Preorder Outlook X

I’ve mentioned elsewhere how it seems a lot of figure review sites are drying up. You wouldn’t guess that seeing how many figures are getting trucked out these days, though. It’s barely been a month since I wrote my last preorder post and there’s already around a dozen new figures that have caught my eye. And since I need a filler post – because I’ve got a nice streak of seven posts per month going on and my obsessive-compulsive disorder tells me that I need to maintain that streak – now’s a good time to take a look at them.

June

Saber from Fate/stay night
Saber is a staple of the figure collecting hobby and Alter gives us her latest incarnation. There’s a couple notable things about this one: she’s wearing a tank top and shorts and she’s cheap as hell. She has a pleasant summer look that I’m sure will be inappropriate when she gets her inevitable delay into autumn. Or winter. It’s hard to turn down a nice-looking figure like this so I’ve got her preordered. I’m still wondering whether this is Saber or Saber Lily, and I’m wondering if those two characters are actually separate people or entities or whatever.

Curiously, it seems Alter hasn’t ever made a figure of Saber in her iconic blue dress and armor. Odd.

Rin Tohsaka from Fate/stay night
Alter is also doing this Rin Tohsaka figure, which is clearly meant to complement Saber. Presumably they’ll be released at the same time, too. I’m waffling on Rin since I don’t really like 1/8 scale figures that are sitting down. All of the ones I have are really small and I don’t like small figures. Rin looks pretty good but she’s not the most exciting figure I’ve seen, so I’m leaning towards passing on her. She’s inexpensive enough that I might change my mind, though.

Kenshin Himura from Rurouni Kenshin
Anybody who takes one glance at this site can guess that I’m far more fond of female figures than male figures but of all the male characters in anime, Kenshin definitely deserves a figure. And even though he’d hardly fit in my collection, I find it hard to turn down the Hitokiri Battousai. I haven’t watched a ton of the television series but I enjoyed the Samurai X OVAs, despite the regrettable renaming. I’m pretty sure Kenshin is going to be the first male PVC figure on my shelf.

Raquel Gothic
This doesn’t look like the sort of figure I would normally buy but there are several things that catch my attention. One, it’s sculpted by Vispo and I have a few of his figures, including a couple Keumaya ones and Shiratori Amane. Two, she’s got a big axe. And three, she’s wearing a thong under her skirt, and her skirt is removable. I think that’s reason enough for me to buy this figure. Oh, her wings are nice too.

Raquel Lolita
And here is Miss Gothic’s counterpart. When two figures are clearly meant to be displayed together, I don’t always feel the need to buy both of them, but in this case I do. She’s 1/6 scale and she also has pretty underwear, though she’s lamentably not wearing a thong. Oh, and she has nice wings, too. I’m leaning towards buying both Raquels but if I only get one, it’ll be Gothic.

July

Blanc Neige from Shining Wind
Yet another girl from Sega’s Shining games, and one that’s been the subject of several figures already. Max Factory has made a few figures of the Shining girls in swimwear, as has Kotobukiya, but this one is 1/7 scale. That’s kind of an odd size since their upcoming Maxima and Kaguya figures are 1/8 scale and their previous Elwing and Xecty figures are 1/6, but hopefully Blanc will be sized similarly to Max Factory’s products. Anyway, this figure is pretty nice – a winning smile and a thong bikini provide a solid foundation for any figure. I think I’m going to get this one, as she’s not that expensive and should fit in well with my other figures.

Yukihime from Satanikus Enma Cerberus
This figure was unveiled in garage kit format last year and now Yamato is doing a PVC version, which looks fantastic. I really like her colorful clothing and laid-back pose, and it’s also interesting how her obi sash and dress have seam lines down the side, suggesting they might be removable. I’m really looking forward to this figure; she looks great, she seems to be big, and she’s got anal beads dangling from her collar. How thoughtful. Moeyo’s got a preview up with more pictures of her, including the requisite pantyshots that they love to take.

KOS-MOS from Xenosaga III
Well, well, well. I didn’t think Alter’s initial Almecha action figure would ever get a release but here it is. I had planned on ordering this one instead of Max Factory’s Figma version but now that I can see both, I don’t know if that’s a wise move. For one, Alter’s toy isn’t as large as I hoped; I guess she’s 1/10 scale, so she’s a bit bigger than a Figma, but while Figmas are all in scale with each other, Alter’s KOS-MOS is out of scale with virtually everything besides Wave’s figures. Also, I don’t see any extra faces, and the manufacturer has gone with a very neutral facial expression for KOS-MOS. I suppose that might make sense since she’s an android and all but it doesn’t make for a very interesting toy. On top of all that, she costs twice as much as the Figma. So I dunno, I’ll probably take another look at the Figma and likely pass on this one.

