Observations from 2011

Last year’s grand experiment was making the jump from a lump sum allocation to a rolling budget. The idea there being chiefly to force a fairly even rate of spending so as not to get caught in the lurch late in the year with no money left–as was more or less the case for 2009 and 2010. In my year-end report, I charted the rate of spending over the course of the year and observed it to be roughly linear, which would indicate that the rolling budget strategy had accomplished its primary goal. But numbers don’t tell the whole story, so this is where I’ll take a more subjective look at last year’s plan and see where there might be room for improvement.

Emphasizing Preorders

My preferred collection philosophy is to focus on preorders and backfill from the secondary market relatively sparingly. Preorders ensure that you get what you want–or at least think you want–at a reasonable price. The downside to preorders is that you miss out on the windfall of bargain bin pricing, if and when it happens, and you commit to buy without any real knowledge of how the final product will turn out.

That’s the plan, at any rate. Ever since I started budgeting my figure hobby, I’ve felt like I’ve been continually running behind on my preorders, which has meant some key missed opportunities and having to resort to the secondary market more often than I would like. I had hoped I would hit a point this past year with the rolling budget strategy where I had all the figures I wanted preordered and could start building up a surplus to weather the heavier months, but that ideal state never materialized. On the bright side, I did see positive momentum heading into the new year with five figures on preorder, which is way more than I’ve had at any one time in previous years.

On the flip side, my wish list is larger than it’s ever been and that’s mostly already-released figures. I tried to keep a small reserve–about 1-2 months worth–over the course of 2011 to cover secondary market opportunities as they arose. In this, I had only mixed success. I was pleased to pick up Alter’s Selvaria Bles at a decent price from Mandarake, but that was my only notable purchase from the secondary market last year. Furthermore, my biggest regret last year came from not grabbing UART’s cold cast Ryofu early in the year and that was mostly due to trying to maintain that certain reserve.

Overall, I felt that the rolling budget strategy was fairly well suited to preorders, which can be planned fairly well in advance, and rather poorly suited for secondary market opportunities, which are generally unpredictable and have a relatively short window of availability.

Further Weakening of the Dollar

2011 wasn’t pretty for the American economy. The US dollar (USD) hit an all-time low against the Japanese yen (JPY) in late 2011. Looking back over the past several years since I started this budgeting endeavor, the dollar is down as much as 20% from 2009 and even more from prior years. For an industry so intimately linked with Japan, a 20% drop in the USD/JPY exchange rate is as good as a 20% price hike on American figure collectors.

When drawing up the numbers for the 2011 budget, I used USD prices from the 2009-2010 period when the dollar was stronger. Going forward, I plan to use current USD/JPY exchange rates in combination with JPY prices for typical figures when creating the budget plan. This will mean a bump in the 2012 budget to account for the higher cost of collecting.

2012 Budget Plan

Alright, time for the plan! This year, I’ve decided to try a hybrid system featuring both rolling and lump sum allocations in order to try and play both to their respective strengths. The rolling budget will be reserved for preorders whereas the lump sum money will be open to anything, but primarily intended for backfilling already released figures from my wish list.

Here are the numbers for the split plan:

• Rolling allocation: $145 (USD) per month – for preorders only
• Lump sum allocation: $700 (USD) on January 1st – for everything else

Looking year-over-year, this is a pretty substantial budget increase to the rolling budget (25%) and the lump sum portion didn’t exist last year, so that’s even more. The rolling budget increase is mostly due to current exchange rates, but I did explicitly budget for a few exclusives where I didn’t previously. The (re)introduction of the smaller lump sum allocation should allow me to stay focused on preorders with the monthly rolling budget without giving up on the idea of whittling away at my wish list.

That’s the plan, at any rate! Check back at the end of the year for my commentary to see how everything panned out.

PS: In case anyone is interested, I’ve posted the spreadsheet I used to do my calculations on Google Docs.

With the 2011 calendar year coming to a close, it’s time to look back over the transactions for the year and see how the budgetary plans I made at the beginning of the year panned out.

Transactions

The single most telling data I can provide is a statement of transactions made over the course of the year. Add everything up, compare against the established goal, and see whether or not I’m in the red. Simple.

To recap the plan from earlier in the year, I set up a monthly rolling budget of $115. When extrapolated over 12 months and combined with my 2009 and 2010 rollover, that leaves me with a total of $1,389.60 to play with. Let’s see how I decided to spend it.

13 figures bought. 1 figure sold. 8 preorders total, 2 in-stock, 2 second-hand, 1 exclusive, and 5 preorders outstanding.

Not too bad, I think. The breakdown is about what I expected, though I did feel like I passed on a few too many figures that I’m going to regret later, like not picking up UART’s cold cast Ryofu when she was still in stock at HobbyFan and priced somewhat reasonably. If I had to do it over again, I would probably drop Ryouko and Clalaclan in favor of the aforementioned Ryofu and something like GSC’s Black Gold Saw, which looked quite nice, but was ultimately passed over when the budget got too tight. Sometimes the timing of certain releases can be truly unfortunate.

You’ll notice that I’m using estimated totals for preorder items. Seeing as Japanese shops typically bill actual shipping and this amount is not generally known until an item is in stock, plus the fact that exchange rates change constantly, there’s no way of knowing the exact total when placing a preorder. That said, I’m estimating the shipping based on past purchases and so far I’ve been within $5 USD of the final amount.

