DSC_1473
Over the years, I've gained some interesting stories about where and how much I buy my little hoard from. While this story isn't quite as interesting as the time I ended up on a farm in the middle of nowhere Manitoba, it's still kind of interesting.
When you ask people about where they get their figures, usually it's the Internet, with the occasional person saying from meetups, trade shows, and if they're daring, a garage sale. Well, if you're me and you have a quiet Saturday morning, you read Kijiji and somehow end up at a Pawn Shop somewhere near the Scarborough Bluffs.
While the selection wasn't incredible or earth shattering, I did manage to pick up this interesting piece - slightly mangled and incomplete, yes, but for the $20 i paid I wasn't really about to complain, especially when the aftermarket price for this is somewhere in the $200 USD range for a new one.
Presenting Neuromancer #003. - Yoko Littner from Gurren Lagaan.
As always, we answer the question "what the hell is X", where X is Neuromancer.
Well, in 2012, Yamato decided to throw their hat into the articulated figures market with a line of figures called "Neuromancer", developed by Cerberus Project. Why Neuromancer? Who knows.. makes as much sense as a line of figures called Nendoroids.
These figures are roughly 1/7 scale, or roughly the size of a modern Playarts Kai figure. The aim was to truly create a figure that would capture the visuals of a scale statue combined with high articulation. The line consisted of only three releases, with the other two being Ignis from Jingai Makyo, and Kousaka Tamaki from To Heart 2. Clearly the line didn't last particularly long, probably because the price on these figures was a bit much, ranging roughly from 8,800 yen to 10,800 yen.
I don't know why Yoko commands such a high resale price other than the fact that she's Yoko.
A complete Yoko set would come with the figure, an alternate face sculpt (attacking), her trusty sniper rifle with detaching magazine, a pair of alternate hands, a.. battery (I think), a pair of chopsticks to hold, a pair of chopsticks to complete her look in her hair, two additional sets of eyes (look slight left/right), her yellow visors, and a dynamic stand that has a combination of standard clamps and a magnetic tip.
The set I bought sadly lacked the magnetic clip, and featured damaged chopsticks all around. I was fortunate in that I superglued some of the broken pieces together, and was able to return it to its intended position on her head.. more or less, and she has a couple of loose chopsticks meant to be held in her hand, like her bullet or that battery.
Yoko comes dressed in her traditional outfit - flame motif bikini top, short shorts, white boots, pink scarf, and a skull barrette. A video I watched on this figure felt that her figure was a bit too voluptuous, to which I say.. "meh".
All your expected points of articulation are present, including chest collapse, mid torso and waist movement, as well as functional ankles and toe movement. There is no ab crunch, but that would affect the overall aesthetics of the figure. Yoko's ponytail is also provided with a rotating joint which theoretically allows of some dynamic posing.
The missing magnetic piece from my set would have allowed me to stand the figure up via the magnet embedded into the back of the figure. As a result, I'm stuck using the clamp, which isn't great but can do the job. However, a combination of the two was meant to be used such that Yoko could take to the skies.
The overall look of the figure certainly is good, resembling an upscaled and more curvy Revoltech Yoko. To my eye, it seems like the body of the Neuromancer release is more to scale with the head, which was a tad oversized. The joints are not too obvious, which helps with the flow of lines on the figure.
The eyes of the smiling sculpt can be switched out with the various aforementioned eyes, and the goggles can be detached from the hair sculpt. The angry sculpt cannot change eye direction.
For whatever reason, this sniper rife did not come with the pink strap that I've seen on pretty much every other Yoko figure I've come across, nor does the manual indicate I'm missing it either.
Paint work on the figure was found to be quite good. I'd owned a few of the Yamato pieces back in the day, and with the exception of statues with the dreaded open mouth, their work didn't disappoint, and this continued that tradition. There were no issues due to poor finishes or splotchy paint to be observed on this piece.
So, from a value perspective, these figures weren't the greatest. But I think a bigger issue (and what sank the line in general) was probably a QC thing. You see, the joints on this figure, especially the ones that count the most (hips, neck, hair) are so loose, you basically can't do anything with this figure without the stand assisting it. It's really like a big floppy Nendoroid, and based on the video I watched, this wasn't an issue because mine was old - nope, it was an issue even on brand new ones.
Thus concludes this quick look at this Yoko figure, from a line that lasted very, very briefly. Maybe one day I'll be able to either rig up a magnetic piece or maybe get the original one just to play around with the aerial posing. Of course, I'd need to get the joints to cooperate in the first place.
Oh well.. .maybe one day.
