Category Archives: Figure Review

Triela from Gunslinger Girl

written on September 5, 2011 by Tier

It’s girls with guns time. I’m a big fan of the genre in anime but I skipped over Gunslinger Girl entirely. I like girls with guns but there’s an unstated qualifier there – which is to say, I like attractive girls with guns, and the cast of Gunslinger Girl does not exactly drip with sex appeal. However, the boxy heads and rectangular eyes of the characters appear to be peculiar to the anime, and this figure features a more conventional face – a welcome decision that shifts the principal focus from the atypical facial proportions to the attractiveness of the character and in particular, the mood that she expresses.
Continue reading →

Posted in Figure Review | Tagged 1/8 scale, Figures, Good Smile Company, gun, gunslinger girl, Review, triela | 29 Comments

Heat Blade from Tsukasa Bullet (NSFW)

written on August 25, 2011 by Tier

I placed my order for Heat Blade with Hobby Search on June 15, 2010. She was originally scheduled for a fall release, but that got pushed back, and back, and back, and it was not until just this month that she finally hit stores. In the period between the placement of my order and the writing of this post, the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks won NBA championships, the governments of Tunisia, Egypt, and (effectively) Libya fell to populist revolutions, the NFL went through a lockout, Japan was devastated by an earthquake, the collective manhood of Washington, D.C. was devastated by an earthquake, Charlie Sheen somehow got fifteen minutes of fame despite already being famous, the exchange rate dropped from 91 to 77 yen to the dollar, and I wrote 58 figure reviews. And one tentacle stand review. What a busy time it’s been.
Continue reading →

Posted in Figure Review | Tagged 1/6 scale, armor, Figures, heat blade, jun tsukasa, Review, sword, thong, Yamato | 32 Comments

Fate Testarossa from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha (Ichiban Kuji Version)

written on August 15, 2011 by Tier

Banpresto Fate Testarossa from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Figure Review

Fate Testarossa is undoubtedly one of the most visible characters in anime culture, and it’s no surprise that figure makers turn to her again and again. For example, Alter is on schedule to release or re-release five figures of her this year alone – an astonishing number for a character who doesn’t even take top billing in her show. Lesser-known scale figure manufacturers also enjoy showing love to Fate; this particular figure comes from Banpresto, who I know more for making trading-sized figures and mecha toys than 1/7 scale figures. Regardless of my unfamiliarity with Banpresto’s products, I have a mandate to be the world’s biggest Fate fan who hasn’t actually watched her television series, and so I went ahead and picked this one up.
Continue reading →

Posted in Figure Review | Tagged 1/7 scale, axe, banpresto, fate testarossa, Figures, magical girl lyrical nanoha, Review | 28 Comments

Haruka Morishima from Amagami

written on August 9, 2011 by Tier

Here we have a figure from Amagami SS, a school romance show featuring a male lead who sleeps in a closet. Ordinarily, I’d rather have nothing to do with a harem-based school romance show, given how bad Princess Lover! was and how bad Mayo Chiki! is looking to be, but one guess should suffice to divine what aspect of this figure enticed me enough to buy it.
Continue reading →

Posted in Figure Review | Tagged 1/7 scale, amagami, Figures, haruka morishima, Max Factory, Review, swimsuit | 38 Comments

Charlotte Yeager from Strike Witches

written on July 24, 2011 by Tier

The love that some people have for certain anime character traits can be a funny thing. There are entire communities dedicated to some particular aspect, like flat chests, or glasses, or the tsundere archetype, or tentacle violation. Equally funny is the fervor with which some people will champion their chosen fetishes. There are some people who will lash out with unbridled hostility if you dare attack their favorite things. I’m definitely among their number – insult my doll collection and I will hate you forever.

Nonetheless, I will go ahead and simply say it – I really don’t like animal ears on anime characters. They bug the hell out of me. No, I don’t know why I feel that way – one may as well ask why my favorite food is my favorite or why I hate certain sports teams or musical groups or waking up early or why I go absolutely ballistic if somebody driving slower than me passes in front of my car. It’s just the way things are.
Continue reading →

Posted in Figure Review | Tagged 1/8 scale, Alter, charlotte yeager, Figures, gun, Review, strike witches | 36 Comments

Rei Ayanami from Neon Genesis Evangelion (Volks Figure Figure Version)

written on July 18, 2011 by Tier

The child-soldiers of Neon Genesis Evangelion comprise some of the most recognizable characters in anime, and figure makers show no signs of jumping off of the Rei and Asuka gravy train. Thus, here’s another figure of Rei. Plugsuit, wreckage, blank stare, blue afro, you’ve seen it all before. Actually, wait – you probably haven’t ever seen this figure. Imagine that.
Continue reading →

Posted in Figure Review | Tagged 1/6 scale, bodysuit, Figures, neon genesis evangelion, plugsuit, rei ayanami, Review, volks | 83 Comments

Super Sonico from Nitroplus (Bondage Version) (NSFW)

written on July 8, 2011 by Tier

Every now and then, you will see a whole bunch of figure makers schedule figures of the same character or from the same series all at about the same time. This happened with Ignis a few years back, when Alter, Orchid Seed, and Max Factory dropped their figures within a few months of each other, and with Haruka Takamori, when Alter, Volks, and Kotobukiya all released figures that looked very similar to each other, all at about the same time. And now it’s happened with Sonico, although Orchid Seed’s Sonico looks very much different than Yamato’s Sonico. Both of Yamato’s Sonicos, actually.
Continue reading →

Posted in Figure Review | Tagged 1/7 scale, Figures, guitar, hentai, nitroplus, Orchid Seed, Review, super sonico, thong | 29 Comments

Gotou Matabei from Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls

written on June 30, 2011 by Tier

And back to fighting girl figures. A number of great fighting girl figures have been released this year, which is enormously gratifying. Quite a few of them aren’t wearing pants or skirts, which is also very pleasing. One such figure is presented here, and while Matabei took a bit of additional hassle to acquire, it’s easy to see why she was worth the effort.
Continue reading →

Posted in Figure Review | Tagged 1/8 scale, Alter, Figures, fundoshi, gotou matabei, hyakka ryouran samurai girls, Review, spear, thong | 45 Comments

Nymph from Sora no Otoshimono (Plum Version)

written on June 25, 2011 by Tier

While I buy lots of figures, a quick glance at my collection indicates that I tend to buy figures of older characters who are often wielding weapons. You won’t find that many loli characters on my shelves, for the simple reason that while I don’t dislike them, they’re not really my thing. I usually like characters that are a bit older. So why did I buy this figure of Nymph? A careful and deliberate examination of the image above will reveal the reason.
Continue reading →

Posted in Figure Review | Tagged 1/6 scale, Figures, flat chest, nymph, plum, Review, sora no otoshimono, wings | 27 Comments

Maxima Enfield from Shining Hearts

written on June 19, 2011 by Tier

Another day, another figure from Sega’s Shining franchise. Personally, I’d like to see figures of Tao and Anri and Amon and May, but I’m quite certain they are never going to be made. It’s a shame that the figure hobby didn’t really take off before the last few years; maybe Sega could’ve saved their hardware division with their figure licensing profits.
Continue reading →