Bishoujo: "Chucky"

What the hell?! Yes, that's right! This is a genderbend "Chucky" from the horror flicks. Yeah, it's all crazy in every angle! I'll get right into the review here but... this thing will either give you nightmares or a want for a horror icon that you didn't know you could have!

Let me start right off by going into a bit of intro with this Bishoujo. This page is used to video games, Marvel, and DC Bishoujos that seeing something like this is a bit odd. It is. It's Bishoujo's "horror line". There are other 'scary' ladies in this series that I will probably not get but this one is a cutie... most of the time.

The box is bright! Yellow and red... I often second guessed this for a genderbend Ronald McDonald for how much it just has that happy meal give's color scheme! Regardless, the bright colors for the 'bright' and psychotic theme that Chucky is supposed to exude.

Cute pose. For sure. BUT... let's get on with the figure. Oh yeah, Bride of Chucky, Tiffany is also available. I'm pretty sure I'm going to pass.

I really love that pose! It's probably a big factor that sold me to consider getting her when I first found out about her and then seeing her in person, it probably was a big factor for me getting her. As usual, Kotobukiya stays true to their 'bishoujo' theme and this haunting doll is definitely curvaceous, pretty, and again, that posture. Wait, is that a freaking knife?

The paint job is spot on! Nothing missed, nothing fading, and the lines are clean/defined. The combination of this 80s kid that is paired up with her sexy and innocent way she is standing is definitely something to admire! Never thought someone dressed like the classic theme of Rainbow-brite.

It's been a while since I've done a Bishoujo review so I might be a bit out of wack, but at this point, I want to stop and talk about how awesome the sculpt is. We all know just how on point Kotobukiya is with details, but just every bit in here is great. The wrinkles on her denim dress and multi-colored sleeves, the way the thigh high socks pinch into her skin.... Bishoujo always does it!

Her first face is just adorable! Can't get any cuter with a brunette with pigtails, winking at you, with a nice cute smile.

HOLY GOD what the hell happened? Yeah, lets' just love the details that comes with her REAL "Chucky" face, shall we? Deranged as hell, but still beautiful for some reason. And you can see the difference in her disheveled hair style.

Not going to do a whole 360 when she has this variant head on since it stays pretty much the same. But it does add a really neat and haunting aesthetic with that face, doesn't it?

I will take a good look at a view that we didn't look at too hard earlier. Don't get too keen on that upskirt, okay? The crazy gal has a knife in her hand! Guess this states that the worst surprise is coming from behind?

In conclusion, this little .... beauty... is not a norm in my collection. Well, not the theme but Bishoujo is not a stranger in my collection! I do enjoy having her in my collection! She's an amalgam of sexy, cute, and just downright psychopath. I bet she has that Rikku'ish jitters but the craziness of Harley Quinn! OR worse! Anyways!

A Prelude: To The New

I'm well aware that I'm VERY slow with the review updates! Rest assured that the same reason is the very same hurdle I am facing that prevents most of me from getting some of these out. Also, as we are all aware, THE RED is no longer so rebuilding my new Game Room is a process. One that is taking more time than I intended (just like everything else).

But today is a special day so...I just want to share the things that I have done to spoil myself. And yes, that also includes the ones I have yet gotten the chance to review. 

2016 Highlights

Well, here we are! My 2016 highlights! Compared to 2015, this year had so much to choose from that I had to think once or twice for certain areas. In short, before I start this collection highlight, I want to say that 2016's collecting endeavor truly was a success and cathartic! With that said, here are the winners of 2016!

Marvel Legends: I will continue the battle of wondering if the Marvel Legends line is worth it. The last couple of years, Hasbro has bombarded us with numerous Marvel Legends(BAF) left and right and it's hard to keep up. Even if I did keep up, so many repaints, recycles mediocre characters, QCs, lack of here, etc. But beyond all my gripes with ML, they continue to also impress me, compel me, and keep my drive alive with some figures and sets here and there so with that said, I don't think I  can fully set this side of my collection down. But I will continue to try and be selective so that my choices for next year's ML winners are going to be hard to pick.

Iceman, Venom, Rogue, (Miles) Spidey, Nico

There was a handful I wanted to put on this list but I had to narrow it down to these figures. Which brings me to the thought: what are my criteria in Marvel Legends and figures in general? To be honest with you, I mostly put that judgement on how much I like the figure. No semantics, technicality, or any thing like that. Once in a while I will put price or stuff like that into factor but for this, it's the characters I like and the figure that really brought out an 'awe' factor. The figures in the picture really had something to bring to the table for me. But who wins the first place?

