Wedy Was Here: Unboxing & Quick Review of Two Banpresto Saber Prize Figures

There are two Saber prize figures that I thought I wouldn't buy soon: Banpresto SQ Fate/Stay Night Saber Lily and Banpresto DXF Fate/Zero Saber. SQ Saber Lily was released on November 2013, while DXF Saber was released on November 2012. I didn't buy DXF Saber at first because back then, I prioritized the other servants like Gilgamesh, Lancer, and Berserker. As for SQ Saber, I refused to buy her at first because the face looks off on pictures and overall, it just looked derpy.

And suddenly, I bought them on January 25 because I had time on my hands to roam around and then they're cheap. I got these two girls from Great Toys Online's store in Shoppesville, Greenhills.

You could probably say that I also bought these out of boredom

But before anything else, prize what?

If you're new to figure collecting ~~or if you're not really into figure collecting at all but you're still here reading this~~ and you're wondering what a prize figure is, I'll attempt to explain: They're called, "prize figures" because in Japan, you can win them from convenience store lotteries and crane games. If you're not very anal or obsessed with the details and the finest quality on the face, clothes, and overall construction of the figure, or if you want a figure of your favorite character but don't have enough money to afford a scale figure, then prize figures might suffice.

I'm from Manila, Philippines, and there's no such thing as winning prize figures from your friendly neighborhood convenience store. I'm not even sure if there are already crane games where you can fish out a prize figure of a character that isn't from Naruto or One Piece, so if I want to get a prize figure from a series like Kuroko no Basuke, Fate/Stay Night, or Neon Genesis Evangelion, I'd have to look elsewhere. Fortunately, there are reputable local figure stores that are selling authentic prize figures imported from Japan.

Banpresto makes some of the better prize figures around, and most of them are affordable, too. SQ and DXF are some of Banpresto's lines of prize figures.

Banpresto DXF Fate/Zero Saber

Again, an obligatory picture of all sides of the box

This figure is part of Banpresto DXF's line of figures featuring Fate/Zero servants. Two Sabers were released: an armored and non-armored one. The non-armored Saber was released on February 2013.

I also bought this figure because I pre-ordered Banpresto DXF Fate/Zero Kiritsugu Emiya (yep, Banpresto also released a Masters line of DXF figures, starting with Kayneth and Waver in 2013) and I thought he needed a servant to go with him.

DXF Saber was packaged neatly, with some parts packed individually. I think this is a great way to pack the figure to prevent scratches, paint transfer, and of course, to prevent fragile parts from breaking or snapping.

Banpresto DXF Saber is very easy to assemble. If you find yourself unable to make her hold Excalibur, check the palm of her right hand. There's a circular dent there where the pommel (or the topmost part of the sword's grip/handle) goes to be supported, so Excalibur won't slip off.

One problem I found with her: the back portion of her blue skirt had moisture stains on them. Even when she's packaged well, humidity can cause the figure to be sticky. I was able to get rid of the stains by wiping it off with a wet washcloth.

Banpresto SQ Fate/Stay Night Saber Lily

She doesn't look very nice on the photo

I didn't find her face that attractive on the photo of the box. I also checked out some user pictures of her from MyFigureCollection.Net and found her face derpy. When I inspected the figure myself, it looked much better in person than it did on the pictures.

Sides, back, and top of the box

Not really a box within a box

It looks like they just stuffed her inside the packaging, but she came with bubble wrap and the parts were individually wrapped.

From left to right: ahoge, Caliburn's grip, and the rest of Caliburn

Nope, not broken. Just needs assembly

The base

AAAAAAH

Nope, this is not how the figure should be assembled

There's a reason why the sword comes in two parts: you need to make them connect inside Saber Lily's fist. It can be tricky, and you're probably lucky if you can get it right in one try. It took me three tries before I finally managed to make the parts connect, but before I show you the finished product, let me show you how Caliburn looks like once assembled:

It looks bent

And then I finally managed to make her hold Caliburn without making it look too bent:

The ahoge is easy to place on her head, so you shouldn't have any problems with that. Just be careful when making her stand on her base, and beware of paint transfer, which unfortunately happened in my case when one of her feet slipped from the peg: