Positive photos on Flickr

Today, I dip into my ever growing backlog of stuff - presenting the S.H. Figuarts Naruto - Rock Lee figure. This figure I picked up second hand during a recent work outing into the Kitchener/Waterloo area for $35 CAD.

If you watch anime, or are aware of it, there's is almost zero chance that you're not aware of Naruto... it's kind of like being an anime fan and not being at least aware of Dragonball.

The series is full of many psychologically damaged characters, all training to be deadly ninjas. Everyone has their favourites, and mine happens to be Mr. Positivity himself, Rock Lee.

In a world where characters need to be competent in all facets of ninja theory, Rock Lee is the guy who only knows how to do one thing - beat the living crap out of things. The understudy of Guy Sensei, Rock Lee has trained to be the ultimate punch/kick machine, and has even mastered techniques to unlock limiters within his body that enhance his abilities, eventually including that fatal Eighth gate.

It amuses me that everything he does is around training, and it also helps he's kind of a dork. I mean.... just look at him.

With that said, lets get to the figure itself.

Retailing for 5,500 Yen, this is my first Naruto figure, so I don't know how much value you're getting compared to others. But from a Dragonball perspective, it seems about right. You get the figure, three total face plates (neutral, alert, flustered), three additional pairs of hands for posing in his normal state (including the all important thumbs up). Furthermore, you get parts to display him in his Hachimon (Eighth Gate) state, which includes a new head, replacement neck to match the skin tone, a single pair of clawed hands, again with the proper skin colour, and replacement feet.

As per Figuarts standards, no stand or effects... its good to know that Dragonball isn't the only one getting shafted.

From what I can tell, the body using the same engineering as the Dragonball 2.0s, which means the kind of weird looking hips but a trade off of having great lower body articulation. Also like the Dragonball figures, it appears that overall the wizards at Tamashii Nations have captured the overall aesthetics of Rock Lee, including body proportions, accurate face sculpt, and the various details of his outfit.

Points of articulation are what you'd get on a Dragonball figure, which is immensely useful as Naruto is a very combat based show. You get toes, ball jointed ankles, double jointed knees, the aforementioned hips, waist, mid torso ball joint, shoulders with collapse, bicep swivel, double jointed elbows, wrists, neck , and head.

So yeah, overall, you're covered for all but the most dynamic of poses.

Paint wise, most of the body is the base plastic, with flesh areas, the whites, the brown, and other accent areas being painted. Sharpness of masking is pretty much what you see with other Figuarts - alright, but don'l look too close. Weakest of these masking jobs would be where the fingers and toes are. Decal work is minimal and is quite acceptable.

I do wish that they had at least painted the vest Rock is wearing.

Build quality is at a good level from a construction perspective. Limbs are properly sized, joints strong enough to hold the various poses you want him in. Clean up on the various pieces and seams is typical Figuarts quality, which is to say it won't cut your fingers but it's not hard to spot... for the most part. On my figure, the jawline of the Hachimon state face is rough, as is the finish on the neck.

All-in-all, things you generally wouldn't notice unless you were specifically looking for them... but once you find them you can never unsee them.

In conclusion, if you're looking to expand your Figuarts properties and want a fairly well made figure, well, consider Rock Lee. He's got that build quality and general expected level of QC working for him, and can be readily posed.

Does this mean ALL the Naruto figures are worth diving into? Well, a quick glance at the Naruto catalogue seems to show that like Dragonball, there is a definite change of body styles, which doesn't exactly surprise me given how long the line has been active.

That does say to me, however, that there'll probably be a line of 2.0s for the older figures at some point in time.

As for me, well, while I'll be keeping my eyes open as always, Naruto doesn't have that sort of nostalgia for me as Dragonball does, so I'm unlikely to chasing down the latest and greatest. But if they release a Guy Sensei - well I'll be there with a smile on my face and a thumbs up for anyone passing by.

Positive Thinking by Rosmarie Voegtli

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to follow the Motto:

Nach em Rääge schiint d'Sunne (After rain, sun is shining)

for ODC Our Daily Challenge: The Power of Positive Thinking

to cheer up with the song (created 1948): www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dOEb2AWzvE

Don't take it to seriously ;-)

Positive Space by daybeezho

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Assignment: Negative Space

Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance. ~ George Bernard Shaw #Quotes by Inspirational Quotes

www.facebook.com/iQuotation/photos/a.1439515169635328/246...

Positive trend by Luc Soethout

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Despite the economical climate, you can still see lots of positive trends, by just looking around.

Note: In cultures where writing is from left to right, lines that go in the direction from bottom left to upper right are associated with positive, whereas lines that go from top left to bottom right are considered negative. That is why I flipped the image horizontally ;-)

ODC - Theme (14-01-2012): Trend

Curd donuts by Olesya Bunyak

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Story & recipe in my blog

095E by Brad Renken

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Lanny at Pioneer Village, Minden, Nebr.

Positivity by Incourage Community Foundation

348e by Brad Renken

Lanny

Positive Pressure Attack Training by Larry Thorne

At Toronto Fire's West Command Training Centre

positivity by ffhcd

bmc drag ball '05

DSC_1620 Positive Runway Global Catwalk Underbelly Festival South Bank London Pride Fashion Week by photographer695

Positive Runway Global Catwalk Underbelly Festival South Bank London Pride Fashion Week

Bernie Tuffs - Advent Day 7, 3rd December 2016 by Bernie Tuffs

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Advent Day 7 - 3rd December 2016

These words are from the Advent hymn The Day of the Lord. The readings for today described how Jesus came for everyone - even the Gentiles! Reading then these words in my hymnbook, well, they really struck a chord.

Not just on a level of us all needing to take a good look around us and actually see those whom society generally tries to ignore - the poor, the homeless etc. It's sad that at this time of year especially perhaps, that it's so easy to become caught up with personal commercial preparations that anything outside that bubble fades into insignificance. But also remembering that there are many who seem to have enough, even more than some, yet feel alone, ignored, invisible. Perhaps especially at this time of year? Widows, orphans, the elderly...I'm sure we can all think of somebody who might appreciate the gift of time from us!

In a wider sense too, woman are so often 'ignored' in society - e.g. unequal pay and the stereotypes and discrimination - I wonder how Mary was perceived within her society and what difference she felt in the treatment of her by those around her once it became obvious she was pregnant?

Ditto the disabled, the poor...

So all those thoughts and feelings inspired this piece, which I'm really pleased with! It really touches me! I'm conscious it's not a gentle, pretty piece, but sometimes I think we need a bit of a jolt to help us realise what we have around us and what others might need from us.

TFL!

Bernie x

Positive Quotes : Smile… by Quotes Boxes

via Quotes Boxes | You number one source for daily inspirational quotes, saynings & famous quotes ift.tt/2gZBVvZ

Positive Immigration by future.agenda

Positive One by bolex_collector

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I used photoshop to achieve this positive image from a vintage negative that I found in a box of old photography supplies. (see "Negative One" for the original.)

Unfortunately, I don't know the name of the model and little about the photographer -- I only knew he was an amateur "figure model" photographer and this is some of his work from the 1940s.

285e by Brad Renken