Progression

The only major change I made to my budgetary plans from last year to this year–aside from tweaking numbers–was to switch from an annual rolling budget to a monthly rolling budget. This was in response to repeated observations that I tended to blow through my annual budget much too quickly and leave myself with little to go on for the majority of the year.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at the rate at which budgetary funds were consumed over the course of the year.

We see a pair of linear curves: one corresponding to credits (monthly budget + sales) and one corresponding to debits (purchases). The credits curve is pretty much linear by design whereas the debits curve is dictated by my spending behavior. The goal behind switching to the monthly rolling budget was to ensure a relatively smooth and constant rate of spending, so it looks like the plan was a success.

Other Interesting Data

As with last year, let’s examine a few statistics and see if there are any interesting trends therein.

Breakdown by Manufacturer

First, let’s look at purchases by manufacturer.

Compared to last year, this year’s haul is more homogenous with fewer total manufacturers and Alter taking the lion’s share. Alter is certainly one of my favorite manufacturers and I place a lot of value on a manufacturer’s reputation, as we rarely have the luxury of personally inspecting a figure prior to purchase. That said, I could easily have seen myself making a few different selections, such as picking up GSC’s Black Gold Saw instead of Alter’s Ookami Ryouko, which would be enough to shift these ratios a good bit.

Breakdown by Retailer

Last year, I used 10 different shops for 13 figures purchased, which is kind of ridiculous when you think about it.

Let’s see how things look for this year.

Only five different shops this time, which looks a lot more reasonable. I started using AmiAmi late last year because of their aggressive pricing and the fact that they’re a Japanese shop, which means that you get your preorders fairly quickly, even with SAL, rather than dealing with the typical 1-2 month delay for preorders placed at shops outside of Japan.

The Hobby Link Japan order is something of an anomaly. I would have ordered Naoe through AmiAmi like all my other non-second-hand, non-exclusive purchases this year, but I put off the decision until she was sold out at both AmiAmi and Hobby Search. I don’t dislike HLJ or anything and they served me well in my early days of collecting, but their pricing tends to come in higher than the aforementioned shops and I have had zero service issues with any of the Japanese shops so I see little reason not to go with the cheapest option.

Mandarake and the MyFigureCollection.net community offer some interesting opportunities to pick up second-hand figures without resorting to eBay pricing or proxy fees associated with Yahoo! Auctions Japan. I only recently discovered both as potential sources, but I expect to use both more going forward.

Breakdown by Price

Finally, let’s see if there are any trends in figure pricing.

Not too much to say here. The results are pretty similar to last year despite the US dollar hitting record lows against the Japanese yen. Most 1/8 to 1/6 scale figures fall into the $100-$150 range unless you start digging through the bargain bin or manage to do combined shipping. The lofty $150+ territory continues to be the dominion of exclusives and rare second-hand figures.

Next up on the review pile is Alter’s Ookami Ryouko from Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakamatachi. While I picked her up relatively early in the year, technical difficulties and aborted photo shoots delayed her review by months. Continue on after the jump to see how this “wolf in wolf’s clothing” stacks up.

Gallery

Review

I must confess that I know little of Ryouko other than that she is apparently a bit of a tsundere and that she is supposed to be modeled after the wolf from Little Red Riding Hood. I wanted to catch a couple episodes of the series to get a little more insight into her character, but unfortunately Ookami-san has been licensed by Funimation since 2010 yet remains unreleased. Curse you, Funi!

Visually, Ryouko reminds me a bit of both Taiga from Toradora! and Shana from Shakugan no Shana, which puts her in good company. Her outfit resembles standard seifuku up top, but the side slit skirt and military-style calf-high boots on the bottom are assuredly not standard school issue and serve to give Ryouko a bit of a roguish appearance. Add to this a dramatic red-on-black color coordination that complements Ryouko’s light brown hair nicely and further serves up impressions of a strong and rebellious spirit. Ryouko carries a pair of what I’m assuming to be animate totems on her belt: one black and one white.

Her stance and expression suggest a state of waiting and annoyance on Ryouko’s part, as might be appropriate just prior to departure to/from school. It’s a fairly static pose, which could be viewed as boring, but keen observers can detect subtle highlights in Alter’s work here. As a skillful example of the Art of the Tease, Ryouko’s skirt is conveniently pushed slightly to one side, inviting furtive glances at her long, slender legs while denying insight into her more intimate accompaniments.

Hair continues to be an area where Alter excels and I think it is the area most worthy of praise when assessing the paint and sculpt detail on Ryouko. Her long hair flows backward into a sort of faux ponytail while her face is framed by thick, side-swept bangs and extended side locks. It’s a fairly compact hair style for its length, which affords less room for detail as compared to a looser style that flares out–à la Buddy–but Alter manages to do a pretty good job of packing a lot of sculpt detail into Ryouko’s mane as it flows down her back. Subtle gradations in shading when moving from the center to the tips of each tress further enhance the detail to be found here. Ryouko’s outfit, on the other hand, is fairly unremarkable, detail-wise, while her left hand has a bit of an uncanny, prosthetic look that makes it the weakest area of the sculpt, in my opinion.

One other oddity worth noting is that while the paint finish on this figure is almost uniformly matte, Alter elected to use a glossy finish for Ryouko’s eyes and the toes of her boots. As a result, I was dogged by glare coming off Ryouko’s eyes throughout the photo shoot. I suspect that this effect becomes less distracting under normal interior lighting conditions, but given that the glossy eye treatment is hardly standard practice and the fact that catch lights are already painted into the character’s eyes, I’m not sure what Alter was trying to accomplish here.

