Another day, another Tony Taka figure. Not long ago, seeing so many Tony figures would’ve prompted a collective sigh of exasperation but these days, the way Alphamax does them, I’m very happy to see them. We looked at Velvet a few weeks ago and today, we’ll be looking at Iris Hartley. Iris is grouped under the Skytube label, which means that she has some significant differences from Velvet, particularly in ero content, which I’m sure will make some collectors happy.
Iris is putatively from Lorelei; Sea of Stars; however, it appears she is also from a 2D shooter game called Valhellio, which was released a couple years ago on Windows. I’m not sure what the relationship between the two titles is. Iris has her own character page which indicates her height is 165 centimeters, her age is 5 years, and that she is not particularly emotional.
Iris is sculpted in 1/6 scale, and I was surprised by how large she is since for some reason or another I was thinking she’d be 1/7 scale. In terms of body build, she looks larger than Kotobukiya’s 1/6 scale Daisy, though not by a drastic amount. She’s about 17 centimeters tall to the top of her head and 20 centimeters tall including the mechanical rabbit ears or horns or antennae that are sprouting from the top of her head. Those ears aren’t removable but almost everything else is. She comes with a very large blue plastic base which she obviously doesn’t need to remain upright.
As usual with a Tony figure, the face is a good place to start, as criticism and appreciation of his artwork tends to center around the way he draws faces. Iris is very obviously a Tony figure, with his usual style even more conspicuous here than with Alphamax’s Fault!! figures, which were done by the same sculptor. Iris is striking a sexy, seductive pose but her face shows vague anxiety, or perhaps shyness. The artwork that this figure is based off of seems to convey a different attitude; personally, I like the ambiguity of the figure’s expression better.
Interestingly, the source artwork shows Iris standing in a pool but the figure is sculpted kneeling, with her legs set more widely. It’s a little unusual for a figure maker to deviate from source artwork; usually they try to remain as faithful as possible to the illustration, sometimes to the detriment of the figure. I almost always prefer figures to be standing up but in this case, I think Iris’s pose, with her head cocked and her body strongly tilted to the left, works much better with her kneeling than it would with her standing upright.
The aspect that will be of interest to many collectors is that her clothes come off. Clothing removal is fairly straightforward – her head and arms detach so that her top can be removed, and her bikini bottom has a clasp so that it can slide down one leg. An instruction sheet (in Japanese only, as usual) is supplied to guide the process. Another interesting part of her design is that the armor plates (made of plastic, and fairly flimsy-feeling plastic at that) attach to her sides via magnets; relatively weak magnets, admittedly, but it’s a nice touch and once her arms are re-attached, they help to keep them in place.
Iris is, I guess, some kind of synthetic humanoid, and I presume she doesn’t have much in the way of personality, but one neat thing about her outfit is the gecko print on her top. I remember visiting my relatives in Hawaii when I was a kid and wearing a T-shirt with a gecko logo that looked very much like Iris’s print. Seeing this logo makes me realize how much I miss manapua and Portuguese sausage and chocolate-covered macadamia nuts.
Iris’s oxygen tank also detaches, or rather, it hangs freely, hooked around Iris’s thumb. It also features a gecko print on the back.
Her diving knife can also be removed, but the thigh strap with the knife holder is fixed in place.
Unlike Velvet, Iris can be stripped almost completely naked. She has a very attractive body build, with large breasts, prominent nipples, and a realistic waist and hip width. The sculpt is also very nice; her rib cage is subtly defined, and even her navel is a little more detailed than might be expected.
It’s a little hard to see from the front but Iris does have sculpted genitalia rather than a Barbie crotch, and for those who care about this sort of thing, her anus is also hinted at.
One also wouldn’t be also to see this from the front but one of the sexier elements of Iris’s design is the strong arch of her back. She also has a nice rear, though it’s a little more compact than one might anticipate. Still, it has a nice bubble shape to it, which is not all that common in anime-style character designs.
Alphamax has made a number of really nice figures based on Tony’s work – actually, they’re all fantastic, and Iris is no exception. She’s big, she’s sexy, and she looks great. I’m also very happy that her castoff system isn’t particularly troublesome – I’ve got enough figures now that I disdain fiddly castoff systems – and that she can be displayed in whatever way her owner pleases (I’m displaying her without her clothes but with her oxygen tank). The abundance of Tony figures used to be cause for rolling the eyes; now, I look forward to them, especially Alphamax’s.
For more reviews and nice pictures of Iris, check out Reflective Boundary and Neathgrim.
