A certain magical figure wasn’t enough to stop the exclusive trend
A good number of figures went up for pre-order this week but I found a lot of them to be kinda under whelming, truth be told. Most of them were Griffon figures to boot, and I have an irrational bias against anything that company produces. However, there were some nice gems I felt that were worth talking about so let’s get cracking.
I sense a disturbance in the fandom
.
Kaori Kanzaki Chara-Ani Ver.
Series: A Certain Magical Index
Company: Toy’s Works
Scale: 1/8
Release: September 2009
Price: 70 USD // 6,650 Yen
The Short:
Toy’s Works counters Kotobukiya’s take on Kaori with a figure that has a better pose but not as nice a face.
The Long:
I’m not that familiar with A Certain Magical Index but I know it has enough elements in it that I would find enjoyable. Not the least of which is babes with blades. The sculpt itself looks to detailed quite nicely and has an eye-catching pose. The pose is especially nice when viewed from the sides. Coloring looks to be pretty solid as well with great skin tones and rich color in her jeans and hair.
Purely from a design perspective, Kaori’s outfit is kinda outrageous (I mean seriously, cowboy boots?), but Toy’s Works make the whole thing work in an amazing way by using the peculiars themselves to highlight her feminine assets. I just think that was well played.
All that said, I’m really not liking what I’m seeing in Kaori’s face. Maybe it’s just the angles but it seems too flat and angular. I’m not even comparing it to anything in particular; just in general it’s kinda weak.
Rico’s Verdict:
On the fence. I want, but that face is hard to get over.
Source.
.
Suzuhime “Gemaga Ver.”
Series: Samurai Spirits Sen
Company: Kotobukiya
Scale: 1/8
Release: November 2008
Price: 90 USD // 8,800 Yen
Notes: Order as either a Gemaga magazine exclusive or through Kotobukiya’s online shop.
The Short:
Kotobukiya decides to make an stunningly beautiful sculpt in celebration of Samurai Spirits Sen that is just voluptuous. But, like we’ve seen a lot the last couple weeks, Suzuhime is a mail order exclusive.
The Long:
First Taiga. Then Horo. Then Yukimura. And now Suzuhime. All fell to the exclusive trend and are all more difficult to obtain for any non-Japanese resident. Aka put together a nice list of proxy services that exists to help us unfortunate foreign otaku in such cases, which is fantastic, since I’m going to need them to get my hands on Suzuhime.
She’s the first of these exclusives I feel I need to have and can you blame me? An amazing face, killer body, great coloring, fantastic pose and a big ass sword. What more could you want?
The downsides? If these photos showcase an example of the actual product, then it’s clear that Suzuhime suffers from waxy face syndrome. This has plagued some Kotobukiya figures in the past, but I had thought they were past that faze. The cost will undoubtedly be enormous as well. I’m probably looking at a $30 to $40 mark-up at best.
Rico’s Verdict:
So very much want. Need to look into those proxy services more.
Source. All images from moeyo.
.
Ne-Jyu & Shantiti “E☆2 Ver”
Company: Clayz
Scale: 1/8
Release: September 2009
Price: 80 USD // 7,800 Yen (each)
Notes: Each a E☆2 magazine exclusive. Each sold separately. And each a trap. Apparently, they aren’t traps.
The Short:
Clayz gets into the exclusive trend as well with a set of figures based of an original image from Teinkuru.
The Long:
I have to say that I’m a bit dumbfounded. First because I think Ne-Jyu and Shantiti are two of the nicer figures that Clayz has produced in recent memory. Second because I found myself wanting them even after finding out they are both guys (though it looks like Ne-Jyu has a little too much bust for his gender).
The figures are nice and have a lot going for them (this may sound weird, but the “trap” aspect gives them a certain appeal) but despite how cute they are the cost will likely be too prohibitive. I also have some issues with Clayz’s in-house color scheme. I’m referring to the overall browner skin tones which happens across the board with their figures. It looks off when compared to the original source and industry standards. I also think the tones are just far to heavy for what the original art style is.
You’re also looking at over $200 for the pair if you use any of the proxy services. Ouch.
EDIT: So apparently there has been some debate about Ne-Jyu and Shantiti’s true genders but they are in fact girls, but the artist team behind the designs are male. That’s certainly surprising when looking at the art, but I now find myself wanting the figures less. Odd, isn’t it?
Add these two to the exclusive train. This trend is getting kinda serious. Including today, we’ve seen six nice figures put in impossible and/or expensive reach over the last three weeks. Before I wasn’t too concerned, but now that I see some of the bigger names like Kotobukiya and Clayz getting in on the act that is raising some serious red flags to me.
