A Quick Unboxing Of Kotobukiya Steins;Gate 1/8 Kurisu Makise

Kurisu Makise is the main female protagonist of the visual novel/anime Steins;Gate. She has a few scale figures, and this one by Kotobukiya is among them.  This figure was on my wishlist for a year until I finally got her on December 2013 with the help of a friend who purchased it from another fellow figure collector friend who sold it at a very attractive price.

Yet another obligatory picture of the figure while it's still in  the box

This Kotobukiya Steins;Gate 1/8 Kusiru Makise is a second-hand figure. After inspection, I found that she's still in very good condition without any stains or dirt on her. However, the largest gear has a broken peg, yet it's hardly noticeable and it wasn't obvious once I assembled everything.

The figure was based on an illustration by Ryohei Fuke (a.k.a. "Huke"), who's mostly known for his Steins;Gate and Black Rock Shooter artworks and designs, and then it was sculpted by M.I.C. Kotobukiya packaged her in a box that is rather tall with a grungy design and with windows on the sides so you can take a peek at what's inside:

Back, right, and left sides of the box

Top of the box (excuse Gilgamesh, haha)

The blister is capable of standing by itself when I took it out:

You can also see the illustration inside the box. That's Kurisu with Mayuri Shiina and Rintaro Okabe. That illustration was also used as the cover on the packaging of the Steins;Gate game, which was initially released for XBox 360 in 2009.

Kotobukiya gave her a clear base that is anything but plain. It resembles the gears you'd find in a clock:

A fitting base for a character from a series that deals with time travel

A peg is already attached under Kurisu's right foot, and it easily slips but holds steadily into the slot of the clear base. Nope, she won't topple over because it's well-designed.

If there's one thing I found a bit difficult about setting up this figure, it's the gears. Luckily, the figure came with instructions:

It's not rocket science

You don't need to be able to read Japanese, but I think you need to have a keen eye for details to understand what's written and being described there. Each part has numbers on them, but they're very small and might be difficult to see under insufficient lighting, so be sure you have enough light when you're assembling the gears. (And if you have poor eyesight, wear your spectacles or get a magnifying glass. :p)

If you examine the figure closely, you can find a few holes on her legs and jacket. The gears have pegs to attach to those holes. I was careful in putting the gears together and attaching them to the figure because I was afraid they'd snap. I think it took me around five to seven minutes to complete the assembly of the gears.

After the set-up, you can now ogle the eye candy in front of you:

Tadaaa! And it's done (again, please excuse Gilgamesh X'D)

The details of this Kotobukiya Kurisu Makise figure are amazing. Her red mobile phone is attached to one of the gears on her leg.

Right after unboxing her, she immediately got her first photoshoot. :p Here are some of the pictures: 

I also uploaded the entire set of pictures on my Flickr account. You can check them out here.

Now Available For Pre-Order: FREEing 1/8 Saber Alter Yukata ver.

FREEing 1/8 Saber Alter yukata version is finally available for pre-orders.

Image from MyFigureCollection.Net

According to the info on MyFigureCollection.Net, this 1/8 scale figure was sculpted by Takahiro Arakawa and it will be released on June 2014. 

Even if I like the default Saber more, I couldn't resist this figure last night because of that pretty face and her yukata. :p I gave in and pre-ordered her from a favorite online Japanese figure store as soon as I got home last night. A friend and I thought the that color of her yukata would be black, so we were surprised that it's a darker shade of blue on the pictures. She retains the black ribbon though, which is one of her identifying factors aside from the light brown/almost golden eyes and the absence of the ahoge.

My friends and I are also hoping that someone from FREEing will think of making yukata versions of Saber Lily and Saber Extra, too.

If you'd like to pre-order or learn more about FREEing Saber Alter yukata version, check out Good Smile Company's Online Shop. The order period is from January 23, 2014 until February 19, 2014.

Unboxing/Review: Good Smile Company Fate/Unlimited Codes 1/7 Saber Lily Golden Caliburn

Good Smile Company released a 1/7-scale figure of Saber Lily without her armor on February 2010. It was first released as an exclusive, then it was re-released on August 2010. I think this version that I got is the third release and it became available on April 2013. Aside from being armorless, this Saber Lily figure differs from the initially released Saber Lily scale figure (Distant Avalon) with her subtly smiling face, more skin exposed, and the scabbard that comes with the figure.

