Tomopop Review: Kotobukiya's 1/8 Umbrio Version Alfin

3:00 PM on 08.19.2010   |   Call Niero

Another day, another figure from Kotobukiya's Shining series. While I am sure that some people are tired of seeing figures from this series, I for one am in love with most of the designs and am always happy to add another to my ordered list. Alfin was actually my Do Want way back in November! I find it rather amusing that I only had 4 figures from the series back then, since Alfin has brought the Shining figure count up to 13. Yeah, my wallet is crying, but they just look so nice!

Fun fact, when I first got her I thought her name was Alfin Umbrio. I actually didn't realize that it wasn't her last name until I checked her entry on mfc to double-check her scale! Well it turns out that she is "Umbrio version" Alfin, not Alfin Umbrio. And yes, I almost put that as her name in the title of the review. So hit the jump to check out our thoughts on the lovely miss Alfin! 

Alfin is the first figure in the Koto Shining series not designed by Tony Taka. She was drawn by a guy name Noizi Ito, maybe you've heard of him? He did the character design for these little shows called Haruhi and Shana. He's kind of a big deal. Anyway, his art for Alfin is shown on the front of the box.

Ah, the dreaded plastic hell. Alfin didn't have any twist-ties and was surprisingly free of sheets of plastic, so removing her was actually quite easy! Her stand comes as a separate piece, but she is already sitting on it while in the box.

Having never played the game, I have no clue what "Umbrio version" means but this Alfin is very different looking from the one Orchid Seed is releasing. Maybe she has some sort of magical girl transformation? 

Alfin's pose is simple but full of motion. The way her hair flows and the movement of her skirt imply that she is somehow floating, even though she seems to be fully seated. Because of how wide her pose is, she seems surprisingly large, and when I first took her out I was convinced that she was 1/7. However, her proportions line up with other 1/8 figures.

Alfin's face has a very playful feel to it that fits well with her carefree pose. She looks a bit smug and a bit coy, but the mix of emotions really works well. However, her bangs cover a large portion of her face so she needs to be displayed on a high shelf if you actually want to see her face. 

From the back you get a better view of Alfin's skirt and hair. You can also see how teeny her waist is. Alfin is a very slight girl, but not unhealthily so. She looks very young because of her build, much more so than the characters labeled as teenagers who have huge breasts and hips. I always appreciate more realistic body types on figures, and even though Alfin seems a bit on the thin side it's a pretty typical build for a young girl. 

I am of the opinion that the figure world needs more purple, and Alfin definitely delivers a much needed dose of that color. Her outfit has a lot of purple highlights, but her hair is a pale and lovely shade of lavender.  It almost looks gray at first glance, but the highlights running through it bring out the purple tones in the paint. I love how her hair is flowing and that a lot of the locks are separated. Hair blobs are one of my big pet peeves on figures, so it's nice to see a sculpt that mirrors how hair (sort of) looks in real life. 

Alfin has this cute little bonnet on that really serves no purpose besides being adorable. I am also not entirely sure how it connects to her head, as there are no ties under her neck for it. In any case it's pretty cute. There are a few mold lines on the edge but they are only visible under close inspection and it isn't something you would notice if she was sitting on a shelf. 

Alfin's stockings are very shiny, and while I usually don't like shiny paint on clothing it always seems to work in this area. Maybe because stockings in real life have a similar (though not so prominent) glossy sheen. Alfin's skin is very pale and is not heavily shaded, but I feel that the look created by this really works with the goth-loli feel of the rest of her outfit. 

Alfin's skirt has a huge ruffle at the bottom. It's not often that you see just one ruffle! Figures usually have a whole slew of them, but this design is a nice change of pace. It also makes for a pretty unique figure, and Alfin's outfit definitely stands out on a shelf. 

Confession: I am totally in love with these shoes. I wish they actually made them, because I would wear them every day of my life. The cute pointed toe, the straps around the ankle, and of course that awesome rose. The purple is bright and vivid, and the petals are perfectly sculpted. 

Alfin's sleeves have a long flare at the end and several layers, which is typical of goth loli fashion. It is rather odd how much her outfit mirrors some contemporary fashion yet she manages to look very much like a video game character. The paint is a bit messy on the sleeve, mostly around where the green part meets the black. It is only a tiny bit of overlap, however, so it is nothing too worrisome. 

Alfin is an unusual figure in the sense that she does not actually connect to the base. She just sits in the little indent for her butt.  She is surprisingly stable and it also gives you the option to make her a custom base, but I wouldn't recommend stomping around too much because she could fall off if shaken too hard. 

Becaue she was released in March, all of the Japanese retailers and most of the US ones are sold out. ToysLogic has her up for $98.99 (her original retail was 7800 yen), but you can check around at your local stores to see if she is in stock!

Thanks as always to Stephen for taking these pictures! As usual, there are a ton more in the gallery for your viewing pleasure. Since we had to go outside for this shoot, we were once again we were attacked by a vicious horde of mosquitoes and some devious hummingbird moths. So maybe that last one isn't so scary, but Stephen had never seen one before and thought it was a giant bumblebee. FRIGHTENING!

[Thanks to HLJ for the review sample]