@DanMatrix:
These forums are depressing anymore, just enjoy the damn figures for what they are. Of course analyzing a WCF to the level some of you do will drive you crazy. Just enjoy the cuteness that is the SA Perona WCF!
:/
Oh I'm sorry if you feel offended by my post.
No intention as a dig on you, honestly. Just my expression of frustration with Banpresto coz I know they could do it much better. Your pictures just proved my accusation of Banpresto poor job recently. If someone else was posting it, I would still use it for the same purpose too.
And my apology for not being able to enjoy the cuteness of your WCF Vol.28 Perona. The sculpt is good and the mispaint could be tolerated but I really hate the "glossy" skin material.
Believe me, I'm a fan of Banpresto. They did amazing job with the budget they had. And I really want the old good quality to be back again, just don't know how though.
@Jejune:
I don't mean to bring down anyone with the negativity.. but I can't help but be disappointed because I remember when WCFs really did look close to the prototype. Even if I wasn't expecting a brilliant figure I was still surprised in a bad way, especially after spending the proxy fees and whatnot. When she arrives I'll happily proclaim if she looks better in person, but she'll be compared to some early sets so we'll see about that. ;)
@Lexiy:
Cyber pictures almost convinced me of getting the shiny repaint :P.
analyzing WCF is alright but we are talking here of items that are produced in huge quantities for machines that cost around $5 to play. So the quality of course will be made much less than a GL or other lines that are for retail sales purposes and at a much higher cost. not to mention that the machine cost around 500 yen to play but those UFO sites might pay much less per figure, so we really can't blame Banpresto for this. IF we want high end figures or better painted, we need to consider what we are buying and what were the purposes of those items in the first place.
They did amazing job with WCF for the first 11th volumes + the Strong World volumes and with the same budget I think.
To prove that I'm not just blabbering without facts, I took my Perona WCF Vol.3 (the single most expensive WCF nowadays), took a picture, and this is the quality I expect from them.
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There's mispaint in her eyes. The white node. But it could be easily fixed. You can't fix the skin material quality though.
DanMatrix, do you now get what I meant? The difference of quality of the WCF Perona between volume 3 and 28 is like the prototype and the final product. And this is the same line from the same figure maker.
@Al!naJames:
I have to support you here!
First of all, I think it's just rude for others to be bashing a figure you posted pictures of which you just got and you're happy with. I think I'd feel down if I got that kind of response for something I posted… It's ok to discuss some new releases but can we respect each other's tastes?
Then there's this thing that people keep on complaining that Banpresto prize items don't look as good as their prototypes. But hey! It's ridicules to expect the quality to be the same like it's for POPs, don't you think? They are doing a good job considering their price and the fact that they are prize items. At least Banpresto uses actual product pictures for boxes and posters, unlike Figuarts, who use quality models for exibitions and advertising while actual figures look like utter crap... And a lot of Figuarts are hardly bigger than GLX and yet more expensive.
I understand some people hate Banpresto using coloured plastic for skin instead of painting it now, but to be honest I can't really agree here. Some figures do end up looking glossy and shitty, but some actually look nice like that. Fully-painted first sets had huge issues with that skin paint too, I have 3 of them with snapped paint at their nose and 2 with horrible paint blobs on their skin.
I respect DanMatrix taste and pictures. But I think I'm free to express my opinion too as long as it's not a personal attack here. I'm sorry if some people got offended here, it's certainly not my intention to do so.
Alina, I don't expect Banpresto WCF quality to be like POP. I still have the sanity here. But I expect them to deliver as good as their previous amazing jobs in earlier WCF (as pointed by the WCF Perona Vol.3 pictures above).
But you're right Alina, Banpresto at least put the right material of the final product on the poster and the box art. The difference is just the prototype.
Bandai Figuarts Zero is taking a more extreme path, successfully deceived people with promised quality of prototype, in promo and box art while delivering different result in the final product.
Have to disagree with you on "colored skin plastic is better". Using colored skin plastic generally makes the figure looks worse than the painted one. That's why they keep using painted version in the prototype, don't they? :)
A little comparison with the supposed to be amazing Afro Luffy:
! 
I'm really impressed with the sculpt of this Afro Luffy. And when I saw it at Banpresto Fair pictures, I'm just amazed. Once holding the final product, he's still good but colored skin made me rate the quality from Great to Decent. A missing opportunity of a potential great.
! Luffy and Perona side by side
Seeing them in person, you would notice more the difference of material quality.
One thing I notice from this "glossy, oily" colored skin is they also attract dirt and difficult to clean once dirt is attached to it.
So why did Banpresto change the material? I noticed they have changed the skin material since WCF Vol.0 and WCF Vol.12. And we all know how bad the quality control of these two volumes. By coincidence WCF Vol.0 and Vol.12 are also the first volumes they released for the Asian market.
So here's my theory: it's not about cutting cost of production, but cutting effort of quality control. Since they released WCF for the Asian market, not just for the Japanese game centers, the production qty certainly increased.
To minimize the QC people involved (maybe they couldn't cope with number of QC required for increased production line), they use colored skin material. That way they would only need to check the clothes painting quality which is much easier than the skin painting. The idea is like what's in Alina's head: minimize painting error of the skin, since we have more quantity to be produced now.
Unfortunately the degrading of material quality made the figure looks worse overall, and give this perception of a "cheap" figure.
Anyway the purpose of my "bashing" of WCF is to remind me and everyone concern that the final product definitely won't turn out as good as the amazing prototype pictures we saw here. But if you're fine with that, you shouldn't bother with this opinion.
I rest my case.
And Inishi, you're right. After checking it again, Duval still uses the same material as the regular WCF. It's just the execution of other parts that made him look better than regular WCF.
