Nevertheless, today I will write a figure review of the never fading Saber character, a few weeks or more ago I’ve received Saber – Type-Moon Racing ver. The figures design is based on the Fate/Stay Night Unlimited Blade Works anime adaption, I dont remember any grid girls, but Takeuchi Takashi came up with the illustration for this figure.

Saber – Type-Moon Racing version was manufactured by Stronger, actually my first time that I`ve ordered a figure from them. Saber was released in late September 2017. She is scaled 1/7 and comes together with an umbrella, with the umbrella the figure measures 24 cm. Her sculptor was Musasabi YU-ko a fresh person with relatively few works.

I’m actually a Fate Stay Night fan, I always enjoyed the adapted animes in terms of story and setting, basically Saber isn`t my favorite character, only in the Fate/Stay Night Unlimited Blade Works anime, where she had a really great character episode I began to appreciate her character, Saber going shopping with her friends, playing baseball and having a picnic. As normal girl Saber is quite lovely.

Her usual appearance is that of a stoic armor clad Knight, but with the expanding Fate universe and more games, different Sabers appeared with different looks and quite different personalities, in Fate Go they overdid it a bit with the Saber based characters nevertheless. Why did I decide for this Saber, when there are like 200 figures of her around?

I really like unusual Saber designs that portray Saber in a good mood and without armor, so far I’ve bought the
Saber – Fate/Hollow Ataraxia – Maid R and Saber EXTRA – Fate/EXTRA – Swimsuit version from Alter.

The Type Moon – Racing version was just such a vibrant and lively figure adaption I just couldn’t say no to.

The Saber figure has nice hair, sculpted in detailed and dynamic manner, it also has a appealïng tone of blonde. The ahoge is a seperate piece that had to be pressed into her head, at first I wondered what the tiny plastic bag was for.

Her face is accurately adapted from the Fate/Stay Night Unlimited Blade Works anime, but it’s additionally beeming with happiness. Saber has sparkling eyes and a very cute appearance. The detailed open mouth with upper front teeth line looks really nice, Overall this Saber has a pretty face with an enchanting and surprisingly upbeat expression.

Saber’s is rather skinny or better said sporty with her abs well trained and a modest chest. Based on her character data, Saber is no tall girl, but with those long legs this figure is looking quite tall. The sculptor gave her well defined and attractive buttocks from my perspective her butt is nevertheless small. I actually wouldn’t mind if she was a little chubbier than she is in this adaption, the figure is very pretty and a bit of variety in ones collection is positive.

I also would like to mention the petite hands with nicely articulated fingers of this figure, they look quite realistic and the fingernails paint has been carefully applied. Saber comes with an exchangeable left arm, one has a gripping hand.

The Saber racing version has a stunning outfit with a cool white jacket with short sleeves, the golden enblem is a nice additional eyecatcher. The hotpants adds a bit of fanservice, but reveals no too much of her firm butt. Her trademark color, royal blue was used on her attractive tube top, the end of the sleeves the hotpants and the blue ribbon at the back of her hair. Around the hotpants she wears a nice white belt. The thigh high boots are really cool with silver heals and toe cap, the long zipper at the front goes all the way up, around the upper part the boots are a little loose.

The shiny finish on her clothes looks high quality and creates a very nice contrast to the skintexture, it’s quite nice that metallic paint was used on the smaller details. The shading effects on the white clothes turns out quite nice.

A cool feature of the Saber – Type-Moon Racing version is her big “escabrella” it’s quite funny that they turned her pretty Escalibur into a fancy looking umbrella. It has a nice pattern and quite detailed framework, If you ever zapped through the sports channel you will see grid girls holding the umbrella over the pilots, to protect them fromn the sun. The grid girls on TV are always pretty, it feels a little odd that the pilots are always just focused on the race, though.

Her base looks a little cut into pieces, the reason for that is simple, there are 2 more figures from the Type-Moon Racing lineup, Tohsaka Rin and Saber/EXTRA, if you buy all 3 you can complete the “puzzle”.

Final Words

Without a doubt this is a great figure, the concept of sporty Saber is very convincing with her cheerful expression she has a youthful atmosphere. Her slender body and articulation show a lot of feminine attractivity. A great aspect of the figure is the awesome outfit with it’s really nice details. Stronger apparently makes great figure and the Saber – Type-Moon Racing version is one of them.

