Welcome to the last PVC Pre-Order Roundup of 2011! This is probably going to be the last interesting roundup for a while too, as most of the Japanese companies are on vacation until at least January 6th (with Orchid Seed taking a break until the 10th!). Of course here at Plastikitty we’ll still be posting news!
This was clearly the week of Touhou–as if in a rush to get out a bunch of pre-orders before the end of the year, Griffon went and put up 3 new Touhou girls, Kotobukiya re-released two of theirs, and we got another new Reimu as well! That gives us three Reimus in total, and 6 Touhou girls, which is odd because we’re usually lucky to get one or two a week! Another trend was swimsuit girls, with 5 figures this week who are ready to hit the beach. It was also a pretty slow week, so we ended up with only 5 figures that weren’t Touhou- or swimsuit-related! Hit the jump to check them all out.
AlphaMax
Yui Hirasawa | 1/7 | ¥6,800 | July
Leah: In a surprise move, AlphaMax decided to continue their K-On! swimsuit line after the first two (Mio and Azusa) hit shelves. While I love Azusa and I can stand Mio because of how unique her face is, I don’t care for any of the other K-On girls so I can’t see myself buying this… or Mugi and Ritsu if they decide to release them too.
Stephen: It’s great to see that Alphamax is continuing their K-On! swimsuit line as I ordered both Mio and Azusa and Yui here looks just as great. I love the different styling for her face and more mature look and she just may be entering my collection as a result.
Chara-Ani
Kanu | 1/8 | ¥6,648 | April
Leah: I think I speak for all of us when I dub this a resounding “meh.” We’ve seen Kanu a million times and this just isn’t good enough to stand out at all. She’s really an “almost” for me–I love the pose and her long, sweeping hair, and the outfit is cute, but the sculpting is quite poor.
Stephen: Yet another pointless Kanu. From the boring pose to sub-par sculpting coupled with her ridiculous oversaturation, this is a resounding no.
Clayz
Lilith | 1/8 | ¥15,000 | January | NSFW | Re-release
Leah: I was pretty bummed about missing the first release of this, so it’s great to see a re-release–hopefully this ends up going on sale though, as I don’t know anyone who has a spare $200 for January!
Stephen: As much as I want this figure, she’s just so ridiculously pricey and in the same boat as like Saber Zero for me who I’ve still yet to order due to a high price point and smaller 1/8th scale.
Griffon
Hina Kagiyama | 1/8 | ¥8,200 | March | Exclusive
POP Reimu | non-scale | ¥7,400 | March | Exclusive
Youmu Konpaku | 1/7 | ¥8,600 | March | Exclusive
Leah: Griffon had 3 solid releases this week: Hina is the clear winner, but Youmu is quite nice too and I love how adorable Reimu is!
Stephen: Hina doesn’t even look like a Griffon figure with how detailed he is. Remilia is flat out adorable and Youmu is quite interesting as well. Griffon really is getting better and these three releases really show that off!
Kotobukiya
Sakuya Mode: Cerulean | 1/8 | ¥6,800 | May
Black Hanekawa | 1/8 | ¥9,800 | May
Reimu (review) | 1/8 | ¥7,140 | February | Re-release | Exclusive
Marisa | 1/8 | ¥7,140 | February | Re-release | Exclusive
Leah: I think Kotobukiya had 3 great releases this week and 1 confusing one. First, let’s start with the good: their Marisa and Reimu are some of my all-time favorite Touhou figures, very unique and certainly worth buying. Sakuya I love, and I find her prettier than the original Maxima. Hanekawa is where I get confused: she still looks unfinished, and her price is outrageous for a Koto release! I still love the pose, but I am really on the fence about this one.
Stephen: It’s great to see re-releases of Reimu and Marisa for those who missed out before and Sakuya is an interesting re-color. I like Black Hanekawa, but I’m confused as to why this figure is being made as it’s similarly priced to Alter’s offering, but is not only smaller, but much less detailed as well. Had this come out beforehand it would have sold, but right now this just feels like a massive waste of time, effort, and money as there is no way this will even come close to Alter’s offering that’s been out for months.
Orchid Seed
Kurono Kurumu | 1/7 | ¥8,286 | June
Leah: I really love Kurono: first off, I have a weakness for maids and oddly-colored hair, but I love how realistically her bust falls. Gravity!
Stephen: Orchid Seed just keeps the great sexy figure releases coming. Kurono here is clothed, but her body flows naturally and true to reality. Great attention to detail and execution!
Pink Company
Reimu | 16 cm | ¥3,300 | May | Exclusive
Leah: This is an odd little figure: I like the idea and the price, but her face is just so wonky.
Stephen: While cute, that face scares the hell out of me.
Wave
Hanasaku Iroha Beach Queens | 1/10 | ¥3800 | August
Yuina: AmiAmi | Hobby Search
Ohana: AmiAmi | Hobby Search
Minko: AmiAmi | Hobby Search
Nako: AmiAmi | Hobby Search
Leah: That is a lot of figures to release at once! I find Yuina and Ohana kind of boring, I like Minko, but I adore Nako. Something about her face is so lovely, and her hair and demure swimsuit give off a wonderful feeling. I’d definitely like to get her, but I could pass on the other 3 without missing them.
Stephen: While this line is quite cute, I feel like Wave is just re-using sculpts and ideas from other Beach Queens to quickly push products out that are niche to people who only know the characters like these. There’s nothing wrong with these per se, but there’s nothing noteworthy about them either.
Well, that’s it for our Touhou-tastic week! Do any of the re-releases or new releases from these popular games tickle your fancy or are you more looking forward to something else? And what do you think about Kotobukiya’s decision to make a Black Hanekawa so late as well? Let us know in the comments below and see you next year in the next roundup!
Pink Company’s Reimu vignette is actually spookily close to your ZUN art. Seriously, that could’ve come straight off of one of the game’s menu screens. For that reason, it’s probably only gonna be a subset of touhou fans interested in buying it, i.e. the people who’ve got some affection for ZUN’s occasionally-wonky art.