Fate T. Harlaown from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS (Shin Sonic Form Version)

Alter Fate T. Harlaown from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS Review

Now it’s time for a tale told by an idiot who proved his idiocy not just once but twice: first by passing over this figure, and then, having changed his mind months later, paying twice its list price for it. It ain’t no thang to me, though, as I’ve come to terms with my limited mental faculties and I’m not about to let something like common sense get in the way of me owning this figure. I’m a year late and quite a bit more than a dollar short, but all that matters now is that Fate is in my collection.

Alter Fate T. Harlaown from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS Review

This version of Fate T. Harlaown comes courtesy of Alter in 1/7 scale. Released back in November, she sold out very quickly and as I wasn’t entirely thrilled with her face, I didn’t have any regrets about skipping her. Fast forward to a couple weeks ago: I received Vivio and decided she needed a partner to run with. I have Volks’s Fate but the scale definitely wasn’t going to work. I needed to get one of Alter’s figures; fortunately for me, they have a lot to choose from. Nanoha was the obvious choice, but she’s a bit overdressed to fit in my collection.

Alter Fate T. Harlaown from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS Review

At any rate, I’d already accepted that I was going to have to pay an exorbitant amount of money for Vivio’s running mate and that made the selection pretty easy. Alter’s StrikerS figures all look pretty good, but I think Fate was the best out of all of them, aside from Vivio. A quick visit to eBay, a check on my bank balance, a very brief period of soul-searching, and she was mine.

Alter Fate T. Harlaown from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS Review

I usually list a figure’s height but with Fate, perhaps it’d be more appropriate to start with her length. With her enormous sword and twintails streaming out behind her, she measures an incredible 60 centimeters long, depending on how far out her sword is extended. Like Vivio, she’s also on the high end of 1/7 scale, measuring about 37 centimeters tall to the highest point of her hair, including her metal standoffs.

Alter Fate T. Harlaown from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS Review

My heart sank a bit when I unboxed her and saw all the plastic wrap Fate’s parts were packed in. I thought that it’d take all night to get her set up and as my collection grows, I find that I don’t have much desire to fuss around with assembling PVC figures. Fortunately, Fate wasn’t very difficult to put together; one of her twintails needs to be dropped into her head, her metal rods need to be inserted into her feet, and then all that’s left is her choice of weapons.

Alter Fate T. Harlaown from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS Review

Fate is one of the most impressive figures I’ve seen, and a major contributor to her presence is her majestic hair. It’s not hard to believe that no one but Alter could pull off something this crazy, and true to form they’ve done a marvelous job sculpting her tresses. Sinuous and slender, they almost look like prehensile tentacles, ready to swarm out and wrap up a victim in a coiled embrace of love, sliding deeply into …

Ahem. Her hair does have the drawback of badly restricting her display options; basically, the only way she’s going to fit on a typical shelf is sideways, and she’s still going to demand a huge amount of room. But nobody who owns a Ferrari is going to complain about having to buy premium gas, and nobody who owns Fate is going to complain about having to give her additional space.

Alter Fate T. Harlaown from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS Review

I initially passed her over due to reservations regarding her facial sculpt. I thought her nose looked overly long, and I thought that her O-shaped mouth looked odd. Looking at her in person, her nose looks fine when viewed from below, but looks long when viewed from above. I’m not sure why that is. I haven’t changed my mind on her mouth, though. Look at a figure like Good Smile Company’s upcoming Saber; her mouth is fixed in a ferocious snarl, letting you know that she really does want to kill whoever she’s about to crash that sword onto. I’m not so sure what emotion Fate is evincing here; the circular shape looks a bit like she’s getting ready to fellate someone.

You know, I’m starting to change my mind, and all of a sudden, her face is looking a lot more attractive to me for some reason. Imagine that.

