I've put the following first-time WF kits in order of preference from least favorite to must buy. For aesthetic reasons many kits were omitted from this report. I will however continue to update this post provided that I see more of what I like:
non-scale "Aegis" by REFLECT
After spending 200+ hours on Persona 3 and P3: FES, I can safely say my Aegis fever has died. Still, I am on the fence about this one. I like the overall modest color tone, but the face doesn't do Shigenori Soejima's original artwork justice; it seems off even.
"Standing Garako" by Kitsutefu
If my disdain for anything cute/chibi/loli/SD haven't been made clear enough already on this blog it bears repeating. Garance the original rendition remains elusive to this day.
Being the cool guy that Kitsutefu is, you can actually buy many of his kits (including this one) through his online shop that, get this, caters exclusively to foreign customers. One of the many perks of original creations - they're not bound by character licenses that restrict all commercial activities to within Japan.
Griffon Enterprises
(from left to right)
1/8 "Komeiji Koishi" by i-con
1/8 "Komeiji Satori" by i-con
1/7 "Ookami Ryouko" by deru
I know not a thing of relevance about these characters. Ookami's pose and outfit is very much to my taste is all. The Touhou sisters should really be at the beginning of the list, if at all.
"Melty Snow - Snow White and the Seven Deadly Sins" by Ishinaga Sakurako of Shokubutsu Shoujo En
After 4 years in the works, she's finally complete. "Melty Snow" naming bit aside, I've always been fascinated by Grimm's Fairy Tales so she'd be right at home in one of those stories.
"Black Rock Shooter" by hiyoko (fg-site)
By now I'm well aware that I've no eye for judging kits in their unpainted form. Nevertheless, I felt compelled to include her on the list. There hasn't been any word from the sculptor since mid-March of this year despite this being a work-in-progress for this summer WF. Hopefully we'll see more coverage of her (elsewhere) after the event.
1/7 "Akemi Homura" by Toda Satoshi of Principality of Kagutsuchino
Seeing how the anime run ended just this April, Puella Magi Madoka Magica has quickly become the focus of this WF.
Admittedly I only came to know the series through a secondary source (manga) so I'm not particularly attached to the original anime character designs. Even the manga character designs were pretty plain so I couldn't be happier with what Toda did here. The man is a great sculptor AND a great revisionist.
Final thoughts on the series? The manga was interesting enough but I think I'll pass on the anime.
"Ignis of the Endless Winter" by Ishiyama Satoshi of Orchid Seed
With the ridiculously limited run of 5 kits selling out within a matter of minutes at WF2007 Winter, Ishiyama Satoshi's 1/7 scale "Ignis the White" remains a bitter memory (I seethe with controlled anger whenever I see the PVC version). Yet the resin kit also marked my gradual departure from recasts and my foray into the ugly yet fascinatingly addictive world of Yahoo! Japan Auctions. As such, I can think of no kit more influential and desirable.
This version kicks way more ass to boot.
Those with good memory should remember her from WF2010 Winter where her prototype was on display.
(Sorry this post is so hopelessly late. I had originally intended it to be a preview of the event.)
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8 comments:
Aren't previews done before the event? ;p
I was looking into the ignis of the endless winter kit until I saw the price! 36k for a 1/7 kit? I'm sorry but as pretty as it is, there's no way I could justify spending that much for a 1/7 kit! even if it is limited to 35 kits! That's touching 1/4 scale pricetags!! (Disclaimer: I own both the white and red PVC versions of the original)
I did ask tokyo hunter to try and get the Homura by Todo-san along with a couple of others though! The Madoka anime is pretty interesting. It's supposed to be a magical girl show but is so unreservedly dark and bleak, it makes for a rather compelling show. Even if the ending is a bit ridiculous.
No say it isn't so.
Ah you're referring to Tokyo Hunter's price tag right? But hey man great kits tend to come in small packages. The kit sold for 29,000 yen at WF so commission-wise it's only 7,000 yen (not including the 2,000 yen entrance fee). Minus another 3,000 yen for the early entrance pass (assuming Joseph got it) and however many yen it'll be marked up by on YJA and you've got an awesome deal. Well I suppose this great deal theory really only stands if you're gunning for Ignis and nothing else (which is the case). Well that and if you can stomach the initial 29,000 yen price tag.
