DSC_7812-2
Welcome to another episode of "Random Road Swag", this time being the only thing I bought in Winnipeg proper this time around.
Today, I bring you something that, as always, I know nothing about, but through the power of the Internet, I've managed to cobble together some sort of information.
Gunbuster is a 1988-1989 anime series that, like all good Sci-Fi series, focuses on a giant ass robot fighting off space aliens. I never watched it, and only know of its existence because I browsed through the Soul of Chogokin catalogue back in the day and came across an entry for the mecha itself, Gunbuster. The series, according to my reading, was sort of the predecessor for a little thing called Neon Genesis Evangelion, at least from a directorial perspective.
No.. haven't seen that one either.
One of the main heroes in the story is Noriko Takaya, pilot of Buster Machine 1, daughter of Captain Yuzo Takya, and by all accounts, kind of a klutz when it comes to piloting, yet able to pull off advanced techniques without formal training.
Noriko is the subject of this technically non-scale action figure, though by size comparisons to other pieces I own, she's technically a 1/8 scale figure, so at that larger end of the things for scaled articulated figures.
What makes things interesting is that Noriko here is from a company called CMS Corporation that, well, doesn't exist anymore as they went out of business. A looksie through their catalogue, at least for their Gutto-Kuru line, shows there to be quite a healthy number of releases, and memory seems to be telling me that I've owned some other CMS items in the past.
Lets dive in a bit more in depth.
Noriko comes with a plethora of pieces. There is the articulated body, naturally, and FIVE expression.. yes.. FIVE - default, angry, happy, embarrassed, and shy - to start. There are two headbands (blue, yellow) which if I watched the show I'm sure would make sense to me, but for now I'm guessing it's tied into the fact Noriko technically has two cast off outfits - one which is her pilots outfit, and one that looks like gym wear (that seems to be associated with the yellow headband). You can even leave everything stripped off for I think it's a one piece swim suit.
But wait.. we're not done yet.
The figure also comes with I believe TEN additional hands for various poses, including two hands specifically meant for recreating an actual hands across the chest pose. Finally, there is a dynamic stand of sorts that I never opened. It seems there is a piece that fits into one of the three slots so you can secure the arm, which itself can have a clamp attached to it. It looks like the stand could handle most typical on the ground poses, but I suspect it isn't robust enough to handle any mid air positions.
Original MSRP on this robust set is 10,800 Yen as of 2012.
Now that we've gotten the details out of the way, lets dive into the details.
Having no frame of reference, I can say that the the CMS body itself is very clean. Not entirely confident that proportionally it's a perfect match, or even if it's a unique body though. Materials used feel to be of a decent quality, and not some lightweight brittle plastic that would crack under the most gentle of touches (stupid Medicom..).
The actual articulation is actually quite impressive - with the exception of the next (possibly due to the hair being a solid piece), Noriko can manage to land a Black Widow superhero landing pose, though due to her top heaviness she doesn't quite make the Iron Man 3 point landing. Joints tend to pop out when manipulating them (most notable being the shoulders) but unless you've wrenched it with the utmost strength you can muster, parts will fit together quite easily. The soft rubber outfits are bit a paint to get secured, though.
Shoulder joints are a bit strange, as the connection points within the body are actual chest level rather than at the shoulder itself.
Overall, the only "modern" conveniences missing are actual neck articulation and chest compress, along with true double jointed knees and elbows. Construction wise, Noriko is leaps and bounds above the Yamato bodies for the Mokoto and Yoko that sit on my shelf. The joints just LOOK weird, but at least the funny looking pieces are hidden within the body cavities. The actual joints themselves are actually quite solid (within a reasonable degree of expectation, of course) with an interesting choice of connection for the wrist joints themselves.
Sculpting wise, it's a bit of a mixed bag IMHO. Everthing is quite clean looking, as most unarmoured anime girls tend to be. I just feel that overall, Noriko just feels too lanky, and that embarrassed face sculpt is just.. it doesn't do anything for me. In fact, in the right light it looks nightmare fuel.
Paint and polish wise, again, not too much to complain about really. Paint apps are clean, decal work is sharp. Even the open mouth, a weak point when it comes to figures, is handled quite well. Some deduction of points on the hair, which shows signs of rough finish, and could stand a few more layers of spit polish, as it were. Another minor irk is that I found the peg holds in the hands to be a bit on the small size, so the first few times might be a bit tight.
Thank you folks, I'll be here all week.
An interesting piece from a company that has been lost to the passage of time, for a property that really doesn't get any exposure at all. I wouldn't mind finding a few more from this line just to see how things went from here, or were before this piece came out. It's a shame that a product like this, which is clearly superior to its competitors, died out, though arguably speaking the competitors themselves maybe around, but the 1/8 articulated scale line from them is gone as well.
Onto the next piece!