Incidentally, if anyone noticed that this site was malfunctioning yesterday, that’s because WordPress pushed out an automatic update to version 3.8.2, which broke this site’s permalink structure. I didn’t know about that, so I spent about an hour fiddling with the configuration files and database settings before figuring out what was causing the issue. For some reason, WordPress’s authors refuse to provide a switch to easily disable automatic updates; I love WordPress and think that it is fantastic software but on this issue, the authors are a pack of intransigent wankers.
“for those who care about this sort of thing, her anus is also hinted at”
Now who could you be referring to? LOL ; )
I have to say that while the ears/antennae turned me off to the point that I had completely dismissed the idea of preordering her, she does look amazing! While not my favorite figure to emerge from SkyTube’s stable she is certainly far superior to so many other recent releases. It seem’s as though Alphamax is pulling ahead by leaps and bounds these days.
Who indeed! Yeah, I’m not an enormous fan of the ears but I don’t mind them so much, particularly since they’re not as large or conspicuous as big floppy rabbit ears (and I guess I’m even getting used to those, given how many of those FREEing figures I have). I really like a lot of the stuff Alphamax is making these days; it’s pretty amazing that just a few years ago they were sort of a random manufacturer making polystone statues that nobody bought. It’s particularly gratifying that they’re making a lot of figures based off eroge characters; more companies used to do that back in the day, and it’s too bad that many of them stopped looking at them for inspiration.
being tony taka’s creation, she has sexy body and nice presentation. however, as any other tony taka’s figures, she has minus points for me those are her face and eyes. well in short, her eyes and face are boring, the same as many other tony taka’s figures, they have light/dark blue eyes and emotionless face (daisy still has this characteristics, even though hse is smiling, she still has stiffness on her face)
Alphamax’ Ai Saeki was up for preorder when I plunged into figure collecting. From that moment, Alphamax and Tony Taka are a combo that’s hard to beat. I actually like Tony’s faces, so there’s nothing to keep me from throwing my money at them.
Of course, Iris was also a no-brainer, and I just love her. Her body is fantastic. The soles of her feet are not that particularly detailed, but I like those spread toes very much.
Speaking of her feet, I kinda thought her feet seemed a little small, too. It sounds a little odd but I like female characters who have slightly larger feet, or who wear bulkier shoes, like sports sneakers.
I like Tony’s faces as well; I guess a lot of my own professed weariness regarding his work isn’t even because of his style, it’s a result of his commercial work for Sega. I’m still not particularly pleased with the way Sega is handling the Shining franchise, and I don’t particularly care for the Vocaloid stuff they did a couple years back. As far as Tony’s stuff goes, I think his best stuff is his ero stuff, so I’m glad to see more of it getting adapted into figures (even when the source is a decidedly non-ero 2D shmup).
She’s all SOLD OUT! Booh huhuhu……..! I was on the fence at ordering her because of ALL the new releases for march and April. I hate myself! So she’s a gynoid? No wonder she had those antennae. Great work Skytube……..again, on the fence with Nozomi because I already own ten clothed Native version, but given their track record…..I’ll probably kill myself again because here comes July again argh! But I preordered the Alicesoft character.
You have, O master have converted me on focusing on a fig with all the details. Orchidseed’s recently released Queen’s blade Alleyne scrimped on her “details” and yet on their Udon-ya Maid Bride was detailed (and cheaper too)
So, from now on, if I get cast off beauties, it has to be fully detailed lol! That’s going to be my standard.
Yeah, I’m kinda on the fence with Nozomi as well, since I don’t have a big huge thing for maids. I do have a big huge thing for revealing wedding outfits, though, so I’m looking forward to Alphamax’s version of that (I don’t know the character’s name but the unpainted prototype looks pretty nice).
Ah, that’s unfortunate; I’ve got Alleyne here and I guess I’ll review her soon, but I didn’t know whether she was detailed or not. I kinda expected her to be but then, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised if she’s not, since Queen’s Blade is a big huge property now. On the plus side, she’s bigger than I expected.
As expected that you got her. Sorry for the spoiler but, she only has a faint line as her pudenda. Aside from that big disappointment (lol! not really.okay, somewhat) she is worth her price and delays. Mohio made an almost Masterpiece (if only the “detail” down there was “detailed”).
Orchid seed, unlike Megahouse (not sure about Griffon) included an instruction sheet). Another thing, store her in a cool room. OS used a gum like substance to keep her top in place……..potential drying issues in the future.
