Figure Name: Marvel x Bishoujo Mystique
Figure Maker: Kotobukiya
Retail Value: US$59.99
Available at: Koto US (release in March)

The first thing that stood out when I opened up the shipping box with miss Mystique inside is that her box is so small! It's no wonder, since she's got the kneeling pose, but I appreciate that the box isn't any bigger than it needs to be either way. It's a little thing with the usual information and Shunya Yamashita design on the front and sides.

Once you take her out, it's just a matter of setting her on the base and you're all set! The base itself was at first, unimpressive (just a round, clear base), and she didn't fit quite flush. It might be due to my current lack of mobility as one of my arms is in a cast, and I may not have been able to set her in properly. Upon further inspection, as it turns out I rather like the base, because it creates a wonderful mirror image under Mystique! She doesn't technically require the base, since she's kneeling, but then you end up with the pegs showing.

Now that we're looking at the turn around, you get to see the details around her body. Her skin tight clothing, the skull belt, sexy boots, clear PVC hair (and another skull on her head seen in the frontal image), and a gun in one hand. The design is simple, but attractive.

The skulls are nicely detailed. They look all boney and all that. The belt itself is loose around her waist, and if you're feeling silly like I was, you'll see a picture in the gallery where I lift up the belt around her bust. In the above image you also start to see more of the clear PVC detail with her hair.

I also particularly love the way the torso (her body in general) is molded. There's a great "feel" to her when I look at this figure, like there is some beef under that outfit but she's got very attractive musculature to her, too.

Here we see some of the detail with her boots squeezed over her legs (I love those awesome legs), and the ends of her dress. The boots themselves have a good "material" feel to them, like vinyl or satin with the pearly finish, and goes well with the rest of the figure which has no "stiffness" to it whatsoever.

In case you're wondering, her left hand isn't really molded, since it's meant to be "in" her hair, so it ends at her wrist. It isn't too disturbing though, since the hair maintains enough volume for this to be believable!

The hair has some minor seaming issues, and you could see it on the dress as well, but I wouldn't consider them a dealbreaker at all. All the seams are complimented/partially hidden by other details in the molding (except in the case of some seaming on her arm, partially visible above).

Going down, let's get to her boots. No details were spared here: she's got lots of those fold and stretch marks and detail on the insides of the boots (zipper). More on the zippers in the gallery and in the required panty shot below:

Alright, we had to do it. We just didn't know she'd be so willing! Anywho, you've got the white bottoms to match the rest of her outfit, and a great view of those zippers I was talking about, some great calf molding and even a little butt fold peeking out from the back..

Ahem. Let's go back up a bit... since there are more details to talk about..

Mystique comes with a gun that she's holding casually in her arm while posing sexily. It drops into her hand easily but doesn't fall off at the slightest gust of wind, and while one might think a sexy figure with a blue and white palette (besides the red hair) would look strange with a black weapon just sticking on there, it actually adds a sense of "danger" to the character. A woman not to be messed with! I love girls with guns.

Of course, this review wouldn't be complete without a look at her upper torso and face. Everything is in focus here, so we're getting a good view of her face (the bit that isn't cast in shadow, anyway), hair and hand holding the gun. Oh right, and I guess breasts. They are also attractive!

Her eyes are the usual yellow, and I love how her face and mouth are molded. I usually have issues with these Shunya faces, simply because they look fabulous in the drawings but then the molded ones don't turn out to be well complimented by the make-up application. Mystique doesn't have much caked on her face, so she doesn't have any clowny issues.

I also really like how this picture came out - it has a nice glow to it. This shoot is a bit different from my usual work because I wanted to work with some new lights I got for Christmas, and I was sure I'd be able to get a decent set with a blue background on her. I think it turned out alright! Of course, if you want to see more of these, I'd like to hear your feedback.

That's it for my review of Marvel x Bishoujo Mystique! She's a gorgeous figure and a must-buy for comic lovers, especially X-Men fans! I don't really have any complaints about the figure, and neither would the average collector besides the most nit-picky about seams. Since she's in a kneeling position, even with the pegs she'd be easy to pose just about anywhere, so I can't think of any more drawbacks. I'll just leave you with one last shot before we go:

Thanks to Kotobukiya for providing Tomopop with this review sample! I also have to thank Pedro for helping me out with this review set up, because I wouldn't have been able to do this without him. Getting all these pictures with just two lights and several reflectors is not something I would have been able to do with just one hand, after all! Once again, leave your feedback in the comments section and be sure to check out the gallery for more images that weren't included in the main body of the post.