Product Review:
GEMINI Sakata Gintoki Limited Edition Shinyaku Benizakura-Hen
Scale: 1/8
Manufacture: MegaHouse
Released: August 2010
Retail: ¥8295
My Figure Collection link: http://myfigurecollection.net/figure/33933_sakata_gintoki
First off this is the first full scale model figure that I have ever opened, even though it is the seventh I own. Unlike my other figures I just couldn’t resist opening Gintoki. After a day of debating about whether or not I should buy the regular version to display and keep the limited version in MISB condition, I succumbed and opened it.
Now a little information about the character and origins:
Sakata Gintoki is the main character in the Shonen Jump series ‘Gintama’ which has been animated and given a movie tribute.
Gintama is a gag Japanese pop culture series which is insanely hilarious and entertaining. I highly recommend the series, although you might want to start with the Anime instead of the Manga. No offense to Sorachi but Sunrise Anime and the voice actors just did their best work in animating Gintama.
This limited edition figure was produced for Gintama’s first movie titled ‘Shinyaku Benizakura-Hen’.
Sculpting
I’m very happy with the Gintoki’s sculpt for the most part.
- His hair his spot on with his character, a natural perm-head.
- The detail on the clothing is accurate.
- And his Kimono flow and clothing folds are seem natural.
My only complaint with this sculpt is with Gintoki’s face.
I don’t think Gintoki’s face is accurately portrayed in this figure. There’s just something off about it. I think it might have something to do with the eyes…this figure doesn’t have his ‘dead fish’ eyes (reference to the series…another reason to look up the series).
Other than the missing dead fish eyes the sculpt was pretty much perfect.
Painting
Painting for the most part was accurate and detailed.
- The skin tone is perfect.
- The hair highlighting is superb.
- The colors used are exactly as portrayed in both the manga and anime.
- As well there was nice contrast in the paint. While most of the figure uses a matte paint, Gintoki’s boots are shiny. Which is really nice since it creates a noticeable contrast between black pants and black boots.
However I still found small normal errors with the Kimono print and red detail on his suit.
On the folds of the Kimono the paint job is uneven, so the Kimono print doesn’t flow and the red detailing on Gintoki’s suit is smeared in some areas.
The major, ground shocking, error I found with Gintoki was his the bald spot.
On the top of Gintoki’s head there is paint missing, an obvious manufacture defect. A bald spot on old man Gintoki! Quality Control where were you when this happened?!
Posing
Gintoki only has one pose. No changeable arms or heads. The only accessories this Limited edition version comes with are:
- His regular bokuto, ‘Lake Toya’
- And Otae’s FAVORITE Umbrella
Since this was a limited edition figure released for the movie. I would kinda expect that an additional sword be included, the ‘dragon/poop’ sword. (Sorry I don’t remember the sword’s name) But even though this additional sword was not manufactured, I think Otae’s umbrella more than makes up for it.
The umbrella has a very cute design, the bunnies are painted on, and very detailed.
The umbrella itself is seems to be very fragile, although I’m pretty sure that it’s made of PVC it kinda feels like ceramic or clay. I can see it dropping and shattering or it being hit with some other object and breaking in two.
I like Gintoki’s non-changeable pose for the most part, except for his exaggerated leaning. I feel this pose is out of character for Gintoki and he might have been better off standing straight. This exaggerated lean and his insanely long legs kinda makes him look like he’s about to fall back any second. (Be careful of sudden gusts of wind Gintoki)
Also after displaying this figure for about two weeks, I’ve noticed that the weight of the umbrella is warping Gintoki’s hand by making his grip looser. The umbrella keeps on dropping lower and lower, it’s not even over his head anymore! Does anyone know how to fix this?
Base
The base is pretty standard. It’s completely round, with a big ‘G’ in the middle and in English characters ‘Sakata Gintoki’ running along to front right side.
Gintoki’s figure is well balance; he doesn’t have any leveling issues and can stand pretty well by himself. However without the base he can obviously get knocked down pretty easily, and any falls might cause damage to Otae’s favorite umbrella…which will get Gintoki into a lot of trouble…
Packaging
The packaging is larger than the regular edition, probably because they needed more space to display the umbrella.
Before opening the box, the packaging seems pretty normal. Once opened however I noticed that a large picture of Takasugi is printed on the insert. As well on the left side of the insert there’s another photo of Takasugi and Nizo.
On the backside in the insert there’s a little surprise. You won’t find this unless you pull the actual insert out. The only reason why I pulled it out was because the insert was messed up after I took the plastic case out.
I liked this little surprise, makes it all more worthwhile to keep the box.
Enjoyment
I’m actually quite fond of this figure, since it is the first full scale figure I have ever opened. As well, he’s one of my favorite characters, top 5.
The figure itself is pretty interesting. I enjoyed spinning him around and checking Gintoki out at every angle possible, including the non-existence panty shot.
Overall
I think this is a great figure for Gintama fans.
However if it hadn’t been for the umbrella I probably wouldn’t have bought this figure, since the regular edition comes with a fork and to me seem pretty boring. If you have a chance to get the umbrella version by all means buy it. From what I’ve seen online the regular Gintoki version is pretty much sold out everywhere as well. But you should still be able to get him around regular price.
Want to see more pictures? Here's my photobucket album:
Album 1
