Preorder Outlook XXIII

This should be the last preorder post of this year, and it’s an odd one as there’s nary an Alter or Good Smile Company figure to be found in it. I’ve seen some speculation that Good Smile Company’s quality is falling off, and I suppose there’s some justification to that, given that some of their products have had some egregious errors (like Black Rock Shooter – that reminds me that I still have to paste that star on her ass) and others just fail to impress (like Inori, whom nobody seems to really love, which I guess is only appropriate for a character from a show like Guilty Crown). I don’t really know if I fully subscribe to that idea, but then, I only buy their scaled figures, and not a lot of them at that. Alter, though – they’re just not making a lot of stuff I’m interested in buying. That makes this post a peculiarly FREEing-dominated outlook, and given my poor initial opinion of them, that’s a trend I’m having some difficulty adjusting to.

February

Sena Kashiwazaki from Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai
The most recent figure to go up for order is also the one scheduled to hit stores first: Sena went up for order just last night, I believe, and she’s scheduled to hit stores in a couple of months. She’ll be complementing Griffon’s Yozora, which I thought about buying but ultimately passed on, as I hoped to find her in the bargain bin. Sena’s gotten a lot of figures, but none of them are quite perfect, and while this one isn’t either, it does have a few strong aspects going for it. First is that it puts her in her very distinctive Monster Hunter armor. Also, of all the Sena figures I’ve seen, I think this one’s face seems to come closet to her anime styling. That picture does show one of its downsides, which is that her coloring seems drab, particularly her hair, which seems strangely greenish-tinted. Not sure if that’s the figure or if they used fluorescent lighting or something. At any rate, I’ll have to think about this one but I do like this one and the Yozora figure a lot, and if I see Yozora discounted anywhere, that greatly increases the chances I’ll pick up this Sena.

March

Arshes Nei from Bastard!
The appeal of this figure is obvious, so I need not explain why I’m interested in it. I do wish it were larger, as it’s listed as only 1/8 scale, rather than the 1/4 scale like so many of FREEing’s other stuff. Even 1/5 scale would’ve been nice, as it would have matched one of the Kanu Unchou figures that I’ve got. Regardless of its size, though, the pose, outfit and the face look great, and I’m pretty sure this is one I’ll be picking up.

Alicia from Queen’s Blade Grimoire
It’s been a long time since I’ve gotten a Queen’s Blade figure, but I’ve ordered Alicia, the first heroine in the new Queen’s Blade Grimoire series. I don’t know the details of this newest Queen’s Blade edition, but I do know that Alicia looks great. Surprisingly, none of the promo photos show a castoff option for Alicia, which would be unusual considering the core hallmark of the Queen’s Blade franchise (that is, female battlers with exploding clothes), but even if her clothes can’t be stripped, she still looks pretty good.

April

Nozomi Akiyama from se.kirara
The appeal of this figure is perhaps less apparent, at least for me, considering that I seem to be most known for buying porno figures. I don’t really buy that many, but that seems to be the reputation I’ve acquired. However, I appreciate cuteness as much as explicitness – well, almost as much – and all of the se.kirara figures look adorable to me. I actually own Aya and Izumi already, along with the Aya and Nozomi figmas. I haven’t reviewed Aya or Izumi yet, but I really like those figures, and I’ll be getting Izumi for sure.

Ganessa Roland from Freezing
Here’s a figure more in line with what I usually buy. I’ve ordered this figure, which should be no surprise as I own Satellizer already. I really like Ganessa’s design, though I can’t actually remember what she was like in the show. I recall that she battled Satellizer in the first episode and seemed to be shaping up as her primary adversary, and then Attia and Rana showed up to take that role. I like that Ganessa is sitting up, which should make it easier to view her.

Kaori Kanzaki from A Certain Scientific Railgun
This figure appears to be a collaboration between Penguin Parade and Embrace Japan. I never got into either the Index or Railgun series, even though they seem quite popular and on the surface, I think I’d probably like them. Kotobukiya made a figure of Kaori a few years back that I was tempted to get, but ultimately passed on. This one, though, I might get, as it amps up the sexiness quite a bit. She also has a very cute blush which is probably meant to signify embarrassment, but given that she’s walking around in that revealing Flo-Jo-style outfit, I would imagine that she doesn’t embarrass easily, and so I like to think of her as being drunk.

