Preorder Outlook XV

Happy Christmas to everybody. Nominally this is a time to celebrate with one’s friends and family but we all know it’s also a time to buy lots of really cool stuff. And since this site is all about figures, let’s take a look at some figures that look pretty cool and are worth some money.

March

Fio from Metal Slug
A rather surprising choice to make a figure of, Fio is from the somewhat obscure but fan-favorite run-and-gun shooter Metal Slug. Despite not being a high-profile title, and despite the comatose state of the Contra genre, the Metal Slug franchise has at times received unlooked-for boosts, such as when Metal Slug 3 came out on the original Xbox. I bought that game and enjoyed it, though I was pretty bad at it. I liked to play as Eri; I don’t think I ever used Fio. However, I’m thinking about ordering this figure, since it looks pretty cool, I liked Metal Slug 3, and maybe they’ll make an Eri figure sometime in the future.

Yui Takamura from Muv-Luv Alternative Total Eclipse
Another figure of the heroine from Total Eclipse, this one comes hot on the heels of Alphamax’s figure. That figure dressed her up in stockings and her underpants. This figure dresses her up in a kimono and her underpants. That one gave her a gun to hold, so at least she looked like a military girl – sort of – but this one makes Yui look like a traditional Japanese woman, which I suppose she is. Aside from driving a gigantic mech during her day job, anyway. I’ve got this one preordered, but I’m hoping that someone will make figures of the Total Eclipse characters in their pilot suits. I’m also really hoping that Yui doesn’t turn out to be a snotty bossy type in the upcoming anime adaptation. I’ve got a bad feeling I’m going to be disappointed.

White Cat from Planet of the Cats
I’m on the record as disliking animal ears and tails on anime characters. And I do, but I’ve preordered this figure anyway. There’s always a set of tradeoffs when it comes to things that appeal to me. I like cute anime girls that wear tiny swimsuits. I don’t like animal ears. In this case, what I like supersedes what I don’t like. It’s sort of like when the Lakers play the Heat. I hate both teams. But I like seeing the Lakers lose so when they play, I’ma cheer for the Heat. Actually, what I really cheer for is for an asteroid to obliterate both teams but in lieu of that, I’m going to cheer for the Heat to win. And for LeBron to blow out his Achilles.

April

Selvaria from Valkyria Chronicles
This is Alter’s second figure of the character from Valkyria Chronicles. This one puts her in a swimsuit, albeit with sword and dagger and showerhead at the ready. I’m not sure if I’m going to order this figure, mainly because she’s got an elongated physique that I find a bit off-putting, and she’s also got sort of an odd face. On the other hand, I dig that chest. And the underboob. And those nipples. And I’m not averse to strange faces and unusual proportions, since I have gangsta lean Saber and she’s got a fairly odd face herself. I’m going to have to think about this one a bit harder; she’s currently the only figure I’m interested in scheduled for April, so that’s a plus in her favor. And so is that chest. Man, in the last thirty seconds, my opinion of this figure has improved dramatically.

May

Alina Bosconovitch from Tekken
At first glance, I like this figure a lot – colorful, gots that mecha girl thing going on, really nice panties. But man, those eyes. The promo shots stay away from close ups but the Moeyo preview gets in close and man, those eyes! They look like they’re about to start shooting lasers out of them. Which they could, I mean, since she’s a robot and all, but still, that doesn’t mean that’s what I want to see on a figure. So I’m thinking about it. She’s got a lot of good stuff but lately I’ve been thinking that if I don’t like a figure’s face, I ought to not buy it, no matter how good the rest of it is.

Incidentally, has anyone ever seen a Japanese figure blog review one of the Bishoujo figures? I kinda wonder how well these sell in Japan versus the rest of the world.

Nanoha Takamchi from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS
Another swimsuit girl from Alter. And another Nanoha figure from Alter. It looks very good. I like the hoodie. Cute, sporty bikini and nice legs. I don’t really have much more to say about it, even in a single paragraph. I’ve got it preordered and I really like it but even so, I’ve got the feeling that post will be the shortest review I’ll write next year.

