Tag Archives: 1/8 scale

Miku Hatsune from Vocaloid (Racing 2011 Version)

Miku Hatsune Racing 2011 figure by Good Smile Company

Another day, another Vocaloid figure. The Vocaloid phenomenon offers a little something for everyone. To amateur musicmakers, it is an empowering tool, giving them the ability to add vocals to their instrumental tracks. For artists, it is a source of inspiration for their illustrations. For companies, it’s a reliably fat cash cow – slap a Vocaloid image on a product or insert one of the characters into a video game and watch the units fly off the shelves. A few companies have taken this commercial exploitation to another level; Sega, for example, loves throwing her into games that she has no business being in. And Good Smile Company too, who have made so many products featuring her likeness that she might as well be their mascot. At least in the case of their auto racing team, it seems that this is literally true, as this figure represents.
Continue reading

Posted in Figure Review | Tagged , , , , , , | 31 Comments

Yagyu Gisen from Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls

Yagyu Gisen figure by Alter

Many, many companies make figures of the characters from Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls, but nobody does it better than Alter. It has been a while since we’ve gotten a new figure of a core character, though; in fact, it’s been over a year since they released Naoe Kanetsugu. Charles d’Artagnan is still MIA, with not even a hint of a prototype sculpt, but presumably she’ll be along at some point in the future. In the meantime, today we will take a look at Gisen, the erotic seductress whose fiery passion and icy resolve conceal a variety of secrets.
Continue reading

Posted in Figure Review | Tagged , , , , , , , | 27 Comments

Tamaki Kousaka from To Heart 2 (Black Underwear Version)

Tamaki Kousaka from To Heart 2 Figure Review

Given the prevalence of Tamaki Kousaka figures in the market, it’s a little surprising that we haven’t looked at a Tamaki figure here in 364 days. It seems like you can’t go a month without seeing a new Tamaki figure go up for preorder. As much as some may decry the proliferation of Tamaki figures – and I can’t say that they don’t have a point – there does seem to be a market for them, so let’s look at this one.
Continue reading

Posted in Figure Review | Tagged , , , , , , | 24 Comments

Horizon Ariadust from Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere (Wave Version)

Horizon Ariadust Figure Review

Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere was one of my favorite shows from the fall 2011 anime season. It features a compelling setting, a likeable cast, a delightfully dense plot, and some of the nicest character designs in all of anime. Those designs, plus the sheer volume of characters in the show, would suggest that the series would be one that would get a lot of figures.

So one would think, anyway; however, it’s now been about a year and a half since the show debuted and only a handful of figures from the series have made their way to retail. Even more perplexing is that all of those figures come from Wave. Unsurprisingly, the great majority of those figures belong to their 1/10 scale Beach Queens line, but they did make one anomalous figure of Horizon Ariadust, which is what we’ll be looking at here.
Continue reading

Posted in Figure Review | Tagged , , , , , , , | 23 Comments

Inori Yuzuriha from Guilty Crown

Inori Yuzuriha figure by Good Smile Company

When you get down to it, figure collectors are really just grown-ass men and ladies who buy lots of toys. And of course, one of the best things about having toys is playing make-believe with them. In that spirit, we’re going to pretend that Inori doesn’t come from one of the most wrongfully overhyped shows of the past few years. We’re going to pretend that Inori isn’t a terrible character from an even worse series because Inori, you are so pretty and you don’t deserve all the things that were done to you. You deserved a much better show. You don’t deserve to be the concubine of the Shührer or the wet nurse of a different character. You deserved better writers and a better director. And well, while this figure isn’t bad, per se, you definitely deserved a bigger figure.
Continue reading

Posted in Figure Review | Tagged , , , , , , | 39 Comments

Retia Adolf from Daiteikoku

Retia Adolf, leader of Dokutsu

Continuing our tour of bikini figures, today we are going to look at Retia Adolf, the adorable and lovable, uhh, führer of the Third Reich of Dokutsu.
Continue reading

Posted in Figure Review | Tagged , , , , , , | 19 Comments

Naoe Kanetsugu from Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls (Swimsuit Version)

Naoe Kanetsugu, the Warrior of Love from Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls

Back to the bikini figures, and today we’ll be looking at the self-described Warrior of Love, Naoe Kanetsugu.
Continue reading

Posted in Figure Review | Tagged , , , , , , , | 41 Comments

Miku Hatsune from Vocaloid (Cheerful Version)

Miku Hatsune Cheerful Figure Review

Back to figure reviews, and what more appropriate character to feature than Miku Hatsune, that ubiquitous, protean pitchwoman of software products, racing teams, and Toyota automobiles?
Continue reading

Posted in Figure Review | Tagged , , , , , | 31 Comments

Samus Aran from Metroid: Other M (Zero Suit Version)

Samus Aran from Metroid Figure Review

I have to admit that lately, I haven’t been too enthusiastic about Good Smile Company’s or Alter’s figure lineups. It doesn’t take any extraordinary talent at prognostication to look at a seasonal anime chart and guess which shows are going to get Good Smile Company figures and lately, Alter’s been eminently predictable as well. Unfortunately – for me, specifically – many of the characters they make figures of don’t interest me or come from shows that I don’t know much about. That leaves Max Factory in the role of the eclectic scale-size figure maker. They’re not nearly as capricious as, say, Daiki Kougyou or Yamato, but well, when one tires of buying Nanoha or Vocaloid or Strike Witches figures, one takes what one can get. Fortunately, Samus Aran surely doesn’t count as a compromise.
Continue reading

Posted in Figure Review | Tagged , , , , , , , | 66 Comments

White Cat from Planet of the Cats

White Cat from Planet of the Cats Figure Review

We looked at the Cat and Chair a little while ago, and now it is time to give White Cat her turn. No name for her, apparently, but at least her title is a bit more descriptive than her counterpart’s.
Continue reading

Posted in Figure Review | Tagged , , , , , , , | 26 Comments