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Yes, once again we bring you...Evangelion merchandise! Look, okay, I know that we seem to review quite a lot of Eva merchandise, but what can we say? There's a hell of a lot of it around and we're Evangelion fans here at Animetion so we're quite likely to buy it. So there. Anyway, this third range of Evangelion Portrait figures consists
once again of five figures, with one each of Shinji Ikari, Rei Ayanami and
Hikari Horaki, and two of Asuka Langley. Like the previous ranges, Neon
Genesis Evangelion Portraits 3 depict the characters in instantly recognisable
poses from the series or accompanying artwork. Hikari and one of the Asuka
figures are wearing their school uniforms and striking typical poses, Shinji is
adjusting his plugsuit (the uniform of an Evangelion pilot), Rei is wearing her
plugsuit and wielding the massive Lance of Longinus and the other Asuka figure
shows her wearing casual clothes. |
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Neon Genesis Evangelion is only really topped by Final Fantasy and Hello Kitty in the Japanese merchandise stakes, so what sets these apart from anything else? Well, they're a decent size, each figure stands at over 5" (13cm) tall which gives them enough presence to display alongside more expensive figures. They're also pretty well made and painted, so they look good, but the best thing is the design. Each figure captures the character really well and in typical poses that fans will instantly recognise. Care and attention has been made to making the characters faithful to the source material, and the detail on each figure is high. As you would expect some of the join lines are quite visible, but it's only really on the hair that it's particularly pronounced The standout figures in the range are undoubtedly the ones of Asuka in her school uniform and Rei with the Lance of Longinus, an eyecatching two-pronged spear which is nearly double the height of the figure itself! The Rei figure looks especially stunning, and I was pleased to see that the Lance was packaged in a cardboard sleeve within the box that kept it straight. I often find that boxed trading figures and gashapon are ruined by poorly packaged parts (usually swords and weapons) that are already bent or damaged when you take them out of the box. Thankfully this is not the case with the long and brittle Lance, which is something other toy and figure manufacturers could learn from. |
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In the end though the Neon Genesis Evangelion Portraits 3 figures are another very good piece of Evangelion merchandise. As figures they are impressive, with good attention to detail and plenty of thought put into them, and at just a couple of quid each they are decent value for money. It's a shame more characters haven't been covered by the range, and you can be caught out if you don't use the stand properly. However, the figures are all very good and as long as you follow the instruction diagram you shouldn't have a problem. At the time of writing these figures are not that hard to come by from online retailers and at Expos and conventions, and if you're an Evangelion fan they are well worth checking out. Extras Ratings Product:
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