Color+Sound = Gundams, Figures, Otaku etc.
For those who read my last post know that I’m leaving the figure blogging to the pro’s and closing down mine, after my next figure arrives (Tuesday)
However I’ll still be taking photos and buying figures, and I plan on posting these images on Picasa.
Thanks again for reading, it has been fun.
Hello again. Another impulse buy has arrived, this time it’s Fraulein’s Rin from Fate Stay Night.
There will be a larger write up later when I can take some better photos.
It’s a bit tiring to hear these days, but I’m closing down the shop, throwing in the towel so to speak, very soon. I thought blogging would be fun, but in the end the only fun part was the photography of the figures, good or bad. The lack of comments is a little disheartening, but it’s apart of the blogging world I suppose. I just can’t find the time to blog anymore, and it’s especially not worth it without others’ input, which is all I wanted.
After this I’ll probably start a weekly webcomic, or practice photography minus the blog.
Thanks to the few who commented.
(size comparison)
Figma Rin is looking a ton better IMO, but I plan on buying both series anyhow.
It’s been a few days since my Rei has come, and I haven’t had much time to even look at her! Sculpted by the talented REFLECT, and designed by spectacular Shunya Yamashita… probably one of the best combos I’ve seen. There are some major issues however and it’s the paint app. The sculpt makes up for much of the lousy paintwork, but more on that later.
First Impressions: Since pretty much everything from Yamashita and REFLECT are beautiful, that was the initial thought. At first glance it’s a beautiful figure, sexy, and looks like a grown up Rei.
Upon further inspection, I noticed terrible paint application, which from what I understand is typical of Yamato. I can’t blame anyone else for me buying this figure, I expected as much. This is my first figure from Yamato, so I’m not sure what flaws are common for the company. Most of the paint issues are sharpness, pieces that are two seperate colors like the silver bars on her hips or the black lines on her legs. The one thing that gets me the most is the paint (or lack of) on her chest. Definitely looks like there was a paint shortage or something in one spot, showing a dull color underneath. Not sure what it is about the paint on her butt cheeks, in a certain light it gets wavy, making it look like she’s got cellulite. It’s only noticable in harsh lighting, so it didn’t show up in the pictures. Overall skintones are really weird, especially in her cleavage area.
Enough complaining! All is not lost! The figure itself is not that bad. The sculpt really pulls it out from the dirge. The seam line on her head is pretty basic, but attention is directed towards her hands, so it’s not such a big deal. Her body proportions are perfect, REFLECT has a nack for beautiful women. Her rear just looks so real! While some would agree he didn’t quite capture the hotness of Yamashita’s drawings, he came pretty damn close. In a league of her own, this Rei is perhaps my favorite figure based off of Yamashita’s work.
(My most viewed picture from this batch at the moment ^^;)
(Although it comes with a basic blue base with fancy lettering, it beats Alter in terms of quality.)
While I’ve seen HobbySearch sold out of this figure since it came out, it doesn’t seem to be selling out in America…Makes me wonder if it’s the Yamato name.
As a sidenote, a postcard came with the figure, with another, more suggestive Rei Ayanami, courtesy of Yamashita ^^
(sooo blurrry)
Manufacturer: Yamato Creators Labo
Series: Neon Genesis Evangelion
Scale: 1/6th
Sculptor: REFLECT
Released: Late December 2007 (Japan)
American Price: Around $60.00+
Japanese Price: Around 6500+ Yen
(Available in America now via KidNemo)
Woo not much time to type today, but I just found out about Alter’s rendition of Mitsuru Kirijo, one of my favorite characters. I’ll edit more to the post later today.
Edit:
So about the figure, comparing it to the Koto version that I have, she looks a lot thicker around the midsection, a lot more realistic IMO. Though being so used to how my rendition looks, ALTER’s looks almost too thick. It doesn’t look bad at all actually, the legs seem thicker, which is a plus for me.