TOP LEGEND:

While I am not too knowledgeable with this character, I will say that this is the Legend that had all the right stuff to make me give her this title. Beauty, character likeability, accessories, nice mold, and aesthetics--these are the reasons why the five are on the list and Nico took all of those qualities into one shell. She might not be a character I know a lot about, but now I want to know more about her after having her figure.

Honorable shout out: Iron Fist and Spider-Gwen. Because I like these figures but did not really find it in me to put them on the top five.

Build-A-Figure(ML BAF): There was a time when this list would go past the number three, but hey, that was some time ago. One can say that I only grab the ones that really interests me, and damn right. With prices on these guys hiking up every year, it's getting harder and harder to get them and the time for just getting the BAF and not the rest of the figures may be at hand. After all, I did it this year.

Dormamu, Absorbing Man, Onslaught

I technically only 'completed' two out of the three BAFs in this line up. As you all know, the ONLY figure I bought for Onslaught is Kitty Pryde; everything else about Xavier and Magneto's darker side is bought as a WHOLE without the figures on Ebay. So how does one really judge these guys? Well, I have to grade them seperately from their sets. I have to just look at them as a figure and say: 'what makes them cool'? Don't get me wrong, the figures building the BAF does have weight in the back of my mind, but I try not to let that persuade my decision. So, with that said:

BAF LEGEND: 

Absorbing Man is not my favorite character out of the tree. He isn't even the coolest looking one. What he is though is a far more thought out and 'loyal-to-the-character' gimmick than Onslaught and Dormamu. Sure, Dormamu looks great, has a decent amount of articulation for his character, comes with some flaming skulls effect, the problem is that he isn't an original BAF; he is a repaint. And then Onslaught looks great as well but lacks mobility and that 'intimidating' factor because he is so bare. No alternate hands and the variant head we got is an Onslaught I don't care much for. Absorbing Man comes with a few interchangeable parts, two variant heads, and a lackluster but signature ball and chain weapon. He was fun and his set was cool. I have to give it to him. HE IS the BAF LEGEND for me in 2016. 

IMPORTS: Of course we will have a part for this wonderful set of toys that the east provides for us. Much like the BAF, I didn't collect as much because they aren't cheap. They're actually quite pricey but having three in my collection is a good enough comparison. Now I know it's not fair since I have two Playarts KAI and one Figuarts but an import is an import. 

Wonder Woman, Rin Tohsaka 2.0, Fran

So yes, two Playarts Kai and one Figuarts. Is it fair? I think so. When it comes down to it, minus the larger scale, I can put Figuarts and Tamashiis next to Square Enix and see what they have on the table. I might have to really consider price on the line since Playarts Kai are much more hefty in price, but with that, they should come with more details, articulation, and a ton more accessories. Or so it's expected. So the winner of 2016's import race is....

MOST ENAMORING

HOW, right? How could a figure that is smaller than 6 inches beat a powerhouse figures like Fran and Wonder Woman? How could TWO Playarts Kai LOSE to a S.H. Figuarts? Not to mention, I LIKE Wonder Woman and Fran just as much as I like Rin Tohsaka. So what happened? Well for one thing: I have HIGH expectations for Playarts Kai. How can I not? A Playarts Kai ONCED stood side by side with a Hot Toy for being my favorite catch of the year(2014), so when I was waiting for Fran to arrive, I was expecting that much! As the review stated, I didn't get that 'wow'... a couple of months later, Wonder Woman didn't deliver either. Lack of accessories (Wonder Woman's Lasso being just 'decoration' and Fran's useless bow and arrow), funny anatomy here and there, and very steep prices, I can't justify saying that I'm fully satisfied with my Kai catches this year. Some of their fumbles were a MUST for the characters, like Fran having some kind of bow and arrow poseable dynamic feature; I won't even get into Wonder Woman's lasso. All in all, while Jin's clothing for this figure isn't even my favorite, she delivered. We have the expected accessories for a Figuarts and it sated some of my need for a new Rin figure. Thank you Figuarts!