Rias Gremory from High School DxD
High School DxD is one of those dumb fanservice shows that I enjoy, much like Kampfer and Seikon no Qwaser. For some reason, some of these shows don’t get many figures (I’m still wondering why Kampfer never got any), and High School DxD has gotten only a few. None of them have been all that appealing, but now we have this odd figure of lead girl Rias Gremory. I say odd because it’s sculpted by D-zo of Diskvision, who has a very unique, easily identifiable style. I’ve got a couple of his figures, including Iroha and Eve, both of which I like a lot, and I’ve also ordered his Elsa figure. Rias, in contrast, has a far more conventional look, which isn’t a bad thing at all since she is quite pretty and has a very appealing design. Looking at the figure though, I can’t quite shake the feeling that her face looks strangely asymmetrical and that her chin seems overly prominent; I’ll have to think more on this one but right now I’m inclined to pass.

Azalee from Dendrobium
Yamato is putting out another version of Azalee, this time wearing black lingerie. She also appears to be a bit cheaper than she was the first time around, and that’s a good thing since her high price was one of the reasons I passed on her. She does look very nice so I might get her, given this second opportunity, but April is looking pretty packed so then again, I might not.

Violet from Dendrobium
The same thinking applies to Violet, who I might be less inclined to get since I don’t care for the animal ears much. I’m not sure whether I prefer their new black and white outfits; I do like black and white, but they do lose the complementary contrast by ditching their red and blue clothing.

Yui Takamura from Muv-Luv Alternative Total Eclipse
After bunches of figures of the Total Eclipse characters in swimsuits or their underwear, we finally get one of Yui wearing her pilot suit. It looks fantastic, and I’ve already ordered it. I kinda wish I hadn’t, since it’s listed at $79.99 at BBTS, which is quite a bit cheaper than I’ll be paying for it at Hobby Search, but I guess I do want it quickly, so I don’t mind paying the higher price. Not too much, anyway.

May

Fate Testarossa from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha
As usual, this post wouldn’t be complete without a Fate Testarossa figure. This one is from Cospa, who’ve done a Fate figure before – I actually own it, though I’ve never reviewed it. The thing I remember about that one was that it is huge, which was a major problem because its shipping cost was like 4800 yen for just that one figure (rather annoying, because I bought the figure after it had hit the bargain bin). This one appears to be quite a bit smaller, despite also being listed as non-scale. I don’t think it looks bad but I don’t think I’ll be getting it. I’m kinda disappointed in how conservative the seat of her suit is; Fate’s leotard has featured varying degrees of skimpiness, from the thong on Alter’s old figure to a somewhat more modest cut on their newer Fate, but I’m not too thrilled with the way Fate’s butt has gotten more and more covered up. No thanks.

Kuroko Shirai from A Certain Scientific Railgun
When I saw this figure, I was like, “Dayuuuum”, even though I’m neither a big Railgun fun nor a big bunnygirl fan. That sentiment evaporated when I saw Moeyo’s preview, which wasn’t flattering in the least, but thinking about it some more, I still like this figure. I own several of FREEing’s 1/4 scale figures, including bunny Nymph and bunny Nanoha (review coming really soon), and I think they are all excellent figures. Further, they all have very noticeably matte paintwork, particularly in the hair and skin tones, so I’m assuming that the prominent glare on Kuroko and Mikoto is caused by a camera flash or something. I don’t care so much for Kuroko’s alternate head, but I think I might get this figure still.

This entry was posted in Preorder Outlook and tagged , , .

42 Responses to Preorder Outlook XXIII

  1. Asa says:

    I ordered Sena laastnight; she’s gorgeous, and having plenty of Griffon figures already, I was surprised at her face quality (as faces are usually Griffon’s weakest point). But I loved the character, plus she has wings, so definite buy for me.

    Considering the Kuroko bunnygirl, but I have no room for 1/4 figures. Plus she’s quite expensive, and I’d really need to get Biribiri with her. They’re a set, can’t have one without the other.

    Nothing else here on my radar, largely being characters I don’t know, or simply don’t care about. It’s rare our tastes overlap though, so it’s no surprise. Seeing two figures I like in one of these preorder outlooks is unusual, even!