One thing I think really makes this figure stand out from the Koto version (aside from the more realistic wrinkles and movement in the skirt) is her hair. We all know Koto’s had some funky stylish hair, but Alter has a knack for awesome hair sculpts, so this one is no exception.
Overall I believe Alter just one-upped Kotobukiya, but that’s no surprise honestly, after seeing the price difference of about $20. I’m considering buying both this version and as well as Alter’s Aegis if I can find her.
Right now she’s going for $51.99 at KNC, and will be out in July.
I really wish I were one of those otaku that haul bunches and bunches of figures… but that’s not the case ^^; I think over time as an otaku-with-little-money, I’ve grown selective, almost too selective, of what to buy.
Here’s a list of things I’ve ordered recently:
- Anime Legends : Big O, Complete Collection 1
- Mighty Muggs : Han Solo x2
- Creators’ Labo : Rei Ayanami 1/6th Scale Yamato
Being a long time fan of Big O and all of Roger’s shenanigans, I felt nostalgic after seeing this sweet new Big O figure of some sort at one of Danny Choo’s festival coverages. After receiving a gift card last month without anything to buy, I decided to get the 1st season of Big O. While I’m sure it’s much too late to cover each episode like my failed Outlaw Star attempt, I’ll probably mention it here and there until I finish the 13 or so episodes.
Hmm…..Mighty Muggs…I still don’t know exactly why the hell I bought these. The package was nice and stylish, similar size to Revoltech boxes, and the figures looked.. well… I don’t know. To be honest it was mostly an impulse buy, I only saw 2 Han Solo’s and 1 Chewbacca. I didn’t want to spend all of my cash on 3 figures, so I bought 2 Han’s, 1 of which will be on Ebay soon. I’ll probably end up selling the opened one too if anyone’s interested. Please leave a message if you’re interested.
Ah, Rei Ayanami. One of the most beautiful characters placed in a violent and disturbing atmosphere. I’ve loved everything about Rei since I watched Evangelion. I’m still waiting for the Kotobukiya “You Are Not Alone” Rei figure (the good stuff via Mukyaa), but I decided to go ahead and order the REFLECT version first. This is why I love the otakusphere, it’s very common that bloggers in Japan etc. will already have the figures I want, and so it’s easy for me to decide whether or not the quality is worth the price, yadda yadda. However, what I found with Yamato’s Ayanami was that no one has her… I’ve looked high and low for pictures but to no avail. I found one flickr account with some pics but no real review. I assume everyones just either disappointed in their figure or just avoiding the Yamato name in general. I took the stab to contribute to the otakusphere by buying my own figure. I’m crossing my fingers for an above average figure, but I realize that might not be the case. I ordered Rei from the wonderful KidNemoCompany. Hopefully via USPS Priority, I’ll have her within the week.
I have a feeling no one will answer this question ^^; but I’ll throw it out there anyway : what do you fellow otakus enjoy about the otakusphere?
Here’s some kooky photos of my Mighty Muggs Han Solo. (I’m practicing to get the black background but it’s not good enough. -_-)
REFLECT is known for his quality sculpts, and this rendition of Shunya Yamashita’s envisionment of Rei Ayanami from Evangelion is no exception. Absolutely gorgeous and stunningly beautiful, it is perhaps in my opinion one of the best non-anime versions of Rei yet. The question is, could Yamato pull it off? Don’t get me wrong, Yamato is a solid company, but after seeing the shoddy work on Final Fight’s Poison, my opinion strayed off a bit.
Looking at the pictures from Hobbysearch, the paint seems decent. Since her hair is shorter I wouldn’t expect any noticeable paint flaws. Overall, the added bonus of being 1/6th scale, I think this figure is well worth the $60 dollar tag.
Rei Ayanami has been out in Japan since late December, and is around ¥6,460
For those of us in America, I believe Ayanami is available now at Kidnemo for $60.89
(Image courtesy of AnimeXing, who has the figure for preorder.)
What do you guys think about her? I haven’t seen any posts on her yet, so the only pictures I have to judge are the ones taken at HobbySearch.
