[FiguReview]Figma Ein

It's been quite a while since my last review. To be honest I have enough number of new figures for a review material but I just don't have the mood to write, so now while I have it, let's make the number drops. Here's a *quite old* Figma of Nitroplus character from Phantom series, Ein!

Figma Ein
January 2010 release | 2500 yen | Max Factory

Characters History

Okay, let me tell you from this point: I have no idea who the hell Ein or Phantom is, so I can't really give a background or history for her, but since I'm quite good guy I'll tell you what I got from Wikipedia so you don't have to search it by yourself, haha. So from what I get, Figma Ein here takes form of her appearance from the anime version of "Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom", not the original visual novel game. Ein herself is the top assassin for the crime syndicate Inferno, and she was given code name "Phantom". As her name suggests ('ein' is German for 'one'), Ein is the first test subject of assassin-processing treatment and now she is very apathetic and doesn't have the memory of her past.

Packaging

The format of the packaging is the same as most Figmas are, only the background design of the box is different. With Ein, the design matches the assassin vibe you can get from her. If you just like me who likes her design but posses zero knowledge of her character, the official pictures shown on the back of the box can help you to be reference to how you pose her. And if you can read Japanese you can read the content of the set for yourself, but if you don't then let me list it again on the next segment, with English of course :3

Set and Accessories

Ein comes with fair amount of accessories you can count on Figma. Nothing really stands out or very interesting but it still good. So here's the list of what you'll get when you open the set.

• Ein figure
• 2 extra interchangeable face parts
• 4 pairs of interchangeable hand parts along with the holder
• Revolver
• Knife
• Figma stand
• Figma plastic bag

I forgot to take picture of the plastic bag. Some of you may see that plastic bag as useless thing, but it can store the Figma and all of the accessories it comes with and will be really useful when you bring your Figma outside so you don't have to waste space with the big box it comes with.

Sculpt

Even with simple clothing Ein wears, Figma still do detailing with it, most noticeable is those wrinkles on Ein's shirt and skirt. Her skirt and the lower shirt are made with soft plastic so even if it still has its limit, you can move Ein legs. Some quality control problem can be seen on some of the optional hands where there some really annoying seam wasted on the end of hinge joint. And there's also the downside of human action figure with simple everyday cloth like this, the joints is very visible; plus there's a hole on her back for using a Figma stand, making her appearance more....... toy-er.

Paint

Nothing much to be said here. All is great, only messy on some hardly visible areas; you won't really bothered by it.

Articulations

Figma articulation maybe not as great as recent SHF, but it still packs wide range of movements. With durable yet smooth Figma joints, you can move freely Ein at ease; just be careful on the hinge joints on the hand parts since it more fragile than the other joints, and will get loose easily too.

Figma joint on the head and neck can serve as both swivel and hinge joint though with Ein's hair she won't be able to see up too much. There's no swivel joint for bicep but there's ball-hinge joint on the shoulder for arm movement, along with the normal hinge joint on the elbow. And just like I said earlier, the leg can still be moved back and forth or sideways since the skirt is a soft plastic, though it does limit the movement.

Gimmicks

Figma specialized on human figure, and from the day one they already have interchangeable face part gimmick for most of the product so we can change the figure's facial expression to emphasize the pose we made to make it more human. And to do it, it's really simple. First we just have to remove the front hair/bang part, for the first time it may require some power to pull but usually the second time onward it will be easier. Then we just have to remove the default face part; normally this one is slightly harder but still easy nonetheless. After that just take the other face part you want to put, put it on the back hair part and put back the front hair. Voila!

But bad news, Figma face parts aren't universally interchangeable with the other Figma, even those with same series, unlike Nendoroid (though some can if it's one character; like Suzumiya Haruhi School Uniform ver with Suzumiya Haruhi Summer ver). So you can't put Ein's face parts on the other Figma you have. You can, on the other hand, use Ein head (the whole head), hand, arm, leg, or feet, to other Figma or vice versa.

Pose
These are the pictures I took of Ein doing pose........ of what I think she'll does XD

PERSONA!! XD

More pose with a wall diorama I have from Marvel Select Deadpool and sub-machine gun from Robot Damashi Bonta-kun =D

She got a job to kill Emiya Shiro :o

And this is the fan-favorite gimmick of Figma, head-swapping!

End Verdict

Ein has been one of my secondary wishlist for a while. I don't know nothing about her but I really like her simple, casual cloth. I was lucky on the last local toys fair I attended, a booth sold Ein for about $31 and after make a bid the seller agreed to sold it to me for $28. You hardly get a new, mint-in-box Figma with that price nowadays! And Ein herself is not really a bad figure. She just.... there, without any stand out gimmick or accessories. I can recommend her if you're really a fan of Nitroplus or Phantom series, but if you're not, just like the character, maybe you'll have to wait for decent price like I did.