Preorder Outlook V

It feels like it’s been a slow year for exciting figure releases, but there have been a few impressive figures announced recently so it seems like an appropriate time to take a look at some upcoming releases. As usual, pictures are shamelessly borrowed from Hobby Search and Amiami, my favorite places to buy figures.

June


Saya Tokido from Little Busters!
I’ve preordered this figure and I’m very much looking forward to her. I’m not familiar with the source game at all and I find its Wikipedia entry more confusing than enlightening, but I know that I like girls with gats, and an open shirt and an impressive rack are big, big bonuses.


Mizuho Kagami from Onegai Teacher
I’m thinking about ordering Mizuho, although it’s unusual that I haven’t seen any sample pictures on any Japanese websites yet. I have the feeling this one’s a good candidate to get pushed back, which wouldn’t make me unhappy, since while I like 1/4 scale figures, I could use more time to come up with the required funds and space.


Compact Hog from Tsukasa Bullet
What a great name for a figure. It’s technically the name of her gun, but it’s such a good name that I’ll use it for the girl, too. I’ve preordered this figure and I’m very much looking forward to it, although a second look at the promo pictures suggests that her neck is pretty long. Daiki Kougyou’s 1/4 scale Saber suffers from the same problem – one of two major problems with it, in my view – but hopefully it won’t be as obvious an issue with the production figure.


Mothra Larva from Godzilla
I’m not a big Godzilla fan – the only one I’ve seen was the unbelievably bad American movie by the hacks who made Independence Day – but the descriptions of this figure are very entertaining: “Please enjoy the cute Mothra larva as it wiggles innocently towards its target” Hobby Search suggests while Amiami gushes, “A great rendition of the larva that actually manage to be cute – in amazing 30cm form!”

Anyway, I’ve got the larva preordered. You don’t want to ask. You don’t want to know.

July


Momohime from Muramasa
I’ve preordered this, like everyone else. I’ve been hoping that Muramasa would come out for the PS3 or 360, but I suppose there’s little chance of that. At least I’ll get to ogle Momohime on my shelf even if I can’t ever experience the Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife level.


Vivio from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS
I’ve also preordered Vivio, as I cannot resist a cute girl in a tight bodysuit. A Ginga figure would be nice too.


Seena Kanon from Shining Wind
Ehh … you know, I ought to be really excited about Max Factory’s Shining Wind girls, since I like swimsuit girls and Tony Taka’s art, but for some reason, I don’t find any of them all that compelling. I like Seena better with long hair, and she looks kinda like a little boy here, so I think I’m going to pass.


Revy from Black Lagoon
See, this is how you get me excited about a swimsuit figure; give her a big gun, a sheathe knife, and a spliff. Okay, I’m hoping you can pull the cigarette out of her mouth, since I despise cigarettes, but the rest of the figure looks very nice. I’ve preordered Revy and this will be my first New Line figure, so I’m hoping it turns out aight.


Ikaros from Sora no Otoshimono
Is it just me or does it seem like this figure dropped off of everybody’s radar when it went up for preorder? The promo photos don’t look quite as good as some of the convention photos and that gives me pause, but I like the character design a lot. I haven’t preordered this figure yet but I think I might do so yet.


Lady Robin from Kinnikuman Lady
Now here’s an unusual-looking figure. I’m not sure if I like it as much as I would if she had normal proportions, but I’ll give props to MegaHouse for trying something different. She looks pretty cool, so I’m thinking about preordering her, despite the odd elongated design.

August


Leina from Queen’s Blade
I’ve got Reina preordered even though she’s not really one of my favorite Queen’s Blade characters. I can’t resist a sword-packing thong-wearing fighter girl, though, and maybe good sales will encourage someone to make an Irma figure (ahahaha, who am I kidding, that ain’t ever happening).


Rin Kagamine from Vocaloid
You know, I really didn’t like this figure when it was first announced, but over time, it’s been growing on me, and I’m thinking about putting in a preorder. I really didn’t like her hair or the shape of her head at first, but now I think she looks pretty cool. I also really like the design of her face; she looks older here than in most of the Vocaloid art. I don’t really care for her big frilly skirt or the strange sharpened stakes behind her, though. I’ll have to think about Rin a bit more.


Xecty from Shining Wind
I’m not entirely certain how I feel about Xecty. On one hand, she looks very nice, she’s very large, and I like Elwing a lot, and Xecty is the mirror image of Elwing. Wait, no she’s not – Kotobukiya posed her curved in the same direction as Elwing. I wish that they’d flipped her, but them’s the breaks. She looks nice, but I’m thinking that my money might be better served being spent on a more interesting figure, like Rin.

September


Rider from Happoubi Jin’s Sweet Body
Preordered and I don’t think I really need to explain why.


Kurisu Makase from Steins;gate
I’ve preordered this figure, although I have some reservations about her sculpt; her legs look peculiarly long. I love the stockings and hot pants combo, however. And besides, her product page on Hobby Search quotes, “I feel like opening your head and stabbing an electrode in your hippocampus.” Have you ever heard a better pickup line than that?


Kureha Touka from Shining Wind
I like Kureha best out of all of the Shining Wind girls, so I’ve preordered her, despite not being particularly thrilled by this figure. I suppose one can’t have too many of Max Factory’s Kurehas.


Sasami Sasasegawa from Little Busters!
This figure sure does give off a very different vibe than Saya Tokido does. Anyway, I’ve preordered Sasami, since I can’t turn down a figure that gives off such a nice view of the goods. Not that you’d know that from the promo pictures, though; it continually amazes me how clever figure manufacturers are when it comes to avoiding pantyshots in their official photos. I suppose in this case they were simply judicious with the crop tool rather than artful with the camera, though.


