Chag: Oh Wonder Festival, you are just like Christmas for us figure fans… Except we have to wait on the presents at first… then pay big sacks of money for them when they do come out…
…Okay, maybe WonFes isn’t really like Christmas, but it certainly does share that sweet buzz of excitement that is commonly associated with the holiday season. This year’s summer WonFes convention is no exception, and with truckload of announcements from the various figure makers, let’s get started, Ash!
(Credits for the photos belong to アキバHOBBY, HobbyStock, Dengeki online, 武士ノ末路, ＧＦ団, けしからん写真情報館, moeyo, Seaside Tears 2, GA graphic, and most of all, Neko-Magic for compiling these photos into convinent megaupload archives! Thanks GGT2!)
Bakemonogatari Figures
Chag: If WonFes was a cake factory, all the Bakemonogatari fans who attended the event would emerge from the building morbidly obese. Not only did Good Smile Company follow up with their popular 1/8 Senjougahara Hitagi figure with three amazing prototypes of Hanekawa Tsubasa, Sengoku Nadeko and Suguru Kanbaru, Alter has joined the Bakemonogatari arms race with a striking Hitagi of their own. As if that isn’t enough, Max Factory has also revealed a pair of Figmas depicting Hitagi and Araragi!
Personally, I’m really pleasantly surprised by GSC’s Kanbaru, despite the fact that she’s probably my least favourite character out of the bunch. Looking smug and contented while sitting on her piles of books, Kanbaru’s appearance is just begging for a monocle and/or pipe. Damn, that’s one classy dyke.
Ashlotte: Funnily enough, just when I thought that nothing would top GSC’s rendition of Hitagi, Alter comes out of nowhere (as they love to do) and smacks us all upside the head. This reminds me why when I first started getting into this hobby about 2/3rds of the figures I liked most were done by Alter’s hand. This of course just makes things worse for me, since now I have to wait and see if they feel like making a Mayoi of their own! Can’t be sure about that, though, because Alter has a certain maddening notoriety for not making full lines of figures (Nanoha being one of the exceptions…).
As for GSC… Kanbaru is a quite striking figure, but I never have been a fan of hers whether it be character design or personality, so meh. Nadeko at least I can say I’m fond of her character design (Sorry – not a big one on characters that say onii-chan or any variation on it). Either way, while I do applaud them for having the balls to make a figure that you can remove her legs I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t saddened by GSC’s decision to use an illustration that lacks her trademark baggy pants…
Chag: I’m not sure what’s going on with that Nadeko figure (are two sets of legs included, or what?), but I’m liking the version with her legs mostly submerged into the water. The original non-wading version has a huge case of Strike Witches syndrome – you can’t have a big poofy hat and a jacket on top and bare legs on the bottom! I agree that some pants would’ve been for Nadeko, but seeing that GSC is going all-out on those DVD covers, I gotta applaud them for a great recreation of the illustration, especially the funky-looking trees.
On a side note, I’m kind of surprised by the announcement of an Araragi Figma, but not really, since judging from the reactions of a couple of my friends, the effect of his vampiric charm is not limited to the characters in his harem. Cheer up emo kid – looks like you have fangirls!
Ashlotte: I’m guessing she splits at the midsection hidden under the shirt to conceal the lines. Also, those are broken Torii gates Chagster, not trees, but I do agree they look splendid. :p
Random parting thought: I think this is one of the rare few times Alter has ever used an existing illustration for the basis of a figure…
Chag: Torii gates, eh? That would explain why the “trees” appeared to be painted red, but I just assumed they were SHAFT style trees. Annnnyhow, moving on!
Nanoha Figures
Chag: With a casual dress version of Fate by Alter, a Nanoha by Resinya, another Fate by Yamato, the Acsta Fate, an incredible diorama duo by Freeing, and much much more, it is clear that even after 6 years of the initial airing of Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha, the franchise is by no means losing steam. Hell, even Eriol and Caro from StrikerS are getting their own Figmas! It seems that people just can’t get enough Nanoha figures, and given the fact that there are still a few movies to come, it looks like the Nanoha franchise will be here to stay for a long, long time.
Initially, I was very excited by FREEing’s Fate vs. Nanoha Diorama, but that excitement was checked when I found out that they are only of a measly 1/12 scale – on par with most Figmas. Thankfully, their huge and dynamic display bases compensate for the small sizes of the figures to a certain degree. Given the sizes of these figures, the detailing on this pair of figures will be far below the standards of the larger scale Nanoha figures from Alter, so the deal breaker here will be the price. If these can go for 4000 yen or under, I bet there will be a sizable bunch of people who’d be willing to check out the unique presentation of these FREEing figures. Hmm, what do you think, Ash?
Ashlotte: Well, it seems like figure makers have really taken a liking to the new movie… much to my misfortune. Don’t get me wrong – more Nanoha is always nice, but like I’ve said before, I’m not a big fan of the movie designs, and since there is no Vita in the movie, what we end up with is an absurd amount of just Nanoha and Fate figures. >_<
The stand out ones were obviously the FREEing duo. Honestly, I’m not worried about the scale mostly because it’s a very ambitious thing they are doing and you can’t blame them for wanting to err on the side of caution. Besides, if they were full-sized, I would no idea where I’d even display them! But FREEing is a proven maker having made one of my favorite figures in my collection so I have little to no concern about quality.
The other pleasant surprises were from Alter…As if in direct response to my bitching last week they gave me not only plain clothes Fate, but Nanoha (Although I wish she was plain clothes too, not school uniform…) and Vivio as well! Truly a loli overload that should make for a fine set!
