Polyvinyl Crush

Once in a great while a figure comes along and takes your breath away: Extraveganza Yuki did that for me.  Is she perfect?  No, only Rei is.  But Yuki comes pretty damn close.  Today we’re taking a look at Max Factory’s 1/8th scale Yuki Nagato Extravaganza Ver. PVC from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.

Snow, Silence, By the Hobby~
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Extravaganza Yuki: Background

Max Factory’s 1/8th scale “Extravaganza Version” Yuki Nagato was released just this last May and retailed for about $75 USD (before shipping and import fees).  As mention before, the concept behind Yuki was the live Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekisou Concert and the design was taken directly from the CD cover.

Yuki is the second in a series of three “Gekisou” (Extravaganza) figures from Max Factory; with Haruhi being the first and Mikuru being the third.  While I haven’t done a review of Mikuru yet, Yuki here has already secured her place as my favorite of the three.
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Nagato Yuki no Gekisou

The thing that seems to ring true about all of these Extravaganza figures is the outstanding artful conception of the girls’ outfits.  I mentioned this before in the Extravaganza Haruhi review, but the same is most certainly true of Yuki.  Again, Max Factory can’t take all the credit (design wasn’t there own), but they deserve massive props nonetheless for bringing so much energy to the design.

In my mind, it’s also the outfit that makes Yuki the best in the line.  While I love the blouse, lace leggings, and arm bands that Extravaganza Haruhi sports, to me an ass tight mini-skirt, high-cut leather jacket, and knee-high leather boots will win with me every time.  Especially a mini-skirt.

The coloring and subsequent detailing are superb, as you might come to expect from Max Factory.  I think there is such lushness in the coloring done in Yuki’s jacket (and to a lesser extent skirt) that give the sculpt a perfect luxuriousness.  Not the most accurate portrayal of leather to be sure, but for Yuki’s scale it’s absolutely perfect.

On the same note, skin tones on Yuki are as solid as Max Factory has ever done.  In some shots you might notice a certain paleness in Yuki’s face, but that’s a trick of lighting.  Because Yuki leans so far back and has her head is tilted downwards, her face doesn’t get as much direct lighting and her hair can cast a purple hue over it.  Get her at a better angle and you won’t notice.  It’s kinda unfortunate, but shouldn’t be noticeable on your shelf.

I’d say I’m please with the overall execution of Yuki’s face, but it’s also one of the areas I think Haruhi fares better.  Yuki’s expression certainly is textbook perfect for Yuki Nagato, but it just doesn’t grab me the way that Haruhi’s face – or even Mikuru’s face for that matter – does.  I’m also a sucker for the ponytail Haruhi sports so…

Sculpt detailing is also high caliber on Yuki and, I would argue, is also better than  Extravaganza Haruhi.  Some of the difference can be attributed to their designs (a lot of Haruhi’s details were in her accessories) but not all of it.  In my eyes Yuki has clearer focus than Haruhi did with a higher concentration of molding detail in the areas most needed – Yuki’s jacket, boots, and guitar.

Yuki’s pose is a little odd in that she has to arch back so much in order to strike it.  Not because it isn’t possible to strike the pose, but because it really limits the angles you can view her at.  It’s not really a critical thing; it’s just one of those weird quirks of mine where I like having figures that look good at 360°.
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Final Thoughts

That’s about it from me today.  I held off on doing any group shots this time because I wanted to wait until I’ve done the Extravaganza Mikuru review and do the group shots then.  That way, it’ll give people a reason to actually look through the Mikuru review.

I’m kidding!  I love Mikuru!  I mean, look at how useful she’s been.  She’s right up there with Naruto’s Sakura.

Yes, enter,
Rico-sama
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Yuki’s Full Gallery

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