This review will be about my first Saber scale figure, funny enough that I didn’t start with Saber figure that showed her in her battle dress, could it be that I don’t really care about her character.
I found this one in AmiAmi’s preowned item corner for around 4800 Yen and thought it actually was good price considering that it was a figure that was around 10000 Yen a few years ago . The deal had one little flaw though, I thought I was ordering the Ataraxia – Saber Maid R version, the version which was a re-release, but I accidently ordered the old one instead *facepalm*.
This Saber was manufactured by ALTER in 2007 and re released in 2008. The Saber Maid version is scaled 1/6 with a height of 280 mm. The origin of this figure is Fate/Hollow Ataraxia, a visual novel from 2005 which was produced by TYPE-MOON as the sequel of Fate/stay night. Since I haven’t played it, please expect no qualified informations about the role of Saber in this review.
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2979Mrx0kqs&start=227
Hair & Face
The figure has quite detailed hair in the shape of a beautiful tied up hairstyle with the typical ahoge. Her bun is decorated with a pretty dark metallic blue ribbon. The color of her hair is a little muddy yellow. Her face has an undeniable European look, Saber has pretty green eyes and a little gloss on her lips. Somehow I have the feeling that something is odd about her face it seems too narrow, which is very noticeable for me when Im looking at her pointy chin. From some angles she looks better than from others, but overall Im not that satisfied with the face to be honest.
Outfit & Body
Saber in maid attire looks very appealing, for some reason I always had a liking for these kinds of outfit since I came in contact with the anime culture. I like the contrast of dark and white colors and the frilly details. I also think that it looks quite cute on a girl. Next to Saber I already ordered two maid related figures in this year, Sansei Muramasa and Kurumu Kurono.
The white parts of her outfit have a slightly pearl effect and create a nice contrast to the dark blue main colors of her outfit. The detailed sculpting and the lighter shading recreate a nice and also realistic look. Under her short shirt she is wearing pretty yet revealing white panties, I have to say that she’s pretty detailed underneath, remember this a ALTER figure. The part that reminds of her heroic background is the white saw toothed underskirt she also wears under her armor.
While her small chest is not very prominent, Saber has other aspects that know to convince.
The cleavage at her back is a very attractive eye catcher, the ruffles next to her skin create a very appealing look. Her legs are very attractive parts as well and show a sexy Zettai Ryouiki, the area between thigh high stockings and miniskirt. I really like her dark stockings with the frilly band around the top, the smaller metallic blue ribbon at each band add some playfulness to our sexy Saber Maid. The shading on them give her thigh high stockings a feel of transparency.
The paintjob and the sculpting of her clothes and body are on par with quality figures of today.
What I like the most about this figure is the proud pose, I really like the combination of a sexy and super confident Saber, not the pityful image she made during Fate/Zero. With her stretched arms leaning on her cool looking mop Saber also radiates a feeling of dilligence and a hard worker.
The paintjob and the sculpting of her clothes and body are on par with quality figures of today.
Final Words
So is this old Saber Maid a figure I would recommend to get?
No, actually not, would it be for the cool pose and the lovely maid outfit alone, I would keep this Saber figure with pleasure, but the narrowly sculpted face and the very yellowish tone of her hair actually bother me that much, that I don’t want to keep her after writing this review. Im going to sell this one and order the Saber Maid R version that I planned to get in the first place.
There are rarely figures from 2007 or from earlier years, that can compete with the craftsmanship and quality that the big figure manufacturing companies are offering today. I will keep this in mind when I feel like getting a figure that was popular in the early days of this figure collecting hobby.
exilehero
Yay maids!
Ah such bad luck ordering the old one heh. She looks good though, even though she’s pretty old she’s better than a lot of the modern manufacturer. But yeah, current Alter would probably do a better job.
I actually really like the other saber, alter saber. Something about her pale skin and blank expression that makes me smile. And with this kind of outfit, she looks really good.
Are you still getting R version? Is it that much better?
wieselhead
Maids ftw!
Hehe I didn’t inform myself enough and so I ended up with this older version.
Yeah indeed she looks awesome, the outfit looks just awesome, but her face is not that good in comparison.
Yes I already ordered this one, she should have a rounder face, a nice haircolor and a cooler base, just smaller changes
feal87
But…but…but…where is Excalibur? And her mittens?! *cries*
Joking aside, Alter really makes great figures. *takes her home*
wieselhead
Maids don’t wear swords, feal ^^
Yeah she’s nice aside from some little detail
Tier
I think a lot of old figures have a lot of charm, but that’s mainly because I’ve been collecting for a while and I’m very nostalgic by personality. That said, a lot of that charm gets lost when a company makes a new and improved version of a figure. Even so, the main thing I remember about this figure is seeing it on Happysoda some time ago; it seems to be one of those figures from a few years back that just about everyone had. (Some other ones that everyone had were Alter’s swimsuit Rin, Max Factory’s Ignis, and various School Rumble figures …. what ever happened to School Rumble, anyway? I remember it got a billion figures and a ton of merchandise but now, nobody remembers it.)
I think it’s odd that Alter’s never made a figure of Saber in her armored blue dress; or at least, I don’t remember them ever doing one. They seem to really like putting her in a maid uniform, instead.
wieselhead
It really feels like a massed produced figure like this and not like a piece of art anymore. Producing the old Dodge Charger again now would also be kinda rude to the aftermarket.
It’s somehow silly that the old Saber figure dropped in price after the re-re-release was announced and the new ones price dropped quickly as well
Im also not happy that Queens Gate Alice and Momohime get a re-release their prices will most likely also drop like this, ALTER should stop to lower the worth of my collection :p
But on the other hand it is good for younger collectors who couldn’t obtain older figures before.
Maybe they only have the Maid license for her 🙂
Miette-chan
I don’t usually like Saber figures but when I do they tend to be Maid Sabers. Man, this figure is super nostalgic, rewind back to 2007 or 2008 and this was one of the figures that caught my interest before I started collecting. I actually considered picking up the R version but bad timing prevented me from doing so.
I really, really like Saber’s maid outfit, it has a lot of things that I like a lot. Sexy back, sexy thigh highs, sexy zettai ryouki, sexy panties, sexy frills… lots of sexy in this figure. This figure is a perfect example that even with a slim petite body it can be very appealing and cute.
wieselhead
I remembered how less I actually liked her Character after finishing Fate/Zero, such a pitiful and pathetic girl 🙁
But in Carnival Phantasm she was great ^o^ and she looks great in a Maid attire. Ah too bad, maybe another time.
Yeah she’s one of the older ones, but you can’t notice that at her dress at least, it’s such a pretty outfit 😀
She looks sexy and cool in that dress. You know as much as I like busty girls and figures, I also like the petite ones.
Aya
Saber is pretty character but I am not fond of girl in shinning armor, although not her hardcore fan still she steal a lot of my money 🙁 , I didn’t ever think will ever buy saber figure back then lol.
Being old figure she still looks nice or you good photography make her looks better 😀 , and hope you get the R version soon
wieselhead
I think Im the same, I don’t like her character that much, she’s a bit too serious and stiff.
Haha but you have two Saber’s now, I have a nendoroid and this Maid.
But she is a beautiful example of of a Maid figure like your Alternative Saber Maid version as well =)
thx, yeah maybe in two weeks