A few months ago, a fellow collector introduced me to Tech Inn, a Spanish based tech company that, for some reason, also dabbled in collectibles. It was incredibly random, to say the least, to find amongst the tech product listings things like Figuarts, Figma, and this - the convention exclusive Bishoujo Transformers Nemesis Prime statue from Kotobukiya.
I guess the exclusives never sell as well as they hope, as I eventually noticed it on Amazon Canada, sold BY Amazon. Even this year, the exclusives ended up being sold overseas as well as Sideshow.
Anyway, I found it interesting that I could effectively get one for around MSRP, so I put in the order from Tech Inn. About a month later I got charged for Import Taxes, bringing the total up to pretty much what I would have paid from Amazon Canada anyway.
Can't win them all.
Despite being a Transformers fan, I actually didn't own any of the line. It certainly wasn't a prude related thing - the entry price for these pieces are actually higher than the typical Bishoujo statue and I wasn't interested. Up to this point, there have been effectively four unique characters - Optimus Prime, Megatron, Bumblebee and Starscream. Everything else is a recolour/retool of these main four. Nemesis Prime, introduced in the Transformers Armada series, is a retool of Optimus Prime because, well, it's in the name.
Other than cosmetic changes, Nemesis features different face plates, and instead of the suitcase that represent Prime's trailer, Nemesis is packing a sword instead.
Here she is, unpacked. Effectively the same as the Optimus Prime release, standing on a Decepticon sigil instead of the Autobot one. Now I know that I've got an appetite for things on the more ecchi side, but this, well this is positively boring. It's at most high school, with the most provocative thing being the exposed midriff - even the legs are effectively fully covered. I'm pretty sure this was conscious choice to make the design of all the statues relatively tame to maximize the appeal to Western fans but I can tell you from personal experience, the fact it's a girl is enough to freak most of them out.
There's also no specific design so I think this one was straight up out just imagined while incorporating iconic features from the robotic characters. So basically, yes, this looks like a random girl who decided to cosplay as, in this case, Nemesis Prime. The outfit is pretty tame, the curves are there but they're not flaunted in anyway
Like the original statue, there are two face choices, both a bit more... sinister compared to the OG, with one where the iconic mouth guard is up. Both are sharply done and while the grey paint is nice, the one with the guard up is a bit silly to me. You'll also notice classical G1 elements here, such as the sunglasses that are an homage to the eyes and forehead of the character, and of course, the hair is done up in a way that it mimics the antenna. There's also the Matrix an the jacket features pockets that are a reference to the iconic chest windows of the G1 design.
Here are some other obvious G1 design influences on the design of he statue. What's weird to me is that they went out of their way to incorporate the wheels onto the design, but somehow, didn't bother to include the iconic stacks that should be at shoulder level.
Overall, sculpting is pretty sharp all across the board. There's not much in terms of dynamic fabric flowing or anything, but the stuff we get is generally pleasing to the eyes. Nice work on the head. An acceptable amount of musculature is show on the body. So, having said all I cannot explain why the Matrix itself turned out soo terribly.
Paint Applications are pretty standards for a Kotobukiya release. You don't really need to look that hard to find areas that are a bit on the weak side, but overall it's nothing that would ruin the entire statue. There is some shading, some subtle, so pretty obvious, that helps to break the monotony of painted surfaces as well as high light texture changes.
Build Quality wise, well it's unlikely there will be any leaning issues with this pose. the face plates fit on perfectly and the sword slots/tabs in like it is expected to.
Overall, the statue doesn't disappoint in the sense that from a quality and production values perspective, this is no worse than your run of the mill Bishojo release. Kotobukiya didn't just phone it in because the IP would sell itself. It's a pretty solid release. But the issue is that I feel Kotobukiya may have underestimated the puritan values of their target audience, who shun these releases rather than embrace them as a bit of variety on a familiar them. As for me, well they're just too boring and expensive to be taken seriously, and it's not like I'm dying to see what Tracks would look like as a schoolgirl, so unless something spicy comes along, I'll just sit and wait for a fire sale.
For Full Gallery, please visit:
Commentaires