Alter Fate T. Harlaown from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS Review

She comes with two weapons, Bardiche in either Zanber form or the dual-blade Riot Zanber form. In Zanber form, her sword is enormous, easily one of the largest weapons of any figure I own, including 1/4 scale figures. The figure comes with a supplemental plastic stand to support it; it’d have been nice if they had added a bit more mass to its base because I found it to easily slip out under Bardiche’s weight. Her Riot Zanber blades come with an optional energy string which looks a bit cheesy, as all plastic renditions of sparkly, flashy special effects do. Both sets of weapons have metal handles which should negate the risk of paint transfer when sliding her swords into her grasp.

Alter Fate T. Harlaown from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS Review

Suspended in an aerial fighting stance, her pose is truly amazing. The way the front flap of her dress and belts lift upwards strongly adds to the impression that she’s hovering, and also provides a very welcome element of fanservice. Fate’s arms are angled downwards with one cocked back, reminiscent of the badass gun kata poses in the film Equilibrium and unambiguously delivering the message that you do not want none of her.

Alter Fate T. Harlaown from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS Review

Speaking of fanservice, as far as I know, Fate is the only character in the Nanoha series to take great pride in showing off her backside. While it’s not as exposed here as it was in her youth, it still looks mighty fine. Ten out of ten on this aspect of the sculpt.

Alter Fate T. Harlaown from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS Review

Compounding the idiocy that I mentioned earlier is Fate’s impending re-release early next year, which I learned of the day I got her in the mail. That’s the way love and life go, I guess, and I might’ve bought her anyway even if I knew that Alter was planning a second production run. I still have some quibbles with her face, but the sculpt’s overall quality and energy shine so brightly that they overpower my reservations. Alter’s figures are the most ambitious in the business, and Fate is a sterling example of their craftsmanship.

Alter Fate T. Harlaown from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS Review

This review is obviously very late to the game, and there are about a billion other reviews of Fate out there. Check out WAWAWA wasuremono, Exelica Meteor, The Inferno Project, and foo-bar-baz for more reviews and pictures.

Alter Fate T. Harlaown from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS Review

If anyone wants a wallpaper of Fate, the next picture is in 1920×1200 resolution.

Alter Fate T. Harlaown from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS Review

Alter Fate T. Harlaown from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS Review

Alter Fate T. Harlaown from Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS Review

Alter Fate T. Harlaown from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS Review

Alter Fate T. Harlaown from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS Review

Alter Fate T. Harlaown from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS Review

Alter Fate T. Harlaown from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS Review

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32 Responses to Fate T. Harlaown from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS (Shin Sonic Form Version)

  1. Chag says:

    Fate’s hair is like the sizes of Evangelion units and erections — its size varies depending dramatic effect. Those twin tails woudld totally be dragging on the ground the moment she lands, yet such is the beauty of artistic inconsistency~

    By the way, thank you for using the word “tress”. It’s a word that my lexicon badly needed, since I’ve run into too many instances when I struggled to describe hair properly. Once again, figure blogging has proven to be an educational pastime.

  2. Marcucho says:

    Really nice photos!!!! well… the figure dont facinated me but is really good!!, good adquisition tier!

    Saludos!

  3. Sweet, I was waiting for this review from you. LOL
    I got Fate too from eBay awhile back, man is she ever costly. =\ But I think she’s worth it, although I’m not sure how or where I can display her. I love the action poses on these Alter Nanoha figures – I collected a bunch of them and was planning on doing a week of Nanoha figure reviews. lol

    I really like what you did with the lighting on these pictures. You need a tentacle monster in the shots though, it would definitely suite this figure. =P

    I don’t know why, but I pre-ordered Alter’s new Fate too, even though there’s not that much difference. Maybe I can try a Fate vs. Fate shoot, kind of like a mirror universe thing.

    Vivio and Fate side by side works so well, you captured them together very nicely!

  4. Tier says:

    >> Chag
    A very apt way to put it. Maybe she can control her hair length like she can control the size of her sword. I’m not too familiar with all of her powers (in fact, as most of my familiarity with Fate comes from her appearances in various doujinshi, one might say that I’m more familiar with her lack of powers).

    I am happy to be helpful XD I’ll fully admit that when I write up a post, I’ve always got thesaurus.com up in a tab.

    >> Marcucho
    Thanks! I do got a figure in the review queue that I think you will like.

