1/7 Kureha PVC

Kureha from the series Shining Wind. I was a little worried about my pre-order for this figure because Hobby Link Japan had her listed as discontinued before they ever had her listed as in stock. Luckily my pre-order came through and she arrived this morning. Kureha is 1/7 scale and distributed by Max Factory. I was drawn to this figure the moment I saw it, even though I know nothing about Shining Wind. I just love the look of this figure. It's such a beautiful figure.

I love how they used Tony Taka's art on the box art. The box is beautiful itself.



One thing I noticed the moment I opened the box to remove her was the smell. She has a very strong smell of rubber/plastic. I have never had a figure smell like this before. lol Hopefully it'll wear off over time.



Her arms are a little rubbery. They give quite a bit when you move them, but I believe it's so you don't have as much trouble positioning her bow in her hand. I'm was afraid of breaking the bow when I was trying to put it in her hand. It has a small peg on it that fits into her left hand. The bow is positioned behind her back and under her hair.



She does have some visible seams on her lower legs but it's nothing too crazy. They are on the inside of her legs so you won't notice them unless you're right up on her.



Of course like the majority of figures out there, she is cast off. Her skirt is removable and the point of separation is well hidden. There's no gaps or anything between her upper and lower half if you choose to display her minus her skirt.



There's no real bleeding of colors. Her colors are very vibrant. She comes with a white oval base with the series name on it.



One thing I'm slightly worried about is her leaning down the road. Her feet don't fit firmly against her base. I had a bit of trouble inserting her feet into the pegs on the base, and there's a bit of space between her feet and the base. It also does not help that her right leg is not flat on the base.



Overall, I couldn't be happier with this figure though. She's a beautiful figure, and a wonderful addition to any collection. I'm not sure if she's a limited run or not, but a lot of online stores (i.e Play Asia, Hobby Link Japan, Hobby Search) are already listing her as "discontinued/out of print" If you are able to get your hands on her though I highly suggest it.

1/7 Motoko Kusanagi SAC 2nd GIG PVC

Major Motoko Kusanagi from Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG. Released by Alter/Vice and sculpted by Tsuyoshi Takahashi. Released in January of 2007. I never was able to get too into the Ghost in the Shell series, but I still think Major is an awesome character. This in one of the best looking figures out of her in my opinion.



Motoko comes dressed in her combat suit with a black round base to be displayed on. The series title is imprinted onto the base. She also comes with a gun that is placed into her right hand.



She does look like she might do a little bit of leaning in the long run. The feet are held onto the base by three pegs but the way her leg is positioned has me watching her very closely for any further leaning. She might be going back into the box in the long run.





Overall, I was very happy to get a hold of this figure. She is discontinued now so you might have to turn to eBay to get your hands on her.

1/6 Magical Girl Rin

This is hands down the largest figure I own. Magical Girl Rin released by Good Smile Company in March 2006. She's 1/6 scale..but she's larger than other 1/6 scale figures I own. I had to have this figure. I just think it's so cute and I love the expression on her face. In the anime you don't get to see Rin "happy" lol



My camera can't do this figure justice. Out of all companies out there that distribute figures, Alter and Good Smile Company are at the top of my list as the best. She's sculpted by Takahiro Hashimoto.





Since she's so large, her leg is firmly screwed into the base to prevent any leaning. The paint job is great on her and there's not any jarring casting defects on her.



As you can see, even though she is 1/6 scale she is larger than other 1/6 scale figures I own.

1/6 C-Works Diva EXTRA Imari Kurumi PVC

Imari Kurumi from the hentai Bible Black. Figure produced by C-Works and distributed by Epoch in April of 2007. Figure is 1/6 scale and made of PVC. A base is not included with the figure but since she is sculpted in a crouching position, the figure is stable on it's own. This sculpt is actually based on the illustration of Imari on the front cover of Bible Black: New Testament volume one.



I originally purchased this figure back in April of this year from Hobby Link Japan. While not a big fan of the Bible Black series, I was drawn to the figure for some reason. Unfortunately, the quality of the figure turned out to be mediocre. Unless you are a die-hard Bible Black fan, I wouldn't really recommend this figure.

There are visible defects on the figure. Her rear, hair, and arms all have some casting defects on them. The paint job is lacking. The hair is probably where the poor paint job is most noticeable.

She is castoff. Her shirt and skirt are both removable, but one thing I noticed right when I got her is that the slip of plastic they put between her skirt and body did not prevent some paint from rubbing off onto her skin from her skirt. Fortunately, if you do chose to display her minus her skirt, the seam where her top half separates from her legs is not visible.







If you really want to get your hands on this figure, she might be available on ebay, as she is no longer in print. Like I said above though, unless you are a die hard Bible Black fan.

Saber & Irisviel WF 2007 Figures

These are the Fate/Zero Saber & Irisviel Wonder Festival 2007 PVC Figures. I was able to get ahold of these about two weeks ago. They are non-scale PVC figures so they are a lot smaller than what I am used to, but I still love them. They are released by Alter so they are good quality, and overall I am very happy with my purchase. Apparently they are limited to 5000 pieces. 2500 were available by web order and the other 2500 were available at Wonder Festival 2007 in Japan.



Both come with round white bases to be displayed on. Each figure has three pegs on each base. Two for the right foot and one for the left.

Saber reminds me a bit of Elward Elric from the anime Full Metal Alchemist with this look:



In case you are wondering who Irisviel is, she is the mother of Illyasviel von Einzbern. Fate/Zero is the prequel to Fate/Stay Night after all:



Tried to get a decent shot of their faces:





You are able to remove Irisviel's skirt. It's hard to get the skirt off, I was actually afraid I was gonna break the figure the first time I tried to remove her skirt:



The last shot is a size comparison to a 1/6 figure. As you can see they are pretty small. They measure about 14 cm in height.



Overall, the figures are really nice and a nice addition to any Fate fans collection. The only issue is the fact that the figures were not mass released. I was never able to find a place to order them online and on ebay I've seen a few that were available go for upwards of $150. If you can find them though for a decent price and you are a big Fate fan, I do recommend them. They are really well done for their size.