1/6 Kan’u Unchou Motorcycle Review
Well I got my hands on this 1/6 original cast figure of Kan’u Unchou from E2046. The people at E2046 have clearly been putting a lot of effort into their ORI product line, and I was right in saying that this has to be their best attempt so far. Not that there aren’t nits to pick.
The figure looks really impressive, both from far and up close. There’s little sense of scale in my photos, but at 1/6 scale the figure looks rather huge and has a very strong presence if put on display. Although there are no metal parts — except for a single piece supporting the rear wheels — as far as I can tell, and it feels heavier than I expected. The height is about 24cm.
There is a special base that comes with preorders. There are six LED spotlights on the side that actually light up, which is cool but somewhat gimmicky. I don’t have any AAA batteries to test them out.
The LEDs are on the side
The most impressive part is probably the attention to details. The paintwork is significantly improved from my prior experiences with E2046 products. Boundaries are sharply defined and there is almost no jagged lines to ruin the illusion.
This is probably not very surprising for real collectors who are used to excellent craftsmanship from professionally-made resin figures, but the fact that E2046 is doing this on a semi-mass production basis is commendable.
There are actually two rear-view mirrors but I didn’t attach them because they kept dropping. If you are assembling the figure for long-term display, adhesive is required to keep certain parts on, which may complicate things if you ever need to repack the figure.
The size, the attention to details, and the price tag of this figure places it well out of the realms of regular collectibles. It is definitely the most well-made figure in my possession. There is no way mass produced PVCs can ever hope to rival this level of workmanship until robots gain sentience and overthrow humanity.
I like the tattoo on her chest, which is a skilfully-applied decal. However, the use of decals on the motorcycle is in my opinion somewhat excessive and tacky. I would have preferred a blank motorcycle chassis with just the characters “Ikkitousen” on it. I guess this is mostly a matter of personal taste. But then again, I have good taste.
All in all, a very good release from E2046. It’s almost too good for displaying because I can’t imagine having to clean the dust out of this thing. I guess the advantage of PVC figures is that I don’t really care about what happens to them when they are put on display. Maybe it’s about time I invest in a proper display cabinet.
E2046 is taking preorders for the next production batch. US$ 319.99 excluding shipping for preorders and US$ 351.99 after that. Preorders come with the special LED display base.
Of course, while I do count Ikkitousen (Kan’u in particular) as one my guilty pleasures, I didn’t have to cough up $320 for it. This figure was sent to me for review by E2046′s marketing department. But that said, the significant improvement from their previous releases has made me quite excited about their future releases. A decent Kallen figure of this level of quality (school uniform pls) might just find its way into my well-fortified bank account. >_<
On another note, I am convinced that a future investment in a proper macro lens and some proper lighting equipment will be in order…
October 1st, 2008 at 5:16 pm
Please get decent lens. Use your +1 free aura.
October 1st, 2008 at 7:05 pm
Or bigger pix…
Guess we’re spoiled by awesome figure blogs elsewhere.
October 1st, 2008 at 8:44 pm
The price tag…it has to be the LED lights. IT HAS TO BEEE
October 1st, 2008 at 9:20 pm
you LUCKY bastard! 羨ましいいいイーー >_<
October 1st, 2008 at 9:30 pm
LOL WTF FREE FIGURES. You can turn a profit by selling it.
Anyway, you might realise that a display cabinet does not keep out dust entirely, just lowers the amount. Especially those glass IKEA ones, the lower decks get a lot of dust.
Invest in a clean room filtration system and you might get a dust environment. Only if you wear a clean suit in of course.
October 1st, 2008 at 10:19 pm
It must be some epic armour that you are wearing that is giving you the aura to attract free stuff.
October 1st, 2008 at 10:53 pm
The skin tone is already too “ugr” I would say and finishing is too glossy. Not sure is the lighting that screwed it up.
October 1st, 2008 at 11:38 pm
Get a decent macro lens XD
a new sigma 50mm macro can be had for roughly 450sgd w/ shipping at B&H photo.
you will love the 1:1 magnification ratio a macro lens give. ;)
i find the lighting to be ok… really no need to get good lighting equipment… :P
October 2nd, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Ugh, the face. The details are beautiful but the face ruins it for me. It looks so fake and dead. They shouldn’t have tried to make the face more realistically scaled or whatever fugly beam they hit it with… Or, perhaps, a good face up is something that only Alter and GSC can pull off. X_X
Also, I swear that everyone and their grandma is churning out a Kanu figurine every week. I’ve seen at least a dozen different figurines of Kanu out there, not counting garage kit ones.
October 2nd, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Damn, LED lights. Bike lovers and passionate bikers (I used to be one) will love this figure, but I do not have the money.
The decals are because of racing bikes, most bike passionates do that, DM. That is why the decals are all over the bike. And indeed, E2046′s quality is more than commendable.
“There is no way mass produced PVCs can ever hope to rival this level of workmanship until robots gain sentience and overthrow humanity.”
QFT
And if you compare the height of 24cm to the base, that is pretty big. The price seems fine for such workmanship of a resin figure, and an original product.
October 2nd, 2008 at 10:58 pm
Nice write up, but I must say your pictures are quite dark. Not sure if you intended it to be that way. My pics come out that way sometimes also. But the bike color, hair color and suit color are kinda hidden in some pics.
October 3rd, 2008 at 5:36 am
her face looks distorted
October 5th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
Are you going to write about Gundam 00 season 2?
October 6th, 2008 at 11:15 am
…that tattoo kinda ruins the model, IMO >
Though, everything Kan’u is awesome
October 17th, 2008 at 3:51 am
ooohhh… nice dragon tattoo on her eyes! O_O