I originally pre-ordered all three versions of this set because, to no one's surprise, favorite character. Some financial shenanigans happened and I had to cancel most of my pre-orders in general, including these. Things have stabilized and I was able to pick one up, version A in Blue, which arrived earlier in the week. The following will be some pics and a review while being as objective as possible. My "not so objective" thoughts will come at the very end.
Let me start by saying that what you get here is about what you expect of Super Duck. There are no surprises if you have bought their stuff before.
All told this cost $80ish on Giantoy and arrived fairly quickly. It comes in a nice little silver tin and is packed nicely inside in individual little baggies. There are no instructions, which is perfectly fine, but as Spartan06 mentioned, the arm guards are a bit unique in how they go on.
The overall quality I would give a 7.5 our of 10. Yes, that is the objective score from me. Realistically, what you pay for here is the head sculpt (more on that shortly) and the rest is bonus.
- The footwear is nice overall, but the elastic used to hold it on stretches fairly quickly, making it hard to keep things on snuggly
- The stockings are nice, and go on fairly easy with patience (I tried them on 3 different TBL bodies with no issues).
- The arm guards/bracers are weird to put on, but once on do their job decently well. See the photos below for how I put them on.
- The actual dress part is a VERY tight fit and is made of very soft, but delicate fabric. For some reason, SD is obsessed with everything being a pull over design. It was not easy to get it on over the S10D's shoulders, and in the process I did catch some of the fabric on some dry skin which in turn pulled it and made those little fabric ball things on the back. Not the end of the world, but it took putting it on once to damage it. Just make it where it closes in the front or side and that issue goes away and it doesn't cost anything extra. That all said, the logo is screen printed and very crisp, even the tiny kanji is clearly seen.
- The sword is simply trash. It looks cheap, is cheap, and if I don't break this thing I will be amazed at myself. I love the tsuka (handle) and it is the nicest part, but the blade is just
- The head sculpt is very nicely painted, though there is one spot that seems to be a bit off on mine with paint with the sculpted hair, but no biggie. The eyes are nicely done, though she does come off as slightly cross-eyed in person, but photographs very well. The ponytail is basically the perfect color match. Her ribbon is clearly just cheap plastic, and would have been better served as fabric with wire. I am waiting to break it on mine.
- The biggest issue with this set is that the head sculpt is, as expected with SD, quite large. Massive even. It took a minute to really understand why too. The sculpted hair REALLY makes this head huge. Without the hair, it is probably only a little oversized but not so much it looks weird. However, I found that the head gave the impression of a being disproportionate to the S10D, slightly better with the S20A, actually quite nice with the S38A, and darn near perfect on the S52A. On the S07C, my favorite body for Kasumi, it is clearly too large IMO.
All things considered, i would call it a little over priced, but otherwise it is a solid set. Typical SD quality, and it works if you want something to play around with and do photo shoots with, which is exactly why I bought it.
Pictures (I apologize for my lighting, my lights died on me and I haven't bought replacements yet) :
She does photograph well I think. The smile with teeth is a bit odd though.
All the bodies I put her on. S52A is the best IMO.
S09C because my S07Cs are all being used. It looks photoshopped because of the lighting lol.
Stupid thing can bend even further...
On the S10D compared to one that I am working on.
The outfit helps with the head size issue
Mine (S07C) with a WIP head sculpt VS this set on the S52A
Buddies!
My "not so objective" review: The head sculpt is the best part, but otherwise I am glad I didn't end up getting the other versions. This one is enough. Considering the bodies the head looks best on, and the overall quality of the outfit, I think "cosplayer" more than anything. The materials are good in some places, cheap and pointless in others. The color scheme is wrong with the silver (really, couldn't do white?), and the logo is overall too small (and the wrong Kanji, but I assume that was to avoid copyright).
TL;DR is "IconiQ, whose first born do I have to sell for you to make this series under license?"
Anyway, hope this review helps anyone on the fence! In the time being, I will continue to just make my own.