Going through my backlog of already snapped photos, I decided to post this one. Quite the stunning figure that I bought a while back. She’s out of print, and like many Kotobukiya figures, you won’t see re-release. 20 more photos after the jump!
If you don’t already know, her name is Natalia from Tales of the Abyss, a wonderful Namco game that I heard is one of the best in the series. I never had the chance to play it though. Too much backlog!
Full view shot. She’s 1:8 scale, but she’s a pretty big 1:8 scale in my opinion. The details on are are very simplistic, which is a rarity for me these days, as anything less detailed than Queen’s Gate Alice is usually a no-go (still haven’t done a shoot of her yet either…)
What attracted me about her was how clean the details were. The lines are very well sculpted and perfect. For a Kotobukiya figure, that’s also a rarity for that generation of figures. They’ve gotten a lot better these days, but their sculpt lines are still sometimes messy.
This shot shows off her mid-section and face quite well. I really like the belt and the buttons on her. It’s like really the only area in the whole figure that has a higher concentration of detail. She’s got a pretty cute face too! Makes me want to pinch her cheeks.
The hair tips aren’t the greatest. They’re a bit thick, but judging from the overall style of the sculpt, it seems fitting. The quality on is typical Kotobukiya to me. Same with the seam line running down the side of her dress. Great paint work on her stockings and boots though.
What I also liked about this figure is that she carries a bow. I’m a sucker for anyone carrying bow and arrows. I’ve sorta gotten over that now, since I’ve got several bow-toting hotties.
Her hair is very simple yet clean as well. Not as clean as I’d like though. It’s a shame you can see the seam line on her arm.
It’s actually difficult to get a nice clear shot with a low aperture to get both the face and the arrow in focus. I blame my lame kit lens, but whatever. Low aperture provides more light, and creates more depth anyway.
This is a pretty good shot. I was thinking of making a wallpaper out of it, but then I need time to photoshop it to make it look more interesting.
The back view. That quiver of arrows also looks incredibly clean. It’s like a perfect cylinder!
Those whispy things are kinda cool. It totally matches the color of her outfit too. Is that Mako Energy?!
The tips of the bows have a rather unique and interesting design. They do kinda remind me of Kureha’s bow, though these tips are more interesting. They have a sort of South African feel to them.
Dancing with the whisps.
I was going to toss this shot because it showed a part of the light, and the top of the paper background, but it actually adds a bit of interest to it.
Sorry, no pantsu.
Close-ups are always nice. Check out those huge eyes! (Obviously not the other pair). The little neck scarf is pleasantly done. I also like the buckle a lot, and the little buttons in the middle are neat too.
This is the original packaging she came in. Mint is also packaged like this. All of it is completely transparent with awesome glyphs all around. I’ve never seen any other Kotobukiya packaging like this. Heck, any other figure besides Alter’s KOS-MOS Ver 4. (need to open that up and do a shoot of her sometime too).
That bow and arrow is kick ass.
Glyphs surround the package. Very nicely done.
The top of the box. Man that is a hell of a long name!
The underside of the box. I actually don’t like the lighting they chose for this. It isn’t very flattering, and actually makes the figure/packaging look decidedly old-school.
And just so you know, this figure is up for grabs. If anyone is interested, email me at info.at.radiantdreamer.dot.net.
I apologize that this shoot isn’t Raquel Gothic. I’m actually waiting for a good day to do an outdoor shoot for her. Tune in next time for it though!
EDIT: This figure has now been sold for my asking price of $60.
That is an absolutely gorgeous figure! I really wish someone would do figures for some of the other games in the Tales series. I would love to have a Judith figure on my desk…
How much were you looking to get for a gem like this?
I haven’t thought too much about a price yet, so I’ll say $60USD for the time being. 🙂
That’s a tempting proposition… what’s the scale on the figure and how big is she?
She’s 1:8 scale, but I think she’s slightly bigger than 1:8 in my opinion. If you’re interested in a transaction, email me info at radiantdreamer dot net.
Brilliant figure! Even the packaging is eye-catching. Only slightly plain in a few areas.
