DSC_5722
So while the Mystery Figma didn't quite work out, I did get my hands on a few other Figma that made my life worthwhile. While two were traded off for something which I feel was more my speed, this one remained - Panther, from Persona 5 (real name, Takamaki Ann).
As my video gaming in the past 6 years has been abysmal due to having kids, I have yet to actually play Persona 5... though I do keep hearing wondering things about it, just like its predecessor, With the team given the moniker "The Phantom Thieves", you know there was going to be at least one chick dressed in a catsuit, and here she is.
So Panther has the suit going for her (and the whip.. you can't have one without the other), she's also got something else that catches my eye, namely how she has some resemblance to Catharine from the Atlus game of the same name. I loved the character designs from that game, and it was nice to see it sort of revisited.
Released in late 2018 for just under 6,300 Yen, you definitely felt the pinch by the time conversion worked itself out and she retailed, on average, for around $100 CAD before taxes. These days, with the popularity of the crew due to the Strikers game being released, prices for any of the characters is painful. So, you can imagine my excitement for finding her at $30 CAD used, albeit a bit out of the way.
Content wise, you get the figure, two alternate sculpts (winking, focused), her mask, a paper fan, a machine gun, her whip, 8 additional posing and weapon holding hands, and as always, the Figma stand.
Panther's transition to Figma went fairly well. As with most characters featuring revealing costumes, the body curves aren't quite there and the joints are that much more obvious, but the fantastic face plates and detailing in the hair does make up for it.
Plus she's dressed in red, the colour of winners.
Articulation wise, you get some additional toys to play with. You get ankles, single jointed knees, thigh twist, hips, mid torso, standard shoulders with some lateral movement and bicep swivel, single jointed elbows with forearm rotation, wrists, head, and points of articulation for each hair segment. If you're for the full count, her tail has two points of articulation, and her whip is in three rotatable segements.
The hips do move downward slighltly to allow for more range of motion, but unlike Catwoman, Panther doesn't have a floating groin piece which limits the extra articulation you get. On the plus side, the suit still looks smooth and idiots like me have one less thing to break. Overall, you're still gonna do pretty well posing her, and you'll be able to make use of those thigh twists to help achieve to those extra slinky dynamic poses.
Paint wise, its safe to say I'm a huge fan. Smooth, high gloss reds and pink as the main colour, relatively few accent colours (which means fewer things disturbing the glossy finish). Flesh tones and other main colours are also applied expertly, and the decal work is of course up to snuff. As a bonus, the high gloss finish looks just marvelous under a strong light source, which is what I use for my stuff.
On the subject of Build Quality, the only thing really to report is that I find that the hands don't quite say on the pegs that securely. Now I'm not sure if this is due to play wear or not, but I've had this issue with other figures that are new. It does mean you're less likely to break the peg while changing hands, but you drop one of these hands on the ground and you'll be cursing the Gods while searching for it. Material choice, joint tolerance, and all other factors are acceptable.
I enjoyed my time photographing this figure and simply adore the sculpt, as well as the glossy red. Posing options are pretty good. Overall, I'm fairly confident that even amongst the dozens of female Figma on my shelves, Panther will always be front and center, showing the rest of the ladies how its done.
Maybe in a few years time when the dust settles, I'll try to get the rest of the ladies from this line - at least it should be easier to accomplish as I believe the entire lineup was released as Figma, which is more than I can say for the Persona 4 lineup.
DSC_5722
So while the Mystery Figma didn't quite work out, I did get my hands on a few other Figma that made my life worthwhile. While two were traded off for something which I feel was more my speed, this one remained - Panther, from Persona 5 (real name, Takamaki Ann).
As my video gaming in the past 6 years has been abysmal due to having kids, I have yet to actually play Persona 5... though I do keep hearing wondering things about it, just like its predecessor, With the team given the moniker "The Phantom Thieves", you know there was going to be at least one chick dressed in a catsuit, and here she is.
So Panther has the suit going for her (and the whip.. you can't have one without the other), she's also got something else that catches my eye, namely how she has some resemblance to Catharine from the Atlus game of the same name. I loved the character designs from that game, and it was nice to see it sort of revisited.
Released in late 2018 for just under 6,300 Yen, you definitely felt the pinch by the time conversion worked itself out and she retailed, on average, for around $100 CAD before taxes. These days, with the popularity of the crew due to the Strikers game being released, prices for any of the characters is painful. So, you can imagine my excitement for finding her at $30 CAD used, albeit a bit out of the way.
Content wise, you get the figure, two alternate sculpts (winking, focused), her mask, a paper fan, a machine gun, her whip, 8 additional posing and weapon holding hands, and as always, the Figma stand.
Panther's transition to Figma went fairly well. As with most characters featuring revealing costumes, the body curves aren't quite there and the joints are that much more obvious, but the fantastic face plates and detailing in the hair does make up for it.
Plus she's dressed in red, the colour of winners.
Articulation wise, you get some additional toys to play with. You get ankles, single jointed knees, thigh twist, hips, mid torso, standard shoulders with some lateral movement and bicep swivel, single jointed elbows with forearm rotation, wrists, head, and points of articulation for each hair segment. If you're for the full count, her tail has two points of articulation, and her whip is in three rotatable segements.
The hips do move downward slighltly to allow for more range of motion, but unlike Catwoman, Panther doesn't have a floating groin piece which limits the extra articulation you get. On the plus side, the suit still looks smooth and idiots like me have one less thing to break. Overall, you're still gonna do pretty well posing her, and you'll be able to make use of those thigh twists to help achieve to those extra slinky dynamic poses.
Paint wise, its safe to say I'm a huge fan. Smooth, high gloss reds and pink as the main colour, relatively few accent colours (which means fewer things disturbing the glossy finish). Flesh tones and other main colours are also applied expertly, and the decal work is of course up to snuff. As a bonus, the high gloss finish looks just marvelous under a strong light source, which is what I use for my stuff.
On the subject of Build Quality, the only thing really to report is that I find that the hands don't quite say on the pegs that securely. Now I'm not sure if this is due to play wear or not, but I've had this issue with other figures that are new. It does mean you're less likely to break the peg while changing hands, but you drop one of these hands on the ground and you'll be cursing the Gods while searching for it. Material choice, joint tolerance, and all other factors are acceptable.
I enjoyed my time photographing this figure and simply adore the sculpt, as well as the glossy red. Posing options are pretty good. Overall, I'm fairly confident that even amongst the dozens of female Figma on my shelves, Panther will always be front and center, showing the rest of the ladies how its done.
Maybe in a few years time when the dust settles, I'll try to get the rest of the ladies from this line - at least it should be easier to accomplish as I believe the entire lineup was released as Figma, which is more than I can say for the Persona 4 lineup.