Tag Archives: Yamato

Cyril Brooklyn from Pieces 2 (NSFW)

written on March 7, 2014 by Tier
Cyril Brooklyn from Pieces 2

And it’s back to figure reviews – delayed due to an annoyingly persistent case of the flu. Winter’s end cannot come too soon. Today we’ll be looking at Cyril Brooklyn, a character that comes from the artwork of renowned artist Masamune Shirow. Shirow is best-known for creating the series Ghost in the Shell, and his style is perhaps most closely associated with that of the 1980s and 1990s. It seems appropriate, then, that this figure is manufactured by Arcadia – the reincarnation of Yamato Toys, who were well-known for their Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Macross Plus, and Macross 7 toys. Figures based on his illustrations are not all that common, but fans of his art now have this one, the previously-released Iris Hallett, and the upcoming Daiki Kougyou figure of Nanal Grahambury. It’s not exactly an embarrassment of riches, but it’s nice to see his work get some love from the figure makers.
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Aegis from Persona 3 (SIF EX Maid Uniform Version)

written on October 14, 2013 by Tier
Aegis figure from Persona 3

As anyone who follows the news knows by now, when one lives in a time that requires decisive action and heroic effort, the American thing to do is to call it a day and shut it down. Eventually, however, one does need to get back to work. Theoretically, anyway. (If anyone is curious, I recently bought a new video card and have been busying myself with various MMOs and getting Skyrim to work.) A number of nice new figures have recently been released, and we’ll be looking at some of them in the upcoming days and weeks, but for now, I have a ton of figures piled up waiting for review and Aegis is one of them. Let’s take a quick look at her.
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Doll Review – vmf50 Shiho

written on March 24, 2013 by Tier
vmf50 Shiho by Yamato

Yamato’s vmf50 lineup hasn’t always had a clear identity. Its closest analogues – Azone’s original and Hybrid Active Figure series and Volks’s Dollfie Dream line – have, in contrast, clearly-defined target markets. The Dollfie Dream and HAF dolls are generally modeled after characters from anime culture, whereas Azone’s original dolls are simply happy-looking female characters, with the occasional scowling Goth-loli character thrown in on occasion. The vmf50 series is, however, much like Yamato’s larger product line: all over the place. At first, it seemed like they were interested in appealing to anime fans, and their early dolls, such as Risa and Yumi, featured anime-like styling. Then they made a doll of Nitroplus mascot Super Sonico, which was quite unexpected, at least by me. Subsequently, they switched over to using artificial eyes in their newer dolls and introduced a host of body types, principally distinguished by bust and leg size. After observing their product line for the last several years, I think one can simply say that Yamato wanted to make really sexy dolls, with costumes and characteristics that frequently strayed into ero classification. This doll, named Shiho, is one of the more overt examples, as can obviously be seen.
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Felicia Andress from the Fantasy Figure Gallery

written on September 21, 2011 by Tier
Felicia Andress from the Fantasy Figure Gallery Review

Continuing the girls with guns theme, this is a saucily-dressed character named Felicia Andress. She’s a figure sculpted by a Japanese artist and manufactured by a Japanese company, but the box says Yamato USA and as part of their Fantasy Figure Gallery collection, she is clearly targeted at a western audience. Personally, though, I think that regardless of where you come from, what color your skin might be, what religion you believe in or even what gender you belong to, everybody can appreciate and respect an ass like Felicia’s.
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Heat Blade from Tsukasa Bullet (NSFW)

written on August 25, 2011 by Tier
Yamato Heat Blade Figure Review

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.
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Doll Review – vmf50 Super Sonico (NSFW)

written on May 21, 2011 by Tier
Yamato's vmf50 Super Sonico

Yamato’s vmf50 line continues apace, with the company having recently released Image Girl #5 Ami and having shown off a couple of concept dolls at Doll Show 31. And Super Sonico’s popularity continues apace, with both Orchid Seed and Yamato having released PVC figures of her this week and with her game SoniComi scheduled for release this August. And even before all of that, Yamato revealed a vmf50 version of Sonico. I hadn’t planned to get her since she was really expensive. The first round of preorders opened up late last summer and closed down almost instantly, prompting Yamato to do a second run, which is when I changed my mind and placed my preorder. I received Sonico back in February and she’s been quietly lying in her box since then, but with her PVC figures having hit the market, I figure now is a fine time to take her out and put her in front of the camera.
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Emaretta-chan from the Art of Shunya Yamashita (Black Armor Version)

written on March 21, 2011 by Tier
Yamato Emaretta from Shunya Yamashita Figure Review

2011 may be the year of Tamaki and Miku Hatsune, but here at Tentacle Armada, we are busy celebrating the greatness of the beautiful fighting girl. Four of the seven figure reviews posted here since the start of the year have featured swordsgirls and today we have the fifth. Another Tamaki figure is probably next up but for now, we shall continue showing our love for big-eyed anime girls in tiny bikinis with big swords. It’s a classic combination that can’t be beat.
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Kiriko Hattori from Enka Oudou Dai Shogun

written on January 31, 2011 by Tier
Yamato Kiriko Hattori from Dai Shogun Figure Review

Here is a riddle: gather together a major figure manufacturer, a world-famous anime artist, and a graphics studio whose portfolio includes contributions to Metal Gear Solid 4, Tales of Vesperia, and Valkyria Chronicles, and what do you get? The answer is absolutely nothing other than a pair of boobie mousepads and a figure. Enka Oudou Dai Shogun was touted as a multimedia event, but I haven’t seen any of its media apart from a couple of illustrations in Shunya Yamashita’s One Voice artbook. It looks like nothing more will come of it and presumably it will thus be consigned to the dustbin of memory, just like Shuraki. Anyone remember Shuraki? There were some good figures from that series. Fortunately, Kiriko is a fine figure as well.
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Doll Review – vmf50 Yumi (NSFW)

written on January 17, 2011 by Tier
Yamato vmf50 Yumi Review

I’m a big fan of Yamato’s vmf50 doll line. They’re fun to dress up and display and not too many people buy them or even know about them, and as I’ve got this odd tendency to dislike anything that becomes mainstream, that’s a big plus in my view. I bought Yumi a couple of months ago but she got ensnared by the printer ink cartridge bomb scare fiasco. Fortunately that blew over reasonably fast so we can take a closer look at her now.
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Asuka Langley Soryu from Neon Genesis Evangelion (Creator’s Labo Version)

written on December 2, 2010 by Tier
Yamato Asuka Langley Soryu from Neon Genesis Evangelion Figure Review

For years it’s seemed like Rei Ayanami was the it-girl of the Evangelion franchise, particularly when it comes to figures, and Asuka has been a bit overshadowed in comparison. Alter never bothered following up their movie Rei figure with an Asuka, and Mari has gotten a lot of love in recent times. Yamato also did not look like they were going to follow up their own Creator’s Labo Rei figure, leading E2046 to roll out their own version as part of their ORI line. However, there’s been something of a resurgence in Asuka’s popularity – at least in figure form – as Kotobukiya and Alter announced versions of her in her test suit and Yamato finally decided to give their grown-up Rei a counterpart. It’s a good time to be an Asuka fan, though this Asuka is a bit different than the usual redheaded fireball we are accustomed to.
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