    >> Visual Fanfare
    Yeah, she cost quite a few pretty pennies, but I’m really happy with her, especially since she looks great with Vivio. You definitely ought to do a Nanoha week; I’ve done a Kanu week and that was fun.

    You know, I didn’t even think about using the tentacles here. Something must be wrong with me. I’ve got to sculpt some new ones, too, with better detail and distinctiveness.

    That’d be pretty cool, show young Fate squaring off against older Fate. I’m probably skipping the upcoming figure (though I kinda like Cospa’s Nanoha and Fate pair) but there’s still a lot of time for me to change my mind. If I do, I hope I do so before preorders close so I don’t have to get reamed on eBay again.

  5. motaku96 says:

    I saw the picture on myfigurecollection and didn’t realize it was yours. I just made an account there myself. :3

    Here, a gift:
    http://danbooru.donmai.us/post/show/18908#image

  6. Aka says:

    This series needs to die so that other series can have figures made.

  7. Tier says:

    >> motaku96
    I love it! Thank you for the link; God what a great picture, they should make some OVAs based on this theme.

    >> Aka
    Haha, the hate! Some people say that there’s too much hate in the world but not me; I’m always down for some good hatin’. Anyways, I wouldn’t disagree with that, particularly if it means that I can finally get Itsuki Kannagi and Irma figures (though doubtless there are many, many people who wish that Queen’s Blade would die off, too). Admittedly, I’ve only watched a few episodes across all three series of the show so who knows, it could still become one of my favorites.

  8. super rats says:

    I totally passed because I didn’t care for the face, but the massively crazy hair is so appealing, and the nice butt. These pics almost make up for the mental scarring from your jpeg switcheroo on that dude who jacked your site.

    Even though I’ve passed on most of them, I think the Nanoha figures are great. They’re so over the top I enjoy them even though I’ve only bought a few of them.

  9. Ashram says:

    Great pictures, the lighting effects turned very nice! And I don’t know if I should be thanking you or cursing you, as now I think I might have to order one of the second run copies of this Fate. Passed the first time, but this looks too good to skip.

    Still waiting for Vivio to arrive, heh.

    For some reason Fate has turned into the character I have the most figures of, even more than KOS-MOS! Must be because I’m weak to her Zanber form.

  10. hmm… Nope, I still don’t like it!!

    Love alter, Love the details and love that they got the body and face right.

    I just absolutely loathe the pose!! It’s just so wrong and unnatural! Unless you pose with the large zanber, there’s no way anyone would strike a pose like that. It’s just awkward!! That’s why I prefer the volks one, even with the lower quality workmanship.

  11. phossil says:

    I love how shiny this figure is, and her hair. 😉

  12. Tier says:

    >> super rats
    Haha, what a great opportunity for fun that was. The funny thing was, I was looking for some nasty pics and when I saw the one I used, I wasn’t really sure if it was nasty enough.

    It seems like a lot of people saw her face as a question mark. I like to look at Hobby Search’s user ratings as sort of a quick way to check out the figure zeitgeist, and Fate’s face scores the lowest marks out of the five categories. I think I’ve read some people raising the same issue with the upcoming loli Fate, too.

    >> Ashram
    Thanks! You should definitely go for it, since you seldom get a second (or third) chance in this hobby if you skip out initially. I’ve somehow got four Fate figures, despite not really intending to buy that many; I think that ties her with Saber and Rei for second place in my collection.

    >> gundamjehutykai
    The pose is awesome! It’s like, right out of Equilibrium:

    From which BlazBlue also derived some inspiration:

    They’re wielding gats and they’re not flying, but that’s what the pose reminds me of, the most badass grammaton cleric and the cutest pistol-packing junior officer in all of video games.

    >> phossil
    I love the shiny effect on her clothes too, it adds another element of fanservice to Fate. I put some extra lights on her hair … a figure like this, you’ve got to be sure to light up her hair to make it stand out.

  13. Fabienne says:

    muhaha srsly 60cm long =D

    her akimbo style pose looks really good
    maybe I overread it, but does she come with three swords?
    the red belts at her arms and the waiste are a nice detail but somehow I miss her black cape.

