Preorder Outlook XXXVII

The hope was to get a figure post up before the weekend but since paint and plaster take way too long to dry, we’ll talk about some upcoming figures that I’m thinking about ordering instead. We’ve got a few figures from the big new sexy thing – Kantai Collection, of course – and a few from some storied, old-school series. The great thing is that most of these figures are pretty big; I think there’s only one 1/8 scale figure on this list, actually. Let’s take a look at them.

October

Kasumi from Dead or Alive 5
I was surprised to see this figure, and I was even more surprised to learn that Kasumi is being produced by Griffon Enterprises. I was more than a bit dismayed as well, I have to admit, but even so, she still looks like a really nice figure. I guess I kinda prefer the older, anime-style faces rather than the more realistic faces introduced in DOA5, but Kasumi still looks nice. And she’s 1/6 scale. And she’s being fast-tracked, with her release date set for just two months from now. I’m guardedly optimistic about this figure and I’d even say I’m looking forward to receiving it, even if I can’t entirely set aside my misgivings.

December

Asmodeus from the 7 Deadly Sins
It appears that the 7 Deadly Sins girls are getting figures that present them in sexy, humorous, or otherwise out-of-character (at least, with respect to them being named after demons and other entities of evil) costumes. Asmodeus is being squeezed into a bunnygirl outfit, which I guess is not entirely out-of-character since she’s supposed to embody the emotion of lust or somesuch. It still looks a little silly, but that’s fairly typical for Hobby Japan characters. She seems to have lost a few inches off her bustline, too. I’m kinda thinking about this one; I guess maybe I should open up Asmodeus’s first figure (which I have stashed in my closet somewhere) and see how much I like it. Like that earlier figure, this second Asmodeus is a Hobby Japan exclusive and thus will necessitate going through a proxy service or a specialty retailer to purchase, but neither of those methods is all that difficult.

Katanako from Samurai 2020
The first Katanako was quite well-received, which surprises me a bit since she’s not particularly distinctive – schoolgirls in school uniforms are hardly scarce, even ones wielding two-meter long (scaled down, anyway) killing swords – and she had unusual features and an elongated physique that some collectors didn’t care for. However, something about her must be appealing because her aftermarket prices have exploded since her release. I like the original figure a lot, but I kinda like this one better. Maybe it’s because she’s blonde, or maybe it’s because her colors are a little bolder and a little more unusual. Thinking about it more and more, I really like her new colors. Maybe I should see if I can hock the old one while it still has some value and get this one instead.

January

Satellizer L. Bridget from Freezing Vibration
This is obviously a great figure, and the addition of Elizabeth will only make it better. The only thing I would have liked to have seen changed is her outfit; she’s wearing the same outfit as she did in the first Sexy Version figure. Given her pose and her portrayal in the series, something like a bondage outfit – like the one she wore on her official dakimakura cover – would have been nice. Oh well; Satellizer and Elizabeth are still instant preorders for me.

February

Excellen Browning from Super Robot Wars
Ah, the Japanese portrayal of an American girl – we’ve got most of it here. Blonde hair? Check. Big-ass boobs? Check. Narrow waist and meaty hips and legs? Check. An assertive and extroverted personality? You can’t really tell from this figure, but all that is there, too. She’s just missing a cowboy hat and a cheeseburger. And perhaps a football, being that American-rules football is perhaps the most popular religion in the United States. At any rate, Excellen looks fantastic. She’s also 1/6 scale, which makes her even better. I’m definitely looking forward to this figure. (As a side note, I really appreciate how Alphamax provides a ton of promo shots with each of their figures. I wish companies like Max Factory and FREEing would take notice of that.)

Nichika Towano from GWAVE 2012 2nd Memories
Daiki Kougyou occasionally makes figures of some really obscure characters. At first I thought that this character might be from an old-school visual novel but she’s actually a cover girl of a compilation CD of eroge themes, I think (which I’m now interested in, since there have been a few eroge and H-anime songs that I’ve really liked). I really like this figure, too, and I’m pretty sure I’m going to order it. I’m a little surprised that she’s got a fairly conventional look to her; sometimes Daiki Kougyou likes making figures that look a little strange (gangsta lean Saber perhaps being their most well-known example, or at least it was a few years ago).

