Angle of the wing is off, and why the base so thick Hair color also a bit different but unsure if it has to do with lighting.
Still looks ok though, i give it a score of 75% when compared to the proto based solely on these photos.

***

Shot this last night
Orchid Seed 1/5 Sonico SoniComi ver.

MFC: http://myfigurecollection.net/picture/947160





This post has been edited by EXkurogane: Mar 15 2014, 12:40 PM

Owh, those new pics
Face (expression) seems a bit different but might be the angle. What i can say, Kotobukiya really did it this time. If those pics are of the real product, i think this might be their best figure they have ever made yet so far.

Eh why Sallya's box so big? Like bunch of extra space there =.= But the box design damn nice

Hair color of olivia still different from the prototype it seems but good enough, but im crying foul over the lack of shading (well given it's koto, seems to be unsurprising).

Meanwhile, what do we have here...



14,000yen (i could see such a price tag) says hi



This post has been edited by EXkurogane: Mar 22 2014, 02:03 PM

My Olivia is a bit delayed Due to the seller i ordered from going for a vacation until around 20+ April. >.<

Took out Saber Lily for a shoot; one of my fav figures in my collection even today.

High Res: http://myfigurecollection.net/picture/959285



This post has been edited by EXkurogane: Mar 31 2014, 12:05 PM

Olivia so nice. >.< The seller i ordered from is on Japan trip until 20+ April, more waiting. He better include a tenga inside as free gift RAWR

Havent been around for some time, still V10. I thought V11 already lol.

I actually like this one, but no need order lah. After release see luck & finances, if too rich maybe pick one up.
My "normal version" Alleyne is arriving tomorrow, Shibuya Rin should be early next week.

This one on my watch list, 8000yen is cheap in year 2014 standards. =/

This post has been edited by EXkurogane: May 7 2014, 09:47 PM

The best part about this figure is the pose itself

This one kinda retarded (and reminds me of their Mai Shiranui) compared to all of Alphamax's previous versions. Alisa is supposed to be 15-16 years old, this one look like an auntie version of her. Ok la, too harsh, but this one looks like her after 8 or 10 years. Dunno, look more adultlike in her mid 20s, different from her previous figures.

This post has been edited by EXkurogane: May 8 2014, 12:41 PM

The figure itself is pretty good, and i even trust Alphamax more than, say, Kotobukiya when it comes to consistency. The issue is that face is not even Alisa's face, it's like Mai Shiranui cosplaying as Alisa. LOLOL

Outdoor long-exposure shoot on Alleyne.
Shot at F/22, ISO-100,4 secs shutter speed, matrix metering, fill-in bounced flash @ 1/128.

http://myfigurecollection.net/picture/987901
https://www.flickr.com/photos/exkurogane/

Usually figures tied with wires have plastic sheets under it to protect it, so, even after as long as i can remember after started on this hobby i never had such issues. Nowadays not many figures are tied like that, even my Insane BRS has no such wires for a big box figure. I'd assume because it's a tedious process, i dont think it's done by machines - factory workers tied them one by one. They find other ways to secure a figure, like tougher box and more tapes. If u opened a figure before and then sell it later BIB, dont tie the wires back. I do have the first release Distant Avalon.

This post has been edited by EXkurogane: May 10 2014, 03:08 PM

Yes, sex999 is right, our temperature is high. Ideally, figures should never be exposed to temperatures above 30-32C. Our room temperature during the day, without aircond, is definitely somewhere between 29-32, borderline already. It also depend on your home's design - my home's ground floor is very cool even in hot weather, never goes above 27C because of plaster ceiling, but upstairs where the ceiling is nothing unique, during the day it can go as high as 32-33C.

Most of my figures are kept in box for this reason, figure box itself can protect the figure from heat up to a certain level (inside the box it's still 25C+) - but not surrounding temperatures like 38 or 40C - the temperature of the insides of a normal shipping container, or a car exposed to heat for long hours. At 40C, the temperature inside the box could be at around 33C instead of the normal 25-27C average.