    • Tier says:

      Yeah, I was also surprised by that; they’ve had a few figures that I would have liked to have ordered, like Haruka Takamori and barbarian Sasara, but I didn’t like their faces too much. Sena looks pretty much spot-on as far as looking like her anime counterpart goes. I’ve seen a couple of reviews of Yozora on Japanese review sites and she looks better than I expected – not spectacular or anything, but still solid.

      If I get Kuroko, I’m not sure if I’d get Mikoto. I think she might’ve been one of the reasons I never got into Railgun much; she doesn’t really hit on a lot of the things that appeal to me. In fact, she goes the other way on a lot of things, like her modest chest size, short hair, and very conservative underpants. From what little I saw of the show, I kinda liked Mii Konori best; I always like those quiet, serious, duty-minded girls, and that she seems to be the most buxom doesn’t hurt, either. Well, in my view.

  2. Devastator001 says:

    So Far only Pilot Suit Yui and Alicia’s on My radar as cutting a bit down on figures as am running out of shelf space atm O_O;

    As for QB Grimoire, it’s similar to Queen’s Gate, but they’re talking characters from Fairy Tales.
    Alicia’s from Alice in Wonderland
    Zala(Zara) from Little Red Riding Hood

    • Tier says:

      Ah, thanks for that; I didn’t connect Homare’s character to Little Red Riding Hood but looking at her design, I guess it’s pretty obvious. That is an interesting direction for the Queen’s Blade franchise; it kinda reminds me a bit of what McFarlane Toys did a few years back (I have their Dorothy figure and it’s pretty nice), though probably not quite as edgy, which is a really strange thing to be able to say about Queen’s Blade.

  3. Jinzilla says:

    Still deciding on that QB Alicia figure. The design is great, but I find the face sculpt on the figure kind of disappointing. It seems rather a bit too……stiff? when compared to the original illustration. I guess I’m a picky person :p.

    Also, I’m still praying for a good Rias to be released someday Q_Q.

    • Tier says:

      Nah, I think that’s a fair assessment. I like the figure’s overall look but it’s a bit odd how her eyes look really angry but her mouth doesn’t seem to quite match that heat. Her face also looks really sharply divided vertically and I wonder how that’s going to look in the final product.

      I really hope Rias gets a good figure as well; she seems kinda like a good candidate for FREEing’s 1/4 scale Sexy Version series, as do all the other DxD girls. Speaking of which, while I’m not too familiar with the light novel source, I did do a little reading about it and I kinda like Xenovia’s character; if they do a followup series (I think I heard DxD was getting a second season), I hope she shows up.

  4. John says:

    Arshes is pretty tempting with her chocolate elf self, but since I already have her Orchid Seed version I’ll probably pass. Not sure if I’ll actually manage to resist though; those beautiful thighs are calling me.

    Azalee and Violet are nice, but I am really not a fan of this recolor. I find the original coloring much more fitting; these seem to clash. I was going to get the originals when they went up for preorder, but ultimately decided against just buying figures for eye-candy. Still I am somewhat envious of those who do have them, since they are quite nice, though with Nishieda’s art as a base it would seem difficult to fail. Instead of the figures I’ll look for a copy of the artbook; I already ordered the latest one, Epidendrum.

    Kanzaki is also one that piques my interest, though I’m apprehensive about it for a few reasons, the main one being that its a rather out of character pose for her. The second reason is that she’s being made by Penguin Parade, a manufacturer I have no experience with and a quick look at the figurecollection database doesn’t really vouch for their quality. As much as I like Kaori, I don’t really feel like taking a risk here; I’ll just wait either until more pictures of her show up or she goes in the bargain bin.

    Ganessa is also quite nice, though I too don’t remember her too well thanks to the large character cast and the wait between manga chapters. In fact I think she hasn’t shown up at all for a long time now, which is a shame since she was pretty entertaining (I think, I’m not too sure who I’m remembering at this point). That aside, of the FREEing Freezing figures I like Ganessa the most. I was considering getting Ingrid but I didn’t like how her breasts defied physics (or maybe she had implants), so I passed. Not sure if I’ll be getting Ganessa since I recently blew through a bunch of money on artbooks, though maybe I’ll again wait for some bargain bin prices.

    • Tier says:

      Yeah, thinking about it a bit more, I think I like the original Dendrobium figures better than the recolors. Not that I dislike the black and white outfits, but the original outfits seem to go together so much better. Though if I were only to get Azalee, I guess it’d be less of an issue. I didn’t know that he had a new book out, but I’ll have to look out for it; I check Mandarake for Dendrobium every now and then.

