DSC_1351
Who here has heard of Osamu Tezuka?
By all accounts, Tezuka San pioneered many styles and techniques, earning him such honorary titles as "the Father of Manga". His work influencing generations after him, he passed away February 9, 1989 from stomach cancer. I'm no scholar in these matters, and am in no position to really discuss what exactly he did and how influential he was. I do know that even as a complete outsider in this world, even I know of his work due to one little tiny property that you might have heard of - The Might Atom, otherwise known to us in the West as Astro Boy.
As you can imagine, while Astro Boy was a very popular property, it wasn't the only one Tezuka worked on. While Astro Boy was more family oriented, he did work on more adult oriented series, such as one called Black Jack.
Before doing a bit of research, I always figured Black Jack was some sort of gambling related series. Nope.. turns out it's more like a crazier anime adaptation of House than one who is a Master of the Cards. The series follows the protagonist, Kurō Hazam, from childhood accident that left him disfigured, to his exploits as an unlicensed but brilliant Master Surgeon, while at the same time being an adventurer of sorts.
Why am I mentioning all this? Because Black Jack is where Pinoko, the character behind this figure, comes from.
Pinoko has a rather interesting back story. She effectively lives for 18 years as a sentient tumor of sorts in her twin sister, developing a consciousness, vital organs, and limbs of sorts. Through the awesome power of exposition and Master Surgery, Black Jack is able to remove this tumor, and give her a body made of her own tissue and some synthetic parts, and is named after Pinocchio. Due to physical limitations, she physically has the body of a two year but has the mental capacity of an 18 year old girl.
At some point in time, a Hong Kong based company, ZC World, obtained the license to produce 1/6 scale figures either of the Black Jack line, or of Pinoko herself. Manufactured in 2013 and retailing for $90 USD, this particular sample clearly went through some rough handling before finally being purchased by me at KimiKon for $15 CAD.
How's that for an origin story?
Pinoko is played off as a childish, comic relief character, so I guess if a company were going to go all Malibu Stacey on a character from the Black Jack line, well, this would be it. Based off the verbiage on the box, I have entry 01 - Basic, which says to me there are probably more Deluxe oriented sets out there. The set comes with the basics, namely the articulated figure, a pair of open palm hands, a backpack, and a rain poncho. Sadly not stand, which is unfortunate given the obviously top heavy nature of this figure. It's a cute looking figure, and features a predominately cloth outfit. I'm no expert,but to my eyes it seems that tailoring is done properly, without too much slack anywhere on the body. Materials used aren't exactly going to blow anyones mind, but seem to be the same cotton blend you'd get for your run of the mill t-shirt. The vinyl used for the ran poncho is different that the material used for the backpack, and both of these feature some great stitching that not only helps them resemble their "real world" counterparts, but help to keep the fabrics in their appropriate forms. You'll also find some functional buttons/belts and so on, with Velcro strips handling the bulk of the heavy lifting, as it were.
Yes, she's small. Your eyes do not deceive you - Pinoko is standing next to Nat, a Figuarts release. Also, yes, I know she resembles an Anime Coraline with the poncho on.
The base body seems to be quite adequate for this figure. Being effectively an Anime child, I wouldn't expect Pinoko to have 70 points of articulation and be able to replicate every single subtle position a human being can. She features ball jointed ankles, ratcheting knee joints, thigh twist, rotating hips, rotating waist, rotating shoulders, bicep swivel, racheting elbows, wrists, and rotating head at the base. No quite Figma/Figuarts level, but it does the job. The overall build of the body isn't too shabby. It's not quite as solid as a Hot Toys release, but it's nowhere as flimsy as a Medicom body is, and can handle some rough housing. Limbs can pop off if excessive force is applied, and while it is a pain, they can be reconnected, good as new. The only real questionable assembly would be that it seems the hair on mine isn't as tight as possible, as it has a little jiggle. Maybe it's meant to come off? I have no manual, so it's merely a guess on my part.
There isn't really any paint work to discuss on this figure. The vast majority of the figure features single coloured plastics glued together, with the exception of the bows on her head (painted separately and glue on), the eye decals, the red line for her mouth, and the shoes, which feature some masking due to the painting of the socks. This figure isn't exactly going to blow your mind when it comes the paint work, but again, given the nature of the source material, it works just fine. if there was one thing I'd like to have seen, is maybe some paint for the actual flesh areas, which would reduce some of the sheen. At the same time, accidental as it may be, this lack of paint does give the figure a rather vintage look to it, akin to the toys that were in my world when I grew up.
From an accuracy perspective, I'd have to say that the body is about right. The head has the right shape but is too narrow, the browns are too dark on both her hair and her eyes, and it appears the eyes are too close together, and quite honestly resembles a Monchichi more than Pinoko.
There you have it. Something different, to say the least, and a good example of why in general I prefer the fight of a Rummage Sale versus the orderly chaos of shopping at a modern place. I can't exactly say I'd recommend this for everyone because it's not exactly a super popular property, nor is it a style that some of the more "mature oriented" collectors would go for. But, as a collector of Action Figures in general, and one who is old enough to remember this old school aesthetic, it's a neat buy, especially if you find it for $15 CAD.
Till next time, readers!