April

I-168 from Kantai Collection
It’s been amusing watching figure companies trip over themselves trying to capitalize on the Kantai Collection figures. We’ve seen two companies put out nearly the same exact figure of Kongo and now we see the same thing happening with I-168, except FREEing’s figure is 1/4 scale, colossally larger than Max Factory’s diminutive 1/8 scale rendition. Certainly Max Factory’s figure will feature more adept sculpting and finer painting, but big is big; in my estimation, there is no substitute for size. This is the one I’m rolling with. (As a side note, FREEing’s I-168 ain’t cheap, but her price is relatively typical for a 1/4 scale PVC figure. However, Max Factory’s 1/8 scale Kongo is nearly the same price, and I wonder how expensive their I-168 will be.)

Yamato Kai from Kantai Collection
It’s also been amusing to observe the price tags affixed to those Kantai Collection figures. I’m not that interested in most of them as I don’t like many of them, particularly since they are generally patterned after the official artwork and I generally like the fanart much more. It seems that even GSC and Max Factory realized how exorbitant those prices are because they’re rolling out this version of Yamato, titled the “Light Armament” version. I guess that’s a nice gesture since the more heavily-armed version is nearly twice the price. I think I prefer this version anyway, as it’ll take up less space and I’m really much more interested in the girl rather than the gun turrets.

May

Asuka Langley Shikinami from Neon Genesis Evangelion
Alter’s Asuka figure is (hopefully) due to be released soon, but there’s another Asuka figure on the horizon. This one is by Amakuni and although it features a different plugsuit design, it has the same sort of pose, one that immediately directs the eye to the backside. A little bit exploitative? Surely, but I’m not going to argue. Like a few of the figures listed above, Asuka is 1/6 scale, which I’m very happy to see. Unfortunately, like Asmodeus, she’s a Hobby Japan exclusive but again, she shouldn’t be too hard to find for anyone who really wants to buy her.

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21 Responses to Preorder Outlook XXXVII

  1. Lord_Frivolous says:

    That Satellizer Bridgette figurine is huge. 1/4 and 40cm tall. I don’t have any of this size as yet. BTW, what is this figurine that’s displayed on amiami.com listing, 5th picture, sitting on top of her bum? Same character perhaps, but different pose? I’m not familiar with this series.

    • HIKARI says:

      I think your are talking about Elizabeth Mably. She is from the same anime Freezing as well.

    • Tsunami3k says:

      The other figure is of Elizabeth Mably which will presumably come out a bit later. Tier’s probably safe in presuming that Elizabeth will turn out fine but I’m going to verify that she looks as good as Bridgette before I commit since I absolutely want them as a pair.

      • Tier says:

        I kinda thought they’d go up for order at the same time, since the ability to pair them up is a pretty big draw. I wonder how Elizabeth is going to stay seated on top of Satelllizer’s ass? The promo photo doesn’t show anything, but I can’t imagine that that’s a stable setting.

    • Tier says:

      She’s actually 40 centimeters in length but yeah, she’s going to be enormous. One really has to see a 1/4 scale figure in person just to see how big they are. Or I guess the next time I review a 1/4 scale figure, I could stick a typically-sized 1/8 scale figure next to it, maybe.

      Yeah, that other character is Elizabeth Mably, another British girl from Freezing. She doesn’t do much in the first season aside from swim and sit around naked, but she has a larger role in the second season, I think; I don’t know for sure because I have not yet found the stomach to watch it.

  2. Aya says:

    I really doubt kasumi will looks good but yeah shall find out after the release, I do really looks forward when you reviewing the Satellizer 😀 can’t wait pictures you will made with her 😀

    • Tier says:

      Yeah, my expectations are not high, though I suppose that’s not an enormously bad thing for a figure that I am already certain I’m going to buy; it sucks to get a figure that turns out worse than you expect. If Griffon can make the figure reasonably close to the same quality shown in the promo photos, I’ll be very pleased.

