Toy Review: Yoko Littner Bounty Hunter

10/13/09

Alter Yoko Littner

Bounty Hunter Version

If you’ve been following the reviews on the site, then you know I’ve got a mad crush on Yoko Littner. It’s almost as bad as the one I had on Cheetara of the Thundercats (oh, Cheetara…). I’ve already got two figures based on the character: Fraulein Revoltech Yoko (TV Version) and the Fraulein Revoltech Yoko (Movie Version) . The one we’re reviewing today will be my third and I’m seriously thinking of getting a few more. The red hair, the fantastic curves, the hot pants, the bikini, the huge gun…

Excuse me a moment.

…

…

…

Ok, I’m back. but yeah, Yoko Littner. As I said in the previous reviews, I’ve got no clue as to what the anime was about. I’ve been meaning to watch the thing, but like art films, I seem to have lost the patience for long-winded Japanese animation. If it’s not an hour long OAV full of gag boobs, gainaxing, giant mecha and/or mixed martial arts mayhem, I’d rather be watching Star Trek for the 23rd time.

When I first saw Alter’s 1/8th scale Yoko Littner ‘Bounty Hunter Ver.’ PVC statue on WasabiToys.com I just couldn’t resist pre-ordering one for myself. The product shots of this figure were amazing, plain and simple. You can’t not look at it. I clicked on “Add to Cart” button almost without thinking.

After I had submitted the order and that initial infatuation with the figure had died, I was worried that I’d be disappointed. I’d seen some statues that looked great in the trade announcements and then turned out to be nightmares on the shelf. Plus this was a statue. This wasn’t really a toy in the strictest sense. You could not play with it. There were no joints and no accessories. You couldn’t do anything with it except sit it on your desk and stare at it. It was crazy expensive (near p5000.00 at the pre-order price), and damn fragile to boot. Previous PVC figures I bought had tended to lean after time and they were a bitch to stand after that happened. These were the cons.

The pros? It’s pretty. Damned pretty.

Naturally, the pros won out or I wouldn’t be here writing this. Last week, after about 6 months of waiting, I stopped by WasabiToys in Blue Lane of the Shoppesville Arcade in Greenhills to pick up my prize.

At first glance I was pretty disappointed. I’m not used to these kinds of figures, so I was thinking they’d have put more effort into the packaging. It’s pretty bad. Just a few product shots and a lot of Japanese script I couldn’t read, very plainly laid out. The cardboard itself is surprisingly thin for something this expensive. My Polno Dianno figure had a nice sturdy box surrounding it. Since this figure has such a fragile looking coat and hair, I’d figure they’d have given it a bit more protection. Mine was pretty badly dented in shipping apparently.

When I finally got it out of the box, my perception of it changed completely. Even if the box was unattractive as hell, all that missing effort went right into the figure. It was exactly as it was pictured in the product shots, which is to say, absolutely pristine. Every line and curve is there. It’s one solid piece of PVC goodness, no assembly required. Well, except for placing her on the little stand, but come on.

There isn’t a misplaced paint application on this sucker, from her sniper rifle, right down to her boots, every color is crisp and sharp. You’ll notice it first off on her bikini. Honestly, the bikini is hard not to notice. You’ll see her little red flames are perfectly drawn in against the white with no bleed whatsoever. The color of the plastic is perfect skin tone, making for a very translucent quality to the entire figure.

The sculpt itself is great. Designed by Ikuma Kuramoto who I’m told has done many other Fate/Stay Night statues, the figure is in a pretty bold pose. Her Rifle is slung up on her shoulders and her hair and jacket are swept back in the mountain air. You’d think that sculpting a character like this wouldn’t be so hard considering the lack of detail necessary, but the extra things give her a lot of depth. The jacket is unbelievably nice. With holes and ragged edges. The buckles and belts are whipping in the air, too. She’s go her distinctive chopstick hairpins in, and the red hair looks natural the way it flies out behind her.

The thing that really impressed me was the pistol by her side. The holster has some great detailing on it. Even the stitches on the leather are visible! There’s some wash to the brown to give it some weathering which is very effective. It’s “tied” to her thigh with a thing strand of leather which I could have sworn was removable. It’s not, just a sculpted piece, nicely painted. However, the pistol itself IS removable. If you have any 1/8th scale figures in need of weapon to borrow (GI joe Sigma 6 figures come to mind), here you go. I kinda wish I could also pull off the sniper rifle and give it to Long Range as well.

Yoko’s face is great, too. It’s less cartoony than the Fraulein Revoltech versions, but then you’ll have to remember that this is anime, so the requisite big eyes are still there. The register lines thought are sharper than anything you’ll see in the mass market toys in Toy Kingdom. The hair falls nicely in front of her eyes, but doesn’t cover her face. There’s a tiny smug smirk on her lips.

About the only thing I didn’t like is her lack of a butt. She is devoid of back. booty-less. It’s a small thing considering you’d likely display her facing out to show off that amazing front, but is sad that she’s so unbalanced. I don’t know why the sculptor didn’t give her some meat back there. It’s barely visible since you need to do some serious upskirting to notice it, so it’s kewl.

All in all, I feel she’s a great value for p5000.00, especially finding out that she’s currently selling for p7000.00 at other shops in Greenhills now. I was hoping she was going to be about 12″ high to pair with a Marvel Icon or two (I mixed up 1/8th scale with 1/6th so for the longest time I thought this was the case), but she goes great with my small collection of anime statues. If I can find a few more that are this high quality, I might consider getting a few more PVCs.