Hey folks, I received this on New Years Eve and had some time to get some photos and gather my thoughts. I figured since this will be fairly picture heavy I should do a new topic for my review of this figure, separate from the product announcement thread.
I need to start with two, very important disclaimers.
1. Lighting is EVERYTHING when it comes to photography and videography, as do accompanying angles. My setup is NOT the best (I am testing a new camera as well, so this was the first real test for it). I also intentionally went for a mixture of iffy lighting and something with atmosphere to prove my point. The head sculpt WILL look inconsistent.
2. The body of the figure has been swapped. The VS Toys Volleyball Girl set has the same body, save some NSFW details up top, so because I had one I decided to swap them. Either way, I effectively have two bodies for this Mai, which is pretty useful I think.
This review will score each category, with the most weight being given to quality of product and overall value.
So lets start!
OVERVIEW: FIRST IMPRESSIONS (SCORE: 9.5/10)
Packaging:
Mai came in a fairly large box with a lot of details that I don't see on similarly priced figures. The box is printed very well, and on the inside is an insert with the production team's information. The back (not shown) has a lot of information on the product as well. So far, it is a great start and I will be protecting the box so it stays nice.
Also not shown is the amount of foam this packaging contains. I am sure she bounced around a good bit but it didn't phase the contents. Very solid packing for everything. The only gripes I have is that the figure herself was kinda shoved in there. She was protected, and no damage was done, but she wasn't exactly what I would call comfortable in there. Also, the foam liked to shed (I guess that's the right way of describing it?) and got all over the place. Easy cleanup, but still obnoxious.
Body:
I stripped her down and cleaned the body. I do this with new figures that have seamless bodies, so it wasn't really needed, though it helped with the foam shed. Definitely a TBL body, and as I said above, the same as with the VS Toys Volleyball Girl set, minus some NSFW details up top.
- Closest released body is probably the S36, but the overall sculpt is still different.
- Very large bust, narrow waist, slightly narrow hips.
- Short in height as well.
- Overall measurements: 270mm height, 150mm/86mm/136mm B/W/H.
- As flexible as any other TBL body, though arm movement is restricted thanks to their new skeleton design (*smacks TBL for changing that with this style body*)
- Small pegs for wrists and ankles
- Small neck peg and adapter
Final Score is 9.5/10 The reasoning here is simple the foam. It does shed and gets everywhere, which when you are as picky as I am gets old instantly. Others I am sure will feel the same, hence the knock to the score, albeit minimal.
ACCESSORIES (SCORE: 8.5/10)
We all want good accessories, both in amount and quality, when spending $200+ on a figure. So where then does this Mai stack up? Very well actually. In the box there are the following:
- Two total rope shoulder ties
- 2 extra pairs of hands for a total of 3 pairs of hands (2 in box, one on the figure).
- A fan which can be folded and fanned out
- A fan fanned out with fire effect
- Parasol top and shaft
- Detailed display stand
The rope ties are soft and pose no danger to the figure. I am not sure why they included 2 though...
The hands are very well painted, though there are some slight issues with crispness of that paint on her hand guards. Most won't notice it honestly. The real issue here is that there are no "neutral" pose hands. Everything is action based. Not bad all things considered, but holding that parasol or the fans is difficult.
The foldable fan is well made, and works great. The fire effect fan is simply stunning in both look and quality. It is heavy though, so those neutral hands would be helpful here.
The parasol and shaft are my favorite accessories here. Supremely well made (the shaft is made of metal and could easily serve as a staff weapon if Mai used such a thing), it is a joy to look at. Excellently painted, and solid as a rock!
The display stand is simple, but excellent. Her name is engraved on a metal plate attached too the front, while the base is painted with the KOF 97 logo. The arm for the figure is INCREDIBLY strong. It is metal, flexible, and screws into the base. This stand could probably hold a figure 3 times her weight in the air no problem. It is that solid.
Final Score is 8.5/10. It loses points for two things: The need for those neutral hands is high due to the weight of the main accessories, and frankly I shouldn't find minor paint flaws in this price range (and they are MINOR).
OUTFIT (SCORE: 9.75/10)
Mai herself is based on the KOF '97 rendition of the character. Mai has changed a good deal through the years and from one game to the next. KOF '97 though has, IMO anyway, one of her best overall designs. Not too flashy or stylized. Simple. Beautiful. Really part of why Mai is a beloved character for the series.
Now we need to answer this question: Did they capture that simple beauty of KOF '97 Mai?