Panty from Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt
It took a little longer than I expected for a major figure maker to produce a quality version of the Panty & Stocking characters, but this one looks great. I’ve preordered it though I’ll be honest, it’s sort of a conservative figure of Panty given the kind of show she comes from. And not a single pantyshot to be found among the promo photos? C’mon, man. I guess I’ll have to build the stage and pole myself.

Saber Extra from Fate/extra
Another Saber! But this one isn’t the usual Saber – she’s brash, cocky, and holds a jagged sword. And she’s not even British, she’s … well, from the continent. I bought the game recently and it doesn’t feature the most polished gameplay mechanics, but I still enjoyed it. I picked Saber to be my servant and liked her character, much more than I like the better-known blue dress Saber. But I’m not sure if this is the figure I want of her. It looks great – I like it a lot, particularly the face, but it’s listed at 18 centimeters tall, which seems really short. I might wait and see what else comes out. Hopefully someone makes a figure of good, larged-sized version of Saber Bride, too; her outfit is absolutely awesome.

Saber from Fate/zero
This one is blue dress Saber, though she’s not wearing a blue dress and as far as I can tell, nothing separates Saber and Saber Extra visually aside from their choice of outfits. I’m going to get this figure, along with a very large fraction of figure collectors worldwide, since, well, it looks nice. I wish it were 1/7 scale to keep it in line with Good Smile Company’s other Fate figures, though. Yeah, it’d be more expensive and it would take up more shelf space, but let’s be honest, for a figure like this, you’d save up your money and you’d clear out all the room that it needs.

Super Sonico from Nitroplus
One of the things I enjoy about writing these preorder outlook posts is that I get to talk about a wide variety of characters. Lately, though, it seems like I’ve been writing a lot about Nanoha and Super Sonico. I guess I can’t complain because I keep buying their figures. I’ve got one Super Sonico figure on the shelf, Yamato’s figure still boxed up and waiting for a review, a big-ass doll, Gift’s lewd one on preorder, and I’ve got this one already paid for. It’s really cute. But man, you know, it’s Sonico, so chances are, you already know how you feel about her.

June

Hotori Yoshii from Native Creator’s Collection
Ah, now here’s a neat figure. Native’s used a few existing properties as a source of figures – like Nana to Kaoru, Genmukan, and Nitroplus’s mascot – but many of their figures have been based off of artwork. This one looks great. I like just about everything about it. Maybe the only thing I’d change would be to make it 1/6 scale instead of 1/7. But it still looks great. Biker Saber is the figure everyone is looking forward to but me, this one might be the one I’m most excited for.

Ignis from Jingai Makyou
Yamato’s a really eclectic manufacturer – they do PVC figures, polystone figures, figures from Western artwork, mecha toys, giant-sized dolls, and now they’re doing 1/7 scale action figures. Actually, they’re covering old ground – they released a series of 23-centimeter tall action figures under their Variable Motion Figure series a few years back. I don’t remember them being a huge success, though, and they appropriated the name for their vmf50 doll lineup. But here they go again, and this time, I might buy this one. Ignis looks pretty good here, and maybe her poseability will be useful in staging photo shoots. I wish she were a bit larger, though; I’m still trying to find a good running mate for the President. (I was thinking of maybe getting Azone’s Erio Touwa for that role, but she kinda lacks the intimidation factor that I’m looking for.)

TBA

Nagisa from Phantasy Star Portable 2
Certainly one of the most eye-catching figures to be shown off in a while, Nagisa is a great-looking figure that I’ve already ordered. But let me make an aside here and ask, does anybody do a better job of ruining their franchises than Sega? Back during my childhood, I was a huge Nintendo fanboy – up until I played Phantasy Star II on my cousin’s Genesis. Then I became a huge Sega fanboy, and I’d still say that I am, even though Sega makes it really hard to be one. They took my favorite series of tactical RPGs and turned them into harem-centric games with generic Tony Taka art. And baking, or so I’ve heard. They re-launched Golden Axe with a game that was, by most accounts, an atrocity. They completely abandoned Streets of Rage, Panzer Dragoon, Jet Set Radio, and Skies of Arcadia. They keep trying to bring Sonic the Hedgehog into the 21st century – even though it’s 2011. God, this makes me hate the video game industry.

