Months later, she's finally out, and mine showed up last Saturday, after nearly a week of merely waiting for her to just ship.
The question a lot of you will likely have is, is she worth the price and hype? Is this really *the* Jeanne Alter figure that all Fate/Grand Order fans should have (that like Jeanne Alter, anyway).
I'm not nice, and I'll make you wait until the end of this review to find out my opinion on this matter. After all, why would you keep reading if I just went out and gave the answer in the intro? You wouldn't. So, on with the review.
She comes in a massive cardboard box designed just for her straight from Alter. I didn't take a picture of this, because.. well, it's a basic box, and it's boring. But I've never seen a figure come with its own external box. I guess Alter wanted us to be absolutely sure she was shipped in the most secure method possible.
Her actual box is the exact size of this external box, and it weighs a lot for an empty box, and is far larger than the figure. Jeanne Alter is packed well inside of it inside of several blister packs. The box itself weighs at least 5 pounds empty, which is why her shipping cost is so high. Why they made her box this large and so weighty, I don't know. But I guess it does do its job of keeping her safe. Here are pics of the box:
I got overly excited, and forgot to photograph her in the box. D:.
Here are the other sides of the box. I apologize for the lighting on the side that has the figure on it, it was cloudy that day, and the lighting was not the best.
I actually really like the top of her box (which is the photo above this text), the windows are a great touch. The rest of the box design is nice, but it isn't the best box I've ever seen (that still goes to Library Stardust by Myethos). It's pretty good, though, and Alter did put effort into its design.
Now, onto the figure itself:
This is Jeanne Alter from the front. Again, I apologize for the lighting, I only had two types to work with: natural, or yellow. :/. And I hate yellow lighting.
Since some of the details (such as her face) are harder to see, I took a grayscale photo of her on top of my display case after I was done with everything. This was in the room with the yellow lighting, but when playing with my camera's features, I realized the grayscale function undoes the bad lighting issue, so she's sadly in grayscale. But this photo does give a good look at her face. Which seems to be a big complaint amongst people who ordered her.
Sadly, I actually agree with the complaints regarding her face and neck placement. I did try moving her around to match the photo, and I could not get her to match the prototype. I had to display her the way I did for space reasons, but it's fairly close to what she's supposed to look like, and.. her neck is absolutely not hidden by the cape fur, and her mouth is barely a match for the prototype. Her eyes don't quite look right to me either, but at least they are close enough. It isn't bad by any means, but anyone who bought her for the face and neck that were shown in the prototype will be disappointed. For reference, here's the prototype's face: (Image is one of the stock images on her page, and is not mine)
Her legs, armor, and cape look awesome, though, and I have no complaints about them. I really didn't see any sculpt or paint flaws.
Here she is from some more angles:
(slightly better picture of my first color image, I think)
And here she is from the side: (once again, lighting is not my friend that day :/.)
And from the back:
The scorched paint on her cape looks awesome. It's a really nice touch. The paint on it in general looks awesome, and I love the paint on the folds. The sculpt of the cape is also great, the cape really does look scorched/torn.
Finally, here's her flag, from the back:
Like the cape, the paint on the folds of the flag look great. The flag is also sculpted well, and really does look flowing.
Since this picture shows the pole, I'm going to move onto another common complaint: the poles and the peg for the flag.
Honestly, I didn't have an issue with the peg or short pole. I placed it in her cape, held the bottom of her cape, and placed the shorter support pole right under her cape. As soon as that pole was placed, I had no problems with it. It even stayed put when I moved her to put her on a shelf. Be sure to place this pole as soon as possible, as it is what elevates the cape so the large pole fits, and provides support for the peg that goes into the flag. Here's the photo of where the short pole should go:
and this photo from earlier should also help with where to put it:
The tall pole was somewhat problematic, but it wasn't the worst one I've ever dealt with (that goes to GSC's Jeanne). It does not really go where the diagram shows, so following that is only mildly helpful. The pole does go somewhere near the spot they show, but not exactly. Here are the photos of where I placed it.
and this photo again shows where I put it:
The black and white photo I posted earlier shows the final placement, but since the base of the pole is not visible in that picture, I will not repost it.
Since I've now went over common issues, showed photos, and given my opinions on select aspects of the figure, it's time for my scores/opinions on other things I haven't addressed.
Sculpt: As nice as most of this figure is, the fact her face and cape/neck are so different than the prototype does detract from the figure some. When I buy a figure, I do expect that the figure I ordered looks like the prototype, and those parts honestly do not. I still enjoy the figure, and like having her, but I can't say the sculpt is flawless. I've had prize figures that adhere to the prototype better than her. While the face and neck being changed does bother me, I can't take off more than 2 points, as the rest of the figure looks good.
8/10
Paint: The paint is amazing, I have zero complaints. 10/10
Posing: Jeanne Alter's pose is very dynamic, and the figure has definite movement, despite it being static. It looks like there is wind where none is present. Again, I have no complaints. 10/10.
Base: This is another weaker point. While I like the rock she is standing on, I *really* don't like the plain black base under it. I would actually rather have her just stand on the rock without it.
7/10
Packaging: It's a decent box, but the figure is about half of the size, and the box weighs a lot. I was not fond of the high shipping charge that came as a result of the box weighing so much and being oversized. I think the box would have been find being about half the width, honestly. The design is nice, but not worth the extra charge, and I really have seen better scale figure boxes. 6/10
Enjoyment: Overall, I like the paint, pose, and most of the sculpt. However, I do feel the face and neck not matching the prototype does take away from the enjoyment some, and her base being an oversized black circle does also take away from it. The support rods also take away from it, as they are visible, and a bit hard to place. The horrifically high cost of shipping also does take away some, as does the excessive figure. Score: 8/10.
Overall, to answer the question: is she worth it? The answer is yes and no. If you can get her on sale, yes (she'd definitely be worth a used price of $150 even with the horrific shipping). But is she worth $300? I'd have to say no. She's a really nice figure, but I feel she's worth about $150-$200, and at the most her initial cost. She does have nice paint, and a good sculpt. But she really is overpriced. I have cheaper scales that look similar to this in terms of quality (GSC's Jeanne Alter dress ver, and Aniplex's Jeanne Alter), and yes, her pose is different than normal, but that really doesn't make her worth an extra $150.
Honestly, if you want a Jeanne Alter, get the Aniplex one (unless this one is on sale or has free shipping). It's cheaper, and about the same quality. And doesn't have the flag issue.
I'm sure I'm going to get flack for that comment, but I *really* don't feel she's worth the cost, and I do feel the Aniplex one is. Get her used, get her on sale, get her with free shipping, or get her at a local store or con. The extra cost takes her from a figure that 'should' be worth the price to a definite not worth the price.
Thanks for reading this long review. :). I hope it helped.
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