in your basement reviews 2008’s wildly popular figure, Goodsmile Company’s 1/8 Hatsune Miku! First released in September 2008 to into the open arms of Miku-crazy otaku, the sucess of the figure deemed a re-release of the figure just a month later! I only managed to grab a reservation slot from the folks at HobbySearch for the October re-release; their reservation slots for the September release were snapped up within a couple of hours when the listing went online.

Is this a testament to the unbelievable power of Miku? You bet it is! This 16 year old diva has no qualms about emptying your wallet at lightspeed!

Goodsmile Company (here, for the original Japanese website) has always tied for the top position (with ALTER being it’s eternal rival) in my list of figure manufacturing companies - and their 1/8 scale Hatsune Miku is exemplary of their excellent quality control and eye for figure design. It was a toss up between GSC’s 1/8 or Volk’s 1/6 scale Miku, but in this case kids - size does not matter.

While Volk’s Miku was indeed larger, GSC’s Miku has a design more faithful to KEI’s illustration of the songstress. GSC’s Miku is overflowing with the details that KEI carefully inserts into his designs, so in many ways, this is a match made in heaven in terms of figure design.

One thing that sort of surprised me when I unboxed Miku, was the yellowness of her skin. Compared to the sample pictures and to a certain extent, other reviews - my Miku seems to have a yellowish undertone in her skin. While it does let the teal of her eyes and hair pop out, it does give her a rather sickly appearance. I’m still not sure if it’s just my Miku that has this yellowish effect, or do all October re-issues have this problem. Granted, Miku isn’t really human so having a pallid apperance doesn’t really do anything bad for her.

Size-wise, Miku does fit into your hand rather easily. She doesn’t take up much space by herself, but her sweeping twin tails - another feature that I love about this GSC edition - give a whole lot of life that the VOLKS Miku doesn’t have. I appreciate the small details that GSC managed to include, like the etchings on her thigh-high boots and the small intricate designs on her skirt, collar and sleeves. They could have easily gotten away with not including these details, but GSC decided to keep them in the design - thumbs up to that.

If we’re talking about figure manufacturing, I’ve reason to believe that Miku combines most of the tried-and-tested figure physics manufacturing skills that GSC has employed over the years. We’ve got luscious shiny plastic cloth, and flexible plastic for the tie and belt that hangs off her waist. Leaning has always been a problem with recent figures, with gravity-defying poses — while Miku has a rather down-to-earth pose, Miku’s legs are sturdy enough to ensure no warpage. Also, take note of her twin-tails, which are made from slightly more brittle plastic. I wouldn’t recommend dropping Miku from any height - her hair feels like it could snap off any minute. Despite this apparent fragility, the light-weight twin-tails doesn’t add unnecessary weight to Miku’s small frame.

I really love the way how GSC did her hair. It sweeps out in the most elegant way possible, contrasting the way her hair is pulled back. The subtle shading on her hair, with almost pearlescent gradients, gives Miku that techno-princess feel. I have a couple of small problems with the paintjob in her hair - uneven application of the paint - but it’s nothing too glaring.

Her base is simple enough, with a grid-design occupying the top half of the base (where she stands) and the offical logo occupying the lower half. It doesn’t draw away attention from Miku, but isn’t too boring either. Personally, I’d rather have a better base - maybe with colored grid squares - but that’s just me trying to bite off more than I can chew.

The paintjob provides a wonderful contrast between matt and sheen - it’s a delightful balance that GSC strikes almost effortlessly. Upon closer inspection, her eyes are decaled on the same way Nendoroid eyes are ‘painted’ on, which gives the whole dotted effect. There could have been more shading down on her skin too.

Details, details, details. For the price of 5239 yen, I have to say that GSC’s Miku is one of the best buys of the year, what with figure prices rising faster than I’ve ever seen. Nothing is spared, from the tiny scalloped edges of her shirt, teal nail polish, to the folds in her shirt and skirt.

I definitely recommend GSC’s Hatsune Miku to all Hatsune Miku fans - and general figure collectors, if you like well designed figures for a reasonable price. She’s rather hard to get now, considering the speed she flew off the shelves at both releases (much like her nendoroid counterpar), so if you have the chance to get her do so!

Hatsune Miku
Maker: Goodsmile Company
Scale: 1/8
Price: 5,239 yen
Released: Late September 2008, re-relased October 2008

Still Available at: KidNemo

Full photoset is on Flickr!

If you enjoyed this review and still want more Hatsune Miku goodness, why not visit these lovely reviews?

Tomopop; How A Girl Figures (I have to give her props for using tinsel as the background!); Otadesho; Exelica Meteor; Gordonator; lololol; The Disjointed Zone; and Miki Century.

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