  14. Phil says:

    Nice review. Ive seen this one around, but I as well missed the party. So I ordered this one, which is similar on size http://myfigurecollection.net/figure/26961_fate_testarossa

  15. @fabienne: Yep, She comes with a set of 2 shorter swords and one massive zanber for a total of 3 swords.

    @Tier: I’ll give you that the akinbo pose is pretty cool, but a sword is not a gun. For me, the pose simply doesn’t work with the swords because it makes the wrists look really awkward. Something which guns don’t have to worry about because of the curved handle. Maybe the pose is better suited to Tianna?
    If the pose made it looks like her weight was shifting forwards for a lunge, that may have helped too, esp for the large zanber.

  16. here-and-faraway says:

    As always, I love your pictures and writing. My top three favorite quotes are…

    1. Nanoha was the obvious choice, but she’s a bit overdressed to fit in my collection.

    2. Sinuous and slender, they almost look like prehensile tentacles, ready to swarm out and wrap up a victim in a coiled embrace of love, sliding deeply into … Ahem

    3. But nobody who owns a Ferrari is going to complain about having to buy premium gas, and nobody who owns Fate is going to complain about having to give her additional space.

  17. Tier says:

    >> Fabienne
    Yep, three swords as gundamjehutykai says. I’m not really a big fan of capes myself, so I don’t mind that it’s missing here. It does give her upcoming figure sort of a cool loli-Batman look, though.

    >> Phil
    I decided not to preorder that figure, which I kinda regret now, because I could’ve put in the order while Hobby Search was running their shipping discount and then cancelled it later on if I decided I didn’t really want her. I think I’m satisfied with the 19 year-old version, though.

    >> gundamjehutykai
    It might work better for Teana, but I think it looks great here; I don’t really look at it as a fighting pose than as a “don’t fuck with me” pose. The wrists look fine to me since the right-hand sword can’t be tilted downwards without turning the wrist like that, and I have the sense that the sculptor was specifically trying for the effect where the Riot Zanber blades are parallel and offset and where she looks like she’s staring right down the edge of the big-ass Zanber sword.

    >> here-and-faraway
    Thanks XD I sorta expect that most people who hit up this site are mainly looking at the pictures, since I often do that myself on other sites. I put a lot of effort into my writing, though, so I’m glad you find it entertaining.

  18. softz says:

    Hmm.. very nice figure. This seems to be last year’s figure huh.

    I wasn’t really very much into figurines yet and know nuts about Nanoha stuff. I pre-ordered the 1st-movie version of Fate after owning Nanoha Takamachi (1st movie version of Alter). I hope it will turn out nice.

    The hair really FLOWS, beautiful! I guess with the IKEA-detoff-shelf, she can take the a level all by herself. For me, maybe I can squeeze a few of your hateful nendoroids between the spaces. LOL. But, who would complain about the premium gas when he has a Ferrari 🙂

    Not to mention, she has big sword too!

  19. Tier says:

    Yeah, it’s from last November, if I remember right. I don’t doubt that the movie version will look nice; in fact, I don’t doubt that I’m going to talk myself into preordering it in the next few months, just like I’m sure I’ll wind up preordering GSC’s next Black Rock Shooter figure.

    Unfortunately she cannot; she won’t fit! She’s that big. I’ve got her up on a shelf with her Riot Zanber blades, since that huge sword takes up way too much space. I think the big sword is the best way to display her, though, so maybe I’ll box up some of my older figures to clear out some more room.

  20. The Endless General says:

    I’ve considered pre-ordering her december re-release, since I have Vivio (yet another of the suggestions I’ve gotten from you), but im not sure yet. Any advice?

  21. The Endless General says:

    Her January re-release I mean.

    • Tier says:

      Assuming you like the figure, I’d totally do it. Heck, I paid $260 to get this Fate off of eBay, so spending $125ish for her re-release would be no question to me. She’s a great figure; if I had gotten her during her original release, I think I’d have put her down as my fourth or fifth favorite figure of last year.

