Tag Archives: Good Smile Company

Lacia from BEATLESS

written on January 10, 2012 by Tier

One of the first anime figures I ever bought was Alpha’s Motoko Kusanagi Hard Disk Version. It’s cheaply-made and primitive by today’s standards, and it’s not a scale-size figure, but even so, I still like it, mainly because I like the character design. Scantily-clad female combat androids are a staple of science fiction anime and video games and, having grown up on that stuff, it’s a theme I like a lot. I hesitated for just a moment on ordering Lacia, since Good Smile Company sold this figure only through their online store and I always consider twice when it comes to paying for a figure up-front. However, after seeing her preview pictures, I felt that this was going to be a fine figure, and now that it’s here, my esteem for her has only grown.
Continue reading →

Posted in Figure Review | Tagged 1/8 scale, beatless, Figures, Good Smile Company, lacia, leotard, Review | 33 Comments

Strength from Black Rock Shooter (Animation Version)

written on November 2, 2011 by Tier

Good Smile Company Strength from Black Rock Shooter Figure Review

As we get older, it seems that time moves quicker and the world changes more rapidly. However, there are some constants that do not change. Death and taxes are among the less comforting, but for figure collectors, there are at least two happy certainties: Good Smile Company will continue to make exceptional figures of the Black Rock Shooter characters, and those exceptional figures will invariably find their way into Amiami’s bargain bin. I initially waffled on preordering Strength and then decided to pass on her. However, after seeing some reviews of the figure, I changed my mind and thought about buying it for full price. I felt a price cut was likely, though, and the maxim that good things come to those who wait sometimes holds true in figure collecting – more so with the BRS stuff. So it happened that Strength got her price slashed by more than half; not quite the 2,500 yen or so that Black Rock Shooter herself went for, but still a very welcome discount.
Continue reading →

Posted in Figure Review | Tagged 1/8 scale, black rock shooter, Figures, Good Smile Company, Review, strength | 23 Comments

Triela from Gunslinger Girl

written on September 5, 2011 by Tier

It’s girls with guns time. I’m a big fan of the genre in anime but I skipped over Gunslinger Girl entirely. I like girls with guns but there’s an unstated qualifier there – which is to say, I like attractive girls with guns, and the cast of Gunslinger Girl does not exactly drip with sex appeal. However, the boxy heads and rectangular eyes of the characters appear to be peculiar to the anime, and this figure features a more conventional face – a welcome decision that shifts the principal focus from the atypical facial proportions to the attractiveness of the character and in particular, the mood that she expresses.
Continue reading →

Posted in Figure Review | Tagged 1/8 scale, Figures, Good Smile Company, gun, gunslinger girl, Review, triela | 29 Comments

Rin Tohsaka from Fate/stay night (Unlimited Blade Works Version)

written on June 14, 2011 by Tier

The internet is a pervasive force in everyday life. One of the things the internet is good for is finding reviews of stuff. In particular, I find movie and video game reviews to be helpful because people whose tastes are similar to mine generally view games and films in a similar way that I would. Not a long while ago I asked a friend what he thought of the film Sucker Punch and he said he didn’t really like it, and I knew I probably wouldn’t like it much, either. Our subjective tastes significantly overlap, and on top of that, there are objective criteria that one can use to assess a game or movie, such as plot coherence, the quality of dialogue, the quality of graphics, and so on.

Figures, however, are a funny thing because their appeal is so personal, at least to me. Take the Black Rock Shooter figures, for instance. On the surface, they seem to match many of the things I like: cute girls, fearsome weapons, and not many clothes. And yet I don’t particularly like them very much. Or take Miku Hatsune, whose character design I don’t particularly care for either. Certainly her design looks very similar to many characters that I do like and yet I don’t have much affection for her. Or take Yuri from Angel Beats. She’s cute, has a short skirt, and packs a big gun. Okay, I heard Angel Beats got a mixed reception but I haven’t even seen it and don’t plan to, so that doesn’t affect me at all. Why didn’t I buy the figure? Beats me. I’m thinking maybe I should check whether she’s in stock anywhere.

Basically what it comes down to is that every collector is going to decide for him or herself whether a figure is a worthwhile purchase, and that decision is going to be influenced by very nuanced and very personal factors. It’s a decision that really can only be made by the individual.

I’m guessing that a large majority of people reading this post have no idea where I’m coming from with this intro. That’s okay. I wish I were among you, to be honest. But enough of that, we have a figure to look at. This is my opinion of Rin Tohsaka.
Continue reading →

Posted in Figure Review | Tagged 1/7 scale, epic ass, fate/stay night, Figures, Good Smile Company, Review, rin tohsaka | 63 Comments

Saber Alter from Fate/stay night

written on May 31, 2011 by Tier

I’m a big fan of corrupted girls in fiction. Kerrigan in Starcraft, Seven of Nine in Star Trek Voyager, Yomi in Ga-rei Zero – love them all. The eroge Fate/stay night has a couple of corrupted female characters who have deserved figures for a while. Dark Sakura has a cool design and Gift has recently released a fine figure showing her in all her evil glory. But as a fan of armored girls wielding big broadswords, I really wanted a good figure of Saber Alter. Good Smile Company has finally obliged, and their rendition of Saber Alter is set to redefine the meaning of badass.
Continue reading →