Welcome to Wieselhead‘s personal coverage from the Wonder Festival 2013 summer version, which was held on July 28th. It’s the biggest, most popular event for figure collectors around the world. There are two Wonder Festival each year, once in winter and once in summer.

Also in this year many manufacturers of figures and other anime related goods featured and announced interesting and most of all beautiful figures, most will hopefully (or hopefully not ^^) be available in the upcoming months. Due to the amount of interesting figures the Wonder Festival 2013 summer coverage will be divided in two posts full of bishoujo figures.

In these posts I will talk about the figures, that I considered to be worth mentioning…

I was most impressed by the things from Max Factory, seems like they finally realized their talents next to manufacturing action figures. It’s a remarkable number of nice figures.

Shingeki no Bahamut – Cerberus

This was the first figure of this years Wonderfestival that caught my interest, maybe a top favorite. Fans of demon girls have a nice time recently, first the Seven Deadly Sins and now other demonic beauties. Cerberus has slightly less anime-ish characteristics than other figures, but she still has a beautiful youthful appearance with a cute face, a sexy body and furry hands… furry? ok ;D. I really like how Max Factory adapted this figure from the to me unknown source.

sculptor: no data  – release date: no data – scale: no data

Sword Art Online – Asuna 

This a surprisingly nice portray of a damsel in distress, Asuna/Titania has a very seductive appearance, it looks totally like Max Factory qualiy, I mean her face is so beautiful and this expression  is so detailed. The chained up arms it gives a slightly sadistic touch to the figure.

sculptor: no data  – release date: no data – scale: 1/7

Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai – Kashiwazaki Sena / Mikazuki Yozora

More Haganai figures, this time Sena and Yozora in cat ear leotards, I think they would look nice next to the previously released Kobato and Maria. Well, as much as I wished for something like this after the lovely Maria and Kobato in cat costumes, Im not that hyped for it. These two or better said Sena in particular is a little off. Her face appears a bit strangely captured

sculptor: YOSHI   – release date: 2014 – scale: 1/7

Sasami-san@Ganbaranai – Yagami Tsurugi

The anime was a bit super strange, but also very funny and with likeable characters. I actually mistook Tsurugi for her younger sister Tama, but ok I don’t favor any of these characters.
The figure is sculpted in a very cute pose and the side ponytail is another nice charm point.
Im already enchanted by the figure and will most likely purchase her when the time comes.

sculptor:  no data  – release date: no data – scale:  1/7

Strike Witches 2 – Francesca Lucchini

The good stuff comes at last, I always wanted a NICE figure of Lucchini, the mischievous and cheerful loli character of the witches. The prototype looks already very cute and portrays the character of Lucchini very well. It will probably be turned into a promising Strike Witch, ahh her machine gun is so huge. Too bad that I sold her bosom buddy Charlotte to someone in Hawaii.

sculptor: no data   – release date: 2014 – scale: 1/8

Papa no Iu Koto o Kikinasai! – Takanashi Miu

Miu ≧(´▽｀)≦, Miu is a fine young lady with a sophisticated sense of fashion, I really liked her personality from the anime. The saucy lunatic smile is a bit unique for a young character, it’s like she says  “I don’t mind but you’ll get arrested for sure” A bit of improvement here would help her face I think, even though it would be funny to have a loli figure with such an expression.

sculptor: Aketagawa Noboru – release date: 2014 – scale: 1/8

Persona 4: The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena – Labrys

Im honest, I don’t know whats this about, but it’s cool, the mecha girl characterdesign is totally cool, I like Labrys. The commanding pose and the huge battle axe make this figure even better, I hope the paintjob will bring out my positive image of this figure  in the final state, as well.

sculptor: Saitou Fumiki  – release date: 2014 no data – scale: 1/8

Nitro Super Sonic – Sonico – 1/7 – Santa, Swimsuit version

A Sonico figure from ALTER, who would have ever expected this any time!? This is a nice figure for sure, half nude, but with a non teased facial expression this is quite a nice change of pace compared to other figures of her, even though her best figures show her in a teased of embarrased state. There are also Sonico figures I don’t like, because of too exaggerated proportions or questionable poses, but let me say this, these hipster Sonico fans who say thing like “that would be the first Sonico I’d ever buy cause the others look cheap”, “if Sonico would have smaller boobs I’d like her”  totally annoy me. Accept how Sonico in general is or get lost.