  22. The Endless General says:

    I probably will, considering I’m not that bright when it comes to funds. Alter’s fate is cool, and she would go well with Vivio, who’s currently sitting all by her lonesome without a pal.I’m going to pay almost $400 for E2046’s Kos-Mos…….I think that’s the most I’ll pay for a figure. Although they’ve recently restocked Kenshin for far cheaper than the $700+ you paid lol.

    • Tier says:

      Yeah, I like Vivio and Fate together, though I’ve put them on separate shelves for now. I really need to do a shelf reshuffling, I’ve got them organized by date of acquisition but I ought to display them in order of how much I like them.

      I saw that they opened up preorders for Kenshin. I would’ve gotten it from them had they had it before I bought the Volks version but to be honest, I’m very glad that I got the authentic figure rather than a recast. Kenshin is my favorite in my collection and I think that my favorite figure should be legitimate.

      • The Endless General says:

        Yeah I agree, your favorite one should be legit if you can acquire it. I’m actually running low on display real estate myself, I’m not entirely sure where I’m going to put that giant Kos-Mos……….I don’t have any other 1/4 scale figures to judge how much space they take up. I’ll probably wind up booting Alter’s Kos-Mos out of her perch of glory. Speaking of eBay prices, I actually got her from there for under $200……….a fact I found awesome because almost every other one was selling for over $300.

        • Tier says:

          I’m running into the same problem … well, okay, I’ve been dealing with this problem for months. I haven’t had to re-box figures but I think I’m going to, creative organizing can only be stretched so far.

          1/4 scale KOS-MOS fortunately has a relatively small footprint since her base is pretty small, but her gatling gun does take up a lot of room. You can fit a 1/8 scale figure under it, though (maybe even two).

          Was that the figure from Xenosaga III? I remember I could’ve gotten it for $65 a couple years ago from a US retailer. The rate of return on some of these things is crazy.

          • The Endless General says:

            Yeah, it’s the version 4 one from Xenosaga lll. I got her for $170, which was a lot cheaper than the $280-$300 ones that everyone else was selling. I had some slight reservations about buying her because she was so much cheaper, but it turned out fine. I remember seeing her for about a year ago for slightly less than what I paid, but back then I had more sense and spent money on more practical (though admittedly more boring) things. Not so now. I’m happy I got her, I had almost given up hope of paying a reasonable (sorta) price. It was around that time that I acquired Daiki’s 1/6 scale Kanu for about $180 on Amazon (that kinda suprised me) so I guess I didn’t have THAT much sense lol.

  23. Tier says:

    >> The Endless General
    Hehe, yeah, it’s pretty funny how warped a figure collector’s definition of “reasonable” is compared to someone who isn’t into this hobby. A couple years ago, I would’ve never paid more than a couple hundred bucks for a figure; nowadays, it’s not all that unusual for me to do it more than once a month.

    • The Endless General says:

      Yeah, I was a little stunned at first at the amount of money I found myself spending, but I have since reconciled with that fact. The way I look at it anything less than $100 is a steal, from there to about $250 is reasonable, from that to $450 is feasible, and anything beyond that is kinda absurd, but certainly not outside the realm of possibility if I want it enough. What I find somewhat alarming is the fact that I have no set upper limit. Oh well, I’ll deal with that should I ever find myself in that situation.

      • Tier says:

        Yeah, I generally have to think twice about anything that runs over 12000 yen. Fortunately for my bank account, I don’t spend a lot of money on other things; I don’t think I’ve bought a video game since April, I seldom eat out, and I have no expensive vices like smoking, drinking, or gambling. I am, however, contemplating getting some new camera gear and that’s an expensive hobby in itself.

  24. Jegan2020 says:

    Did you know that Alter is going to release a LOLI VIVIO?

    • Tier says:

      Yeah, I saw pictures of her in some of the coverage of Wonder Festival, I think. She looks pretty cute, though I think I like her adult form best. I’m kinda wondering if Alter or anyone will do figures if the characters in their Magical Girl Chronicle Nanoha Force incarnations, Nanoha looks pretty good as an adult packing a huge rifle-staff.

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