ah, you got the white version, I think you will be happy with it; I was very pleased with this figure, particularly since I was sorta expecting something crappy, at least in terms of manufacturing quality. She’s one of those figures that I think actually looks better in real life than in a close-up photo, and I kinda wish I’d zoomed out a little on more of the pictures, because her pose looks so nice. There’s something about the combination of the really long legs and the playful mouth-covering gesture that I really like.
Indeed, I feel the same way about buying stuff from companies I am not familiar with. Sometimes it works out well and sometimes it doesn’t, and while I try not to typecast companies, I’m still sorta hesitant to buy stuff from BEAT and Griffon just because I’ve got several of their figures and I’m not overly fond of most of them.
The Obama lapdance scene is awesome btw ^^
Thanks XD I threw that in to show that Tamaki isn’t really as big as one might expect, but I think its appeal is probably more noticeable than the size comparison.
It’s your Keitendo Tamaki review that brought me to this blog 3 years ago, at that time I thought that one is the best Tamaki figure ever. Apparently now this one is much more attractive in every aspect. It’s a shame that I didn’t pre-order her, hoping to get a good deal somewhere after the release is just too hard.
P.S. I just got my Cabin Attendant Yoko last week, it has the similar fishnet stocking like this one, never expected them to be this good 😛
wow, the white version is still under reservation on Hobby Search! But sadly I like the regular color combination more 🙁
Ah, really? Haha, man, I remember that figure … I’ll be honest, it’s not one of my favorite Tamaki figures now (though I recall that I liked it back then). I would definitely agree that this one’s a lot better; it’s better than most Tamaki figures, I think.
I thought about getting the black-haired version of that figure; I really liked it but it was a little too expensive for me. The same thing was true with their hitchhiker girl figure.
Perhaps you might be able to find the red version on Mandarake or something, or hopefully she’ll get re-released at some point, since Tamaki seems to be a popular girl and a proven money-maker for figure manufacturers.
Tks for introducing the Mandarake site to me, it definitely will be useful for me in the future. I already bid one red Tamaki on ebay. It says the location is in Japan but you know ebay is never that good a trading site when it comes to honesty. I hope this seller doesn’t lose his faith 🙁
Mandarake is definitely a good site. eBay is rife with bootlegs but I’ve had good luck ordering from Japanese sellers there; I’m pretty sure every figure I’ve gotten from such has been authentic. Good luck!
http://www.amiami.com/top/detail/detail?gcode=FIG-MOE-7192
Wish I had seen this post sooner. As of May 20, she is in stock on AmiAmi and has been for some time it seems. I had checked on this about a month ago, if not longer.
I may bailout of my white Tamaki Hobby Search preorder and pick her up on AmiAmi….it depends on how bad HS’s shipping is.
And her expression is soooooooooo naughty lol!
Btw, who’s their partner company anyway?
Their partner is Okayama Figure Engineering; there’s a link to their website up in the post. If you take a look at it, I suggest making sure nobody is looking over your shoulder or monitoring your internet traffic.
Big boobs and bunny suits are great!
*thumbs up*
I agree! You know, it’s sort of funny, I was reading a video game website the other day and learned that the video game Dragon’s Crown has caused a firestorm of controversy thanks to the breast sizes of a couple of its characters. I really cannot understand the problem, and I mean that literally. I wonder what people who disapprove of that game would think about contemporary anime norms? (Hmm, that’s an idea to roll into a future post, I think.)
I’ve seen that you have many figures of Tamaki Kousaka, and I was wondering… have you played the eroge To Heart 2: X-Rated? I’ve been looking for it for hours and I still can’t find it. Do you have any link or something to download it? Preferebly with torrent.
I have not; I don’t have much familiarity with the To Heart 2 franchise, actually.
I like this figure. I especially like her playful pose and the way she is sitting on her seat. This figure is definitely better with the top down because of the little extra detail they put into the top. I wouldn’t buy her though for no real reason other than if I want a Tamaki, it would be the big mature looking one from Gift.
I do really like the look of her thighs in picture 14.
They did a really nice job getting a lot of little things right. It’s pretty surprising since not only does the company not have much of a track record, neither does the sculptor; it appears some Griffon figures comprise his most recent work. It’s definitely heartening that this figure came out quite nicely since most of the time, it seems like expectations for a figure are too high rather than too low.