sculptor: Hide, Makio Munetoshi   – release date: 2014 – scale: 1/7

Summon Night 3 – Aty

This Game seems to have a really nice characerdesign, even though I never played it. I like how Aty looks her as redhead magician with a fluffy hat and glasses, glasses are the best. The bright blue eyes, her face reminds me of Hattori Hanzo, I wouldn’t have mind if Aty had a slightly more young appearance than this. Anyway the outfit is pretty cool, I love the tight fit dress with the striation design, the belts around her waiste are a nice touch as well as the high boots.
Actually no one would wear these boots in daily life, those are mainly used in red light districts, it’s too bad. All Hail anime fashion, your characters can wear such clothes with attitude.

sculptor: Yagyuu Toshiyuki   – release date: 2014 – scale: 1/8

Nisemonogatari – Oshino Shinobu

Wasn’t it a pleasant surprise as the formerly silent Shinobu turned into a naughty, talkactive Vampire wearing an bishoujo summer dress in Nisemonogatari? I love it and now here is a figure of her also wearing a ladylike hat. In gray she already looks nice, I can’t wait until she’s painted.

sculptor: no data   – release date: no data – scale: no data

Nisemonogatari – Senjougahara Hitagi

This appears also like a nice figure from Nisemonogatari. Senjougahara sama is portrayed with her caring yandere side, to keep her boyfriend from doing dangerous exorcistic activities. I like the whole presentation of this figure, sitting on a chair with a piercing look in her eyes.

sculptor: no data  – release date: no data – scale: 1/8

Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon II – Asama Tomo

Kotobukiya’s second Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon figure, Tomo is posed in a powerful shooting stance, while her very female curves are accentuated nicely. It’s a nice looking  prototype, but still It’s still not my kind of dream figure from the Horizon anime, I want something standing in a more casual fashion. Sometimes I’m just too picky with figures where I know the origin.

sculptor: no data  – release date: 2013 – scale: no data

The Idolmaster (TV Animation) – Ganaha Hibiki

I enjoyed Idolm@ster the anime a lot and Hibiki was among my favorite characters next to Haruka. Here the unique style of the show is captures very well, yeah the mouths are big, either you like it or not so much. The clothes of Hibiki are cool, Im a big fan of her heavy duty boots and the hotpants. The energetic pose is another thing I like about this figure of  Hibiki.

sculptor: Mazaki Yuusuke – release date: December 2013 – scale: 1/8

Fate/Stay Night – Saber – Pajama version

GK adaption ! Yay! I have a weak spot for Saber in alternative outfits, Saber in pajamas is something unexpectedly cute. She was made several years younger, her vulnerable and shy pose awakens protective instincts ^^.  The floating pose can be interpret as dreaming, but I think she needs a bed.

sculptor: Hashimoto Ryou   – release date: November 2013 – scale: 1/7

Nitro Super Sonic – Sonico – Mouse version

Sonico with mouse ears, I like it ﾍ(ﾟ∀ﾟ*)ﾉ.I approve of all the changes that were made compared to the source material, the hair is more three dimensional, a better face expression, toned down breast size and an altered pose. The arched back accentuates her well defined butt nicely.

sculptor: no data   – release date: no data – scale: no data

Nitro Super Sonic – Sonico – Child version

Making figures of characters as child is a new or maybe very unique idea, child Sonico is based on an illustration from the booklet which was included in the Sonicomi game. Ahh why huge headphones again, you should listen to what your parents say about a healthy diet. Sonico must have old headphones or she’s a cyborg, whatever joking aside it will depend on the pose if I’ll like this or not, her face actually looks adorable, somehow I prefer her grown up though.

sculptor: no data   – release date: no data – scale: no data

That’s it for part one of the Wonfes 2013 Summer, I hope there was something in for you, tell me what you liked. If not there will be a part two with more figures.

related post

Wonder Festival 2013 Winter – part 1

Wonder Festival 2013 Winter – part 2

Welcome to a new figure review, it’s about the 1/8 scaled magical girl Prisma ☆ Illya, I like cute magical girls a lot so I didn’t want to miss the cute Illya figure. I received this figure right after my vacation, I had to choose SAL shipping so that Illya won’t arrive when Im not at home.

