Though I’ve never seen anything about Beat Blades Haruka, this figurine caught my heartbeat in a second. What catches my eyes the most in a figurine is their quality, likeness of character, and dynamic poses. I believe Alter did a great job on all these, and made her even more beautiful than the drawings. Kotobukiya made a similar version of this figurine but looks like fail next to the Alter one. Kotobukiya offered their for a retail price of 5,800 yen and Alter for 6,800. 1,000 yen is nothing compared to the quality offered in difference. … The one by Kotobukiya looks like she’s pregnant, somewhat. Fortunately, I traded it away before I could open it.
Overall Quality: 4.6/5
I’m happy this figure came out to be 1/8 scale, actually. As much as I love large figures and dynamic poses, they rarely work well together as dynamic poses usually take up a lot of space. Haruka’s scarf is long and takes up a big radius on my shelf. It actually has to stand alone or with something else in front of her. All the details on her are spectacular though, it seems Alter really worked hard on this. I wish there was cover art on the box though so I can see which way the weapon should of been held.
Creativity: 4.5/5
The pose wasn’t their idea but the artist’s. However, I see many adjustments were made. Some things you just can’t see on a 2D plane that Alter took liberty of in the 3D version of her. The longer torso and flowing scarf was a great addition to the sweet and warm feeling of the figure.
Paint Job: 4/5
There’s a lot of details on this figure but painting them on is another thing. Some of them are out of line and fade/overflow. My least favorite part of this paint job is the chest area, it’s very uneven like they sprayed it on last second with a very bad masking job. I love the light halo on her hair. Kotobukiya has solid colors on the entire figurine.
Sculpt: 4.8/5
I haven’t found anything wrong with the sculpt and actually like the way they made the pose. My teacher told me once that a good figurine looks good from every angle. I also have a thing for hairs with a strand sticking out. (Saber <3)
Display: 4.2/5
Like I’ve mentioned before, I’m glad it’s not too big because the pose makes it really hard to fit it in any great way with other figurines. The overall feeling of the pose makes the display very unique, many of my friends notice this figurine first. The Orange-golden colors Alter chose reminds me of autumn, my favorite season. Polygonal white bases aren’t my thing, and tagging a big ol’ logo on it doesn’t make it much better either.
Average Score: 4.42/5
Never knew about her.
But she looks like a dancing Autumn Angel.
The lighting was absolutely… horrid. Trying out a new point-and-shoot powershot. 14.7 megapx, and 3.7 opt. zoom. The light was all the flash, at least it didn’t reflect too much so it turned all white. But it screamed plastic all over. I recommend this figurine for anyone that loves unique pieces. Too bad it’s not too popular because of its origin. I received mine from Hobbylink.
Please view more pictures of her at my flickr gallery.