      I’m not too familiar with Railgun but I do get the sense that Kaori is sort of the stoic, stiff type, sort of like Kanu Unchou in showing lots of skin but not being too mindful of it. Yeah, the manufacturer thing is also a bit of a problem; I have several Embrace Japan figures and I wouldn’t call any of them fantastic in terms of manufacturing quality, and I have no personal familiarity with Penguin Parade at all. I’ll probably take the same approach and wait till a sample photoshoot turns up; I like the figure but it’s not one that I’m going to be kicking myself over if I miss out on it.

      Ingrid is the figure I am lacking, though I’m thinking about picking it up, partly for the sake of completing the collection. I really don’t know where I’m going to put all these figures, though, since they take up so much shelf space. I’ll have to keep doing some creative rearranging for them, since their poses are not particularly conducive to easy display. I’m not sure who my favorite Freezing girl was; I did like Satellizer, though that’s tempered by her partnership with Kazuya, who is on par with Shu as far as being the biggest moron in anime, in my view. Maybe I’d say Cassie Lockhart; she was pretty cute and I liked that she was the American girl.

  5. drydan says:

    oh..
    my..
    god…
    it happened, first time i dont have even one figure from your preorder list in my own. in the past there were AT LEAST 2 matches each time. hm, i got the original color versions of azalee and violet.. does that count?
    *looking into my list*…. phew, march, april, may…. VERY deadly months for my wallet x_x

    • Tier says:

      Aww; maybe I should’ve listed Native’s Sexual Police figure, which I’m still waffling on (and I’m not even sure if its preorder window is still open). I was also considering listing the newest Mahou Shoujo figure, which I kinda like, even though in some respects it looks really peculiar (I’m trying to be nice here). Her unusual look kinda turns me off a bit, but what really deters me is her price tag.

  6. cipher says:

    yay you P’OD Nozomi Akiyama don’t forgot to show her pantsu k,
    aya pantsu is very attractive

    • Tier says:

      I’ve got Aya here and I’ve yet to figure out if she’s castoffable. I’m almost positive that she is not but I’ve seen pictures of her panties, which makes me wonder if I’m missing something.

  7. Wieselhead says:

    I packed these last months of the year with aquiring older figures, Haruhi from Max Factory Echidna from Megahouse, Fauna from ALTER, this cheap AmiAmi preowned stuff is dangerous.

    This Sena Kashiwazaki is sweet, if it weren’t made by ultra… manufacturer Griffon. I hate their cheap PVC material, most prominent at the skin parts. Yet the design is so cute.

    Alicia from Queen’s Blade Grimoire, also has nice design, but the pose is not alluring enough 🙁 This would be better http://www2.moeyo.com/img/12/11/23/2/203.html.

    This Nozomi Akiyama is really adorable, I like her petite look and also the look in her face is quite nice. I consider to get her,earlier or later.

    Im sure that you would like Index and maybe even Railgun, both are quite cool shows with likeable character and an interesting setting. funny that there are two new figures now.
    Kaori appears very flustered or should I say horny ;D Well, Kuroko is my Railgun favorite, I like that she’s such a tough twintail midget. She has always been a little pervert and now she is a bunny girl, interesting.

    High School DxD was a nice dumb fanservice show with strong female characters. It would have been kind of nice to see good figures from that show, too bad.

    Ah I already ordered Yui, she looks quite epic in that warning color colored dress and also the face looks beautiful like in the show. Hopefully Kotobukiya won’t forget to make me a nice Tarisa as well ^^

    Have you actually ordered the bunny suit Tamaki from Orca Toys? Im not sure I should pre order this figure or to wait for reviews at first. Well, but Im actually sure that I would like her.

    • Tier says:

      I forgot to check if Sena still uses the big black oval base that Griffon uses with just about all their figures. I think it’s about time for them to start making some better, smaller bases.

      I like this pose the best, myself XD Yeah, it’s not too exciting a pose; I like it but it’s not nearly as dynamic as it could be.

      I did watch the first episode of Railgun, with the shower scene and naked boob groping and stuff. Given that, it’s a bit odd that I didn’t keep watching it.

      Yeah, I did order bunny Tamaki. I’m really not sure what to expect; the preview at Moeyo looked really, really good, but then they put another Tamaki up for order and it looks, uhh, questionable (still trying to be nice here). I’ve got my fingers crossed for their first Tamaki.

