DSC_4526
For this entry, we take a quick look at the Revoltech Fraulein Bandaged Rei from Neon Genesis Evangelion. Found quite randomly while wandering the Vancouver Flea Market - I know I don't go that often, but even then, my RNG for finding neat stuff there is pretty slim, as is most flea markets these days, quite honestly. For $10 CAD, I added her to my, by this time, overly swelling luggage.
Rei is one of the lead characters from the "must see" anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion... clearly I missed the memo because I have yet to watch the original series, any of the updates, or, well, ANYTHING to do with the property. Rei, full name Rei Ayanami, is a genetically crafted solider, born and raised to pilot giant EVA units (robots.. but of course) that are used to fight offworld invaders know as Angels. There's much more about the character and the series, of course, but if it wasn't obvious enough, I am not familiar with the property beyond this point).
Rei is 008 in the Fraulein subline, which if you will recall, was created by Kaiyodo so they could have a more feminine body. It.. kind of worked? Rei and her Fraulein cohorts certainly look more feminine than her main line counterparts.
Bandaged Rei is actually a very common redeco of the Rei character (I'm guessing battle injuries) and is a modified version of the original Rei release, which happened to be 001 of the Fraulein subline. They weren't very big into accessories back in the day, though the price wasn't exactly sky high either, coming in at 2,200 yen back in 2008. This version of the character came packed with a few extra hands, an extra head with a closed eye with a more serene expression, a purple Spear of Longinus, and a.. flight stand, I guess. The bandaged arm is a permanent piece in that nothing can be changed on it, so all the spare hands are for her left arm.
While the Fraulein body offered a better female form, to say that what they created as the definitive female form would be a gross exaggeration, with my biggest beef being the small bust line. Also, clearly the figures are meant to emphasize the legs and arms, and a more boyish body shape as opposed to to full grown woman. Another perk of the Fraulein body is, much like all earlier Revoltech pieces, Kaiyodo didn't quite figure out QC yet, and Rei suffers from one leg being longer than the other, most likely due to tolerance issues with the Revoltech joint itself. I will readily admit that I am a fan of the second head sculpt (eye closed). There's just something so... graceful about her expression. Very calming, and IMHO would work with many more poses than the standard one. Sculpting of details on the hair is quite good, as well as the various bandaged parts, though I suspect they cheated a bit on her righ arm in order to incorporate the Revoltech joint.
Articulation is decent, if a bit awkward (like with all Revoltech figures). There's ankles, knees, thigh twist, hips, shoulders, separate shoulder swivel, elbows, wrists, mid torso, and neck. Between the lack of joints and general awkwardness of the cuts/Revoltech joints, Rei can do some decent standing poses, but otherwise very still kneeling and effectively dead fish lounging poses. Also, as expected, it's the hips that make things more difficult then they ought to be. For what it's worth, the joints are well concealed and do worth with the overall goal of maintaining that feminine silhouette.
Paint work is pretty good. The base coat of pearl white on the plug suit is smooth and even. Masking is within acceptable parameters, with weakness observed on the trips on her thigh, and on the edges of her blue hair. Black outlining is a bit faint for my tastes, but nothing ran out of place. Otherwise, Rei looks crisp and clean, aided by the relatively simple colour scheme she has going for her. Build quality is the usual level, that being quite acceptable. No issues with any of the joints, assembly gaps are generally well hidden due to some decent finishing and paint work. The finish on some parts is a bit on the rough side, with most of these observed on the back of her upper arms and thighs, and a larger than normal assembly gap for her upper torso part.
The Spear itself is functional. Decent glossy purple finish, good size - it's just that Rei doesn't really have the necessary articulation and extra parts to wield it like a badass.
The Revoltech Fraulein line was the first dedicated articulated figure line that was exclusively for female forms. While it's not perfect (and it wasn't even back in the day), it did at the very least show that there was a market for such a product, and that a "one size fit all" approach wouldn't necessarily work for optimum results. Even the Fraulein subline itself was probably too restrictive in terms of what could be accomplished, because the series didn't exactly survive very long, with future female releases being like the male ones - very much a ground up development, which makes for at the very least, very distinct looking releases. Like older action figures, the Fraulein line is best treated like a quick look into the past - neat to have if you can find them at garage sale prices, but it's nothing I'd go taking out loans for.
