Well, maybe not THAT old school, but by today's standards, it might as well be Prehistoric.
So a few weekends ago, I decided t go to a local toy show, completely out of boredom. This show generally doesn't have any good deals, and to be completely honest, even if there were a show is one day out of the year, where as I hustle for deals all year round. Anyway, there still wasn't anything worth my dropping any serious money on, so I do what I normally do - check out the less obvious vendors and merchandise piles. I came across a relic of a by gone era, which to most people is nothing but a fading memory.
But, like Pepperidge Farm, dammit I still remember.
So back in the mid 2000s, there were definitely fewer players at the time, but Kotobukiya, bless their hearts, was around, and was probably one of the first companies to offer a 1/6 scale PVC at a relatively affordable price (back then, a good 1/8 scale was around $60, whereas these sold for $100). This battle damaged piece I picked up for $20.
At this point, my most in depth experience with their wares was with their Final Fantasy X stuff, which provided me with the rude awakening that is prototype versus final product, and lead me to not really trust a Kotobukiya product until I actually see it in hand.
Around this time frame, Kotobukiya got involved with several other IPs and creating 1/6 scale statues, which included the Witchblade anime, and several of the popular Tecmo games of the time, which included the Team Ninja reboot of the Ninja Gaiden series. There were four statues from that series, including one of everyone's favourfite Dead or Alive Kunochi, Ayane.
The pose is... pretty static, and if you look back at this time period you'll find most of their 1/6 stuff don't actually have anything too exciting pose wise. The Witchblade stuff was a little better.
In addition to the basic repair work I had to do on this statue, this piece is also from the time period where leaning was a thing, so I got spend some quality time with the microwave and cold water to get the statue standing properly.
Detailing on the face and hair is alright. It's not the greatest but compared to other examples of their work from this time frame, this was considered top notch. Kotobukiya never really could get the faces right on any of the Dead or Alive girls, here or on subsequent lines like the Xtreme Beach Volleyball statues. Fine detailing isn't bad considering the age, but at the same time you've got to remember that this is 1/6 scale and not 1/8, where you can get away with fewer details.
You can also see from these pics that the paint really was only applied where they had to, with the remainder being carried by the base plastic colour and some top coating.... not exactly the stuff that you'd associate with a premium product.
Most of the rest of the statue follows suit. There's some very nice detailing work here, mimicking a variety of materials and textures - it's just that you'd think the underlying body would be sculpted a bit more voluptuously, given that IT'S FREAKING AYANE FROM DEAD OR ALIVE.
I mean... look at that sad, sad ass.
Paint work and decal work competent, but is lacking that final bit of polish that would give the statue more of a premium finish. Of course, it doesn't help when some of the detailing paint applications are put on fairly messy, further made worse due to some unclean moulding and finishing of parts, like on the ankle of the boots.
But if you want to see BAD, the one thing that pretty much no Kotobukiya 1/6 ever got right were the hands. I mean.. just LOOK at this, and tell me that's not among the worst looking hands on a figure you've ever seen. These days, you need to get down to Marvel Legends to see anything this rough.
That's really about it for this quick walk down memory lane, to revisit how things were and to better appreciate where things are now. I mean, if you're a Ninja Gaiden fan and you want merch, well I guess this is the epitome of the offerings. Otherwise, if see something of this vintage and you're thinking of buying it, just remember you're going to have to lower your expectations significantly when it comes to shelf appeal of the final product.
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