From the neck down, in both body shape and outfit design, yes. They nailed it. The outfit is her red/white version with the two cloth "tails" with large balls/orbs at the end. It fits perfectly and the quality of the materials used is excellent. The only issue is that the front flap of the outfit is sewn on with a single strand of thread to help it stay in place. Nothing shocking here, it is just fragile and otherwise the only real flaw with their outfit execution. Her sash, which connects the tails of the outfit is soft, easy to manipulate, and scaled perfectly. The tails are wired and wired well, adding to their functionality for the more action packed poses one may do.
Despite my gripe with the minor paint issues for the hands, the fact of the matter is they work great in conveying Mai's move set and overall attitude. The wrist and ankle fabric pieces are plastic, but they are not too tight, fit very well, and are painted well. Her feet are very well done, and while they could be a touch crisper in their paint application, they are rock solid and look amazing with the rest of the outfit. Simple, beautiful, exactly what we want with Mai.
Final Score: 9.75/10 Again, I shouldn't be finding minor paint issues at this price point. Otherwise, the outfit is as close to perfect as possible.
HEAD SCULPT (SCORE: 8.75/10)
The other component of a character like Mai is the head sculpt. Does it capture her beauty, and the design they were going for (first as source material, second as prototype)?
The answer is a bit of a mixed bag.
In the product release thread there was discussion on how the head would match up with Genesis version of Mai. In terms of quality (hair sculpt, eyes being in the right place, paint job, etc.) they are about as equal as it comes. The "fit and finish" of the two included head sculpts are excellent. The hair is sculpted beautifully, the eyes are clear and crisp and not sideways or crosseyed, the paint of the skin tone and lips is simple and clean. It goes toe-to-toe with the Genesis head sculpt here.
But does it look like the prototype, especially since that is what is on the box?
The answer is simply no. It does not. However, and I cannot stress this enough, the sculpt is very much on par with this version of Mai. The issue with comparing it to the Genesis version (note I am comparing it to the 2P, purple version that was released not long ago and what I own) is that the Genesis version did great at emulating the KOF 14 version of Mai. That is a more stylized, more anime/video game version of her, which they nailed as well IMO. KOF '97 went for the more realistic look and to that end they still nailed it. The prototype is stunning, and yes I wish I had it, but I am in no way upset with what they did. She is still beautiful, simple, and very much Mai.
The secondary head sculpt, with her eyes looking to the side, is so moody and sultry that I absolutely love it. Easily the best secondary head sculpt I own. I am very glad I have a second body to use as I can do a "non-character" outfit and she still feels the part of Mai. Now if I could only get an Andy Bogard to pair up here...oh well...
Final Score: 8.75/10 Points are lost here because of the failure to match the prototype in such a clear way. At this price point, you need to deliver to that end. However, I cannot take away from them what they did accomplish, which is a simple, beautiful portrait of Mai that holds very well to their source material.
KOF '97 Concept
KOF 14 Concept
Quality for the money and Final Score (Value for the Money score: 8/10) (Objective Overall Score: 8/10) (Subjective Overall Score: 9/10)
Below are the majority of the photos, showing a comparison between the 2P Genesis Mai and the various lighting/poses/and angles of the head sculpt. Again, the lighting is intentional.
That said, what is the value for your money here. I spent $250 at Giantoy for her. Did I get my money's worth?
I would say yes. The overall quality is excellent from the accessories to the outfit to the body used to head sculpt. The quality of presentation is very much Mai Shiranui. This is not a perfect release, and it has issues, but none of them make me feel like my money was wasted. The failure to have sharper paint at this price and a closer to the proto head sculpt is what ultimately garnered the 8/10 objective overall score. However, the head sculpt is close enough a rendition of the source that when combined with it having no glaring issues with the eye placement and paint, I couldn't drop it lower.
Subjectively, and in my opinion, I think this is a fantastic release that I am very happy to have. Either way, if you like Mai this is worth looking into picking up.
The fun part about reviews is that they are, by nature, subjective. Even if you do your best to be objective in it. The best I can do is take a bunch of pics, give my honest thoughts, and let it float out into the void that is the internet.
FINAL SCORES
Value for the Money Score: 8/10 This is due to the price being $250 at the low end combined with the other issues I mention above. Paint should be crisp in all spots at this price point. Prototypes should be met as well. However, the 8 score is to acknowledge what they did do well and to acknowledge that much of this cost is licensing. Take that cost out and what they did is very, very good.
Objective Overall Score: 8/10 Not everyone will be happy with this, but that's how it goes with any release. There are issues which will be deal breakers for some. For others, these things do not matter.
Subjective Overall Score: 9/10 This is to be read as "what does the poster of this review make of it personally" and nothing more. I like it, a lot. In fact, I think they did better than the Genesis 2P version in many ways. She's my favorite Mai at this point. Some minor issues to me keep it from being perfect.
The two versions I own compared. The size difference is obvious.
The head sculpt. Note my disclaimer at the start, lighting and angles mean everything.