Kotobukiya does it again. Another figure with a great sculpt and pretty standard paint application. This time, of Belldandy from Ah! My Goddess! It’s one of those shows I’ve never really sat down to watch. I remember seeing a few parts back when my brother had it on VCD ^^; Is it recommended? Character designs look great.
The figure itself looks good, according to HobbySearch, it’s been done by the same guy (Hiroshi Inagaki) who sculpted C.C. from Code Geass for Alpha Omega, and Alvis from Last Exile for Alter, to name a few. I’ve always noticed that Kotobukiya paint is just plain acceptable. It’s never really outstanding, it’s just clean application.
Belldandy was released in mid November in Japan for around ¥4,350
She is now available at KidNemo and Toyslogic for under $30.00
(Image linked from Sector 6. Thanks!)
I’m really considering this figure afterall. Standard Kotobukiya quality, with a great Kotobukiya pricetag. The only thing holding me back is the REFLECT Rei Ayanami from Yamato… preview = next post.
Rei Tachibana from Pani Poni Dash!, is perhaps the most overlooked Alter figure in my opinion. I’ve seen no one blog about it, whether it’s a figure review or even mentioning her! Maybe I’m looking in the wrong places but I just can’t understand this… Is Pani Poni Dash! not very popular? I haven’t seen any episodes or anything, so essentially Rei is as foreign to me as an eroge character.
Someone mind explaining? Is it her giant spectacles? Her kinda ‘meh’ sweater? Oh well, more on that after the photos!
If anyone’s keeping up with my photography they can tell every picture set is pretty different. I try new lighting techniques and variations every time I do a shoot. This one was more of my habit of over-photoshopping, and I think all the pictures look too bright after editing.
About the figure:
The paint application is phenomenal. It’s a standard for Alter, which is way above many figure companies in terms of quality. The sculpt is also great, if I’m not mistaken it’s done by the same guy who sculpted Alter’s Meg from Burst Angel. While Alter got all the shading and what not right, it should be noted that a part of her hair seemed to block a crevice of her hair from being painted, so theres a white streak. It’s not bad, I didn’t notice it until maybe a week of owning Rei.
That being said, I’m kind of confused why she hasn’t shown up in the blog world. I’m ashamed to say I’m probably the first one to post her. I’ve been told that her shirt is an ugly color, but I can understand that. It’s a kooky “would only work in anime” color anyway.
Figure – Rei Tachibana from Pani Poni Dash!
Manufacturer – Alter
Lowest Price Found – $30.00 +
Readily available at most online stores.
I should be called “the old figure hunter.” It seems the only ones I get at the moment are… old. -_-’
Did some minor customizing last night with Crossbone’s spare parts! I had originally thought of an prototype booster pack for Crossbone. As much as I enjoy its original boosters, I was curious to see what the Crossbone would look like with a more singular compact unit. Thus, the “Firefly Prototype” was born.
Majority of the parts came from the extra parts in the Full Cloth box, other parts came from an HG 1/144 RX-78, and an old MG Kampfer. I’m still trying to figure out where this design is going, hopefully when I paint the Gundam and the backpack it won’t look as out of place.
Lemme know what you think!
I haven’t seen my figures since last month after putting them away in their boxes in my closet. It’s been cold outside lately, so we’ve turned on the heat which I’m affraid would turn my figures into “leaners.”
With that being said, I thought it’d be a good day to take a few out of their confinement and try out some new lighting / backgrounds. (And by good day I mean a day where I have absolutely nothing better to do but sit around ^^;)
I am aware the background + flowers don’t match Saber at all but oh well. The feeling I was trying to get was a mellow, dark feeling atmosphere. Again, I blame my Cybershot for auto-adjusting all my photos on the spot, as the Nikon would have been more accurate.
Anyway, do enjoy, I still need help on lighting!
You can kinda see scratches on her face -_-;
A tad dark..
My favorite.
Flower!
It wasn’t my idea to take this one! I swear!
Something about this one..
I might be posting up my other shots of Arisugawa later, but I’m having second thoughts.
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