Meet the Otaku 1.0 : Triad Toys newest entry on the market.
(please read this post: Triad’s Otaku Revisited)
So, these figures are supposed to be the next best thing since sliced bread…
Triad Toys has put them out as the most recent offering in the 1:6 scale fem figure market. Anyone involved with the market knows that it’s been slim pickings for a while, and there hasn’t really been the promise of anything new on the horizon (to make the price point drop anyway).
Triad took pre-orders and decided to to a limited run of 1000 figures per skin tone (slated to have 3 skin tones in total) . IMO The preliminary pictures looked ok. Nothing that I personally would rush out to buy, nor, did I feel, it was something that I’d really kick myself in the ass for later if I didn’t get one. Right now a messa folks are going totally ga-ga over them. But I had my reservations… so much so that I didn’t buy one.
I’ve been seeing a lot of pictures of them in the different action figure forums.
Some good. Some bad.
So, how did I end up with one? I, who thought from the get-go the otaku wouldn’t be my cuppa tea? Serendipity. A kind friend and fellow collector let me have one and I have now gotten it in my hot little hands. What do I think?
Ok, I’m spoiled. I’ll admit it. Between the takara cool girls/ cy girls and the volks dollfies I have I’m expecting a high stardard and level of posability.
Let me start with the plus side as I see it:
- The obvious plus side to it is that it’s 1:6, and its busty.
- It has a pretty sturdy build which makes for some diversity in the figure pool.
- The more 1:6 figures out there the better off we, the collectors are.
- The hands are nicely sculpted (for the most part-they still aren’t really feminine enough for my tastes but what the hell. At least it is another pair to add to the supply bin. (I’m going to see if I can change out the pins so i can stick them on the cy girl hands.)
- whatever resin or plastic the figure is made out of is fairly soft. This is good because it means subtractive modding (such as I have done) is more easily done than with the harder resins and plastics out there.
Now the down sides–as I see them:
- The posability seemed to be an issue from the start. I mean, Triad marketed these figures as the type to primarily display clothes (lingerie) or nothing at all. They lack the waist and bust joints of the takara cy girl 2.0 and I think that’s a major draw back. These aren’t going to be major players when it comes to using them in photostories and displays (at least not without some serious Frankenstein-ing) I like functional toys-if I wanted pretty-but-useless I’d be collecting porcelain dolls or something along those lines.
I’d like to make a point here that right now the torso of the Otaku is similar to that of the original super dollfies made by volks back around 2000. It’s one piece, no joints and limits how the figure can sit and pose. I’m sure volks wasn’t the first company to use the design, and Triad won’t be the last, but I wanted to comment on it anyway.
- They have giraffe necks if you want to put any head on it other than the default head. To fix this requires more patience, and a willingness to sand down the neck, and adjust the pegs a bit. Angryboot has shown some pictures of successful headswap & mods and I can see that being something I’ll try on it eventually)
- They’re smelly. (I know this probably won’t be an issue for anyone else, but I’m very sensitive to smells, especially those of specific plastics & resins (ok and perfumes, and hairsprays & paints …just about everything – LOL) I’ve aired it out for a bit and it isn’t as smelly 3 days later, but it remains to be seen.
- The figure has a problem keeping her legs closed.
Seriously. (the plus side to this is that again, the figure is made of carve-able material. See below for the modification outcome). - The paint ops the body have been given baffle me a bit. I’m not entirely sure if they’re meant to cover the overall tone of color of the resin/plastic body? Or what. IMO I think the color of the resin without the “body paint” is nicer. Certainly without it and using some chalk pastels you could get some nice effects.
- The legs are a bit dumpy and short compared to the body. Proportionally the figure is a bit off. Also, the shoulders are really not the kind that will look good in sweaters!
Ok, some pictures now:
Before leg/crotch area modification: Note: this is the maximum her legs can close while seated!!!!
I know, some folks think that’s fine… But you know me… give me a scalpel and off I go! Yea, I could have screwed it up. But…if the figure doesn’t meet all my needs anyway, what is the harm in trying to improve it?
So here are some shots of her after her “surgery”.
They still don’t close enough for my complete satisfaction so I will probably continue to work on them. However I do think that the current mod is an improvement!
So at the end of the day will I be buying any of the next ones to be released?