      I’m looking forward to receiving and reviewing Satellizer, too; of all the figures I’ve seen I don’t think I’ve seen one more perfect than her for pairing up with the tentacle stand.

  3. Tsunami3k says:

    Now that’s an Asmodeus I can get into! The other one was just too busty for my tastes but she’s never left my wishlist because, well, she still looks good. But this new one, which I didn’t know about until now, is quite nice!

    Definitely going for the “heavy” Yamato if I can swing the cost (which means I may simply not get it despite the fact that I really want it). She’ll pair nice with the one Wo-class lass I’ve committed to from this series along with whatever else strikes my fancy from this franchise. I’m really enjoying the abundance of high-grade figures to choose from vs. the usual smattering of a few token renditions of the main characters plus a slew of prize figures.

    Hmm, Mrs. Daiki seems to be cast-off…that plus a swimming float invokes a strangely intoxicating aura about her. I suppose that’s a natural symptom of the blood rushing from my nostrils at the thought.

    I hadn’t seen that Asuka before. I had planned on ordering the upcoming Asuka by Alter but it’s been inexplicably “Out of Stock” everywhere for the majority of its preorder tenure. Seems like amateurish supply/demand manipulation which usually only means I end up forgetting about a figure or buying something else. Case in point, this one looks like a viable alternative exuding all of the qualities that give Asuka her unique appeal.

    Gotta behave on the figure front for the near-term though. Ikea is coming to town in a couple of weeks and I plan to put a big dent in their Detolf cache.

    • Tier says:

      Yeah, that’s one reason why I haven’t reviewed the first Asmodeus figure; those spherical breasts look kinda weird to me (though admittedly, the larger reason is that I have no idea what kind of background I want to use with her). The new one seems to have nicer body proportions, at least in terms of my preferences. Interestingly, there’s some promo art which I guess is going to be supplied with some bonus item (a poster or a tapestry or something, I guess) which shows her with much smaller breasts; I wonder if the artist goofed or something.

      It does seem like there’s going to be a huge selection of Kantai Collection figures to pick from. That’s one reason I haven’t ordered any yet, aside from the big-ass I-168 figure; I’m going to just wait until I see the perfect figure for each character that I want. I don’t really like any of the Shimakaze figures so I don’t think I’m getting any of them, but I’m sure someone will make one that I like; likewise, I think I’ll just wait for Max Factory’s Nagato figure, since I am not sure if Penguin Parade’s figure will be as good (well, I’m pretty sure it won’t, but I could be surprised).

      The Daiki Kougyou figure does indeed have a removable swimsuit, which I guess explains why Amazon JP won’t ship the audio CD that her artwork was used for to overseas customers. Weird, that.

      Asuka is still a super-popular girl despite having so many figures; I was surprised that the aftermarket prices on the Max Factory figure released a couple years ago are so high, since there’s no shortage of figures (or other products) to pick from. I guess it’s not too surprising that the Alter figure has had its preorders closed up, since it’s a good-looking figure and Alter has not really offered that many enticing products in recent times. I mean, unless one collects all those figures of dudes or something. I really like the Hobby Japan one though I really would have preferred her original plugsuit, which is about as classic a design as any in anime.

  4. Wieselhead says:

    Asmodeus looks better in this fashion, a bit playful sexy is the right thing for her ^^
    I think they made her look stunning in that dress and with lots of skin, her curvy body gets a lot of attention. I somehow can’t believe that I will receive Mammon next month, it feels like ages since I’ve ordered her. I’m really relieved that I’m still interested in her, it’s not the case with all my preorders for this month unfortunately.

    The pose of Satellizer L. Bridget is great, it brings more variety to the 1/4 scale in general,
    also great that she can be combined with another one, can’t really remember how she looked haha.

