Ah... I wonder why it took me so long to get a review done for these figures. Maybe it is that the thought of reviewing a total of twelve 12" figures being a little too stressful for my faint heart. When these figures were sold, I actually struck a deal with a friend to split them up equally. I would get the TKYOs (red suit, Yos here on) and two InterYos (OG and Ono heads), and he will get the rest. I thought it was quite an even split, since we both liked the Hornets (yellow suit) more, and for taking the Yos, I will get the InterYo (IY here on) OG head.
Later, the DIYs were announced and again, we decided to split it evenly. This time I will get the Baka and Astroboy head. At the point of sale, how the DIYs looked was never revealed. Later, when these figures shipped, we were surprised by how the DIYs were deliberately designed and fell in love. We then bought another DIY set off the local secondary market to complete our split sets. Then, along the way, I picked up 2 more IYs and traded a Yo for a Hornet. This summarizes the winding path I took and explains how I have what I have today, as reviewed herewith.
The boxes of these figures are huge, as they are packed lined up shoulder to shoulder in each box of 4. If you bought the set of 12, the 3 boxes would've been enclosed in a huge sleeve and shrinkwrapped. I wonder how my wife remained conscious when she saw me carry the huge box into our tiny little flat. Woman has a strong heart... well, strong enough to compensate for the faint one I have.
The DIYs are my favourite and so my pics are centred mostly on them. I really like how different shades of white and cream are adopted for this colourway, which is the 1st time 3A went out of their way to paint DIY figures. Normally, they would've been primed in a monotonous white ready for customization. This time though, the eye slits and mouth are painted black, and an off-white cream colour is adopted for the hair, shoes and glove fingers. All in all, very nicely done.
All these figures come donning their immaculate track suits with no weathering done. Each is equipped with a microphone and two katanas. Being in a band, I thought it was quite boy-bandish that they are all vocalists. Alas, I guess it is a reasonable deduction that band instruments might be quite a boring undertaking for a design company like 3A to 3D model and manufacture. If you are interested, I am sure eBay has many 1/6 instruments to offer...
The shoes are also something of a breakthrough for 3A, since they are made with real fabric and not cast in plastic. Even the shoe laces are individually slotted through the holes punctured through the tiny holes in the shoe, an undertaking that only the staff at 3A can perform. Really, these guys have dexterity that are off the charts and well worthy of Stan Lee's personal visit in his Superhumans show. In short, I really marvel at their craft. It has been commented that these shoe appear a little out of scale and chunky on the figures. Personally I think they are quite suitable in a funky, punky sorta way... chunky funky punky... what the...
You will notice immediately that each of the 4 in the band sports a different headsculpt. I think it is to commemorate the first four TK heads every produced by 3A to date. They are also numbered (on their singlets underneath the suits) according to their sequence of appearance. At No.1 we have the OG sculpt which was first introduced in the form of Kenshiro, Hideo, Yoji, Blanco and Negro, released in 2008. No.2 and 3 are headsculpts helmed originally by the TK Heavies Nasu, Soh and Kato released in 2009. Finally we have the Baka headsculpt that was released in 2010. These headsculpts were also announced to have retired and never to be used again in future TK releases.
There are some variations though. For example, the OG and Astroboy headsculpts come with mustachios, and there are some fancy sideburns painted on the OG's. I thought the mustach painted on the OG resembles a crown icon, much like what is often drawn in A. Wood's sketches above the TK's heads.
Interesting to note, when these figures were dropped, collectors scampered to pair up with other collectors to split the set so that they won't have to end up with 16 of more or less the same figures. Almost always, the OG head will be snatched first. This is really testament to the fact that the original A. Wood designs have always been the most liked and well received by fans. The reissuance of the OG WWRp MK2 Brambles, impending release of the WWR MK2 Bertie that was teased, the usage of the MK1 Square as Taipei and SDCC 2013 exclusives, and most recently the announcement that the OG TQ shall be the next TKlub gift, all seems to suggest that 3A is finally beginning to appreciate this fact and cashing in on it! I feel that no harm is done with reissues as it gives fans an opportunity to get something they missed out earlier on (a win-win situation), though I would attribute the reluctance of 3A to reissue OG stuff to the fact that it implies that their more recent offerings have not bested their original counterparts. Well, personally I can really see why OG stuff are almost always hotter than things they are offering today, but at the same time, I can see the company's constant struggle to improve. They probably set too high a benchmark for themselves.
And now, we move on to some colours:
You must know that the InterYos were only available for purchase through sets. Meaning, you can't buy the set of 4 IYs individually. To get them you must also buy the Hornets and Yos as a set. This is where I feel 3A is really strong at: marketing. This dangle-the-carrot-method has later been adopted as the TKlub and AKlub marketing campaigns as described in the first few paragraphs of this review.
Somehow, the Interloper colourway comprising of various shades of grey are very appealing to 3A collectors, probably owing to the fact that greyscale colourways are typically used for limited exclusives and surprise drops. Well, they are more soothing to the eye I suppose, as compared to the stark red and yellow, which really relies on personal preference. 3A knows this for a fact and tries to capitalize on it by making it unavailable for individual set purchase.
Sometimes I really wish that 3A will take a simpler approach towards sales, and just let fans buy what they want to buy without jumping through any hoops (think surprise drops) and making them buy things they don't really want in the first place... Shit is already made to order, so there won't be any losses incurred. But, a profit-oriented company will definitely not stop at "making no loss" and strive for "making more money". Such is the sad way of life.
The DIYs were only announced after the onslaught of the 12-figure set sale of the Yos, IYs and Hornets concluded. Here's a thought: If the DIYs were fully revealed and available for purchase as an individual set along with the 3 other colourways, I think most would've just gone for the DIYs alone and not have to spend so much money to acquire everything...
Almost forgot to mention that each colourway comes with a printed booklet that is supposed to contain some art work. Well, you really need the artistic sense of Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael and Michelangelo to even begin to fathom what goes on in these booklets. Only the one that came with the DIYs sports more recognizable sketches and comics done by A. Wood. Personally, if the omission of these booklets meant cheaper prices, I would've gone for it.
End of the day, I think that these figures are quite fun to have around. If you have the space for it, I think it would be rad to display them all in various different poses. Even if you are a boring guy like me who poses figures standing shoulders to shoulders, they will form an interesting and colourful backdrop lined up on your shelf.
Alas, I think I might just be keeping the DIYs and will seriously consider selling the rest. I can only hope that I manage to break even.
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