Ahhh I always, always admire your photography! You’re one of my toy photography inspirations! Great use of lighting, framing and sharpness of each image is superb! Excellent review, I’m your fan from the Philippines!
BTW LOL at the Obama + Tamaki pic hahahaha 🙂
Thanks very much for the kind words XD
Even with the exposed melons, your lighting makes her legging the most sensual imho 🙂 Well, second to Mr. O’s featured appearance of course.
Thanks XD The sculptor did a fantastic job on her legs. It’s a little surprising … okay, really surprising, because he’s done a few other Tamaki figures for Griffon Enterprises and they haven’t been quite as appealing, I think.
The lapdance pic is the best!! Man, Obama gets the most choice anime a$$ ^_^
You know, I wonder if any of your naughty pictures make it to the Oval Office?? At any rate, yeah I am really looking forward to the white one now. This turned out so much better than I thought it would.
Oh, are you still planning on photography posts in the future??
Great stuff, thank you.
He does! Being the leader of the free world does have its perks.
I have no idea who has seen my photos, though I’d imagine they haven’t, and I’m sure they’re used to seeing lots of things, from political cartoons in newspapers to really, really offensive stuff. I do know that one of my pictures of the president with Aegis did kinda make some rounds on Tumblr, which was kinda weird.
I am! Man, I want to get started on that but I am tremendously lazy (and still playing video games). I do have a bunch of ideas for posts, including one where I talk about cameras; I never really talk about cameras but I know everyone loves talking about cameras … that’s why whenever someone takes a picture that they think as good, they always say what camera they used, and whenever anyone sees a nice picture, they always think “I wish I had that camera” and not “I wish I had the photographer’s experience and knowledge.” (This is not going to be a particularly positive post.)
While the camera is always important, I would think certain specific features trump what brand in general. I am still learning, and I am sure I will learn at least a little something from your posts.
I shall wait patiently ^_^
Oh no, this review made me break the 150 figure barrier AND more importantly, the bunny barrier! I knew what day would come sooner or later. She is nicely shaped that it compensates for the (to me) less desirable bunny ears and tail. As a bonus, unlike in the white version, the red ears are not so visible as they blend in with the red hair which also covers the tail a little bit. Looking forward to receiving my 12th Tamaki figure.
It is indeed a really nice figure, one of the better and more unique-looking Tamaki figures out there. Speaking of whom, it feels a little weird not to have a Tamaki figure preordered, or indeed, not having seen one go up for preorder in a while.
haha… it’s also rare for me to not have a tamaki in the pipeline, she has really all the right curves in the right places. currently waiting for this tamaki: http://myfigurecollection.net/item/150200. Had seen her before but the color scheme of this version won me over. This bunny could become one of my favorites. I really love the very well executed http://myfigurecollection.net/item/144503. Very nice sculpt and I love the fact they gave her a very natural looking curvy tummy. This picture gives an idea http://myfigurecollection.net/picture/756921&ref=item%3A144503 but it looks even better in reality. It beats the often unnaturally flat tummies of many figures. Anyway, that’s just my personal preference.
I think you’re right, the little bit of tummy bulge is really sexy. Although Tamaki is not really an original-looking character (not too many anime-style characters are, I guess), it’s always interesting how so many of her figures look so different from each other. It’s a little bit of a different situation from say, Saber, where if you think of a Saber figure, you probably quickly think of one of her blue armored dress figures, or maybe one of her maid figures. When I think of a Tamaki figure, no single definitive look comes to mind.
Haha, why I not surprised you have the same opinion about a tummy bulge, since we have similar taste 😉 In fact it is supposed to be curvy which is why in some languages it is called the “Venus Hill”, named after the Godess of Love, and not the Venus Valley 😉
As for Tamaki, I almost was going to write the same thing in my earlier post, she is indeed a figure with quite a bit of variety in terms of body shape, face, outfits, etc. So 12 Tamakis in a collection adds a lot more variety than say 12 Yoko Littners.
Yeah, I think that’s the reason I don’t mind buying her figures, as opposed to say, Miku figures. Though there’s probably also the fact that Miku has this rabid fanbase despite not really being a character, unlike Tamaki. It’s sort of odd that you don’t really find that many Tamaki fans, despite her apparent popularity amongst hobby goods manufacturers.