Kaiyodo's Revoltech Queen's Blade Series No. 004: Nanael Figure Review

I've never seen or read about the Queen's Blade series.  Apparently, the anime (Japanese animation to the uninitiated) has already been released and is quite popular in Japan.  For more than a year, I've mainly seen PVC figures (statues) selling for over $70 a piece which is a bit expensive for my tastes.  However, I was excited to see Nanael as a Revoltech figure because the character design is really cute. 

The Good:

• Nanael has loads of articulation: jointed neck, jointed shoulders, jointed angelic wings (the larger left wing also has another joint allowing Nanael to spread open her left wing), jointed elbows, jointed wrists, jointed upper-chest, jointed hips, swivel upper thighs, jointed knees, and jointed ankles.

• The package design for the Revoltech Queen's Blade line has changed considerably in size, color, and quality of the package.  The QB package measures 8.5 inches by 8.5 inches as opposed to the Fraulein Revoltech packaging measured 8.5 inches by 4.5 inches.  The front packaging window is large enough to view the entire figure with some of the accessories appearing on both sides of the figure.  The back of the packaging reveals all sorts of photos of Nanael in various poses with her accessories.

• Not knowing anything about the character, I think the sculpt is pretty good.  I especially love Nanael's cute "surprised" or "clueless" expression, which conveys to me her lack of experience or just plain innocence.  The sculpt of Nanael's armor is also pretty good, considering the simplicity of its design.  The sculpt of Nanael's hair is okay, but more on that later.

• The paint application is fairly consistent, which is really no surprise considering the high level of quality control Japanese toy companies have over their factories in China.  There are however, few stray marks on Nanael's left wing and stray paint applications on Nanael's right knee and the back of her left leg.

• Let's talk accessories.  Nanael comes loaded with: 1x belt with a bottle of milk attached, 1x sword, 1x torn white dress, 1x regular white dress (Nanael comes with this on), 1x milk "splashing" effect (which can be inserted into the milk bottle to further enhance the "splash" effect), 1x "torn" underwear, 1x regular underwear (Nanael comes with this on), 1x additional pre-posed left hand (the other left hand is already on the figure), 1x additional pre-posed right hand (the other right hand comes attached to Nanael), 1x alternate face with "splashed milk" effect, 1x official Revoltech plastic mini-storage [and stackable] box, 1x "10" Revoltech points chip (which can be redeemed to get other nifty Revoltech items), and 1x plastic base.

The Bad:

• On the both sides of the packaging, there is a drawing of Nanael wearing a blue hair pin.  So why is her plastic counterpart sporting a pink-colored one?  I understand that there may have been changes made to the figure before or after production, but if you do something like that, try to make the picture match the figure or vice versa.  It just looks sloppy [and unprofessional].

• Although this isn't really terrible, I wish Nanael's front side bangs were a little longer as shown in the picture at the bottom left corner in the back of the packaging.
  

• There is thin piece of plastic "string" or perhaps leftover glue sticking out of Nanael's right elbow joint.  I don't know how that happened, but it's visually annoying.

• The lack of instructions regarding how to replace and remove accessories is also problematic.  I had to figure this out through trial-and-error, which is risky because it leaves me open to possibly damaging the figure in the process.  There are plenty of "brochures" advertising other Revoltech figures that come with Nanael, but no instruction booklet or manual.  I even I had to put in some guess work regarding how to assemble various pieces of the base together.  Something that may be considered common sense should still come with some sort of basic instruction.
  

• The awful [and strong] smell of plastic makes me feel a little nauseous at times.

• Nanael's right hand has a tendency to get loose and eventually fall out when I'm not looking.

• One of Nanael's left hands is posed in such a way that it looks like she's doing the Star Trek "peace and prosper" hand sign which is often associated with Spock.
  

The Ugly:

• Oh boy!  Apparently, the Queen's Blade series contains plenty of "ecchi" (dirty) and risque situations, and Nanael is ripe full of them.  The torn dress, torn underwear, milk "splashed" alternate face, and the milk "splashed" torso are your obvious clues.  Also, innocent-looking Nanael has sculpted breasts (nipples and all) for your pleasure and/or embarrassment.
  

Additional Notes:

• There is another [Revoltech] joint in Nanael's right wing.  Apparently, this joint allows you to insert her sword at the hilt to give off the illusion of the sword floating alongside Nanael.  Why?  I have no clue.

I purchased this figure online from Hobbyfan for a total of $38.24 ($32.99 + S&H charge of $5.25).  Hobbyfan is usually good with their shipping, but have most recently been having problems with correctly packaging their items to ship out to customers.  Much to my dismay, I received Nanael with her packaging banged up in an over-sized box with one small piece of bubble wrap placed on top of the package.  Needless to say, I was annoyed.  I e-mailed a complaint to Hobbyfan, fully explaining the problem.  Within several days, I received a response from a Hobbyfan representative quasi-apologizing and excusing themselves because they had a "new" packaging person.  The representative suggested that I request for more protection in the additional request form when placing an order.  Before this "new" packaging person, I never had to do that sort of thing.  I've never had to do that with other respectable online retailers.  Even [I should say most] eBay sellers know how to package their items carefully.  Unfortunately, I still have something pre-ordered with them from a while ago.  Hobbyfan just lost a customer.


I recommend purchasing anime figures of this sort from Toyslogic, which is also based in California.  I've never had shipping problems like those of Hobbyfan's and almost always TL offers the best prices on most of their [import] items.  I very reluctantly suggest using eBay for anime figures mainly because there are a lot of bootleg versions of these figures being sold by eBay sellers residing in China.  If a price is too good to be true, it usually is.


