Figures can, despite being from popular IPs, basically fail to sell as expected. But, often there are telltale signs even before the product is released, and those are the ones you basically wait on to go fire sale. Sometimes, if you're REALLY lucky, these fire sales are events that you can actually access.
That's basically the backstory as to how I ended up buying the Figma 521DX Okita Souji on BBTS for like $65 USD.
Like so many other figures, I've only ever seen or heard of the DX version of this, but that would imply there is a non DX version. MSRP was about 11,000 Yen back in the day, and that's direct from Goodsmile itself. I remember looking at it and thinking they were out of their minds to charge this price, when other much nicer figures cost about the same price, if not less., even within the Fate line itself. Hell, the Alter version of this figure was about the same price and looks way, way more impressive.
There's a few things not pictures, but overall, this is probably the first time I've seen a Figma tray this... empty. Contents are as follows:
1 x Main Figure
3 x Faceplates (Neutral, Shouting, Stunned)
9 x Posing/Gripping Hands
1 x Coat of Oaths
1 x Red Katana/Sheath
1 x White Katana/Sheath
1 x Gold Statue
1 x Silver Statue
1 x Base/Stand
So while I've never seen one, the website says the base version of this figure is 8,800 Yen. You know what this extra 2,200 Yen gets you? The Coat of Oaths and one of the swords (Kiku-Ichimonji Norimune which is the white one). Yeah... that's it.
Like I said this set was destined to not sell well.
Not helping sell this figure is the actual character design. Yeah, I know, not Goodsmile's issue, but you figure they've been doing this long enough to look at something and say "You know what? We need to do something extra special to sell this". It's an incredibly plain looking design, which I guess kind of makes sense as the Heroic Spirit belonged to the Captain of an feudal Japan Police Force... but then you'd think she'd be something more like a uniform? This is the upgraded version too (Ascension).
Well whatever the case, yeah, she's got a White sleeveless dress, Black leggings and forearm wraps, and a Black scarf. Yeah there's a few other embellishments on the body but it's not like they'll make the description any more hype. From what I can make out, the overall body isn't too far off, just a bit under on the chest.
For those curious, yes the scarf can be removed for an alternate display option.
The head looks to be a touch too small, which again is a pretty typical thing to happen. Sculpting on the hair is adequate though I have to say it's getting harder and harder to tell characters apart just by looking the hair. Faceplates are solid, and nice to see the most important detail, the eyes, have been replicated accordingly.
The two little statues. I'm absolutely confident that they actually mean something to the character, but from my perspective all I can say is that they're nice and shiny, with sharp detailing. Not really articulated, though I believe you can twist the head.
Of course, can't forget the Coat of Oaths, which apparently adds like $15 to the price tag. It is a soft good, featuring sewn fabric and posing wires within the edges of the body. I will say that the tailoring/pattern work is quite nice, and that actual final product is well executed. Due to the loose nature of wearing it, the actual coat does not interfere with posing of the figure itself.
When it comes to Articulation, Okita Souji is incredibly average. You'd think that with such a slim outfit that they'd throw out all the stops and get some good posing in her... but you'd be wrong. The figure does actually have those pull down hips that I adore, which on most figures gives them increased range of hip motion. Well, in this case, the pull down hips give the figure an ACCEPTABLE amount of range, which I suppose is better than being completely trapped in the skirt. On the plus side, they did give the figure a waist, and the rest of it is pretty standard Figma. Thus all-in-all, pretty average range of motion.
Paint Application wise, we're back in good form. Okita Souji isn't exactly the flashiest figure out there, so the paint work on her is relatively simple. But, more importantly, it is consistently clean on all surfaces, with no masking errors or other similar blemishes. Paint on the statuettes was found to be nice and smooth, as were the metallic paints on the two Katana. Decal work on the figure and Coat of Oaths maintain the high standards I have for Figma releases.
Likewise, Build Quality is no issue here. The usual good production values and strong joints are present. On the other hand, there really isn't much to actually screw up. By most metrics, this is a very average figure in terms of its complexity, and it would be like Goodsmile screwing up a Swimsuit figure from a final production perspective.
So overall, a nicely made figure that generally does things well and by the rulebook, but ultimately one that was overpriced to begin with, which IMHO is what lead to it not selling well, especially on BBTS. It's like a somewhat sluttier version of Saber Musashi, but I only say that because she shows some leg.
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