DSC_7812-2
Welcome to another episode of "Random Road Swag", this time being the only thing I bought in Winnipeg proper this time around.
Today, I bring you something that, as always, I know nothing about, but through the power of the Internet, I've managed to cobble together some sort of information.
Gunbuster is a 1988-1989 anime series that, like all good Sci-Fi series, focuses on a giant ass robot fighting off space aliens. I never watched it, and only know of its existence because I browsed through the Soul of Chogokin catalogue back in the day and came across an entry for the mecha itself, Gunbuster. The series, according to my reading, was sort of the predecessor for a little thing called Neon Genesis Evangelion, at least from a directorial perspective.
No.. haven't seen that one either.
One of the main heroes in the story is Noriko Takaya, pilot of Buster Machine 1, daughter of Captain Yuzo Takya, and by all accounts, kind of a klutz when it comes to piloting, yet able to pull off advanced techniques without formal training.
Noriko is the subject of this technically non-scale action figure, though by size comparisons to other pieces I own, she's technically a 1/8 scale figure, so at that larger end of the things for scaled articulated figures.
What makes things interesting is that Noriko here is from a company called CMS Corporation that, well, doesn't exist anymore as they went out of business. A looksie through their catalogue, at least for their Gutto-Kuru line, shows there to be quite a healthy number of releases, and memory seems to be telling me that I've owned some other CMS items in the past.
Lets dive in a bit more in depth.
Noriko comes with a plethora of pieces. There is the articulated body, naturally, and FIVE expression.. yes.. FIVE - default, angry, happy, embarrassed, and shy - to start. There are two headbands (blue, yellow) which if I watched the show I'm sure would make sense to me, but for now I'm guessing it's tied into the fact Noriko technically has two cast off outfits - one which is her pilots outfit, and one that looks like gym wear (that seems to be associated with the yellow headband). You can even leave everything stripped off for I think it's a one piece swim suit.
But wait.. we're not done yet.
The figure also comes with I believe TEN additional hands for various poses, including two hands specifically meant for recreating an actual hands across the chest pose. Finally, there is a dynamic stand of sorts that I never opened. It seems there is a piece that fits into one of the three slots so you can secure the arm, which itself can have a clamp attached to it. It looks like the stand could handle most typical on the ground poses, but I suspect it isn't robust enough to handle any mid air positions.
Original MSRP on this robust set is 10,800 Yen as of 2012.
Now that we've gotten the details out of the way, lets dive into the details.
Having no frame of reference, I can say that the the CMS body itself is very clean. Not entirely confident that proportionally it's a perfect match, or even if it's a unique body though. Materials used feel to be of a decent quality, and not some lightweight brittle plastic that would crack under the most gentle of touches (stupid Medicom..).
The actual articulation is actually quite impressive - with the exception of the next (possibly due to the hair being a solid piece), Noriko can manage to land a Black Widow superhero landing pose, though due to her top heaviness she doesn't quite make the Iron Man 3 point landing. Joints tend to pop out when manipulating them (most notable being the shoulders) but unless you've wrenched it with the utmost strength you can muster, parts will fit together quite easily. The soft rubber outfits are bit a paint to get secured, though.
Shoulder joints are a bit strange, as the connection points within the body are actual chest level rather than at the shoulder itself.
Overall, the only "modern" conveniences missing are actual neck articulation and chest compress, along with true double jointed knees and elbows. Construction wise, Noriko is leaps and bounds above the Yamato bodies for the Mokoto and Yoko that sit on my shelf. The joints just LOOK weird, but at least the funny looking pieces are hidden within the body cavities. The actual joints themselves are actually quite solid (within a reasonable degree of expectation, of course) with an interesting choice of connection for the wrist joints themselves.
Sculpting wise, it's a bit of a mixed bag IMHO. Everthing is quite clean looking, as most unarmoured anime girls tend to be. I just feel that overall, Noriko just feels too lanky, and that embarrassed face sculpt is just.. it doesn't do anything for me. In fact, in the right light it looks nightmare fuel.
Paint and polish wise, again, not too much to complain about really. Paint apps are clean, decal work is sharp. Even the open mouth, a weak point when it comes to figures, is handled quite well. Some deduction of points on the hair, which shows signs of rough finish, and could stand a few more layers of spit polish, as it were. Another minor irk is that I found the peg holds in the hands to be a bit on the small size, so the first few times might be a bit tight.
Thank you folks, I'll be here all week.
An interesting piece from a company that has been lost to the passage of time, for a property that really doesn't get any exposure at all. I wouldn't mind finding a few more from this line just to see how things went from here, or were before this piece came out. It's a shame that a product like this, which is clearly superior to its competitors, died out, though arguably speaking the competitors themselves maybe around, but the 1/8 articulated scale line from them is gone as well.
Onto the next piece!