Zona Artis

Second figma of mine, but not Dead Master. =) On why I bought her, it is a decision made on impulse to buy her. Saw many previews of her, and my friends are getting her one by one, and she’s selling out way too fast in local stores, so I quickly shifted my target to eBay and grabbed one before it’s too late.



Not much accessories as Black Rock Shooter, but who cares when you get a big bad ass blade? That’s why I bought her. And, she’s taller than most of the figmas. I could imagine what’s the difference in height when you put her aside Figma Haruhi middle school version. Well, Black Gold Saw only made a very short appearance in the OVA, ending her fight her BRS by stabbing her. Well, she should have came with a chainsaw too, that would be badass. XD

Out of Box

Figma Black Gold Saw; Huge gold saw blade/sword; 4 sets of exchangeable hand parts; 2 face plates; a set of stand. Nothing unique.



Evaluation:

Pros: Tall figma, detailed, Articulation above normal figmas (partly due to her design) , decent arm and leg joints, Awesome badass gold saw, which is fortunately flawless

Cons: L-O-O-S-E Waist joint, Inexcusable Quality control problems.


Well, some of my pictures here are like bad quality, especially some of the closer up shots showing the defects etc, partly due to my fault for wrong camera settings. Using high ISO caused some pics to develop excessive noises (My bedroom isn’t well-lit). Some pics are taken with my old camera. Anyway, featured pics of BGS in action poses further below are ok, decent quality, so it’s fine. And, pardon me for my love for red backdrops recently, having used them on Louise’s review. =.=;



Figmas are more like mass produced action figures instead of a sculpt. But, that is not an excuse to give us some quality issues. First off is the 2 waist joints, one below the bikini section and the other one at the belt area, both waist joints are loose and she sags according to weight of sword so I stripped her down to modify the ball joints. Stuffed in the plastic included to protect the figma into the ball and socket joints and things got a lot better. Oh, if you wondered how i stripped her apart without breaking anything, there's actually nothing to worry. Raw power all the way when pulling her waist apart!

Next QC issue is paint/sculpt, a VERY visible scratch on her waist, and paint flaws on her hair, white stripe of the collar, as seen in the pic below. I don’t know whether this is common in figmas, I don’t have much figmas so I’m not sure, but my BRS figma wasn’t like that.



Of course , it doesn’t happen in every figma, it’s a QC issue. I mended the waist scratch with penknife handling and some sanding, the collar can with be done with a white Gundam marker, but I haven’t done so yet. I don’t know whether this is an “aftermath” of the Japan quake, but something like this in just inexcusable. I cancelled of my intention to buy Figma Kos-Mos also.

The hair is nicely made, but articulation is quite limited.


Apparently the white strip paint job on the leg is intentional. I thought it is another flaw. Glad that it is not. ^^;



Articulation, as i mentioned, is above your average figma. =) Well, there's no need to show the elbow and knee joints, so, I'll emphasize on the crotch and shoulder. On the shoulders, if you invert the joint, you can achieve greater range of articulation, depending what pose you would like to set up.


Unfortunately, the shoulders cant bend forward much like Figma BRS could, no thanks to her boobs that are covered by her jacket getting in the way. So, double-grip wield is a pain in the ass to set up, if not impossible. I managed to achieve it though, you can see it further below which i put her up in poses. Oh, ignore that huge seam on the head, i didnt plug in properly. =.=;


Now, when it come to posing stuff, not just Gunpla, Im no loser. =) Here’s better pics compared to the ones above, though I edited them a bit especially on increasing contrast to hide the flaws of this figma, especially the waist scratch. I haven’t mended this figma when I took these pictures. Oh, on the sword, it's just light enough, but enough to make the wrist joints sag, but the elbow and shoulders, fortunately, are stiff and strong.
The sword is probably the best made part of this figma, plenty of details and flawless.



This is one of my favorite poses. Looks intimidating, and it is also a success from my side in trying to force her to put up a double wield pose. Trust me, such poses is a pain in the ass.



Now that's an overkill. XD



Oh, copyrights go to Bruce Lee, and maybe Capcom? (If you play Fei Long in Street Fighter 4, you will understand. XD). This pose also tells you about the articulation in this figma. Fantastic.


Frankly speaking, i really pity fans of Saber, as if im biased against her. I love Saber. But, I always put her as a victim for some poses, the reason is because im lazy to swap that epic face of hers onto other nendos LOL.



So, in the end, I wouldn’t say I don’t recommend this figma. The articulations are above average, and QC issues do not present on every figma of the same character. I guess I got unlucky this time. =.=; I’d be “investing” my money in PVC and Gunpla instead. If you area Black Gold Saw fan, she is a must-get. Such issues i mentioned earlier doesn't happen in every figma, so, good luck. =)