And of course, as I write this, that terrible Modern Warfare 3 commercial comes on television and I hate the game industry even more. It’s a good thing I don’t really buy many of them anymore – not just because the industry sucks, but also because I’d have to buy fewer figures.

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45 Responses to Preorder Outlook XV

  1. azn0will says:

    Ohh, nice outlook. I pre-ordered the “Yui Takamura from Muv-Luv Alternative Total Eclipse” myself. 🙂

    But what scale is the “Saber from Fate/zero” ? From the picture, it looks massive!

    • Tier says:

      It’s 1/8 scale. The bike is pretty big; they say it’s 29 centimeters long. Personally, I wouldn’t have a problem if the figure were 1/7 scale with a 35 centimeter long bike or something.

  2. JL Coburn says:

    Obviously I’d love Saber from F/Z. The only other one that ‘caught my eye’ as it were was Alina. She has this Uncanny Valley sort of face to me. Oh and the tank with Fio is cute. I wouldn’t mind that as a little fig for my desktop.

    • Tier says:

      Metal Slug needs more merchandise. Such as a poseable Mars People figure. I’d definitely get one or two or more of those; when it comes to tentacle accessories, I’ve got no problem shelling out the dollars.

  3. Shashin says:

    Damn, that Nagisa figure looks absolutely amazing; though I like the character design a lot. I had no idea she was from the PSP franchise; while browsing through Evening Call’s collection, I was quite taken by her cover (# 52), but I just assumed it was the Strike Witches chick that looks fairly similar. Evening Call recently did a poll asking which covers they should resell, and that was the only one I absolutely hope they decide to sell again (though I’d certainly buy a few others.)

    This is a fairly good preorder list overall; despite not buying too many figures myself anymore, I’ve already preordered a few on this list (Bike Saber, of course) and am strongly considering a few others. I really like the White Cat figure, but it’s a shame that there doesn’t appear to be any nudity like in the Black Cat figure, but I guess that swimsuit is revealing enough. Still wonder about the quality of the set of figures, but other than February shaping up to be a very expensive month, I don’t regret preordering the Black Cat figure.

    I was just browsing Native’s site the other day, and I’m fairly certain I’ll order Hotori Yoshii; that pose is just too great to pass up. Definitely a figure that I don’t think I want to miss out on.

    • Tier says:

      I remember that one; I liked it quite a bit, particularly since the character is somewhat obscure. I’ve got a ton of dakimakura covers I’m thinking about buying, so I probably won’t buy that one if they do re-issue it. Well, a ton by typical standards, certainly not by your standards. I like the Rika one that Boncool showed off a few days back, and I’m still thinking about the Kobato one. I also like the Ayase that Ask is doing, but the thing is, I don’t really like her character all that much. Nor do I really like Guilty Crown all that much. But it’s a nice pillowcase.

      I’ve got one Embrace Japan figure, which is the mediocre Ninja Girls figure, and I’ve seen pictures of the Demon Squeezer figure, which is quite nice, but the two cat figures seem like a whole new direction for the company, so it’ll be interesting to see how they turn out.

      There’s no worries about that Native figure, though. I really like the look on her face, too; she’s got a really scared look that’s gonna work great with the president.

      • willowywicca says:

        I’m rather the opposite, I was really looking forward to Hotori Yoshii after seeing shots of the unpainted sculpt. But the face just ruins her for me: it doesn’t match the original artwork at all which is what I was hoping for and entirely chages the feel of the figure from what I was expecting/hoping for. It’s actually funny, as it’s such a tiny difference with her eyebrows just curved the other way, and her mouth looking slightly unhappy at the edges rather than just open, yet it completely changes it from a calm expression to a terrified one and makes the entire figure feel like a rape victim rather than a cute girl in the equipment room with her boyfriend.

        • Shashin says:

          Thanks, if I wasn’t entirely sold on the figure before (due to financial constraints), I am now.