Finally, we come to the display base–an area where Alter has been largely maintaining the status quo for a while now. Unfortunately, Alter continues to play it safe and boring with Ryouko. The display base is a simple clear plastic design shaped into a generic animal-eared profile–an obvious nod to Ryouko’s role as the wolf–with a handful of frosted accents. There isn’t even a series logo or character name inscribed on the base.

When I look back at my purchases over the course of this year, I must confess that I often think Ryouko would be the first to go if I had to do it all over again. While I can find only minor faults in the execution, this figure lacks a certain sense of epic grandeur and exoticism captured by favorites such as GSC’s Saber Lily ~Distant Avalon~ and Alter’s own Momohime. Alter does reasonably well with what they’ve got, but it’s hard not to view their take on Ryouko as just another sailor-suited heroine going about her daily business.

Highs

• Surprisingly high visual interest for a static pose
• Nice hair!
• Solid overall sculpt and paint detail
• Dramatic colors
• That tsundere look

Lows

• Glossy eyes
• Boring display base
• Mundane themes

Other Reviews

As usual, I’m not the first to review this figure, especially this far after release. Check out these other reviews for an alternate take:

• beyyang128
• Cool and Spicy
• Flickerin Flame
• ふはフィギュアのふ
• Guren Nishiki
• Kenji Sugahara
• Ksha_vara
• MOKOMOKOにしてやんよ♪
• Nekomimi Yuujinchou
• Shadonia
• 獅子王の檻
• Studiorzhobby

Miscellany

Financial Data

• Purchased from: AmiAmi
• Order date: 2-Apr-2011
• Ship date: 5-Apr-2011
• Receive date: 15-Apr-2011
• Base price (JPY): ¥5,430
• Shipping cost (JPY): ¥895 (Registered SAL) – 1/2 of combined shipping
• Total cost (JPY): ¥6,325
• Foreign transaction fee (USD): $2.00
• Total cost (USD): $77.49

Technical Data

• Package dimensions (width): 145 mm
• Package dimensions (height): 240 mm
• Package dimensions (depth): 115 mm
• Shipping weight (figure + base + accessories): 148 g
• Shipping weight (packaging): 161 g

Gallery

Review

Canaan, the TV series, is a shoot ‘em up on its face and a more introspective, psychological endeavor underneath. It’s hard to express the latter in PVC, so GSC wisely chose to emphasize the action-oriented nature of the show with a wonderfully dynamic pose capturing Canaan falling backwards, cape billowing outward, while exchanging gunfire with some unseen adversary–presumably Alphard, who has a figure of her own from GSC. It’s exactly the kind of pose you would expect from a show of this nature and Canaan’s body language seems appropriate for the situation, so no complaints there. The mid-air action freeze does necessitate a visible peg, which I typically find a bit annoying, but the peg is fairly short and gets lost easily enough amidst the rock formations of the detailed terrain base that GSC wisely provides with Canaan.

The paint work is similarly quite good, as we have come to expect from GSC in recent years. Detailed shading adds a nice degree of depth wherever creases and folds appear in Canaan’s clothing. Canaan’s pants–a veritable rarity in the fanservice-oriented figure industry–are a particular high point in this regard. The aforementioned display base is painted with rustic warm tones resembling a desert landscape similar to those seen frequently near the end of the TV series.

Up to now, everything sounds as it should be. Canaan should be another essential, must-have figure from one of the respected names in the industry, right? Not quite. Unfortunately, GSC cursed Canaan with bad hair. Seriously. This is the worst hair sculpt I’ve seen since Clayz’s original blue dress Saber way back in 2006 when I first started collecting figures. Where most figures these days have just one identifiable hair seam–where two pieces of PVC come together–Canaan has three, none of which are very well hidden; a fact that is most evident when viewed from above. To make matters worse, a number of small leftover mold imprints are visible in the strands of her hair. This level of effort might be expected from some of the other manufacturers within the figure industry, but it stands as a baffling and troubling oversight from the same company that delivered the lusciously detailed hair of Rin Tohsaka.

Despite the hair, I don’t hate GSC’s Canaan. I think she’s a good figure and one that I have no regrets in picking up, but I do believe she does fall short of essential status for one very significant lapse in execution. Those interested in Canaan’s particular brand of western gunslinger motif might be better served by looking at Alphard instead. She shares a number of significant design similarities to Canaan, but the respective ratings of both figures over at MyFigureCollection.net suggest that users are more satisfied with Alphard.

Highs

• Action-packed, mid-air, freeze frame pose
• Chicks with guns
• Iconic, TYPE-MOON character design
• Detailed paint and body sculpt work
• Three-dimensional, textured display base

Lows

• Truly dreadful hair sculpt

Other Reviews

As usual, I’m not the first to review this figure, especially this far after release. Check out these other reviews for an alternate take:

• autaku
• Exelica Meteor
• The Inferno Project
• Polyvinyl Crush
• softwerkz.net
• Visual Fanfare

Miscellany

Thoughts on the Anime

The Canaan TV series managed to exceed my initial expectations, if only slightly. I was initially draw to the series because of its TYPE-MOON roots, but I had tempered expectations based on a lack of significant buzz from the community. Canaan features lush visuals and plenty of action early on, but I was surprised by how quickly the show transitioned from gun fights to exploring the personal issues of all the major characters. I’m reminded of Evangelion in that respect. Overall, I found Canaan to be quite enjoyable and it held my interest better than most, but the writing is spotty at times and the ending ultimately feels unsatisfying.

