Figurine Spotlight: The world is cruel but thankfully this AoT Mikasa figma is not – Max Factory Figma #203

Company: Max Factory / Good Smiles
Release: 1st production run (Jan 2014), 2nd production run (March 2014)

Being a huge fan of both the manga and anime for Shingeki no Kyojin or better known as “Attack on Titan”, so when I saw that Max Factory was going to start their production of figmas, I was interested to see what they were going to be like. Needless to say, it didn’t take long for me to start liking what I saw and made a mad dash over to my favorite shop to place an order for their first figma which was the fan favorite, Mikasa Ackerman. I even talked about the figma back in September 2013.

That was over 6 months ago and I found that the order’s for this figma was so great that there ended up being two production runs instead of the limited edition that was slated for January 2014th with a second one being pushed into March 2014. Sadly I ordered as soon as I found out the figma was being created but still got bumped to the second production. But I ended up getting it so that’s all that counts.

So now that I have finally had my grubby fingers on the figma, what did I think about the quality?

What I liked:

Well, it’s Good Smile for starters, they usually spare no expense on their releases and this one is no different. The figure is fully posable, standard stuff there for most of Max Factory’s figmas. Also came with tons of other accessories such as 4 different pairs of hands which also included one pair that actually gripped the handles of the 3D maneuver gear and blades as well as 2 extra face expressions; calm, slightly mad and pissed off. I gleefully swapped places with the standard calm for the pissed off look. Nothing but the best for Mikasa. Also included was the 3D maneuver gear, 2 blades, 2 rope anchors for hanging the figma from a ceiling or high ledge and several pieces of smoke, two for the anchors that shoot from the 3D maneuver gear and one that shoots out the back of it.

Lastly, they even included the Recon Corp’s cape which also helps to hide the hook that attaches the figma to the base.

What I didn’t like:

Sadly there were a few points regarding the figma. The included based is definitely not heavy enough if you want to pose the figma in your favorite gravity defining actions. Many of the poses I attempted to recreate only ended up with the base falling on it’s front due to the weight of the figma but thankfully there’s more than enough space under the base to add a piece of metal or any thin object with some weight on it to keep the base up. 

The many of the attachment points were somewhat stiff, which is to be understood. However, this also caused me to use added force which usually doesn’t end well. Snapping plastic parts tends to have way more than I’d like. I constantly felt like I was going to break the stems everytime I adjusted them. In the end, I opted for using some grease to get the part in and all was well.

In a nutshell when you purchase these things you usually get two options; Standard meaning that the item is not always in mint condition but still in good condition and then there’s the Collector’s Edition which means you’ll always get a mint condition item. You tend to pay a couple dollars more. But the whole practice of that is odd. If I’m buying something that’s supposed to be brand new, shouldn’t it be classified as mint condition? 

And sadly even though I preordered the figma I did not receive the “special” brick base that was supposed to be included. I’m attempting to contact the shop where I purchased my figma, but chances are I’m screwed on that since it was a limited run for that.

Oh and while this isn’t directly related but Max Factory is getting ready to go into production on another fan favorite. I’m pretty sure that everyone is going to go nuts over this one.