That's why, I dont even put my figures in my car's boot when transporting them. I put it in the rear seats, since im driving it and there's aircond. And for all my figures exposed to heat - including outdoor photography, i put them into the freezer (after they cool down) for 5 minues average, then take out and store them back into boxes to restore the integrity of the figure. Larger figures like 1/4 scales, can go up to 8 or 10 minutes.

I do have a few figures on my shelf - but usually those that i deem unaffected by the heat (due to the design, or because it's huge and bulky, no thin soft parts). My louise lolita gothic (No thin fragile parts), Konjiki no Yami (lots of ABS parts, and she is leaning against the shelf's wall), and Sakuya Crimson (giant figure, thick parts) are in my room unprotected from the daytime heat. But 2 of my nendo neck joints did fracture - might have became fragile. I have stopped collecting nendos anyway. I have less than 5 figures displayed, the rest in box or in a closed wooden cabinet.

So, my recommendation is simple, go get your figures that are sexposed, shoved them into the freezer section of your fridge for 5-10 minutes each. You will notice the dress petals will be back harder. Do it maybe once a month.

My room looks like this (as of sometime late last year). I dont use Detolfs, my mum kinda dun allow it, says it looks "ugly" (Come on, i dont have to deal with dust that way ), but i dont think i have the space for Detolfs.



This post has been edited by EXkurogane: May 14 2014, 01:42 PM

Aiya, a few hundred yen, i just throw cash at monitor screen, u want extra RM 10? Take it lor. If 1000 yen discrepancy then sure overboard already lah.
Amiami figure list price is cheaper, but from what I notice their carton box are huge inflating the shipping price sometimes, so more or less the subtotal might be similar to buying from other sites that charge less for shipping cost.

My issue with that Saber Extra by Koto, that base is just weird (not like it matters because I always find a way to get rid of ugly bases when I do photo shoots), her arm blocking the face partially, and the pose is just a mirror image of Ryougi Shiki.

Her face is rather accurate to Nero though.

Bad news for you. Good higher end figures average at 12,000yen nowadays. If i were to predict Homucifer's price, i also predict a minimum 12,000 yen.
In my opinion Orchid Seed is the only one of a few companies left that doesnt overprice their figures too much so far.

I dont see and O.Seed figures going beyond 13,000yen in RRP yet recently. That Aquamarine's Chaika Trabant is daylight robbery; Good Smile's Shimakaze & Mikasa Ackerman is also close to what i call overpricing. I expect their price to actually drop after release. Those early birds who want a figure early are actually paying a premium for it. So far only exclusives, Orchid Seed, Native, are the only companies who dont overprice much, but their value increase after release.

Even Koto is asking 11800yen for that Saber Extra (and their Asama Tomo is like, 16800yen) and im sure after release they will go straight to bargain bin. Figure market trends are changing as far as what i can see.

This post has been edited by EXkurogane: May 18 2014, 07:47 PM

Im not interested either (but i wasnt a Madoka fan anyway), but Aniplex is more of an anime studio first rather than a figure manufacturer. If i liked it i dont know whether i would take the risk either when it comes to quality (though, the fact she is exclusive may make you want one), and then only to find out Good Smile also prepared a version of their own in the next Wonder Festival. Since GSC's been making all the madoka figures i would say 50/50 chances that may happen.

Shibuya Rin arrived.

I lazy to jam in the wire fow now, will keep that for her actual photography session. If there's one thing i'd want to complain to Good Smile, not only the base looks too cheap (which is still not the main issue), the color of the base reminds me of bukkake. =.= Come on, the color doesnt suit that much, make it Black or Brown.

Suddenly Insane BRS for 13,500yen doesnt feel expensive anymore to me. If she went preorder open in this year she could have easily hit 16k yen.

Agree, only Amakuni/Orchid Seed and Native need to preorder. I only have 2 preorders remaining - Dark Olivia (stock arrival delayed, but expecting her within 2 weeks), and Orchid Seed's Sonico Cheerleader. No more preorders for me unless certain special circumstances. But, i did notice the value of yen dropping over the years, even against our RM. Last time, like 3 years ago, a 9800yen figure will cost an average RM 400-420. Nowadays figures under 10k yen can be had for between RM360 - RM 400.