Welcome to another week of “things that take all of your money!” This week was pretty decent as far as the number of figures goes, though there are some real… doozies in there, like the Daiki Cattleya and some of Q-six’s baffling offerings. But with the bad comes the good, and there were indeed some very lovely figures this week, like Good Smile Company’s Homura and a delicious pair of exclusives. So hit the jump and let’s get started!
Alter
White Swimsuit Yagyu Jubei | 1/8 | ¥6,980 |March | Exclusive
Big In Japan | Tokyo Hunter | Mio Boutique
Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen | 1/8 | ¥7,800 | February
Leah: Alter had some great offerings this week. Eila is my favorite Witch so it’s great to finally see her up for order (though I am beyond disappointed that they did not re-release Sanya), and having a recolor of Yagyu is pretty damn amazing.
Stephen: Another solid bunch of offerings from Alter. I’m amazed to see a recolor of Yagyu and I’m really glad to see their Strike Witches line continue as it’s just so good.
Amie-Grand
Ryuubi Gentoku | 1/6 | ¥15,200 | March
AmiAmi | Hobby Search | HLJ
Leah: Polystone, I hate you. Why do people even still use it? More expensive, less detail. Ryuubi is actually kind of cute, but certainly not $200 cute.
Stephen: While she has a nice butt, that’s about all that’s really nice about this figure, and with such a ridiculous price point, this is an easy pass.
Azone
Remilia Scarlet | Pureneemo | ¥13,650 | March
AmiAmi | Hobby Search
Leah: We’ve been trying to cut down on Pureneemos to fund the growing Dollfie collection, so as much as I love what they did for Remilia I have to pass. If they make Flandre, though, there’s no way I could resist!
Stephen: I really love Remilia, but considering how close to release Azones are put up, there’s no way I can justify ordering her.
Daiki Kougyou
Cattleya | 1/7 | ¥7,800 | February
AmiAmi | Hobby Search | HLJ
Leah: WHY?!?!?!
Stephen: Did her breasts somehow get even larger than normal? They’re now like 5x the size of her head instead of the usual 3.
Evolution Toys
Sylvia van Hossen | Full Puni | ¥10,280 | December
HMX-12 Multi | Full Puni | ¥9,333 | January
Leah: I don’t understand the appeal of this line. Sure, they do characters that usually are not well-represented, but they’re over $100 each for quality far below that of a figma. I mean, the plastic used on Sylvia’s face looks like a bootleg because of how shiny it is!
Stephen: I don’t even know what’s going on here; it’s like the bootleg factory attempted to make their own figures and failed miserably.
Gift
Soniko | 1/6 | ¥9,800~¥12,600 | March | Deluxe & Regular Editions
Deluxe: AmiAmi | Hobby Search | HLJ
Regular: AmiAmi | Hobby Search | HLJ
Soniko ver. 1.5 | plush | ¥3,000 | December
Leah: It’s the week on Soniko! I am thrilled that Gift lied to us all and the bedpost Soniko is not an exclusive.
Stephen: I’m glad to finally get the dress Soniko plush especially in a new and updated face and the bedpost Soniko figure is something I’ve been looking forward to for quite some time so I’m glad to finally have my order in.
Good Smile Company
Homura Akemi | 1/8 | ¥7,800 | February
AmiAmi | Hobby Search | HLJ
Haqua | Nendoroid | ¥3,800 | January
AmiAmi | Hobby Search
Leah: GSC only had 2 releases this week, but they were both very nice. Haqua is cute, but Homura is the real stand-out for me.
Stephen: Homura is just so fantastic yet simple at the same time. Haqua goes with one of the best Nendoroids in recent history, so I’d say it’s a pretty solid week for Good Smile Company.
Griffon
Reiuji Utsuho | 1/8 | ¥7,600 | December
Tamaki Kousaka Vacation Ver. | 1/6 | ¥7,400 | December
AmiAmi | Hobby Search
Leah: Reiuji is by far my favorite of Griffon’s Touhou lineup, but December is such a bad month for me! I’m going to have to think long and hard about getting her. Tamaki seems more do-able, since she’s 1) cheap for her scale and 2) Tamaki is cursed and every figure of her gets delayed.
Stephen: Reiuji is just gorgeous, but like most of the larger Griffon Touhou girls that I’ve wanted to add to my collection she’s just too much and comes out at a bad time, which is such a shame.