Asuka Langley Shikinami from Neon Genesis Evangelion
Two Asuka figures were announced in a very short span of time, and I like big figures rather than small, so if I get one of them, it’s likely going to be Kotobukiya’s version. Still, I find it difficult to get over just how ugly that test plugsuit is. Asuka seems to know it, too, since she looks very uncomfortable here, which I think is incredibly hot.


Ryomou Shimei from Ikki Tousen
Interestingly, it seems that Daiki Kougyou is drifting away a bit from Toshirou’s original sculpt in favor of a more conventional facial design. Perhaps they’ve taken to heart some of the criticism leveled at their earlier Saber figure (though my beef is with the lengthened neck and the lack of castoff option). I really like how she looks in some of the recent Akibahobby photos, but Ryomou isn’t really one of my favorite Ikki Tousen characters and I don’t know if I can justify spending the skrills on this figure.

October


Clalaclan from Shining Wind
I’m not planning on getting this figure, but does it look to anybody else like her navel is too low? I went and checked some of my por – I mean, reference videos and it looks to me like her navel ought to be higher up on her stomach. Maybe it’s just me, I dunno. Great swimsuit bottom, though.


Hitagi Senjyougahara from Bakemonogatari
Ehh … I like this figure but I’m not too familiar with the source TV show. In fact, the only thing I really know about Bakemonogatari is that I sort of share a name with one of the characters in the show, which is unusual since it’s a relatively uncommon name. I’ll put this one down as a maybe; I don’t really have a lot of feeling for the character design, and it seems odd to me to buy a figure purely because of some tumbling school supplies.


Asuka Langley Shikinami from Neon Genesis Evangelion
When I think of Asuka, I think of a tactless, cocky loudmouth. This version of Asuka appears gentle and shy, and I can’t quite reconcile these two images of Asuka in my mind. On the other hand, Asuka looks great and I know this figure is going to turn out very well, so it’s hard to pass up. I wish that Alter had put her in her normal plugsuit or given her blonde hair or something to make her stand out more, but as it is, I’ll have to think about it some more.


Tsumugi Kotobuki from K-On!
Okay, I have no intention of ordering this figure, and I wouldn’t do so even if I cared for K-On! due to the ridiculous eyebrows, but what I’m wondering is, where are these girls getting the money for their instruments? Mio uses a bass that costs four figures, and Tsumugi appears to be using a Korg Triton Extreme. This keyboard’s out of production and it’s been a long time since Musician’s Friend has sent me any catalogs, but I recall that this synth ran around two grand. So is it ever explained how these kids are buying their gear? Do they have after-school jobs? What sort of after-school jobs? Curious minds want to know (without actually having to watch the TV show).


Heat Blade from Tsukasa Bullet
I’m lazy so I haven’t gotten out my credit card to preorder Heat Blade (you’d think I’d have it memorized by now), but I’ll order this figure pretty soon. I think she looks great and I’ve been looking forward to seeing the painted sample for a while now.

December


Mai Shiranui from The King of Fighters
This is an amazing figure, and the only reasons I haven’t put in a preorder yet are the price and my lack of familiarity with Alphamax’s work. VF’s recent review of Spica allays the latter concern, so now I need to decide whether I feel comfortable putting in an order with Hobby Search or Amiami that I can’t cancel. Then again, I’m not sure that it’s all that likely I’ll want to cancel this figure anyway.

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50 Responses to Preorder Outlook V

  1. Aka says:

    Seena’s gotta be the cutest boy I’ve ever seen. I’d totally do him.

    Kurisu has the greatest pickup line, I totally want to order her for that. But I really can’t it’s not a valid reason in my mind. Ok lies… it’s more that I’ve just spent too much future money with pre-orders already.

    Sasami I keep wanting to get then thinking, nah I don’t… then thinking yeah I do. I should probably just pre-order… I mean, black panties? Only naughty girls wear black panties. Sold!

    Getting both Asuka’s of course. I think she’s hot in both.

    Momohime is cute, totally ordered before I even knew what the game was. Seems a great addition to my collection regardless, and her clothes look wonderfully short.

    Mothra? Cute? Really? And I do want to ask actually…
    How can Senjougahara be a maybe? She’s awesome!

  2. Shashin says:

    Yeah, I love the Mai figure but the price has also held me off from instantly preordering it myself.

  3. Orni says:

    Hi,

    For me, Momohime, Senjyougahara ant Asuka (the second with the pedestal) are in my pre-ordered list.
    Figures from Shining Wind and Sasasegawa are also beautiful.
    For Kurisu, I like the pose but not her face 😡

    Orni

  4. GREW says:

    Oh there are some figures that I want / preorderd too. Like:
    Ikaros from Sora no Otoshimono
    Kurisu Makase from Steins;gate
    Hitagi Senjyougahara from Bakemonogatari (GSC)
    Asuka Langley Shikinami from Neon Genesis Evangelion (ALTER)

    But not only those:
    BRS figma
    BRS Nendo
    BRS Anime Ver.
    Hatsune Miku VN02
    Sakuya Nendo
    Senhime

    But still haven’t preordered Dead Master, Ikaros and Makise.

  5. BioToxic says:

    I was looking forward to Saya Tokido when I saw the first sculpt shots. But once they put paint on her it went downhill. To me she looks nothing like Saya.

    I’ve got 3 of the Shining Wind girls on pre-order, I’m not interested in Clalaclan though.

    Ikaros looks interesting, but she looks “too blue” in the photos I’ve seen. She looks quite fragile as well.

    I’m still wavering on pre-ordering Lady Robin myself.

    That Mai Shiranui caught my eye on amiami. I just have no idea who she actually is (although I have seen her Queen’s Gate book) & that price tag – ouch.

  6. Shashin says:

    Not knowing who Mai Shiranui is has to be blasphemy. I don’t care what anyone says, but the Fatal Fury/KoF series was at one point superior to Street Fighter. Last few games have been pretty mediocre, but the Genesis games were great as were the Capcom vs SNK games.