      • Wieselhead says:

        Thats also an exquisite pose ;D The design of this figure is quite pretty, the pose is kept simple, something more creative would have been better.

        *lol* Railgun is cuter than Index with the mainly female cast, but I always preferred Index cause it’s more badass and action orientated.

        Ah good, she might turn out very good hopefully. The cat version Tamaki unfortunately looks not good in comparison.

        • Tier says:

          Action shows are good; I guess I might prefer Index as well, based on what I’ve seen, since the few Railgun episodes I’ve watched weren’t particularly heavy on combat. Having seen bunnysuit Nanoha in person now, I think I feel more inclined to get Kuroko, since Nanoha looks really nice.

  8. bear says:

    Meat Hunter
    Typical “Hooray Meat figure! Oh god why god why (Griffon)!” At this point, I firmly believe a real world Yozora is sabotaging all Meat PVC. I’m still hoping for a sexy Meat from Native or maybe Orchid Seed…

    Arches
    I feel indifferent towards her. I think it’s mostly her 80’s outfit and hairstyle that don’t work for me.

    Alicia
    She is definitely cast-offable. I remember seeing it in a magazine scan or promo poster. Let me see if I can find it. Here it is:
    http://myfigurecollection.net/image/Raithos1352328962.jpeg

    Ganessa
    While I love twintails, her outfit just doesn’t do it for me.

    Kaori Kanzaki
    Belts AND heavy asymmetry? Instant nope. Although she does have a very cute face and delicious breast reveal.

    Rias
    I haven’t liked any of her figures so far. I probably dislike her character design.

    Azalee and Violet
    I only own the original Violet. Didn’t bother with Azalee. These recolors don’t look nearly as good as the original. I think I got my Violet for $180’ish USD and she is definitely one of my favorite lewd figures.

    Yui Takamura
    The pads and braces of the Muv Luv suits interrupt the female curves in ways that I hate. The chin protectors are an especially huge turn-off.

    Kuroko
    I like her upper body pose, but what in the world is going on with the way her legs are bent?

    • Tier says:

      I wonder if Alter would make figures of Sena and Yozora (and the other girls from the show); their product range seems to overlap significantly with other manufacturers’ catalogs, so I could see them doing it (though I guess I don’t really expect it).

      MFC hates hotlinking, it seems, but I found the picture, or at least a picture of the magazine scan that shows her topless. Looks pretty good; I hope she’s not a colossal pain in the butt to castoff, like several Megahouse figures are.

      • bear says:

        Oh god, an Alter Sena figure would be a freaking miracle!

        If they make one, I hope it’s not yet another school uniform Sena. I’d love to see Sena in a sexy nightgown and/or lingerie, or maybe a revealing maid cosplay with short skirt and good ZR/cleavage.

        • Tier says:

          That would be very nice; for some reason, we don’t see a lot of lingerie figures; there are tons of swimsuit figures and figures with plain white panties, but not much in the way of fancy sleepwear. That’s sort of strange, given how anime figures (and anime in general) tend to cater to numerous specific fetishes.

  9. Halbred says:

    Ganessa’s on my radar as well. I was so impressed by Bridget that I couldn’t turn her down. Besides, the more 1/4th scale figures the better!

    • Tier says:

      Indeed! Though I kinda wish that FREEing would make 1/4 scale figures of the characters in their normal outfits, if they have good-looking normal outfits. Kuroko’s bunnysuit is pretty good, but I’d love a 1/4 scale Fate T. Harlaown figure in her shin sonic outfit. Though bunny Nanoha looks really nice and I’d guess Fate will too, so I can’t complain too much.

  10. BostonBrandon says:

    Very respectable line up though far more animal ears than I would have thought possible! Mind you I like cat and bunny ears on at least some of my girls. Ok, so something has been troubling me for the last few months and now seeing Arshes with this preorder I have to ask… are you not picking up Daiki’s Touko/Restraint Girl or what ever they’re calling her? I kind of had her pegged as a shoe in for you which I now see is fairly ironic as your “reputation” was brought up in this post.*hides eyes in shame*
    Also very happy to announce that I finally picked up a Queen’s Gate Alice but have had trouble with her feet fitting/lining up with her stand, any similar issues on your end? And finally have you seen the new tentacle stand shots on Moeyo?