Illya was manufactured by Phat Company and actually released on the 14th May in 2013.
Illya is scaled 1/8 and is 19 cm in height, she was sculpted by the experienced Mazaki Yuusuke.

Her origin is a Fate/stay Night spinoff manga called Fate/Kaleid liner Prisma ☆ Illya where Illya becomes a magical girl who has to collect cards, sounds a bit like Cardcaptor Sakura, that reminds me that I still have this certain anime review draft, that I should finish someday. In this world Illya is living together with Kiritsugu, Irisviel and Shirou. As she is chosen by the magical stick “Ruby” things happened and Illya becomes the magical girl apprentice of Tohsaka Rin.

Judging from the first few chapters it is quite hilarious. Oh and for the non manga readers (like me) there will be an anime adaption in the upcoming summer season in a few more days.

Hair & Face

Her haircolor is faint blonde with some subtle shading, two longer pigtails appear at the back of her hair with spread strands at the tips. The hair is decorated with cute winglets, the pink shading there is quite nice. The hairstyle is very close to the manga, overall the hair could be a bit more finer detailed but it’s still nice. Magical girl Illya has a beautiful face with big amber colored eyes and adorable blush marks. The figures has a big open mouth thats amplifies Illya’s happy and playful personality, on closer inspection an upper front teeth line has been applied.

Outfit & Body

The outfit is a tribute to more classic and cute  magical girl outfits like in Card Captor Sakura.
Her sleeveless top has a cute collar with a yellowish ribbon hanging down. The half sleeves are ending in the white gloves, at the end there is a golden rim. Further below Illya is wearing a nicely sculpted double layered skirt, the top part is light pink and a bit more solid, while the lower piece is dark and frilly, yeah and not to forget it’s short. Not, it’s the wind, the wind.

At her back  is small cape with a long, wing like shape, these wings have golden crosses at the tips. Her shoes are also equipped with winglets, they are a little different than the ones on her head. She is wearing light pink stockings with a jagged rim, there is a little distance between her legs and the jags. Of course Illya would be no real magical girl without zettai ryouiki.

The outfit radiates a lot of innocent cuteness, aside from her skirt being short and the revealed underside of her left thigh, which is a nice sight for sure. But it is not too bold for a magical girl to wear. The figure has a pastel like, subtle color theme, spiced up with a lot of interesting shading.

Illya ia a young girl with a petite body, the magical girl costume suits her very well and does a good job in amplifying her youthful charm and appearance. the slender arms are really cute. Quite som effort has been used to make her legs look attractive, the uplifted leg gives Illya some modest sex appeal. Under her cape Illya’s back is a little exposed, not as detailed as I wished, but her shoulderblades are covered by her cape anyway.

The magical stick “Ruby” looks like it’s manga counterpart gold, white and dark red. At the neck it has a nice clear part and a small golden cross can be found at the end. Getting it in place was a bit tricky, but therefor it won’t fell off too easily. Sturdiness is also a word that can be used for the connection to her base, even though Illya is only balanced on one leg, it is a stable solution.

Im enchanted by Illya’s pose where she seems to float forward in midair in an attempt to land, there is this kind of flow in the pose which is quite appealing, I really like  the articulation with her waving hand and the bend leg. The figure has an appealing fluttering appearance.

Final Words

Ahh, it has been some time since my last figure review and Im all rusty this time, anyway the figure of Fate/Kaleid liner Prisma ☆ Illya turned out quite nice. Her face is beautiful and even has nice blushmarks. I like the classic magical girl outfit of this figure a lot. I like the design and flower petal like wings of her top. It’s cute, it’s short and has a cute pastel like color theme.

After Hibari Phat Company again delivered a very nice figure that overall met my expectations. Qualitywise the figure is quite clean, there are only very few seamlines if they are noticeable at all. The colors are cleanly applied and the shading is great. From a nitpicky point of view I would say that a few parts of her dress, appear a few mm thicker than they could have been made.

