Thursday, 12 December 2013
For this post, I'll be covering ArtFX J Katsuya Jonouchi (Joey Wheeler)! I got him at a convention for £35 - his retail price comes in at about £42.71. I think I did quite well! He's also my first scale figure, so I'm really excited!
Before we start, some info on the ARTFX J line, from Jono's box-
Kotobukiya begins a new line of statues with the ARTFX J series! ARTFX J is a bold new expansion of the existing ARTFX series, bringing classic Japanese characters to their fans worldwide.With the ARTFX J series, Kotobukiya's sculptors, who grew up with these classic characters, will bring their renowned attention to detail to bear in creating amazingly sculpted statuees with a combination of passion and craftmanship that is sure to please fans the world over.
I find it awesome how Kotobukiya makes their figures available worldwide. They're amongst the biggest names in figure companies, though have had a bit of a patchy reputation in the past. Either way, let's take a look at Jonouchi!
Jonouchi comes in a box that features an illustration of the character and a window on the front to showcase the figure. The side features another window cut out from the illustraton of the Red Eyes Black Dragon's attack, along with the information on the ARTFX J line, which I've used above.
The back features a window which is again cut away from the wing of the illustration of the Red Eyes Black Dragon, which works really well - it looks great with the inside of the box, and gives a view of the back of the figure. The other side features some shots of the figure.
The top features yet another window, and the bottom, the usual figure information. My version is imported from Kotobukiya's US store. Time to open the box up! I'm opening this box from the bottom.
Here's the inner packaging! Other the the figure, the box contains instructions, Jono's optional arm part, the cards accessory, and an adorable Scapegoat keychain!
And here he is! Jono is ready to display straight out the box, and can't be detached from his stand (without a screwdriver). His default arm part is this pose, which I really like. Not only are the arms interchangeable, but so are the hands! Before we get into that, though, let's take a look at his sculpt.
Let's start with his face sculpt! As someone who has never had a scale figure before - it's stunning! It portrays his character - while he's being serious, that is - quite well, and though his expression manages to look very different from every angle, every one fits him.
I really love how this uniform is painted - it's shiny, but not to the point it looks bad or bootleg. It actually accents the sculpt and colours really well.
Jono's hair generally looks great - especially the front and back - but the hair seam is very noticeable. This usually isn't a big deal, but on this figure, where every other seam is almost entirely hidden, it really sticks out.
For example, here are Jonouchi's jacket and arm seams! They're they're only noticeable upon close inspection, as they're made to look like clothes seams.
And here is the optional arm piece, a Battle City duel disk arm! The duel disk is super-detailed, even down to the lifepoint counter.It's also worth noting Jono's hand pose...
...As it's meant to hold the cards! Although, it looks quite awesome even without them.
The card design uses the less-detailed version from the anime. The back of the cards look good, but it's a little disappointing that the faces of the cards aren't detailed.
Jono's base is a cracked pavement. It's really detailed! His shoes are the air shoes from the beginning of the Yugioh manga - I don't remember if they were used in the anime, though. Either way, the detail is nice.
Bonus - Scapegoat!
There were no factory defects or mispainting on my figure. Overall, Kotobukiya's ARTFX J Katsuya Jonouchi is a high-quality figure that is a great representation of the character.
A preview for next time! I'll be covering Kotobukiya's ARTFX J Dark Magician:
