In the first of a series of articles on classic anime toys and collectables (by which I mean stuff from the 80's onwards, I'm not old enough to go back any further) I thought it only appropriate that I discuss one of my holy grail sets, the Bubblegum Crisis figures from toy company Atelier Sai released in the bygone days of 2005.
Bubblegum History
The company started production on licensed toys around the year 2000 (information on the company isn't overly abundant) so they had some experience under their belts before creating these. Other notable properties they have produced products for include Gradius, Full Metal Alchemist and Tenchi Muyo.
For this series of BubbleGum Crisis figures, which stand at 6 inches tall, the company used the designs from the last original episode, Scoop Chase. At this point the original designs had been refined into sharper looking armour that (mostly) retained the hallmarks of the originals. Nene gets the most striking change as her outfit was changed to the new red and pink hardsuit of that episode and not the more familiar blue-top, pink-legs colours from the previous seven. Happily (in my opinion) the red suit is equally fantastic so I don't mind it!
Each character comes with their own unique parts (so ribbons for Linna, knives and folding wings for Sylia, antenna for Nene and changeable wrist cannon for Priss to replicate her episode 6 suit). On top of this, each character comes with an interchangeable head (with or without helmet) designed in such a way that the characters can hold their helmets and look natural if you want to get the maximum display value for your money. Each figure also has interchangeable hands and a black display base with the Knight Sabers logo colour-keyed to each character. Overall, the sets are fairly comprehensive and excellent value for money.
These figures are now notoriously difficult to get hold of, and with good reason. Incredibly only 250 of each figure were made, making it a truly limited edition (where these days 3,000 copies is considered limited!) I managed to find a loose Priss from this set at Mandarake a few years ago for £20 for Mr Seb, but beyond that I've never seen any in the wild but the set I ordered from Hobbylink Japan on release.
Are they worth tracking down even with the inflated after-market prices and heart-rending scarcity? After all, given that the series was named for the 80's economic bubble, it seems sadly ironic that the figures should have been subject to hyper-inflation...
The cold light of day
You really are getting a mixed bag with these figures. Firstly, the sculpts are absolutely on-point, with each of the girls looking absolutely stunning. Finish is also exceptional, with metallic paint bringing to life the lithe and iconic hardsuits in all their glory. The sculpting team brought their A-game to this set, with terrific headsculpts for each of the ladies capturing the character of each - Sylia looks determined, Priss looks steely, Linna a little more approachable and Nene as adorable as ever. The original designs by legend Kenichi Sonoda remain impressive to this day and on display, these are beautiful.
Bringing their B-Game is the production department. There are some serious issues here that wouldn't pass muster to in today's market, many of which would have been very easy to fix with a little more thought.
Firstly, they can't really stand independently (Linna can manage it, but she is the most nimble!). This isn't necessarily the fault of the engineers, as the on-screen designs were always smooth with no joints or ankle tilts (or any visible mechanisms) to allow for balance. The model sheets always showed the suits having fixed, flowing lines in the legs augmented by high-heels. Ironically enough this is extremely detrimental to combat, but then it's purely fantasy and it looks good, so practicality be damned. It's not like Gundams need legs after all! However, installing some pegs onto the bases and placing holes in the feet might have been a better solution than the cheap and ugly black waist/leg pincers used for balance here. True, it would have limited movement of the legs, but I think I'd have preferred it - your mileage may vary of course (but clear plastic would have been better than the black I think we can agree).
Pose-ability is limited due to pre-Revoltech joints that really should have been ball joints - instead, you have ratcheted joints which can (sometimes) swivel at the connecting points, but it makes posing awkward and fiddly. None of the arms can adjust fully outward which limits poses, and as you can hopefully see in the pictures below, you can get some good shots but nothing as dynamic as I'd like.
The rubbery plastic used for antennas and smaller details is prone to bending out of shape too, so care must be taken with storage. This doesn't help much when trying to peg things in either, as the tiny rubber pegs don't have much purchase, which is a problem for weightier items such as Nene's larger antenna. Her backpack flap is also rubber, and the whole thing just feels sponge-like and messy.
Do they Bubblegum Crash?
So by no means ideal, posed together they look beautiful. I'd take Figma versions in a heartbeat too, but these are very much of their time and should be allowed a little leniency as the market really was finding its feet at this time. It's easy to cast criticism when smarter designers and new production techniques have gives us classic characters rendered superbly such as Figma Guyver to replace the Max Factory efforts (which were also gorgeous) but maybe in time the girls will rise again and get some new figures. With properties like Alita gaining a solid footing, and Iron Man showing us that hardsuits are cool, an all female team of Iron Ladies would suit the current Hollywood trend and look good on-screen too.
Until then however, we have the Atelier Sai figures, whose only competition is the smaller and more fragile Yamato figures that come with Motoroids. On the secondary market these approach £200 a pop, so given the choice I'll stick with what I have.
These are lovely looking figures produced to a fair standard with lots of display options. Alone, this makes them good, if not great, figures. Powering up with some nostalgia goggles and displayed with some other Bubblegum Crisis collectables (like a cel and the Yamato metallic Motoroid and Priss figure as in my case) these are a stunning and highly-prized centre-piece essential to any BGC fans collection. Konya wa Hurricane, baby!
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