  7. Blowfish says:

    Daikis Leina and Ryomou would be on my list of they wouldnt cost such a fortune.
    Im really attracted to Leina though even though shes far from beeing one of my favorite characters.

    Rider is also really sweet but I dont wanna spend too much cash on figures atm so shes only a maybe.

    You never watched Godzilla shame on you!
    I expect great things from you and yoir Mothra Larva though.

    Hmm what can I say about new line? They know how to sculpt swimsuit figures for sure but some of their production values are a bit lacking.Im looking forward to your Revy review to see how she fares

  8. BioToxic says:

    @Shashin: Fatal Fury/KoF (King of Fighters?) I’ve never seen or played those games. Hell I’d struggle to name Street Fighter characters – I could describe some of them.

    The only 2D fighting game I can identify the characters from is Mortal Kombat, and that’s limited to MK3 and below.

    Perhaps I should take some time to find out about these games to save me from my sins.

  9. Nemphtis says:

    I’ve also pre-ordered Kurisu Makase and Hitagi Senjyougahara. I haven’t seen the source media they’re from, but I just thought they were really cool to look at, which is the main reason I collect statues. I try and go for ones that are fun to look at and try my best to keep the boring and/or slutty poses to a minimum.

  10. AS says:

    Wow, you’ve got a ton of pre-orders ^^;;. Unfortunately I’m spent right now after coming back from Japan so I won’t be spending much anytime soon ^^;;. So I’m hoping that I’ll be able to pick up some of these some time later down the road.

  11. Tier says:

    >> Aka
    Seena is definitely up there, although I like Bridget and that one little boy from Senko no Ronde. He’s so dreamy, especially in that tight suit.

    I’m kinda surprised that Kurisu doesn’t seem to be that popular, since she’s designed by Huke and all. Maybe if she had some scars and flashed a bit more tit, she’d get more love. And I’ll fully admit that I wasn’t all that interested in Sasami till I noticed that little bit of black underpants peeping out in that one picture. It’s going to annoy the hell out of me if they pull a bait and switch and give her some boring white drawers in the production figure.

    Yes, it’s really cute! Can’t you see how cute it is? Yeah, neither can I. On an unrelated note, I saw this anime called Black Widow recently and it was pretty cool.

    I’m not too familiar with this Bakemonogatari thing. Maybe if I watched the show I’d like her more. Or if she were showing more tit, too.

    >> Orni
    That is interesting; a lot of people like the BRS figures because of their face designs, and Kurisu has the same face as them. I wonder how much more popular Kurisu would be if GSC were making her?

    >> GREW
    I’m thinking one BRS figure is enough for me, though the anime version one is really nice. I can’t say I get all the fuss over the Dead Master figure though; those capri pants look ridiculous.

    >> BioToxic
    Yeah, it’d be hard to tell she comes from a Key series, just looking at her. I don’t mind that at all since I don’t like Key’s character designs all that much. It looked a bit to me like the figure’s breasts are quite a bit larger than they are in the artwork, but I count that as a big plus as well.

    Man, nobody has any love for Clalaclan. As a lover of tits, I find that really sad. They ought to have given Kureha those tits so they won’t go to waste.

    >> Shashin
    Yeah, I’m going to have to think about dropping $200 on a figure. Well, if it were Daiki Kougyou or Alter or something, I wouldn’t, but I’ve never seen an ALphamax figure in person.

    More SNK characters need figures. Like Kula Diamond, Angel (dunno if SNK has her rights), Yuki from Last Blade … there’s a bunch of characters there that I’d love to own figures of.

    >> Blowfish
    Yep, I’ve never seen Godzilla! I did love playing King of the Monsters when I was a kid, though. I’m looking forward to great reenactments with the larva.

    Yeah, not that I think of it, New Line did the Hakufu figure you have, right? I think it was the same sculptor, too. Hopefully Revy looks good.

    >> Nemphtis
    I get figures for the same reason; I don’t watch a lot of anime so I don’t often know very much about the characters themselves. Though I definitely don’t mind the ones with the slutty poses, unless they don’t look very good.

  12. Halbred says:

    Well, I definately recommend sitting down and watching the cheesy old Showa-era Godzilla movies. That’ll make the newer Heisei and Millenium entries a lot more palatable! 🙂 Seriously, the best Godzilla newb movie is “Godzilla 2000,” which seriously freaking rocks. The American version is intentially cheesy, to great effect.

    I’ve wanted a good Mai Shiranui figure for YEARS now. The Queen’s Gate version was good, but not instantly recognizable as Mai. This newest figure is fantastic, but yeah, the price is a little hard to swallow. Something like $250? Ouch.

  13. Shashin says:

    I agree, I’ve spent about $200 on a figure, but it was after reading your review, and really getting a good look at it. I don’t have an Alphamax figure yet, though I checked them out on Hobby Search and most of their figures do look beautiful. A few weeks ago I was still in preorder everything I like and then cancel later mode, and I made the mistake of preordering a figure above the cancel threshold. It was the Queen’s Blade Tomoe figure. I think it looks great but I have no idea how it’s going to turn out, and if I had been paying more attention to the price, I probably wouldn’t have preordered it.

    On another note, I’m starting to like cast off figures less and less. I still like the ability to remove clothing, but I almost wish I had some figures that were one piece and started with little clothing. I got an order from Amiami today, and this one figure literally breaks into 4-5 pieces. Her shirt isn’t removable, so he chest area is hollowed out entirely when you’re putting her together.

    That I’m okay with, if it is a bit disappointing, however her head is nearly impossible to put on properly. She’s got quite a bit of hair in the way, and you can forget it if you want to have her detachable jacket on. She has quite the long peg to fit into the slot, but the only way I could get it comfortably in makes it look as if she has a giant tumor on her neck.