DSC_4526
For this entry, we take a quick look at the Revoltech Fraulein Bandaged Rei from Neon Genesis Evangelion. Found quite randomly while wandering the Vancouver Flea Market - I know I don't go that often, but even then, my RNG for finding neat stuff there is pretty slim, as is most flea markets these days, quite honestly. For $10 CAD, I added her to my, by this time, overly swelling luggage.
Rei is one of the lead characters from the "must see" anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion... clearly I missed the memo because I have yet to watch the original series, any of the updates, or, well, ANYTHING to do with the property. Rei, full name Rei Ayanami, is a genetically crafted solider, born and raised to pilot giant EVA units (robots.. but of course) that are used to fight offworld invaders know as Angels. There's much more about the character and the series, of course, but if it wasn't obvious enough, I am not familiar with the property beyond this point).
Rei is 008 in the Fraulein subline, which if you will recall, was created by Kaiyodo so they could have a more feminine body. It.. kind of worked? Rei and her Fraulein cohorts certainly look more feminine than her main line counterparts.
Bandaged Rei is actually a very common redeco of the Rei character (I'm guessing battle injuries) and is a modified version of the original Rei release, which happened to be 001 of the Fraulein subline. They weren't very big into accessories back in the day, though the price wasn't exactly sky high either, coming in at 2,200 yen back in 2008. This version of the character came packed with a few extra hands, an extra head with a closed eye with a more serene expression, a purple Spear of Longinus, and a.. flight stand, I guess. The bandaged arm is a permanent piece in that nothing can be changed on it, so all the spare hands are for her left arm.
While the Fraulein body offered a better female form, to say that what they created as the definitive female form would be a gross exaggeration, with my biggest beef being the small bust line. Also, clearly the figures are meant to emphasize the legs and arms, and a more boyish body shape as opposed to to full grown woman. Another perk of the Fraulein body is, much like all earlier Revoltech pieces, Kaiyodo didn't quite figure out QC yet, and Rei suffers from one leg being longer than the other, most likely due to tolerance issues with the Revoltech joint itself. I will readily admit that I am a fan of the second head sculpt (eye closed). There's just something so... graceful about her expression. Very calming, and IMHO would work with many more poses than the standard one. Sculpting of details on the hair is quite good, as well as the various bandaged parts, though I suspect they cheated a bit on her righ arm in order to incorporate the Revoltech joint.
Articulation is decent, if a bit awkward (like with all Revoltech figures). There's ankles, knees, thigh twist, hips, shoulders, separate shoulder swivel, elbows, wrists, mid torso, and neck. Between the lack of joints and general awkwardness of the cuts/Revoltech joints, Rei can do some decent standing poses, but otherwise very still kneeling and effectively dead fish lounging poses. Also, as expected, it's the hips that make things more difficult then they ought to be. For what it's worth, the joints are well concealed and do worth with the overall goal of maintaining that feminine silhouette.
Paint work is pretty good. The base coat of pearl white on the plug suit is smooth and even. Masking is within acceptable parameters, with weakness observed on the trips on her thigh, and on the edges of her blue hair. Black outlining is a bit faint for my tastes, but nothing ran out of place. Otherwise, Rei looks crisp and clean, aided by the relatively simple colour scheme she has going for her. Build quality is the usual level, that being quite acceptable. No issues with any of the joints, assembly gaps are generally well hidden due to some decent finishing and paint work. The finish on some parts is a bit on the rough side, with most of these observed on the back of her upper arms and thighs, and a larger than normal assembly gap for her upper torso part.
The Spear itself is functional. Decent glossy purple finish, good size - it's just that Rei doesn't really have the necessary articulation and extra parts to wield it like a badass.
The Revoltech Fraulein line was the first dedicated articulated figure line that was exclusively for female forms. While it's not perfect (and it wasn't even back in the day), it did at the very least show that there was a market for such a product, and that a "one size fit all" approach wouldn't necessarily work for optimum results. Even the Fraulein subline itself was probably too restrictive in terms of what could be accomplished, because the series didn't exactly survive very long, with future female releases being like the male ones - very much a ground up development, which makes for at the very least, very distinct looking releases. Like older action figures, the Fraulein line is best treated like a quick look into the past - neat to have if you can find them at garage sale prices, but it's nothing I'd go taking out loans for.