Ah the rest however did little to differentiate themselves from the pack…None of Movic, Cospa, or Yamato’s renditions really even made me bat an eye… I’m not sure what their strategy is (Depending on blind fanatics who will buy just about anything of a character they like?), but these comparatively tame takes are just a bore… Maybe it’d be a good idea to take a cue from the Acsta line and try to integrate spell effects parts??
Chag: Rather than adding spell effects, I’d rather have these makers abandon their Nanoha projects if it were possible. As I was poking around in search for WonFes photos, I noticed that virtually every figure maker wanted a piece of the Nanoha pie, but as figure-friendly as the franchise is, the upcoming months is going to be ridiculously over-saturated by Nanoha figures. Hell, this is even worse than the Vocaloid flood – at least that’s limited to only a couple of manufacturers! If there is any sense in the figure-collecting world, these Nanoha-hungry figure makers are due for a harsh lesson in the future.
K-ON! Figures
Chag: The K-ON! gold rush is still going strong as Max Factory, Alter and Good Smile Company continue to roll out related merchandise by the truckloads. A Nendoroid Petit set, an Ui Nendoroid, a waitress Mugi from Max Factory, and a pair of Ritsu figures from Alter and Max Factory. The problem? NO SAWA-CHAN, not even a freaking Nendoroid Petit. Looks like you’ll have to pack up your fantasies of a rockster Sawako, Ash, because she seems to be getting no love these days.
Anyhow, the major match-up here is between the Max Factory Ritsu and the Alter Ritsu, and I think I speak for all of us when I say that Alter has scored a flawless victory here. A full set of drums for Ritsu is undoubtedly an amazing feat that will even attract the eyes those who are not fans of K-ON, but I just love the pose Ritsu assumes in Alter’s version. With her arms extended diagonally to her sides and an eager expression on her face, Ritsu totally looks as if she is asking for a hug if you take away the drumsticks. If that isn’t moe, I don’t know what is.
Another reason why Alter’s Ritsu triumphs in my book is the facial expression on Max Factory’s version. No matter how hard I try not to, every time I glance at a picture of that Ritsu, I see a “DERP” speech bubble coming out of her mouth. But Max Factory isn’t one to make a major fuck-up like this… is it just me, then? Am I blind to some mysterious charm to her “derp” face? What does it meannnnn??
Ashlotte: Yea no Sawa-chan… Metal obviously doesn’t sell or some such thing…bleh.
I have to admit: I had to look up what “derp” meant. I’m behind the times as always, it seems. Anyway I’ll disagree with Chag here…I think Alter’s version looks disappointing to say the least while I find Max’s rather charming albeit flawed in the same way.
The pose on Alter’s is fitting of a drummer, but the expression is just terrible… I haven’t much liked most of the faces on Alter’s K-ON! figures and they continued that tradition splendidly. Honestly, how hard would it be to make her have a sly grin or something more fitting? Max’s on the other hand has a nice easy going-ness to her that I quite enjoy, although again the expression is not the sort I would have given her if it were up to me…
Mugi on the other hand is the first K-ON! figure I’ve genuinely wanted…she’s awesome,period. I want…like…now! >_>
Chag: I definitely agree that a confident smirk would’ve been great for both of the Ritsu figures, but I still can’t see the easy-going-ness of the Max Factory Ritsu. The character design is there, the body language is there, but the face is just not registering here. Maybe my head just doesn’t work that way, kind of like how I can never understand the “>_>” emoticon.
I get nervous when I see that waitress Mugi. Dropping stuff and spilling shit on customers is the nightmare of a waiter, and her pose looks like an accident waiting to happen. I’ve worked fast food for a summer in high school, and I don’t want this figure to remind me of those dark 4 months, as adorable and happy as Mugi looks to the naked eye. I guess fast food killed a part of me inside, and I don’t mean my arteries.
Black Rock Shooter Figures
If I had to anthropomorphize the GSC bloc as a person, it would be a small man cruising across a highway on a stretch hummer while the cast of Black Rock Shooter pole dances on the hood of the car (yes, stripper poles are installed on the hood of said stretch hummer). In addition to completing the catalogue of merchandise for BRS and Dead Master with the Nendoroid Dead Master and Nendoroid petit set for both characters, GSC and Max Factory have also wasted no time in revealing a Black Gold Saw Figma, as well as an animated version scale figure of the same character.
Ashlotte: Watching the OVA reminded me why I haven’t jumped on the BRS figure bandwagon – they are just sooo goddamn unemotional! Ugh…There is a line between stoic and boring. And stupidly enough the only one of the lot that does show some emotion (Dead Master) GSC decided on sticking with a boring face. So yeah, I couldn’t really care less what they do with this series in all honesty. Good chara designs only go so far with me…
Chag: Oh you, you just HAD to mention the anime! I’m still amazed at the lack of any facial expression and words from Black Rock Shooter herself throughout the entire fight. It’s kind of an accomplishment in itself.
The new Black Gold Saw stuff looks superb. The Figma has scratch marks on the weapon, and the scaled figure has a great sense of motion in the placement of debris, not to mention a head of snake-like hair. Going back to the anime: I wish GSC didn’t pressure the anime staff to squeeze in that Black Gold Saw segment in the beginning of the OVA (this is only an assumption, of course, but I’m pretty damn confident about it. I can spot a thinly-disguised sales pitch when I see it), because these figures look good enough to sell themselves. Maybe those few minutes could have been used to actually help forge a decent plot of the OVA… Oh who am I kidding – the OVA needs more than just a few minutes to fix its problems.