  14. VF says:

    I’ve got the Max Factory swimsuit figures on pre-order, as well as the new K-ON! figures. I just can’t go on living without completing sets. Gah! =*(

    I’m really debating on that Mai figure from Alphamax, I was really pleased with Spica and thought the price was worth the quality of the figure. I don’t think I can keep up with any more of these figure purchases though, it’s breaking the bank. I just impulse ordered Shoujo Maid from Hobby Fan cause they have an incoming shipment. I so regret it after I submitted the order – not because it’s a bad figure, but I really need to stop buying these until I can pay of my credit card. LOL

    I hate this hobby… XD

  15. Tier says:

    >> Halbred
    Maybe I’ll do that one of these days. I’m not much of a movie guy but I have an apprecation for history, and I have the feeling I ought to watch at least one Godzilla movie in my lifetime (the American bastardization not counting, in my view).

    Yeah, that price is the only thing deterring me from plunking down the skrills. I like MF’s older Mai Shiranui figure, but Mai’s one of those characters that I don’t mind owning multiple figures of. Moeyo’s review of a sample figure is very promising, hmm …

    >> Shashin
    The inability to cancel the order if circumstances demand it is a big problem too. It’s a long time till December and even though my job seems reasonably secure and I have enough money saved to live reasonably comfortably should something catastrophic occur, still I … ehh … okay, maybe that’s not such a big problem.

    I think I remember that Tomoe figure. Great ass, if I am recalling correctly. I’m still waiting for a fripping Irma figure.

    I’ve had a few castoff-able figures that I didn’t bother opening for days just because I didn’t want to have to disassemble them to get all the plastic wrap off. Maybe that’s a sign that I’ve been in this hobby for too long. Another problem is that sometimes the figure doesn’t look right without the clothes; FREEing’s Senhime looks great when she’s dressed, but she looks really skinny while unclothed since her head was sized to match the bulk and thickness of her clothing.

    >> VF
    Someone who is getting Clalaclan! She gets love from one place, at least. I’m not a big completionist when it comes to figures now; I’ll skip a figure if I don’t think it looks that appealing to me. It still annoys the hell out of me that Alter seems unwilling to make a Subaru figure to go with Haruka and Narika, though.

    A good impulse purchase of a great figure. Sometimes I wonder how much money I’d have saved if I didn’t collect these things, but then I know I’d just have wasted my money on video games or unnecessary electronic equipment instead. Or even worse, I’d have put it in something useless like my retirement savings account. I mean, I’m not planning on retiring for like thirty or forty years, what good is my money going to do for me locked away in a retirement account?

  16. Ayra says:

    I own very few figures myself, I’m not a fan of overly naked figurines (Though I do own an Emerald from Tandem Twin) and I do put money into useless things like my retirement account, but…

    Heat Blade just might be the most attractive figurine I’ve ever seen in my life. I’m really surprised about the lack of interest about it pretty much everywhere, honestly. Probably just a matter of taste… I’m not even sure why she caught my own interest this much actually.

    Do you think it would be the kind of figure that’d be better to pre-order or do you think it would be easily findable after release? I’d like seeing a review of her before buying it, but on the other hand having her sold out on day 1 would be extremely annoying if she ends up great.

  17. softz says:

    Tier is going to be Tier. Give him all the sexy figures, especially Rider (from Orchid Seed?). LoL

    I’d be waiting for Momohime. The game scored pretty well on Wii. Unfortunate for us, the next gen console owners 🙁

  18. Halbred says:

    To those wishing they could play Maramusa: Don’t worry too much about it. The game is beautiful, sure, but it’s also marred by some terrible design decisions, worst of all a continuous map that does not have ANY warp points, and lots of required backtracking. The fighting is great, but it’s over quickly, and then it’s back to running in a straight line for 10 minutes to your next objective.

    The art direction is largely the same as in Odin Sphere, but more blatantly Japanese. It’s a Vanillaware game, after all. I’m surprised it wasn’t published by Atlas.

  19. Shashin says:

    I’m not quite as lucky. Yes, I have a bit of money to spare at the moment, but that’s hardly where I’d be if my extreme spending continues.

    I know the one you’re thinking of. I had it preordered, but need to cut back a bit, so I was looking for figures I could cut without too much grief. Yeah, the ass was great, but I’m not all too familiar with the character and there were some other figures I wanted more.

    Here’s the one I believe you’re thinking of:
    http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10113174

    This is the one I’m unable to cancel: http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10116058

    I could be wrong and you could be referring to the second, of course, but the ass is much more visible on the first.

    Yeah, I’m not fond of having to disassemble figures to take off all the plastic. Especially since I appear to be so bad at properly putting them together again.

    Overall, I’ve cut some figure preorders I’ve made recently, but still have quite a few on the books. I could use the money for more practical things and some just as impractical (video games, more dakimakura) but it’s quite difficult for me to cancel a figure once I’ve preordered it. For instance, I’ll look at a figure and not be overly attached. I’ll be leaning towards canceling, as much as I may like the actual look of the figure, and then decide not to once I see that it’s 1/4 scale.

  20. Tier says:

    >> Ayra
    I’m guessing Tsukasa Jun’s artwork doesn’t have universal appeal … it seems like skinny big-eyed girls with pigtails are much more popular than women with muscles. That’s a shame, I think. I’ve been really looking forward to Heat Blade since the unpainted version was displayed at one of the hobby conventions last year. I really like the contrasts that the figure shows: the high-tech design with the anachronistic sword and shield, the armored extremities and the bare torso, the anime-styled face with the (relatively) realistic body build.

    In my admittedly limited experience with buying figures from US retailers (assuming you’re in the US), it seems like Yamato figures don’t sell out very quickly. Maybe that’s because Yamato has a US-based branch. On the other hand, figures sometimes sell out unpredictably. You might see if Yamato’s Compact Hog figure sells out upon US release; I think she’s due out sometime around September.

    Moeyo also has a review of a sample figure; she’s looking really nice.