August

Senhime from Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls
When it comes to figures, Yagyu Jubei and Senhime are unquestionably the most popular characters from Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls. That’s sort of unfortunate since I didn’t like either of them all that much but at least this rendition of Senhime looks pretty good. The item description says she’s wearing a swimsuit and I guess that’s what it is but me, I agree with Chag in that she’d look more at home stroking and licking a stripper pole than building a sand castle. She looks nice and doesn’t cost too much so I’ll probably pick this one up, and I already know how I want to photograph her.

Yuuka Yoshii from Tsundero
Here’s another swimsuit figure, though being from Orchid Seed, it is considerably more risque than Kotobukiya’s. I’m not actually certain if I want this figure; her breasts are a bit over-large for what I usually like and I don’t like how the item description keeps making references to the word “tsundere.” I’m going to think about it some more.

You know, I passed on Orchid Seed’s Kyoko Kaneda hoping that they might do a recolor, and now that figure is out of stock everywhere. I might’ve made a mistake by skipping her.

Sasara Kusugawa from Manaka de Ikuno!
The Final Dragon Chronicle part of Manaka de Ikuno! seems to be a very popular source for figure makers this year. Volks is doing this version of Sasara decked out as a paladin, with the requisite body armor and sword and board style. And something that looks like rabbit ears. It’s anime, I guess. Volks’s PVC stuff is hit or miss in my experience and tends to be closer to miss, but I think I’m still going to try to get this figure. I always play paladins in role-playing games so it’s hard for me to turn down Sasara when she’s a member of my favorite class. And besides that, I think she looks great, with her cocked head and wide stance showing off the curves of her body to her best advantage.

September

Senhime from Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls
Another Senhime, this one being derived from her Queen’s Gate appearance. I’m not sure who the artist is on her book but the style looks like Yoshikazu Miwa of Synthetic Garden. I really like his artwork and I own a number of his doujinshi, so I’m naturally interested in this version of Senhime, if he is in fact the artist. Unfortunately, Moeyo showed off some prototype shots and the quality is equivocal. Rather, it’s downright terrible. I’ve never seen a figure come out so flawed. It’s so bad that I can’t possibly imagine the final production figure looking like this, but I wonder if that’s merely wishful thinking on my part. I mean, seriously, look at this. Look at that hair. Look at the inside of her right elbow; what’s that supposed to be, a second-degree burn? Why is her face melting off? Is leprosy fashionable in Japan these days? Will the actual figure look like this? I dunno. I’m probably going to be dumb enough to order this figure, which presents a problem since it’s a Hobby Japan exclusive and not only would I have to pay up front, I’d have to pay a proxy fee as well.

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50 Responses to Preorder Outlook X

  1. Chag says:

    I was also pretty surprised to see Alter’s KOS-MOS finally announced, but I was also taken back by the price. Sure she comes with a load of toys, but 9800 is a lot to ask for a ~1/10 scale figure with not optional faces. Also, none of the promo shots featured any exciting action poses, which leads me to assume it’s not all that articulate either. She might be bigger and better-produced than the Figma, but when she’s not even all that articulate, she seems inadequate when compared to the scale figures that you already have. Unless of course you’re going for a catch’em all approach, in which case the comparison would not matter.

    Also, have you played Xenosaga III? What is up with that boob optional part? some sort of breast-beam?

    • Tier says:

      Yeah, it’s looking kinda like an oversized Kotobukiya Play Arts figure or something. I’ve got a few of their Final Fantasy figures and they suck as toys. It’s somewhat difficult to believe that Alter might make an inferior product so I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, but that’s not backed up by any actual evidence. On the other hand, I’m pretty sure the Figma will be just as good as the other Figma toys. If only I could stop losing their parts.

      Nah, I don’t own Xenosaga III so I definitely haven’t played it. I haven’t played Xenosaga II either, though I do have it. I couldn’t make it through the first Xenosaga since it was so damn bad and I could not take listening to chaos’s voice. I still entertain thoughts of giving it another try someday but then I remember that that was the game that caused me to forsake Japanese RPGs for years, until Persona 3 came out.