Yeah I agree man. Ep3 (or ch3 of manga) marked a turning point for the series that I wasn't expecting. Good thing I went in blind. The ending *was* ridiculous although not that surprising.
Hope you get Todo's Homura. It's a great kit but I just wish the sculptor picked someone better to paint his kits for WF.
Well, yeah, even discounting the price for the TH service, I think 29k is kinda steep for a kit like this. It's not like a vispo kit with a freaking motorbike now, is it? Guess I'm just not into Ignis enough. I got the Cerberus project kit before it got turned into a PVC and that's enough for me.
My only concern with the Homura kit is that it will probably be turned into a PVC like the saber kits. Gift showed off a prototype of the Saber Extra at their booth at the event! Glad I didn't buy it now (I hate it when I get a GK and they announce a PVC version soon after!)
Then again, their Amagami kits haven't been picked up yet...
I'm confused though man - do you mean that you only like to buy GK that will never be given the PVC treatment?
What about when you see a kit that you like but you find out that it'll be turned into PVC shortly after? Do you just skip the kit altogether and wait for the PVC version?
I wouldn't go so far as to only buy GK which will never be given the PVC treatment, but if I like a kit from a sculptor who is known to have their works made into PVC, I'm always apprehensive. That's why I don't often buy stuff from T-Systems. Otherwise, I would have probably been all over their Elsie!
It's mostly about knowing that the PVC version will have a cleaner paintjob than what I can do and the cost factor really bites! I don't tend to get the PVC though. I just skip it entirely.
I'm shallow like that. Exclusivity can play a large part of why I like something. I loved the original Miku Append figure when it was first shown off. Then when it was given an actual release date, I was all "meh."
Nah man I completely understand where you're coming from now. The way I see it, exclusivity lies at the heart of being a collector. If something's not worth showing off (i.e. not rare), it's not worth collecting.
While PVC don't bother me as much (as I tend to view them as a different beast than GK), recasts irritate me for reasons other than just moral ethics. I have vested interest in every GK that I slave over to acquire; so whenever some assholes come along and decide to mass produce recasts of GK that I own, chipping away at the value of my collection slowly but surely, I cannot help but loathe their very existence.
I should also address the case of sculptors re-releasing their GK at subsequent events. It doesn't bother me nearly as much for multiple reasons:
1) It's the sculptor's right. I'm all for sculptors making as much money as possible off of their creation as a) they're more likely to keep producing GK in the future and b) they're less likely to consider contract work for companies that mass produce PVC if the sculptor is able to thrive on GK sales alone.
2) It gives me a second and even a third chance to pick up the original, this time at a much more reasonable price. More often than I prefer I'd gloss over a kit only to seriously obsess over the loss later.
3) It actually doesn't happen that often. Most sculptors tend to release kits once and maybe twice before discontinuing it forever.
I'm most content when the GK I own is limited to anywhere between 25-40 copies (anything less than that is of course great and all but odds are I won't get my hands on one). Any number up to 100 even is acceptable by me though as it's still rare enough for me.
Just my collector mentality at work here.
I hear you about the mass producing stuff, but TBH, I don't really mind if the run goes up to even a few hundred simply because, since everyone has different abilities, even if we all painted in the same colour scheme, each one would be unique to each painter. But with PVCs, we're getting thousands of identical copies! I simply don't see the lure of having something which is exactly the same as thousands of other people!
If the maker wants to sell more at later events, power to them! Like you said, it just gives us another chance to get one if we missed them earlier!
The recast thing is similar to my stance. Can't find it because it's old? I can deal. Want to mod it into something else? That's fine? Buying cos it's cheaper and easier than getting a readily available original? GTFO!!! (if the markups on auction sites are also insane, I might buckle for a recast. I also have a few which I actually don't really care much for, but I like to use them as a cheap testbed for ideas and techniques without messing up the kits I really care for!)
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