    >> softz
    I will take them all! This is my thing. I’ll leave the nendoroids and cute figures for other people.

    >> Halbred
    Ah, that is good to know; it extinguishes any thought I might give to buying a friend’s old Wii console that he doesn’t want anymore. I guess I wouldn’t mind if it ever got a port to Xbox Live Arcade or something, though.

    >> Shashin
    Ah, yeah, you’re right, I was thinking of the Movic one, which made much more of an impression on me than any other Tomoe figure. The Alphamax one still looks pretty good though, although the lack of a decent ass shot in the promo photos is disappointing.

    I don’t really like canceling orders either. I’ve only canceled one (the Pangya golfer girl); I usually wait for a while to place my orders so I’ve given enough thought as to whether I really want a figure and whether finances permit. Fortunately for me, I haven’t bought too many things on sudden impulse; my savings would be blown away if I buy everything that I want.

  21. DaSaru says:

    That Mai is nice, but the Max Factory Mai still wins over the rest. Twice.
    Wish there was more SNK girls figures. They have nice designs.

    About K-ON..Mugi is rich. Love her eyebrow.
    Mio..well, I don’t know how she got that bass.
    I’ll leave that to your imagination.

    Have you seen the Xecty and Elwing art? Should explain why they are the same pose.
    http://tomopop.com/ul/11117-550x-XectyAnnouncementHeader.jpg
    But how you are suppose to pose them like that without lying them down or one floating in midair I don’t know.

  22. Tier says:

    Volks’s Mai figure is really nice, too. Too bad it’s only available as a garage kit. If I had any sort of talent at building models, I’d give some thought to looking for it.

    I’ve got a pretty wild imagination. She’s not staffing a lemonade stand in my imagination.

    Yeah, I’ve seen the picture; I can understand that they wanted to stay faithful to the source but as you say, it’d be pretty difficult to suspend one upside-down to replicate the scene. If Xecty were facing the other way, I’d almost certainly buy her, but as it is, I don’t think it’s very likely that I will.

  23. here-and-faraway says:

    Hi. I’ve been a long-time lurker. I really enjoy looking at your photographs AND your writing. I think I’m going to pre-order the Momohime. I have to admit I’m fascinated by the Hitagi Senjyougahara statue, even though I have never heard of her before. The idea of having something on my shelves with floating office supplies seems strangely exciting. (Hmmm…maybe exciting isn’t the right word for it.) Thank you for all the great posts!

  24. Tier says:

    Thanks for the compliments! Momohime looks fantastic and judging by the stats on Tsuki-board, is going to be enormously popular. So is Senjyougahara, though I’m guessing part of that is due to the source TV show (which seems to be well-regarded). Maybe I’ll get her to put on my desk; it seems like it’d be cool to have a girl with a bunch of staplers falling out of her skirt next to a real-life stapler.

  25. Halbred says:

    Stupid question, Tier: what are the chances that Mai will get a US distributor in the future? Did the previous gorgeous Alphamax Mai ever come to the states? Shipping to Alaska is bad enough from the Outside, but from Japan? I imagine that would be completely ridiculous.

  26. Ayra says:

    Thanks for the answer about Heat Blade! After looking at that review you linked, I ended up preordering her on Amiami: 20$ cheaper than most places sounds like a good deal… Especially when it’s 50$ cheaper than the US Yamato website. I’ll be looking foward to see your Compact Hog review to get an advanced idea of the final version though! 🙂 From what I could understand from Tsukasa’s website, he didn’t like some aspect of the face and gun of the latest prototype and asked it to be changed even though release is imminent… And that was at the end of May. Hopefully the final version will still be good!

    Momohime does look very nice I admit, but the problem is that I don’t have any 1/8 statues so she wouldn’t really fit… Well, plus, I think I have pretty much everything on order that I can reasonably afford anyway.

    I’m surprised you didn’t grab Amanda Werner: She looks as if she’d be right up your alley!

    Anyway, thank you for all your fantastic reviews!

  27. Tier says:

    >> Halbred
    Kid Nemo and NCSX are taking orders for the newer Mai Shiranui figure, it appears that NCSX also stocked the older one at one time. They are really pricey, though. I don’t see an entry for Alphamax on AAA Anime’s website, so I’m not certain if their products are available to brick and mortar retailers.

    >> Ayra
    I used to buy most of my stuff from US retailers, but then I decided that saving ten dollars or so per figure wasn’t really worth waiting two months or more (not to mention the uncertainty of whether your order will actually get filled).

    The pictures on Tsukasa’s blog look great, I’ve got high hopes for this figure. Plus I just really like saying “Compact Hog.” Compact hog compact hog …

    Ah, yeah, it’s annoying when the scales don’t really match. I’ve got a lot of figures now though so I can group similarly-sized ones together, but it was a problem back when I first started collecting.

    Funny that you should mention Amanda …

  28. Ayra says:

    We are getting Amanda for review next? 🙂 Looking foward to it!

    I have a completely unrelated question to this post and it’s quite okay if I don’t get an answer for it! You mentionned in a review that every collectioner have that “Holy Grail” they are looking for… I do have one but there’s some slight issues. Mine is a painted garage kit that dates from 2003 if I’m not mistaken. I have no experience painting a figurine so I need a pre-painted one, or someone who can paint figures well. And it also seems to have no official name, so yeah…

    http://www.hobbyfan.com/product_info.php?products_id=2664&name=&title=Prepainted+1%2F6+Tsukasa+Bullet+No.4+%2831.50+cm+tall%29+Colored

    That would be perfect beside the sold out since 2007 or so. E2046 has the unpainted garage kit set at “preorder” but I doubt it. There’s two unpainted kits for sale on EBay at a suspicious price, and one site that has a kit for sale and they offer painting services, but the comments iffy at best and they don’t display any example of their paint work (“You need to microwave the sword so it will fit” for example).

    Do you have any hints or tips to send me toward finding one of those painted?