    • Tier says:

      Tons of animal ears, which surprises even me, though I guess if they are articles of clothing, it bothers me less than if they are actually real (I’m still bothered by the ears on the Strike Witches girls, which is why I’ve only gotten one figure from that show). Nah, I actually didn’t get that figure, though I was tempted; I didn’t like the face too much and I figure that with some creativity, I could make my own restraints and thus turn any of my figures into a bondage figure.

      I don’t think I had any problems with Alice and her stand, though I certainly had problems with her guns. The knives coming out of her back don’t seem to stay in place too well, either. Sometimes you have to put a little force into getting a figure onto its stand and that always worries the hell out of me.

      I haven’t seen the new tentacle stand shots on Moeyo specifically, but I did see that they were making tentacles with eyeballs on the ends. If they made an even newer set of tentacles, then that would be something I have not yet seen.

      • BostonBrandon says:

        Come now, her face? Tuoko’s expression speaks in volume! Her face shows no ambiguity, her displeasure, her strength. This girl is pissed off and she won’t allow you parade over her at your own perverted leisure!

        • Tier says:

          Yeah, I didn’t like her face too much. I don’t like the shape of her neck or her shoulders, either; neck length is something that bugs me a lot ever since I found out Daiki lengthened gangsta lean Saber’s neck for some indiscernible reason. I do like her expression, though; she has a most appropriate sort of expression for that sort of figure, like she knows something’s going to happen to her that she might not enjoy.

  11. Aaron says:

    This is a post where most of the figures are figures that I am interested in.

    I may as well start with the ones I don’t like. Azalee and Violet have funny shaped faces to me and I don’t like them at all. I haven’t cared for any of the Freezing figures and Ganessa is no different. The same goes for Fate…I just don’t care for any of her designs.

    At first glance I like Arshes, but I think her breasts and super tight leotard look funny to me. I am just not a fan. The same can be said for Kaori, but in this one I think her design is too busy while the pose is bland as can be.

    Rias is just a step up above the last two and I am even putting her on my mfc wishlist, but I have no interest in purchasing her. There is something about the outfit and pose I really like, but her face just puts me off.

    I do like Sena though. I have Yozora on my wishlist and may grab her if she gets cheap and I think Sena is a better sculpt but I am not going to even think about buying her until I see a finished product because her paintjob looks so muted. It would have been nice for her nipples to be poking through too.

    Nozomi has a very sexy-sweet look to her and I love how she is shyly lifting her dress. I’m not picking her up but I can’t wait to see pictures.

    Yui is a figure I thought about ordering. She has a great ass and breasts, I love the sword and rubble, and I love the colors of her suit, but I cannot get past the stupid chinstrap and weird pieces that stick out of her hips. Because I like her design so much I may order the Figma version of her though. It makes me wonder if she can swap faces with my Racing Miku.

    Kuroko is another figure I am watching. I like the small chest and the pose because she can display her ass prominently. I think she does have the “I have to go to the bathroom” look going from certain angles though. I also wish her outfit was a different color as I think the black looks a little funny, but it may be because of the gloss paint.

    And finally Alicia. I have a hard time not pressing the pre-order button. She has everything going on for her, striped tights, cast off, a sword, nice hair, a more dynamic pose. The only thing I dislike about her is the shape of her face. I still may order her though.

    • Tier says:

      The face shape on the Dendrobium girls is also one of the reasons I didn’t buy them the first time around. I also thought their necks looked a bit too long. My opinion of both of them has improved since they’ve been released, but April’s a packed month.

      Sena’s sculpt looks really nice, which I don’t really expect of a Griffon figure, and her paintjob looks rather bland, which has definitely been part of my experience with Griffon’s stuff. I’m guessing that with such a short turnaround time from the start of preorders to release, she’ll look pretty much like what she looks like now. Erect nipples definitely would’ve been nice (also with pilot suit Yui; how can you have a suit that tight without her nipples poking up? You can even see her navel …)

      I’m hoping that someone will have a better preview of Kuroko; I really do like the promo photos, but I’m going to waffle until we see some preview shots somewhere.

  12. Aaron says:

    Tier, I am surprised you weren’t considering this for preorder.

    http://myfigurecollection.net/item/122999

    I know she is really expensive, and I have never played Xenosaga, but I really like her since she seems so epic.