DSC_1351
Who here has heard of Osamu Tezuka?
By all accounts, Tezuka San pioneered many styles and techniques, earning him such honorary titles as "the Father of Manga". His work influencing generations after him, he passed away February 9, 1989 from stomach cancer. I'm no scholar in these matters, and am in no position to really discuss what exactly he did and how influential he was. I do know that even as a complete outsider in this world, even I know of his work due to one little tiny property that you might have heard of - The Might Atom, otherwise known to us in the West as Astro Boy.
As you can imagine, while Astro Boy was a very popular property, it wasn't the only one Tezuka worked on. While Astro Boy was more family oriented, he did work on more adult oriented series, such as one called Black Jack.
Before doing a bit of research, I always figured Black Jack was some sort of gambling related series. Nope.. turns out it's more like a crazier anime adaptation of House than one who is a Master of the Cards. The series follows the protagonist, Kurō Hazam, from childhood accident that left him disfigured, to his exploits as an unlicensed but brilliant Master Surgeon, while at the same time being an adventurer of sorts.
Why am I mentioning all this? Because Black Jack is where Pinoko, the character behind this figure, comes from.
Pinoko has a rather interesting back story. She effectively lives for 18 years as a sentient tumor of sorts in her twin sister, developing a consciousness, vital organs, and limbs of sorts. Through the awesome power of exposition and Master Surgery, Black Jack is able to remove this tumor, and give her a body made of her own tissue and some synthetic parts, and is named after Pinocchio. Due to physical limitations, she physically has the body of a two year but has the mental capacity of an 18 year old girl.
At some point in time, a Hong Kong based company, ZC World, obtained the license to produce 1/6 scale figures either of the Black Jack line, or of Pinoko herself. Manufactured in 2013 and retailing for $90 USD, this particular sample clearly went through some rough handling before finally being purchased by me at KimiKon for $15 CAD.
How's that for an origin story?
Pinoko is played off as a childish, comic relief character, so I guess if a company were going to go all Malibu Stacey on a character from the Black Jack line, well, this would be it. Based off the verbiage on the box, I have entry 01 - Basic, which says to me there are probably more Deluxe oriented sets out there. The set comes with the basics, namely the articulated figure, a pair of open palm hands, a backpack, and a rain poncho. Sadly not stand, which is unfortunate given the obviously top heavy nature of this figure. It's a cute looking figure, and features a predominately cloth outfit. I'm no expert,but to my eyes it seems that tailoring is done properly, without too much slack anywhere on the body. Materials used aren't exactly going to blow anyones mind, but seem to be the same cotton blend you'd get for your run of the mill t-shirt. The vinyl used for the ran poncho is different that the material used for the backpack, and both of these feature some great stitching that not only helps them resemble their "real world" counterparts, but help to keep the fabrics in their appropriate forms. You'll also find some functional buttons/belts and so on, with Velcro strips handling the bulk of the heavy lifting, as it were.
Yes, she's small. Your eyes do not deceive you - Pinoko is standing next to Nat, a Figuarts release. Also, yes, I know she resembles an Anime Coraline with the poncho on.
The base body seems to be quite adequate for this figure. Being effectively an Anime child, I wouldn't expect Pinoko to have 70 points of articulation and be able to replicate every single subtle position a human being can. She features ball jointed ankles, ratcheting knee joints, thigh twist, rotating hips, rotating waist, rotating shoulders, bicep swivel, racheting elbows, wrists, and rotating head at the base. No quite Figma/Figuarts level, but it does the job. The overall build of the body isn't too shabby. It's not quite as solid as a Hot Toys release, but it's nowhere as flimsy as a Medicom body is, and can handle some rough housing. Limbs can pop off if excessive force is applied, and while it is a pain, they can be reconnected, good as new. The only real questionable assembly would be that it seems the hair on mine isn't as tight as possible, as it has a little jiggle. Maybe it's meant to come off? I have no manual, so it's merely a guess on my part.
There isn't really any paint work to discuss on this figure. The vast majority of the figure features single coloured plastics glued together, with the exception of the bows on her head (painted separately and glue on), the eye decals, the red line for her mouth, and the shoes, which feature some masking due to the painting of the socks. This figure isn't exactly going to blow your mind when it comes the paint work, but again, given the nature of the source material, it works just fine. if there was one thing I'd like to have seen, is maybe some paint for the actual flesh areas, which would reduce some of the sheen. At the same time, accidental as it may be, this lack of paint does give the figure a rather vintage look to it, akin to the toys that were in my world when I grew up.
From an accuracy perspective, I'd have to say that the body is about right. The head has the right shape but is too narrow, the browns are too dark on both her hair and her eyes, and it appears the eyes are too close together, and quite honestly resembles a Monchichi more than Pinoko.
There you have it. Something different, to say the least, and a good example of why in general I prefer the fight of a Rummage Sale versus the orderly chaos of shopping at a modern place. I can't exactly say I'd recommend this for everyone because it's not exactly a super popular property, nor is it a style that some of the more "mature oriented" collectors would go for. But, as a collector of Action Figures in general, and one who is old enough to remember this old school aesthetic, it's a neat buy, especially if you find it for $15 CAD.
Till next time, readers!