OUT OF THE BOX: MegaHouse Excellent Model Space Dandy
OVERVIEW
Series: Space Dandy
Character: Dandy
Copyright: ©Square Enix, BONES, Funimation
Manufacturer: MegaHouse
Category: Excellent Model
Sculptor: Ennou Fumihiko
Specifications: about 9 inches tall
Price: Around $90
Release Date: December 12, 2014
Two ways to enjoy this post:
1. Watch the unboxing video.
2. Play the Space Dandy soundtrack on another tab and then read post below.
So I've been really excited about this figure and pre-ordered it as soon as Amiami posted it up. However, it took me long to receive mine because when I didn't see the e-mail notifying that it's ready for shipment so I wasn't able to send my payment in time and when that whole problem happened, I second guessed if I should really get it (it was around Christmas season and I've never been that broke in my entire life). However, in the end, I decided I can't pass up on it so here we are.
Behold! The most colorful box in the history of my figure collection! I really like how they captured the Dandy theme in the packaging design: fun and full of energy. The top features a window in the shape of Dandy's star patch on his jacket (just without the letter D on it).
The front has a less flashy, yet huge window showing what comes with the figure. I noticed that it's pretty ironic that Portrait of Pirates packaging has smaller windows when the figures always look big thanks to the costume and accessories while the Dandy packaging didn't come with such huge, flashy pieces and yet the window allowed so much room for us to see inside. It also has a handsome close-up shot of the Dandy figure. Notice how his hair on the photograph are sharp and the lines on his jacket are clean and precise.
The left side of the box has another photo of the Dandy figure, now in black-and-white with only the his star, bracelet and shirt in color.
Even the back heavily follows the theme of the entire box. The panels showing close-ups of the figure in in this interesting rounded rectangle shape that reminded me of space televisions.
The right side of the box is my favorite though. It's just very dynamic looking; from the juicy colors to the diagonal placements of the elements. I prefer the box to be all about Dandy but I wouldn't deny that placing Honey somewhere in there is also a good way to advertise that a Honey figure exists and maybe you should buy it too to complement your Dandy figure! I would much rather prefer a Scarlet figure though.
The bottom portion is usually the least designed part of the box and that's why I usually don't show it but this one has the Space Dandy logo and silhouettes of the three main characters: Dandy, QT, and Meow.
Even the inner lining of the box is in this popping yellow color with some celestial bodies on it which again, supports the whole "Space Dandy feel".
I've only had Portrait of Pirates before and since One Piece characters always have costumes coming in huge shapes and sizes, the packaging would always look populated. However, with the Dandy figure, his hotdamnsexy slender physique and the compact nature of his accessories made it look like the box isn't as full and that we're not getting as much.
The base also looks significantly different compared to the Portrait of Pirates ones. Portrait of Pirates bases are usually made with just one material of one color. I found the Dandy base much more interesting that that since it consists of this plastic in not only glossy but also sparkly blue and a transparent top with an illustration of Dandy's star patch and his ship Aloha Oe's decal.
The figure, when attached to the base, looks like this.
Here's a close-up shot of the finer details of the figure. Obviously, even without zooming it to the specific spots, some imperfections on the paint job are already visible.
I specifically pointed out the close-up photo of the figure in the beginning because while it looks perfect in that photo, it's evident on the figure itself that the quality they showed off on the box isn't guaranteed. Here we see the stripe on his collar not as perfect as the one on the photo.
Also, the hair isn't as pointy as the one on the photo as well. But the way they added that blue highlight is a nice touch though!
But the sculpt is still definitely great! The figure comes with two heads: the kakkoi Dandy as default and the douchebag arrogant Dandy as extra.
I'm really impressed with these sculpts because I think it captured the art style of Space Dandy itself.
Pulling out one head and replacing it with another made me realize that this necklace does not only swing around but can also be taken off. So if you have this figure (or will get it), be careful! I almost lost this piece when I changed the figure's head.
I enjoyed having the arrogant expression on the figure more than the other one. I think the other expression looked too cool and kind of reminded me of Spike Spiegel *eyes start to well-up in tears* a lot more than Dandy. It's the face of a confident man who actually knows what he's doing, not a face of a confident man who's just confident because things always turn out well for him for some reason. Long story short, I think the arrogant expression portrays Dandy a lot better than the other one.
The thing with the arrogant expression though is that it's a lot harder to put on than the default one. As you can see, there's this sort of double chin showing when that other head is attached. I tried to push it as hard as I could hoping that it'll cover it once it's perfectly in place but it didn't. With the default head, that just gets covered up so it doesn't show.
I really love the attention to detail in this figure's sculpt. I particularly found Dandy's pants really seductive attractive because it's like some casual slacks that has creases complimenting his butt body.
Ennou Fumihiko, the sculptor, or whoever made sure that detail has to be included definitely did not disappoint me in that area.
The fun thing about this figure is that it has so much character even in such a simple pose. I found that figures in a simple stance gets boring while dynamic figures tend to be hard to photograph. But this one is fun to work with. I don't have that much artsy shots to show off but I think that even these straightforward shots tell so much about the character already just because the figure, by itself, carries the personality.
Dandy's hair also fascinated me because it has these angular outward curls at the back. I've always wondered how it would translate as a 3-D form. Would it be paper-thin planes of clumped hair or what? I turned to the cosplay community for some answers but it failed me.
The figure didn't though.
I'm really glad that they spared the face from those sculpt and paint imperfections. Although it is kind of ironic that the paint job was less than perfect on the bigger areas. I would've expected that the face would be the easiest place to mess up.
As for the other interchangeable pieces, we get two arms with a weapon that corresponds to each.
Both arms fit conveniently in the figure's shoulder, making use of Dandy's jacket design to strategically hide the seams. (It was windy when I shot this under natural daylight (as I always do with my figures) so his necklace was spinning all over the place.)
The blaster looks specially great because of the contrast of plastic materials and paint finishes used. While the most of the body of the blaster is in this opaque solid paint, the middle part it transparent almost as if there's liquid inside. I also like the gold they used on the tip because it's convincing but still subdued and not too flashy to the point of being tacky.
The sword is cool too but I didn't think it was as impressive as the blaster. Also, I feel that equipping the figure with the sword just demands more space.
The last impressive thing I want to point out about this figure are the shoes. The shoe tip and sole looks so convincingly metal, again, without being tacky. I was afraid that they might make it look chrome which wouldn't definitely cheapened the look of the figure, in my opinion.
It might've been something that happened once the PVC was pulled out of the mold.
Despite all the imperfections I seemed to be strongly bothered with, I can't help but be forgiving. The only toys I've seen that looked divine are ThreeA toys which runs limited and costs a lot more than these mass-produced figures. However, although there's little reason to feel entirely ripped off, I still think that I could've been luckier with what I got. It seems like I just got the shorter end of the stick now and ended up with a figure that's less than perfect. Still though, I was very glad that I picked this up. Now that I have it, I can't imagine what it would be like to pass it up because it's definitely one of those figures that I might be able to put off getting but eventually will anyways.
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