  29. Tier says:

    Hmm … honestly, I’m not entirely certain how you’d go about getting such a figure. You could register an account at E2046 and add it to your Choice Station list; this is the wishlist that E2046 considers when deciding which figures to paint and assemble. Alternatively, you could buy the kit yourself and see if you can commission someone to paint and build it. You might try registering an account on the E2046 forum so that you can look around for people who do good work and see if any of them are open to commissions.

    I’m a bit leery of eBay, although I don’t have a lot of evidence to confirm that eBay sellers are not reputable. I do know of one person who bought a 1/4 scale Kenshin figure on eBay and the painter did not do a very good job with it.

  30. Sora says:

    you have some great preorders there ,here are mine
    Vivio : i orderd her aswell without knowing anything about her , she looks really great ( i will try to watch the anime )

    Ikaros : that was an instant order, i loved the anime and the character (preorderd the nendroid aswell)

    Hitagi : i have order her and the Kotobukiya ( will cancel the Kotobukiya ,one is enough)
    i watched ep 4 till now , will finish it when its finished

    i will have to think about this figures , they look good ,but there are better figures for me out there and i have no money tree:
    Saya,Momohime,Leina,Rider,Kurisu,Sasami,Clalaclan,
    Kureha

    i think Clalaclan is the best figure from Shining Wind and i would like to get this version :
    http://myfigurecollection.net/figure/831_clalaclan_philias

    Compact Hog: this is a interresting figure ,but the shoulder parts are a turn-off for me ( maybe later)

    Heat Blade: the same as Compact Hog , the only difference is that i don’t like the much to short hair and the head gear looks silly , everything else looks perfect

    my other preorders are :
    Al Azif : i watched the anime ,but she doesn’t look like in the anime, wich is really good http://myfigurecollection.net/figure/8033_al_azif

    Eve Neuschwanstein : this was an amazing anime and because of that a must have for me
    i hope that more figures come out of this show
    (i hope that more figures from different anime/games come out, so it probably won’t happen ,disappointing)
    and it would be my first anime where i would buy a male figure
    http://myfigurecollection.net/figure/14256_eve_neuschwanstein

    Selvaria Bles : very good anime and game , nothing else to say
    http://myfigurecollection.net/figure/13815_selvaria_bles

    Senhime : i like this figure and i will watch the anime ,when it is out
    http://myfigurecollection.net/figure/9425_senhime

    Siggy : my first Queen’s Blade figure , i am not shure if i cancel it
    i have yet to watch the anime
    http://myfigurecollection.net/figure/26576_siggy

    Morrigan Aensland : its not my favourite version of her , but i really like it and its available ,
    but now i am not shure if i keep the order
    http://myfigurecollection.net/figure/30924_morrigan_aensland
    my favorite Morrigan Aensland : http://myfigurecollection.net/figure/23393_morrigan_aensland

    Hydorana : i get it next week ,I am very tense how she will look ( quality)
    http://myfigurecollection.net/figure/32095_hydorana

    and the preorders wich i want to do :
    Kasumi : this is my favourite kasumi figure from my favourite Beat’em up ( DoA) from my favourite DoA character ( this explains everything )
    http://myfigurecollection.net/figure/35667_kasumi

    Klan Klang : pretty amazing figure , a must buy
    http://myfigurecollection.net/figure/26553_klan_klang

    Choun Shiryu : one of the best ikki Tousen figure ( i hope )
    http://myfigurecollection.net/figure/32927_choun_shiryu

    Black ★ Rock Shooter : dynamic pose + big weapon ,really amazing
    http://myfigurecollection.net/figure/25218_black_rock_shooter

    and many others on my wishlist
    hope it isn’t to long my post

    >> Ayra
    the cheapest way would be E2036 with the choice station as Tier mentioned , but it can be that it will never happen
    you can buy a kit ,but when you want to make it good you will need a airbrush , i have searched a little bit and they can be expensive :http://www.spraypal.com
    and to let it paint and assemble can vary from 30(poor quliaty)- 3000(exellent overpriced quality) USD what i have seen
    and you will have to trust this person
    the last way would be to ask through the inernet shops , people who search for you in japan or conventions
    i wishe you good luck , you will need it
    btw i gave it to my choice station (i have 10 there)

  31. Ayra says:

    Thanks for the info, and thanks for the choice station add! 🙂

    Anyone ever dealt with Homemedia4u? I can buy the figure from there painted and assembled for 230$ US including shipping. The e-mail answer I received though mention “from Thailand” and I’ve heard a few stories about thai figures…

    On the other hand, they have a lot of samples of stuff they built and painted (supposedly) and they don’t look half bad. Here: http://www.homemedia4u.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=100

    Any ideas if I’m likely to get a decent copy of the figure of my dreams or if more likely I’d be wasting 230$ and getting something horrible?

  32. Tier says:

    >> Sora
    I’m interested in seeing how that Al-Azif figure turns out, since it looks so unique. I wonder if Orchid Seed is looking at doing figures of any of the other Demonbane characters?

    I’m still very displeased by MegaHouse’s reluctance to make a figure of Irma -_- I don’t understand how she can’t get a figure while all these new Queen’s Blade girls get one just a few months after their books get published.

    That won’t stop me from preordering Klan Klang, though, she looks fantastic. It’s kinda funny how they list her as 1/72 scale.

    I thought about contacting a proxy service for that Kasumi figure, but I decided not to; her right leg seems a bit awkward. I wonder what the chances are of Lisa getting a figure? I’m guessing probably not too high … that’s two dark-skinned girls I want figures of that probably aren’t going to get them.

    >> Ayra
    I have not, and while I’m not too familiar with garage kits, I’ve been told that Thai recast kits are generally poor quality. That might not be a big deal if the builder has enough talent and patience to compensate for that inferiority.

