Exclusives win this day but tomorrow never knows
When I first started covering “upcoming” figures and noticed all the exclusives coming down the pipe I absolutely hated it. I thought they were a cheap, gimmicky way to artificially create interest for a figure and get an extra 20-30 bucks out of it at the same time. Slowly, begrudgingly I began appreciating exclusives for their increased quality and more imaginative compositions, and even found myself ordering a couple despite my initial resolve. Fast forward to today where nearly everything on my want list is an exclusive. My name is Rico-sama, and I’m an exclus-aholic.
Exclusive Hobby .
Rei Ayanami - Super Plugsuit Ver.
Series: Evangelion
Company: RC Berg
Sculptor: UNK
Scale: 1/8
Release: Nov 2009
Price: 124 USD // 11,300 Yen
Notes: Both limited & exclusive.
The Short:
Evangelion? Check. Cat-girl? Check. Rei? Double check. Bottom line? Her hands are HUGE!
The Long:
I’ve never heard of RC Berg before but they’ve certainly caught my attention. Rei feels very recognizable but at the same time distinct - the latter being harder to achieve when over a eleventy billion takes on the character have already been made. Her body is sculpted very well and her outfit is very hot. Her huge hands were dumbfounding at first but I’ve began to quite enjoy them.
To people who’ve been into GK’s for a while this is probably not that big of a deal, but this is the first time I’ve seen a color resin kit. From what I’ve gathered though, “color resin kit” should not be confused with “painted” as the pieces are simply molded in another color; very much like Gundam models. So you should still plan on touch up work to really give the kit depth and life. Still, for lazy people like me, color resin kits might be a way to ease into GK’s.
Rei is going to be limited and exclusive. Meaning not only will you have to go through Dengeki Hobby’s magazine/website to order her, but there will be a finite number of pieces produced.
Rico’s Verdict:
I’m going to pass on the GK, but I highly hope for a PVC release.
Source here and other pics shamelessly taken from Tokyo Hunter.
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Ritsu Tainaka - Nendoroid
Series: K-On!
Company: Good Smile Company
Sculptor: Maruhige/Nendoron
Scale: Non
Release: Feb 2010
Price: 44 USD // 4,000 Yen
The Short:
Those don’t worship in the Cult of Nendoroid should just skip to the next figure below.
The Long:
Now that they’ve left us we can make fun of them!
Or not.
The only non-exclusive in today’s batch is GSC’s Ritsu Nendoroid. I think she might be my favorite of the three K-On! Nedoroids announced thus far. Yui is the cutest, Mio is the most moe, but Ritsu has the most personality. Her faces are certainly the most naturally expressive, but I think that it helps that more of her face is exposed. I also feel that they put far more detail in her hair and that makes the figure look lighter.
It is a little annoying that she’s more expensive than the other two, but I feel the drum set is well worth the extra 9 bucks.
Rico’s Verdict:
Bought.
Source.
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Mina Majikina
Series: Queen’s Gate
Company: Kotobukiya, Hobby Japan
Sculptor: Tatsumaki
Scale: 1/8
Release: Mar 2010
Price: 76 USD // 6,930 Yen
Notes: Exclusive.
The Short:
Mina will be a Hobby Japan online exclusive brought to you by Kotobukiya. It looks like there is some rough…OMG boobies!
The Long:
There are several things I like about Mina but the most striking elements to me are her coloring and her pose. I don’t know what gets into Kotobukiya, but they really pull out the stops when it comes to color when it comes to exclusives. Mina looks phenomenal and Kotobukiya’s occasional browned colors are no where to be seen. The pose is also really interesting, but she looks better with her skirt left on.
The only thing I don’t like about Mina is that the mold work seems really rough. Look at her stomach or the small of her back - I feel like there is visible inconsistency in the tone of what would be her muscles. Two things are possible: 1) I’m just seeing things or 2) this is just a final mock-up and the problems won’t carry over to the production run. I worry about it though because with Kotobukiya, what you see is usually what you get.
One more thing: other’s have wished that you could take Mina’s top off. I can’t say that I disagree with that. :3 I also wish we’d gotten more of the “ticked off” face that was in the image.
Rico’s Verdict:
Pending, but leaning towards not getting her.
Source.
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Jubei Yagyu - Swimsuit Ver.
Series: Hyakka Ryoran
Company: Alter, Hobby Japan
Sculptor: Houjun Otoyama
Scale: 1/8
Release: Houjun Otoyama
Price: 76 USD // 6,980 Yen
Notes: Both limited & exclusive.
