I recently took a work trip to the lovely Province of Alberta, Canada, and spent some time in either Edmonton or Calgary, the two largest cities in the Province. People that know me well will have accepted the fact I basically treat my out of town trips, no matter where I go, as open season on collectibles. I certainly did some damage, racking up enough stuff that I had to ship it home.
To be fair though, I also don't have as much room in my luggage as before, as work boots take up a ton of space.
While my mail just arrived to me today, there were two days that I was staring at the two pieces that DID make the trip with me on the plane, so I figured I might as well get those out of the way so I could get back to my backlog - there's still a few interesting pieces from TFCon and my Ottawa trip I've still not gotten to.
I did get the photos done... I just don't think my parcel helped with my backlog issue.
First up is the Kotobukiya Bishoujo Black Canary statue.. There's a bit of a tragic cautionary tale with this piece, but introduction out of the way first. I know very little of the character, but I do know enough that she's a regular in the Green Arrow universe, love interest and all, and I didn't mind her portrayal in the dismal Birds of Prey movie. Unlike many of the Bishoujo designs, this one actually looks kind of plain on paper - yeah sure, it's fun and sexy, as are all Shunya Yamashita designs, but it didn't scream "BUY ME".
This piece actually wasn't on my list, but I happened to see it at a sellers house, and after seeing it in person I was hooked and was able to walk away with it for a steal, as there is no box. The transition to 3D statue featured the typical Kotobukiya trademarks - generally adhering to the source art, taking a few short cuts here and there to save costs, some loss of finer details, most evident in the hair, and some above average paint work, which has been consistent for several years now.
This would have been your typical "feel good bargain" story had I not decided to screw things up.
So I fixed things and it basically looks untouched, but you might notice that it seems like Black Canary is doing her best Michael Jackson impression. It looks like she's leaning, and every prototype or stock photo I saw of this statue either had her right foot floating above the base (on a peg, of course) or the heel was down on the base itself. There is no bootleg version of this statue, and this would be a pain to bootleg, so I figured maybe it had leaned or something, despite being made in 2016. You'll notice though, that the left foot is actually flush on the base and that the body itself is actually straight up.
I brought it home and attempted the hot water fix... which went horribly wrong as I snapped the peg connecting the foot to the base as well as disconnected the right leg from the hip by popping it outward, damaging the leggings in the process. I patched things back together relatively well, though you can see it's damaged. As a result, I am now determined to get another one of these to compare and contrast, as they made a blue stocking version, as well as an actual 2nd edition of this statue.
The appeal of this statue, at least for me, can be narrowed down to two things. The other attractive qualities are there, such as the curves and an outfit that shows off said curves, but it's nothing out of the ordinary, especially for characters from this line. I mean.. they gave Optimus Prime and Megatron boobs, so really, boobs and curves are everywhere.
The pose isn't anything special either, replicating what a cat would do when they wake up after a really long nap.
So... just what are they?
The first would be the actual face itself, or more specifically, the expression. The fact that the face has the full bodied curves that Kotobukiya typical leaves out is nice, but the wink with the subtle smile are not only characteristic of the character, but were executed incredibly well. It's not super complicated or anything, but the final product just looks so sublime and really does breathe some life into the piece.
The other attribute would be the leggings.. and the legs, I guess. So rather than put a decal or just paint them like pantyhose, Kotobukiya actually created fabric mesh leggings for Black Canary, effectively making this a mixed media piece. Even in its slightly mangled state, the honeycomb pattern works beautifully and because it's actual fabric sitting on the legs, you get this faint black highlight around the legs. You don't see this sort of thing on statues in my price point very often, and will definitely help Black Canary to stand out in your display. Furthermore, the legs themselves have some subtle shading to highlight the musculature, which just plain looks awesome when paired with the leggings themselves.
This second one might not be as familiar to many people. Depending on your taste in video games, you may or may not have played the budget priced masterpiece that is The Onechanbara, where you play as zombie slaying bikini cowgirl Aya, and through several games on consoles from PS2 up to PS4, was joined by other characters. This particular statue was produced by Toys Works in 2007 and is a 1/8 scale piece. There hasn't exactly been an explosion of character goods for this franchise, nor am I expecting any due to the fact there hasn't been a new game in years. While this statue is sold under the The Onechanbara title, a quick Youtube check shows this more replicates her look in The Onechanbara 2. While not my favourite, it's still better than the statue that I guess was her look in the very first game, but not as good as the Alter one which showcased a more modern looking Aya.
At the same time, this one was $25 CAD and I was already in Edmonton, so.. yeah. It's generally in good shape, but alas I realized it was missing some parts - her boa and a necklace of some sort.
Clearly Aya has impeccable fashion sense, even if she's short a few things. She DOES come with a removable cowboy hat and her trust katana. The pose is very much franchise for the character, though as I mentioned the actual character reference has looked better. Decent use of sculpting to create a sense of dynamic motion. Leaning is not an issue. Curves are smaller, but she's a smaller framed killing machine. Having said all that, you'll probably notice that this statue REALLY shows its age. Everything is very much average at best, and you'll probably the poor finishes on the plastic and general detailing. This wasn't exactly out of the norm for 2007, when the industry was starting to offering higher quality PVCs as alternatives to expensive Polystone garage kits. So that explains the poor finishes - the grime, I can explain with my inability to wash it off with soap, or scrub it off with my fingernail.
What Aya DOES have over Black Canary, by design of course, are the various tattoos and body piercings.
Aya has one more trick however. Unbeknownst to me, this statue features cast off ability. It's.. OK. I mean, I've definitely seen better on the Megahouse Queen's Blade stuff, and that strictly a commentary on quality, not size. Much like the rest of her, it's decently sculpted but sloppily finished.
There you have it - just the tip of the Alberta haul iceberg. It's too bad I broke Black Canary myself, but Aya was pretty much what I was expecting... well quality wise. Not so much the missing parts.
Stay tuned for stuff.. when I get around to it.
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