Packaging - ***
The package here is similar to the packages from companies like Dragon,
bbi or Hot Toys wth their nekkid bodies. The two halves of plastic fold
together, holding the figure and extra hands. It's nothing special, but
it is properly sized (no waste!), and keeps things safe. It's also easy
to take the figure in and out of the package, and very collector
friendly.
Sculpting -
***
Triad's figures (especially the females) are all done in a very
Japanese anime style. Large puppy eyes, a very thin, small nose, and a
small but pouty mouth. She's attractive in a non-realistic way, and her
appearance works well for a very wide variety of custom female
characters, from sexy school girl to dangerous vixen. The anime look is
not an accident - this is the look that Triad is going for.
The
hair is not sculpted, but rooted, and they do a very good job with the
scalp coverage. You can still see the 'plugs' along the hair line, but
there are absolutely no bald spots across the rest of the pate.
The hair is very long and quite fine, and very good quality.
They
body sculpt is less cartoony and more Pamela Anderson before she had
the implants removed. The body is quite anatomically correct, at least
for a figure in this scale. She's not quite a Real Doll, but she has
all the appropriate peaks and valleys. That makes her all the more
provocative in tight clothing. Homina, homina, howwa!
Often with
female sixth scale figures, the arms and legs are quite skinny.
That's not qute as much of an issue here, and the final
dressed
product looks much better because of it. Check their site for a
variety of available complete figures using this base body to see the
results.
Of
course, one of the most critical aspects of a body like this is the
articulation, and the sculpt does have an effect on how well those
joints really work. The marriage of the sculpt and articulation is
fairly good, with only a few issues around the ankles and hips.
The sculpt tends to allow for a decent range of movement with
most of the joints, but to allow for a well rounded butt, they had to
restrict the amount of movement in the hips. The sculpted
butt
looks good in clothes (as they always do), but this means the legs
can't move backward from a center line.
There are a number of
included hands, and all of these are sculpted to hold accessories or
poses quite nicely. Some of them are a bit large (I was reminded of the
Man Hands episode of Seinfield with the open hands), but it's a fairly
minor issue.
The body (with head, but
barefoot) stands about 11
inches tall, making her a good female companion to the Hot Toys or
Sideshow lines. That puts her at about 5' 6" tall without shoes, and a
little shorter than that in comparison to the slightly taller than 12"
bodies currently on the market.
Paint - ***1/2
There's not a lot of paint here, but there is a very interesting color
to the body that helps boost this score.
The
paint details that are here - the eyes, the eyebrows, and the lips -
are clean and neat. Folks that hate catchlights being painted
on
may be a bit dismayed to find not one but two catchlights added to each
eye, but they are fairly small.
It doesn't look like the skin
is painted, but cast plastic. However, it's some sort of
unique
PVC coloring that makes it almost translucent at the surface, making it
very soft and realistic in appearance. The finish is also
very
flat, with no gloss at all, adding to the realism. It's also extremely
consistent from body to head to hands and feet.
They make this
base body in a number of skin tones - white, pale, tan, etc. - allowing
you quite a few choices in the ethnicity in your customs.
Articulation - ***
The articulation in the upper body is terrific, but the lower body
brings the score down a bit.
The
neck has a ball joint at the top, right below the jaw line. It works
extremely well, giving the poses that extra bit of personality.
The
shoulders are also ball joints, the kind that's really a post into the
body with a peg through a disc in the arm. There's also a cut
joint on the bicep close to the shoulder, but this isn't a straight cut
joint. As buyers of the 13 DCD figures know, straight cut joints on
arms and legs can result in weird looking limbs under tight clothes.
Here, Triad gives the 'cut' a scalloped edge, and that allows for a
much more attractive look to the upper arm under clothes.
There's
double jointed elbows, and a true ball jointed wrist. All this arm
articulation allows for some very natural upper body poses.
Ah,
but then things slip up a bit. There's no waist or chest articulation,
and the hips are pin/post ball joints like the shoulders.
Just
like the shoulders, the post goes straight into the pelvis, not up into
the torso. That means the legs can move outward and and
forward,
but can not twist in relation to the torso at all. That, combined with
the sculpted butt restriction mentioned earlier, means that the hips
are a bit disappointing.
The knees are pin/post joints as
well,
which means that they turn as well as moving forward and back. These
work well, but the anles are another disappointment. I
suspect
there's a ball joint up in there someplace, but the foot is so tightly
attached to the leg, that it works as a simple cut joint with very
little other movement.
The articulation is good, with
some real
innovation in the design of the arms. Improvements can still be made in
the hips and ankles though, and with no torso articulation at all,
she's forced to remain in the "I'm too sexy for my clothes" arched back
pose.
Accessories - **1/2
There are two extra sets of hands included with the figure.
One
set of fists, and one set of pistol grip hands. She comes
wearing
a pair of relaxed pose hands.
As
I mentioned earlier, the sculpts and paint work on these are all good.
Swapping the hands was a bit of a task, and I suggest using some hot
water at least the first couple times. I had some concerns that without
softening them up a bit, the wrist pegs could end up broken.
She
also comes wearing a white bikini, which you'll probablly never use for
anything, but which at least allows the girl some level of privacy in
the package.
Fun Factor - **1/2
These could provide interesting replacements for your daughters
Barbies, but if you were concerned that Barbie is already
setting
bad body image expectations, then this is definitely a step in the
wrong direction.
But
for customizers in the sixth scale market, this body can provide all
kinds of 'fun'. The company claims that the heads, hands and feet
should be compatible with bodies from companies like Takara (Cy Girls)
and bbi, as well as some other manufacturers. The top of the neck post
is similar in style to the Sideshow female body, but I haven't tried
swapping it yet.
Value -
**1/2
The figures are a solid value, matching up pretty well with the costs
of other sixth scale bodies in this market. You aren't getting a steal,
but considering the size of the company and the likely production runs,
the price seems pretty much in line. As such, the results of this
category won't raise or lower my personal Overall.
Things To Watch Out For
-
Not much. Unless you're taking photos of her, and want to
keep it
PG...various parts tended to peek out every time I reposed her.
And as I mentioned, I'd soften
the hands up a bit with some hot water before trying to swap them.
Overall - ***
This is a solid base body for customs, providing very good upper body
articulation with reasonable lower body articulation. I love
the
skin tone, and the various hands work well. I plan on swapping out an
appropriate Sideshow head when one comes along. I considered swapping
in Aayla, but that didn't quite make sense.
If
you liked the older Takara Cy Girl (Cool Girl) figures, you'll probably
like these. They reminded me of them, but with better upper body
articulaton.
Score Recap:
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - ***
Paint - ***1/2
Articulation - ***
Accessories - **1/2
Fun Factor - ***
Value - **1/2
Overall - ***
Where to Buy -
As I mentioned earlier, you can get these direct from Triad, or:
- you can pick her up (or a
number of the other Triad figures) from CornerStoreComics.
They have the Otaku body listed at $28.50.
- or you can search ebay using
the sponsor MyAuctionLinks.
Related Links -
If you're looking for
other good sixth scale bodies to buy for customs, check out the guest
article on the TrueType body
from Hot Toys.
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