Statues: This is probably the most fruitful(second to MLs and POP) genre I have this year. Bishoujo came out with some good ones as well as not so common in my collection brand. I truly can say that I had some really good ones this year so let's take a look at them.

Tali Z'orah, Harley Quinn, Elsa, Rin Tohsaka

I had a few good selection on the table for sure. As I mentioned, Bishoujo definitely killed it with their line ups (the ones that I bought) and then we have some odd ball imports that I don't really know that well, but they also delivered with their attention to details. I also had some not as intricate statues, but one of a kind, ones that I will put in the shout outs. I had to sit down long and hard about who will take this spot, but it had to fall on one person.

After time adrift among open stars, along tides of light and shoals of dust, she does return where she began! Bishoujo Tali'Zorah nailed it. She was by far the most detailed, most accurate, most anticipated Bishoujo. Harley came close and so did Elsa, but I just had to really dig deep and ask myself: what would jesus do? No I'm just kidding. I really looked at the choices here and truly had to weigh in which one really symbolized a definitive product for every dollar. Tali had the details, t he character accuracy, the posing that was both sexy and dynamic to the character, the price was just right, and there's enough fan service to pay the bills. Sure Elsa was beautiful and accurate. Sure Harley was sexy. There was a ton of dynamic fan service with Rin, but in the end, this unit would not have a soul if I didn't give it to her.

Honorable Mentions: Casual Asuka -I have a LOT of Asuka figures. I have a couple of good statues too. This particular one is classy, fun, a little out of character, but in the end it offered a unique twist to the tsundere smoking red hot Eva pilot. It also helps that she IS from Japan; like handed to me from the land of the Rising Sun itself by a friend.

SHOUT OUT

This particular piece should have been in the category above(Statues), but something about her just plainly blows competition out of the water so I decided to just put her by herself. She can't make "THE ONE" because I didn't spend a lot of time in her photoshoot, nor did I even consider myself EXTREMELY Elated to get her photos out. She's great, she's awesome, and she is definitely detailed, accurate, AND pricey. Here she is, the character that is probably the main reason why people can even consider Suicide Squad note worthy as a movie:

Harley Quinn

This statue came with the special preorder of the Suicide Squad Bluray online release. I never thought I'd pay that much for a Bluray, but you know, this statue was something else and it really caught my eye. The details are gorgeous, the stance is so in-character, the accuracy, and just the overall feel of it... they did great. This Harley Quinn statue should be out of the statue category because she was just not going to give a chance to the other prospects.

"THE ONE"

This is going to be unfair and may be out of the idea of what I'm doing with my collection, but considering the one I picked to sit on this throne is in my game room and something I consider a toy(on its own category), I can't ignore the fact that it is my ultimate purchase for this year. With that said, I present to you the winner:

Yes my ps4 IS the winner. It's not an action figure. I didn't pose it around. I didn't even do a review on it. I just simply bought it, got into it, played a few games, and... well... what detracted me from writing, reviewing, blogging, and gave me a sense of 'relief' when I didn't want to think too hard on things is this guy. As much as I wanted to not think of my Ps4 that way, my Ps4 IS that way. It's in my game room. It's displayed. I collect with it. It definitely deserves a spot in 2016's well improved status compared to last year's. With FFXV still in my grasp, Skyrim Remastered, Mass Effect Andromeda on the way, and much much more Ps4 has to offer, I have to say that it is the most well received investment I had this year. I got it later in the year, but when I got it, it changed a lot of my hobby endeavors.

Needless to say, Ps4 is the one.


After Word: I can't say anymore than truly express just how much I appreciate this year. It has been one of the best when it comes to collecting and I truly hope I can continue this kind of fruition as the years come. I am seriously considering a lot of things like really cutting back on MLs and BAFs, truly getting selective figures, and really consider my space. My room is finite when it comes to display options, and regardless of how many times I revamp things, I will have to put things away in storage. With that said, here's to 2017's collecting habits! I already have a few on preorders that I anticipate will have a good chance on being on 2017's highlight. Also, I imagine I will be adding POPs to the review section. Heck, I might even do a 'follow up' for 2016's POP-age since I collected so much. This year will not be any different; it might be more too! Until then! 

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Bishoujo: Spider-Gwen

Taking a quick break from Marvel Legends review here just to spice things up! SO on to the next area of my collection that are growing and statues are the next big thing that is flourishing in 2016 it seems! the latest addition to that number is going to be a Bishoujo of Spider-Gwen herself! With her introduction becoming a HUGE success, we were bound to get a Spider-Gwen Bishoujo style sooner than later! So, how does she do as a Bishoujo?