Ah, that is unfortunate, and a little bit surprising, too, since Orchid Seed usually isn’t too bashful about that sort of thing. Then again, perhaps Hobby Japan wouldn’t allow it; off the top of my head, I can’t think of a fully explicit Queen’s Blade figure, even though there are so many of them. Thanks for the heads up about that; I was pretty sure I was going to display her naked, but I’m definitely going to do that if there’s some sort of adhesive on her clothing.
Btw, need to correct something, I mispelled “the” to ten. I only own just one Native Nozomi
Very nice photos of a very nice figure!
Thanks!
I wished her hair go upward and sideways (wind, etc) so that we can see her back.. like Skytube Reiko. Well, come to think of it, that kind of hair sculpting is quite a rare breed though. Kind of sad to see Skytube Shirayukihime since her back is actually a sight once her hair removed.
I for one, would like to see a snap of studio setup from this session! If not full Shot Breakdown. omgomgomg. Especially first 2 reflections. XD
That’d be pretty cool, though I guess the oxygen tank would also block the view, if used. I haven’t yet taken Shirayukihime out of her box but now I’m looking forward to seeing what she looks like, since I definitely agree that the back can be very attractive.
The reflections in the first few pictures aren’t actually reflections, funnily enough, though I spent some time experimenting with a bowl of water, seeing if I could get the sort of projected reflections you can get from moving water. Unfortunately all I got was a big, soft reflection, as if I’d put a mirror flat in front of the figure. So instead I cut some slices into a sheet of aluminum foil and shot a light through it.
It was kind of a pain to work with and the results weren’t entirely what I was hoping for, but it does kinda look like water reflections, so I’m more or less happy with it.
Aluminum foil! I thought it might have been some kind of real liquid on glass surface or something. Thank you.
hey uh is the arm are removable? if it is, does it have some zig-zag edges? i bought it from a shop two days ago
I am very glad that I bought her.her details are much better than I had expected .She is VERY welcome in my collection !!!
She is pretty nice! It’ll be interesting to see how Dragon Toy’s policegirl turns out; after so many cute, demure Tony figures over the years, it’s neat to see so many raunchy figures based on his art.
hahaha never mind it seems that i must have broke it. A little bit of super glue might do the trick
Yeah, the arms definitely do not have any zig-zag patterns; they detach right below the armbands around her biceps.
Oh, that is great choice of background, a nice golden orange tone.
Yeah I like Hartley quite a bit more, she’s a stunning beauty, They captured her face very good the shining blue eyes, the cute blush, she has an adorable expression.
The upper body is so well done, also the posing of her arm, she’s so pretty. Good to hear about the magnet feature, I like when alternative ways of cast off are implemented.
Yeah she has nice boobs, but I also liker to be fully dressed.
Alpha Max has a good hand with Tony Taka designs at the moment, Velvet was quite awesome and Iris isn’t much behind. I still didn’t decide if and which one of them I’d like more. I hope they will continue with the “collaboration”. Also good to see a constant improvement of craftsmanship.
It’s a bit funny when you look at the crotch from the front it appears that there is no anatomy, but she is detailed. I would have liked a more defined or puffy camel toe.
great figure nevertheless ^^
It’s pretty hard for me to pick which one I like best, too; I’m tempted to say Iris, though I really like Ai Saeki as well, even though it’s harder to tell she’s a Tony design. It’s kinda funny, I was cleaning out my closet the other day and I came across a number of figures that I’d forgotten about, including Skytube’s Sen Tokugawa and Inia Sestina figures. They really don’t look nearly as good as Alphamax’s Tony figures.
Yeah, I would’ve liked her genitalia to be more visible from the front, as well; I figure if you’re gonna include it, you might as well show it. Barbie crotch is no fun.
Oh wow….I put her off solely because I’ve been swamped with preorders but this has me regretting the wait. I like the water effect be it foil or otherwise. I’ve been toying with some ideas like popping a flash though a thin wall of bubbling water and similar shenanigans but haven’t done so just yet. Maybe I’ll bust out my sweet photo moves once I get her.
I’ve actually tried that before; I couldn’t get it to work, but perhaps you might get better results. Part of the problem is that figures are so small that it’s hard to get projected patterns to look realistic, if you can get them at all. They are fun to experiment with, though, and it’s very satisfying when you do get results.
damn it… I didn’t know the figure was cast off, otherwise I had pre-order it… (╯’â–¡’)╯︵ â”»â”â”»
I bought Max Factory’s Lineage elf figure and when I got it, I put it in the closet since I wasn’t too enamored with her face and I couldn’t think of a background idea. Some months later, I learn that her skirt is removable and that she has a really nice-looking rear. I wonder why Max Factory didn’t reveal that, since I would’ve felt a lot better about buying the figure if I had known that earlier.