PVC Review: 1/4 scale Konata Izumi (FREEing)

After about three months of waiting I finally received 1/4 scale Konata Izumi in the mail. This figure was released July 30th in Japan and is sold out practically everywhere now. I picked up this figure at www.hlj.com for $130 before shipping and imports. If you can manage to hunt her down you may want to think twice before buying as FREEing is releasing 1/4 scale Kagami, Tsukasa, and Miyuki - which, if you are a completionist, means shelling out about $600 for all four of them. Needless to say I have pre-ordered the other three and am very much looking forward to them. The box Konata comes in is about 20 inches tall and has a baby blue and white theme. The box is littered with blue and white stars and has a large "01" on five of the six sides indicating that Konata is the first in the line.

Now, I had originally considered canceling this pre-order because I wasn't overly fond of what I saw in the stock photos. There was also the Clayz Lucky Star line that had just come out, and they looked great. What made me stick with this one was the 1/4 size. After looking around I found the only 1/4 scale figures available were the seven FREEing Haruhi Suzumiya bunny girls which are now virtually out-of-print but looked really nice. As it turned out the stock photos did not do the figure justice. The base Konata stands on is a blue and white star with a star-shaped mirror in the center; which is in keeping with the blue and white theme. The stock photos, however, showed Konata standing on a brown, bland, hexagonal base. There also seemed to be some lighting issues in the stock photos which made the paint job look off.

If I were to pick one thing I thought was particularly great about this figure (other than the size) it would be the eyes. The dark green really captures the essence of Konata who, when it comes down to it, is not a visually intricate character. I do have to say that there is a lot I don't like about this rendition of Konata. For one the gym clothes, particularly the shorts, are just plain. It leaves me wondering why they didn't take the typical gym shorts route; that is, ass tight short shorts. I don't really have a problem with the shirt, but it's not something that stands out at all. Her shoes are also a bit bland, white and blue if you can believe it.

One final order of business before I move onto the judgment: this figure is castoff-able. You can take the shirt by removing the head and the left arm. Underneath her shirt is a kind of painted on sports bra. You can also take her shorts off by removing her legs revealing blue and white striped panties. Some of the stock photos I've seen on the internet shows a shorter pair of gym shorts underneath the longer ones but my figure didn't come with those. And no you can't take off her panties, they're also painted on. Putting the gym shorts back on is a bit of a challenge. The shorts themselves don't stretch much making it difficult to get them on. What I do is put the shorts over the pieces of plastic that connect her legs to her body and connect it that way.

Paint and craftsmanship: 8/10
Packaging: 8/10
Price: 8/10
Likability: 10/10
Overall: 34/40

Even though this figure isn't perfect it may just be my favorite one. The fact that it's Konata and 1/4 scale certainly helps me look past the flaws. I've already pre-ordered the other three 1/4 Lucky Star girls and will be reviewing them as they arrive. Also, some of the pictures had to be taken indoors and don't look as good, sorry about that. Thanks for reading.