    • Ashlotte says:

      Oh comeon Chags I haven’t played any Xenosaga game much and I know thats her chest blaster. :p

      Ah anyway its Almecha so absurd price is pretty much par for the course…Hopefully Alter doesn’t get too much into the action figure market… T_T

  2. Razor Ramon AKA Hard Gay says:

    Damn. All these tempting figures especially Yukihime from Satanikus Enma Cerberus. The additional pictures that you provided are awesome and marked my decision to buy two of them for sure. Crazy? Yes? Worth it? Yes Sir. The design is way worth it. I just pray that they don’t manage to fuck up that figure when it is released. Is that even possible? To mess up the final figure despite the prototype being really nice? Hey Tier, have you ever bought two of the same figures and why?

    Another thing, is Kenshin Himura really going to be your 1st male figure? You’re not interested in the One Piece PVCs?

    • Tier says:

      Yeah, it’s definitely happened; I’ve seen way too many figures come out looking all weird even though the prototype looked fine. Like that Vocaloid Lily figure, where some huge seams appeared in the production figure’s hair despite not being evident in the sample photos. The gangsta lean Saber I mentioned in an earlier post also suffered a change; Daiki lengthened her neck and I don’t know why, but I wish they didn’t. GSC’s BRS animation version managed to lose a star decal.

      Yeah, I’ve got a few duplicates. I’ve got two Kotone Ousakas, two Collets, and two Meiya Mitsurugis. I actually have one figure that I have three copies of; I’ve really been meaning to photograph that one.

      Yeah, I don’t have any male PVC figures so Kenshin would be the first. The only ones I ever thought of getting were Kotobukiya’s old Ryu Hayabusa figure and Max Factory’s Bridget, which maybe I should’ve bought just because it’s so much more valuable now. Yeah, I’m not really into One Piece … I see that it has a lot of merchandise but I don’t actually know a single thing about the series.

  3. Razor Ramon AKA Hard Gay says:

    Oh by the way, where do you recommend on preordering Yukihime from Satanikus Enma Cerberus?

  4. Ashlotte says:

    Insomnia strikes! Super long post incoming!

    Yea I never got the difference between Lily and Regular…I at least know the Extra version is a completely different person thus why I like her. Well ok that and the fact that she has a transparent skirt and an incredible low cut in the back dress! :p

    I love Rin (Which is funny considering i don’t own any figure of her…) but this one just doesn’t do anything for me…The pose is boring and the face just doesn’t look as pretty as Rin’s original sprite art sadly. Guess its back to pining for a version of her in school uniform and long coat…

    I know the feeling Tier! I actually bought a Nendo of all things because I really liked the male character and knew he’d never get a scaled figure…It’s kinda sad really the lack of male figures.

    Those wings are quite epic indeed! The problem is these sculpts have existed for so damn long and having already seen others reviews of those GK just makes this feel like a reissue…It would be nice if someone commissioned Vispo to make an original sculpt for a PVC release!

    Haha as soon as I saw this figure had a thong I thought “Oh yea I know Tier is gonna order this”! Me myself I’m just continually grateful for my ignorance of the shining series otherwise I’d be considerably poorer and lacking space I’m sure. :p

    Ok her face and skintone looked like crap in the official shots, but not so bad in that preview although I’m still not crazy about the paint job on her hair…

    Good to see KOS-MOS living up to the unbelievably overpriced nature of the Almecha series!

    It’s been awhile since I saw a figure that screamed “Fuck Me!” so blatantly like this one! Gotta love those stripper heels.

    Why are figures still being made of this character…The earlier one where she looked like she was strangling herself creeped me out and this isn’t that much more appealing…Scarf and bini with a swimsuit and heels? What?

    Damnit why’d it have to be Volks to grab this design! Koto is busy dicking around with stupid bunny girls and let someone as subpar as Volks grab the great designs from the game? Great…I’ll cross my fingers for you that this won’t actually suck like everything else they make at least. >_>

    Gag boobs…Really really terrible beach ball gag boobs…yeesh. I actually lover her costume if her poportions weren’t so horrible…

    • Tier says:

      I like Saber Extra as well, except for the red dress. I dunno, red just doesn’t seem to look right on her when I see her. I definitely dig the transparent front panel, though.

      The Rin I want is this one where she is chained up and bent under the weight of some gigantic spiked shackles. Unfortunately it’s a garage kit so my chances of ever seeing it are pretty much nil. It’s still my favorite Rin out there, though.

      WTF buying a nendoroid. You are dead to me.

