A lot has happened in the Street Fighter world in the past month. SF6 started getting new character announcements, with the return of Akuma to the Street Fighter circuit. Marvel Vs Capcom Fighting Collection was announced. Finally, while the world is waiting for Iconiq to reply, two Third Party companies, Playtoy and Starman, released their 1/6 Chun Li figures and announced their remix editions, though in the case of Starman it was more of a reissue.
Normally I'd not have bothered, but I figured I'd check out one of these companies - Playtoy. Based on prototype photographs, this figure featured the more muscular body and the face of a fighting champion, as opposed to the face of a sweatshop worker.
So this is the box and it's functional and that's really all you can say about it. If you check out the box of the Starman edition, you'll notice that the boxes look pretty much identical except for the photo of the product itself. These Third Party products basically borrowing and copying aspects of one another isn't exactly anything new, so no surprises that this would happen.
Now, there has been a significant delay since I received this figure and even when I took my write up batch of photos, so now photo of box contents. I mean, the contents are pretty minimal - the figure, an extra bikini costume an energy effect, and I believe eight total hands. No stand or similar item. The issue is, however, that mine looked like it survived a train wreck when I opened the box, with the face unprotected (resulting in some significant scuffs and a loose earring) and missing the bikini.
Spoiler alert: you'd be wrong if you figured I'd have nothing else to complain about. I seem to have attracted a larger than average number of QC issues on this particular set, which makes sense because I actually wanted to like this.
Here the figure is, out of box. In addition to being more of a Muscle Mommy and having a preferred head sculpt, the actual Qi Pao itself looks more complex on this version. This dress features actual clasps on the collar and running down the front, which is great in theory, but not so great when the QC is bad and your loop isn't big enough for the provided knot. I also like the lighter stocking colour, though there are those that prefer the darker pair that comes with the Starman release.
\My sneaking suspicion is that Playtoys basically took the pattern of the Superduck Chun Li set and used that as a reference for this dress, but they changed the little flaps on the shoulders. As you're going through photos, you might notice that the dress does not sit at the waist right, resulting in it bulging up at the back where the sash is. It's also a bit tight, which is whit both looks good, but also never looks like it's aligned correctly. The boots and energy effect look identical took as do the extra hands and inclusion of a swimsuit.
One thing I wish they DID copy and failed to is actually having a bottom for her Qi Pao, because right now it's just her leggings so technically Chun Li is flashing people every time she kicks.
Even from this distance, you can easily make out the musculature of the body, probably the most muscled Female seamless body I've seen. Could it be more swole? Yes, of course it could, but this is a step in the right direction, providing a body that has a focus on muscles while still having an respectable bust size. I actually think that bust height is actually not too bad on this release, whereas other figures would have them way too low.
You may also notice that there is a colour mismatch between the hard plastic parts and the silicone itself. I'm not saying it isn't a problem, but it's hardly unique to this release. The only time I've seen the body and the plastic parts match is when they're both painted some otherworldly colour. It's more in this case, the difference is more obvious.
There have been others who have been braver than I, and actually stripped this body down revealing not only is it anatomically correct (though really rough looking) but it also appears that the body may have veins and other similar details already built in. I'll find out for myself in a few weeks when I have to do a tear down.
Another feature that sets Playtoy apart from Starman is the sash. It used to be a plain white one, but then they went and put some embroidery on it, making it more accurate to the detailed artwork of the character.
Better photography of the head. It's quite a simplified face, but it captures the fact that this isn't a real person, and is probably one of the better Third Party heads I've seen. The buns are magnetic and the sculpting of the hair isn't bad either. Eyes can be articulated giving you greater posing options. You can probably make out that it looks like she lost a fight with a cat, and that's basically how I got her out of the box.
For the curious, yes, the socket is properly sized to accept a Hot Toy head, or at least it worked with a Civil War Black Widow head, which is pretty much my goto head for testing. Having said that, you'll probably notice that in this case, the socket isn't deep enough and as a result causes a gap to appear between the neck and the head itself. So if you could find a head with a properly positioned socket, this could work on a Kitbash, though of course then you have skin tone differences to deal with.
So one of the benefits of making your body is that you get to dictate how big the thing is. I forgot to do a side by side with established bodies, but overall she's probably the height of the standard Hot Toys female body, and the Starman version is about the same. This is yet another reason why the figure doesn't look disproportioned - it was smaller to begin with. Its amazing how something as simple as the height of the body can throw things off immensely.
I wouldn't even bother with the energy effect.
Being a Seamless body, you'd expect the performance of the body would be like a Phicen, and for the most part you'd be right. There were a few nasty things I discovered, unfortunately, but first the good stuff. Range of motion on the limbs is pretty good. and it helped that the outfit itself didn't get in the way movement. The hips didn't work quite as well as on Phicen, having somewhat restricted forward and backwards kick range of motion, though side kicks don't seem to be affected that much. The back arch seemed a bit less than I expected though the ab crunch seemed to be on point, resulting in a somewhat less than exuberant Twerk.
The first nasty surprise I'd like to bring to your attention is the fact rather than having a standard cavity in the head and a soft plastic socket inside, the entire head sits on a long collar, which gets in the way of head articulation, or at the very least it makes things more difficult. Even more annoying is the fact that that this stupid tube has the tendency to knock those eyes I worked ages to get pointed properly to become misaligned.
The second issue is that this figure has seamless feet. I'd long wondered what it would be like to have a body with seamless ankles, and it turns out that THINGS SUCK. I believe due to a lack of solid plastic foot, and possibly bad QC, the figure basically has no ankle articulation AND isn't rigid enough to support the standing figure in most cases.
But perhaps the least desired lessons is the one where I learned that QC on the silicone isn't quite perfected, resulting in some areas being thinner than others, like on the left elbow of my body.
Paint Application wise, well... there isn't much. It's all on the face and bracelets and none of it is particularly complicated. All pretty distinct colours. No shading or other more advanced techniques like that. For what it's worth, the actual paint work itself is competent, though it's not particularly... I guess, subtle.
When it comes to Build Quality, I haven't finished my bitching. In addition to the above mentioned issues, the opening in the bottom of the head is so small, I can barely fit my Index finger in, which makes adjusting the eyes a bit of a pain for me. Furthermore, due to some more tolerance/QC issues, the right eye ball kept falling out, and putting it back in with my hands is tough - luckily I have tweezers handy. The stockings are also incredibly fragile, and looked worn even after minimal posing. As much as I hate Star Ace's stuff, at least their Catwoman outfit has withstood posing without any issue.
If you're thinking to yourself that this was an abnormal number of issues, I'd have to agree with you. At the same time, I can't say I'm surprised because aesthetically, this is one of the best looking Third Party figures I've handled, so the Law of Averages dictates that something must go wrong to balance out the experience. What's interesting to me is that despite Vendor and Asian Collectors backing me up in the sense that we all aren't happy about the QC on this figure, your average run of the mill review seems to be either flawless or these issues don't bother them.
Well, regardless, I liked this release enough that I already ordered the Battle Suit version of this figure, and while I have plans for it, I'm already mentally preparing myself for the shitshow that will likely take place the moment I open that box.
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