Tentacle Armada

As usual, laziness overrides my intentions and instead of Miku, we have here a figure of KOS-MOS from Bandai Namco’s Xenosaga III. I keep meaning to build a nice backdrop for Miku so that I can photograph her, but there’s about a billion reviews of Miku out there already and everyone knows what she looks like, anyway. KOS-MOS, however, is far too large to build a special background for, and besides, while Miku is nice and all, KOS-MOS is one helluva figure.
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Let’s talk a little bit about lust. If you collect anything, chances are that there is a holy grail item, something that you greatly desire but is nearly impossible to acquire. Maybe it’s an out-of-print edition of a book, or a rare and valuable trading card of some favorite athlete, or a pretty, limited-run postage stamp. These treasures add a definite zest to collecting, igniting passions, squelching common sense, and obliterating the checking accounts of collectors fortunate enough to add these things to their troves.

For me, Volks’s 1/4 scale Uesugi Kenshin statue is the prize that I’ve had my eyes on for years. I never expected to own her; for one, Volks’s wares are notoriously difficult to purchase outside of Japan, and for another, Kenshin was sold only as a resin kit. There was no way I could afford the model, and I do not have the requisite equipment or skill to assemble and paint it anyway. My only hope would be to buy a prepainted recast – and E2046 hasn’t stocked this item in a long time – or for a prepainted, preassembled kit to magically present itself. The late, sorely-missed Heisei Democracy mentions that such an item was in fact sold at the winter Wonder Festival in February 2008 – for an astronomical price.

So time passed, and I didn’t think much about this Kenshin figure, since there was little point pining away for something unobtainable, until one day, on a whim, I spent some time browsing through Yahoo Japan’s listings. And I saw this figure. There were a lot of reasons to hesitate – the price was insane, I would have to go through a middleman which means an even more insane price in addition to requiring a considerable amount of faith in someone a hemisphere away, and the possibility of losing the auction, which presents its own unique set of problems. But hesitation never really entered my mind; after all, this figure is it. This is number one, my prize, and who would deny that magic had occurred? All it would take to acquire this figure would be to meet the price. But Gott im Himmel, what a price.
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It’s Saber clone! Like Charlotte, Sylvia is one of the love interests in the game and anime Princess Lover! but her most conspicuous trait is her resemblance to Saber. Sylvia wears trousers instead of a skirt and wields a rapier rather than a broadsword but the similarity is blatant, even egregious. Homage or ripoff, you decide.
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Charlotte Hazellink is yet another prepainted, preassembled kit from E2046 by way of Volks. One of these days I’m going to try building and painting models on my own. However, that day is not today.
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It’s yet another figure from an H-game. Looking at my traffic statistics, my ero-figure reviews are by far the most popular pages on this site. Here’s hoping that this review continues that fine tradition!
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Another Rei! They never stop coming. What is the world coming to? I’ll tell you what the world is coming to. Obviously Rei and her army of clones have become real. They’ve jumped from the small screen and big screen to reality. To conquer the world and then the galaxy beneath the weight of their multitudes. There is no thwarting them. There can be no defense against their replication. They’re coming for us.
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Having acquired Alter’s Metatron and liking it very much, I look for more. I find that Volks has made another Metatron figure, and after it passes the eyeball approval test I quickly point my web browser to Shopping Mall Japan. As I log myself in, an unwelcome voice speaks in my mind …
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Meiya Mitsurugi is one of the characters from Muv-Luv, an ero game and anime property that I don’t know much about. This figure represents her as she appears in Muv-Luv Unlimited, which seems to be a game that locks young women in tight outfits in perilous combat with a host of aliens. Originally designed by Volks, I purchased this figure as a prepainted resin figure from Hobbyfan. I like Meiya’s character design and the fact that this figure was discounted was a nice sweetener.
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