      Yeah, I was surprised to see Questioners schedule those figures, since they’ve been around for a while. Not to mention that Questioners isn’t the most prolific of manufacturers out there. I’d love to see an original sculpt from them, whether it’s as risque as the Keumaya figures they’ve done or not. I wouldn’t also mind seeing the Evangelion motorbike girls he’s sculpted get a PVC release, though there’s probably about a zero percent chance of that ever occurring.

      It’s gonna be weird not seeing Almecha KOS-MOS in Wonder Festival coverage anymore. I wonder what they’ll tap for their next one?

      Speaking of figures screaming “Fuck me!”, I’ve got to figure out how to get Kaori Saeki’s clothes back on her so I can properly photograph her.

      Ah, that’s right, I knew I’d seen this character before! I’d forgotten about that figure. That figure wasn’t one of my favorites and now that I remember it, that gives me more reason to pass on her.

      Haha, if you don’t like her breasts, I suppose I should count that as additional reason for me to buy it XD Now if only I had a better idea of what her production version is gonna look like … hey, is that an ellipsis?

  5. Tian says:

    Out of these I’m getting Rin, and I’m very much thinking about the Raquels and Yukihime. I passed on Saber because I’m convinced that Gift’s Saber Lily is the only Saber I’ll ever need.

    And that Queen’s Gate Senhime… good god. Did they forget to grind down the pieces after they came out of the mould? Was it QC’d by a blind person? It must take a pretty shady Chinese company to manufacture these…

    • Tier says:

      Yeah, I’m really wondering about that. It looks like they sculpted her out of plaster or something. On the plus side, they’ve got six months to get her looking right and MegaHouse has a pretty decent track record … but man, it’s hard to keep up that confidence when you look at those sample photos again.

  6. Cantan says:

    Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh shit.

    I’ve already preordered Senhime… she looked really cute in Tokyo Hunter’s preview and I was suffering from over-order-itis [/pleasebegood /pleasebegood /pleasebegood].

    Only other figure on your list that I’m seriously considering is Yukihime… she looks very bright and cute at the same time…

    I am trying to cut down on my preorders… that said I think I’m on 7 at the moment… 4 prepaid…

    However, everything is right the world again… Alleyne arrived and she is far cuter than I expected (and pretty well done too though her cast-off is not that great, looks a lot better with her top on.

    The back of her top appears to have snapped off when I was removing the plastic and she has a green smudge that needs removing from where I was putting her belt back on (what’s that funny rubbing alcohol stuff you use to clean PVC figures up – don’t think I should use the industrial strength paint strippers and white spirit I’ve been using on my skirting boards!), but I don’t really care – i bought a decent figure for the first time in about 3 months! Didn’t know what to expect so I am very pleasantly surprised.

    One worthy mention I think that is missing from your list is AlphaMax’sMotoko Kusanagi. Sure, she’s not about to set the world on fire, but there have been a whole lot of butt ugly versions of her, this one actually looks pretty good.

    • Tier says:

      I might be joining you in ordering her and then praying that she makes it out alright. MegaHouse hasn’t screwed up too much from what I’ve seen, though I don’t have many figures from them.

      That’s good to hear about Alleyne, and that reminds me to take another look around for the MegaHouse figure, just in case I decide I want it. Yeah, I just use rubbing alcohol on a Q-tip to remove paint smudges, it works for most of the problems I see.

      I like Motoko a lot but I like her character design from the first season of SAC better, with the jacket and the leotard. I’m sure that comes as no surprise. A figure with pants is pretty cool but when it comes to the major, I prefer her raunchy ass-out look.

      • Cantan says:

        Have to disagree with you there… I much prefer Motoko in Season 2 of SAC.

        There’s a shot of her running away from Batou in one of the final episodes of that series (think it might be Annihilation – same one when section 9’s HQ gets attacked by the mech power suits and as they all split up) and her arse is really fat and non-descript… killed that outfit for me from then on!

        Mind you there are two very nice outfits for Motoko in that series:
        http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2010/114/c/2/Motoko_Kusanagi_GITS_SAC_03_by_Jeno_Cyber.jpg

        Can’t find an image of the other – comes in an episode when they are trying to stop a chinese assassin killing some reclusive financier – Kusanagi ends up in a trash pile and has to change into some lacy lingerie number

        • Tier says:

          I probably should watch the show sometime. I’ve got the DVDs here … somewhere … actually, I’m not sure where they are, but I know I’ve got them. They’re probably still shrinkwrapped like way too many of my other anime DVDs and 360 games.

  7. BioToxic says:

    Last week was quite exciting, what with the latest Hobby Japan issue and then a host of new figures for pre-order. I’ve pre-order Blanc Neige and the Alpha Max Senhime. It’s just a pain all these pre-orders are for July/August time.