Kotobukiya doesn’t do re-releases, ever? I might have learnt something new today.
It looks like that they tend to release quite a lot of figures that aren’t mentioned in other blogs I’ve red so far. Haha you sure are a sucker for bow and arrows, and valho is one for katanas. Who’s next? XD
Koto has done a few re-releases… I know Horo (http://myfigurecollection.net/figure/12_holo), Konomi (http://myfigurecollection.net/figure/84_yuzuhara_konomi), and Sango (http://myfigurecollection.net/figure/86_himeyuri_sango) have gotten re-releases, and I’m sure there are others.
As for the figure, she’s not one I’d buy, but I really love the box, it’s great!
Oh yeah! Valho does love katanas. I think it’s just the elegance of these weapons. They go very well with females. I’d say more so than gun-toting girls.
The Lamento series by Koto pretty much had the transparent plastic boxes as well. And pretty much every Tales series figure by Koto used the same style of packaging as well. For other brands, T-elos by Alter comes to mind and Wafudoh relies on that type of packaging as well.
Always wanted to get the figures from the Abyss series but they somehow never did cross my path for me to just pick up, and as the buzz from the game got lesser, so did the desire for the figures I guess. Can’t quite decide whether I’m lucky or unlucky in that respect ^^;
Oh right! I remember the Lamento series now! It’s pretty cool that Koto uses these acetate boxes for packaging. It must be much more expensive to do that though.
I like KOSMOS Ver4’s packaging, but I didn’ tknow T-Elos came that way too! Very cool!.
I know what you mean – I never played Tales of the Abyss, and me being a sucker for bow and arrows, I just kinda gave in. I don’t know if I’m lucky or unlucky either, since I’m selling her right now. 😛
I actually came across this Natalia PVC just the other day at a small otaku shop. But I passed on her when I saw that same shop carried the extremely rare ebCraft/EnterBrain 1/8 Archer I’ve been hunting FOREVER.
I’ve got the Tear Grants PVC ( http://emencyblazer.wordpress.com/2008/02/11/tear-grants/ ) but never got around to getting Natalia. In all honesty, I hated Tales of the Abyss. I tried very hard to like it since the Tales fanbase loved it so much, but I just couldn’t get into it. Guess I’ll stick with Eternia or Symphonia.
I remember weighing out whether to buy Natalia or Tear Grants. I’m such a sucker for bow and arrows. 😀
Since I never played Abyss, I didn’t harbor any ill feelings when I purchased Natalia. That’s good I suppose.
The last Tales game I actually played and finished was Tales of Destiny. -_-;
I have Tales of Legendia, but haven’t played that yet. O_O
(earlier correction: That Archer’s 1/7, not 1/8)
I was originally going to get Natalia as well as Tear, but eventually passed. I wanna get Kotobukiya’s Kureha from Shining Wind first…
If the last game you played was Destiny, then you shouldn’t have many problems with Legendia. A lot of people bashed Legendia since its battle system felt old and clunky compared to other recent Tales game. But if the last one you played was Destiny, that shouldn’t be a problem for you.
(Legendia has awesome music, by the way)
“Sorry, no pantsu”
Me: Ah, yes it’s mighty fine with no pantsu.
Lol.
btw, are you using an slr?
Nice presentation. The figure is cute, but too simple maybe ^^
You’re a bit mistaken about the aperture bit (unless I read it wrong, then I’m sorry).
Small aperture means higher F-number, which essentially means the iris during the capture is smaller and let’s in less light, but creates a larger focus depth (i.e. more stuff is in focus).
Large aperture mean lower F-number, which essentially means the iris during the capture is larger, thus letting in more light, but creating a small depth of field (i.e. the focus plane is very thin and only a small part of the image is in focus).
So if you want to get more of the figure in focus, use a higher F-number (meaning a lower aperture). If you use a kit lens, an F number around F8.0 should be fine enough. Be aware that it will let in less light, meaning for correct exposure you will need slower shutter speeds, so you might want to use a tripod (you can also use a flash, but built-in popup flashes tend to create an overly artifical looking, unpleasant lighting).