The familiar Bishoujo box and everything it has to offer. While pretty mundane, I am happy for Kotobukiya's consistency.

It provides us with a pretty accurate artwork of the figure in its dynamic and sensual pose.

And in the back it shows us what the figure looks like with a discreet show of comparison between the actual figure and the artwork that inspired said figure. Obviously there is a mask and unmasked version and I definitely got great pics of both!

Let's start with the masked version. Right off the get go, let's talk about the pose that they chose for Spider-Gwen. Bishoujo usually goes out of their way to find a really 'sexy' pose for the female character that would fit with said character's personality(trait, signature, etc). Sometimes it is super exaggerated, and sometimes, it just naturally makes the character's asset stick out because of the nature of the posture. Spider-Gwen's is a bit on a ... reserved side in my honest opinion.

I mean sure, it still does a great job capturing Gwen's sexuality, but it truly isn't as flaunting as past characters. If anything, this is the most conservative posture I have seen them have for a character.

I mean don't get me wrong, it still highlights Gwen's perfect body. It's just that there seems to be something held back on Kotobukiya's side for this character. Maybe because she is still considered a teenager?

And her masked version is really nice. The signature hood that Spider-Gwen is known for is well done. The pink highlights around the eyes and the attention to detail really makes this version my favorite.

The unmasked variant is nice also, but in my opinion, this isn't the prettiest of Bishoujo's Marvel gal. I mean, she is by no means ugly or anything, it's just that, it feels very manga compared to other faces we have received. She also seems to be missing something that spells "Gwen Stacy" to me... maybe because her likeness to Emma Stone is so far away; and Emma Stone is the face of Gwen Stacy for me ever since her debut in the Amazing Spider-Man franchise. But over all, the skin tone, the blonde hair, the bright blue eyes, all of these 'natural' color really adds a good juxtapose to the entire color scheme of Spider-Gwen's costume.

There is no doubt about it: Gwen's Spider-Woman costume is one of the most well-received costumes in a long while. Perhaps it's the color scheme, the simple but still flared out spidery design, or maybe because it's Gwen in a tight suit... who knows. Kotobukiya stayed loyal to that costume, and they did so with great care! The color is simple in terms of choice of vibrancy and shade, but they are down right amazing. Again, most of the aesthetics are credit to Marvel staff (Robbi Rodriguez, Ricco Renzi, and Jason Latour) creators, but again, Kotobukiya knows its material. One thing I felt was lacking in the usual Bishoujo is the 'transparent' ends on the hair... maybe that's why this unmasked version is missing some flare, huh?

Her stand is a good little color scheme; it's pink, black, and white... which is Gwen's main color combination along with the teal/turqoise. It's a city silohoutte, a theme associated with Gwen's cover art and often fits her ambiance. Nice little touc hand it supports her dynamic web slinging pose.

There is no doubt that this is a beautiful statue. The posture, as I have mentioned, may not be as sexualized as other Bishoujos, but despite that, it still does the job and it is appreciated. It is dynamic, spider-y, and very energetic. Now with that said, there is one thing that takes away from this particular piece: some kind of webbing. An effect. Now it's pretty obvious that Bishoujos don't get into effects like 'energy' or 'webbing' or any of that. But it would be great to add it in! At the very least, an attachable piece.

Again, still torn on which display option I will use though.

Speaking of display options, here she is next to the metallic Spider-Woman(Jessica Drew), masked version. They're not to scale, for sure.

And the other display options, which also concurs with the way I displayed the standard version of the Spider-Woman(Jessica Drew) Bishoujo.

And here she is next to my only other two Spider-Gwen collection: Pop Spider-Gwen and Marvel Legends Spider-Gwen.

In conclusion, I think this is a pretty cool statue. I love the fact that she is just Spider-Gwen all the way, and while she has some things that makes her less "Bishoujo" quality, I still think that Kotobukiya did an amazing job with her. Any Spider-Gwen fan will adore this statue!

And I decided with the unmaksed version. It occured to be that all of my Bishoujo the Marvel Shelf is  sporting a 'hair out' display and we can't have Gwen not read the memo on that. Other than that, thwip~
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