        • Tier says:

          An excellent point and you are completely right. Is it not delicious? I think her revised expression really elevates this figure and gives her a lot more personality. And possibilities.

          • willowywicca says:

            Well, I am definitely looking forwards to seeing what kind of pictures you’ll come up with for her! And I’m certainly not against a good bit of terrified rape (yes that sounds “wonderful” quoted out of context). I guess it’s just that it’s so jarring compared to my expectations that I’m not happy about it.

          • Tier says:

            Haha, fair enough. It’s certainly disappointing when you have expectations for a figure and then the manufacturer changes them for seemingly no reason. I remember waiting for Daiki’s gangsta lean Saber with great anticipation, only to find that they removed her castoff option and then lengthened her neck. The former was regrettable but I suppose understandable, since maybe they weren’t allowed to do that (which would be weird since she comes from an eroge but regardless, I don’t remember ever seeing an officially-licensed Fate/stay night figure with nudity). The latter change, though, is inexplicable and considerably damages the effect of the figure.

  4. nagisa says:

    Yeah, video games these days are no fun at all. They always try to compete at each other, in short commercial value. That’s why I was really disappointed at ff13 (my goood, what the helll was this?). Do you remember streets of rage too? that was really back in sega mega drive. It was really fun and difficult at the same time.
    Now to the figs. Your choices are now varied. I guess you have something on your mind for their photoshoots later. Maybe I will take the saber fig too, to join the mob as well (Maybe a bit of soul searching will be needed). Are you going to collect articulated figs too?
    By the ways, merry christmas to you and everyone visiting on your blog. It was a pleasure meeting you, even on a text, hehe

    • Tier says:

      I haven’t played FF13 yet, though a friend of mine played through it and he said it was okay but not great. That doesn’t really bother me a lot because I didn’t grow up playing Final Fantasy (I had a Saturn and I hated the Playstation, including Final Fantasy VII). The first FF game I played was FF8, which I liked a lot; I think I like it more than a lot of old-time Final Fantasy players do.

      Streets of Rage was awesome; I only owned the first game (which came on a disc when I got a Sega CD) but I loved it, and I later played SOR2 and 3 via emulators and then on one of the Sega game collections on the Xbox 360. Blaze should totally get a figure.

      I have a few articulated figures, mainly Figmas – I’ve got Rei, KOS-MOS, Meiya, Aegis, Yomi Isayama, and a couple of the se.kirara girls. I also have a few vmf50 dolls and one big-ass Fate Testarossa doll by Azone. I don’t really make them a focus of my collection, though; i prefer fixed-pose figures most of the time. My Figmas are just piled up on the shelf. So are my two actsta toys. The only articulated figures I generally play with are a couple of my Yamato dolls.

      Merry Christmas to you too! Or day after Christmas, as it were.

      • Break says:

        werent the first few FF#s for the saturn? or no, it was th eold sega things.. well, just a tip from soemone who did paly them a lot: FF7 may be good but its totally overhyped, FF8 is, liek you pointed otu, just as good; the best FF game by far is FF6. and not just because i love the steampunk-theme.

        • Tier says:

          Nah, no Final Fantasy game ever came out on a Sega platform. I played FF7 only relatively recently (maybe six or seven years ago) so it didn’t have nearly as much an impact on me as if I had played it back in 1997. However, I don’t remember a single thing about the game’s plot, which makes me think that the plot probably wasn’t very good.

      • nagisa says:

        As a fellow figma collector, I suggest that you repose them depending on your mood. Who knows, maybe you could find some inspiration out of them. As for me, reposing them removes my daily stress for some weird reason. You could visually do the pose first, then apply it on the figure, hehehe.

  5. Break says:

    ah, nice job. as for the nanoha swimsuit version, i always felt this kind of.. maritime feelign about ehr, liek shes on a harbour or soemthign,y ou know?

    as for native#s hotoori, i am considerign her btu nowt sure, maybe because they messed up the eyebrows compared to the orignal artwork which makes her look a looot mroe scared whilst the artwork makes he rlook mroe curious.. wish theyd fix taht, otherwise i might have ti myself. well i guess id get her anyways maybe,…

    im obviosuly getting fate/zero saber^^

    and if soemone makes a good bride saber extra, id get that too. and ye,s, im also wodnerign why those two look so much aloke; their only visual difference aside frot he clothes and weapon are the cup size!

    ad yes nagisa looks REALLY good, btu i dotnhave her game and i dotnlike havign figures of characters i dotn know… though she reaaalllly looks nice..

