Broken Figures
Remember the cute little Kaze No Ushiro O Ayumu Mono figure from ALTER? Just to refresh memories, here a picture I took 10 months ago when I received her.
(picture from July, 3 2007 figure review)
Well, as the title suggests it, this poor girl had some trouble escaping from that jungle.
As you may have already heard about it, this figure is well know for her challenging-gravity pose, and for what guys from ALTER did to prevent the figure to lean. Detailed pictures of the implementation at Happy Soda, in the review chapter.
Back when I wrote about this figure, I said this :
ALTER did a very good job with the leg and the base binding, reinforcing them with a metal pipe.
I do not know what was the general feeling about this, but I was blindly convinced nothing bad could happen to her. Certainly because of the ALTER logo… I guess.
But not even one year later, gravitiy once again dictated her inevitable rules, and took it out on the poor Kaze.
Actually, the figure does not lean. So, basically, the extra metal-pipe did its job well. What did not resist is the plastic base. And I swear Kaze never fell and never received any impact ^^
With much attention, you can notice it is the plastic support which is leaning. I assume it was perfectly vertical when I took it off the box.
Now I am just too afraid of removing the little fragment stuck in the foot, because, in fact, the figure still stands well. Dangerously bending, but put against a wall or another figure, it looks ok. And if I remove it, I may screw up trying to fix it with glue, and I fear making the things even worse ^^;
I just hope now that other ALTER figures like Kuro no Franco, who also has an anti-gravitational pose, will be spared by mother earth attraction.
To tell the truth, it has been about three month since this happened. I just decided to write something about it and share my misfortune now, after having learnt something similar on the same figure occured to a comrade from figuremaniax.com, a French speaking forum about figures. And things seem to have been more violent for him, unfortunately.
So, this brings me to put the following question to those who have this figure as well : any alike damage? ^^
I glued her foot to the base about a month after I got her because the foot didn’t sit flush with the base. I guess it’s a good thing I did that. She’s fine right now. The metal post must be too much force for the plastic. Hopefully with Franco they’ve learned a bit about it. Mines still in the box.
On the other hand Alter’s Fauna looks as good as the day I got her and that’s another one foot pose, so at least there they got both the base and the leaning thing right with Fauna.
Good to hear that about Fauna, since I have ordered her (June re-release). I could not resist all those beautiful pictures, yours included hehe.
It seems you did a good thing indeed, glueing it at the very begining. I did not think about it since the the foot fitted into the base perfectly on my copy.
Sadly I don’t have any gravity defiying figures. I did saw these on the self of one of the anime stores I go to.
It’s sad that your figure broke. I’ll be sad if my figure broke. It looks fine to me after you glued it back together. Just hope it doesn’t break off.
Mamamia
I have had two break on me sadly. My Alter saber swimsuit fell off her base and the pegs attached to her feet broke off so she’s now super glued to the base. But since she’s glued her balance is off and she leans terribly from time to time. Luckily i can fix it, but every 6 month or so i have to go and fix her up again. I also broke my Max factory Fauna same day i got her, i was playing cast-off and i had her attached to the base while i was playing cast-off and her peg broke off in her foot. what did i learn? IF YOU EVER GET THIS FIGURE REMOVE HER FROM THE BASE BEFORE PLAYING CAST-OFF. hehe
she’s is also now glued to her base but luckily she has two pegs so she’s glued on there properly so i don’t foresee any leaning issues coming soon.
breaking figures always feels terrible, hopefully you’ll be able to fix her.
hmm another alter figurine that has leaning issue (eventho it’s the base..). my Alter saber bikini also fell off her base and broke the peg…, and also fauna too, her peg broke.. (high five with dancing queen)
you should be able to fix this with super glue. luckily I can take the peg off fauna foot and super glue the small broken peg back to the base, so the figurine itself is not glued to the base ^^;
Wait until you see Kotobukiya Arika w/ bag figure.
She seems to be prone to leaning.
So far so good.
But for your case, dont glue it. Use some double sided tape or something. Isnt superglue corrosice to plastics?
So sad to know this, normally I avoid figures with only one foot set on the base. For this to happen its clearly the poor quality materials they used for the base. The only figure I have in a similar pose which is closer to MaxFact Fauna is Ilia swimsuit and she’s still in a perfect pose and mint condition after a year.