    Blanc Neige looks really nice and will hopefully fit in nicely with the Max Factory shining girls. Currently my only complaint about her is when she’s not wearing her dress (fabric thing) the positioning of her hand is distracting. It’s not a deal breaker though, I really can’t wait for her.

    I pre-ordered Alpha Max Senhime to go along with the Jubei I also pre-ordered. Their stretchy swimsuits could be interesting. Senhime and Jubei are hardly my favourites, but I just found these swimsuit versions to be quite accurate to their anime counter-parts. Hopefully they don’t disappoint (unlike the Queen’s Gate Senhime, man she looks bad + being exclusive doesn’t help).

    Gah I think I’m going to be ending up with a pile of swimsuit figures now ><.

    • Tier says:

      Same here, looking at my preorder list, there are an inordinate amount of swimsuit figures. I gotta admit, swimsuit figures kinda aren’t doing it for me anymore and it’s a sad state of affairs when a man says he’s tired of looking at cute girls in bikinis. But even so, the ones I’ve got ordered all have at least one feature that I really like, such as Senhime’s stripper pose, Blanc Neige’s thong, and Daiki Tamaki’s bemused expression.

  8. Aka says:

    You definitely need to get Rin to go with that Saber. Just think of them as an inseperable pair or a single figure. Rin’s not small because she’s sitting, the two together are just right.

    I need more males in my collection. I keep trying to find a bad enough dude to go with all these girls. But so far I haven’t found any that I find appealing enough to buy. Just what it is I wish to be appealed to however I’m unsure, men aren’t really my thing.

    Raquel has always caught my eye every figure convension I’ve bothered to seek out coverage on. It’s nice that they’re being made into PVC figures but I think in the end I’ll pass. If I had to choose one though, it’d definitely be Gothic, everything about her is better. Thighhighs, her heels are of the acceptable variety, her pose is cuter, and that thong is nice. Though I prefer Lolita’s undergarments, they display the contours of her bottom nicely.

    Blanc Neige’s thong/swimsuit however is much nicer than Raquel’s. Blanc seems to have a better bottom for it. There’s something wrong with this figure for me though. It seems to have all the detail you’d require in such a simple setup, but her hair seems so out of place. Skin tones are full, swimsuit is vibrant, but that hair seems so flat. It certainly feels like they just took a really old head and placed it on a modern body. That really has me torn, because otherwise I rather like this figure.

    • Tier says:

      Yeah, maybe I should get Rin. It’d be an easier decision if they were interacting with each other. Like maybe fingering each or something. It’d be a real easy call if they were doing that.

      I’ve set the president as the alpha male in my collection, as he is a bad enough dude to lord over my collection (ironically). Yeah, most male figures don’t appeal to me … I’m not much of a fan of the girly-man sort. Okay, Yuri Lowell is definitely a pimp, but he looks like a girly-man.

      Yeah, I’m reconsidering how much I want Raquel Lolita. Gothic I’m almost certain I’ll be preordering, but I wouldn’t get Lolita by herself. Getting Lolita just to match with Gothic seems like a flimsy reason for picking her up … and yet, I can’t help myself. Something tells me that Gothic won’t look right on my shelf without her counterpart.

      I think I see what you mean about Blanc Neige’s hair, and the big seams on the sides of her head aren’t helping things. I kinda think her hair ought to be whiter, too; I didn’t pay a lot of attention at first but it looks pretty gray in the promo photos.

    • Ashlotte says:

      I went with my Jin-Roh Action Doll (Thats what you call these 1/6th scale ones right?) as my “Alpha Male”…Seems to work out fine!

      Guess 1/6th scale stuff like from Hot Toys or what have you is your best chance at finding interesting looking male characters since scaled figures are woefully few and far between.

      My persona recommendation would be an iron man figure! He’s already a drunken womanizer so being the lead of a figure harem seems to suit him fine!

  9. Fabienne says:

    Summer dress Saber looks really nice, I think she would look great in an outdoor shooting.
    But why does Rin have Dumbo ears, ears and fingers are small details I really like at figures, but at Rin her ears look so prominent and huge 🙁

    Kenshin looks very cool, I’ve never watched Samurai X, but I like the pose and look of him.
    He will have a hard time to satisfy all the pvc ladys of your collection ^o^

    Raquel Gothic looks very pretty, her slightly playful face expressing is cool and I also like the shirt on skirt off combination, very alluring.I’d like to buy her cause the price is fair.

