Japan, I know it's been a while since we've last spoken (again), but I want you to know that I've forgiven you for my old roommate. It's true, I chose to live with him. Of course, you never gave me any warning that he'd spray cologne in my fridge to make it smell better, or leave caustic trails of green slime across the doorway and doorknob. And NO, I know it's not your fault that he forgot English when it was time to take my phone calls, and spoke fluent English to cute girls of his choice.
There was that cute girl who always came in. You know, the one in the short red skirt.... that, Japan, I thank you for. And I've also moved past your preoccupation with sexuality in action figures. I embrace it now. And collect it. Okay, I admit it... I always kinda liked toy-ass, but that's not the point. It's not like I ever preferred it to REAL ass. The point is this : GASHAPON. Capsule toys. Small bundles of vending machine love.
I'd always had a misconception of gashapon. US vending machine toys are notoriously crappy - ill-painted, soft plastic masses of ugly. You pop a couple of quarters into a grimy box at the end of the Shop-Rite checkout line, hoping for a tiny plastic Spongebob, and you get a pair of half-chewed wax lips and some random body hair. You also come away with a very severe sense that the universe is intent on shoving itself up your butt and breaking your heart. Yes, through your butt. Well, gashapon are perhaps the very antithesis of this.
Generally, gashapon are between four and six inches tall. They come in many small pieces that must be assembled, they're made of solid, quality plastic and painted almost flawlessly. Unarticulated and inexpensive, they cover nearly any anime property that you can imagine, and a handful of US movie properties as well. On the more obscure end of gashapon, there are also sets that detail cultural aspects of Japan - a set of school supplies from a certain region, or a set of detailed lunches from various train stations. Not much to thrill the average toy collector, but a very impressive and unusual tribute to a rich culture. They're sculptural, fascinating artworks in a tiny scale. They are not, I repeat in annoying caps, ARE NOT, anything like the 50 cent 'Homies' thing that your stupid dog or little brother is choking on. Maybe this misconception about gashapon is unique to me, or maybe it's all news to you.
Very Cool Things broke me of my misconceptions. Once I saw a single gashapon from them, I was sold. Very inexpensive, and made with the same quality as many packaged and blister-carded figures. Thank you, VCT, for showing me the light. I suggest going over there and scoping out their wares once you're done reading this. These aren't things you're going to find in a regular toy shop - online is your best bet. Once you start searching, the possibilities are endless, and many of those possibilities have lots of exposed skin.
Usually, these are sold in sets consisting of between four and eight figures. They're usually opened from their sealed, blind packaged boxes for ID purposes, but a good gasha shop will include the boxes, or at least the little pamphlet that comes with them, with your order. You can sometimes also get these in their blind-packaged boxes, and like Kubricks and other Japanese collectible toys, there may be a rare figure in the bunch that isn't pictured anywhere, like the unlisted Indiana Jones to the Star Wars Kubricks, or the Spoiler to the Batman Kubricks.
But we're not here to talk about bento boxes or cheapo American crapola. We're here to discuss the fine, fine imaginary ladies who have no qualms about showing their imaginary undergarments. Artfully, of course.
One of the first sets I picked up was the Vampire Saviour set 3, since I have a serious groove on for Morrigan. A sexy succubus with a winged head and green hair? How can I NOT be sold? Those are my top three fetishes, closely followed by piercings and the willingness to do me. If you don't find vampire chicks inherently hot, well, I feel sorry for you. Anyhow, this set had two different Morrigan figures among the total of six figures in the set. Now, there are variations on this set, and I've heard a lot of different things about what is what, but I believe that this set is 3A. 3B, and other variations, are simply color differences. All six figures sell for around 20 to 25 bucks total, which makes each figure cost about four bucks each. The main theme of this set, beyond being a Darkstalkers character lineup, is to reinvent some of the characters as females. If you think back, this isn't the first time we've seen this - Resurrection of Monstress had the same theme.
I only know Morrigan from pounding the Marvel vs. Capcom buttons in the arcade until my girlfriend and I could see her lick her fingers at the end of the battle. So, we begin with the Morrigan figures in this set.
The Leather Type Morrigan is certainly the best of the set. She comes in about 15 different pieces that pop together pretty well. The various pieces are packaged in separate baggies so that they don't rub together and scrape. The fits aren't flawless, and there are small gaps where they fit together. The pegs are easy to carve away at in order to get a better fit. There are no instructions, but the gashapon should come with a picture of the figure. It's easy enough to figure out what goes where. One of the things you'll notice about gashapon is how well they're sculpted and painted. There's more details and sculpt here than most of your average Star Wars toys. Sure, they don't move, but they're sculptures.