Bah, I’m getting side-tracked again. This is probably behind the control of the GSC sculptors, but I wish there’s a bigger difference between the facial expressions of BRS and BGS. If BRS is the blank slient type, can’t BGS be the angry silent type? As great as Huke is, I get the feeling that variety isn’t his strong suit.
Fate/Stay Night Figures
Chag: Here comes another franchise that just won’t die… not that I’m complaining, of course! Now that we’ve been graced with a coloured prototype of GSC’s 1/7 Saber Alter, you’d think that GSC’s Saber cash cow would be dry at this point, right? Well, the articulated Nendoroid casual dress Saber would like to ask otherwise. At this point, I wouldn’t even be surprised if GSC rolls out a 1/7 casual Saber, swimsuit Saber… hell, even an 1/7 Saber Lion.
Saber aside, there’s also GSC’s Unlimited Blade Works Rin that desperately needs an Archer to go with her, as well as the revival of a Solid Theater dark Sakura sculpt by Gift. Even Kotobukiya is jumping onto the F/SN bandwagon with their teaser silhouette of a plamo Saber, which I imagine would be in the same vein as their Hoihoi-san kits.
Even though I’ve made the choice to stick with the Figma Saber Alter, I’d be lying if GSC’s Saber Alter didn’t make sway my heart for a brief moment. While some uncoloured prototypes end up looking less impressive after the colour treatment, GSC’s Saber Alter was the exact opposite. The glossy dark armour came out as flawlessly as the fabric folds of her battle dress. And as if the figure itself doesn’t make it obvious enough that Saber Alter is out for blood, the display base has little fountains of blood jizzing out of it. Despite being only a disk-shaped base, it augments the atmosphere of the figure so amazingly well that it has become one of the most striking display bases for me in recent memory.
Ashlotte: Another group of figures I’m rather… -_- about. I’m obviously not a big Saber or Sakura fan, so that leaves only Rin, and honestly, the UBW Rin just isn’t my cup of tea. I like my Rin cute and tsundere not oversexed like her movie poster version. >_>
Chag: Oversexed? In MY bishoujo figures? UNTHINKABLE.
Jokes aside, while I have to agree that the illustration and sculpt went a little overboard in the exaggeration of Rin’s womanly characteristics, I kind of empathize with them as well – after all, Rin is not a easy character do make a dramatic figure of. Though she does have the killer zettai ryouki factor going for her character design, the actual clothes she wear are very, very plain. The same can be said for her way of fighting, which mostly consists of chucking shiny pebbles at people. If you’ve ever played Fate/Unlimited Codes, you’d know that her moves are the least striking in the game along with Shirou. If GSC unfulfilled an Archer figure along with her, Rin would’ve looked a lot less silly, but I wouldn’t bet my money on a male figure from GSC.
Maybe the problem is trying to make a serious Rin figure in the first place. Everyone knows that GSC is going for a cycle of dramatic looking F/SN figures, as Ash said, the best Rin is as cute/tsundere Rin.
Ashlotte: That’s why you make a school uniform version. I never was a fan of her casual outfit, but that uniform with the jacket and long skirt… oh god!!! Just imagine her in a wide leg stance arms crossed with a very slight windswept feel coming from her right side to add some dynamism and an irritated look written all over her face… Oh oh or with a slight smug sneer on her face while she’s holding up one of her jewels letting you know you’re about to be in a world of hurt… Fuck! I need to learn how to sculpt! T_T
Vocaloid Figures
Chag: Lily, Tony Taka Miku, scaled racing Miku, new articulated Paw Laboratory Miku Nendoroid, Mikumix Miku, coloured prototype of the “Love is War” Miku… you know what’s missing from this list? A LUKA FIGURE.
Don’t mind me, I’ll just be crying in the corner. Handle this one, won’t you Ash?
Ashlotte: Too goddamn many Miku figures… I think that about covers it, no? Oh I’m supposed to write more… ok…
Well like Nanoha, Miku is suffering from over saturation that would make Kanu and Saber sob in envy. I guess it wouldn’t be so bad if the figures were actually good, but most of them just seem to miss the mark.
Lily… Hah, thanks for the big middle finger to all of fans waiting for any of the myriad of other vocaloid characters yet to receive the PVC treatment! Oh, and her face makes her look like some sort of Alien drag queen…
TT Miku… Why… this just… ugh… No, this figure shouldn’t even exist. We did not need yet another generic Miku in her regular outfit you talentless hacks… Beady little eyes too. At least the pose is energetic albeit weird and uncomfortable to look at from certain angles.
Racing Miku… Somebody link me a side profile of her if one exists…From the front it looks like they didn’t really capture Redjuice’s incredibly cute face of his original art, but it’s hard to tell from the few shots I’ve seen of her. They did an aces job on the paint and body sculpt, though, so I’m most likely gonna grab this one.
Miku Nendo… Well at least they went and did something slightly unique, and I like the fact its based on the CD cover of a pretty decent Miku album so I’ll cut em some slack on this one.
Love Is War… Yea way to piss away all that great sculpting with a boring paint job GSC…You stayed true to the original illustration so much, but seemed to have fumbled one the things that truly made it memorable: the stark color pallet and the emotional punch that came with it! Before the show I was 100% sold on this one, but meh, now I’ll have to see.
So yeah, lots of disappointment this time around. Out of all the things shown what I’m most excited about is the Mikumix Chibi. That thing is just down right awesome! Words can’t describe just how much I want that nifty little monster. Wouldn’t it be nice if we had unique and interesting things like this and less generic crap we’ve seen before?
