I’m a little surprised that there haven’t been more Rin figures made over the last few of years. I can see why Saber figures outnumber Rin. Armor. Big sword. A wider variety of costumes and outfits. Plus if you go with the extremes of Rei and Asuka spectrum of anime girls, Saber is closer to Rei, who as it’s been thrown around, is more appealing to otaku. Rin on the other hand, at least as far as the anime goes, is more of a bitch, doesn’t wear armor or carry a big frakking sword. A serious lack of props that a pendant and a dagger can’t compare with. Still, expected more Rin figures than what was released.
As far as sexy goes I think Rin wins hands down, but Saber makes a much better D&D character. So she’s always had that appeal for me, which is why I have way too many Saber figures. On the other hand, trying to stat out a character sheet, Rin doesn’t even work that well as a magic-user — (as a side-note Rider, would rock out with spiked chain cheese in D&D 3.5). But you know if manufacturers actually released more Rin figures I probably would have almost as many as I do of Saber. Those two Fate/Stay Night Rin and Saber figures that Good Smile Company released a few years ago, ordering from Japan for the first time, waiting for them to arrive from overseas, and finally un-boxing them, unboxing an anime figure for the very first time got me hooked on collecting figures. I didn’t even know who they were. They just looked frakking cool and thought those figures were amazing. So yeah, Saber and Rin, have that sentimental appeal.
Of the two summer figures released by Alter, I think Rin wins in the more interesting department. Seated poses score points with me, plus this Saber pose is a straight vanilla line. I think that’s why the small handful of shots that I have here focus on Rin. Love her gaze here. Overall though, the detail isn’t very high, but my soft spot for these two character designs, and camis yay, makes me happy enough to have them.
I think these two figures look most closely resembling Takeuchi’s original character designs for them, out of the myriad number of them already mass-produced.
And I second you on lack of Rin. I like her over Saber for the most part, but of course with the armor and sword, Saber is “frakking” cool. To an extent I think that’s ultimately what sells; most people buy figures just because they look appealing, and not so much because of some subtle nuance of sculpture (although having a lot of that can add to a frakking cool figure) or the nature of the character in question. I guess it must have been a sales thing. Takeuchi’s character designs tend to be very clean and simple, without the sort of detail you see gracing the average adventure game character. And I think that’s we want in their figures for a large majority of us.
Probably the along the lines of why swimsuit figures aren’t the #1 sellers, at least anytime I look at the ranking on HobbySearch. Not enough cool stuff tacked on. And being anime character designs, feminine charms aren’t all that obscured anyway, so swimsuits don’t bump up the sexy factor all that much.
Rin is definitively my favorite as well. As usual you captured some amazing photos. I am glad to see that doing more shoots as far as I can tell it looks like your last shoot was back in February. I will post your photos on otakuden so my fans can also enjoy your exceptional work.
Excellent set of shots. Nice reflection in the mirror, a good set of portraits and I like the illusion of Saber walking up to Rin in the one picture. I think the last picture Saber looks too confident though, probably just from that angle with her arm towards the camera.
Additionally I like the layout, the full width shots ending with the edge of the black background looks great.
Lastly, Rin is my favourite, but hard to come by. Way back when, I managed to snag Good Smile’s 2005 Rin and that was the only Rin I owned until this Alter and Good Smile’s latest Rin. Still though, the original 2005 Rin seems the most dynamic and interesting of all of them, as she’s jumping over Berserker’s arm.
The Saber approaching Rin is my favorite of the bunch. Those kind of obscured types of shots usually are my favorite of any set, but going by view counts on Flickr (where they’re hosted), they capture the fewest eyeballs.
That GSC Rin where she’s jumping over Berserker rocks.
I find the same thing with the pictures I posted to Flickr way back when. The ones I liked the most tend not to be viewed as heavily. Maybe as thumbnails they’re just too obscure looking or aren’t as appealing as they don’t have such a solid subject. Or perhaps I like them for reasons that just don’t appeal to the broader audience.
Lovely photos, they really bring out the charm of these figures, especially Rin. ^^
Lovely as usual. Love the subtle BSG vocabulary too ^.^
Nice to see a figure related post from you again, master =)
Your pictures are really awesome, I love the soft lighting you’ve used.
From the FSN franchise I also prefer Rin, she’s cool and more feminine than Saber.
This sitting figure of her is quite charming, as I saw a few official pics I thought that her ears might be a bit big, but when looking at your pics I would like to get her for myself. She’s so pretty.
As far as overall visuals go, Rider is my favorite of the FSN girls. Flexibility, chains…TMI, right? But, the three of them are pretty character designs that are cool for different reasons/moods.
Quite lovely figures. I am surprised more folks didn’t pick up these lovely ladies in their breezy summer attire
. I haven’t yet posted my photos of them (yes, I have them too) but plan to do so soon ^^;
The graceful sitting pose certainly does help it score additional points. Still, I do also like Saber. They’re both great figures as can be expected from Alter.
I have both figures but I also tend to appreciate Rin more than Saber. Although they are wearing the same outfit aside from the colors, Rin just looks better in it
P.S. Oh yes, nice photos as usual
Super photos! Love them!
I feel so alone in wishing there were more Sakura figures… she gets no love. Wait, Taiga suffers even more! I really like those two…
On topic, I agree that Rin is much sexier than Saber.
Poor Taiga.
Rin is my favorite character
Great set of shots, love the lighting and background used in the last one. Both figures become far more desirable to grab after seeing them like this.
Excellent job.
When I was young, I really loved animes and I collect them especially robots. I just want to commend on your shots because I see also that you really had a great set of shots, love the lighting and background used in the last one. Both figures become far more desirable to grab after seeing them like this.
[...] Posted in Figure Review | Tagged with Alter, Rin-Tohsaka, Saber Comments: 17 comments [...]
I saw both of these figurines but didnt go for them, i personally felt that they were boring. Rin is the better of the two without a doubt in this matchup however overall i do have to lean towards the Saber side of the argument. I cant say that i have a huge personal pref for either but if it came down to it, i would probably take Rin. The Tsundere attitude in the anime is just something i love. I think something that draws the most attention to Saber over all the other characters is her blond hair and blue eyes, a rarity in most anime so she will naturally stand out compaired to other characters.
BTW, i love your pictures and the layout of your site, its very clean looking. Me and my wife are starting into this kinda stuff and we really are trying to look into ways to use props and such like you, you make it look very natural, nice work.