    Nichika Towano is actually an appealing figure, but the tounge out makes her so silly,
    quite a shame since her body and pose look fantastic 🙁

    Im not that convinced by the Yamato figure as a whole, sure she looks pretty and I like her a lot in the game. The face is somewhat square cute and I don’t like her enough for such a price. Generally speaking I won’t mind to get the light version, it’s kind of them to offer it like that. Even though some people complain that the figure looks lame without guns, what I can’t really agree with.

    Well,I hope I can withstand a few more kancolle figures like this, once they announce some destroyers I probably can’t resist that easily. I agree with you that the character fanart is much more appealing, than most ingame based designs, the submarines, have rather more lively illustrations and show emotion, though.I don’t like I 58 swollen foot, but Max Factories other too are already a planned purchase, these two will look great together ^^ Freeings 168 was promising to me at first, but in compomparison her face is not in the same league as the smaller ones face.

    Another Asuka, that will never stop, even though ALTER’s version with the hat is the best what came around recently. With 26 cm, the 1/6 scale might turn out a bit underwhelming, but her appearance is quite nice with her giant spear.

    • Tier says:

      Haha, yeah, Mammon was a bit much for me so I didn’t buy her, though she is very pretty. I haven’t ordered Satan yet, either. I guess I should probably take some of my 7 Deadly Sins figures out of their boxes already … I don’t think I’ve photographed a single one yet.

      The other figure is Satellizer! They look great together, though they do look a bit similar, being big-breasted blondes; it kinda seems like in Japanese anime, character designers like to go for a little more contrast. (Though I suppose Freezing is technically Korean.)

      Yeah, I’m not so sure about Yamato either, or most of the Kantai Collection figures that have been shown off thus far. I-168 has more appeal to me because of her size but Max Factory’s Kongo is too expensive and their I-58 does have that weird chubby lower leg problem. I haven’t seen a Shimakaze figure yet that I really like.

      I’m wondering why Rei isn’t getting as many figures, it used to be that if someone made a figure of Asuka, they’d also make one of Rei, but she seems to be a bit forgotten, which is strange since there was a time when she appeared to be Evangelion’s main girl.

  5. Cerberus says:

    I want to see your old Asmodeus review. plus, where’s your Lineage2 Dark Elf from Maxfactory? you showed that one picture in your year end recap and then the full review never actually come out 🙂
    About Yamato, the big gun turrets on these battleships give them good excuse to increase the price, and they made the heavy version GSC online shore limited and never give you discount when pre-order. I hate whenever they make things exclusive. To me this heavy and light versions biz seems to trick buyers to pay more than they should. They are trying to scare buyers with the crazy price on the heavy one and make you feel pretty happy to see the light one is only about half price, while either version should be tagged only 80% of its current price at most. There are most ships to come and let’s see if they still use this trick.
    Freeing’s I-168 on the contrary, was given great price I believe. It’s only “slightly” more expensive than regular 1/4 but with lots of fun parts. It’s with cast-offable shirt and replace face so it’s basically two figures at the price of one.

    • Tier says:

      Ahahahaha … I did post that one teaser picture, didn’t I? Yeah, I should get on that one of these days. I even kinda have the background thought up but I’m not sure how well it will work. I probably should just get it done whether or not it matches what I have in mind.

      Yeah, I kinda had the same feeling about Yamato; I didn’t know that the version with the guns is already available for ordering and thus it seemed a little deceptive to put the cheaper figure in normal retail stores. Considering how almost every GSC and Max Factory figure seems to hit the bargain bin in fairly short order, I think I’ll feel comfortable waiting for Yamato to get a discount (and it it doesn’t, it’s not really a big deal to me). I do agree that I-168 looks really neat, though, with the removable clothes and the extra face. The Max Factory one will certainly be prettier but it will not have nearly the same kind of shelf presence that a 1/4 scale figure will have.