NOTE: I DO NOT REPRESENT HOBBYFAN, TOYSLOGIC, OR eBAY.  I HAVE NOT BEEN PAID TO MENTION THEIR NAMES.  I AM ONLY RECOMMENDING (OR IN THIS CASE DISCOURAGING) THEIR SERVICES BASED UPON MY PAST EXPERIENCES WITH THEM.

Overall, Kaiyodo's 5 inch Revoltech figure is a fine addition to my collection.  Despite the highly suggestive nature, the decent sculpt of angelic Nanael and the loads of accessories more than match the purchase price.  Please keep in mind that such figures are definitely NOT for children under 18 years of age. With that said, I think I'll stay away from the rest of the Revoltech Queen's Blade series.

Kaiyodo's Fraulein Revoltech Series No. 10: Yoko (from "Gurren Lagann") Figure

I've heard of Kaiyodo's Revoltech and their mecha (robot/machine) articulated figures. Unfortunately, I had no interest in owning any robot figures ever since the fourth grade. However, when I heard that Kaiyodo was debuting what they called "Fraulein Revoltech" figures, I was intrigued. "Fraulein" is German for "young lady". Kaiyodo's Revoltech line features monthly releases of approximately 6-inch action figures of female characters from well-known anime, illustrators, and video games. The man behind the sculpts of these (Fraulein) figures is Tomohide Enoki. Revoltech Fraulein figures utilize the "E.L.F." joint system in combination with Revoltech joints allowing their figures to make a variety of poses. When I heard news of the Fraulein Revoltech series introducing Yoko from the anime "Gurren Lagann," I knew I had to get my hands on one.


Background Info:

Yoko is a 14 year old girl who comes from the neighboring village of Littner. Her underground village was originally an arms depot which caused some sort of toxic atmosphere forcing the villagers to the surface. Unfortunately, like a fish jumping out of one frying pan into another, the villagers would come to face another hazard, Gunmen. Gunmen are mecha (robot/machines), individually controlled and piloted by Beastmen. These Beastmen are charged with the indiscriminate slaughter of all humans who reach the surface. Yoko is the undisputed master of the sniper rifle, which she uses all the time in her battles against the Gunmen. She is well-known for her sexy appearance: bikini top, short shorts, scarf-like neck covering, pink stockings, and over-sized boots with large zippers.



The Good:

• It's Yoko from the anime "Gurren Lagann"!

• Yoko has a total of 23 points of articulation!

• She comes loaded with accessories: 2 interchangeable faces (1x smiling face and 1x angry-looking face), 2 front hair pieces (1x front "regular" hair piece and 1x front hair piece with goggles), a superconducting sniper rifle, 2 sniper rifle stands (1x "folded" and 1x "opened"), 9 optional hands, and 1 figure display stand.

• The details on Yoko are simply amazing: the scarf-like neck covering, her flowing red hair, her sizzling bikini top, and even her short shorts! I was impressed with the superb detailing on Yoko's belt (especially the metal studs that go around the entire belt).

• Don't get me wrong, but the sculpt of Yoko's hips, bust, and butt are superb!

• All of Yoko's optional face and optional hand parts fit perfectly and fit quite tightly.

• There's something about the sculpt that makes Yoko look very cute in any pose.

The Bad:

• Yoko's goofy-looking smiling face is the only bad thing about this entire figure. Pictures of her smiling on the packaging and on the Internet don't look as goofy. But trust me on this, in person, it really looks weird.

• I had a really hard time placing Yoko's optional hands onto her plastic stumps due to her joints. Each time I almost had the optional hand in, the joint moved at the last second, forcing me to repeat the entire procedure (yes, the amount of skill and patience does make it feel like a procedure).
  

• Despite all this, Yoko has a hard time standing up on her own. I suspect this has to do with Yoko's long red hair and quite possibly her small feet. However, at least Kaiyodo was savvy enough to include a display stand.
  

• Each time you move a certain joint (neck/legs/wrists/ankles), it makes a clicking noise. This is probably due to those Revoltech/"E.L.F." joints. It may be annoying to some and may mean nothing to others, but I just wanted to make note of that.
  

The Ugly:

• I really didn't want to write anything under this heading because I love this figure a lot, but there's unfortunately one small, but glaring problem. The "opened" sniper rifle stand accessory doesn't fit the peg hole of the superconducting sniper rifle. I nearly snapped the "opened" sniper rifle stand trying to fit it into the hole.

I purchased Kaiyodo's Fraulein Revoltech Series No. 10: Yoko from Hobbyfan.com for a total of $27.75. I've just checked their website and (no surprise), they're sold out of Yokos. I recommend searching through eBay for better deals (but be warned, there are lot of sellers out there selling counterfeits). I'd also recommend checking out Toyslogic. Just remember though, the two sites I've recommended usually charge cheaper prices when you pre-order with them. As a last resort, I'd check out bigbadtoystore.com if you can't purchase Yoko from the previous two online stores. Although they're pretty good about packaging and sending out item in a timely manner, they seem to charge a lot more for imported items.

NOTE: I DO NOT REPRESENT HOBBYFAN, TOYSLOGIC, OR BIGBADTOYSTORE. I HAVE NOT BEEN PAID TO MENTION THEIR NAMES. I AM ONLY RECOMMENDING THEIR SERVICES BASED UPON MY PAST EXPERIENCES WITH THEM.



Overall, Kaiyodo's Fraulein Revoltech Series No. 10: Yoko action figure is probably my most favorite from their line so far. The unbelievable amount of articulation and accessories makes this figure worthwhile. The only thing I hope sculptor Tomohide Enoki fixes is Yoko's smiling face. That and enlarge the peg hole to fit the sniper rifle "opened" stand. This is one hell of a sculpt that will please fan-favorites and female action figure lovers alike!