The only complaint I have of Alter is their Saika S. Farnese figure, such a cute figure in a nice pose but she’s a damn leaner because they weren’t smart enough with her feet position :(
Sorry to hear about this, I thought it would hold up for you T-T. Makes me wonder if I should avoid possible leaners like this.
Rin : Actually it is not glued. The foot still fit into the base, but this is not reassuring at all.
Dancing Queen & ron~ : I read what happened to your Fauna guys. Such a misfortune (>_<)
And the bikini Saber from ALTER seems to be very subject to leaning issues.
Good to hear is it still possible to correct properly.
e-jump : Arika is a potential leaner? her pose does not look that acrobatic… well, that does not mean anything in fact, since figures like straight standing figure can lean as well.
Thanks for the advice, I will think about it. And I do not know if glue can deteriorate plastic. I assume there are special glues for this material, maybe? ^^;
Belela-san : I have hear about leaning issues with Saika. Mine seems ok though. It looks like she is leaning actually, but it is just an optical illusion due to her pose.
AS : I guess it is very hard to tell if a figure will lean or not. You can just hope things won’t turn bad, by taking care of your figures.
I’ll send you later a picture in how I have my Saika.
Looking at your Saika pictures mine does exactly the same but with a stronger lean now because I used adhesive glue tape on her left side to put her straight and if I remove it she seems like Michael Jackson dancing the Smooth Criminal only instead of going forward she goes to her right side XD
Wow man, that sucks terribly. Kind of sad that we collectors put such a risk out there for dynamic figures. Things like that happen, I suppose, but you can rest assured that figures get better and better, so the newer figures will have better reinforcement. I’m fortunate that I don’t yet own a figure that is so dynamic.
Okay… that’s one of the worst things that could ever happen to a figure. It really sucks now that Franco will have to have some super glue attaching her to her base. At least it’s at place where it’s not too noticeable.
I’m pretty afraid for Kotona especially, her imbalanced sitting on her green chair being one major issue. She’s fallen many times, the green base attached with her right hand always comes down with her. The peg looks like it could break from the weight of the fall. :S
She was trying to perform a leap through time (Toki wo kakeru shoujo). ^^;
I have the same figure as well, but she’s in the box. Hope she doesn’t break like yours
Belela-san : argg is that so? impressive… mine has not moved since I took pictures of her, and she is actually displayed next to Kaze ^^;
radiant : sure, things can only get better and better. That is sad indeed, but that is the risk :|
It is like, let’s say, when you buy a new car, there always a risk some morons scratch or worse, break in it on in a parking and flee without a word. That sucks, but that’s always a risk ^^;
rain : I want to think Kuro wont have the same problems ^^;
Sorry to hear the beautiful Kotona has some trouble staying on her stylish chair :/
Windbell : haha yeah that is may be it ^^
At least, she has nothing to fear in the box. Just take care of her when you will think about displaying the figure.
This is why I stick to resin figures.
Having said that, the damage looks pretty light. You could try adding a second metal peg to the figure using a brass rod and a modelling drill. Generally speaking, I find it’s a very bad idea to have just a single metal support for a figure, even if they’re standing on just 1 foot…
The only breakage I’ve come across with figures is the Nayuki figure from Kotobukiya. When I was trying to attach her to the base, I accidently put in too much force and broke one of the pegs.
I see… That’s quite sad to read about.
Well, either it is that or one ugly plastic/metal pole…
gundamjehutykai : resin figures sure resist much, much better! But I guess you are even more afraid of damages with those pieces ^^ I remember how I was terrified when I accidentaly broke a part of my Could’s hair T_T fortunately I could fix it properly.
Having all the weight on only one foot is sure risky.
Adun : Broken pegs… haaaa this happens quite often isn’t it? ^^; Have 2 or 3 figures in that case.
D_Blade : yup, but which is the best? broken support or ugly plastic pole? hard to tell ^^;
My Nakoruru broke some time ago already , i can’t find a way to repair her :/
she always fall again … i’ll take a pic , the way i make her stand , it’s kinda funny :p
Exactly the same happened with my Kaze! What good do the metal rod through her leg if her plastic base is crap?! That really pissed me off! Now my Kaze is in her box… perhaps someday I’ll be able to fix her base or perhaps I’ll buy another.