Figure Unboxing and Review: Nendoroid Jibril (No Game No Life)

Figure Unboxing and Review: Nendoroid Jibril (No Game No Life)

Wednesday, July 4, 2018 / No Comments

Welcome to a post on Nendoroid Jibril, where I would be unboxing and reviewing her this time round! This Nendoroid has been out in the market for a while now and unlike her scale counterpart, she did not have an equivalent price peak. That being said, let's take a look at this beauty!

Packaging

The Nendoroid numbers have certainly increased a lot and very rapidly ever since I started collecting Nendoroids... For Jibril, I decided to get the exclusive version, which leads us to the normal box on the left of the image and the exclusives in the black pouch on the right.

      

The exclusives consist of a skull part, a hand to hold and a black halo. This is reminiscent of her back in the days when they were at war and also ties in perfectly with her scale figure if you decide to pose both with her dark side.

This is a non-exclusive part, but I would like to mention that she also comes with two stickers for you to paste onto her tablet screen. Matching this with her blushing and drooling expression would make it seem like she is incredibly excited over the Sora and Shiro Nendoroids.

Of course, you can use other stickers (even custom make your own) to use on her tablet to bring out her side that thirsts for knowledge, but I will be sticking with this sticker in this review.

The blister is secure and her limbs (bottom right) actually come with an additional piece of blister to keep it all in place even when you open the larger outer blister. Her faceplates are also rather varied and thus give a very high amount of poseability since you can match her with many different scenarios with Sora and Shiro Nendoroids, or even on her own.

However, she does come with minimal accessories, namely a tablet and book, and the skull if you bought the GSC exclusive instead.

Assembly

     

Not much to put in this aspect other than placing the sticker on the tablet. Do note that the back of the tablet comes with the cherry symbol and thus, the sticker should go onto the side that is completely white.

That same side also comes with a sculpted border to guide where the screen lies, and your sticker should fit flush against that same border. There is also a button at the bottom of the tablet, similar to iPads, for an additional touch in design. 

There are two stickers provided in case you mess up, and as with most stickers, the oil from your fingers would make it less sticky so for most stickers involving small parts such as these, I prefer to rely on a clean pair of tweezers.

Simply grab a side and make sure it is aligned before pasting it on! Needless to say, re-pasting is not ideal :')

Figure

We shall look at her with the normal release parts first. One aspect of Jibril that I really love is how much she likes to read. As her expressions are varied but versatile, you can easily match all her three expressions with the book and still have all of them fit. For this, I tried matching her standard expression, which makes it look like she is looking up from her book.

I have no further pictures of her book, but it is completely white on the pages. I wished that GSC did print some writing on it, seeing as they took the extra effort to give stickers for the tablet that is held in the same manner.

 Removing the book from her grip, we will next take a look at her outfit. Jibril is rather underdressed and GSC has taken the extra mile and effort to sculpt out the bottom of her ribs to give her a more shapely figure.

As usual the paint jobs of the purple hemlines and red patterns on her top is pristine and clean with no paint spillage and transfers. They have also kept her bottoms accurate to her design, especially her stockings which I would cover later.

Here, I'll like to mention that the yellow flaps of her bottoms are fitted with joints and can be moved to suit whatever pose you would like to put her in.

Jibril's wings are delicately sculpted and the chibi sculpt matched with the long white feathers make her wings look both cute and dainty! You can move her wings up and down to her expression and pose as well. Her ears are also sculpted in the same manner and comes in two tones, a lighter brown and a darker, more striking brown.

Something that all NGNL Nendoroids have is gradient in their hair and Jibril is definitely not an exception! The colors go from pink to blue and while the light gradient at the tips of her hair looks superb, I do wish that GSC had tired to blend her usual pink hair better with the lighter pinks and oranges. The abrupt switch in colors is rather jarring.

The sculpting of her stockings is accurate and clean for the purple side. The orange sock has a little blemish when it comes to the pink stripes (image below) but can be largely overlooked.

However, do note that by having two different feet like this would mean that interchanging the parts would be extremely obvious. She also only comes with straight and bent legs that gives her limited posing in this aspect.

Jibril's excited expression is one of my favorite expressions for her and I am so glad that they added that into the Nendoroid as well! But as I mentioned before, her expressions are easily interchangeable and I love how she can look so excited with a tablet here, but when you change the expression......

She looks so scheming!

And to bring it up to a higher level, I decided to use the exclusive parts which includes the black halo and skull! This really brings out the menacing aspect of her that leaves her fans quaking in their boots!

Enjoyment
Highly recommended for all Jibril fans as she can match really well with her scale figure.

For those who merely want this Nendoroid for interchangeable parts, she has at least two expressions that can be used to enhance other Nendoroids as well. She also comes with accessories such as the book and tablet that can be used as normal day items to match with other Nendoroids!

