The Boys is a fantastic show. It's kind of like Breaking Bad in that, presuming you've not read the comics, you KNOW things are gonna get crazy, you just don't know how. So it pains me that from a merchandise department, things haven't not been exactly that kind. You'd think after three seasons, someone... ANYONE.. would have at least completed the core characters by now, but no.. not at all. So yeah.. as I was saying... slow releases. Almost like the line isn't selling that well. After three seasons, Mafex has only released Homelander, Black Noir, Butcher, and Starlight, the latter of which recently released in Japan and has made its way into my grubby hands.
Pretty typical box for Mafex, though I do like the photo spread, as I don't have too may figures predominately dressed in white and gold. The figure probably retails for more, but I got it during the typical preorder period with discount, which made it 9,650 Yen, making it still more expensive than the typical Figma/Figuart.
Forgot to take a photo of the insert, but I'm sure you'll be fine with your imagination:
- 1 x Main Figure
- 3 x Head Sculpts (Neutral, Smiling, Powers)
- 10 x Gripping/Posing Hands
- 2 x Small Energy Effects
- 2 x Large Energy Effects
- 1 x Microphone
- 1 x Base/Stand
Right out the box, figure looking sharp. Obviously not much to futz with, but also, didn't have to give it a hot bath like my recent Black Widow. The cape was a nice surprise., or maybe it's a surprise to me only as this is my first Mafex cape. Wired, and made of what feels like dual layered cloth.
From a proportions perspective, I would say everything except for the chest department is pretty bang on. The chest looks like it's somewhat undersized,, due to the actual chest piece of costume that covers the chest being inaccurate. The actual size of the upper torso part, however, is generally accurate.
Star print on the cape I'm guessing is accurate. Even if not, at least Mafex didn't half ass the quality of it. The same pattern is raised on the actual armour itself.
Head sculpts are, on the whole, winners. The faces are instantly recognizable as Erin Moriarty.. or at least a Season One and Two version. The smiling face is bit weaker than the rest, and the Powered Up version is slightly stronger than the Neutral face. All are a bit too puffy in the jawline, but could be manufacturing thing. Hair sculpting/detailing is again, quite strong, but as always, long hair that is fixed causes problems down the road.
Articulation is.. OK. By now, I've confirmed that the based Mafex body, without any encumberments, isn't able to keep up with a Figuarts body. So it should be no surprise that with restrictions, things get worse. The most obvious restriction is the skirt, though the skirt is cut that it's mainly the reverse leg movement that is affected. The outfit also restricts movement of the lower torso section. So overall, Starlight can twerk, but it's just not as awesome to look at.as with Captain Marvel.
Knees and elbows are single jointed but limbs are cut such that you're getting a typical range of motion there. Actual limbs move as you'd expect. Some people aren't a fan of how the elbow and knee joints are exposed, which I understand, but it doesn't quite bother me and it allows Mafex to get away with single joints.
Starlight, strangely, doesn't have true butterfly shoulder joints and instead uses the extended double ball joint to increase range of arm motion, but it's just not as good, and is further handicapped by the the chest gets in the way.
Finally, head movement is severely handicapped by the fixed hair, but I'm sure we all saw that one coming.
Paint Applications are good. Again, I don't have too many Mafex, but at a certain point the paint work for all figures generally got pretty solid. I say this as the earlier stuff like the first two Wonder Woman releases just looked terrible. Much of the obvious effort in this area is spent on the face, which looks pretty good both in terms of accuracy and quality. The hair has some black wash, but I believe the actual yellow is the base plastic. The white armour is unpainted, but I believe the gold and flesh parts are in fact painted. Detail paint apps are sharply applied. Microphone is adequately and competently painted.
Build Quality is, again, nicely done. I say that in the sense that it's as it should be, particularly at this price point, but again, horror stories from the past and all that. The effects parts came out nicely, no air bubbles, not too brittle. All pieces fit onto their respective spots securely. Joints operate smoothly.
So, overall, Starlight isn't bad per se, but overall she's an above average offering for Mafex, at least based on my experiences, that happens to have a really well made set of heads. It's just that when you compare this figure to all the other releases that are out there, this is a godsend that blows all others out of the water, price point be damned. At least with NECA, your expectations weren't going to be super high, but man did Star Ace ever drop the ball on all their figures, with Starlight and poor Queen Maeve taking some serious beats with the ugly stick.
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