I’d point out some awesome art that is just begging for a Miku figure, but looking at what they did to Love is War you’d probably find a way to screw those up too…
Chag: Oh boy, the Tony Taka Miku figure definitely did not fare too well during its transition to the realm of three dimensions. Nothing was wrong with the figure technically, but the source illustration just really isn’t suitable for something like this. Poor Miku looks as if she’s being (to recycle my tweet) being wrung like a rag by a pair of gigantic invisible hands. Not the best impression for a figure, to put it mildly. But on a bright note, the hair on this Miku is probably the best I’ve seen of any Miku figure yet, which would’ve made Miku a tempting option for me, if not for my “1 figure per character rule”, of course.
To be fair, GSC and gang has been making an effort at releasing a variety of takes on the vocaloid characters (VN02, World is Mine, Meltdown, Love is War, Racing, etc), so I wouldn’t use the world “generic”. But when the biggest figure makers are limiting a huge chunk of their output to one character, getting bitter over the teal flood is only natural. *COUGH*luka*COUGH*
I wonder how articulated the Mikumix menace is – it would be hilarious to have it terrorize my figure collection.
Ashlotte: Maybe generic is the wrong word, but for some reason I just can’t get myself excited about any of these Mikus lately for the most part…I see so many incredible Miku illustrations every day that really spark the imagination but for the most part these Miku figures be they PVC or GK just seem to be lacking lately. It’s probably just my own fault for feeling this way, so don’t mind me… >_>
As for the Mikumix figure: it was mentioned on MFC that she isn’t articulated, which I both love and hate…Still desperately want her though!
Others
Chag: Of course, WonFes would be awfully boring if it was limited to only a few franchises. Of course, the full extent of the event is beyond the scope of Hobby Hovel, but thankfully we can always pick and choose. So, what are some of the other highlights for you this time around, Ash?
Ashlotte: Out of all the things we haven’t covered numero uno has to be Eris from CM Corporation…She’s just so perfect that I don’t know what else to say. To me this is the type of figure that I wish I saw more of, something that completely captures a characters essence. Now if CM doesn’t screw up the production version that’d be nice…
Chag: For a mechasexual like me, the Figma Metis was a sure-fire way to knock me off of my chair. I haven’t played the “The Answer” part of Persona 3: FES (and probably never will – no social links? Bleh!), but know a good fembot when I see one. Sure, she’ll probably be next to impossible to display without a stand like Aigis, but who am I to say no to those smooth, gilded metal plates and Koromaru? Awww yeah baby, come to papa.
Ashlotte: Alter’s Dizzy for me was a huge surprise… is there a new GG game coming out or something? Regardless, the fact that Alter adapted one of the most impressive fighting game character designs is quite the welcome sight! So how’s about some Blazblue figures, eh?
Chag: The Lupin the 3rd duo (Lupin & Jigen) from Kaiyodo’s Revoltech line is another example of toys that look so fun that I have to check out their source material. From the photos I’ve seen of these two, they are ridiculously articulate and expressive, with a generous assortment of accessories to boot! Actually, I ought to be ashamed to not have watched Castle of Cagliostro already… Time to correct that.
Chag: Jeez Ash, I think we bit off way more than what we could chew this week. After all this, we still didn’t manage to get to the garage kits! Oh well, no use pining over things that are out of our reach…
Ashlotte: Oh I’ll always pine…But preferably in private…With lots of booze…
Chag: And there you have it. I’ll have a bishoujo figure review up within the week (gee, come to think of it, I haven’t done a female scale figure since WIM Miku!) so look forward to that! Until next time~
Related Posts
I really like Dizzy – no surprise, since I blew a bunch of cash on Kotobukiya’s inferior version – and Saber Alter, who is going to redefine badass in a way that the world is never going to recover from. I like Rin Tohsaka too, she’s looking mighty fine. Really wish GSC would take a break from the BRS stuff and get those figures out, because it feels like I’ve seen them at conventions for the last couple of years. Dark Sakura looks great and I’m glad that she and Saber Lily seem to have prospective release dates, and I wish that Cospa had showed off Nanoha when they put Fate up for preorder; Fate’s pretty boring by herself but the two together look fantastic. Definitely a case of the sum being greater than the parts, I think. I will now ignore the rest of the mainstream stuff and talk about the other things that I liked.
I liked a lot of what Orchid Seed showed off, though I’m a bit leery because some recent figures I’ve purchased from them have left a bit to be desired. However, I picked up the pink Rider figure that they showed off and I’ve got zero complaints about her so I guess that assuages some of my misgivings. I liked the Kyou Fujibayashi figure that Kotobukiya showed off, particularly since it’s 1/6 scale and the pose offers certain possibilities for humor. I liked the shots I saw on foo-bar-baz of Kotobukiya’s 1/6 scale Asuka, which made her even more attractive than the promo shots did. Shame she’s wearing that test suit, though. Speaking of Asuka, this figure caught my eye and interest. That’s a 1/4 scale Asuka Langley Soryu in her plugsuit. Lemme repeat that: 1/4 scale Asuka in a plugsuit. From the guy who sculpted Alter’s Saber Alter maid figure. Why hasn’t anyone picked this up yet? Okay, yeah, it’s probably brand new and there isn’t even a painted sample yet for display, but even so, all you have to say is “1/4 scale Asuka” and someone should pick it up. I mean, look at the hair. Look at the sculpt. I hope to jeebus someone picks this up for PVC release.