Caliburn is the sword that Arturia Pendragon pulled from the stone, and when it got destroyed, that's when the Lady of the Lake gave her Excalibur and Avalon. Yes, it's different from the original Arthurian Legend where the sword in the stone is Excalibur. ;p

I was initially enticed by this figure's beautiful face, prompting me to add it to my figure wishlist around late 2013. There were a handful of opportunities for me to buy Good Smile Company's 1/7 Saber Lily Golden Caliburn last year, but I only got to buy her on December 14, 2013 as a Christmas gift for myself. She was offered to me at a good price, and I couldn't resist that anymore.

Saber Lily Golden Caliburn and her box

The box itself is a bit huge, but it's not as heavy as it looks. It's shiny on most parts, though:

All sides of Saber Lily Golden Caliburn's box

From the window, you can already see some of the details of the figure, including Saber's pretty face and few features of her dress.

You can also clearly see that goshdarn wire around her

Now let's open the box:

Top view

Contents of the blister pack

Woo hoo! Wires!

All three of my Saber figures by Good Smile Company have wires holding the blister packs together to keep the figure and the rest of the contents in place. You do not force the blister packs apart or you'll risk destroying them, spilling the contents, and hurting yourself.  To properly separate blister packs, you need to remove the wires holding them and the figure. You need to manually unravel the twisted wires (boo-hoo, good luck if they're knotted!), or if you can cut them if you want the process to be quicker.

Saber Lily Golden Caliburn has three wires:

One for each leg and one around her torso

Luckily, they're easy to remove this time, unlike what I experienced with the wires of Saber Motored Cuirassier.

I didn't throw them away, they're just in the box

Aaand she's out of the box!

Saber Lily Golden Caliburn was sculpted by Takayuki Kawahara, and the figure stands 8.97 inches tall. Here's a closer look at the figure without the top blister pack obstructing your view:

Her arms and legs are properly protected by plastics, while the back of her skirt is cushioned by ample sheet of bubble wrap. I'd say this kind of packaging is good to prevent scratches and dents, especially since the back of her skirt balloons much further with pointy parts that appear prone to bending or scratching.

Plastics around her calves. They're easy to remove. Just pull or slip them off.

The figure comes with these:

Caliburn and its scabbard

The base

Caliburn is well-made. If you took a close-up picture of the sword and the scabbard with a plain background and without anything else around them, can probably trick someone into believing that they're life-sized replicas. :p

The base itself features the logo where Saber Lily is from. It has a rugged design with a portion that makes it look like it has been torn or destroyed by impact during battle.

It says, 'Fate/Unlimited Codes' in case you can't read it properly.

Here's Saber Lily, Caliburn, and the base out of the blister packaging for the first time:

She can almost stand on her own, but the back of her skirt supports her.

A close-up

Making Saber hold the scabbard

You can easily slip Caliburn into her grasp. The scabbard is a wee bit tricky because you don't just place it under her palm. It won't magically stick there. To make it hold, there's a clear plastic peg underneath:

Can you spot the peg?

And it goes into that hole in her hand:

Make sure that the peg is securely inside that hole so Saber won't drop the scabbard.

Finally, here's Saber Lily in all her glory:

Making her stand was easy, as long as you know where the pegs on the base go. The soles of her shoes have holes where the pegs must be inserted. Unlike Motored Cuirassier and Triumphant Excalibur, Saber Lily Golden Caliburn figure doesn't come with a paper detailing instructions on how to make her stand and hold her props, but you won't have to be nit-picky about how to make her stand, how to make her hold Caliburn, and how to make her hold the scabbard. You can easily figure them out on your own. :p

What I like about this figure

When I bought Good Smile Company Fate/Unlimited Codes 1/7 Saber Lily Golden Caliburn, Good Smile Company Fate/Unlimited Codes 1/7 Saber Lily Distant Avalon was also available for the same price. Distant Avalon is Gilgamesh's favourite Saber Lily figure according to the Sensha Otoko: A True Tank Story manga, so anyone who knew how much of a big Gilgamesh fan I am would instantly assume that I'd go for that figure. But I didn't. I bought Golden Caliburn. Why?

• She was the first on my wishlist. I only decided that I wanted Distant Avalon, too a few months later.
• I just love her dress and the way it is being depicted to be flowing with her dynamic and graceful pose. The skirt of her dress resembles flower petals, too, like those of a white lily.
• That pretty face. Yes, that pretty face. Most of my Saber figures have fierce and non-smiley faces. This one is actually smiling even for a little. I need this somewhat smiling Saber figure in my life. :p
• She photographs well. Saber Lily Golden Caliburn is flawless, and you can clearly see that with close-up shots.

