REVEREND SPOOKY

​My 1000Toys Joumon Kugutu Bokkoku 1/6 figure arrived a a little while back, and I couldn't resist taking him out for some photos. Designed and sculpted by Takayuki Takeya, the figure is absolutely gorgeous, and the blue patina color scheme is just incredible.  1000Toys is seriously putting out some of the freshest, most original 1/6 work on the market, and their Joumon Kugutu line is spectacular.  Sooner or later, I'll probably get some ideas, and start tinkering and customizing him, but for now, couldn't be happier.

I wanted to get some quick pics up of the Original Effect Sunny & Rocketer, before they got parted out for custom figures.  My boy Chris did an awesome video review over at The Straight Poop where he digs into to the articulation, and gets super detailed about about features an accessories. His reviews are always well worth a watch, and are just the right combination of crassly funny and thoroughly informative.  But I figured I'd throw up a few of my own thoughts.

I did a photo review of Sophia when I got her back in Aprii, and I covered a lot of the general details about the Original Effect figures.  Both Sunny & the Rocketer use the same Teenie bodies, and recycle the same sword and pistol.  but I figured I'd mention a few details about the new releases.

My complaints:
-Everyone will eventually get tired of hearing me say it, but I really wish all figures would come with bare feet, and boots would accommodate them instead of the boots that peg into the ankle.  I know it's cheaper to do.  But as a customizer, it just opens up a lot more options, and makes my life easier.  Doesn't everyone just want to make my life easier?
 -Sunny's Gasmask came with a small thin wire to attach it, instead of any type of strap.  This is the weirdest way I've ever seen to attach an accessory.  I don't know if this was laziness, or if there is some advantage I just don't see.  But I plan to add a strap to mine when I actually end up using it.
-The Rocketer came packaged with a thick plastic loosely wrapped around the head, but Sunny did not.  I think from scraping on the inside of the box, this led to Sunny missing a little bit of paint from the tip of her nose.  Not the worst damage, but I am a little disappointed.

Mixed feelings:
-Both the Sunny & the Rocketer use OE's new 2.0 bodies.  Whether these will ever get released loose, I'd love to know.  They released images back in July, but since they haven't updated any news or social media in months, I'm worried we may never see these.  The bodies have some airbrushed detail, generally highlighting muscle tone.  It's not the best I've seen, but it's really not bad either, and does help bring out definition, especially in the abs.  The coloring has a little bit of an orange tone that seems a bit off to me, but again, it's not bad.  
-Damn Original Effects, set your dyes.  Something about the blue you use bleeds and stains like crazy.  It's really cool that they addressed this by packing these figures nude, which I think is brilliant, with all clothes and accessories packed in little boxes to the side.  But I know you can set these dyes so they don't stain.  We have the means, I know we do. 

The good:
-Despite a few gripes, I do just really love these figures.  I think Original Effect has a cool niche with the stylized face sculpts and willowy proportions, and movable eyes.  It's like some of the best features of 1/6 scale figures and ball-joint dolls combined.  The tailoring on all the clothes is top notch, and nothing ever feels cheap.  The Rocketer's coat especially is just top quality and extremely detailed.  And besides the weirdness with the gasmask wire, they don's seem to cut any corners.  No molded pouches, and all pockets are functional.  The Rocketer's backpack especially is just a really cool design of pockets upon pouches with straps for the rockets.  

I really hope this isn't the last we see or Original Effect.  Because I'm ready to grab up just about anything else they put out.

I've been struggling for a while over my next steps for custom figures.  Volks, the Japanese ball joint doll company I usually buy bodies and heads from, is no longer making anything in 1/6 scale.  I've been looking for a while for an alternative, and ran across Original Effect.  They're fairly new, based out of China, and are doing more stylized head sculpts and bodies.  I immediately loved the look of a lot of their figures, but at 13" tall, they were just off scale enough that they wouldn't be compatible with any other bodies for figures I'd use.  

Recently, they announced a new "teen" body, measuring in at 10.6 inches, and Sophia was the 1st figure they were releasing using it.  It took me a bit to track one down, but I finally got her in last week.  My impressions on my first  Original Effect figure were:

My complaints (I'll get the things I don't love out of the way.):
-The band on the stocking left definite blue stains on the skin. I know this happens with a lot of rubber bodies, but I've never seen this on hard plastic. I'm working on lifting this, but it's a work in progress.
-I got 2 left hands. Not really an issue with OE, just thought I'd complain about it.  She comes with a ton of differently posed hands, and 1 pair I wasn't planning to use isn't a huge deal, but the eBay seller was good about hooking me up with a discount.
-The dress could be better fitted, and is a bit baggy.
-Ankles were a little loose, but that's from the way they peg into the shoes. Once I figured it out, and got them put together right, they're not bad at all.
-The shoes peg onto the legs, as opposed to feet that fit into shoes. I know this is fairly common and not in any way a flaw, but I'm just not a fan, and I so prefer a foot and separate shoe, especially to use for a custom. More a personal preference than anything.
-No lenses in the glasses frames, which I plan to fix on mine.

The good:
-I think, overall, the figure looks way nicer than it does in any pictures I've seen. 
-The fabrics are less shiny than they looked in pictures, and better quality. Nothing looks cheap at all, and all seems really well made. 
-The face has some light freckles across her cheeks, something i didn't notice in any of the promo images. I keep seeing a lot of people hating on the final paint, but I'm more than happy with it. 
-I thought the glasses looked kind of cheap in pictures, but are actually thinner, made of nicer plastic, and actually have some gradation of color that really make them look good.
-I had assumed the shoes were a sculpted plastic with fabric gaiters, but are actually a nice pleather outer layer. Looks great.
-Swords are all metal, which was a pleasant surprise. They have a little kinda hook on the hilt that looks like it'd be good to attach a chain to, or something, which I think is really cool. A neat design over all.
-The tactical vest is awesome. Well constructed, super detailed, and really versatile. 
-The gloves have a lot more detail, and paint looks better than it did in any pictures I saw. They looked a solid black in pics, but again, a nice color mix gives them a decent weathered, realistic look.
-The pistol stock that doubles as a holster is just a cool design. Really fun.

The body:
It's really light weight, and definitely feels more delicate than a lot of other bodies I've worked with (especially the wrist and ankle joints). It's not bad, but just something I noticed. The wrist and ankle pegs are short and small, which contributes to that, and are smooth, so they don't have the best grip. But the joints are all tight, and seem to have great mobility. The torso is rubber over an internal joint system, so I'm not sure how well it'll handle stuff like water-slide decals for tattoos, but I'll cross that bridge when i get to it.  Are they the best 1/6 scale bodies on the market? Probably not. But I think they're solid, and perfect for what I'm looking for. They're using the shorter bodies for a lot of the upcoming releases, so I think OE has a new customer from here on out.  

I was encouraged to take some figure pictures.  I figured I'd snap a few before I took her apart for and went to work.  A few hours later, I realized I had taken a ton, and had such a blast doing it.  I'd been working with BJD bodies for so long, I had forgotten how pose-able and better 1/6 scale bodies could be, and realized what a HUGE improvement these would be for all my own figures. 

As soon as I was done, I started working on updating Thornapple with the new body and head, and spent Sunday taking new pics of her.  Her new gallery is updated on the site here.  

Afterwards, I immediately ordered 3 of the upcoming blank bodies, 2 upcoming boxed figures, and 1 of the tall bodies to redo Isblomma.  I'm more excited than I've been in ages and can't wait to get to work on a ton of new projects.