C.C. is my first waifu…

To start off my figure blogging here at my second home in Panther’s site, I decided to tackle the issue of rarity and how quality and brand both play a part in the figure collecting scene. Now, this might sound very technical and academic in nature, but instead of discussing this topic in a businesslike manner, I would rather offer some examples of figures that have substantially increased in value over the years and provide some little tidbits of information on why they have become proverbial Holy Grails in the figure scene.

Max Factory 1/7 Kureha

7200 yen. That was the original price at which this Max Factory masterpiece was first sold for in 2007. Arguably one of the best, if not the best, of Max Factory’s PVC figures, Shunji Hagii’s rendition of Shining Wind’s lead heroine continues to boggle the minds and inspire wonder among collectors. While Kotobukiya and President Japan have both released figures of Kureha as well, it is widely regarded that Max Factory’s serene, yet strong-willed, version of Tony Taka’s character is the best and most sought after of the bunch. How much of a Holy Grail is this figure? Consider this. Even the Japanese themselves have trouble tracking down this beauty nowadays, and eBay sells this at a premium price of around 12000-18000 yen, sometimes even more.

Alter 1/8 Kanu Unchou

If you had to pick one character that would represent the entire PVC figure industry, the voluptuous Kanu Unchou from Ikkitousen would have to be it. The amount of figures and poses she has been put through is simply astounding, ranging from swimwear versions, chained-up ero-poses and battle damaged versions. However, this 6800 yen rendition of the beautiful Kanu is probably the most sought after sculpt of Dragon Destiny’s lead after Daiki Kougyo’s stunning 1/6 Vol. 13 manga version (also sculpted by Shunji Hagii). Simple, yet true to the anime character design, Alter’s 2008 masterpiece is now considered a prized figure both in Japan and internationally. How popular is this figure? The original retail price of 6800 yen has now ballooned to 15000 yen, and that is only for the regular white schoolgirl version. Alter also released a black version of this Ikkitousen grail, limited to only 700 pieces, that is even more expensive in the market.

Good Smile Company 1/8 Saber

If Kanu Unchou is the face of the figure scene, then Saber might as well be the alternate head. Good Smile Company might be most well-known for their upcoming 1/7 Saber Lily ~Distant Avalon~ figure, but before the surrounding hype came for that figure, this dynamic Saber was one of the most revered incarnations of the strongest Servant. Originally based on Taichi Katou’s limited garage kit, this beauty was then recasted into PVC for general resale in 2007, originally priced at 6000 yen. Nowadays, even obscure online figure sellers don’t even have this in stock, with the best chance of getting one being eBay or using a Japanese bidding service to get one. The current market price for GSC’s first Saber is now around 12000 yen. Yikes.

Max Factory 1/8 Naru Narusegawa

To say that this figure is old is an understatement. November 2005 ushered in the release of this strikingly gorgeous figure, again by Max Factory. If there was any doubt that you should have bought this at release date, then how does 4800 yen sound? The best sculpt of Love Hina’s defining character, this transluscent haired Naru has now become one of the most sought after figures on the market with minimum prices being 10000 yen (if you’re lucky), but often being bought at higher prices due to the relative age and timeless beauty of the figure. Until now, it is a general consensus that this is Chieri’s finest figure to date and with good reason. Hot body, cast-off feature and extremely high attention to detail… What’s not to love?

But this is rare too right? What makes this different?

While it is true that Banpresto’s Ichiban Kuji Sheryl Nome and a lot of other noteworthy figures are indeed rare figures, what separates the 4 examples above from most sought after exclusives and prized figures is that they did not start out with the label of “rare.” Like most other normally released figures, they were reasonably priced for public purchase, with the rarity factor only going up over the course of time. Factoring into their revered status currently is the superb quality and brand recognition that comes with the character figure. Most of the regular release figures turned into Holy Grails are notably released from the big-name companies, notably Max Factory, Alter and Good Smile Company (though not always the case). Well why so? Aside from having a strong stable of sculptors, their track records for quality and excellence are well-documented, thus usually leading to their figures being exalted among others. However, brand recognition alone does not make a figure increase in resale value, as the character embodied itself should be well-known among otaku themselves. Thus, it is not surprising that most Grails are often characters with a timeless quality to them or have impacted the anime and/or figure industry enough to be recognized, such as the aforementioned Kanu Unchou.

Max Factory 1/8 Haruhi Suzumiya Gekisou Ver.

So what’s the lesson here, if ever there is one? Do not hesitate on getting really nice sculpted and popular figures early. More often than not, there will be one to five figure releases in a given year that will blow your mind with exceptional quality and detail, not to mention the character coming from a well-known series or game.  Time will most likely increase the value of these figures to the point that getting them after production ceases will burn your wallet even more. So which figures to look out for this 2009? I’m guessing that Max Factory’s 1/8 Haruhi Gekisou Ver. (pictured above), GSC’s 1/7 Saber Lily, GSC’s 1/8 Ryougi Shiki from Kara no Kyoukai and Megahouse’s 1/8 Lelouch (Zero Ver.) will eventually go up in value because of their quality, brand recognition and character familiarity. So why hesitate now? Get them while you still can…

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