Financial Data

• Purchased from: Hobby Search
• Order date: 5-Jan-2010
• Ship date: 8-Apr-2010
• Receive date: 12-Apr-2010
• Base price (JPY): ¥7,961
• Shipping cost (JPY): ¥2,800 (EMS)
• Discounts (JPY): ¥404, via Hobby Search points
• Total cost (JPY): ¥10,357
• Foreign transaction fee (USD): $3.37
• Total cost (USD): $112.42

Technical Data

• Package dimensions (width): 210 mm
• Package dimensions (height): 240 mm
• Package dimensions (depth): 160 mm
• Shipping weight (figure + base + accessories): 264 g
• Shipping weight (packaging): 311 g

Arshes Nei is the first figure from Orchid Seed to make it to the top of my review pile. She appears to be a seasoned warrior of an exotic heritage, but can she hold her own against 2011 standouts like Dizzy and Rin? Find out below.

(This post has been tagged NSFW. Reader discretion is advised.)

Gallery

Review

I first spotted Arshes as an unpainted sample at the 2010 summer Wonder Festival. In sizing her up, you can’t help but notice that Arshes has a bit more meat on her bones than your typical bishoujo figure material. Her wide hips, thick thighs, and obviously ample bosom might suggest that Arshes’ seifuku-wearing days are behind her, but I suspect her curvy physique is more a product of the artist’s particular style than an indication of her age. Either way, I find her body type to be a refreshing change of pace in a market dominated by waifish school girls.

I don’t have any previous familiarity with Bastard!!, but from what I gather it’s a relatively obscure dark fantasy series from the early 90′s. As such, it’s surprising to see the series get a new figure design now, although I have noticed that Orchid Seed tends to pick up more characters from fringe titles than a lot of the other manufacturers do.

This is my first review of an Orchid Seed figure, so naturally I had some interest in seeing how they would stack up against long-time favorites like Alter and Good Smile Company. It’s worth noting that I already owned their Red Stone Lancer figure, but I managed to break the Lancer’s spear in the process of getting her unboxed and have yet to repair her, so she’s still pending a review.

Sculpt and paint detail are good, but not quite top tier. My main complaint here is that the satin matte finish combined with Arshes’ dark skin tone seems to show faint scuffs and scratches more readily than I’m used to seeing. If you look closely at the midriff you will see evidence of this in my shots. I can pretend it’s just some scar Arshes sustained in battle, but I rather suspect Orchid Seed did not intend for the mark to be there. -_-

As with many Orchid Seed figures, Arshes features a cast-off that allows one to remove the most significant impediments preventing the viewer from beholding Arshes in her raw glory. I’m frequently leery of such features as I feel they often require too many design compromises, but I have to admit that Orchid Seed shows their experience here. When not in use, the cast-off remains largely invisible, as it should. The body and clothing seams are well hidden and all connection points fit nice and tight.

All in all, I think Arshes is a good pickup. She’s not the most amazing figure I’ve ever seen, but she doesn’t have any significant flaws and she neatly fills a couple gaps in my collection.

Highs

• Arshes’ womanly figure
• Dark-skinned exoticism
• Fantasy-themed apparel
• Solid sculpt and paint detail
• Low-key cast-off implementation
• 1/6 scale

Lows

• Skin tone paint seems to show every little scratch
• Short pegs barely hold the figure onto the base
• Belt doesn’t come off easily when switching to cast-off mode

Other Reviews

As usual, I’m not the first to review this figure. Check out these other reviews for an alternate take:

• アスばむ (asubamu)
• みるまうす (mirumausu)
• vrm.psy

Miscellany

All Things NSFW

Coming into this review, I was a little apprehensive of broaching the subject of nudes and “mature” content on the blog. I want to keep the site mostly safe for work, but I also want to review figures like this one from time to time and I think readers expect a full review.

After mulling my options, I opted for the minimal annoyance approach of applying the widely used and (hopefully) understood “NSFW” tag to both the post title and WP tags. I also toyed with the idea of censoring just the thumbnails, posting the cast-off pics somewhere else (e.g., Tsuki-board), and/or simply avoiding the question altogether by not posting any cast-off pics at all.

I’m open to feedback on this subject and I would like to hear some other opinions on what you’d like to see here.

Financial Data

• Purchased from: AmiAmi
• Order date: 5-May-2011
• Ship date: 9-Aug-2011
• Receive date: 25-Aug-2011
• Base price (JPY): ¥7,480
• Shipping cost (JPY): ¥1,280 (SAL Small Packet Unregistered)
• Total cost (JPY): ¥8,760
• Foreign transaction fee (USD): $0.00
• Total cost (USD): $113.83

Technical Data

• Package dimensions (width): 260 mm
• Package dimensions (height): 288 mm
• Package dimensions (depth): 155 mm
• Shipping weight (figure + base + accessories): 446 g
• Shipping weight (packaging): 401 g
• Shipping weight (shipping box): 342 g
• Shipping weight (total): 1,189 g

Periodically, I like to take a look at new figures that are available for pre-order. This isn’t intended to be an exhaustive list, but rather a selection of new releases that I personally find interesting or notable.

It’s been quite a while since my last preview post. The year up to now has been pretty quiet for me, as relatively few preorders have managed to grab my attention in any meaningful way. In fact, I think Arshes Nei is the only figure I’ve ordered this year that opened in 2011 prior to the summer Wonder Festival. Predictably, the Wonder Festival unleashed a slew of interesting new figures that are now vying to get in my wallet.

November

Orchid Seed – 1/7 Aizawa Nao

Nao isn’t exactly new, but she’s technically still not released yet and she’s relevant to my interests so I’m including her with the rest of this bunch.