DSC_1473
Over the years, I've gained some interesting stories about where and how much I buy my little hoard from. While this story isn't quite as interesting as the time I ended up on a farm in the middle of nowhere Manitoba, it's still kind of interesting.
When you ask people about where they get their figures, usually it's the Internet, with the occasional person saying from meetups, trade shows, and if they're daring, a garage sale. Well, if you're me and you have a quiet Saturday morning, you read Kijiji and somehow end up at a Pawn Shop somewhere near the Scarborough Bluffs.
While the selection wasn't incredible or earth shattering, I did manage to pick up this interesting piece - slightly mangled and incomplete, yes, but for the $20 i paid I wasn't really about to complain, especially when the aftermarket price for this is somewhere in the $200 USD range for a new one.
Presenting Neuromancer #003. - Yoko Littner from Gurren Lagaan.
As always, we answer the question "what the hell is X", where X is Neuromancer.
Well, in 2012, Yamato decided to throw their hat into the articulated figures market with a line of figures called "Neuromancer", developed by Cerberus Project. Why Neuromancer? Who knows.. makes as much sense as a line of figures called Nendoroids.
These figures are roughly 1/7 scale, or roughly the size of a modern Playarts Kai figure. The aim was to truly create a figure that would capture the visuals of a scale statue combined with high articulation. The line consisted of only three releases, with the other two being Ignis from Jingai Makyo, and Kousaka Tamaki from To Heart 2. Clearly the line didn't last particularly long, probably because the price on these figures was a bit much, ranging roughly from 8,800 yen to 10,800 yen.
I don't know why Yoko commands such a high resale price other than the fact that she's Yoko.
A complete Yoko set would come with the figure, an alternate face sculpt (attacking), her trusty sniper rifle with detaching magazine, a pair of alternate hands, a.. battery (I think), a pair of chopsticks to hold, a pair of chopsticks to complete her look in her hair, two additional sets of eyes (look slight left/right), her yellow visors, and a dynamic stand that has a combination of standard clamps and a magnetic tip.
The set I bought sadly lacked the magnetic clip, and featured damaged chopsticks all around. I was fortunate in that I superglued some of the broken pieces together, and was able to return it to its intended position on her head.. more or less, and she has a couple of loose chopsticks meant to be held in her hand, like her bullet or that battery.
Yoko comes dressed in her traditional outfit - flame motif bikini top, short shorts, white boots, pink scarf, and a skull barrette. A video I watched on this figure felt that her figure was a bit too voluptuous, to which I say.. "meh".
All your expected points of articulation are present, including chest collapse, mid torso and waist movement, as well as functional ankles and toe movement. There is no ab crunch, but that would affect the overall aesthetics of the figure. Yoko's ponytail is also provided with a rotating joint which theoretically allows of some dynamic posing.
The missing magnetic piece from my set would have allowed me to stand the figure up via the magnet embedded into the back of the figure. As a result, I'm stuck using the clamp, which isn't great but can do the job. However, a combination of the two was meant to be used such that Yoko could take to the skies.
The overall look of the figure certainly is good, resembling an upscaled and more curvy Revoltech Yoko. To my eye, it seems like the body of the Neuromancer release is more to scale with the head, which was a tad oversized. The joints are not too obvious, which helps with the flow of lines on the figure.
The eyes of the smiling sculpt can be switched out with the various aforementioned eyes, and the goggles can be detached from the hair sculpt. The angry sculpt cannot change eye direction.
For whatever reason, this sniper rife did not come with the pink strap that I've seen on pretty much every other Yoko figure I've come across, nor does the manual indicate I'm missing it either.
Paint work on the figure was found to be quite good. I'd owned a few of the Yamato pieces back in the day, and with the exception of statues with the dreaded open mouth, their work didn't disappoint, and this continued that tradition. There were no issues due to poor finishes or splotchy paint to be observed on this piece.
So, from a value perspective, these figures weren't the greatest. But I think a bigger issue (and what sank the line in general) was probably a QC thing. You see, the joints on this figure, especially the ones that count the most (hips, neck, hair) are so loose, you basically can't do anything with this figure without the stand assisting it. It's really like a big floppy Nendoroid, and based on the video I watched, this wasn't an issue because mine was old - nope, it was an issue even on brand new ones.
Thus concludes this quick look at this Yoko figure, from a line that lasted very, very briefly. Maybe one day I'll be able to either rig up a magnetic piece or maybe get the original one just to play around with the aerial posing. Of course, I'd need to get the joints to cooperate in the first place.
Oh well.. .maybe one day.