Posted in Figure Review | Tagged 1/7 scale, armor, fate/stay night, Figures, Good Smile Company, Review, saber, saber alter, sword | 45 Comments

Junko Hattori from Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou (Queen’s Gate Version)

written on May 11, 2011 by Tier

One of the nice things about Hobby Japan’s Queen’s Gate series is that it gives a spotlight to a few characters who wouldn’t otherwise get a lot of love from figure makers. Dizzy was one, at least until Alter made their figure, and I’ve also ordered Ivy Valentine’s figure, since she’s only gotten a few thus far. I gave some thought to trying to get the Queen’s Gate figure of Katja from Seikon no Qwaser, but while I like the character, I would’ve liked the figure more if she were in her dominatrix outfit. Curiously, Lily from Namco’s Tekken series stands out as the sole Queen’s Gate character not to get a figure thus far. That’s a shame; I wouldn’t mind seeing a figure of her, especially in her 3P costume. Oh well. Junko Hattori is another character that would seem an unlikely candidate for a conventional, mass-market figure; she’s not generally regarded as one of the best characters from her show, and her show is primarily known for its absurd level of incoherence. At any rate, I do like both the character and the way that she looks, so even though having to go through a proxy service is a bit of a hassle, I ordered her right away and here she is now.
Continue reading →

Posted in Figure Review | Tagged 1/8 scale, Figures, Good Smile Company, ichiban ushiro no daimaou, junko hattori, ninja, Review, sword, thong | 48 Comments

Nanoha Takamachi from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha (actsta Version)

written on April 24, 2011 by Tier

Good Smile Company Nanoha Takamachi actsta Figure Review

Action figures are a very popular segment of the figure market but I haven’t ever reviewed one here. That changes today as I’ve finally gotten around to taking some pictures of Good Smile Company’s Nanoha. This is part of their actsta line, which curiously has been restricted only to characters from the Nanoha franchise. Oddly, this is also the first figure I’ve gotten of the white devil magician girl, despite having several figures of her blonde counterpart.
Continue reading →

Posted in Figure Review | Tagged 1/8 scale, action figure, actsta, Figures, Good Smile Company, magical girl lyrical nanoha, nanoha takamachi, Review | 20 Comments

Nadeko Sengoku from Bakemonogatari

written on April 14, 2011 by Tier

Many of the figures I buy tend to fall into at least one of two categories – usually they are holding some kind of weapon or they are dressed in an overt sexual manner. Nadeko could technically fit into that second category but even so, she stands apart from many of the figures I own because I didn’t buy her for her sexy swimsuit. I’ve been looking forward to Nadeko for a while and though spring isn’t really the most appropriate season for her, I’m happy she’s here since this is another great figure.
Continue reading →

Posted in Figure Review | Tagged 1/8 scale, bakemonogatari, Figures, Good Smile Company, nadeko sengoku, Review, swimsuit | 32 Comments

Black Rock Shooter (Animation Version)

written on November 21, 2010 by Tier

Good Smile Company Black Rock Shooter Figure Review

Some things are just completely review-proof and there’s no real reason to spend any time critiquing them. Harry Potter books and Transformers films fall into this category, and of course, so do any of Good Smile Company’s Black Rock Shooter figures. GSC is gonna make them, people are gonna buy them, and you know what you’re going to get, so we may as well spend our time talking about other things. So let’s begin: have you noticed that not many figure review sites are updating anymore? Or have you noticed that there are a helluva lot of figure news websites these days? I’ll often look at the link feed on Tsuki-board and see the same promo pictures over and over as a half dozen or more sites post the same news. Over and over. Weird. Oh, and have you noticed that Hobby Search only has their Japanese site up? Maybe they’re planning on shutting down international sales! Wait, it’s back up? Never mind then, let’s talk about this figure instead.
Continue reading →

Posted in Figure Review | Tagged 1/8 scale, black rock shooter, Figures, Good Smile Company, gun, Review | 57 Comments

Kasumi Yashiro from Muv-Luv Alternative

written on September 25, 2010 by Tier

I’m not really big on collecting full sets of characters just for the sake of doing so. Oh sure, every now and then I see a set of figures that I like, but most of the time, I don’t feel much compulsion to get all the figures in a series if they aren’t each individually appealing. I’ve got three of Alter’s Ikkitousen figures but I’m missing Chouun, I’m missing one of Volks’s Super Robot Girls (uhh, the one with the horn sprouting from her forehead, I forget her name), and I’m missing Rei and Misato out of Kotobukiya’s 1/6 scale Eva girl lineup. I’ve had two of the three Muv-Luv figures that Good Smile Company produced for a while now, and as lolis aren’t really my thing, I wasn’t planning on buying Kasumi. However, BBTS had her on sale for thirty bucks and as I was planning on getting something else there, I decided to toss her in my cart. For thirty bones, I don’t mind getting a figure if she’s wearing a tight, shiny bodysuit. By the way, you’ll be seeing that something else that I bought in my next figure review, I think.
Continue reading →