DSC_5841
Here's a little something on the rarer side, thanks to a transaction with a fellow board member.
Ghost in the Shell has taken somewhat of a beating lately. Like Dragon Ball, Ghost in the Shell is one of those series that even the most casual anime fan would have at least heard of... and much like Dragon Ball, its reputation got knocked down a peg or two due to a botched live action movie though, to be fair, was way, way better than Evolutions ever was.
I don't remember the specifics, but I do remember enough to know that the main character is Motoko Kusanagi, a human consciousness, or Ghost, that has been transferred to a humanoid body, or Shell. She's part of a special Police task force that, of course, handles all the fun missions. Through time, her look is updated somewhat but you're pretty much always guaranteed some sort of leather, and some sort of skin tight suit. Stand Alone Complex (or SAC) I believe was the first TV series, and as such I believe originated this classic look of hers.
Now, lets talk about what THIS figure is specifically. The answer is.. I really don't know. Kusanagi here is from the Yamato VMF line which appears to have died off after 4 releases or so. Roughly scaled to be 1/7, the figure retailed for 7,800 yen back in 2008. According to eBay, the aftermarket on this (and all the other VMF lines) are a wee bit higher than 7,800 yen.. like triple the amount.
Normally, this would be the end of the story, but as luck would have it, I was able to negotiate the release of this particular sample for effectively MSRP.
So here we go...
The figure set is in a giant box which is kind of sparse in terms of its contents, especially given the MSRP. Other than the main figure, the set comes with a set of bare shoulders (more on that later), a pistol, a machine gun, and a stand.. that's it. Compare that to the smaller but better geared out Figma, you can see why the larger action figure market kind of died out there for a while until PAK somehow managed to get it up and running again.
As I'm dealing with 2008 tech here, take everything I'm going to say with a grain of salt, but know that the age doesn't excuse everything.
Mentioned above, this figure is roughly in 1/7 in scale, and is the same size as the Yamato Neuromancer Yoko Littner that I picked up a month or so ago from that pawn store (spoiler alert). The 4 year gap between the two definitely shows as the overall sculpting of the Neuromancer is light years better than the VMF. Articulation gains between the two I believe are a functional waist, better upper torso movement range, and chest compress function. Overall, you're not going to get super deep range of motion like you'd expect from the skin tight suited Figma offerings.
The Neuromancer has ridiculously floppy joints, but the VMF wins the award for "figure most likely to fall apart if you look at it funny". Connected using a series of ball joints, I've had every singly possible limb come off the figure, though fortunately reassembly is relatively straight forward and the parts are quite solid. The VMF actually can stand up without its stand, which is something I can't really say for the Neuromancer.
While more mannequin in appearance in comparison to the Neuromancer, the VMF body itself does a decent job of portraying Kunsanagi, aided by a very good head sculpt, albeit with some dead eye stare issues. The gap between her thighs is very, very odd to look at, to say the least.
By default, Kusanagi is wearing her "leather" jacket, which effectively is a solid plastic shell. As a static piece it looks pretty good, but Lord forbid if you decide to actually pose her upper body in the jacket. Arm articulation is extremely limited while donning the jacket, and it's only after you "strip" her of her garment does her articulation truly shine, as it were. As much as I live to see the curves of my Waifus, it would be nice if she had the option of actually posing effectively with her garb on.
Paint work and detailing on the figure, surprisingly, hold up pretty well despite the 11 year gap between its release and now Not that there's much actual paint on the figure, but what is there is solid and honestly is no worse than what I'd expect to see on a good prize figure these days, meaning some flaws are pretty much gonna be there. As mentioned ,it really is the head sculpt and decal work there that sells this figure as being Motoko Kusanagi.
Because her hands cannot be swapped out, Kunsanagi is only capable of holding her weapon in her right hand, which is good and bad.. I suppose I'd do the right anyway, but an option to differentiate would have been nice. What IS annoying, however, is the fact that it appears you have to squeeze the weapon between her middle and ring fingers in order to actually have her hold the piece.
And there you have it.
I don't actually know why the aftermarket price for this figure is at levels to infinity and beyond.. of course, asking price is no indication of actual sold price, but I imagine it's only a matter of time of they're all at those prices.
For now, I can safely say that this figure is clearly a product of it's time and of Yamato quality, with some good aspects that made it into the products of today.
Anyone have a Figma they want to sell me?
