Hey guys, I thought I'd ask some /toy/ experts about this. I'd been wondering who makes the most realistic and flexible action figures on the market. I could use one to help me figure out poses for drawing, and it'll be good to have a 3d model instead of working from photos. And I don't exactly have the funds to hire a live model every day.
I'm really looking for flexibility and affordability. I don't need it to be a blank mannequin, necessarily. Any character would do. But good muscle definition would be a plus.
I have considered the Armature 9 figures, which look pretty fantastic and have a lot of different parts. It's got a poseable thumb which is rad as hell. The only real problem is that it's 190 bucks and doesn't really have any muscle detail anywhere. It's a fantastic skeleton though.
>>5416089
get what you have in the op.
The Figuarts blanks are nice but figma is releasing a 2.0 of their archetype blanks pretty soon.
Might be able to find the reissues of the first version for a decent price somewhere.
>>5416100
I'd been looking at that for a while, it does seem really good. It's made by S.H. Figure Arts.
Do any of you guys have any experience with their toys? Are they really pose-able?
(pic unrelated, it'd be nice to have an anatomical figure like this but I'll be just as good looking up muscles online as I am from staring at a statue.)
Just take a life drawing class at a community college.
>>5416104
Found this pic online, is this the first version? Head proportions are a bit big for my liking but if it flexes and poses I'm fine with that. It seems a bit more "action pose" ready too but I could work with that.
Any idea when the 2.0 blanks are coming out?
>>5416112
It's been many years since I've taken figure drawing classes, and I miss them dearly. They're also quite expensive and hard to fit into my schedule. Anyway, I'm looking more for being able to "think out" complicated gestures in 3d space, more than subtle acting. And I'm starting to run out of "poses" that I readily know.
>>5416105
Figuarts are very pose-able, they're often the go to for highly articulated figures. The blanks haven't actually come out yet, so it'll probably be worth waiting for their release so you can read some reviews first to find if they really have what you're looking for.
They come in the standard orange figure and a grey deluxe figure that comes with alot of accessories.
>>5416182
Thanks. I just noticed that the blanks on the site, male and female and all the colors are due out sometime in April.
I'm not impatient but do you think their Kamen Rider figures would have the same flexibility? It'd be a bonus if the figure itself were pretty cool.
If you want blank bodies, these seem to be pretty good
Going rate is $13 plus shipping
http://www.bossfightshop.com/collections/pre-order/products/vitruvian-h-a-c-k-s-action-figure-blank-male-body
Microman Material Force figures are really nice for this kinda thing. They don't really have the best muscle definition but they're super poseable and incredibly expressive. Also they go for like under 10 bucks on Mandarake.
>>5416253
these things are really fucking tiny though.
>>5416281
just looked them up, at 4 inches tall about. That could be an issue. But at the price it's hard to argue too much with it since in theory I just need something for basic poses more than I need fine detail...
>>5416288
They also come with like 8 pairs of hands. If anything they're just fun figures in general.
>>5416237
the proportions are awesome but the articulation here won't look anywhere near as natural as the Shf or figma. I mean, it doesn't even have any thigh swivels.
>>5416344
did somebody say yoga?
>>5416469
.... can it do knees behind the head?
>>5416503
>>5416503
he doesn't have that kind of ab crunch but he can do a lot of yoga poses
>>5416318
Humans don't have thigh swivel m8. Your femur isn't cut in half. You just have a balljoint going into the hips.
>>5416344
>I also have to figure out how to order from Mandarake
This is why we need a fucking sticky. I'd be happy to explain it to you if I had more time (not that there's too much to explain). It's probably the best site around for imports.
>>5416643
that's pretty great. I know I've seen that character before but I don't know it by name. How much is the figure?
Marvel legends are pretty well articulated
>>5416659
I'm not that anon but I think it's Figuarts (?) Kinnikuman
>>5416659
yep figuarts kinnikuman, still easily available almost any where figuarts are sold.
>>5416698
yeah that looks pretty excellent, I'll add it to the potential list.
>>5416701
Robin Mask is cooler, go get him.
He's more popular with the ladies, after all.
>>5416708
Look, there's every likely hood that I'm gonna make fans of a character sad and use different colored markers to make an approximation of which muscles go where so... it might still look cool...
>>5416095
A friend of mine (we're both illustrators) shelled out for one of those. It lives at the bottom of his drawer.
It's fragile - broke on him almost immediately - and does not live up to the hype. The proportions are really off, for one thing.
I would recommend either holding out for the blank SH Figuarts buck (they have more 'natural' articulation than Figma, for my taste - I just picked up their Luke Skywalker figure and it's one of the most expressively 'human' figures I've ever handled with the way it's articulated), or invest in a genuine Hot Toys Truetype Slim buck.
Also if you want a female model and can find one anywhere, Polynian Clover is awesome.
>>5416658
I would love to hear how. I've been looking for a Material Force figure for under eBay rape prices for a while now
>>5416720
Thanks for the warning, I had heard even from Armature 9 that their figures were kinda fragile. I imagine the newer wood figures are a little less prone to cracking but who knows.
I could be down for a Luke Skywalker. But this Polynian Clover looks pretty great. I'll look up the TrueType Slim Buck too.
>>5416720
The Polynian Clover guys seem to also do an Aigis model... which is nice cause I really like Aigis. Would have to figure out the feet though...