    • Tier says:

      Yeah, that’s sort of the feeling I get about Nanoha, too, as if she were leaning on an embankment above a beach or something. That’s probably the way I’ll photograph that figure.

      I love the scared look on Hotori’s face. It plays right into how I plan to photograph that figure. The tentacle stands will definitely be making on appearance in that post. In fact, they might be making an appearance in the next post.

      It’s sort of weird how Saber Extra is supposed to be a brand new character even though she looks just like old Saber. I kinda think it’s a copout, personally. But I like her designs so it’s all good.

      • Break says:

        yes, i can TOTALLY see the seaulls fleing above her and hear a ship movign out when lookign at that figure, really.
        i wodne rif theyll do the other two parts of the artwork shes from, too…

        haha i guess youll liek it, however i reaaally ouldve preferred it if she looke dmroe curious like in the original illustration.. i guess il get her, btu ill either just fix it with paint (hope i can pull it off), or hope for them to include two faces like some figure manufacturers do… i eman hottori doesnt really have many accesoires, especially compared to moruina, huh? speaking of which ill probably never use the bunny-outfit taht comes with princess morudina as an alternate costume when she arrives, so any idea what i shoudl do with it? i eman many figures coem with alternate parts, and just layign them next to them is kidna not really aesthethic; how did oyu solve this problem?

        well, true, your not the first to point it out.. and i dotn see how nero could psoe as a woman with gazongas and a see-through dresliek that either…
        anyways i still like both of them.

        • Tier says:

          I just throw the extra parts back in the box. I know I’d lose them if I left them laying around, so the box is the safest place I can put them. I don’t really care about the extra parts most of the time, anyway; having castoff-able figures was really cool back when I started collecting but nowadays, I don’t really want to deal with the hassle.

          • Break says:

            well im not really speaking baout the clothes of cstoff-ables; i mean stuff like extra arms or even extra fingers (dead master has a FINGER as a n extra part, because it has apeg to fit a skull int an difoyu dotn want her iwht the skull, it would look dumb t have a pegged finger.) ah i see…

        • nagisa says:

          That would be my only figure preorder (yet) for next year, The rest are all figmas. At this rate, my gunpla mojo would literally decrease, since there are a lot of great figma releases and on the works.

  6. Cantan says:

    I am a sucker for Valkyria Chronicles (1st one) so have already preordered the swimsuit Selvaria. Alter did a great job with the first version of her and I pretty much knew I wanted that figure when I saw the unpainted shots from whichever festival it was in the summer.

    Very tempted by Saber on the bike too and have added her to my Amiami wish list. It’s about time they updated that site as I thought that I had preordered the Dizzy rerelease with them, right up until I didn’t get an email confirming that it was ready for shipping. Had to go back through my old emails which confirmed that, whilst I seriously considered it, I seem to have forgotten to actually submit an order. Ah well, I had overspent on new carpets and EC’s Kurisu Makise dakimakura (which suddenly showed up in Toranoana’s site unexpectedly) so I’m not too upset. Still, Amiami was a bit crap in that you couldn’t review all your orders.

    Native’s Sonico is one I’m seriously considering. My spending has dropped off quite a lot in recent months and I don’t like forking out 4-5months in advance. Think I’ll wait until the deadline approaches and make a last minute decision on that one.

    Do like the images of Nagisa, but she is unknown to me so I’ll probably pass.

    • Tier says:

      I still need to get a PS3. Agarest War 2 might finally prompt me to pick one up, but that’s not scheduled for release until next summer, I think, and it seems like this console generation is quickly winding down. It’s sort of funny how when I was younger and had no money, I absolutely had to have the newest consoles, and now that I’m older and have income, I’m not in any rush.