~ Reina-rin

Figure Unboxing and Review: Racing Miku 2016 version Scale Figure

Figure Unboxing and Review: Racing Miku 2016 version Scale Figure

Wednesday, June 27, 2018 / No Comments

As most of you know, this Miku is the pride and joy and the Racing Miku that I loved. I did not even own any other Racing Miku figures before ordering this one. One of the things that I loved about this Miku would be the range of accessories which she came with and the vibrant colors that she has.

It would probably remain a regret for me (forever) that I did not get her Nendoroid, but well, I might find it at a good price someday. Going back to the figure, I'll like to start the review off by talking about the base.

Base

I love how they kept the tires to the correct kind that are used for racing, and comes with the prints on them to add more detail to the figure. I could have seen them coming with a design that would match normal tires more (with better grip) to add an additional level of detail and dynamism to the figure but I am really glad that they kept to the theme.

The matte black paint used here ties in very well to the asphalt-like base, and since both are dark in colors, it helps the vibrant colors of Miku's costume and the pastel colors of the weights to really pop.

There are some markings on the tires that adds even more detail and seem more personalized as it isn't "printed"!

All the weights actually come with cute little faces and a corresponding weight as well. The faces also tie in very well with their positions. For instance, the green sleeping weight several images back is sitting on the lowest tire and hence the peaceful expression. On the other hand, this yellow weight appears to be struggling to prevent the middle tire from slipping out from under Miku.

The third and last weight in this figure would be this cute little red weight, whose role is to carry a can of red bull to Miku. The weight is shown as light, and perhaps the reason why it is able to fly (other than the obvious connection with Red Bull's slogan).

And the very last accessory we will look at before jumping into Miku's sculpt and painting would be the umbrella. The umbrella is essentially the next most colorful thing in this figure apart from Miku.

One thing that I really like about the handle would be how the colors seem to match the top half of Miku's gloves to a T when viewed from certain angles.

The colors running up the umbrella from red (top) to purple (edge) also contrasts well against her hair, which runs in the opposite way from purple to red. The adequate use of plain white portions as well as red with the white Goodsmile logo also aids in creating additional layers of contrast and depth.

Miku's pose is really relaxed in this figure and it looks as if she's caught in a picture unknowingly rather than the other Racing Miku figures which look more like they were posing specifically for the camera.

From the side we see plenty of colors that go on the underside of the umbrella as well as on Miku. Her hair comes with red stripes down which tangle around strands that grow into a rainbow gradient. 

I found the lack of blending for both the rainbow colors and the highlights rather jarring at first, but after sometime of deliberation about ordering her, I actually got used to it. The seven different colors of a rainbow doesn't blend together perfectly as well, and the stark differences in borders of the colors actually grew on me. On hindsight, it's actually amazing how they managed to fit so many colors in such a small area and yet still have them all clean with no paint transfers and errors.

The only clear gradient effect that we see would be on her stockings that go from red at her thighs to yellow at her feet. This gradient is by no means gentle but since red and yellow are close on the color wheel, it actually matches up well together. (And on her knee, you see the peg hole that the umbrella is supposed to go into as well).

All the different words on Miku's outfit and red borders are very clean on my copy as well.

 The ear accessory does appear rather chunky but I'm not sure if that's how it looks in real life.

 The names of all the sponsors are on her back and all their logos are clean and pretty. The piapro semi-translucent straps running down are slightly flexible so don't worry too much about breaking them. They add a very good touch to the figure though, as they run and fit in a different way around the tires as opposed to Miku's hair.

Enjoyment 8/10

I'll probably get her again if I'm giving the choice. The amount of vibrant colors really adds a lot to a display and her different view (not looking directly at the person looking at the figure) helps to spin a story and give it a very different feel from most of the other figures which you, as a collector, may have. Personally, I'm all for these new aspects.

However, do note that if your display mainly encompasses darker colors, this piece might be a little too jarring for your collection. You may wish to consider placing her in a different location, or use it as a centerpiece in that case.

~ Reina-rin

Figure Unboxing and Review: Racing Miku 2016 version Scale Figure (Assembly)

Figure Unboxing and Review: Racing Miku 2016 version Scale Figure (Assembly)

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If you remember this as the Racing Miku that was delayed nearly a year, you're right. It's been quite some time since I received this figure but I've only find time to open this recently. The part that I love best about this figure is that she isn't sculpted to be viewed as looking at you, which is what most figures are meant to do. This makes her unique to me, and the main reason why I got her.

Now, let's look at other reasons why she is awesome.

Packaging

She comes with a full plastic window in front to allow you to view the whole figure, and it also shows the few important accessories that comes with her, such as the tires on the base and the weights, as well as the huge umbrella behind her. Having all these parts also means that she has quite a bit to be assembled.

     

Unlike the other Racing Miku Nendoroids, this follows an illustration and does not come with a race car. However, they placed a lot of emphasis onto the vibrancy of the colors used as well as the box design. There is a different design on each side of the box and the bottom of each side has a rainbow border which serves to make the colorful figure even more vibrant.