    • Tier says:

      Ah, the Dollfie! Yeah, she is really, really nice. I really do like that doll a lot; if she were in her episode 1 outfit, I’d definitely get her. Well, almost definitely; that price tag is still a huge deterrent, as nice as she looks. As large as my collection is, I can’t drop that kind of scratch on a doll without some thought, particularly since Volks is kinda going cheap and making her triple Gatling gun an additional accessory that costs a ton of money by itself. Yeah, yeah, it’s a rather elaborate accessory and all but seriously, from what I understand, you could get an actual, working firearm for not much more money.

  13. Dvalinn says:

    The only figure I’m interested in from this list is that Yui. She’s gorgeous and Koto is doing great work with this line (their pilot suit Cryska is awesome too, so I’m getting that one as well). Pre-ordered her (for too much, like you, but whatever) and she’s definitely one of the figures I’m looking forward the most to right now.

    Most of the others I have no interest in because I haven’t seen the show (prerequisite for me), except for Index/Railgun and Haganai. Kanzaki is however a character I never really got into and while the Kuroko bunny is nice, she’s also huge and expensive. I like her, but not thát much. Now if they made a Saten version…

    As for Sena, I’ve got Koto’s version already and I generally don’t buy double characters. Regardless, Griffon’s version certainly is one of the better Sena’s around and she looks a lot more interesting than Megahouse,- and GSC’s boring versions.

    • Tier says:

      A Saten figure would be interesting and probably one that I’d be interested in; I wonder if they’ll make one of her. I suppose if they did, they’d have to make one of Uiharu as well and that might be a larger investment than they want to make. I didn’t watch Railgun for very long but I did like what I saw of Saten in the first episode; I heard that her character becomes somewhat morose later on, which I think was one thing that discouraged me from picking the show back up.

      I actually had those two exact rules for collecting as well, but I had to give them up a year or so after I started collecting figures. The rule about getting more than one figure of a character was one that I really wanted to stick to, but then there was this one Rei Ayanami figure I wanted a lot (it might’ve been the Yamato Shunya Yamashita-inspired one) and that rule went out the window.

      • Dvalinn says:

        Well, while most of the drama in the show is revolving around Saten, she never goes full emo mode though. It’s all part of her character arc which ultimately makes her a stronger person (and a memorable character) but she never really loses her playful self. Hence why I like her a lot. But yeah, they’d have to make a set with Uiharu, and I think she’s the least popular out of the four, so they might not want to. Oh well, fingers crossed for me, because Saten would be the first giant bunnygirl I’d be truly interested in (most of the others have been from shows I never watched).

        I’m tempted to bend the rules on my one figure per character rule myself sometimes, especially regarding prize figs; I collect a lot of those and sometimes I’m tempted to replace some of them (the characters I really like) with scaled versions of better quality. Not to mention some characters get a wide variety in figures that all look interesting. The rule about only buying characters I know and like will forever stand though, because I find it impossible to get interested in characters I don’t know, no matter how pretty they are.

  14. nagisa says:

    2013 can be a very skimpy year for scale figs I guess, but surprises always come at the back door. Looking at the se:kirara lineup, perhaps they will complete the set. Your choices; as usual is not so surprising but the lack of any Nanoha movie second figures next year worries me….a lot. Also SAO related figs will surely flood for a few more months.

    • Tier says:

      I am rather surprised that it’s taking a while to see those Sword Art figures; that seems to be the show that everyone is watching, along with that one show with the eyepatch girl … uhh, shoot, what is it called … Chuunibyou something, I think it’s called. Personally, I hope Vividred Operation gets a bunch of figures; I don’t know much about the show but looking at the promo artwork, it seems to meet most of my requirements with respect to what I like in anime.

      • nagisa says:

        Vividred? That show came from the guys who created strike witches so the premise will be pretty much the same, I think and if this one sells, figures will surely follow. Now I wonder why alter is taking so much time finishing the entire witches and they even tend to make a 2.0 of sorts for some characters. Chuuni figs will be a great treat for its fans as well but how I wish that kyo-ani does not monopolize the figure license.

  15. I own the original Violet (still want Azalee, but no money) and I’m glad I got her. She’s easily one of the finest figures in my collection which shocked me since my other Yamato figures are so horrible. Not loving the new recolors. If they were going to change the outfit colors, they should’ve changed the hair as well. The pink/blue hair and eyes just don’t look right with the black/white outfits.