I saw that 1/4th Asuka and while I didn’t include her in my post (the painted face and unpainted body seemed odd) she’s interesting. I’m curious how much room I’d need to alocate for such a sizey figure though. As well as money…
Aye saw that Asuka too…The insane sculpt quality really grabbed me even though she was unpainted. Have a bad feeling she’ll never see pvc though… T_T
Ahh… Everything is spot-on about that figure EXCEPT for her head. Her face looks a few sizes to small for her hair. If only he could address this, then I’m sure then even I’d make the room for this 1/4th monster. Speaking of EVA — still not word on Max Factory’s other 2 EVA girls. That was the number 2 disappointment for me this time, asides from the lack of Luka.
Did you guys see that garage kit of Oshino Shinobu recreating Redjuice’s artwork? I really think that one should be picked up by someone.
I was impressed by the number of Bakemonogatari figures out there, namely Hanekawa Tsubasa. She seemed to get a lot of interest, though none of them have her as her normal self, always as a catgirl. Not that I’m complaining.
I personally feel Kotobukiya’s Kanbaru was a better match to her character, but I think I might just view her as a perv or something. The pose of GSC’s seems too subdued, though I do like the smirk, and the crossing of legs in a loose skirt. Alter’s Hitagi doesn’t match up with GSCs in terms of wow factor but I’m sure she’ll be painted well.
Ash, now that you mention her baggy pants I’m suddenly slightly disappointed with Nadeko. I really liked her, but now I’m thinking “Hey, wait a minute, that was cute, why gsc?” but I guess DVD covers and all.
Skip Nanoha.
K-On, I don’t much like any of the figures except Ritsu, with drums. Alter’s got my money on that one. Sure the face could use a different expression but drums! DRUMS!! Though, now that I think about it, it’s not really a full set now is it? I mean it’s a good set, but this is a full set, right?
BRS, I kept thinking Black Gold was just BRS with boobs or something. Feels very similar with her shorts and exposed midsection. Cute though. Or is she sexy? whatever.
Ash, I think I agree with you on Rin, though I do like the figure GSC’s working on and will buy. But she had a fun side to her which doesn’t carry over in that figure. Regardless, well done Rin figures are needed, in whatever manner they come I’ll buy, so long as they’re well done.
Saber Alter looks pretty awesome but that base looks strange, it could look pretty bad actually it really depends.
Vocaloid… Well I like how Tony Taka’s Miku has her bum extended outwards, that’s some nice appeal. Lily has some sexy attributes but her face isn’t one of them. Nor are her pirate boots. Racing Miku though, I have dreams about Horo being anything from my pit crew to my co-driver, to a co-racer, I’m all about car racing, so mixing figures and racing is dangerous with me because I’m going to jump at it. So Miku as a pitcrew member is quite possibly the hottest thing she’s ever done. Only thing sexier would be to stick her in a racing suit and put her in the actual racing car. Well so long as it’s a good racing car. It best not be some girly car like a bright pink VW Beetle though.
Dizzy’s just amazing. I don’t care for her character but that’s a great figure. As is Alter’s Houmei which you didn’t feature.
Looks like no one released a Tenshi figure of any of descriptions we wanted, GSC’s lacked wings, seriously wtf.
There were many more cool figures there, it’s just so hard to feature and talk about them all. Esepcially garage kits which there’s a great abundance of in varying quality and lacking almost all information.
I wonder what it would be like to actually attend Wonder Festival. I feel like if I did, I’d be so let down. With all the pictures it feels like a grand event, but it’s really just some small booths in a building. Figures don’t take up a lot of space. That sort of disappoints me, in a similar way to anime conventions.
Houmei was in the original article, but when Chags started expanded that section I sorta left her out…Was afraid the thing was getting long as-is…If I didn’t rein myself in I woulda wrote a damn essay on the event. >_>
Oh yeah, I saw your tweet about Shinobu. Its deviance from the anime character design is going to hurt its chances of getting a PVC, I’m guessing, but it’s just a fantastic figure. Those eyes just KILL me.
Hum, I totally missed the Kotobukiya Kanbaru. It definitely is no slouch compared to the GSC version, though “staying true to the character” becomes less important when I’m not particularly crazy about the character in the first place. And since I like reading much more than basketball (or any other sport, for that matter), I’m inclined towards the GSC version… Oh hell, who really cares about the basketball — everyone’s eyes are obviously glued to her proudly-displayed bloomers.
Oh yeah, the T2 Miku definitely would make for some great low-angle shots, since she seems to be graced by some pretty plump peaches. The question now would be whether this figure would be able to break the curse of the plain white panties for Miku figures. I was really surprised when the other Max Factory Miku figure neglected this detail as well — are striped panties THAT hard to pull off?
I hear you on how hard it is to write about WonFes. Even after all this, I’m still not completely happy with the rant, since we barely talked about anything past the few major franchises out there. But oh well, there’s only so much I could do before this post starts to run us haggard and feel like an extra job.
Yeah I suppose you might be right about Shinobu, she’s not as popular as Miku who got a Redjuice adaptation… Probably would kill it. But even despite her simple pose she really stood out.Koto’s Kanbaru was almost missed by everyone I swear. I tried to find pictures of her for like a freaking week and came up with I think 4-5 really poor ones. It’s like she was hidden away for no one to see.Striped panties can’t be that hard can it? Are there no figures with shimapan? This is the only figure on MFC that has that as a tag… My post on WonFes felt like a job…. I totally totally know what you mean.