Poses and stuff
Secondary Head Sculpt
All three together
In a home-made lightbox
I need to start with two, very important disclaimers.
1. Lighting is EVERYTHING when it comes to photography and videography, as do accompanying angles. My setup is NOT the best (I am testing a new camera as well, so this was the first real test for it). I also intentionally went for a mixture of iffy lighting and something with atmosphere to prove my point. The head sculpt WILL look inconsistent.
2. The body of the figure has been swapped. The VS Toys Volleyball Girl set has the same body, save some NSFW details up top, so because I had one I decided to swap them. Either way, I effectively have two bodies for this Mai, which is pretty useful I think.
This review will score each category, with the most weight being given to quality of product and overall value.
So lets start!
OVERVIEW: FIRST IMPRESSIONS (SCORE: 9.5/10)
Packaging:
Mai came in a fairly large box with a lot of details that I don't see on similarly priced figures. The box is printed very well, and on the inside is an insert with the production team's information. The back (not shown) has a lot of information on the product as well. So far, it is a great start and I will be protecting the box so it stays nice.
Also not shown is the amount of foam this packaging contains. I am sure she bounced around a good bit but it didn't phase the contents. Very solid packing for everything. The only gripes I have is that the figure herself was kinda shoved in there. She was protected, and no damage was done, but she wasn't exactly what I would call comfortable in there. Also, the foam liked to shed (I guess that's the right way of describing it?) and got all over the place. Easy cleanup, but still obnoxious.
Body:
I stripped her down and cleaned the body. I do this with new figures that have seamless bodies, so it wasn't really needed, though it helped with the foam shed. Definitely a TBL body, and as I said above, the same as with the VS Toys Volleyball Girl set, minus some NSFW details up top.
- Closest released body is probably the S36, but the overall sculpt is still different.
- Very large bust, narrow waist, slightly narrow hips.
- Short in height as well.
- Overall measurements: 270mm height, 150mm/86mm/136mm B/W/H.
- As flexible as any other TBL body, though arm movement is restricted thanks to their new skeleton design (*smacks TBL for changing that with this style body*)
- Small pegs for wrists and ankles
- Small neck peg and adapter
Final Score is 9.5/10 The reasoning here is simple the foam. It does shed and gets everywhere, which when you are as picky as I am gets old instantly. Others I am sure will feel the same, hence the knock to the score, albeit minimal.
ACCESSORIES (SCORE: 8.5/10)
We all want good accessories, both in amount and quality, when spending $200+ on a figure. So where then does this Mai stack up? Very well actually. In the box there are the following:
- Two total rope shoulder ties
- 2 extra pairs of hands for a total of 3 pairs of hands (2 in box, one on the figure).
- A fan which can be folded and fanned out
- A fan fanned out with fire effect
- Parasol top and shaft
- Detailed display stand
The rope ties are soft and pose no danger to the figure. I am not sure why they included 2 though...
The hands are very well painted, though there are some slight issues with crispness of that paint on her hand guards. Most won't notice it honestly. The real issue here is that there are no "neutral" pose hands. Everything is action based. Not bad all things considered, but holding that parasol or the fans is difficult.
The foldable fan is well made, and works great. The fire effect fan is simply stunning in both look and quality. It is heavy though, so those neutral hands would be helpful here.
The parasol and shaft are my favorite accessories here. Supremely well made (the shaft is made of metal and could easily serve as a staff weapon if Mai used such a thing), it is a joy to look at. Excellently painted, and solid as a rock!
The display stand is simple, but excellent. Her name is engraved on a metal plate attached too the front, while the base is painted with the KOF 97 logo. The arm for the figure is INCREDIBLY strong. It is metal, flexible, and screws into the base. This stand could probably hold a figure 3 times her weight in the air no problem. It is that solid.
Final Score is 8.5/10. It loses points for two things: The need for those neutral hands is high due to the weight of the main accessories, and frankly I shouldn't find minor paint flaws in this price range (and they are MINOR).
OUTFIT (SCORE: 9.75/10)
Mai herself is based on the KOF '97 rendition of the character. Mai has changed a good deal through the years and from one game to the next. KOF '97 though has, IMO anyway, one of her best overall designs. Not too flashy or stylized. Simple. Beautiful. Really part of why Mai is a beloved character for the series.
Now we need to answer this question: Did they capture that simple beauty of KOF '97 Mai?
From the neck down, in both body shape and outfit design, yes. They nailed it. The outfit is her red/white version with the two cloth "tails" with large balls/orbs at the end. It fits perfectly and the quality of the materials used is excellent. The only issue is that the front flap of the outfit is sewn on with a single strand of thread to help it stay in place. Nothing shocking here, it is just fragile and otherwise the only real flaw with their outfit execution. Her sash, which connects the tails of the outfit is soft, easy to manipulate, and scaled perfectly. The tails are wired and wired well, adding to their functionality for the more action packed poses one may do.