      Ah, that is unfortunate. I try to keep my Tsuki-board profile updated whenever I order a figure so that I don’t forget to order something I really want. My big problem is waffling too long. There was this Kaitendoh figure I really wanted (Nurse Miyu) but I didn’t bother ordering it because I figured who’s gonna be ordering a Kaitendoh figure, anyway? Then I found it was sold out at all three of the major Japanese stores. I wound up ordering it from Play-asia but I have no clue if they’ll be able to fill my order and it’s going to cost me like $20 more. On that note, it’s nice to see Amiami revamped their website and account options.

      Yeah, I don’t really like paying in advance, either, though I’ve gotten used to it. The funny thing is that it’s worked out in my favor as of late, the way the USD/yen exchange rate tanked this year.

  7. Nightmare says:

    So many good figures have been announced for next year already, many of them included in your list as well. I could see myself grabbing all of them bar the White Cat although I do like your reasoning for grabbing her.

    I haven’t really been that excited for an Alter figure in quite some time but Nanoha Takamachi does look fantastic. Production wise it’ll be hard for any company to top the “Saber Motored Cuirassier” one, GSC outdid themselves with that one. With the risk of sounding like a broken record, Hotori Yoshii is the one I find most impressive as well. Like you mentioned, Native did change the mouths (and overall facial expression) on both Soniko and Hotori, a good decision on their part I think. While the president won’t be visiting my home come June, it’ll be tricky not to maintain the emotion you’re going for.

    Quickly looking back at the year that’s soon to end and browsing through your archive as well as preorders shows a good amount of great looking exclusive figures that sprung from 2011. I’ve let far too many of them slip through my fingers and I hope to make up for those mistakes during the coming year. Hotori Yoshii looks like a good place to start.

    • Tier says:

      I’d agree with you about Alter. They’ve made many of my favorite figures but I can’t say I’m all that thrilled about more Strike Witches or Bakemonogatari or even Nanoha figures. I’ll buy Fate figures but I wasn’t even going to get their Phantom Minds Fate until it got an enormous price cut. Their Charlotte Dunois figure is pretty boring, I think.

      It’s odd how some of my favorite figures as of late have been made by GSC. They’ve had some really great figures; the Fate/stay night figures are excellent, Strength was pretty good, I even like their Angel Beats figures (though I didn’t buy either, and I’ve been looking around for Yuri recently), and I’m really looking forward to Lacia.

      Yeah, I notice a lot of figures seem to be sold through Japan-only channels, which is sort of annoying. I guess it’s part of the deal, though. The added expense is a hassle but then again, I hear stories about people being assessed VAT and import taxes and having stuff languish in Customs and then I think I’ve got it pretty good here.

      • Break says:

        yeah, i also prefer GSC’d bakemonogatari figures over alter’s renditions for examle. i cant shakeoff the feeling all the bakemonogatari figures made by alter hae te exact same bangs.

  8. Asa says:

    Two figures there I’ve ordered (Neko, obviously, and Panty). Though I’ve been considering Fio; I like weapon girls, but I find her proportions odd. Her legs are way too big/long. I’m also on the fence over whether to get Fate Zero’s Saber. It is undoubtedly a stunning figure, but I’m not keen on her boku look (suited) and I’m not -that- in to motorbikes… especially for how much room I’d have to clear for her.

    I’ve not seen the last there with the sword. She interests me, as all weapon girls do. May have to investigate.

    A rather nice selection you have here though, I look forward to photoreviews for many. Especially the neko, since she’s gorgeous, but I’ll only take like one or two pictures and leave it at that because I can’t stage or do anything worth shooting.

    • Asa says:

      I just found Nagisa on TH. I’ve ordered her without a confirmed shipping date. Woe is me if it falls in to March. Already have like $450 of figures then. Though it is my birthday month, so I’m allowed to spoil myself a bit. Right?

    • Tier says:

      I’ll admit I’m not a big motorcycle fan, either. I think they’re deathtraps and they’re also noisy as hell whenever someone drives one around the neighborhood. They are stylish, though, I’ll concede that – though whether that style fits Saber, I dunno. Actually, I guess it’s obvious that it doesn’t, nor does that suit, but regardless, Saber makes them both look really good.

