DSC_0856
After two successful Animester purchases, I decided to get their crossover with the Grey Raven series to see how it turned out.
So, by this point I have had three Gray Raven figures, and at first I just thought may ArcTech was terrible at getting the thiccness of the ladies. By this point, across three different companies, with three different characters and designs criteria, I've come to realize it isn't the figure makers - the actual source material must have lanky legs.
This particular figure is probably one of the more fancy ones, combining both silicone body parts as well as a soft good outfit. In addition to the figure, there's a few neat accessories, including alternate bangs, three total faceplates, a scabbard, two swords (I think) and a Base/Stand. I think if I actually tried, you can take off the outer shirt, but alas I was too lazy.
Sculpting overall is pretty good, though sadly there are no articulated eyes like with their Thunderbolt Squad series. Mechanical detailing is very nice, and having a larger scale figure gives one that much more physical figure to enjoy it on. The bangs are, unfortunately a bit annoying to deal with, though at least the dynamic ones are nice to look at - the bigger problem with the hair pieces is that the hair pretty much covers the eyes, and from what I've seen of source art the hair is generally parted enough that you always see her right eye.
This also doesn't strike me as one of those characters with very expressive faces, so something like Barbera Red is unfortunately not in the cards either.
So, as the figure isn't fully seamless, the articulation is going to be limited in comparison. Having said that, the articulation is even more restricted than on would, and surprisingly it had nothing to do with the soft good.
I mentioned the hair, and while the back of the hair does move out of the way, overall the hair is bulk and is difficulty to maneuver, which affects head articulation. This is further complicated due to the bulk of the scarf and as mentioned, the lack of eye articulation just seals the deal. Due to the rigid nature of the abdomen section, there's no articulation there, though it should be noted that like Whisky Sour, the Chest and shoulder areas are all seamless. The surprise limiter, however, are the pouches on front of the skirt, which severely limit the the legs ability for forward rotation. Bulk of the leotard at the back restricts backwards leg motion.
Paint Application wise, this is a beautifully painted figure, with the metallic paints being the ones that are the most impressive (like on Barbera Red), though the other applications are quite strong as well. The metallics on the body are harder to make out due to the shirt covering her left arm up, but there's no denying that the scabbard and Red sword look very nice. Decal work is solid as well.
Build Quality wise, as with Barbera Red there are some QC issues with the seamless body, in my case the right hip doesn't like to spread out as far as the left one, though to be fair I feel it's a combination of skeletal and thickness of the silcone skin around the thighs and glutes as this is the only seamless figure i've handled thus far, including the trainwreck that was the Flash Point figure, that actually cannot maintains splits - speaking of the material, I feel that the stuff around the right knee is a bit thin as this is the first time I've actually had the joint pushing out and being very obvious. Shoulders seem alright though the right one appears to be significantly tighter than the left one.
I've found the left knee joint is a tad loose, and causes the figure to collapse when standing though, I think due to weight in general you'll probably want to use a stand for stability. The Red sword doesn't seem to like being held too much and the dynamic bangs like to pop off the face more often than not.
DSC_0856
After two successful Animester purchases, I decided to get their crossover with the Grey Raven series to see how it turned out.
So, by this point I have had three Gray Raven figures, and at first I just thought may ArcTech was terrible at getting the thiccness of the ladies. By this point, across three different companies, with three different characters and designs criteria, I've come to realize it isn't the figure makers - the actual source material must have lanky legs.
This particular figure is probably one of the more fancy ones, combining both silicone body parts as well as a soft good outfit. In addition to the figure, there's a few neat accessories, including alternate bangs, three total faceplates, a scabbard, two swords (I think) and a Base/Stand. I think if I actually tried, you can take off the outer shirt, but alas I was too lazy.
Sculpting overall is pretty good, though sadly there are no articulated eyes like with their Thunderbolt Squad series. Mechanical detailing is very nice, and having a larger scale figure gives one that much more physical figure to enjoy it on. The bangs are, unfortunately a bit annoying to deal with, though at least the dynamic ones are nice to look at - the bigger problem with the hair pieces is that the hair pretty much covers the eyes, and from what I've seen of source art the hair is generally parted enough that you always see her right eye.
This also doesn't strike me as one of those characters with very expressive faces, so something like Barbera Red is unfortunately not in the cards either.
So, as the figure isn't fully seamless, the articulation is going to be limited in comparison. Having said that, the articulation is even more restricted than on would, and surprisingly it had nothing to do with the soft good.
I mentioned the hair, and while the back of the hair does move out of the way, overall the hair is bulk and is difficulty to maneuver, which affects head articulation. This is further complicated due to the bulk of the scarf and as mentioned, the lack of eye articulation just seals the deal. Due to the rigid nature of the abdomen section, there's no articulation there, though it should be noted that like Whisky Sour, the Chest and shoulder areas are all seamless. The surprise limiter, however, are the pouches on front of the skirt, which severely limit the the legs ability for forward rotation. Bulk of the leotard at the back restricts backwards leg motion.
Paint Application wise, this is a beautifully painted figure, with the metallic paints being the ones that are the most impressive (like on Barbera Red), though the other applications are quite strong as well. The metallics on the body are harder to make out due to the shirt covering her left arm up, but there's no denying that the scabbard and Red sword look very nice. Decal work is solid as well.
Build Quality wise, as with Barbera Red there are some QC issues with the seamless body, in my case the right hip doesn't like to spread out as far as the left one, though to be fair I feel it's a combination of skeletal and thickness of the silcone skin around the thighs and glutes as this is the only seamless figure i've handled thus far, including the trainwreck that was the Flash Point figure, that actually cannot maintains splits - speaking of the material, I feel that the stuff around the right knee is a bit thin as this is the first time I've actually had the joint pushing out and being very obvious. Shoulders seem alright though the right one appears to be significantly tighter than the left one.
I've found the left knee joint is a tad loose, and causes the figure to collapse when standing though, I think due to weight in general you'll probably want to use a stand for stability. The Red sword doesn't seem to like being held too much and the dynamic bangs like to pop off the face more often than not.