Alter Saber Alter Maid 1/6 and Chibi! Figure Review

So this figure, or rather two figures, had appeared on my blog a couple of times already, so we’ll mention them a tad before we delve into my review of them.

The first appearance was back in the Figure Friday post covering September 18th to the 24th (2009). It shared the first pick of the week award with another figure. Then, it made another appearance, on Figure Monthly of that same month, under the title of “Figure I am Most Likely to Buy”, and at this stage, everything was just me trying to stave off the expenditure of money, fighting against the inevitable.
It wasn’t very surprising that in the overview of November, in the Media Consumption and Purchases post, I had let it be known that I had sent forth the money in order to purchase this figure. In the end I picked this figure over Saber Lily Distant Avalon.

This figure is a Hobby Channel exclusive, so I had to use a deputy service in order to acquire it. I have went with the figure-oriented Joseph Tsai of Tokyo Hunter. The figure was 8,000 yen cover-price, and going through a deputy service had not surprisingly made the costs higher. The figure was very well packed, and communication with Joseph was rapid, easy, and accomodating, so I am not at all sorry about having used him. Thumbs up to Tokyo Hunter’s services, so long you’re ok with the prices.
Figure produced by Alter.

Finally, the figure was scheduled for an April release, but ended up being released in May. I’ve already received it and taken photos, obviously ;) Click on photos to get taken to the Flickr page. Full set here.

The packaging, I ordered it and it shipped by SAL. The box was huge, so I took some photos. I decided to use Saber Lily’s nendoroid (which I should review someday) for purposes of scale. Inside the box were newspapers, another carton box, a light wrapping, and finally the figure’s box. VERY well packaged. Being 1/6 scale, it’s not surprising how large Saber is, and it’s large.

External and internal boxes. Nendoroid Saber Lily is adorable.

  

The box is pretty neat, with the front having a silhouette of Saber Alter, the back a silhouette of the chibi, and the sides are red with the front and back of the bigger figure.

The back, so cute :)

   

Now, I’m not really a great photographer, and the lighting conditions in my room are a bit problematic, so I opted for flash. I decided to use the figure’s box as the background. Perhaps a lighter background would’ve been better, dunno. Here is the companion piece to the one on top, without flash.

No-flash photo, not as “cold”-tinted.

Here is Saber Alter from the rear. With all of her lacy goodness. By the by, if you notice her hair is not as yellow as the chibi or the nendoroid’s, or the lack of the ahoge (the hairslip), this is because this is Saber Alter from Fate/Hollow Ataraxia, and that’s just the way she looks.

Ah, lacy goodness… also notice the silhouette on the box’s front.

I only remembered to take a panty-shot from behind, I hope you’ll manage to forgive me ;) Also, this show really shows some of the flash’s effects. But, the real issue is, what is Saber doing with her fingers? What is she pointing at?

Beauty, Saber is thy name. I like how gentle it is. Also, “Zettai Ryouiki!”

Ah yes… this figure is a must for all you fans of “Zettai Ryouik”, the “Ultimate zone”, referring to that between the leggins and the undies/skirt.

Saber and the chibi come on top of a red-and-black tiled floor. It’s quite shiny, and really catches fingerprints. Saber is also stable enough to stand without her leg-pins! Which is nice.

A look from above. Placed the chibi’s floor-piece on big-Saber’s.

I guess this brings us to the chibi, who is just too cute by far! If you’re wondering at how lush their eyes look, this is because their eyes don’t seem to have been painted on, but seem to be glued-on-decals. This makes them seem more sparkling, but makes me worry they might one day fall off?

SO cute!

And yes, I know I didn’t get her to hold her squeegee firmly enough :P

 

 

One thing that was slightly annoying to me, was that the piece of paper explaining how to get the squeegee into big Saber’s arms and other such explanations was at the bottom of my box, so I only found it after prying open her fingers and hoping they won’t break… but it’s good to know for the future.
Her fingernails are not painted, but this is such a lovely and beautiful figure.

Scores:
Painting: I like the brighter yellow of original Saber, but this figure has nothing wrong with it, flesh-tones a bit pale. 4.8/5.
Sculpt: Nothing wrong with these figures, and you even get two. Being 1/6 Saber is also big. The paper that explains how to get the squeegee into her hands gives her a perfect score, had you had to pry her fingers wide it’d have been less.  5/5.
Pose: A bit subdued, but at the same time striking and with a hint of power. I am not sure what she is doing with her fingers. The chibi is perfect, and squished! You get a hint of her flesh, and it’s neat. 4/5.
Overall: I’d give this figure a very solid 4.8/5; for those wondering, this score is not an average as it also takes into account how happy I am with this figure, which is probably 4.9/5, because it was expensive ;)
If you don’t like maids, it’ll probably be less. The chibi BTW is an unconquered 5/5.

And now, some more photos, click on them to go to the Flickr page! Also, sharing is loving, so if you like this post re-tweet, vote up on animeblips, etc. In two posts we’ll reach the 100th post!

  

   

 

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