Review date: 5/9/2003

Manufacturer: Medicom

Released: 1997

Availability: RARE

Type: Vinyl Figure

 
 

Personal Story:
I saw an image of this figure on Medicom's site and fell in love with it (she's one of the figures on Medicom's main page!). It was a very stylish looking figure. I was skeptical I would ever own it since I found out from a site that it was very old and it was pretty much sold out everywhere. But then, one online site had it! I grabbed it immediately and I'm glad I did. I checked the site a day later and they had taken it off their catalog. Woohoo, I got the last one AND I paid the retail price (even though it was still mighty expensive)! I was real lucky though. :D

I highly suggest reading Jimbob-Wan's detailed review on the DX version. I'll be making some comparisons between that version and this one.
 
Introduction:
This figure is part of Medicom's Pre-Assembled Collection series based on characters from Lupin III (first TV series). This figure is based on the character Fujiko Mine from that anime. It depicts Fujiko in a very tight black leather outfit. I've read that this figure was Medicom's first female character but I'm not sure. I also want to mention that I didn't know when this was released. The box, Medicom site and sites that sold this figure didn't mention the year of its release either. Weird. But I found the year under the left boot so I assume that was when it was released.
 

Sculpt:
Very sexy. Fujiko looks really close to her anime counterpart but they made her look even better here. The real draw of this figure is her face. I really love the face. It's simple and well done. It's the main reason I got this one over the DX versions. I've seen other versions of her face on the newer models and they look terrible compared to this figure. Her hair is finely sculpted and looks very good. Also, there's the very voluptuous body. She has a very full figure and some very large breasts. They even sculpted her nipples and navel! Good details and a reason this toy wasn't meant for kids. :P I wasn't able to take off her outfit completely so I can't tell you if they sculpted her genitals or any other details like that. But it's a very smooth sculpt overall.

As for the outfit, it's pretty cool. It's not made of leather which sucks. It's made of some cheaper material. It fits her body really well and conforms to her body like a real leather outfit. Pretty good job. You can unzip it and take it off. But the lower half is pretty tight and I wasn't able to take it off (as I mentioned above) without risking damaged to it. But it's very well made.

Fujiko comes with a pair of extra bare hands and feet. They're very well sculpted with lots of details. They even sculpted her nails for both the hands and the feet. Nice. You can take off her gloves and boots and replace them with those. It's a cool option. You can even take off her entire outfit and have her frolicking around naked if you wanted too with those extras. Sweet. She also comes with a gun which is detailed but not very interesting. It's just a solid piece of silver plastic.

The overall figure is good except she has very limited articulation. The box says "Full Function" but it's totally wrong. She can only move her arms up and down and her head can turn a little. When you have her outfit on, the movement in her arms are even more limited. Her legs have ZERO articulation which sucks. I was hoping I could move her legs around to get her to stand on her own but its impossible. Too bad. You could probably get her to stand on her own if you have a flat surface that's stable but it'll tip over easily anyways. Which reminds me, they didn't even include a stand or a base for her! You'll need to buy a 12" figure stand. The stand you see in the photos is from another figure.
 

Paint:
The paint job is limited. Her hair, eyes and lips are nicely painted. There are some fine details in the eyes especially. The flesh color is good and she's not too pale. I like it. Like I mentioned above, she has nipples but they were not painted so that sucks. There are also some blemishes on her breasts and shoulders. I'm not sure where they came from but I suspect it came from the outfit. It's not a big deal since she's covered up but it annoys me since I can't get rid of them. But the face is nicely painted so I'm happy.

 

Overall: A-
This is a really sexy figure to have. It's very simple and attractive. I'm just disappointed that her articulation is so limited and her outfit wasn't made from a better material. The extra accessories are good and they offer some playable traits but there could've been so much more. You can find more articulate versions of her (with the uglier head and no nipples) in the later DX models if you find this one too limited. This version is better suited as a figure for display rather than play. The lack of a stand was a huge oversight.
 

Where can I find this?
Super rare! This figure was released a long time ago and it's almost impossible to find today. Even Ebay doesn't have it. A rare figure indeed.
 
Other Images:


The box. Pretty crappy design. They used some old drawing of Fujiko on it. But the cover actually forms a larger picture if you collected all the other characters in this series. (Sorry about the photo. I took it from a higher angle so the lower half of the box looks thinner than the top.)

 


The extra hands, extra feet and gun.

 


"Is it hot in here or is it just me?"

 


Gotta love the face and the hair.

 
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