The Short:
I wish to state for the record: ZOMG WANT!
The Long:
I’ve known for a while that Alter and Hobby Japan were teaming up on the Hyakka Ryoran line of figures. What I didn’t know was that jems like this were going to be produced as well! There is so much I love about this figure: great pose, great coloring, great detailing, and abundant sexiness. Alter has really outdone themselves with this figure. In ways more than just the crafting of the figure, unfortunately.
The downside is that Jubei is both limited and exclusive - only 1,500 pieces will be made and she is a mail order exclusive for Hobby Japan. If that weren’t bad enough, there is apparently going to be a raffle for her as well. So just because you’ve, say, used a proxy service to mail in for the figure, there is no guarantee that you’ll get her. That is, of course, if you able to find a proxy service willing to gamble on her.
The really peculiar thing about all this is that Toys Logic of all places is offering her up. They’ve done this for the limited and exclusive figures coming down the pipe recently, but this time it really strikes me as odd. How can they guarantee stock with a raffle? I’ve got an e-mail out to them asking about that - we’ll see what they come back with.
I mean, I still hit “add to cart” the second I saw her available and I’ve got the confirmation e-mail, so I know I’ve “pre-ordered” her. But at this point I’m confused to what that means.
Rico’s Verdict:
I think I’ve bought her, but only time will tell.
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I find Jubei, a little bit vulgar (enormous boobs). On the other hand, I like very much the face, and her hair. Ritsu, I shall take her maybe, because I find the face with the bump very funny ^^
I find absolutely nothing vulgar about Jubei (but you’re also talking to someone with Kotone in his collection, lol). Perverse? Yes. But certainly not vulgar.
I quite enjoy Jubei’s boobs. :3
As a side note, I was surprised to see this post up already this morning. After checking the time stamp I realized I didn’t translate the post time to the 24-hour clock right this time.
Not vulgar. No. But I feel it’s missing everything I loved about the non-exclusive version. The thick ropes. The cheeky pose/expression. The hair pins. The ninja socks. The upside-down Katanas.
But most importantly how her top is just short enough to be suggestive but also long enough to be tasteful. To me, this exclusive appears no different to other swimsuit figures out there.
Lastly, the big “katana” sits unnaturally between her bewbs instead of looking like it’s being wedged between them.
I think I see where you’re coming from with the katana. I think it might be the angle more than anything, but we’ll see for sure in a couple months.
Jubei’s hair is her best feature. I find her hair a bit flat, maybe the colouring could have been slightly more vivid.
Me, I like Jubei (my side “perverse”). LOOOOL
For Rei, I really hope a manufacturer will release it in PVC, She’s beautiful.
I’d be surprised if a PVC figure doesn’t come out. It seems the interest in her alone seems to be high enough to warrant it - maybe even enough to make a Asuka and Mari to compliment her!
The only question in my mind is who will release her? Has RC Berg done PVCs before or do they tend to out-source to other companies?
Looks like we’re back to normal.
Only one on this list I’m interested in, Rei. And her hands are huge and ugly. Ignoring that though she’s quite awesome.
I wonder if Alter or anyone is going to make a Ritsu figure with a drumset like they’ve done with Mio and Yui with their guitars. I’d so buy that (I’ve mentioned this before haven’t I?).
-Aka
So i guess that means you didn’t like Jubei. What is it with you and your anti-big-boob bias? Is that a Canadian thing?
I would put money on Alter including drums for Ritsu. Won’t know for sure until we see what they offer up, but knowing Alter it’s a strong possibility.
No, not a Canadian thing, just an Aka thing. I just don’t really like the look of big breasts, makes a person/character seem top heavy and illproportioned. All I require is that there be breasts and they be no more than a handful.
I question the drums due to their complexity vs the guitars. Love to see ‘em though.
LOL. I usually prefer the samller sizes myself, but I can appreciate most anything between handful and bowl-ful. I draw the line when it gets to the kyonyuu/bakunyu territory though - not appealing at all. :/
Not saying they won’t charge and arm and a leg for them, but I expect to see some form of percussion with Ritsu.
I think that Rei is one of the most interesting figures.
I’m not sure I love it or loathe it, I’m just speechless, it’s so different.
Agree, although I definitely fall into the “love it” side of things!
Mina Majikina is probably one of my favorite characters since few years. This edition by Koto does not make me change my mind.
