Tomopop Review: Good Smile Company's 1/8 scale Hatsune Miku

5:56 PM on 01.04.2009   |   Topher Cantler

It's not every day that I get to review my most wanted figure in the history of wanted things. It's taken me quite a while to settle on which photos to use for this piece, but still not as long as the imagined eternity I spent pining for GSC to release their 1/8 scale rendition of Hatsune Miku outside of Japan.

I should further preface this review by saying that there isn't a camera in the world capable of capturing this figure's beauty. No photograph can do her justice, and while it may seem a futile effort, I will do my best to show her to you the way that I see her.

Sap aside, hit the jump for my full review. 

Good Smile Company knows what a gorgeous piece of work they've got here, and have packaged Miku accordingly. Her box is a concert of blues and purples set against black, with accents of reflective silver to highlight her name and silhouette. 

What's inside of it is impossible not to set free. 

This gallery could easily have been 1000 photos deep. It doesn't matter what angle or distance you view her from, Miku is beautiful. 

The first thing you'll notice upon taking her out of the box is Miku's hair. i was surprised to discover that it's not actually made of PVC like the rest of the figure. 

It's made of a hard, lightweight plastic -- similar to the stuff many Christmas tree ornaments are made of. This takes away the additional weight that could cause leaning, and adds a resilience in shape that can't be achieved with PVC. Rest assured that she will be as lovely and stable ten years from now as she is today. 

The paint is pretty spectacular to behold in person. Glossy teal, jet black, and sparkling, shimmering silver. Also of note are her thigh-highs and detached sleeves, which seem not to be painted, but rather printed on somehow, retaining some forced artificial shine and gradients by some method I'm unable to reverse-engineer in my head. I don't know how it's done, but the result is fantastic. 

The finer detail is also nothing short of what you'd expect from the team at GSC. The telemetry data displays on her sleeves and clothing are all accurately represented, and they've even given her a nice color-coordinated manicure. 

The "DX" you see in the photo above is small enough to cover with the tip of a needle. This appears on her skirt. 

Which is removable. 

Nice to see that they took time to paint the little bow here, YOU FORGOT THE STRIPES AGAIN as these things are important.

[Editor's note: Fappity fap]

This tiny emblem appears on Miku's collar; a touch that I've never seen represented by anything more than a teal rectangle. Good Smile Company means business.

Fun fact: This Miku is sculpted by Nendoron, the same genius who sculpts all the Nendoroids. 

in light of that knowledge, the detail of the sculpt is not surprising.

The base is of a tinted plastic, with a nice grid pattern and embossing of her name/logo. The Japanese above it reads: "Character Vocaloid Series 01." She connects to the base by a single peg in her right foot, with an attachment that fits into the negative space of her heel. This leaves her free to spin on the peg, with her left foot resting wherever it may. 

I have almost nothing bad to say about her, and the good could go on for several pages. If you've pre-ordered her then you already know what I mean, or soon will. I didn't think it was likely that this figure would meet the high expectations I had for her when she was announced, but she's exceeded them. 

I wish there was an award, some nobel prize of figure making that I could bestow upon Good Smile Company for this figure. She's a sight to behold, and I couldn't be happier or prouder to have her on my shelf.

We don't give out numbered scores here, but just this once I'm going to make an exception. Is Bazillion a number?