Figure Name: Hirasawa Yui Santa ver.
Figure Maker: Max Factory
Retail Value: ¥7,429
Available at: HobbyLink Japan

So, as per usual, we start with the box. It's pretty simple; the front has a nice window to show off the figure, along with a big photo of Santa Yui and her name written on the side. The sides and back feature some more photos of the figure, but that's really about it. It's pretty standard stuff.

Yui is 1/7 scale, and properly enough, she's smaller than some of my 1/6-scale figures. Her pose is one full of life, a hand on her hip and her other arm making a little "V" sign with a huge grin upon her face. She looks awfully jolly, doesn't she?

The figure's base is a little pink number with the K-On! logo and Yui's guitar logo. Really, that's about it; it's pretty basic.

The big selling point here is that it's Yui in the Santa suit from Episode 7 that Sawako-sensei had bought and tried to force poor Mio to wear. It's memorable for the fact that while Mio doesn't want anything to do with it, Yui puts the damn thing on and is more than happy to do it (much to Sawako's chagrin, as she had intended it for Mio). The suit itself, save for a little bit of paint overlap on the bottom fringe, looks like it does in the anime series itself.

But the problem is because the suit is removable (more on that in a second), there's a terrible seam on the side of her suit. If it doesn't fit together properly, the seam's even worse ...

... like under her arm, which features two tiny pegs you need to get to fit. Try as I might, I couldn't get it to fit because it has to be precise. That's a bit of a disappointment that it's not an easier fit in some of the hard-to-reach spots.

Here's the face! The good thing here is that her face is perfect for the pose, especially that huge grin of hers. It fits Yui's energetic personality perfectly, and there aren't any issues with the paint job. Excellent work, Max Factory and this figure's sculptor, Makayaman.

The good news is her hat comes off without a hitch. That's kind of important, because it'd look awkward on her alternate look, I think! You can also see that her hair is quite well sculpted, resembling how it appears in the anime.

Without her Santa suit on, Yui is in her school swimsuit. It's a very odd choice, almost as if Max Factory thought no one would buy her in just her Santa Suit. The swimsuit is sculpted and painted quite well, but it's not really as exciting in this pose as Santa Yui is.

So is this Yui worth it? Well, It's a bit expensive for a type of figure that might have worked a little better on a smaller scale in just the Santa suit. She is well done, and anyone who's a fan of Yui would do well to add her to their collection, but if you're not really a K-On! fan or Santa suits ... it's a bit harder for me to recommend it.

[Thanks to HobbyLink Japan for providing this review sample!]