Figure Unboxing and Review: Celty Sturluson (Alter)
To All,
Durarara!! is one of my grails and with the re-issue I was initially pretty excited over it, but upon realizing that the sculpts of Izaya and Shizuo were different from the initial release version (for the worse, in my opinion), I decided to only get Celty as she was similar, if not the same, to the initial release by Alter.
Packaging
I love clear boxes, and Alter's boxes usually don't disappoint. The yellow lines with her name going around the clear window is reminiscent of the "Keep Out" tape that is commonly depicted with connection to Durarara!! (such as appearing in many of their fanart and even in some official illustrations).
The blister is well kept and the detachable parts are all well sealed away with plastics sheets and blisters. I don't have a picture of her blister but she comes with quite a few parts: her main figure with a interchangeable head (smoke or helmet), a scythe, her PDA and a simple yellow base.
As she is generally in dark colors, there were no visible paint transfers, and plastic sheets were included to further prevent that as well. The only reason this box didn't get a 9/10 is because I still can't come to terms with how they cut her name off the front of the box due to space issues.
But again, a small issue.
Base
It feels as though Alter decided to use a transparent yellow base with some black smoky designs just because prize figures and their white bases aren't fashionable with collectors anymore. They could have done better, much better, but this base does its job of holding up the figure well and steady so it isn't that huge of an issue with regards to the function.
Posing and Assembly
Here's Celty in her full beauty, with the smoke and with the helmet respectively. Posing-wise, Celty isn't the most dynamic figure out there but her demand comes from her awesome sculpt which I would cover in a later section.
With regards to assembly, she isn't too difficult to assemble either. Getting her on the base was easy and the main issue comes with getting the scythe and PDA in. You'll probably need to wiggle the PDA in carefully -- mine turned out to be a really tight fit. On the other hand, the scythe fit in easily enough but positioning it could be a troublesome thing, especially if the quality control for your copy isn't all that great.
Sculpting and Painting
Honestly, I would have given this Celty figure a 10/10 if I didn't care about her possible improvements. Even from this photograph you can already see how tight her outfit is against her and this is further illustrated by the creases formed.
In fact the creases make the figure seem more realistic as they appear exactly where you'll imagine they will be formed at. Furthermore, the material used isn't a flat black, but it actually is slightly translucent to give a beige tinge to the outfit, as seen in the picture. This just makes it better, not in any erotic sense, but because her outfit is made up of shadows as mentioned in the series. Having such a glint helps illustrate that fact better than a flat black can ever hope to!
Her scythe is amazing as well, and the end is really pretty sharp! But the scythe is also the second and last thing I don't find as nicely done in this figure as compared to the other components. There's a lack of an intimidating air for the scythe. When Celty uses it in the series, it often comes with a lot of shadows (smoke) and scares other characters. However here, I don't get that same feeling.
The same goes for her smoke parts, which are made of even more translucent parts, going from a darker grey to a lighter one. This accurately depicts how color gradients in smoke work as they go from a region with more particles to a region with less.
I would also like to highlight the zipper details. I love figures with zippers done properly, complete with the zipperhead because I always believed that that is an intricate design that is difficult to pull off. However with many companies doing it right in the recent years, that belief is starting to sway a little.
Her skin also looks soft to the touch, and just from looking at the skin you do know she's a beauty, which she is in the series itself and is constantly said to be such as well. From this angle, you can actually see a little of her cleavage and I neither find that lewd or disgusting, as it doesn't show overly-much but just an acceptable amount for a slightly-zipped-down biker's suit.
Her PDA is very nicely sculpted as well. There are buttons on them, each properly sculpted out. The PDA actually has a screen complete with a time there. But most of all, I'm impressed that Alter actually placed the screen part in place while manufacturing instead of simply making her come with some stickers for the buyers to paste on themselves.
Enjoyment
She's an amazing figure and I love her sculpt. I have her on the shelf that I'm most pleased with, for now, and I'm sure she'll remain high on my list for many more years to come.
Ah, if only there was a Shinra figure as well...
From Your Fellow Collector,
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