And right after unboxing her, she immediately had a photoshoot:

Problems with the figure

I read a few feedback from other people who bought this figure and they mentioned these issues:

• A stain on her clothes (around the breast/torso area) caused by the packaging and the protective coating on the figure.
• The scabbard's peg is not attaching properly, so the scabbard keeps falling off.

Luckily I didn't encounter those problems on my Saber Lily Golden Caliburn. She's perfectly clean and the scabbard stays properly in its place. :')

And that's it for my unboxing and quick review of Good Smile Company's Saber Lily Golden Caliburn figure. :)

Unboxing and Review: Good Smile Company Fate/Stay Night 1/7 Saber Triumphant Excalibur

Ever since I started collecting Fate figures, Saber Triumphant Excalibur has been my Holy Grail of Saber figures, and I finally got her last month. She's a 1:7 scale figure, and she's currently the second largest figure in my Saber shrine (the largest is the Alter 1/6 Saber Maid Ver. R).

A look at all sides of the box

The size and bulkiness make the box seem heavy, but it's actually not. You can easily lift and carry it without straining your arms (and your back :p). As for the design, I like the shiny and reflective surface of the box, the color scheme, and the intricately decorated façade. I think the box's design provided an elegant appeal to the entire package that holds the King of Knights.

Now let's open it:

But then I probably like shiny things, too

Once you take the blister pack that protects and holds the figure, you'll see the shiny interior cardboard with the Fate/Stay Night logo. You can consider using that as a background if you're taking pictures of the figure.

The blister pack is being held together by pieces of clear tape on the sides and four wires. My first scale figure by Good Smile Company is Fate/Zero 1/8 Saber & Saber Motored Cuirassier and it also had wires holding the blister pack together. I had a difficult time removing them because they were securely twisted to ensure that they won't be easily undone, and the figure and its parts can stay perfectly in place. Saber & Saber Motored Cuirassier had two wires, but Saber Triumphant Excalibur had four.

My first reaction upon seeing the wires: "Oh no, not again."

Took me 5 minutes to undo everything without using any special tools

Once you manage to remove all four wires, carefully pull the two blister packs apart from each other and relish that "new figure smell".

Mmm smells like PVC

But seriously, she didn't have a strong new figure smell, so you won't have to worry about suddenly getting a headache or being dizzy or maybe even high if you're that sensitive.

The base is impressive. The broken tiles give it a more rugged and grungy appeal. Touching the base and turning it over would reveal a surface that is not entirely flat, providing more realism to it, like someone had taken an oblong chunk off a tiled floor.

Of course, there's a Fate/Stay Night logo

Five things are being held by the blister pack: the figure, two Excaliburs, the peg, and the base.

What's in the box

It's your choice which sword to use. The actual Excalibur might look plain and not so appealing when held by the dynamic-looking figure, so you might want to use the invisible Excalibur, which provides more elegance and dynamism to the entire figure.

Although I used the actual Excalibur lol

There is a hole under Saber's left foot and on the stand where the metal peg must be inserted.

Le peg

If you're not sure which side goes where or how to insert the peg, do check out the instructions that come with the figure. It's folded and protected by plastic. The pictures are detailed and easily understandable in case you cannot read or understand Nihongo or Japanese.

Instructions

The short side goes into the foot

The longer one goes to the stand

Saber Triumphant Excalibur is well-made that she can balance properly despite the thin peg on her foot. The peg is durable and won't bend and break easily, and the figure itself won't wobble or shake. Once I got her to stand, I was impressed by the peg's design and the way it can steadily hold such a dynamic figure.

The King of Knights stands!

The last I did was to make her hold Excalibur. You can simply insert the handle into her fists, or remove the end first.

Yep, that can come off

If you want to remove the sword from Saber's hands, it's advisable to remove that end before pulling the sword out. I made a mistake not removing the end first, so when I pulled out the sword, that gold thing popped out and I spent a minute searching for it, wondering where it could have landed.

Here are more pictures of Saber Triumphant Excalibur:

Everything about Good Smile Company's Fate/Stay Night 1/7 Saber Triumphant Excalibur figure is elegantly fierce and dynamic, making her a suitable addition to a Saber shrine. If you're thinking of buying one scaled figure of Saber, then perhaps this should be it. Though inanimate, the figure's dynamic pose, Saber's natural elegance, and her regal yet fierce facial expression bring Saber Triumphant Excalibur to life and ready to gracefully strike.