I really like the pumpkin as an unusual, holiday-themed prop and the way Nao is perched on top of it, which makes for an interesting pose. There’s also a lot of nice complementary color sets going on here with orange and blue, yellow and purple. As with most Orchid Seed figures, she features a cast-off, which I could care less for, but as long as they don’t screw her up as a normal figure it won’t bother me that it’s there.

I’m planning to pick her up, but recent announcements have pushed her down the priority list a bit.

Kotobukiya – 1/8 Melty

Really love the goth-loli attire here and the huge wizard’s hat. Melty is cute and moe as hell. Props to Tony for the great character design and to Kotobukiya for not screwing it up (at least from what I can see).

It looks like Kotobukiya USA will be distributing Melty, so I’ll probably try to grab her through them or indirectly through a US shop as Koto-US tends to price their offerings slightly lower than Koto-JP.

Max Factory – 1/6 Asuka ~Test Plug Suit Ver.~

Some people like Asuka’s test plug suit; some people don’t. Personally, I’m a fan. I think the test suit has more visual contrast and better accentuates Asuka’s body than the classic plug suit did.

I originally thought for sure that I would pick up Alter’s test suit Asuka, but I waffled on the decision and she fell down the list to the point that Max Factory’s version is here and I’m thinking I like their version better. She’s currently at the top of my “to buy” list for preorder items.

January

Good Smile Company – 1/8 Kaname Madoka

I wonder if I’ve let myself get too caught up in all the Madoka Magica hype. I haven’t even seen the show, but I ordered this figure on day 1 and I’m ready to order the R1 DVD set whenever Aniplex USA finally puts it up for preorder.

I should probably keep her boxed up until after I’ve seen the show. -_-

Alter – 1/8 Kanetsugu Naoe

Alter’s latest entry in their series of Hyakka Ryouran figures is a visual treat. You’ve got great colors (purple+gold and red+black), a gigantic weapon, and that pose combined with Naoe’s oh-so-short skirt providing a heavenly rear view.

My only reservation with this figure is that appears that a separate support will be required for the hammer. I really don’t like seeing support rods and it was a major turn off for me when I unboxed Alter’s Selvaria to discover that they had provided one for her lance. Still, I don’t think these concerns will stop me from picking up this figure.

Good Smile Company – 1/8 Hatsune Miku ~Love Is War, DX Ver.~

I’m not entirely sure what to think of Love Is War Miku. The community at large seems to be gaga over her, but I’m not quite sold on this figure. I can appreciate that she’s sort of an anti-moe rendition of Miku and the display base is gorgeous, but something about the figure just doesn’t scream “gotta have it” to me. That said, I have this sneaking suspicion that if I don’t get this figure now I’m going to regret it later. There will probably be some reviewer out there that takes just the right shot that makes me see the figure in a whole new light.

The more expensive DX version features the full base and a hefty price tag. It’s also a GSC online shop exclusive, but GSC is the rare direct dealer that actually accepts international orders so there’s no need for a proxy.

February

Kotobukiya – 1/8 Neris

As with Melty, this is more Tony Taka-inspired goodness from Kotobukiya. The playful pose and milk maid outfit are rather nice here, along with some unusual props in the bread basket. What’s not so nice is the fact that this is a Kotobukiya online shop exclusive. Unlike GSC, Kotobukiya doesn’t accept orders from outside Japan which means proxy services and unwanted extra expenses. I would like to pick Neris up, but I think the timing of her release combined with the exclusivity tax will probably keep me from doing so.

Alter has entered the Guilty Gear arena with Dizzy as their combatant. They did deliver us figure “Heaven or Hell?” Dizzy review “FIGHT!” up next.

Gallery

Review

Alter’s first entry into the rather underdeveloped Guilty Gear figure market features the half-human/half-Gear/all-lovely heroine Dizzy. She is but one of a veritable carnival of bizarre and eccentric characters from the cult 2D fighting game series. Notable oddballs include the infamous trap, a prehensile hair user, the possessed dude, and another guy who hides behind a paper bag, just to name a few. Dizzy herself is purported to be only 3 years old, all appearances to the contrary, which is assumed to be related to her Gear heritage. Her two animate wings are called Necro and Undine. I’ll leave it as an exercise to the reader to figure out which one is which (hint: you don’t have to be a language scholar).

In doing the write-up for this review, I was quite surprised to discover that Alter’s Dizzy is only the second pre-painted PVC figure featuring her character to hit the market–the other being Kotobukiya’s version, which was a Hobby Japan exclusive released in a couple different colors and technically credited to Dizzy’s cameo in the Queen’s Gate franchise rather than the Guilty Gear series. Take a look at any anime-themed image board and you’ll quickly come to the conclusion that Dizzy is far and away the most popular character to come out of the Guilty Gear series. Further to that, the source material isn’t exactly new, with the most recent major entry in the series being Guilty Gear XX Λ Core, released in 2006. So why hasn’t Dizzy received more figure love up to now?

I’m sure the apparent lack of Dizzy figures is in no small part attributable to the niche status of Guilty Gear within the fighting game genre, which is itself a relatively niche genre within the greater whole of video gaming. There was also some confusion in recent years surrounding the ownership of the franchise, as developer Arc System Works somehow lost control of Guilty Gear to SEGA when the latter merged with Sammy. I imagine this could well have hampered any efforts to get new merchandising deals for the series in place. Fortunately, Arc revealed earlier this year that they have re-acquired the rights to Guilty Gear and will presumably be working on new games.

All ruminations concerning the origins of Alter’s Dizzy aside, she’s here now and it’s time to evaluate how well she stacks up as a figure.

Pose-wise, I think Alter does a pretty good job here. While Dizzy’s fighting game origins strike me as a good opportunity to showcase a battle pose or special move, Alter opted for a relatively static pose that captures Dizzy looking innocent and perhaps a little unsure of herself. Dizzy is frequently portrayed as innocent and/or naive, probably owing to her age, so I think the expression we see here is appropriate for her character. We also get a good look at Necro and Undine, who presumably have a vested interest in watching over their young host.

The sculpt and paint work are uniformly excellent on this figure. Necro and Undine are the obvious highlights here, with both receiving some wonderfully sculpted features and fine paint work that do an excellent job of drawing attention to the fact that these aren’t your grandmother’s angel wings.

Dizzy, herself, is slightly more mundane by comparison, but not disappointing by any stretch. Her exposed shoulders, neck, and clavicle area are unusually detailed and her curves are pleasingly curvy where visible. Her hair is similarly well-detailed, although the fact that it’s tied up tends to make it less impressive than, say, Buddy‘s hair was. Dizzy’s body and outfit paint work is largely matte with more uniform gradation than her wings, although there are a few glossy highlights here and there.

Dizzy’s display base is the unassuming, flat plastic with painted logo variety. It does feature a two-tone, 50/50 vertical stripe that provides a subtle reference to Dizzy’s half-Gear heritage, so I’ll give Alter credit for that. Even so, we’ve seen what 3D textured terrain bases can do for a figure, so I would continue to encourage all manufacturers to push the envelope a little more in this area.

All in all, I think Alter manages to deliver one of the finest figures I’ve purchased in a long time from a franchise that sorely needs more quality figures. So where can they go from here? Alter recently announced that Dizzy will be receiving a Dec. 2011 re-release, which would indicate that demand for this particular figure was strong. That gives me some encouragement that there may be hope for other Guilty Gear figures in the near future. Personally, I’m hoping to see Baiken.

Highs

• Dizzy-ing character appeal!
• Gorgeously detailed wings
• Near-perfect sculpt and paint work
• Appealing, character-appropriate pose

Lows

• Takes up a lot of vertical space for a 1/8 scale figure

Other Reviews

As usual, I’m not the first to review this figure. Check out these other reviews for an alternate take:

• foo-bar-baz
• Plastic Parfait
• Shadonia
• Tentacle Armada

Miscellany

Guilty Gear / Fighting Games

When I  play GG, I typically main with Baiken, with Dizzy as a backup. I like that Dizzy can spam lots of projectiles while maintaining a melee assault with relative safety. It’s a simple strategy that makes life difficult for noobs, but won’t do much to hinder experienced players. That’s pretty much the level I’m at with these games.

I find myself frequently drawn to fighting games despite the fact that I largely suck at them. I haven’t really been able to get past the execution hurdle on anything after Street Fighter II and I’m not really willing to invest the kind of time required to get better at these games.

Financial Data

• Purchased from: AmiAmi
• Order date: 24-Mar-2011
• Ship date: 26-Apr-2011
• Receive date: 6-May-2011
• Base price (JPY): ¥9,420
• Shipping cost (JPY): ¥1,890 (SAL Small Packet Registered)
• Total cost (JPY): ¥11,310
• Foreign transaction fee (USD): $3.73
• Total cost (USD): $142.03

Technical Data

• Package dimensions (width): 325 mm
• Package dimensions (height): 300 mm
• Package dimensions (depth): 150 mm
• Shipping weight (figure + base + accessories): 385 g
• Shipping weight (packaging): 435 g
• Shipping weight (shipping box): 454 g
• Shipping weight (total): 1,274 g

Good Smile Company made us wait 18 months to get our hands on this 1/7 scale rendition of TYPE-MOON’s ultimate twin-tailed tsundere. Was she worth the wait? I think so. Find out why below.

Gallery

Review

While there are a fair number of FSN figures out there, the lion’s share of those have gone to Saber–which isn’t at all surprising–but it has left the rest of the cast relatively underrepresented. I felt that Rin, in particular, suffered from a dearth of good figures. Beyond the simple fact that there just aren’t that many Rin figures out there, most of those existing up to now were lacking in some significant aspect. Either the pose was lame or the sculpt sucked or they put Rin in the wrong outfit–her red casual wear seen here is obviously the one true outfit for Rin . Needless to say, I was delighted when Good Smile Company introduced a new Rin that appeared to address these shortcomings.

For whatever reason, GSC really took their sweet time in bringing this promising rendition of Rin to market. It started in Jan. 2010 with a preview poster, which became an unpainted sample in March, followed by a painted sample in October, and finally preorders in November with a release date all the way out in the middle of 2011.  All told, it was about 18 months from the first indications that this figure was coming to the time when final PVC actually shipped.

I’m a bit puzzled as to why it took so long for GSC to release Rin. I see Fate/stay night and its off-shoots as a high-profile property for GSC and Rin is arguably second only to Saber in popularity, so I had expected that they would have given this figure greater priority than the afore-mentioned timeline would suggest. Perhaps GSC has been too busy tending their Nendoroid cash cow? It certainly seems that way at times, but I think it would be overly pessimistic to fully attribute the glacial pace of Rin’s release process to Nendoroids alone. It’s entirely possible that this is the normal pace of work in the prepainted PVC market and I just never noticed it previously.