Edit: Ok, that’s the only figure with ‘shimapan’ apparently, but there are a bunch with “striped_panties“, some of which I even own. How could I forget Asa? or my two Seenas?
The fact that noone has the brains to give Miku her properly stripped panties is a travesty of epic proportions!
No really…it is… >_>
I concur.
I’m gonna recycle some stuff from my post on Rico’s blog. Don’t judge me.
MF’s K-on line – Wow, I have to say I assumed they were going to make every girl in their school festival outfits when they revealed Mio. Instead they are going for the more iconic and “suitable” apparel for each one. I LOVE this idea because it’s very refreshing to see a manufacture do something different, it’s even better when they pull it off like MF has. I like how because of this one can buy whichever character and/or sculpt appeals to them but even if you like to have a set they won’t look bad together as a whole. Granted there’s that degree of variation in the MF k-on line that makes it difficult to associate them together but even with Alter’s set I highly doubt it will look like all of them are jamming together, there’s no interaction between the Alter figures so it still seems like they are all just isolated cases with the same school uniform (which can also be a good thing because you can have just one and not have it look out of place/missing something but that’s not the point here). I’m quite happy that like Ash said Alter’s Ritsu is missing that Ristru-ness that people love (I think she’s a whiney bitch so don’t mind me DERP).
Black gold saw – I have to say I really REALLY like her. With her horns, claws and attire she’s like a combination of BRS and DM but better than both. It seems like Huke took my favourite parts of BRS and DM to make BGS just so he can suck my wallet dry (or he just ran out of design ideas). It was difficult but I held off ordering both versions of BRS and DM, but this blow has me at the mercy of BGS, a blow I may never recover from. In agreement with Ash once again, the only negative I see is that like the other BRS figures she’s missing attitude and expression, I can’t “see” what kind of a character she is from the sculpt.
Rin Tohsaka – Another figure I was really excited about. With the teaser images I saw a while back I had really high hopes for Rin. Maybe that’s why I don’t feel like she’s lived up to my personal hype. Don’t get me wrong, her sculpt looks excellent but I can’t help but feel her pose is very lacklustre. There’s no context so to speak, I have a hard time placing her in a situation where she’d look like that. She’ll probably look great when coloured and that may override my need for meaningful poses, we’ll see.
Dizzy – I’m loving the look. I don’t know anything about the character but depending on how she turns out after she is painted I may buy her on artistic merit alone. That’s saying a lot.
Miku LiW – This is why I never really felt I missed out by not getting GSC’s original Miku, WiM or VN02. Nothing can stand in the way of the Miku juggernaut and it’s not stopping any time soon. I love the stylised look of LiW and the expression is priceless. I love the mouth too, it’s not your typical line or a pink coloured D shape depression. This adds to the unique look that I’m so fond of. I see where Ash’s coming from about GSC’s paintjob but to be fair that kind of look my not be very easy to replicate in paint form, it raises the question of would you rather GSC took a chance to recreate that but possibly failing miserably (which I think a lot of people may not like and would have preferred a more “normal” version like we see here) or would you rather they played it safe so people can still enjoy what the rest of the figure has to offer. I’ve been asking myself if LiW costs double the amount than it should (around 17000yen maybe, plus expensive EMS due to the size) if the full base is included will I still buy her? There’s also the question of quality, I certainly don’t want LiW to have the flaws WiM did.
Haha I dunno what Chags would say but for me I’m all for taking chances…I absolutely love companies that have the balls to go out and try stuff. I still do think they could pull this off…Without that very stark color scheme she just looks like another Miku figure in her normal outfit to me even if the sculpting is amazing, which makes me incredibly sad…
One thing I’ll say about BGS is that her weapon is a much better weapon than the Rock Cannon. If you’ve watched the OVA, you’d know what I mean — the Rock Cannon just isn’t very fun in a actual fight. Shooting a firearm that will miss the VAST majority of the time is nowhere as exciting as a melee weapon, and even thought the Rock Cannon can transform to a giant stake, it’s just too bulky looking and restricted to pull off any exciting moves. On the other hand, there’s no shortage of fight scene possibilities with a giant blade weapon (even though they are pretty over-troped).
EDIT: I forgot to mention MF’s Mugi. Despite the precarious pose she’s got, I really, really love how enthusiastic she is. No one else in the world (fictional or real) can look THAT enthusiastic while working a possibly minimum-wage job. The figure definitely captures her quirky side better than the Alter counterpart. Speaking of the Alter figures — I was about to say they look fine by themselves, but I remembered that the Mugi figure kind of looks a bit plain without context. Keyboards aren’t very exciting instruments to look at, are they?
Let me start with the obligatory sage on the Saber Alter. Chag knows why.Man, the Bakemonogatari figures looks good. I really would like to get Nadeko if her legs were included (I’m a thigh-guy). But this makes Kanbaru more and more appealing. I always did like her in the anime. I expect some clever anon to mod this figure to make all the books random assortments of bodyparts and organs in keeping with the Gore meme. Senjougahara also looks like somethign id spend my money on, just fantastic stuff. The pieces of stationary really seal the deal for me. I wonder if she’ll have stapler pantsu as her predecessor did… Muhohoho.
Never was a Nanoha guy and i hate K-On with a vengeance. Sorreh.
Man, GSC has me by the balls with this figma line. this series in particular feels just so… collectible. I expect to place my BGS preorder as soon as it becomes available. They also have additional characters who i expect would be making an appearance in the Figma line, at least 2 more.
