The exchange rate is tanking – thanks UK – but the business of purchasing figures continues apace. I’ve left off a bunch of exclusive figures since I’ve lost track of most of them, but I may wind up getting them down the line, if I remember to order them. In the meantime, it’s been a fairly busy month due to real-life stuff but reviews should be continuing soon.
October 2016
Sasara Kusugawa from To Heart 2: Dungeon Travelers
Kotobukiya is following up their Tamaki figure from a few years back with Sasara. She looks just as good in her bikini armor, though her choice of armament – a battle axe and a shield – is a little unconventional. Despite having preordered the Orca Toys version of Sasara, I’m really looking forward to this figure.
Valkyrie from Bikini Warriors
Continuing with the bikini armor theme, MegaHouse is producing this figure of the Valkyrie from Bikini Warriors, sans armor. The Valkyrie is quite pretty and Tony’s design is quite nice, and that goes a long way in making this figure more interesting than many other swimsuit figures (of which there is certainly no shortage). Oddly, this figure is available for order from Hobby Search’s international site, whereas all of the other Bikini Warriors figures required going through a proxy or a specialized retailer.
Succubus Astacia
Succubi seem to come in two forms in anime and manga: the petite, flat-chested loli or the willowy (or sometimes thick-bodied) and mature woman. Astacia obviously belongs in the second category. I like this figure quite a bit, though I’d like it more if she were standing up rather than doing a kimchi squat; I think her body line would appear more flattering that way.
November 2016
Irohahime from Sengoku Taisen
It’s yet another figure from Kotobukiya based off of Tony’s work and like the fairy girls, Irohahime is scantily-clad and is 1/6 scale, which is great. And Irohahime looks great as well, though I have to admit I’m not a huge fan of the straight-across haircut (it’s why I didn’t buy the Native figure of a Tony Taka girl with a similar haircut).
Saber Alter from Fate/stay night
Saber is more popular than ever, thanks to the endless variations of her that have sprouted up with Fate/grand order and similar spinoffs. Strangely, I don’t recall that any manufacturer has made a figure of Saber in her iconic blue dress since Clayz’s version so many years ago, but Alter is making one of her Sith lord analogue in her somewhat less-iconic black dress. It’s quite a nice figure – pricey, given its simplicity, but still very attractive, particularly for people who like their women pale and corrupted.
December 2016
Honami Aihara from Ima Ria
It’s another ero-figure of a girl doing a squat, this time with her hands showing which part of her deserves the most love. This figure is rather reminiscent of a Native figure based on Hiromitsu Takeda’s artwork – I own that figure but I haven’t yet gotten around to reviewing it (mostly because I don’t know how to apply the body writing decals or if they do any permanent damage to the figure). It’s a pretty good-looking figure with a distinctive pose and an attractive face, and it’s hard to go wrong with a SkyTube product.
Sora Kasugano from Yosuga no Sora
I was really excited when I saw the unpainted version of this figure; Sora is one of the more notorious brother-fucking loli girls in anime, and this figure does a great job pairing her more youthful traits with her very prominent ass. I was a little disappointed to find out that this figure (and the artwork that it is based on) has her wearing pantyhose rather than going about bare-legged, but the figure still looks great.
Hina Sakura from the Art of Misaki Kurehito
Any time SkyTube makes a figure based on Misaki Kurehito’s art, the purchase decision is a pretty easy call to make.
Umr from Wixoss
I know nothing about Umr or her background, being that I have no familiarity with Wixoss (or any other card battle game system) but she looks pretty amazing, with her big hair and bondage-style outfit. This figure unfortunately is going to be quite expensive, given its evident complexity, its intricate base and background, and of course, the requisite proxy fee, but I don’t think I will regret spending the money on it.
Didn’t know there was a more beach-like version of Valkyrie. She looks much better as a companion to Iris Hartley. Thanks.
She does have a pretty strong similarity to Iris. I hope she’s not much smaller, as the mainline Bikini Warriors figures are actually quite large, despite only being 1/7 scale (I think).
In my honest opinion, there is no way Megahouse can top Skytube.
I have had a few Skytube, and a few Megahouse figures, I dare say the quality difference is significant.
And so is the price….
SkyTube makes really great figures, but I’ve had some MegaHouse figures in the past that I considered top-shelf.
Always nice to see one of your preorder outlook reviews!
I think I like Saber Alter and Irohahime from Sengoku Taisen best – her little cat mask is also cute.
I like the Saber Alter figure quite a bit, particularly since her arms can be bared; it’s a nice touch from Alter, since they typically don’t do much in the way of swappable parts. I still think it’s a little odd though that even though Alter has done so many Saber figures, they’ve never done one of her in her blue dress/breastplate ensemble.
Wonderful collection as always! I wanted to preorder that sasara too but I remember she was quite expensive or something.
Valkyrie is meh, never liked her anyways.
Astacia is really good, the first time i saw her I thought she was an alter figure or something she looks like she’s done very well.
Irohahime is wonderful the figure has lots of potential and i love her colors but I don’t quite understand her pose it’s the only flaw with that figure.
Saber looks amazing as always i love the face on that figure but I don’t own any figure if saber and I don’t think i will before watching the anime.
Honami Aihara is on my to buy list not preorder list as I bailed on her to preorder miyo lindbloom by dragon toy. I think you mean Ran misugi, she does looks like she could be her sister and she’s on my most wanted figures list, i will be looking forward to her review 🙂
Sora is a sweetheart i love her so much i think it’s the only bunny figure i ever liked this much, maybe i will pick her up later.
Hina sakura was an instant preorder for me, she looks lovely and she looks much better than Yuri from the same establishment they both seem to work as lol i think dhe will tie the score with matsuri for me, she’s so good.
I actually almost preordered Umr too and i too don’t know anything about her but I’m a sucker for big hair and this strappy clothes style, her entire setup looks very nice but I don’t think i can afford her.
I’m gonna guess that Irohahime’s pose comes from an illustration; I wish they’d gone with a different pose, since I always prefer figures that are standing up rather than sitting down or squatting or kneeling.
Ah yes, Ran Misugi was the name I was trying to think of. Another reason I never reviewed her is that I have no ideas on how to photograph her, which probably means I should just put her in front of the red or gray wall setups that I always use and just go from there.
After some somehow dry months, appealing preorders start to come in clusters again.
I just had to order this Sora Kasugano, if at all I’m more interested in older sisters 😀
But this adaption is just too stunning, I love her detailed facial expression, her bare back and how her twintais are hanging down lower than her butt, the sitting on a stool pose makes her very attractive.
I like that Hina Sakura figure a lot, the purple hair and her flustered innocent face attached to this pretty body. I’m no big fan of Alphamax plastic cum feature or it just makes no sense to me XD
With her detailed outfit Succubus Astacia should really be standing straight, do Succubi have so worn out hipjoints that they only squat all day?
Sasara Kusugawa is a nice big figure from Kotobukiya. Apparently her sculpt is really good and appealing, she alsohas a beautiful face. Somehow her price prevented me from preordering her, maybe I will use my opportunity at a later date, if I see it worthwhile.
How does plastic semen not make any sense? XD Heh, I’m kinda amazed that they’ve gone as far as to model bodily fluids.
Yeah, I would’ve liked it if Astacia were standing, since it looks like she has a long, slender body but the kimchi squat doesn’t really emphasize those traits. The figure does come from an illustration so I guess they wanted to stick to that, but personally, I really think it would’ve been better had they just done their own thing with respect to her pose.