I suppose it’s all water under the bridge now that Rin is finally in the hands of collectors worldwide. As I mentioned in the teaser (above), I feel that GSC’s 1/7 scale Unlimited Blade Works Rin was very much worth the wait. Much as with their Saber Lily figure that I reviewed last year, it’s difficult to identify any significant flaws with this figure.

The pose is quite good. It’s dynamic and visual appealing, capturing Rin in battle mode with an expression of determination on her face. I feel this is an area where a lot of the previous Rin figures have fallen short. I imagine it’s a bit more difficult to find a good pose for Rin than Saber simply because she doesn’t have a big, signature weapon to swing about.

The sculpt and paint detail are excellent, although I do have one minor quibble with Rin’s alternate left hand–the one holding her mana gems. If you look closely at the gems, you can see a little bit of surface area that is flesh-colored where it should be red. I imagine GSC simply chose to be conservative rather than risk getting overspray on Rin’s fingers, but I do feel the paint work could have been a little tighter in this one area. It’s not a huge issue. You have to look quite closely to notice and you can always display Rin with the other, empty hand.

I was also surprised at first that GSC chose to use a glossy finish for Rin’s top. It doesn’t strike me as an obvious choice for Rin’s outfit, but after working with the figure for the review, I’m inclined to say that it’s really not an issue. Yes, under photographic lights the glossy finish brings out some glare, which will be evident in photos, but under normal indoor lighting conditions it’s not very noticeable.

As with Saber Lily and a host of other GSC figures of late, Rin features a textured, three-dimensional display base that does a good job of adding a sense of immersion and visual flair to the figure. I feel that this is an area where GSC is pioneering to good effect in the PVC market. Aside from Alter’s Momohime, I really haven’t see a lot of these type of bases from other manufacturers. It’s something that I think really adds to the figure as a whole and I would like to see this style of base become the standard in the future.

Despite the aesthetic merits of the base, I find that the way the swords fit into the display base is one of the weak points of this figure. There isn’t a lot of surface area where the swords contact the base, so it can be more difficult than it should be to get the swords fixed securely.

Hopefully, this isn’t the last of the Fate series PVCs from Good Smile Company. Rider could use some more figure love and, personally, I think a scale version of Fate/Extra Saber with that red dress of hers would be pretty awesome.

Highs

• Rin’s massive character appeal
• Rin’s casual wear outfit
• Nice, dynamic pose
• Top-notch sculpt and paint detail
• Detailed display base
• 1/7 scale

Lows

• GSC took forever to bring this figure to market
• Swords fit rather loosely into the base
• Minor paint coverage issue on Rin’s alternate left hand

Other Reviews

As usual, I’m not the first to review this figure. Although I’m pretty sure this was the fastest turn I’ve done in terms of time between receiving a figure and getting a review out, I’m still weeks behind other bloggers out there. Hmm…

Check out these other reviews for an alternate take:

• BioToxic
• Exelica Meteor
• foo-bar-baz
• Tentacle Armada

Miscellany

TYPE-MOON Figures

It occurred to me while writing this review that despite the adult visual novel origins of major TYPE-MOON franchises Tsukihime and Fate/stay night, there are almost no figures from these series featuring prominent nudity or cast-off features. Contrast that with “ecchi” series like Queen’s Blade or Ikkitousen where it’s hard to find a figure without these features. I’m not quite sure what it all means, but I think it’s an interesting comparison.

Financial Data

• Purchased from: AmiAmi
• Order date: 6-Feb-2011
• Ship date: 7-Jun-2011
• Receive date: 17-Jun-2011
• Base price (JPY): ¥6,540
• Shipping cost (JPY): ¥1,890 (Registered SAL)
• Total cost (JPY): ¥8,430
• Foreign transaction fee (USD): $2.84
• Total cost (USD): $108.28

Technical Data

• Package dimensions (width): 250 mm
• Package dimensions (height): 330 mm
• Package dimensions (depth): 180 mm
• Shipping weight (figure + base + accessories): 262 g
• Shipping weight (packaging): 507 g
• Shipping weight (shipping box): 396 g
• Shipping weight (total): 1,165 g

Next on my review pile is Alter’s Buddy. Keen observers of detail will note that if my review queue were a proper FIFO the next review after Momohime should rightfully go to Clalaclan, but decided to bump Buddy up to the front for whatever reason.

Gallery

Review

I’ve struggled a bit to put my finger on exactly what it is about Buddy that I find appealing and why I moved her to the top of my wish list almost immediately after preorders opened. She hails from 18+ visual novel game Voices from Har Meggido, for which I have no prior experience or special appreciation. Her outfit reminds me of a magical girl series a la Cardcaptor Sakura or Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, although Buddy would appear to be a bit older than the heroines from either of those series. The outfit itself is suitably suggestive for an 18+ game heroine, featuring an open front that makes Buddy’s preferred color no secret to anyone.

The hues that make up Buddy’s garments suggest that she is either a witch by trade or filling the tragic villain role like Fate Testarossa did in the first Lyrical Nanoha series. Maybe that would explain her melancholy expression. It’s like she’d rather be doing something else or she expects a bittersweet conclusion to her endeavors—or perhaps it’s just resignation the poor girl feels for being saddled with a boy’s name. Her demeanor does give Buddy an added air of mystery, which I find appropriate for a girl we know so little about.

Introductions asides, how does Buddy stack up as a figure?

I’m tempted to compare her to Momohime as they do share some high-level similarities. Both are 1/8 scale, pre-painted PVC figures launched by Alter in 2010 at similar price points which feature cute girls wielding bladed weapons. They differ in that Momohime stands out as something of a masterpiece within the field of volume pre-painted PVC figurines, whereas Buddy comes across as slightly more mundane. I’m not saying she’s a bad figure by any means, but I really don’t see her on the same level as the Momohime figure. Buddy’s paint and sculpt work isn’t quite as detailed and her pose doesn’t convey a strong impression the way Momohime’s does.

