So for most people, Goodsmile Company are the people who make Figma and Waifu statues. They do actually make other things, and unbeknownst to me, have actually expanded outside of Japan. Such is the topic of this release, the HyperxBody AG-01 Lark Nio.
This new product line originated out of the Shanghai office of Goodsmile Company, and is one of those kits where you get a finished figure but you need to assemble all the accessories yourself. I have no idea why these have become a thing other than people loving the fact they can customize their figure. This set retails for 12,900 Yen, which is probably about the same price for an equally kitted out Alice Gear set, so it's certainly not one of those situations where you pass the savings onto your customer.
As for the IP itself, it's something called Artery Gear: Fusion, which I'm guessing is a mobile game that is significantly more popular over in China than here. I don't actually play mobile games, but it's nice to see that designs coming out of the Motherland are becoming more and more on par with Japanese artists.
Well here's the contents of the box (GodHand trimmers not included). The actual figure parts are pretty tame, consisting of two extra face plates, six extra hands, and adapter for her backpack and a Base/Stand.
An hour or so later, the kit becomes a backpack with closed/deployed wings, a Rifle, and a Glaive. I didn't bother with the water decals as I suck at them and I wasn't planning to paint these or top coat them. Maybe one day, when I'm bored enough, I'll get around to it.
So immediately upon opening the box, I have to giggle a bit. It's not the design, but rather the general reality. The fact that Chinese companies basically steal and repurpose stuff all the time hasn't been lost on this product. IIRC correctly, the Japanese started the whole Mecha girl trend, which has resulted in various model kits generally given the title of Frame Arms Girls. The body style is very distinct, and when Chinese companies started making their own kits, you could tell the body design was basically lifted off these design, but with different tolerances.
Now, these body was used by a Chinese figure designer, who has now convinced a Japanese company to sell it world wide as a Japanese product.
The overall sculpt isn't bad, but it is off compared to the reference material. For starters, the face (or more specifically, the eyes) and hair are a bit off. Another thing is that you see all the flat Gray areas on the figure? I'm pretty sure that in the drawing, those are supposed to be translucent like panty hose. Proportions aren't too bad, though the hips do look wonky, but I'm willing to let this slide due to the body design.
If things follow suit, I think that pretty much all of the figures of this line will be pretty much the same torso and upper legs, with the rest being customized for the purposes of character. This modular system will also allow for parts swaps, just like with the actual model kits.
Here's the face plates you get with the set. They're not bad per se, but they don't have that... I dunno.. Lambchop's Playalong feel to them as the art does.
In terms of size, here she is compared to Figma Ange. She's pretty much the same size, with Ange herself basically the average size of a female Figma.
In terms of the body itself, the overall Articulation abilities are superior to that of a typical Figma release, though arguably it comes at the cost of visual appeal. For starters, this body has a waist joint and there's a pretty heavy duty pull down hip system. There's also double jointed knees. From the chest upward, however, it's pretty typical - in fact, there's no Butterfly style shoulders.
General stability of the figure is as expected. Once you start involving the backpack, using the stand is pretty much a requirement.
Accuracy issues aside, the actual Paint Applications themselves are pretty solid. That's one of the nice things about Goodsmille products - when they do the work, things turn out the way they should . There are numerous detail paint apps and there were no abnormal quality issues observed, Paint is smooth, as it should be.
Build Quality is an interesting one. For starters, if you've ever actually built one of these model kits, you'll probably recognize the materials used for a Figma are more designed for play wear, being more durable but a bit softer which softens details somewhat. Joints are also slightly different than what you'd find in a kit, thank goodness, and are again more durable.
Having said all that, model kits tend to fall apart more often than actual built figures even under normal handling, either due to one sanding too much, or design of the joints in general. So be prepared for that to happen while you're handling the figure.
I also found that the joints on the shoulders/arms and the stand itself can be easily overwhelmed. I sort of get maybe the stand didn't have the full weight of the figure and the backpack in mind, but when you can't really hold up your light weight model kit Rifle, it's a bit much.
Overall, not a terrible release, but kind of half assed - I'd rather pay the extra few bucks (if needed) to get Figma to release a figure that's completed by them. I like the concept of Mecha Girls, but I'm not a fan of the work involved to make them not look like complete crap. Alternatively, if it's going to be one of those situations where you do get involve with some building, I feel that the price point should be reduced, like with Snail Shell's offerings.
I guess ultimately though, my indifference towards sets like this are probably due to my love of Waifu curves only. As I have no particular attraction to the IPs in question, I'd rather just get any other figure that requires less work. Now if they start doing this sort of thing with Fate figures then I might have to change my stance on things.
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