The blister itself is also very sturdy and there are several layers to it to hold the figure, weights and drinks, as well as the umbrella, plain base and tires separately so as to minimize damages during transport. The umbrella also comes with its own additional clear plastic support to help stabilize it within the blister.

Accessories

These are all the additional parts which the figure comes with (excluding the main figure herself, of course). Though Good Smile Company also comes with a detailed instruction sheet on how to position the accessories, I'll cover some of the basics here, and have a proper review on the quality control of the figure in a separate post.

Assembly

The first part to this is to either attach the tires to the base then attach Miku on the tires, or attach Miku to the tires then the whole thing to the base. I chose to perform the latter since my copy of Miku didn't have the best peg and peg-hole match up to the tires, but you can obviously choose to do either.

Miku is joined to the tires with a single peg, demarcated by the green arrow on the image above.

After putting her in place, make sure that her left foot is on the second tire and her right foot is on the bottom-most tire.  If your Miku does not like up, you might have her feet dangling slightly above the tire, which may appear unnatural, so if you have no qualms against tight pegs, go on and wiggle her tighter in place. This peg is not that fragile.

Next would be joining the tires to the grey circular base. Something to note here is that the rightmost peg hole (the one closest to the yellow weight) is smaller than the rest, so you will have to match up the whole ensemble perfectly. 

This might also be where it gets tricky if you have attached Miku to the tires first as it might interfere with your ease of pressing down the tires flush against the base. But think about it this way, having these different sized pegs also helps ensure that your Miku would be facing the way she is supposed to face!

The other next important accessory to put in would be the umbrella. And in case you haven't noticed, we only have two more to go: the umbrella and the energy drinks.

To slide the umbrella in place, simply unscrew the white part of the umbrella and this will allow it to slide in the gap between Miku's neck and shoulder. The white part also comes with a peg that would attach to her left knee to keep the umbrella in place as well. As the peg hole is difficult to capture well on camera, I'll leave that part out.

The last and final part to this assembly would be to attach the can to Miku's left hand, and the thin grey peg also helps give it a "floating" image. This is by far the hardest part of the assembly to me and of course, since the peg is so thin, you would have to be extremely careful when handling it. 

Once the peg is in place, you can then rotate the accessory to have it facing Miku. Do ensure that the whole thicker white portion of the peg is in place before doing so though!

~ Reina-rin

Figure Unboxing and Review: Learning with Manga! Fate/Grand Order Collectible Figures

Figure Unboxing and Review: Learning with Manga! Fate/Grand Order Collectible Figures

Monday, June 25, 2018 / No Comments

For those of you who're avid players of Fate/Grand Order, you might have come across the chibi-fied versions of the heroic spirits during the 2017 and 2018 April Fool's Day events. Alternatively, you might have been reading the Learning with Manga! series by Riyo. The characters and their antics will put a smile on even the most bitter player's face; like me whenever I'm unable to snag the featured SSR servant even after spending all of my available Saint Quartz. Everyone's up to something silly in any given chapter, with the two main characters being too absorbed in romancing the many servants at their disposal and said heroic spirits having a ball of a time doing whatever catches their fancy in that particular chapter. Imagine my surprise when Good Smile Company actually announced a line of mini figurines featuring these 'Riyo-fied' characters. Hitting the pre-order button was a no-brainer, despite the protests from my wallet.

There are 6 figurines in each carton, with each box holding a different character. They're all displayed on the front and if your favourite one isn't in this 1st series of figurines or even the 2nd one released last month, you'll just have to wait for the 3rd one that'll be announced sooner or later. I'm surprised that the series isn't following a theme, such as characters from Fate/Extra, Fate/Stay Night or Fate/Apocrypha. They appear to be a mishmash of servants other than the female main character (known affectionately as Gudako) and Shielder (or Mashu Kyrielight). The rest include the ever-present Artoria Pendragon, idol-wannabe Elizabeth Bathory, Fate/Apocrypha's Jeanne D'Arc and Cu Chulainn's mentor Scathach. If you're worried about the figurines being too big, fret not. They're only around 3cm tall, perfect for your office cubicle or desk top.

Compared to Nendoroids or Figmas, these collectibles are idiot-proof to assemble and display. Cleaning them is a breeze as well. On the flip side, the quality of the figures themselves do not reach the standards that Good Smile Company's Nendoroids, Figmas and scale figures have set. There are minor issues with paint and detailing but you do get what you pay for. Fortunately, it isn't something that you notice unless you're inspecting them up close. Do handle them gently as they're not the most sturdy toys around, with Mashu's shield breaking after she fell from the top of my PC's monitor one too many times. Again, it isn't a large problem and a dab of superglue should be able to fix it in a minute.

All in all, I'm happy with my purchase despite the minor problems that these figurines have. They make for a sight for sore eyes and my work desk at home is now a little more fun to be at. Now the only problem would be making space for the 2nd and 3rd series of figurines. But it's definitely a problem that I'm happy to deal with.

Written by ET