Alter’s Buddy is a fine figure who fills the mature magical girl gap in my collection nicely. I don’t regret picking her up in the slightest, but collectors worried that they might have overlooked the next essential entry in the bishoujo figure market can rest easy.

Highs

• Magical girl mystique
• Nice balance between sexy and demure
• Gorgeous hair
• Solid build quality

Lows

• Less impressive than some of Alter’s other recent works
• Paint finish appears somewhat dull in normal light

Miscellany

Backdrops

The background used for this review was a 1.5 yard section of cloth purchased from a local craft store for about $12. The lack of variation in my backdrops has been bugging me for a while, so I was looking for an inexpensive way to bring in some new material and this was the best solution I’ve found so far. When picking out the fabric, I tried to find patterns that were multichromatic and non-uniform so that they would provide an appealing bokeh. Expect to see more of these in future reviews.

AmiAmi

Buddy marked my first order from AmiAmi since they went international in late 2009. AmiAmi’s web site is a little clunky at times, but their prices are terrific–a fact which will forgive many a fault. Given that I had no difficulties with this particular order or any of the several others I’ve placed with them since that time, I have little reason not to give them more of my business.

I feel kind of sorry for Hobby Search having to compete with AmiAmi now. I know they were my preferred Japanese shop before AmiAmi was an option. I appreciate the fact the Hobby Search supported the international market long before AmiAmi did and I still think their web store is the best I’ve seen, but I find it hard to justify consistently spending more to give them my business. It’s a bit unfortunate that it comes down to that.

Registered SAL

I decided to try Registered SAL over EMS in order further pinch pennies. Even with AmiAmi’s discount, shipping with EMS can easily negate any cost savings of buying direct from Japan versus some of the discount American shops like HobbyFan and Kid Nemo. I was pleasantly surprised by the speed of both this particular order and several since then that have used Registered SAL. I’ve been keeping track of the ship dates as indicated by AmiAmi and the dates on which I’ve actually received the package and I’m seeing a very consistent 10 calendar day transit time, which I feel is still quite reasonable given the savings.

In the future I plan to try Unregistered SAL to cut shipping costs even further. The extra fee associated with Registered SAL is fixed (i.e., it doesn’t change depending on the size or weight of the package) and it covers nice-to-haves like insurance and delivery confirmation, but I suspect over the long haul it is cheaper to have a lost or damaged package every now and then than to always pay the fee, especially if the postal system in your country is generally reliable, as it is here in the US. I think it’s also worth noting that the insurance on Registered SAL caps out at only ¥6,000, which isn’t enough to cover full replacement cost on a lot of figures these days.

Financial Data

• Purchased from: AmiAmi
• Order date: 30-Oct-2010
• Receive date: 29-Nov-2010
• Base price (JPY): ¥6,250
• Shipping cost (JPY): ¥1,490 (Registered SAL)
• Total cost (JPY): ¥7,740
• Foreign transaction fee (USD): $2.52
• Total cost (USD): $95.69

Technical Data

• Package dimensions (width): 220 mm
• Package dimensions (height): 240 mm
• Package dimensions (depth): 160 mm
• Shipping weight (figure + base + accessories): 143 g
• Shipping weight (packaging): 262 g
• Shipping weight (shipping box): 611 g
• Shipping weight (total): 1,016 g

Review

As I’m sure many other collectors out there will attest, Alter’s rendition of warrior princess Momohime is one fine piece of PVC. I see that the coalition of bloggers behind the Best Figure Awards voted Momohime as the winner for 2011 (?), and I certainly can’t fault their judgement in this case. The character design, pose, and colors all come together nicely to make a very compelling package that stands out among other figures–even the motley assortment living on my shelves–while Alter continues to deliver the near-flawless execution we’ve come to expect from them.

The only imperfection I could note on my Momohime was a very small blotch of black paint on the left thigh, slightly above where her leg wraps end. It’s a very minor paint issue and not something that will be lessening my enjoyment of an otherwise excellent figure.

Highs

• Muramasa’s unique, stylized artwork translated into PVC
• Dynamic pose with few bad angles
• Appealing gamut of colors
• Alter fit and finish
• Not your typical, plain plastic base

Lows

• One very minor paint issue
• Slight gap between shoulder and left arm of Momohime’s kimono

Gallery

Miscellany

Momohime was one of two figures I purchased last year from HobbyFan–the other being Alter’s equally lovely Clalaclan. Other than the usual 1-2 month delay when buying from an American shop rather than direct from Japan, I can’t report any issues with buying through them.

This is the first review where I’ve done any substantial amount of post-processing to the photos. Previously, my adjustments in post were largely limited to crop/resize and using the clone tool to remove really obvious dust & debris.

I bought Aperture on impulse when the price dropped to $80 with the Mac App Store launch. I found the interface daunting at first, but after working through a full review’s worth of photos I feel like I’m starting to see the value in a dedicated photo post-proc app. The ability to fine tune a particular photo via non-destructive adjustments and then copy/paste all those adjustments to a group of similar photos is just pure gold.

Financial Data

• Purchased from: HobbyFan
• Order date: 27-Mar-2010
• Receive date: 21-Sep-2010
• Base price (USD): $86.99
• Shipping cost (USD): $5.75
• Total (USD): $92.74