New figures!

Also, a general PSA on what to expect with cheap figures.

One night in August I suddenly had the urge to buy a few figures online. I think I wanted a Nezuko figure, so I did what anyone would do and went on eBay.

I'm very well aware of clones (and I have a few in my collection already), so when I saw that a local US seller had a few figures that piqued my interest for like $15-30 each shipped, I took a bite.

How are they?

First and foremost, I'm pretty satisfied with my purchase for the most part. I've bought clone figures before both online and in stores, and I've seen some pretty bad clones out there.

Some of the ones looked okay from the online screenshots though, and they were relatively cheap. If it was closer to like $50 then that would be a hard sell.

So... what did I get?

Miku Nakano 1/8

MFC: https://myfigurecollection.net/item/828004 (¥11,000 or about $110 USD)
Clone: $25

I think this figure was the best out of the six that I ordered. Granted, it's not a perfect figure either.

From the back, you can see there's some paint imperfections. I might try to clean that up when I get a chance.

The hair is okay. I feel like the color isn't too off, but could definitely be better. The headphones aren't the best either, you can see some places where the paint went past the edges.

She comes with a desk prop, base and removal shoes. She also has two replaceable faces.

I'm pretty happy with this one.

Ichigo Torikago 1/7

MFC: https://myfigurecollection.net/item/739483 (¥11,574 or about $115)
Clone: $22

I also like this Ichigo figure. Pretty sure it's based off the ending song "Torikago" (鳥かご).

The only points off I'd take off from this figure are the paint inconsistencies.

I like how there's the effect of a dusty railing and Ichigo wipes the dust off with her finger, but some of the paint (especially the dark/black paint at the edge of the railing is really off). Pretty sure those aren't intended.

Her bag is also fine. It's a bit plain in terms of detail, but at least there isn't any weird smudging.

Some paint scratches on her leggings. There's also a bit of gaps where the edge of the legging and the shoes intersect. Not super noticeable unless you look out for defects though. It comes with replaceable hair where you have the option to have her hood on or off.

Yukino Yukinoshita 1/8

MFC: https://myfigurecollection.net/item/310359 (¥9,200 or around $92 USD)
Clone: $15

Right off the bat since it's on a dark mat, you'll probably notice the base isn't the greatest. There's some extra plastic around the edges. that makes it look off, but you can still rotate it until you get a side that looks decent enough.

A closer look at her hair and you can see there's some paint a bit off. Some of the plastic trims around her hair are also sticking out.

Her skirt is also a bit off. It's one of those times it really just looks painted on. Some parts of the knee highs are also sticking out.

Looking at her arms, you can see the plastic seam pretty easily.

Some more paint inconsistencies with the shoes.

Overall, this one was okay.

Yukino Yukinoshita (Kimono ver.) 1/6

MFC: https://myfigurecollection.net/item/331681 (¥12,778 or about $128 USD)
Clone: $26

That base though. I have a similar pillow base but for Eriri (which was a legit copy) and this one is much noticeably worse. Out of the box the fabric was starting to come off already. And the paint used was pretty rough, you can see some streaks around it.

Not off to a good start. The spare face (I think it was for Yukino... at least) already had a mark on it.

The umbrella had this thing on the top that just looks wrong. Looking at the official figure, this one looks like a slice of cheese dyed purple stuck on the top.

Some paint inconsistencies and visible seams throughout.

The yukata itself was okay though. Nothing too bad.

The fingers were a bit off. Without bending them manually a bit, it looks a bit awkward on how she holds the umbrella.

Mai Sakurajima 1/8

MFC: https://myfigurecollection.net/item/765815 (¥11,000 or about $110 USD)
Clone: $27

Hair looks very off.

Like for some reason it looks translucent instead. Not sure what they were going for. And it looks rough. And the hair clips are pretty poor.

Not sure what happened to the base. Looks like it was supposed to be white/unpainted but there's a bunch of blue smears.

The feet and legs also have bad seams and paint.

Not super happy with this one.

Kamado Nezuko 1/8

MFC: https://myfigurecollection.net/item/836925 (¥12,727 or about $127 USD)
Clone: $15

And we end with the figure that started it all. Geez. Comparing it with the actual figure is uncanny. For reference, here is the original:

Granted, I was using a pretty cold light when taking these pictures but wow. That hair color is so off.

The paint inside also smeared and dried out.

Oh, did I mention the box came broken already? (and more bad paint...)

Yes, in this case, you truly get what you paid for. Or at least I would say that, but she literally just came in a plastic bag with the other figures that at least had some plastic packaging or box.

Thoughts?

I'm pretty satisfied with the first few figures from this list. They're not perfect but unless you scrutinize the figure up close they're nice to display around. On the other hand, some of the rest are just sad to look at. What's more is that I'm probably still going to be on the lookout for a good Nezuko figure after this. Sigh.

Would I recommend it?

If you have not bought figures before and want to, I would probably get a legit figure first.

EXQ figures are pretty easy to start off with (and cheap, around $20), and look pretty good for a prize figure. Nendoroids and Figmas are great (albeit pricier than EXQ, around $40-80) but come with more customization and poses. For the most part larger scale figures are going to be more expensive than the smaller ones. 1/3 figures and dolls can cost upwards of $500 to a thousand or more, where as 1/6 can be closer to $100 or so.

As for clones, well... it depends. It's a risk I suppose. And if you buy a lot of them and feel unsatisfied, you wouldn't want to regret it and probably should just buy one, real figure that you really like. I totally understand the price difference though. The figures on this page were about 1/5 the price of a single figure, so it's almost like I got 6 figures for the price of one. But in reality, some of them are pretty bad, and if you had the clone and the real one side by side, you'd probably easily be able to tell which is real and which isn't.

Ultimately, it's up to you to decide.

So choose carefully.