As for Rin, i dunno, I don’t find the figure or promotional art very oversexed. In fact it looks like a confident young woman who if anything, is still quite modest. I believe confident falls into part of being a Tsun. The figure looks great and is a high competitor vying for my wallet. Am i the only one who thinks that the Gift series of figures isnt that bad? Sure, when i first saw them, i was petrified on the spot but over time , ive grown to respect and even like them. They even include anime- faces if you abhor their realistic ones, which i think grow on you eventually. The detail and extra ornaments on the armor show dedication to detail and are really quite stunning ( in Saber Lily at least) in Sakura Gift lives up again with a very dynamic sculpt for her dress and fine lining on her body tattoos to impress.
MIKU MIKU NO SHIITE YAN YO!
Holy fuck, there are alot of Miku figures. No love for anyone else but Lily (who’s debut song wasn’t too great). But god. Love is War Miku looks amazing. Almost prepared to pay the expected arm and leg for it. Almost. With something so monumental Id be raging if there was any flaws with it. Really, that would make me lose all faith in GSC in the future. All the rest of the Mikus, well standard fare i guess, except for the angry Miku nendo, which is probably the only nendo i’ve ever even considered buying. Personally, i don’t mind some new Miku figures, admittedly a shame that theres no Luka or anyone else, but plain ol’ Miku is my favourite anyways.
Man, those Lupin figmas looks really spiffy. Those tight suits. Tight fucking suits. Delicious.
Like I stated earlier, jesus, GSC has me by the balls with Metis figma. Identical scale figures creates a “set value” where they’re more desirable together. Screams to be put next to my Aigis. Koromaru is a nice inclusion as well.
Awwww yeah, Dizzy figure. The figure itself is really stunning with more detail than anticipated. But Really, where’s my Faust? At least in a Figma form.
And it’s a bit early to be releasing Asobi Ni Iku Yo merch isnt it? Plus the series itself hardly started off on the right foot for me. The figure itself does look good though.
Good stuff this year. Can’t wait till my packages arrive on my doorstep with a giant fat bill.
RE: Asobi ~ Bah what foot is better to start a series off with then a hot girl wielding guns in a skin tight high tech combat suit?!? :p
It is early though but for that I’m thankful…
Really do want that Mikumix one though…maybe some other nendos so I can photograph her terrorizing them or something…
On the topic of BRS figures: What if they release a Figma of STRength (the white-haired midget with giant fists)? Would you go for that as well?
The one thing that bothers me about Rin is how LONG she looks. Sure, she’s not full-out CLAMP, but everything about her seems elongated and slimmed to give her a sexier and more dynamic look. However, in doing so, GSC sacrifices the almighty thighs, such nothing is worth so great a price.
Which Gift figures are you talking about? The only one with extra anime face is the original Saber figure, and the anime face for that is still trash. The thing about Saber lily is that unlike the relatively simple normal Saber outfit, Lily already feels very ornamented. She doesn’t have anything in terms of tiny engraving or whatnot, but he outfit looks busy enough already, and the extra stuff just feels excessive to me. I’ve had my eyes on the dark Sakura figure for a while now, but I think I’m not as crazy about F/SN as I once was (need to broaden the scope of the collection to beyond just a couple of franchises, after all). I wonder how well she’d sell, though — sure, she’s one of the only dark Sakura figures out there, but given the abysmal popularity of the character, I wonder if her tattooed underboobs can help her muster up some numbers.
I definitely would buy STRength, and if i’m not mistaken theres another one on top of that, i forgot what she looks like though. Andy yes I’d buy them all.
I dunno, while i love dem thighs, long slender legs are appealing to me too. Truth be told, my guilty pleasure is Clamp designs.
*le gasp*
Yeah. But still, to me, i still feel like she could still be her regular tsun self.
And on the topic of Gift, I could’ve sworn that the Saber Lily had one as well, but I guess I was wrong. And i dunno, i think that having incredibly ornate armor is really very nice. I don’t see it as excessive.
Wonfes sure knows how to make us spend money >..<
Yea thats the big sticking point everyones talking about…Even if they are built light and cheap the sheer dimensions of the box is really gonna make anyone take a hit on shipping… >_>
To my great disappointment, I think Max Factory and Good Smile have failed to produce compelling models for Senjougahara Hitagi and I think Good Smile has produced two ugly Dead Masters. Both of Good Smile’s Dead Masters and its Hitagi all have idiotically goofy looking faces. And the Hitagi Figma is insipid, lacking any character.
Fortunately, the Dead Master Puchi and Figma are both gorgeous. They also have evil expressions suggesting playful mischief and flair. I’ve already reserved the Figma, one of the most interesting looking Figmas yet produced.
I am not a fan of the BRS animation, but the three Figmas are too intriguing for me not to buy. I don’t mind that Black Gold Saw carries a blank expression. This is not a problem at all.
I have yet to see a Tohsaka Rin figure I even thought about considering to buy.
XD
Oof, there you go sinking daggers in my heart again! As much as I hated the anime, I loved the expressions on Dead Master’s face. Her smile always had a menacing and sinister twinge to it, and the way she always looks down at BRS just perfects the effect. Sadly, the 1/8 original ver. of Dead Master’s smile never goes beyond “mischievous”. I did not find anything wrong with this figure’s face when I ordered her, but subsequent release of the OVA and the figma definitely make the face feel lacklustre by comparison.
Oof, there you go sinking daggers in my heart again!–Chag
Ha-ha! No, not daggers! Never that! Just sense! I’m sinking sense into you. keke :p
On a serious note, I hope you will like your purchase.