The more and more I look at her, the more and more the urge to buy rises, lol.
Rei scares me with those creepy hands. But I’m not a Rei fan at all, I prefer Asuka over her (that new Kotobukiya Asuka is HOT), but I like Misato the most, and there is a serious deficiency of Misato figures. I do not understand why.
Good luck getting Jubei, only her and the one in the purple outfit interest me from the Hyakka Ryoran line-up. I haven’t ordered any of them, if I’m not careful they will pass me by. Though I will definitely pass on the swimsuit version, the price is prohibitive and the exclusivity.. well.
I dunno, her hands have kind of grown on me. They are very dramatic and kinda stylized. That’s what I’m trying to tell myself, at least.
Thanks. Still no word from Toys Logic on what the deal with her is. Looks like they are busy with a site upgrade of sorts.
I pre-ordered said Asuka, though I still feel that her um… her plugsuit makes her bum look big. Yeah… ok I’ll just say it, I think Kotobukiya’s sculpt makes Asuka’s bum look big.
Asuka’s bum is my favourite feature. It is what makes the figure perfect for me. Oh, man. *nosebleed*
I pre-ordered Jubei from ToysLogic last night. I’m crossing my fingers that they somehow can make it work, but I’m not sure what there sales-model is on it given the raffle scenario. Who knows …. just don’t let me down ToysLogic. Please.
Time will tell on that one, my friend.
Quickly dropping by to scope out your page. I, too, want to get the Kotobukiya Queen’s Gate figure, but I wanted a more pissy face. I might just end up getting it in the end because I plan on amassing a grand and sexy QB/QG army.
I really really really love Jubei. I messaged the store owner about it wondering how they would be able to guarantee stock with a lottery item. I know that the cost is not as expensive as they could be charging because they are buying straight from Hobby Japan, so I am guessing that they worked out some deal that excludes the necessity of having to purchase magazines. I was told that they still cannot guarantee anything because it’s a lottery item, but I didn’t see any of this information up on their actual preorder page. People will be pissed about being duped.
I had my friend send out a coupon for me and I’m hoping that I get picked so I can get the chance to preorder this beauty. I am fairly certain that I will be seeking her out in the end regardless of the circumstances of the lottery.
Hope you’ve been doing well.
~Jem
I’ve been well, hope you’ve been too. Looks like you’ve been having fun with Uncharted 2.
Ah. So that’s the story on Jubei. I figured it was something along those lines, but it’s still a little shocking. You’re right the page says nothing about the lottery nature of the item and how they’ll handle distribution. Is it first come first serve? Is it based on who ordered first and how many they get in?
They aren’t charging people up front for it, but it’s still not an honest business approach.
TL has been putting up a lot of exclusive’s up on their site recently. As far back as Yukimura Sanada but they’ve also had Alter’s Maid Saber, Alter’s Limited ver of Hanzo Hattori, and Kotobukiya’s Dizzy. Those weren’t raffles like Jubei above was, but now I’m kinda doubting those will come in. Oh well.
Hope you get yours!
EDIT: Now the TL listing has the following text “No cancellation or refund allow for this item.”. Bad grammar aside, sounds like they’re starting to charge people up front for this. I’ve checked my credit and there is no charge (yet). Now the whole problem is even more confusing: how can they make a rule like that and not guarantee stock?
That is pretty darn shady, if you ask me. How could they possibly put out that stipulation when there’s no mention of it being a lottery prize figure that is limited to only 1,500 pieces. There’s no possible way that they can possibly compete with people sending in magazine coupons if they don’t intend to send in any coupons at all. Even if they do win, there’s always that question of distribution. It sucks because some customers would like to go somewhere where they are guaranteed the purchase, but this no cancellation policy will screw people over. You can’t even say that they aren’t aware of the situation, either.
Yah, my laptop decided to blow up on me, hence the inactivity on the internet
Hell yeah, I love Uncharted 2.
I still haven’t been charged for the item so I don’t know what they are smoking with the “no refunds” bit. Same with “no cancellations”. Of course, I’ve never understood “no cancellations” with figure pre-orders (I’m sure you could turn right around and sell it to another happy customer. Or eBay).
Toys Logic always struck me as a solid company (they really came through for me with a couple items) but the more I’ve read from others experiences and the questions raised by this little stunt make me doubt the handful of orders I have with them. Going for Alter’s Fate T. with them instead of my usual place seems like such a bad move now.
Sorry about your inactivity, but at least you now have a good excuse to get a new laptop!