    Senhime in bikini is the Senhime figure that I like the most, she resembles her character from the anime very well,not that I especially liked her, but the figure is nice.
    haha the pose in combination with the dress really let her appear like a striptease dancer.

    Another figure from your list I really like is Sasara Kusugawa, she has a beautiful battle dress, the white-red-gold colormix looks very good as well as the dynamic pose.
    The Game seems to have many pretty outfits for the female characters in it.

    • Tier says:

      Haha, I never even noticed Rin’s ears but now that you mention it, they do look very prominent XD She’s still inexpensive enough that I may be able to overlook them, though.

      Back when I saw the character designs for Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls, I was curious as to what Senhime’s personality would be like. She didn’t come out like anything I was hoping for and I found her to be really repulsive, so I dunno how I can justify getting two more figures of her. At least they all look distinct from each other.

  10. drakanity says:

    The following figures seem a lot more tame. 😛

    I’m tempted by the Blanc Neige, but as someone pointed out, the mouth kind of messes it up a bit, so I’m debating.

    The Senhime swimsuit is nice as well. I agree, I do wish they made more of some of the other characters in the series. Although I don’t really know too much about the series. I started a few eps for the anime though a while back (and the extras), but never gotten around to finish it. Maybe I should.

    Also a bit off topic, but is there a way to know if someone replied to the post without manually looking for it? Just curious how you guys seem to find replies to older topics, especially replies to replies.

    • Tier says:

      Yeah, looking at Blanc Neige’s mouth some more, her lips look sorta odd. I dunno, I’m kinda getting a MegaHouse Yomi Isayama vibe from her, and she had a really bizarre (and terrifying) smile. Blanc’s not quite that bad but at least she’s cheap.

      Nope, there is not, as far as I know. There’s this Comments RSS link at the bottom of the page that might be helpful. Heck, even I have problems remembering who commented on what.

  11. Steve Chen says:

    X-buster or X-tele………hard to pronounce for the extra boob part. Her version 1 X-buster was located on her stomach.

    • Tier says:

      KOS-MOS is the one thing that might get me to go back and play Xenosaga. I loathe the game but I love KOS-MOS. Pretty much all I did in Soul Calibur 3 was unlock the KOS-MOS parts and play an army of KOS-MOS clones in the strategy game mode.

  12. Cantan says:

    Only other figure I was vaguely interested in was Orchid Seed’s Arshes Nei.

    Not the most beautiful character, but some screenshots (http://www.amiami.jp/images/product/review/111/FIG-MOE-2555_10.jpg) made her castoff options appear quite extensive.

    Will try to pass though… paid too much recently

    • Tier says:

      I like her character design but I thought her head was kinda too small for her body. It’s the same deal I had with their Al Azif and one of their Takuya Inoue-derived figures. Other than that though, I see nothing to complain about. Just wish her head were a bit bigger; I’d have preordered it for sure if it were.

      Interesting how her bottom has that seam on the side; it fits a lot tighter than a lot of castoff-able clothing does so I didn’t think it would be removable. If it is, though, I imagine it could be a real trial getting it back on those hips.

      • Cantan says:

        Can see where you are coming from. Head does look a little small. But put her on a surface with some of the more extreme head:body ratio figures (I’m thinking your recent clannad figure) and they should even out!

        I’d be more tempted to buy her if she didn’t have those damn stupid ears. Seriously, they made a fairly good figure (good round hips), did the head (bit small, I’ll give you that) then gave up. The ears look like an after-thought and are far too big imo

        • Tier says:

          Indeed! It’s like hamburgers, if the inside is raw and the outside is scorched, it all balances out.

          I didn’t pay a ton of attention to her ears but yeah, they look pretty big. I think they’d be okay if the rest of her head were large enough to match her body. That’s too bad, other than that, I really like how the figure looks.

