DSC_3105
Welcome to the tail end of Summer 2020. It's been a strange one, and depending on where you are on the planet, things are either starting to reopen, or you're being told that things are getting wonky again.
As you can tell, I always keep my eyes open to see what kind of interesting things are being sold in the classifieds. A few weeks ago, I bought this Figma from a local seller: Sword Art Online II Sinon for $50 CAD.
As in most instances, I know nothing of the property, and it is generally the character design that captures my attention. That is still the case, with the light Aqua Green hair and Olive/White body suit just jumped out at me. Sinon is not particularly busty or curvy, but does have a stylish scarf.
But there was more that attracted my attention.
You might notice that the series is called "Sword Art Online"... then you might notice that Sinon is a sniper, which makes you wonder how exactly this works in a series with the word "Sword" in its title. I still don't know exactly how it works, just that everything is Virtual Reality based and that I guess this series had them in a Virtual Reality world that used guns.
With my exemplary mastery of the background explained, lets move on to the figure.
Released in 2017 for 5,400 Yen or so, the contents of the set are fairly typical. You get the figure, three total face plates (smiling, neutral, gritted teeth) two total rear of head pieces (one to allow for more neck articulation), a pistol with muzzle flash effect, her Hecate II sniper rifle with deployed stand part, a short and long stock, and a shoulder strap. You of course get a variety of posing hands, and the standard Figma dynamic stand.
From what I can tell, the recreation of Sinon in Figma form was handled pretty well, with the slight exception of her head being a big on the small side. As mentioned above, I like the colours and the fact she's a sniper. But from a design perspective, I'm grateful for the extra head that allows for increased range of motion, and the fact the bangs are made of a soft, rubbery plastic that allows for Sinon's face to be closer to the ground.
The latter two help to make those sniper poses that much more accurate with this figure.
Otherwise, if we look at the usuals, there should be any surprises here. Sinon posses typical Figma articulation points, so ankles, single jointed knees, hips with some thigh twist, some waist, mid torso, shoulders with some collapse and bicep swivel, single jionted enblows, wrists, and head. There are also dedicated articulation points for her scarf pieces.
General range of motion isn't bad at all, just not as good as a similarly sized Figuarts figure (mostly felt in the lower body), but thanks to the items mentioned above she can pull off the prone Sniper pose quite well.
Paint quality is exactly what you'd expect from a Figma - great overall paint work, with smooth paint apps every with the exception of masking, which can look rough depending on how anal retentive you area. I really like how the face plates turned out - the base sculpt is well done, and the great paint and decal work serves to further highlight this fact. Hands are crisply painted.
Build quality is again, pretty much what I was expecting. Joints that get the job done, no overt issues with regards to seams and rough finishes, and the body will hold poses as designed. For some reason, however, I noticed that the muzzle of the rifle was not square. As I bought this second hand, I'm not sure if this was the result of a repair, or maybe it left the factory like this. If it is a factory error, It's certainly the first time I've seen an error like this on a Figma.
Odd error aside, what is the takeaway from all this?
Well, Sinon is well made, and has the qualities you'd expect from a Figma release. As far as sniper figures go, Sinon's shoulder articulation isn't as good as Widowmaker so she can position her weapon better, but Sinon definitely has the prone position advantage.
I've got one more SAO related piece on the way, but that's about all I can foresee in the future unless I find them for fire sale prices. Only the super expensive designs intrigue me, and at that point I might as well go all in on Fate figures cause lets face it - they certainly have better overall designs.
DSC_3105
Welcome to the tail end of Summer 2020. It's been a strange one, and depending on where you are on the planet, things are either starting to reopen, or you're being told that things are getting wonky again.
As you can tell, I always keep my eyes open to see what kind of interesting things are being sold in the classifieds. A few weeks ago, I bought this Figma from a local seller: Sword Art Online II Sinon for $50 CAD.
As in most instances, I know nothing of the property, and it is generally the character design that captures my attention. That is still the case, with the light Aqua Green hair and Olive/White body suit just jumped out at me. Sinon is not particularly busty or curvy, but does have a stylish scarf.
But there was more that attracted my attention.
You might notice that the series is called "Sword Art Online"... then you might notice that Sinon is a sniper, which makes you wonder how exactly this works in a series with the word "Sword" in its title. I still don't know exactly how it works, just that everything is Virtual Reality based and that I guess this series had them in a Virtual Reality world that used guns.
With my exemplary mastery of the background explained, lets move on to the figure.
Released in 2017 for 5,400 Yen or so, the contents of the set are fairly typical. You get the figure, three total face plates (smiling, neutral, gritted teeth) two total rear of head pieces (one to allow for more neck articulation), a pistol with muzzle flash effect, her Hecate II sniper rifle with deployed stand part, a short and long stock, and a shoulder strap. You of course get a variety of posing hands, and the standard Figma dynamic stand.
From what I can tell, the recreation of Sinon in Figma form was handled pretty well, with the slight exception of her head being a big on the small side. As mentioned above, I like the colours and the fact she's a sniper. But from a design perspective, I'm grateful for the extra head that allows for increased range of motion, and the fact the bangs are made of a soft, rubbery plastic that allows for Sinon's face to be closer to the ground.
The latter two help to make those sniper poses that much more accurate with this figure.
Otherwise, if we look at the usuals, there should be any surprises here. Sinon posses typical Figma articulation points, so ankles, single jointed knees, hips with some thigh twist, some waist, mid torso, shoulders with some collapse and bicep swivel, single jionted enblows, wrists, and head. There are also dedicated articulation points for her scarf pieces.
General range of motion isn't bad at all, just not as good as a similarly sized Figuarts figure (mostly felt in the lower body), but thanks to the items mentioned above she can pull off the prone Sniper pose quite well.
Paint quality is exactly what you'd expect from a Figma - great overall paint work, with smooth paint apps every with the exception of masking, which can look rough depending on how anal retentive you area. I really like how the face plates turned out - the base sculpt is well done, and the great paint and decal work serves to further highlight this fact. Hands are crisply painted.
Build quality is again, pretty much what I was expecting. Joints that get the job done, no overt issues with regards to seams and rough finishes, and the body will hold poses as designed. For some reason, however, I noticed that the muzzle of the rifle was not square. As I bought this second hand, I'm not sure if this was the result of a repair, or maybe it left the factory like this. If it is a factory error, It's certainly the first time I've seen an error like this on a Figma.
Odd error aside, what is the takeaway from all this?
Well, Sinon is well made, and has the qualities you'd expect from a Figma release. As far as sniper figures go, Sinon's shoulder articulation isn't as good as Widowmaker so she can position her weapon better, but Sinon definitely has the prone position advantage.
I've got one more SAO related piece on the way, but that's about all I can foresee in the future unless I find them for fire sale prices. Only the super expensive designs intrigue me, and at that point I might as well go all in on Fate figures cause lets face it - they certainly have better overall designs.