      I have no idea how I want to shoot the White Cat girl. I’ve got ideas for Panty (stripper pole, pretty obvious and I’m sure a bunch of people will be doing that), Saber (a road, also pretty obvious and completely dictated by her base, anyway), Meiya, Nanoha, and Hotorii, but no ideas for the cat girl. I think her facial expression offers a lot of options, though.

      You should definitely spoil yourself. Right after I graduated from school, I began something called Indulgence Week, where I consumed lots of unhealthy food and played video games for a week. Then I expanded that to Indulgence Month, even though it was a bit harder to maintain since I started a job during that time, and then I was like screw it, I’m going to dedicate myself to Indulgence Lifestyle, and I am a lot happier than I would be if I were an ascetic (which is somewhat humorous because my family is nominally Buddhist).

  9. Wieselhead says:

    I also ordered bath time Soniko ^^, a 1/6 figure of her will be so nice.
    I will probably add Nagisa to my list as well, she looks so elegant and cool,
    my first eyepatch figure ^o^

    Native’s gym girl looks also great, but what should I do about her exposed crotch XD

    Red Saber has a great dress, but I guess the face isn’t made for me, Saber on the bike is cool, but Saber was never a favorite character of mine, even though I like her a bit.
    Im not sure about purchasing her, so far there’s only this coolnes factor of a female figure with suit on bike.

    I fell a bit in love with Alina Bosconovitch after seeing her in the Tekken Movie, so cute 😀
    The design of this figure doesn’t do her justice unfortunately her face feels very different.

    • Tier says:

      I thought you’d buy that Sonico figure XD I need to take Yamato’s Sonico out of her box already, I’ve had that figure for over half a year now.

      You should show her crotch to the world! That is how she is meant to be displayed.

      Ah, yeah, the figure loses some of its appeal if you’re not as fond of the character. I like Saber because she has that paladin ethos that I like a lot, but I’ll be honest, in Fate/zero I think I like Rider the best, and I like Kiritsugu and Kirei and Kariya better than Saber thus far.

      • Wieselhead says:

        Hehe yeah my first one from Native ^^ Im looking forward to get this big Soniko with this level of quality everybody is talking about.
        I think Im going to sell the Yamato Soniko soon, it isn’t that appealing to me anymore.

        Yeah thats true XD Maybe someday I’ll buy a figure like that.
        Im looking forward to your review of her ^^

        btw I just ordered the Nagisa figure

  10. I was pretty shocked to see a Metal Slug figure but Fio’s quality doesn’t look too great in the promo shots. The sculpting and paint both seem pretty ho-hum. Still, nice to see some more obscure series getting love.

    I agree that Alisa’s eyes are pretty scary but I’m hopeful that they’ll turn out better in the final production model. I’ve got the Bishoujo Black Cat figure who also has these ‘doll-like’ eyes and they look really good. But eyes aside, I love everything about Alisa. Pink haired girls get my passion blazing, and Alisa’s got the bonus of having two different shades of pink hair for me to sample. YEAH! (The cute outfit and mecha wings are nice bonuses)

    Nagisa looks amazing and I’d love to get her but all the sites I found with her for order want payment up front, which I just can’t afford. Oh well. I was never a huge Sega fangirl but I get saddened thinking of what they’ve become. There are times when I think “Man, I’d REALLY kill for a new proper Panzer Dragoon game.”. And then I remember the current state of the Shining series (or the Wii NiGHTS game)and think maybe it’s best that PD remains in slumber. 🙁

    • Tier says:

      Yeah, looking at her again, I’m having second thoughts. And after reading Asako’s comments, I cannot stop looking at how long Fio’s legs appear to be. Oh well, I’ll be saving some money there, then.

      I’m hoping so as well, though I’m not familiar with the quality of the 1/7 scale Bishoujo figures. I’ve got three of their older 1/8 scale ones and I’m not too impressed by them; I do actually have Ms. Marvel still in her box but I’ve got the sense that with Kotobukiya, it’s more likely the production figure is going to be worse than the prototype.