The SFBT it's the most realistin (in real body movement grade)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWem0LkEX7A
>>5416890
yeah but isn't that the 300 dollar thing that can plug directly into Manga Studio to manipulate a computer model? Might be a bit out of my price range...
>>5416913
Do you want some realistic with just a ten bucks? Man, if you are an artist, just pay and stop complain. There are some amazing bodies like the 1/6 seamless phicen male or female body. You can use it for about $100. Do you want realistic? Well, pay for it and stop complain about the price.
>>5416913
3d print Dexter.
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:116571
Hot Toys used to sell blank TrueType bodies, they were like $40, now they seem to only be marked up on amazon/eBay over $100.
Anybody know what the deal is? Do they have a new one coming out or planning to reissue?
>>5417028
>Ebay
There's your problem. Try Mandarake, Jungle, and the BSTs on serious toy collecting forums. A TrueType will run you about $70 new. Whatever you do don't settle for a knockoff or off-brand version, they're mostly shit. Unless we're talking something like Phicen or Kaustic Plastik, who offer bodies made for specific purposes.
Amazon has a lot of different one sixth scale blank bodies. Same thing on eBay. They can range from twenty to eighty dollars.
>>5416746
If it's the same quality as the Polynian stuff, it should be great. I liked the look of it, but don't have enough spare cash with all the Star Wars stuff Bandai are releasing to pick it up.
I don't really know much about the Persona games, but she's a really neat design and Daibadi's is by far the best version anyone's made so far in terms of matching the game artwork/style.
>>5416189
Just get an SHF Sentai. Or Power ranger. They are closer to blank bodies and have great articulation
>>5416253
>>5416275
>>5416281
Material Microman is the best choice all around, just look how huge heads, proportionally, other expensive figures have.
Choose between men, massive man, women with tits of different sizes, and girls - all in different colors. The "small" size isn´t even a issue - can´t see the details then you need glasses.
You can pose the fig, take a huge MPix picture and put as background in a drawing program for comics or whatever.
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xmaterial+microman.TRS0&_nkw=material+microman&_sacat=0
>>5417140
The whole point of a drawing model is that you draw it from direct observation, not a photograph. This is also why it being a decent size is important.
Those are just way too small to cut it.
>>5416650
yes, but your hips can twist 90 degrees inward, and 45 degrees outward. And since we need ball joints to pop in to a locking rim, unlock human hips, the only solution is a swivel below the hip for full range, as the peg for the ball has to take up some space, and lateral movement is required. Now, you can make an ugly hip that only spins about 45 degrees both ways, but it still wouldn't be enough, and the figure in question has Joe hips, so you only get about 5 degrees either way.
Companies don't just put in thigh swivels for unnecessary articulation, bbut companies who don't do it for money saving purposes/because the team was lazy. It is absolutely a necessary joint, and the people who think it isn't simply do not underdtand anatomy beyond an elementary point of view.
>>5417321
unlike* human hips, whoops.
>>5417323
there's actually a whole fuckton of spelling errors but oh well, I'm not the bedt on mobile.
>>5417140
the micro sister is a lot flimsier and the micro woman have shoulders have break easy
>>5416089
Well, you can use the XNALara software. It's free and you can get many mude models to pose for free. It's the best and cheapest solution for you.
![331746[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/VwNrh9V.jpg "331746[1].jpg")
>>5416115
>>5417718
There's some things here I like more than the Shf, but as far as range of motion and the appearance of the joints/anatomically correct joint setups (or, rather, ones which move to suggest they are, like how shf elbows and knees look like hot toys elbows and knees when bent), shf has figma beat by a great deal.
Though both of the females look pretty bad. You know something's wrong when an american female base is much more proportionate than a set of jap female bases.
>>5417718
Are these the Figma's? They look fantastic. I'd probably buy both. The male just for the clear muscles on the arm alone.
Anyway, you /toy/ guys have been really helpful. Anything I could draw for you all sometime?
>>5417718
I can't wait to turn the female into Dural.
>>5416721
Sorry I took so long. Mandy's pretty simple to order stuff from., but it can look a little weird at first.
First, I'd recommend searching using Japanese characters for the best results (you can still use the english site though). In this case: マテリアルフォース
You might be able to find things using english, but it can be spotty and I only do that as a last resort.
Then, you'll probably notice the names below each listing like Shibuya, Nakano, Umeda, etc. These are all the physical stores that Mandarake has in Japan. The interesting thing here is that most of what they list online, they have in-store as well. After placing an order, there will be a brief waiting period as they check the stock. It's not unheard of for someone to have already bought the item over in their physical store before they could de-list it, but they'll never ask for payment before confirming it.
If you know you really want an item, but throw in some other stuff as well for fun, I'd recommend checking the "cancel order if out of stock" option for the desired item when checking out. Just so you don't end up stuck with a box of extraneous stuff you didn't really want.
Also, the thing with the physical stores means that you can't combine shipping from two stores, so it's ideal to order things from the same store if you can. The different stores also have their own quirks about them, so YMMV in terms of communication or things like that. The ordering process is the same across the board though.
Anyway, in (usually) a couple days after getting the order confirmation, if the items are in stock they will send you a payment request. At this point, you have (I think) 5 days to pay, which is usually done with PayPal. In a little while they'll ship your stuff.
I hope that helps you score some good figures! If you're at all confused about anything I'd be happy to go into more detail.
>>5418540
Yeah they're the archetypes 2.0
