So a while ago, Snail Shell solicited their latest offering for preorder, one Milk Tea Girl. I actually passed on this when I saw it on Japanese sites due to the price, which I was pretty sure hit around the $100 USD point by the time things were shipped. These prices were about the same everywhere, so I decided that for that price there were probably figures with some better engineering that should be checked out first.
Fast forward to January 2023. turns out either my memory was faulty or something happened. Prices were much closer to around $60 USD shipped. So I bit the bullet and got me one of those figures too.
Milk Tea Girl is named such not because she runs on the stuff, but rather, her accessories are kind of milk tea themed.. sort of. Compared to pretty much all the other Snail Shell figures released, this one is probably the simplest one packaging wise - basic windowed box. It's also a lot smaller too. Of course, it also doesn't come with as much stuff, which is why it's half the price of your typical Snail Shell offering.
Contents of the include:
- 1 x Main Figure
- 2 x Faceplates (Smiling, Blushing)
- 6 x Posing/Gripping Hands
- 2 x Feet (Use with Base)
- 1 x Model Kit Parts
- 1 x Water Decal Sheet
- 1 x Base
- 1 x Lithograph
The cardboard box used to hold the model kit parts can be punched out to form a backdrop for the figure.
The actual assembly of the model kit isn't terrible, though there are some very cruelly small parts one must assemble. It's all snap together, though there's going to be some sanding involved to get that perfect fit. The finishing, however, is a right pain in the ass. There's the painting, and then there's the ridiculously tiny water decals you're somehow expected to put on. I got most of them on, but there were some really tiny decals that after 6 or so, I was done. I didn't feel like doing another 16 of them.
Assembled, you get two weapons, both I believe are paint ball guns or something like that, but instead of typical ammunition, they seem to be shooting Boba instead. Between the labels and actual assembly work, putting these two together took me probably close to 5 hours.
Yeah, I'm terrible at this sort of thing.
The main attraction herself, Milk Tea Girl. First thing you'll probably notice is that she's basically naked, to which I say "She's got too much legging". Based on her look and accessories, I'd say she spends her waking hours on the beach. She's got a very curvy silhouette, or at least in the chest. I don't know what it is, but figures always seem like they skipped leg day, or genetics didn't allow them be denied a thigh gap. She also seems to have skipped arm day. Furthermore, this body is one of those that have an ass cap, so the view from the back is really distracting, but not in the good way.
Clothing consists of aforementioned leggings and a bikini, complete with Camel Toe. Skin colour is a dark bronze though I'm not sure if that's due to her suntan, or the fact that Milk Tea is generally this colour, depending on how much Evaporated Milk you throw in your cup.
I have no idea if Milk Tea Girl is another one of Snail Shell's cyborg characters, but if not I have no idea how to explain the various plugs on her body. She's also got a bar code right above her bikini line.
The two face plates aren't extravagant or anything, but they're competently done and work well with her short cut hair. The real MVP feature, however, is the fact that her eyes can be adjusted, just like all other Snail Shell figures. It's something that I wish all faces would have. regardless of the make.
Her body leaves little to the imagination, and this also leaves very little imagination needed to see that you get the full posing capabilities of this body. To be fair, I've yet to run into a Snail Shell figure that didn't actually allow for that. As with many of these model kit-esqe bodies, the joints aren't the greatest looking, but they get the job done. Like I said earlier, the ass cap is an eye sore. There's also unfortunately, no waist on this figure nor any mid torso joint though you do get some movement at chest level. Hips and shoulders can pull down to allow for greater range of motion, though her chest is so large this doesn't really help a whole lot. A joint at the base of the neck would have also allowed for more position options, especially those that require the figure to lie on the ground.
Paint and Build Quality are above average. I don't buy Snail Shell figures for their amazing paint work, though to be honest I don't exactly think any of mine really featured any exotic paint work. It's generally clean, but there's very obvious paint flaws . The figures are just so curvy that we generally just block that stuff out. Not to mention that the value proposition is there. I think for me, these Chinese start ups know they're not going to win the war on quality, so they're going to win the war of including the most number of accessories... in most cases.
Build Quality again has a few rough corners here and there, but overall it's better than pretty much any figure you get from Walmart so that automatically puts this figure at Above Average. The finishes on the parts are actually pretty good, with nothing that would rupture my skin. Parts pop off and on with ease. I think the only figure I've had with true Build issues is my Wolf Girl reissue, which has a really loose left knee. Now, if you're talking about design flaws, I'd have to say that none of the hands seem particularly great at gripping the guns included with her.
Ultimately, Milk Tea Girl doesn't offering anything new in the engineering department, but it is a solid figure, albeit wearing some window dressing that some may not be able to stomach. I don't really think you're ever going to find a Snail Shell figure that is totally safe, so you might as well accept this part of it. I do wish a new body iteration comes up with more joints, because I really do enjoy my articulation. Yeah, silicone bodies look great and all, but its really the ability to pose it that attracts me, and not necessarily the gravity defying tits.
So ultimately if you can find this cheap, and you're not weirded out (nor do you care what other people think) then yeah, easy recommendation. Just remember the manual labour ahead of enjoyment.
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