Yes. Why? HELL NO!!! Read here: http://corsetkitten.com/blog/archives/447
Because I have found out how soft/easy to carve they are and I think I might end up doing a really sever mod so that my Ayumi can have a decent body. Maybe. It depends…I think the new bodies are coming out at the same time as the new Hot Toys figures. And I know I want those.
7 Responses to “Otaku: are they worth it? *action figure /action doll review*”
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Thank you for the review. Quite frankly I was fed up with all the high praise they got (how ever deserved it is in the eye of certain collectors) – but then I go for posability over looks any day.
To draw a comparison to Mattel it reminds me a bit of the Model Muse body discussion. There seem to be only two ways of approach: you either like it or you don’t. And with certain hostile reactions to criticism of certain products / companies (I’m sure you know what I mean) I was a bit suspicious the guys opposed to these bodies might not want to speak up. The only serious complaints I’ve read so far are of the too tight joints. The complaints about the head – mangaesque – is a matter of preference I don’t care about. You don’t like it? Change it.
It’s nice to read a review with pros _and_ cons, so thanks again.
Me? I’m still not sure if I’m going to buy one. But I’m absolutely sure I’m not going to buy it for the suggested retail price. Why? Becuase I don’t think it’s worth it to me.
I’m fairly fed up with Triad (especially since I have an inside view on how they deal with their retailers and how well organised they are… not – don’t get me started on these topic…) anyway, I wanted the EVA body. But all I was able to get was postponed release dates and a rise in estimated prices. S*cks.
Sorry for venting on your blog…
I had a close look at the Otaku body a couple of weeks ago. I don’t mind an anime look, but Triad’s choice seems very “pseudo-anime”, they’ve merely given her extra large and sparkly pupils instead of designing the rest of her eyes/face anime-esque. They should either go full-blown anime or stick to their usual style, IMO.
It’s pretty heavy for a 1/6 scale body, and while the shading on her body is a nice touch, you have to be really careful not to let the paint get scratched off. The body I saw already had a spot where the paint had scraped off one of the legs.
You made really good improvements on her upper-leg articulation. I don’t like how she had to sit with her legs apart before.. real classy, haha.
I’ve bought the new Hot Toys TrueType bodies (with 2 pairs of very nicely sculpted hands, no more of the bendy ones). I’m happy to finally have HT bodies that aren’t overly tanned to work with.
Thanks both of you for taking the time to comment.
I’m not a proponent of any particular company–but I feel that since I run & host my own blog, I don’t have to “play nice” and pretend the figure doesn’t have problems!
Yeah, I have to agree with both of you that the body isn’t equal to the amount of hype associated with it.
And more than a week later–it still smells if I leave it in my office with the window closed. Ugh.
I think the best thing about it is that the hands can be put on cy girl 2.0 hand-joints (carefully) the small nodule at the base will fit) and they are just _slightly_ smaller than the usual “man hands” that the cy girls seem to have…
The paint does flake and scratch easily..But It’s ok as I assume at some point I’m going to end up getting it off anyway. Sad to note though that the head is definitely a couple shades darker than the body & it’s yellow-toned so ti doesn’t strike ME as a good match (and I’m very picky about head/body tones matching!!!)
I’d like it if Hot Toys could sculpt up a new female action figure / action doll body! They seem to have a pretty good idea on how to do form & function.
Hi,
Im interested to know how you made the mod for the legs, would appreciate any help on that.
Btw, nice blog, hope to see more 1/6 stuffs & projects
Thank you Jun!
Ok, about the leg mods: they’re pretty simple really. I mostly used a scalpel knife and a dremel to hollow out the inner thigh area where it was coming into contact with the crotch area. I also shaved down the insides of the hip/leg join area to allow for more movement. If you want, when I get around to it I can try to take an after picture and label on it what happened where in order to get the current state of articulation.
Good luck with customizing!
What is your vote on the best 1/6 Female body currently available? Seems like just about every kind of body I have come across has some kind of problem with poseability, proportions or quality of construction.
- Ivan.
Hmm, i like to purchase TRIAD styles clothing. Too bad too sad, the Otaku has a limited articulation. Kinda a turn off. I swap it with ZC girl body. It seems ok..but the headsculpt looks like a lil to similar to Barbie.Least with ZC girl body,i can sit her down correctly. Lookin forward to EVA’s
I like ya review.Thanks for info.