I'd rather they reissue the original Yukari but this will have to do. I missed out on it thanks to a phantom solicitation that never came through.
Does anyone know what Amazon's thing with Figmas is? Like, they get some like Phoenix Wright, Legend of Zelda, Metroid, but then others they don't like Corrin and Sinon (heck they get most SAO Figmas except Sinon). Is it, like, all the other places place their orders and Amazon gets the remnants? Do they just not get certain ones? Licensing?
Depends on who uses Amazon as a marketplace venue. I once ordered two Busou Shinkis from Amazon only for it to turn out that they came from BBTS.
Are you sure you're ordering _from_ Amazon and not just _on_ Amazon? Amazon, like eBay, is infested with many drop shippers playing retail arbitrage.
So in another thread someone turned me on to Future floor polish (or whatever it's called) for tightening joints. Just wanted to ask if anyone here has used that with success on Figma figures. I'm not even really sure if something like that would work on their unique joints. Also worried about ruining the figures.
The Future method is fairly foolproof. It runs very thin, only mildly thicker than water, so capillary action allows it to seep into some pretty tight cracks. It won't seize up a joint like superglue does, and if you don't let it fully cure (like, for 24hrs+), you can dunk the part back into the liquid to loosen up the previous application. The only "downside" with it is that it naturally dries super glossy (you can however add a bit of flat paint base into the mixture to dull it out), so if you don't clean up your slop well with a dry paper towel, you could get some undesirable results. Again, it can be fixed as long as you don't let it fully cure. What parts are you having trouble with, just for curiosity's sake? Don't think I've ever had a problem with the proprietary joints themselves, and I've got a lot of Figma. Some of the old-style wrist joints could be a bit loose, and the occasional soft-plastic tolerance issues with the hair bangs happens from time-to-time, but that's about it.
Thanks! My Band of the Hawk Guts has pretty loose legs. The feet like to slide out from under him in dynamic poses and it can't really support the weight of the cape. I'm figuring if I can tighten those joints a little it should solve the problem. (I don't like keeping my figures stand bound if I can avoid it) Was also looking to use it on a Kaiyodo figure; the Jizai Okimono Skeleton is a floppy mess. Actually, just in the 2 spine joints.
So it's the balljoints in the hips that are having problems holding him up? If that's the case, then Future should be pretty good for that. You actually shouldn't even need to disassemble the figure for that, if you can at least get a peek at the balljoints. Just get a toothpick or fine paintbrush, drip a little bit of future into the joint, work it around to spread it around, and let it dry overnight. Work the joint around a bit in the morning just to check the mobility, but then leave the figure a full 24 hours for the polish to fully cure and become durable. Reapply again if joints are still not up to snuff. Biggest drawback of Future to the usual nail polish/superglue method is that it requires a lot more patience, because of that 24 hour+ cure time. It'll be hard to the touch after only a few hours, but won't have its full durability yet. Upside, though, is that the process has far more of a gradient to it. It goes on thin, so just a little bit at a time will fine-tune things. There's no ugly residue like superglue, and its way more durable than nail polish.
They're about the same. Figuarts prioritizes articulation a bit more, so they'll occasionally break the sculpt up more obviously to increase the articulation range. Will sometimes add minimal diecast parts (usually in the feet) to aid in weight distribution. They're getting better, but I haven't been as fond of Figuarts head sculpts compared to Figma in the past. Not really relevant on costumed heroes, but those with exposed faces look more "dull" compared to a Figma equivalent. Not sure what it is. Might be just the flatter plastic colours (Figma uses a very slightly translucent plastic that softens the effects of light in the way that real skin does), or very subtle expressions in the sculpt work, but it's there. I can almost always say that Figma faces look exactly like the character as if they stepped right out of the screen, whereas many Figuarts I've owned in the past are very subtly off in ways. They feel more "mechanical" in execution, whereas Figma seem more "lifelike" to my eyes. Thing is, this is never a thing that comes across in pre-release photography. The hand-painted prototypes used for promotional materials look perfect, but the final product isn't as good. I'm very curious as to how the final Street Fighter figures will turn out. They're looking pretty good now (although despite being based on SFV, their portraits seem more heavily based on their pre-IV looks. Well, except Rashid, who has no earlier comparison), but again, I've been let down in the past when it comes to the final product.
How do the joints compare? Max Factory often touts Figma for having smooth joints but I've never handled a Figma I agree with you on Figuarts head sculpts. Mac Factory nailed the likenesses for Kyo and Iori here, plus they come with stands so I'm very tempted to order at least Kyo.
Strangely enough, I feel the opposite as far as faces go, with SHF tending to have better sculpts to me (Avengers and Bruce Lee) while I find Figma face sculpts tending to be more flat (especially their anime-based figures whose faces look like they got hit flat with a frying pan), matte, and off-looking (just look at Figma Bruce Lee vs. SHF Bruce Lee; the Figma looks like one of those countless martial arts copycats such as Bruce Li who cropped up like weeds following Bruce Lee's death). Now there are some exceptions like Figma Hulk beating out SHF Hulk in terms of likeness though. SHF Chun-Li appears to suffer from that anime flat face syndrome I mentioned earlier but that could just be the photos.
Okay, yeah, I forgot to note about the "real people" sculpts. Bandai's efforts are definitely better in that regard. The Figma versions seem hand-sculpted, with slightly exaggerated portraits, whereas Bandai's versions seem to be 3D actor scans. But that's the outlier there. And I have no idea what happened with Figuarts Hulk. I love the figure as The Hulk, but as Mark Ruffalo's Hulk, it's a giant failure, whereas the Figma version is practically perfect. As far as the "flatness" of the Figma faces, that's mostly due to the characters they're representing, not a problem with the likeness. Figma has lots of characters from cute "moe" animes, that greatly exaggerate the faces, and that art style results in a lot of wide, "flat" faces, even when seen in 2D onscreen or in the manga (prominent examples being Lucky Star or Madoka). It's a source material thing, but might be jarring when you make that leap from 2D to 3D. More "realistically" proportioned characters really don't have this "problem" at all. Figma joints are heavenly. Just buttery smooth, and perfectly toleranced so that they can hold their own weight without gravity issues, but also without being overly stiff. This was done completely unsupported, and with not even a hint of joint sag during the photo session (I'm not sure I'd risk long term display like this, though): That chain sword has a fairly heavy metal wire core to it, too. Figuarts are about the same, although I've run into the occasional figure where rivetted joints are pinned together too firmly, so they squeak and protest in frankly scary ways when moved.
That's Signum, from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's. I posted a pretty extensive review of her here back in the day, if you're curious. I kinda wish I had been able to keep up with those, but they were exhausting to do and I just don't give myself the time to write them up.
Well that's going right on the ol' Amazon wishlist TBH, I've been fairly impressed with the Nanoha set as a whole.
Hey guys! I usually only buy TF's but Metroid Prime is my favourite game and, well, just saw this: I NEEED IT Can anyone recommend a good website to pre-order/buy one? I realise it's not out yet etc. Also, I am based in New Zealand so an Asian retailer is better for me. Any advice is greatly appreciated!!
www.hlj.com www.amiami.com www.1999.co.jp/eng Those are the main haunts. Just pick whichever looks to have the best price at time of sale. Figma are made to order, so no need to rush on it once she goes up for sale (in contrast with Bandai toys that seem to sell out in mere minutes), she'll be open for order for a month or two whenever that happens.