      Whenever I see Sega mentioned on the video game news websites I read, I always pay attention. And then I get disappointed when I see it’s about some Yakuza game or something. It’s sort of sad how their best recent franchise revivals were probably Afterburner Climax and Outrun 2 (though I very much enjoyed both games).

  11. Luth says:

    Awman, that Tekken Alina figure. I wanted to like it so much for the same reasons as you and also they had done such a good job with their other Tekken figure but those eyes would have given me nightmares. Such a shame.

    That Gift Saber Extra is right up my alley. Even though its so expensive and only 1/8 (so far, they seem to be proper 1/8s), the amount of detailing they cram into their Saber’s justifies the price for me.

    Man, those Native figures look so nice even though I’m not interested in them. I really want to get a figure from them and am just waiting for one that appeals to me. I am crossing my fingers it will be their upcoming Elfriede.

    • Tier says:

      That’s kinda what I’m thinking. I think what I may do is wait for other people to get it and see if I still want it; the Bishoujo figures are always available for cheap in the United States so it shouldn’t be a big problem for me to pick it up after its Japanese release.

      I haven’t yet bought any of Gift’s Fate/stay night figures but I really like how Saber Lily looks, and Saber Extra looks just as good. I may still wind up ordering Gift’s figure, but I wonder if anybody else will make a quality Saber Extra figure.

      How can Hotorii not appeal to you? XD I mean, aside from the fact that she’s basically mooning you and everyone else that might look at her. I guess that might make some people uncomfortable XD

      • Luth says:

        Well, the explicitness of Hotori doesn’t bother me, it’s more her age. That’s not to say I don’t like figures of young girls, but I prefer figures of younger girls to be cute and older curvy ladies to be sexy. Well, old enough that I can pretend they’re legal. That and the fact that I’d probably have a difficult time trying to get a figure like that through Australian customs 🙁

        But I look forward to experiencing her vicariously through your review.

  12. Silvery says:

    Nice choice. Although none of them is to my liking (and by “liking” I mean “buying”), I think Panty looks as awesome as her Stocking counterpart and I appreciate the details on both Sabers. Man, if only GSC did Saber Extra figma, she would be an instant buy to me…
    Oh, and aren’t they going to make some sort of a Metal Slug remake soon? That would raise the interest in Metal Slug figures.

    • Tier says:

      It’s unfortunate that Saber Extra’s figma got bundled with the game. I have no problem paying more money for a collector’s edition but only if I can actually play the game that’s included. I wanted the Sumika Kagami figma that was bundled with the Xbox 360 version of Muv-Luv Alternative, and I would be interested in playing the game, but I can’t read Japanese and I don’t have a Japanese 360 anyway.

      I had not heard that but I haven’t been paying a ton of attention to video game news. It’d be pretty cool if they were doing a remake or another game in the series, though. I think the last news I heard was that the games were available on Xbox Live and the Playstation 3 equivalent, which is pretty cool, too. Too bad for me that the Xbox 360 directional pad is really bad for those sorts of games.

  13. Negativezero says:

    Nice Outlook, my outlook is getting darker, as I try to limit collecting. I have a bunch of wants but unless i can sell some others, hit the lottery or magically add an attachment to my apartment, most of them wont be happening. 🙁
    Make sure you collect the best and not the rest.

    • nagisa says:

      Yeah, as for budget collectors, quality will always be a top priority over quantity. Finding a figure that will best represent the character you love is indeed a difficult task, but still, this is the heart of our hobby, hehehe

  14. Devastator001 says:

    For me since am on a budget and given a choice between Selvaria or Panty… Panty wins out :P. I was considering getting Selvaria at first, but same as you the elongated physique and strangely shaped face was a dealbreaker 🙁

    • Tier says:

      Yeah, that’s what I thought about the first Selvaria, too. This one shows a lot more skin, particularly with respect to her chest, so she’s going to get more consideration. I’m going to have to see if there’s anything else in April that I want to buy … though given Alter’s track record, it won’t be surprising in the least if Selvaria gets bumped to the summer.

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