    On the other hand, when you’ve got no other options, poor quality might be preferable to going without. I’ve got some MP3s ripped from audio cassettes that I wish I had higher quality versions of, but the albums are long out of print, so the lesser versions are all I’ve got.

    On the other other hand, caveat emptor is the rule of the game here. I’d find it concerning that they seem not to have any close-up photographs that show their figures’ faces or the details of their work.

  33. Halbred says:

    Wow, that Queen’s Gate Kasumi figure is awesome, and priced well, too. Shame about the availability, though. I still need to order the Venus on the Beach Kasumi. I have Kokoro already, and Kasumi is the only other girl from that line I like.

  34. Ayra says:

    I agree with Tier about that Kasumi’s left leg looking a bit weird, but I admit I like the pose overall.

    For Homemedia4u, half their figures had decent faces in my opinion, a quarter looked as if it was the kit’s fault, and the other quarter looked as if they messed up. I saw one Kanu that Hobbyfan also currently does, and while the Hobbyfan painting looked a bit better, it was close (The angle of their head is actually a bit different but both looked okay). So yeah, if there was an Hobbyfan or E2046 version I’d definitively pick that one instead, but it looks as if Homemedia usually does okay. And it’s not as if I have other options anyway: It’s the figure that got me into the whole figure business. I saw a picture of her and found her simply awesome and she got my interest into figures (Alongside with ninja Mizuki which I also don’t own: I love the Tsukasa Bullets), but it took me two years before I actually bought anything (My first being Emerald Lynx from Tandem Twin). I look at that samurai and still find her as awesome as I first did 3 years ago even though there’s obviously been improvements in figure making in the last 7 years.

    So I took the plunge and ordered it… Here’s to hoping they’ll do a good job and end up getting the figure I’ve been dreaming of since the last three years! It’s supposed to take between a month and a month and a half before it’s built and sent here, so I’ll give a quick update then on how good/bad the homemedia kit + assembling + painting job was compared to the Zabrina from E2046 I should be getting at around the same time.

  35. Tier says:

    >> Halbred
    Yeah, the exclusivity sorta sucks. I guess I’ve gotten used to going through proxies by now; I’ve started collecting doujinshi and I pretty much need to go through a middleman to get the ones I can’t get off of Mandarake or eBay. Still a hassle, though.

    I still want a Lisa, or maybe a Christie. Or a better Hitomi than what they’ve got. In the Mach. Mmmm …

    >> Ayra
    Yeah, when you’ve got no other options, you have to go with what you’ve got. Here’s hoping for the best!

    Was it this Mizuki? I remember seeing pictures of that back in the day, it was one of those models that made me really want to learn how to build garage kits (I recall there’s an English website around that had some pictures of Mizuki as well).

  36. Sora says:

    >> Ayra
    there is something for you :
    http://www.e2046.com/product.php?products_id=12509
    this was fast !

    i really want to know if Homemedia4u makes good work , because i have seen some nice figures too

    my Hydorana was a really big disapointment :
    bad assembling , poor paint quality , broken parts , 1 part was missing
    I was such silly 🙁

  37. Tier says:

    That was very, very quick. I wonder if a lot of people put her up on their Choice Station lists? Or I wonder if they read this site.

    Ouch, that sucks >.< That's really a shame too, because it looks like such a nice figure. I recall E2046 briefly had it up under their Gathering list but then they removed it. I thought that was a shame, since it looked like the sort of figure I'd be interested in.

  38. Sora says:

    You could do so much out of Hydorana ,there is so much space for details . ( This is propably a figure I have to paint myself )
    but I had to wast money for nothing

    this figures is also very interesting :
    http://www.e2046.com/product.php?products_id=12458

    and chances are high that this Fate T. will get painted 🙂
    http://www.e2046.com/product.php?products_id=9179

    the funny thing is that out of frustation (Hydorana)
    I bought this figure on YJA http://myfigurecollection.net/figure/8854_leanhaum
    but this time its the ORIGINAL from Volks

  39. Tier says:

    I have that Meiya Mitsurugi figure (the Volks version, not a recast version). Unfortunately, it’s not that great, so it’s been sitting on a shelf and I haven’t photographed it yet. It’s pretty small (more like 1/8 or even 1/9 scale rather than 1/6) and the paint job is terrible. I’m thinking E2046’s workshop will do a better job with the paint, because Volks’s version looks like she has jaundice or something.

    I really like that Fate figure, I was hoping that someone would turn it into a PVC figure. I especially like it since it gives Fate a thong, which is how she should dress.

    That looks like a pretty good figure, did Volks do a decent job with it? The funny thing is, the Meiya figure I bought is not too good, but I recently bought a Senhime figure and it looks awesome. They’re both by the same sculptor but one is good and one is not, and they’re both supposed to be 1/6 scale but one is and the other is not. Go figure.

  40. Ayra says:

    Sora: Yes, it was fast… But unfortunately a bit too slow as I had completed my payment a day before it popped up on E2046 🙁 In the end depending on the price I just might end up buying the E2046 one too anyway. Maybe, depending on what I can do with the one I received… Thanks for having added that figure to your choice station, and thank you for everyone else who did the same 🙂

    Tier: It’s the same character, but mine was the one from Megahouse. The Megahouse one doesn’t have her nipples popping out in plain view like that one, and personally for me that’s a plus.

    Well, I finally got my figurine from Homemedia4u! Super quick review:
    Painting job is WONDERFUL. It actually looks better than the shots from their site (color differences too), and also better than the shots from the E2046 preview, and it’s nearly as good as the Hobbyfan one (Prefered those colors), but there’s absolutely no painting defects I could see.
    Assembly however is completely whacked out… Three fingers broken (Pretty sure before being shipped), feet not straight, big blotch of glue under the base, the cape has been nailed to the shoulders so it’s not removable as it should, ect… If I can patch it up I’ll end up with the figure of my dreams. IF… I’m not certain I’ll be able to!