[size comparison]
This was the only figure that I had serious assembly problems with. Everything was going together well except for the wings on her back, which I eventually glued in. The pegs were simply not big enough to lodge themselves in the holes. She also has a tumbling problem. She has a large disc for a base to stabilize her, and a rock to peg her other foot into, but it's not enough to keep the balance. Eventually, you can turn and twist enough to get her to stand, but expect a few falls. Don't put her on any high shelves for a while - I did and I had to reassemble her about 3 times.
From glossed paint to matte paint and soft skin tones - it has everything that a larger figure would have, all wrapped in tight, Vampiric leather. The eyes are probably the hardest thing to create on an action figure, but this figure nails it. Now, she has an eyepatch for some reason, but it's a totally punk eyepatch with lots of little metal studs in it. When I lose an eye, and I'm definitely planning on it, I certainly hope that I can afford a totally boss patch that I can buckle onto my head. Or would it be equally hardcore to just let the socket whistle in the wind? Maybe I can be extreme and farm bees from the hole.
So, Morrigan in her undies, for four bucks. A few big gaps and assembly issues, but once it's all fixed up, it's awesome. I didn't know that something so cool could exist. This much detail in this small a figure redefines toys for me. I mean damn, why doesn't Hasbro do this? This is anything but cheaply made, and it still costs four dollars.
Which brings us to Morrigan in even less undies, End Dress Type Morrigan. Stay tuned for more tomorrow!
Still tuned? Good, 'cause there's more chesty goodness on the horizon. End Dress Morrigan pulls off a far more Vampirella-esque look. The kind of look that you can only achieve with ribbons and a lot of nothing else. Ribbons that are held in place with Drakulonian physics, in which 'E= MCwho cares 'cause you can almost see that chick's nipples'.
End Dress Morrigan presumably resembles Morrigan after she's won the game, and has found her eyeball that had accidentally rolled behind the fridge. The assembly is a lot simpler, as her back-wings are no longer present and her various pieces are fewer. The seams on this one are a bit more visible, as are the areas where the bits are joined. The segment gaps (at the elbows and mid-leg) are not repairable, but the seams can be easily trimmed away with your basic razor. Do this at your own risk.
The Leather Type Morrigan is obviously the main crux of this miniseries, with the rest of the figures coming in with a bit less detail or concern. Even despite this, End Dress Morrigan is a neat little statue - translucent skirt, other painted pseudo-translucent parts that match colors perfectly, a ton of fine detail and a flawlessly printed face. I think that her skirt is supposed to hang down, but mine was packaged in such a way to permanently bend it upwards.
The pose on this one is especially nice, poised on one foot in her translucent base, similar to the second Bome statue. It makes the balance a bit tricky, but her base also plugs into a black disc base that can be adjusted to carry the weight. The figure is sturdy, and doesn't have any spontaneous disassembly problems. It marks the second Morrigan in my collection, and one of many, many Morrigan gashapon. I venture to say that she's possibly one of the most often produced mini-figures, next to Chun Li. I can't imagine what the appeal is, but it certainly reinforces that idea that toys are for more than just kids, and Japan recognizes this. You go, Japan. You make those shockingly sexual miniature sculptures 'till the cows come home and honorably crash into the barn in a blaze of glory! Divine wind!
Um... Morrigan, in her 'End Dress', presumably not named so because you can see her full ass, is a stupendous value for four bucks, and a sweet work of art. A fun display piece for anywhere.
Every time I review a mermaid action figure, I'll invariably mention how I have vivid dreams about the existence of mermaid action figures. So, get used to it.
So, I have these dreams. They're beautiful, and they feature a lovely array of mermaid action figures, all the colors of the rainbow, which I find sweetly packaged on the shelf of my local toy store. Now, for the second time, Japan has made my disturbingly geeky (and probably sensually Freudian) dreams come true. First, there was Gilleala, and now, there's Aulbath (literally translated : 'Arubasu'), which further completes some gap in my self that probably shouldn't be there in the first place.
Aulbath is another example of a beautiful, smooth sculpt, with exceptionally delicate hands. While her tail and lower body have no kind of texture details, they have a sparkly sheen to them and are slightly translucent. The voluminous hair is some of the most stylistically appealing hair I've seen on a figure, and it provides a wealth of detail, as well as some convenient chest covering. It seems to be made of a clear material, which is lightly dusted with yellow. Any seam that this figure has from assembled parts is well hidden - between the tail and the torso, and underneath the breasts, which would probably obscure a large walrus, or Wilford Brimley, as if to imply there were a difference.
The paint on the figure is perfect, except for a large spot of extra paint around one of the fin-ears. Even the skin tone has slightly pinker airbrushed areas. She is in scale with the Morrigans, but we'll see a couple of figures later on that are completely out of scale. It's a spectacular little mermaid figure, which is genuinely beautiful, and a very neat part of the set.
Click HERE for part two of the Vampire Saviour 3 Gashapon Review!