Of course Phat Company is not on the same level as Max Factory or ALTER but only by a few percent, they manufactur solid and pretty, quality figures. I like this certain sturdiness of Phat’s figures, I am so bold to say that their figures are more durable than products of top manufacturers.

The anime adaption is starting soon, don’t miss the adorable magical girl Illya!
 httpvh://youtu.be/66JY7HRFpcE

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.

Today I have the Saber super moveable Nendoroid on review (another nendo *lol*)
I have good news for my readers who dislike Nendoroids, that was the last
Nendoroid Review for once next time I will return to PVC figures =D .

This Nendoroid  has the same look as the 1/7 scaled Saber Triumphant Excalibur,
from Good Smile Company which was released in October 2010.

Her origin is the popular Fate/Stay night franchise which consist of some Games,
an anime and lately even a Movie called Unlimited Blade Works was made.
Saber is a strong and brave servant whio was summoned by Emiya Shirō

I always was more a Rin fan than a Saber fan and so far I owned no single Saber Figure.
So this Saber Nendoroid was a pure Impulse buy,I saw it at AmiAmi Shop
and thought “Ah how cool” after checking the price, Saber landed in my shopping cart.

So what is included in the box:

• Saber and base

• two spare faces

• four spare hands

• three swords

• two scabbards

And here comes the freak face of Saber

I think the swords and scabbards have special names but I don’t have them in mind.

Good Smile Company made many Saber Nendoroids, the special feature of this one is that it is “Super Moveable” which means that Saber has nearly the same articulation like a Figma.
You can give her nearly every pose which comes to mind, she has joints at her neck, shoulders, elbows, legs and feet, you can also spread the skirt to the sides. For posing noobs like me these kind of posing freedom is a bit over the top, but I think more Nendoroid experienced or more creative people will have their fun with such a variety of possible poses,the only limiting factor is her head and the length of her arms.

Saber is the first kind of moveable Nendoroid, so I didn’t know how her moveability would turn out, there were some comments on MFC about loose parts and joints, but I only discovered that her right arm comes off easily when you pose it.

Another nice aspect of this Nendoroid is the base, it’s connects at the back of Saber. It supports Saber very well and helps you to create cool and dynamic poses. I think the connection at the back is the best way to display a Nendoroid. Honestly I’d like to drill a hole in the backs of my two older Nendoroids and equip them with such kind of bases.

The quality of GSC’s Nendoroids was always very good, after I bought Saber and Amano Tooko which was released at around the same time, I can say that their quality has even increased, the parts fit together perfectly. The paintjob is nearly flawless the same goes for the sculpting.

Talking about quality have you heard about the commotion about BRS Anime Version? As GSC was getting flamed when it came out that they forgot to put the star decal on her jacket and gave her beige colored shoe soles, personally I don’t really care about the beige boots nor the missing star I didn’t even know she had a star there until Wednesday. That they’ve forgotten to put on the star is a bit embarrassing, but even if I am no fan of  Good Smile Company I felt a bit sorry for them. I will cover my impressions about the BRS Anime Version figure in the next review.

Back to Saber’s outfit, it is very nice and detailed, as I said before she has the same. Outfit as the one of the 1/7 scaled Saber Triumphant Excalibur Version. The blue combined with the silver colored parts looks really good, especially the detailed silver colores armor plates are very cool and and I like the slightly shiny metallic paint. The different layers of her skirt which consist of the outer armor, the blue dress and the white underskirt looks really nice together.

I tried to switch the head with another Nendo, but the neck of Sumomo was a bit too thick, to fit in Sabers body so I had to switch the neck peg.

Final Words:

This Saber Nendoroid is a very nice and cool Nendoroid, she offers you a lot of freedom for creating cool and dynamic poses. I am really astonished about the moveability of such a small figure. The paintjob of her outfit looks great with the combination of blue and silver colors. The three different faces are also nice and have diversified expressions, my favorites are the kind and the serious one, Sabers eyes look very nice. Also the sculpting of this Saber Nendoroid is accurate and very well done.

Another Review of her can be found at nendonesia.com