Despite my gripe with the minor paint issues for the hands, the fact of the matter is they work great in conveying Mai's move set and overall attitude. The wrist and ankle fabric pieces are plastic, but they are not too tight, fit very well, and are painted well. Her feet are very well done, and while they could be a touch crisper in their paint application, they are rock solid and look amazing with the rest of the outfit. Simple, beautiful, exactly what we want with Mai.
Final Score: 9.75/10 Again, I shouldn't be finding minor paint issues at this price point. Otherwise, the outfit is as close to perfect as possible.
HEAD SCULPT (SCORE: 8.75/10)
The other component of a character like Mai is the head sculpt. Does it capture her beauty, and the design they were going for (first as source material, second as prototype)?
The answer is a bit of a mixed bag.
In the product release thread there was discussion on how the head would match up with Genesis version of Mai. In terms of quality (hair sculpt, eyes being in the right place, paint job, etc.) they are about as equal as it comes. The "fit and finish" of the two included head sculpts are excellent. The hair is sculpted beautifully, the eyes are clear and crisp and not sideways or crosseyed, the paint of the skin tone and lips is simple and clean. It goes toe-to-toe with the Genesis head sculpt here.
But does it look like the prototype, especially since that is what is on the box?
The answer is simply no. It does not. However, and I cannot stress this enough, the sculpt is very much on par with this version of Mai. The issue with comparing it to the Genesis version (note I am comparing it to the 2P, purple version that was released not long ago and what I own) is that the Genesis version did great at emulating the KOF 14 version of Mai. That is a more stylized, more anime/video game version of her, which they nailed as well IMO. KOF '97 went for the more realistic look and to that end they still nailed it. The prototype is stunning, and yes I wish I had it, but I am in no way upset with what they did. She is still beautiful, simple, and very much Mai.
The secondary head sculpt, with her eyes looking to the side, is so moody and sultry that I absolutely love it. Easily the best secondary head sculpt I own. I am very glad I have a second body to use as I can do a "non-character" outfit and she still feels the part of Mai. Now if I could only get an Andy Bogard to pair up here...oh well...
Final Score: 8.75/10 Points are lost here because of the failure to match the prototype in such a clear way. At this price point, you need to deliver to that end. However, I cannot take away from them what they did accomplish, which is a simple, beautiful portrait of Mai that holds very well to their source material.
KOF '97 Concept
KOF 14 Concept
Quality for the money and Final Score (Value for the Money score: 8/10) (Objective Overall Score: 8/10) (Subjective Overall Score: 9/10)
Below are the majority of the photos, showing a comparison between the 2P Genesis Mai and the various lighting/poses/and angles of the head sculpt. Again, the lighting is intentional.
That said, what is the value for your money here. I spent $250 at Giantoy for her. Did I get my money's worth?
I would say yes. The overall quality is excellent from the accessories to the outfit to the body used to head sculpt. The quality of presentation is very much Mai Shiranui. This is not a perfect release, and it has issues, but none of them make me feel like my money was wasted. The failure to have sharper paint at this price and a closer to the proto head sculpt is what ultimately garnered the 8/10 objective overall score. However, the head sculpt is close enough a rendition of the source that when combined with it having no glaring issues with the eye placement and paint, I couldn't drop it lower.
Subjectively, and in my opinion, I think this is a fantastic release that I am very happy to have. Either way, if you like Mai this is worth looking into picking up.
The fun part about reviews is that they are, by nature, subjective. Even if you do your best to be objective in it. The best I can do is take a bunch of pics, give my honest thoughts, and let it float out into the void that is the internet.
FINAL SCORES
Value for the Money Score: 8/10 This is due to the price being $250 at the low end combined with the other issues I mention above. Paint should be crisp in all spots at this price point. Prototypes should be met as well. However, the 8 score is to acknowledge what they did do well and to acknowledge that much of this cost is licensing. Take that cost out and what they did is very, very good.
Objective Overall Score: 8/10 Not everyone will be happy with this, but that's how it goes with any release. There are issues which will be deal breakers for some. For others, these things do not matter.
Subjective Overall Score: 9/10 This is to be read as "what does the poster of this review make of it personally" and nothing more. I like it, a lot. In fact, I think they did better than the Genesis 2P version in many ways. She's my favorite Mai at this point. Some minor issues to me keep it from being perfect.
The two versions I own compared. The size difference is obvious.
The head sculpt. Note my disclaimer at the start, lighting and angles mean everything.
Poses and stuff
Secondary Head Sculpt
All three together
In a home-made lightbox