Rico’s Verdict:
I’m passing, but not for lack of want.
EDIT: Entry updated to reflect the new found non-trap status of Ne-Jyu & Shantiti.
- Related posts:
- Kotobukiya wins the Great Rebuild of Evangelion Figure RaceNot that it comes as any great shock as Alter...
- To infinity and beyond awesomeUnlike the last couple of weeks this week was pretty...
- Clayz Konata Izumi PVC: Lucky StarI held of on reviewing this figure for a while...
- In other news, railguns now hard to getI wrote this late in the evening on Wednesday becuase...
- If you could only choose one which would it be?My forecast absence on Monday went off exactly like I...
mmm I don’t like Kaori’s Jeans, they don’t look like jeans…then again most figure’s jeans don’t look like jeans. I know it’s hard to do a jean effect but that 4th picture of rear turns me off just a little.
also on the proxy service thing I personally use http://www.Shoppingmalljapan.com they’ll take orders from most japan-only mailorder sites, though I don’t think they do magazine orders like Tokyohunter does but you can find most of those exclusive figures on Yahoo! Japan Auctions anyway.
here’s a recent item I got using them
Winning bid: ¥5250
Yen Rate: ¥92
Internal Ship: ¥1140
Commission: $12.00
Wire Fee:$2.50
Total Item Cost ($): $83.95
the internal ship is the cost to get the item from the seller, to them then to their warehouse in the U.S. Then the Yen rate is how much yen you get per $. the Wire fee is because it was an auction so they had to transfer the money to the seller’s bank account. All in all I payed about 50% more to get it from japan over here. With online shops you won’t have to worry about the wire fee but they tack on a $5 commision in addition to their commission based on the item’s price.
You blew my mind Rico. I had no idea they were traps, I was commenting on them yesterday with a couple of friends and said I liked their legs. Now you tell me they’re guys?! Unbelievable!
Suzuhime has almost a broken leg I think, she just seems to have this odd positioning for her left leg. Could be she’s just flexible, but it looks painful to me.
Zakenna, your example doesn’t show your shipping cost from them to you… This makes it hard to compare to my numbers, which worked out the cost to my door.
Removing the final shipping cost from the places listed in my entry they all work out cheaper than the service you used. However with that finally shipping cost it could change things drastically, since the services I mentioned tend to use EMS which is expensive.
-Aka
ah yeah sorry, their invoices for shipping from their U.S warehouse to you is done separately. I haven’t shipped that perticular item above but my last invoice from them to me was for $10.25 and that was roughly 4 garage kits placed in a medium sized box.
Ah, I see. Making a guess then, they seem comparable.
Thanks, I’ll look into them some more.
@ Zakenna: That’s another service that I can look into, thanks. Question: do you actually order the item or do they do that for you? I’m a little unclear on that.
@ Aka: Ne-Jyu & Shantiti blew my mind too. Still want them though.
Suzuhime’s leg is a little off, but not enough to keep me from enjoying the figure.
Anime needs less traps. It’s not like real life at all… at least in real life you can get a vibe she’s really a dude. In Anime, they can just draw him hotter than anyone else and then just say they’re a man.
Not fair!
they order the item for you and then bill you later for it
Found some more pictures of Suzuhime over on Akibahobby.
-Aka
She looks even more glorious in at a higher resolution. Looks like the waxy face syndrome isn’t as prominent either. Thanks for the find.
The more I look at her supposedly irregular leg the more convinced I am that it is indeed humanly possible. I think her entire thigh torques just a little to make it happen. I tried the pose just now myself. Uncomfortable yes, but not impossible to do. Someone in better shape would likely have an easier time of it, and I would argue you would have to be in good shape to swing around that huge honkin’ sword.
Just perused Danny Choo and apparently Suzuhime is also available through Kotobukiya’s online shop. Don’t know why things have changed with her, but she’s all the easier to get now!
Fixed post to reflect new found info.
After an internet arguement I’m reasonably certain those two characters aren’t traps. I recall reading a mixed up post somewhere now where the english was a bit fuzzy and made it sound like they were traps. But they were actually referring to the artists being men, not the characters.
-Aka
Are you serious? Damn. I thought I saw a package in that last image there, but I guess my eyes were playing tricks on me.
I kind of want them less now.
Really? I want them more now, still not buying, but I’m not into the trap thing.
The trap aspect made them more unique to me. As is they are kinda standard.