DSC_5841
Here's a little something on the rarer side, thanks to a transaction with a fellow board member.
Ghost in the Shell has taken somewhat of a beating lately. Like Dragon Ball, Ghost in the Shell is one of those series that even the most casual anime fan would have at least heard of... and much like Dragon Ball, its reputation got knocked down a peg or two due to a botched live action movie though, to be fair, was way, way better than Evolutions ever was.
I don't remember the specifics, but I do remember enough to know that the main character is Motoko Kusanagi, a human consciousness, or Ghost, that has been transferred to a humanoid body, or Shell. She's part of a special Police task force that, of course, handles all the fun missions. Through time, her look is updated somewhat but you're pretty much always guaranteed some sort of leather, and some sort of skin tight suit. Stand Alone Complex (or SAC) I believe was the first TV series, and as such I believe originated this classic look of hers.
Now, lets talk about what THIS figure is specifically. The answer is.. I really don't know. Kusanagi here is from the Yamato VMF line which appears to have died off after 4 releases or so. Roughly scaled to be 1/7, the figure retailed for 7,800 yen back in 2008. According to eBay, the aftermarket on this (and all the other VMF lines) are a wee bit higher than 7,800 yen.. like triple the amount.
Normally, this would be the end of the story, but as luck would have it, I was able to negotiate the release of this particular sample for effectively MSRP.
So here we go...
The figure set is in a giant box which is kind of sparse in terms of its contents, especially given the MSRP. Other than the main figure, the set comes with a set of bare shoulders (more on that later), a pistol, a machine gun, and a stand.. that's it. Compare that to the smaller but better geared out Figma, you can see why the larger action figure market kind of died out there for a while until PAK somehow managed to get it up and running again.
As I'm dealing with 2008 tech here, take everything I'm going to say with a grain of salt, but know that the age doesn't excuse everything.
Mentioned above, this figure is roughly in 1/7 in scale, and is the same size as the Yamato Neuromancer Yoko Littner that I picked up a month or so ago from that pawn store (spoiler alert). The 4 year gap between the two definitely shows as the overall sculpting of the Neuromancer is light years better than the VMF. Articulation gains between the two I believe are a functional waist, better upper torso movement range, and chest compress function. Overall, you're not going to get super deep range of motion like you'd expect from the skin tight suited Figma offerings.
The Neuromancer has ridiculously floppy joints, but the VMF wins the award for "figure most likely to fall apart if you look at it funny". Connected using a series of ball joints, I've had every singly possible limb come off the figure, though fortunately reassembly is relatively straight forward and the parts are quite solid. The VMF actually can stand up without its stand, which is something I can't really say for the Neuromancer.
While more mannequin in appearance in comparison to the Neuromancer, the VMF body itself does a decent job of portraying Kunsanagi, aided by a very good head sculpt, albeit with some dead eye stare issues. The gap between her thighs is very, very odd to look at, to say the least.
By default, Kusanagi is wearing her "leather" jacket, which effectively is a solid plastic shell. As a static piece it looks pretty good, but Lord forbid if you decide to actually pose her upper body in the jacket. Arm articulation is extremely limited while donning the jacket, and it's only after you "strip" her of her garment does her articulation truly shine, as it were. As much as I live to see the curves of my Waifus, it would be nice if she had the option of actually posing effectively with her garb on.
Paint work and detailing on the figure, surprisingly, hold up pretty well despite the 11 year gap between its release and now Not that there's much actual paint on the figure, but what is there is solid and honestly is no worse than what I'd expect to see on a good prize figure these days, meaning some flaws are pretty much gonna be there. As mentioned ,it really is the head sculpt and decal work there that sells this figure as being Motoko Kusanagi.
Because her hands cannot be swapped out, Kunsanagi is only capable of holding her weapon in her right hand, which is good and bad.. I suppose I'd do the right anyway, but an option to differentiate would have been nice. What IS annoying, however, is the fact that it appears you have to squeeze the weapon between her middle and ring fingers in order to actually have her hold the piece.
And there you have it.
I don't actually know why the aftermarket price for this figure is at levels to infinity and beyond.. of course, asking price is no indication of actual sold price, but I imagine it's only a matter of time of they're all at those prices.
For now, I can safely say that this figure is clearly a product of it's time and of Yamato quality, with some good aspects that made it into the products of today.
Anyone have a Figma they want to sell me?