Hobby Japan
Noel Vermillion | 1/8 | ¥7,600 | March | Exclusive
Big In Japan | Tokyo Hunter | Mio Boutique
Leah: I love the design, but I am afraid of spending ~$150 and ending up with a 1/10 scale figure like Hobby Japan’s Katja.
Stephen: Noel looks great, but personally I was expecting much more out of this figure. I think everyone was expecting something ridiculous from Alter and we got this instead, not to mention it’s quite pricy and quite small as well.
Kaiyodo
Ymir 2P | Revoltech | ¥2,800 | November
Leah: The purple outfit is my favorite of Ymir’s 3 default dresses (though her Rebellion duds are my favorite), so this pleases me greatly.
Stephen: I love seeing more of Ymir; she’s such a unique and interesting character and probably the only character I can tolerate from the Queen’s Blade universe.
Kotobukiya
Hayane Fubuki | 1/7 | ¥6,800 | January
AmiAmi | Hobby Search | HLJ
Retia Adolf | 1/8 | ¥7,800 | February
AmiAmi | Hobby Search | HLJ
Leah: I like Hayane, but Retia is the real stand-out Koto release for me. Yeah, she’s moe Hitler, but the pattern on her dress and bows is astounding. Really can’t wait for this release!
Stephen: I’m glad to see that Hayane has quite a few differences from Blanc and Retia is one of the single cutest and best executed figures I’ve seen from Koto in a long time.
Max Factory
Nadeko Sengoku | figma | ¥3,200 | December
AmiAmi | Hobby Search
Leah: I swore off Bakemonogatari figmas, but my weak will has compelled me to purchase Nadeko. Hopefully Hanekawa is next!
Stephen: She’s just so cute!
Milestone
Nekomura Iroha | Non-scale (6″) | ¥7,800 | March
AmiAmi | Hobby Search
Leah: I think Nekomura is way too expensive for her size, but I can’t really resist Hello Kitty so she’ll probably end up coming home with me.
Stephen: I love that umbrella, but I wish the rest of the sculpt were refined more. I’ll decide on this one down the line.
Penguin Parade
Kuroko & Mikoto | Pettanko | ¥2,500 | January
Kuroko: AmiAmi | Hobby Search
Mikoto: AmiAmi | Hobby Search
Leah: I like the Pettanko line a lot. Cute, deformed, decently sized, and very reasonably priced. I’ve ordered the OreImo set, but I feel like you really have to love the characters to want these ones, and I’ve never watched the To Aru series.
Stephen: While cute, I don’t know the characters well enough to order these, but they’re great for fans of the series.
Q-six
Saya Saionji Limited & Regular Editions | 1/6 | ¥19,800 | January
Limited: AmiAmi | Hobby Search
Regular: AmiAmi | Hobby Search
Leah: Every time this company puts out a figure, my reaction is “what the fuck?!” This time, it’s a whore version of K-On! Or something. $250 worth of something! So if you have $250 lying around and you feel like lighting it on fire… that would probably be a better option than owning this figure.
Stephen: I feel like Saya is Q-six’s answer to all of the Soniko figures coming out. They started sculpting one, couldn’t get the license, and then we got… this… I don’t know who the hell would buy this, but it’s one of the worst pieces I’ve seen in quite some time.
ques-Q
Kirino Vacation Version | 1/8 | ¥6,400 | January
Last Order | 1/8 | ¥6,600 | January
Leah: January! But there’s no way I can pass up a Kirino. The dolphin water gun is so cute! Last Order, however, as cute as she is… I have to pass.
Stephen: Kirino is just so adorable that I had to order her! Last Order though, again, I do not know well enough and feel like something is off on her face anyway.
Yamato
Mizuki Tachibana | 1/4.5 | ¥14,800 | December
AmiAmi || Hobby Search | HLJ
Leah: A lot of Yamato’s figures are so almost there for me. I like the base design, but something just seems off to me. It’s not just her oversized breasts, the face seems not right. I end up adoring some of the things Yamato puts out (like the perpetually delayed Yukihime), but others not so much.
Stephen: She has an interesting design, but this one could’ve used a few more months in the sculpting process especially considering just how large she is.
Well, that’s it for this week! It was a bit more packed and eventful than last week, so let us know what you liked, disliked, and what made you go O_O in the comments below!
After what seemed like a really slow start to Alter’s Strike Witches series, glad to see the last three come out at a fairly decent pace…come on Alter, Barkhorn next, please?
Barkhorn is the only other one sculpted, so I think it’s safe to assume that she is next, but you never really know with Alter!
Jubei please be cheaper. ;;;
Also Kirino please wait until February or something!!