    I do like the cute little pink phone Azalee has.

    • Tier says:

      I wonder why they changed the colors for the reissue. Violet seems more acceptable, since her clothes look sorta like a very abbreviated maid uniform, but Azalee looks kinda like she’s dressed for a funeral.

  16. Cantan says:

    I have largely stopped buying figures these days. The lead times are so long these days that I have generally lost interest by the time that they are actually released. That and the prices remain as restrictive as ever; particularly for anyone in a jurisdiction with overzealous customs officials who slap import tarrifs on anything and everything. I did order the Fate EC dakimakura in the end, but apart from the long awaited Orchidseed Ignis, my order book is empty.

    My last couple of orders from E2046 were pretty uninspiring with limited detail. Think there casts aren’t too great anymore.

    It would take something pretty unusual for me to want to cough up.

    Of the figures you have identified, Arshes Nei was the only one I was drawn to when I first saw it but that waned pretty quick. Not sure if I have any Griffon figures but their reputation is so poor from the overly cutesy ikki tousen range that I have always givrn them a wide bearth.

    I have noticed that Tokyo Hunter seem to have taken their eye off the ball recently. I was intending to order leviathan from the 7 sins range after you showed her but they never opened a preorder for her. Might have a look on Mandarake once she is released if she seems any good, but TH had a period of 2+ monthd where they didn’t seem to take any new orders at all from what i could see.

    In terms of possible orders i do like the look of the Alphamax Muv Luv figure – i forget the name. Just wish the preorder waits weren’t so long!

    • Tier says:

      Seems like quite a few people have lost interest in figures, or at least have greatly curtailed their spending. I haven’t done so yet, but I just got three in-stock notices from Hobby Search and I’m asking myself whether I really need so many figures, given that I have so many that I haven’t even opened yet.

      Tokyo Hunter did ship one of my orders just a few days ago but yeah, it seems like they’re also cutting back; I had thought about ordering Native’s Sexual Police figure but Tokyo Hunter didn’t carry it and I didn’t really feel like putting in a special order, so I passed on it (if I change my mind, Native figures seem to not be too difficult to get in the United States). I guess when Joseph Tsai left, the remaining partners might not have wanted to commit too strongly to the company or something, I dunno.

      Uhh, lessee, I guess the names would be Yui Takamura or Cryska Barchenowa. I’m definitely looking forward to the Kotobukiya figures of both.

  17. Nightmare says:

    I remember joking about the possibility of Sena and Yozora in their crazy battle garbs and now it’s a coincidental fact. While I still find the GSC version to be the best one in terms of overall execution I will agree that Griffon nearly nailed the face with their offering.

    Speaking of faces, the Secret Elephant in the room won me over almost entirely thanks to the painted version of Native’s dreadful prototype shown at WonFes. They seldom disappoint, although I’m not too sure about the face on their latest announcement. The preorder deadline may be officially over for the Sexual Police but I’m sure she can still be fetched somewhere if you’d feel inclined to shoot both an elephant and a dove.

    A great thing about Ganessa, besides being a 1/4 sculpt, is the way you can combine her with Rana so they don’t take up half the room. I really dig the pose but the official shots do not make her justice with all that dull light.

    I’d never grab Yui myself but I will be looking forward to your reviews of her and Cryska in their spiffy suits. Your Samus review was one of this year’s highlights for me review wise in where I felt that your work really shined, no horrible pun intended.

    • Tier says:

      I’m assuming you are talking about the second Mahou Shoujo girl … I can’t remember her name off the top of my head, although I think I should, since if I remember right, she shares a name with at least one other notable anime character. I thought about listing her here and I did think about ordering her … maybe I still am, actually. I wasn’t super-fond of her face or her bony body structure, but there’s something about her I really, really like; sort of like gangsta lean Saber.

      Yeah, Rana’s promo shots really did not look impressive; in fact, I was kinda hesitant to get her because of that. Satellizer (and Ingrid) are great, though, so I’m sure Rana will also turn out fine.

      I wonder what I’m going to do with the pilot suit girls; I don’t really have a great set for either of them, I think. If I remember right, the promo shots seemed to show them sitting around rubble, and I guess I’ve got a decent rubble/ruin set, although it’s a pain in the ass to set up and clean up.

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