  13. Ayra says:

    I really like that Sasara! I’ll have to consider her once eventually. Yukihime isn’t bad either. Not too interested in the others personally 🙂

    I wonder what happened to Heat Blade? It’s been supposed to be out 2 months ago, but there’s been no news at all. I suppose that with the disasters in Japan won’t be helping matters at all either…

    Sorry if I’m thinking of someone else, but I think you wanted an Irma figure since a very long time. It’s very likely you already know, but there’s a pretty decent (In my opinion) figurine of Irma on E2046, 1/6 scale. http://www.e2046.com/product/6820
    If you are interested I could add her to my choice station too: I kinda like her myself 🙂

    Talking about E2046, I’m strangely attracted to http://www.e2046.com/product/13602
    It’s a bit annoying: There’s no way I could put that anywhere in my house, but I keep going back to it since it’s been announced, and the fact that they are making a prepainted version now isn’t helping matters any. I’m not planning to order her, but… hopefully the temptation to do so will go away eventually 🙂

    • Tier says:

      Heat Blade seems to have been kicked to late May, and I’m hoping she doesn’t slip into June. I’ve been making this joke that because I ordered Heat Blade last June and since Hobby Search only retains order information for a year after ordering, she might get thrown off of my order history before she even gets released. I wonder what will happen if she does get kicked back a month; I can’t refresh the order date by recombining her since I ordered her during their 50% shipping discount promotion. It’s hilarious to think that I’ve got two figures that still have yet to be shipped from that time (though I just got an in-stock notice for MF’s Xecty).

      That is indeed me that is wanting an Irma figure. Thanks, I would appreciate it if you’d add her to your Choice station list; I didn’t even think about doing that myself. My hopes surged briefly after they did that stunt with one of the OVAs but now I’m pretty much in despair of ever seeing MegaHouse do a figure of her.

      That’s a very nice figure of Echidna; Echidna doesn’t have one of my favorite character designs in the show but that one looks really elegant. I mean, as elegant as a figure of a woman who isn’t wearing any pants or panties can be.

      Speaking of E2046, I’ve preordered their bewildering and bizarre Lovely Maiden Saber figure, I’m hoping they go back and fix her eye color, since they’ve painted them blue or purple but other than that, I think she looks awesome, in a WTF sort of manner.

      • Cantan says:

        Since E2046 appears to be the flavour of this thread…

        any idea what the turnaround is between a preorder opening and a shipment occurring is in general?

        Presumably they only task the sweatshop to begin producing once they get sufficient orders.

        • Tier says:

          Nah, they take their own time and it’s usually quite a while (months and months). You might be right, they set a quota for their prepainted stuff so it’d make sense if they want to hit a target near that number before they get started.

  14. Afreet says:

    Maybe it’s a little off the topic, but you’re the person I trust the most in cyber net about figures ^_^
    http://www.hobbyfan.com/product_info.php?products_id=8381
    have you tried the website above? I usually only buy pvc from hobbysearch
    please notice the following shot
    http://www.hobbyfan.com/popup_image.php?pID=8381&pic=j
    I read your review about this kosmos GK before, and this version’s kosmos has a normal boob!(without the concave line!)
    I really want to buy it but since I never buy stuff from their site before so could you give me some advices on this deal? I really appreciate your help!

    • Tier says:

      Yeah, I’ve bought stuff from Hobbyfan, they are reliable. They modified the garage kit themselves, which is why her breasts don’t have the panel lines. The place I bought mine from (E2046) didn’t do that, unfortunately.

  15. Cantan says:

    FYI, HLJ seems to be stocking a few of Volks recent releases – Kaguya and Neige are certainly there along with a Rei. If you don’t know whether you want to get a figure (through a proxy), it may be worth gambling on HLJ stocking further down the line.

    Worth consideration anyway imo.

    • Tier says:

      Ah, that is very cool. I still haven’t gotten Junko Hattori – Tokyo Hunter hasn’t even gotten her yet, and that’s very concerning to me, being that I paid for her seven months ago. I might be needing an alternate source for Volks stuff and this looks promising. Thanks for the heads up.

      • Cantan says:

        Really? As I said, I got the announcement about Junko aprroximately 3 weeks ago (bought her through SMJ as a late order so paid a lot more than you will have no doubt). She should be sitting in customs atm along with Alter Saber Maid (the one with the bucket) – delayed a bit by the Easter holidays.

        Looking again at HLJ, I may have ordered the last Neige as she is no longer listed as available – potentially low stocks.

        • Tier says:

          Yeah, some people on Tsuki-board have her already, too. I heard Yokatta got their units in stock about the same time as SMJ did, so Tokyo Hunter seems to be the only one that’s left out. It’s pretty damn aggravating because she’s already paid for so if I’m getting screwed, I don’t think I have any recourse through Paypal, and also because I’m interested in ordering a couple more exclusive figures and I may need to look for a new proxy if I don’t get either the figure or an explanation soon.

  16. Cantan says:

    To buy or not to buy… the age old question.