I love the look of Dead Master more than Black Rock Shooter and Black Gold Saw. It’s her fashion sense and playful evil expressions that set her apart from the others. But Good Smile’s “Original” and “Animation” models are great disappointments, especially if you happened to have noticed that Good Smile’s BRS models and the BGS model are gorgeous and have been given more interesting poses. Not even their blank expressions can diminish the fact that their designs are of greater quality than the 2 Dead Masters.’ Rather, BRS’s and BGS’s blank faces seem to add to their coolness factor.
My problems with the 2 Dead Masters are their eyes, smiles, and poses.
Here are the Dead Masters I like:
http://tomopop.com/kiking-updates-gk-dead-master-i-d-probably-kill-someone-to-get-this-13280.phtml
–Kiking
http://wcloudxkumo.wordpress.com/2010/07/29/nendoroid-puchi-brs-dead-master-previews/
–Puchi
http://wcloudxkumo.wordpress.com/2010/07/21/more-figma-dead-master-others/
–Figma
Compare with the Dead Masters I didn’t like:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4120/4867426713_7c48586b0f_o.jpg
–Original
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4118/4867426497_49eef82001_o.jpg
–Animation
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4098/4867426597_9152090f11_o.jpg
–Nendoroid
The Nendoroid looks really goofy compared to the Puchi. Puchi benefits from her sharp Kagamin eyes. Kagami’s eyes never fail to appeal. By contrast, the Nendoroid’s eyes are uninteresting. In addition, the teethy smile on the Nendoroid is goofy. It is rodenty while completely lacking in a rodent’s charm.
And if you compare the Kiking’s and Max Factory’s Dead Masters to the 2 Good Smile’s, it is quite obvious that the Good Smiles are excessively inferior in their designs. You can see that Dead Master looks much better with long narrower eyes. The narrower eyes are more realistic and lend the face a more sophisticated look. Good Smile, instead, opted for massive round eyes. The “Animation” model’s eyes are especially goofy. You can see that the upper eye line is much straighter than the lower eye line. It looks like someone took a scalpel and cut off a large semi-circular patch of skin under each eye. The “Original” model’s eyes are not much better. But ah. I recognize that some people like the large eye look of anime. But I don’t think they translate well to 3D.
http://img3.sankakustatic.com/wp-content/gallery/cache/73209__468x_kigurumi-strike-witches.jpg
http://www.warofthering.net/ahobbitstale/movies/rotk_extended45.jpg
But just as much as the eyes mar the upper half of the face on the Good Smiles, their smiles mar the lower half just as much. Again, the “Animation” model’s smile is especially unflattering. It looks like it has had one too many plastic surgeries. And the Original model’s lips are slightly parted without conveying any emotions or thoughts, giving her the appearance of a slightly doofus demon. Actually, I think what the sculptor intended for both the Original and Animation is to give the faces a subtle hint of a “smiling skull.” I think they succeeded in making them look a bit creepy. Kiking and Max Factory instead were successful in trying to sculpt a highly appealing sophisticated and sexy look for their Dead Masters.
Finally, the poses of the Good Smiles are uninteresting. The Figma is articulated, so I won’t mention it. All I can say is that the Kiking garage kit is just too badass for the Good Smiles.
I am disappointed in the Good Smile Dead Masters. But at least the BRS Animation model and the BGS figure are lovely.
I meant that I don’t think massively large eyes look good on human faces. Admiral Ackbar is totally sexy.
:p
Hmmm, I see what you mean. The narrower eyes have the advantage of having more expression than the larger and rounder counterparts. When I look at the Kiking and figma Dead Masters, her eyes have a penetrating gaze to them.However, I would be hesitant to say they are definitively superior to the giant green orbs on the GSC figures. Sure, large eyes can certainly end up disastrous in real life, but most of the times, but when with the context of a bishoujo figure, the oversized eyes tend blend effortlessly into the third dimension (most of the times, at least… the Kanon girls still freak me out). Take the GSC Vocaloid trio, for example: those guys have eyes as big a grapefruits, but I ended up loving them to no end anyways.Huke’s illustrations of the BRS girls do not have complex facial expressions, but their large striking eyes have an unique effect on me. There is a haunting and hypnotic feel to the original Dead Master’s gigantic swirling green orbs. Come to think of it, this is probably the reason why I passed on the Animated BRS for the re-release of the original BRS figure. They may look creepy to some, yet at the same time absolutely captivating to others (me being one of them).In retrospect, the big eyes on the original Dead Master figure probably severely limits the facial expression on the figure. I don’t think you can stick a twisted grin or a finger-licking mouth on the figure without clashing with the eyes. Isn’t this ironic? The thing I love most on this figure is also the root of all my complaints against it.
Well, considering that large eyes vs small eyes is a matter of personal preference, I will concede that point.
But my gripe exists only in part because I am not a fan of anime’s “large” eyes. I think the narrow eyes on the Kiking and Figma seem to be more expressive because they suit Dead Master’s personality better–as I imagine her. :p
When you want to show patronizing bemusement tinted with contempt, arrogance, haughtiness, one way is by giving a subtle smile, which raises your cheeks and subtly lowering your eyebrows and upper eyelids. This describes the Figma’s expressions. In effect, you narrow your eyes when you want to show your superiority with a sophisticated look. The Kiking just shows contempt and arrogance in a look threatening violence. Narrowing the eyes while pursing the lips conveys this expression.
Of course, some peoples do make their eyes as large as possible to show aggression and superiority. But that look seems more tribal and primal, hardly befitting the fashionable demonic vixen, Dead Master.
:p