Saturday, February 19, 2011

Review: [Bandai] Chogokin Hatsune Miku


Figure Information
Manufacturer: Bandai
Origin Series: Vocaloid
Scale: Non-Scale
Height: Approximately 18cm tall
Original Price: 8,400 Yen

Starting from this review and onwards, it'll be in this a little new format. ^^

Figure Box:

Still the same, no grades from me since it's just a box and it's really quite pointless to rate something because of it's box. XD Anyway, space wise, it's pretty space friendly, since despite her size (18cm), her box is just as big as those bigger figma boxes like BRS and DM's. So, it's pretty nice, although, there's no window, so, you can't really inspect it until you buy it. But yeah the design is pretty simple with Miku's silhouette in the front along with logos of Bandai, GSC, Max and Hobby Japan.



Why is it such? Well, it's manufactured by Bandai alright but the sculpt was from Max and the overall work was headed by GSC. Hobby Japan since it's an HJ limited item and was of course distributed by HJ.

Figure Details:

As stated in the previous section, the scuplt came from Max, so, how exactly did she turn out? She looks like a bigger version of her figma rendition, even the details on her hair, outfit, it's very identical to the figma's. But one most noticable difference is how much livelier and better Chogokin's face is.



But despite that fact, there's also one little eyesore part of her detail... the bolts at the back. But hey, she's fine since Chogokin figures were meant for a higher end type of collector thus, definitely for display only and who would pose Chogokin Miku backwards in a display anyway?



Accessories:

Like it's figma counterpart, she comes with the mic and it's stand, though the chogokin provides you with a custome base or more likely a stage where you can insert her nameplate and chogokin exclusive accessories: the Rocket Punch arm and the Leek Tonfas; the Keyboard, similarly to the one included in the figma live stage release, can also be inserted in the said base and finally a clamp at the center on her back to assist Miku once you decide to display her on that base. And lastly, at the back of the stage comes a pull-able "drawer" where in you can store a bunch more of her remaining accessories.



The remaining bulk of her accessories include two regular leeks (or scallions), her two extra faces: the non-smiling and the closed-eye, and the extra pairs of hands that come with the package.



Articulation:

Now this is where it all differs, she still has all the articulations points you'd need: neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, just below the hips, knees, and ankles, BUT! she's in no way ball jointed like the figma, her joints are mostly hinge joints but with of course the pegs will allow you to turn some of her parts like a swivel would, similarly to how Revolver joints were designed.



Though in one major difference, her twintails are connected not by peg, but by magnetism, so, it doesn't articulate since raising it up would just result to it going down by itself in a matter of seconds. And since just quite a few are purely pvc, sometimes, it comes to a point where the joint will just swivel down due to the weight but so far it rarely happens during my shoot with this figure. Anyway, that's it with the articulation section, shots below would just be a bunch of fun shots already XD






Final Thoughts:

Well, she is definitely a better version of the figma but, of course, she has her own flaws but despite that, she's very easy to pose around and definitely an eye catcher on display due to her nice metallic paint scheme. But as such, this Miku is really just great for display since any further play might just ruin loosen things up and if you're not into Miku that much, I suggest you'd pass since she's quite a bit pricey when outside Japan and the fact remains that in this figure, you pay for the die cast materials.



Rating (Out of 10)
Details 8
Accessories 10
Articulation8
Price 8
Overall:8.5

3 comments:

  1. I see, so that's how it rolls huh? Well, its definitely a nice figure, no doubt about that, but not a very playable one I assume.

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  2. Ya I don't like the fact that her ponytails are magnetic so u can't really pose her and they would fall off easily. But it's still a good figma.

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  3. WOW! Since it's kind of close to my birthday and there is a GREAT deal I found on her I cannot wait for the day I get her!

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