    Interestingly, Tokyo Hunter doesn’t record a manufacturer for this figure of Ivy… do Hobby Japan have their own designers?
    May finally tracked down the dakimakura I have been hunting for the last week so am a little reluctant to pay anything else for a while. Keep trying to tie back on my spending… doesn’t seem to work.

    Incidentally, Tokyo Hunter is showing Hattori Junko as being in stock. If you still haven’t heard anything, he should at least be able to supply one.

    • Tier says:

      I got her today, he shipped the figure out last Friday, so praise Hojo for that. He said that his supplier shipped out bulk orders after individual orders. I dunno why that is, but oh well, I’ve got my figure. She’ll probably be the next figure I review since I don’t need to construct a backdrop for her.

      I believe Ivy is done by MegaHouse; at least, I could swear that the previews labeled them as the maker and they’ve done most of the Queen’s Blade/Gate figures. I’m pretty sure I’m gonna order her myself since I like Ivy, Soul Calibur, and fighting game girls in general. You should order her too.

      I hope you got your pillowcase, it’s always a great feeling when you find something that you’ve been looking for for a while.

      • Cantan says:

        And the winner for the most oversized box goes to… Hattori Junko.

        Yep mine arrived today as well and she is pretty cute. Have left all clothes on – the promo shots of her exposed made her look a little skinny for my liking – also got to leave something for you to do as well! Would ruin the novelty for you otherwise!

        But seriously, got the Alter Saber Fate/Hollow Ataraxia maid in the same order, so why is Hattori Junko’s (1/8th scale) box three times the size of Saber’s (1/6 scale)?

        Probably actually spent 2-3 weeks looking for H・O・P’s Hibiki Ganaha cover but couldn’t find her anywhere… well SMJ say they have paid a supplier so I’ll pay them when they do finally get it.

        Have reached a conundrum now… have a whole display of figures I more or less actually like so I’m going to have a difficult decision when anymore arrive. Sure, kicking Kiki Oki and maybe Buddy off to a cupboard is pretty straight forward (Vocaloid Lily – she was meant to dissuade me from any more over optimistic purchases as a deterent and Emaretta went to make way for the new arrivals)… but I have about 8 figures on the way and room for maybe 3 when those two have gone.

        And I have far too many on order at the moment… may actually be tempted to set up on that my figure collection website so I know what I have without looking through the cupboards (I still don’t know what possessed me to buy three Jingai Makyos: Monsieur Bome, Max Factory and a knock off Orchid Seed one in the space of 2 weeks)

        • Tier says:

          I was really surprised to see how big her box is. And I was also surprised to see how big the figure is. I haven’t taken her out of the box yet but she looks closer in size to my 1/7 scale stuff.

          I don’t think I’m going to be doing any castoff shots for a straightforward and unbelievably absurd reason; apparently GSC glued her clothes down. From what I’ve read, you can’t fully cast off her clothes unless you rip them off. That is mind-boggling given that they showed castoff pictures on their own blog.

          I have to decide on a permanent place for Dizzy; I’m so starved for space that I shift her from my desk to my bed when I wake up and reverse that when I go to sleep. I’m thinking what I’ll do is kick a couple figures out of my Detolf cabinet and give her the most prominent shelf spot and push Senhime and Nanjou Ran to the back.

          MFC is really helpful for taking inventory, and also for keeping track of what I’ve heard. I’ve got my orders split between Hobby Search and Amiami and the latter lacks an account management system, so I often forget what I’ve ordered from them unless I search through my e-mail. Not to mention that I’ve also got a bunch of stuff ordered from proxies and most of it won’t be coming out for months.

  17. Cantan says:

    New record for slow delivery times:

    Date Time Location Tracking Event
    12-05-2011 17:43 National Hub Received and processed
    12-05-2011 15:44 International Hub Received in destination country
    18-03-2011 13:47 Delivery Agent – TOKYO – PTT Forwarded for export

    2 months just to get to the country – give it at least another week ’til it gets to me. SAL is amazing!

    Have stopped using SAL for some of my orders not surprisingly, except where I don’t care too much. This was just a 2nd hand figure off YJA… but seriously

    Is a bit worrying ’cause I have Niege Hausen coming by SAL atm as well… got to be faster than this… I hope

    • Tier says:

      I used to order stuff via SAL but now I just get most stuff by EMS … the stress of wondering where my stuff is and hoping it didn’t get lost bothers me a lot more than the extra expense of EMS does. Plus, I like getting stuff. It makes me happy … waiting for stuff doesn’t make me happy. It’s a good thing I don’t calculate how much money I blow on shipping expenses alone, since I’m sure it’d boggle my mind.

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