    ***SUPER LONG VERSION: COPY OF THE RELEVANT PART OF THE E-MAIL I JUST SENT AS FEEDBACK***

    Regarding the feedback itself, it’s unfortunately not all that positive.

    Positive: The paint job itself is extremely well done. There’s absolutely no glaring mistakes there, and it looks simply beautiful. Whoever painted the figure did an awesome job. It actually looks even better than the “preview” shots on your website in my opinion.

    Negative: Assembly is unfortunately quite a bit worse than the painting…
    1) Three fingers broken: At first I thought they might have been broken during shipping, but after I managed to find the fingers, it’s obvious that they were broken before being sent. There’s a large amount of yellowish work glue on those three fingers, so there’s been a bad attempt to fix them back before the figurine was shipped. It unfortunately didn’t work. I’ll try my best to clean the clue off and try patching them back, but I’m not entirely optimistic.
    2) The removable cape: The cape was made to be removable with little clips. However, there’s nails that have been put through the figurine’s shoulders to keep it there so it’s impossible to remove. The cape does look okay so having it removable is not a exactly a must, but it still makes it impossible to display without the cape which I unfortunately prefered. I can live with it, though.
    3) Base: The top of the base has multiple scratch marks. Not that noticeable, but they are obviously there. The bottom of the base has large amount of yellowish work glue on it at random spots, so much that the base can’t even lay completely flat. I’ll have to sand the bottom and repaint it black.
    4) Feet: One of the feet isn’t attached correctly so both feets can’t lay completely flat. If I’m not mistaken, this figure wasn’t supposed to have pins under the feet as it’s supposed to be able to stand on it’s on, but even with the pins, the figure is a bit wobbly on the base due to one foot not completely touching the base. Fortunately, I think that by inserting a slim object under the bad foot she should be able to stand solidly enough.
    5) Blotch of glue in helmet: Yet another big glue blotch inside the helmet. At least you don’t see it when the helmet is on.

    Overall, I don’t feel the result is as professional as it should have been. I have absolutely no problems with the painting: It’s very well done and I give it two thumbs up. The painting service is very professional and very much worth buying and I love it a lot. On the other hand the assembly part was quite bad. The pre-broken fingers that were sent certainly wasn’t professional, and I’m honestly not certain I’ll manage to fix them in acceptable manner. The nails added to hold the cape are pretty questionable. The base with a ton of glue blotches under it doesn’t even make sense (It’s a plain black wooden circle and the glue blotches are over the paint).

    If I can fix the fingers and the stability problems, then I admit I will end up with an absolutely beautiful figure as I had hoped, mainly due to the nice base figure design and the simply awesome paint job. But if I judge the whole package including all the assembly defects, I can’t in good conscience recommend someone else to buy a painted and assembled figure from you for 230$.

  41. Tier says:

    Ouch, those sound like some very serious errors. I’ve had some problems with some of the prepainted model kit figures I’ve purchased (the Meiya figure I got from Hobbyfan had its right arm positioned incorrectly, so I had to cut it off and reposition it) and a Rei Ayanami figure I bought from E2046 got decapitated in the mail. Neither of those problems was a big deal since I repaired both of them, and they sound minor compared to what you’ve got. I hope you can fix up your figure to your satisfaction.

    I recently purchased a duplicate figure of one I already have because I liked it so much. I bought an E2046 version of one of Volks’ Senhime figures a couple of years ago, but when I saw a prepainted Volks version up on Yahoo JP, I couldn’t resist it. It looks sort of strange having two nearly-identical figures here on my shelf, but this is one of my favorite figures so I don’t mind at all that I’ve got two versions of it.

  42. Ayra says:

    Strange update regarding my figure from Homemedia4u.

    Two days ago, my bank account got credited by the value of the figure I bought (Well, about 60 cents difference) and I hadn’t bought anything around that price from anywhere else since months. I never got an e-mail from them either, so I’m a bit puzzled. I’m greatful though 🙂

    Regarding repairs, I managed to do okay in the end. The fingers are glued back on and looks just fine if you don’t look at them too closely, and sanding and repainting the base worked. Nothing to be done regarding the cape of course, and for the stability problem the best I could do was place a small bit of black glass under one foot. It’s still visible, but not too bad and she’s acceptably stable. So I think I’ll accept her as she is and skip the E2046 model if it does come out 🙂

  43. Tier says:

    Ah, that’s good to hear XD That’s very generous of them to refund your money like that, if that’s what they did. It sounds like things worked out pretty well in the end.

  44. regarding Irma figure…
    and now , they (Megahouse) decided to release Tanyaan from Queen’s Blade Rebellion instead for their future release… after waiting so long for each one of the main characters to be released, I thought that now it’s time for Irma!! but nooooo… they release a “sidestory” character instead..
    and Hobby Japan isn’t helping either, they will release another Rebellion character-Lunaluna instead than helping Mega House completing the main character lineup…

    WOMG, what happening to the world nowadays huh?! T_T
    kinda remind me of the SIC riders lineup syndrome..

    • Tier says:

      Yeah, I don’t get it, she’s one of the oldest characters in the Queen’s Blade roster, so what’s the holdup? I wonder if there’s some odd licensing problem … I’d kinda think that there isn’t, since Irma appears in the anime and on trading cards. Maybe I ought to write an e-mail to MegaHouse asking them what the deal is … it’d be nice if we could get an answer to this (though maybe expecting them to reply to some guy who only writes in English is asking too much).

      • hey, how bout this bro, I would really love to help a little bit…
        how bout you make the mail in English, and I can help you to translate it into Japanese (using romaji only thought)

        seriously, you could mail to me, and I’ll help you a little bit with the translation and send back to you again

  45. okay sure, just mail me anytime and I will try to help a little bit ^^/
    btw, can I add your blog to my Blogroll bro?
    please let me know if you give your permission for that 😉

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