  6. Steve Chen says:

    Tier
    I’m posting this issue here but as a headsup of sorts. I wear spectacles and am not sure if its just my eyes or Kotobukiya has changed the materials (lessen the content?) of their figures. If by chance you had ordered a Tony Taka themed Shining Ark figure 1/8 figure Kilmaria Aideen, could you give it a closer look see as the plastic looks kind of translucent unlike their Shining Hearts Maxima.

    • Tier says:

      Nah, it’s not just you, they definitely did something to the skin tones of their figures. Daisy has the same issue or feature or whatever you want to call it. I don’t really mind it but my man Fabienne really does not like it. I didn’t order Kilmaria Aideen from Hobby Search but I might pick it up once it hits US stores, since Kotobukiya figures are sometimes a little cheaper here.

      • Steve Chen says:

        So it’s becoming prevalent huh? And another thing, been collecting for the last few years 1/8 QB figs. Lately, it’s been 1/6 and 1/7. Comparing the 1/6 to the 1/8, Kilmaria, I’m starting to see how scale does matter when appreciating their “beauty”.

        • Tier says:

          Yeah, it’s pretty common; assuming I understand what Kilmaria looks like, Daisy’s skin tone definitely has that semi-translucent look. It’s a little odd to notice at first but it’s not too big a deal to me.

          Perhaps it’s because I collected 1/6 scale dolls before I got into figures, but I really prefer the larger-sized figures. I’m pretty happy to see that there are a lot of nice 1/6 scale figures coming out, especially stuff like Excellen, Alter’s Range Murata girl, and Kasumi (I really hope she doesn’t turn out too poorly).

          • Steve Chen says:

            Just a heads up Tier. Just received my Kasumi. Overall a nice figur BUT………..somewhere along the way, Griffon did some minute changes. Her eyes for instance. I’m not sure if its my eyes ( I wear graded specs) but they sort of shrunk by a few mm. They (intentionally (?) made her more japanese looking. The box picture shows her eyes to be much wider. Also, she is lacking a few lashes on the lower lid.
            Another thing, her skin lone, they remind me of the Kotobukiya pale transluscent look.

            And her pony tail, angled 45 degress lower than her box pic (no instruction if the tail can be manually adjuste (and I don’t like to risk it).

          • Tier says:

            I didn’t really pay much attention to how she compares with the box photos (apart from a cursory check to see if she looked noticeably worse), but yeah, I wish her eyes were larger.

  7. Really not a fan of the new look of the characters in dead or alive 5 but Kasumi was never my go-to girl so I was never really interested. If they make an Ayane or Lei-Fang, then let me know… Or Hitomi… Or Momiji…

    Satellizer is a bit of a weird one. She looks nice but she’d never do a pose like that! I was very impressed by the swimsuit for Excellen. You don’t usually get swimsuit figures which show the costume as taut. They usually are shown as skintight, even the straps in bikinis. Of course, they did have to choose a swimsuit to emphasize this tho…
    And is it just me or does Asmodeus really give off a Rias Gremory vibe from High School DXD?

    But I’m not going to be pre-ordering any figure for a while… Damn Volks lottery.

    • Tier says:

      Yeah, I don’t mind the new, more realistic designs but I really prefer the anime-style look instead. It kinda makes the DOA characters look kinda like Tekken characters or something. I like Kasumi a lot, though mainly since she tends to get kicked around in all the DOA doujinshi that’s out there (there used to be a ton; I guess they don’t make as much as they used to, though). My favorite DOA character is Lisa but I’m not really expecting anyone to ever make a figure of her.

      Maybe she might! I skimmed over the episode where she meets up with her foster brother and I was kinda hoping they’d go a little further with it. And get rid of Kazuya. Yeah, the strappy suit was a great choice for Excellen; I’m sure that they deliberately picked a design with a strap gap. I always think it’s kinda funny when a figure has garter straps that are glued to the skin, as if elastic straps always stay fixed in place. Yeah, now that you mention it, Asmodeus does look a bit like Rias with lighter-colored hair, particularly with her much-reduced bust size. Now I really feel like I ought to take out and review the older Asmodeus figure, just to see how strange her bust looks.

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