Figure Review: Solty almost got Salty

Published on December 7, 2006 in Figurine Reviews & Galleries. 12 Comments
I brought Solty to the beach as well and while transforming her (you’ll see why later), one of her arms fell off and tumbled in between several large (LARGE, almost the size of an average American) boulders. And we couldn’t obtain a visual of the missing arm. Thankfully, I’m Macguyver and improvised. I stuck my camera into the crevices and took pictures with the flash on in all directions. This is similar to what special forces do before they storm closed rooms in urban areas – visual surveillance is a key aspect of urban combat. Just that instead of a fibre-optic scope, I had the trusty and far more useful (though less at voyeuring) Canon IXUS 800.

The result? An instant reading of the target’s bearings and subsequent ease of retrieval. AH THE POWER OF TECHNOLOGY! If Tsubaki were in my situation, he would’ve tried either of two methods: One, push the rocks as hard as he can; or two, stick his arms in as deep as he can with reckless abandon. CAVEMEN!

This figurine marks quite a few firsts actually. It’s the first time GONZO produced a figurine of their own. More accurately, it’s GDH (GONZO Digimation Holdings), the umbrella company. They are really diversifying their sphere of operations aren’t they? Their second would be Witchblade’s Masane but that stinks bad.

It’s also the first time I purchased a figure from HLJ’s discounts section, which has grown quite massive. The figurine bubble is going to burst soon and stores and makers will be left with tonnes of unsold stock at this rate, as buyers realised they are running out of space. I got this figure for a mere 1500 yen, while its original price was 3800 yen. Too bad the discount is closed.

Solty is obviously from Solty Rei, a 2006 series which saw a collaboration between AIC and GONZO. The world design is partly done by the fantastic Range Murata. Pity the costumes and character designs weren’t by him. No issue, because what Solty lacks in story and logic, it makes up with hawt chicks. GONZO style. I actually watched through the entire show, which puts me on a higher level of existence than most in this world. There were some shocking plot twists that kept the interest up, though logic and common sense were non-existent.

Solty is the ugliest girl in Solty Rei yet she’s the only one (besides the upcoming Rose on Motorbike) figurised. The protagonist power of course. Her costume is awful and completely doesn’t fit in with the designs of the other characters. BUT! The saving grace is, she’s very likeable with a cute voice and superhuman strength. Somehow girls with pace and power always intrigue me, especially those who can do shockwave punches. Other examples include Konoe Kaoru of Gatekeepers and No. 18 of Dragonball.

When the figure was first released, I didn’t purchase it. It was the 60 percent off that made me buy it and I don’t regret a bit! Why?

She has a very cute and docile face, with puppy-dog eyes. It’s totally like in the anime. No doubt being produced by the same company increases the accuracy of portrayal. Her hair is an interesting style, rather resembling Chi from Chobits but Chi sucks. Solty’s hair is so funny it’s cute.

Her pose adds to the moe factor. With one hand in front of her chest, it screams "I am so insecure! Protect me!" I like how she’s kneeling with both knees firmly on the ground because that’s far more stable than the usual one-foot-forward-knee.

She’s wearing an orange skin-tight body suit with a jacket. This jacket is removable – simply take off her head (heads are sooo optional these days, especially for Narutofans), then remove her collar and the jacket can be separated into a front and back portion. I like her glothes. Glothes are hot because they don’t leave fingerprints.

The bodysuit is so tight and there’s a triangle at the top of her ass. It’s probably a poophole as Solty is a mere child mentally.

Plain transparent green base. I actually love this base as much as the figure. I have a huge affiinity with this colour and transparency as I used to own a lot of space-type lego toys that used such a colour as the lasers so for me, this holds a very special Sci-fi undertone to it. And Solty is sooo Scifi.

 And here we see her without her jacket. Her arms are removable too, for some unfathomable reason. Perhaps to please the gore fans? I prefer her with jacket. She’s a bit too plain and skinny without the red top.

The paintwork overall is decent but not in the class of the top-tier makers. There are a number of seamlines and a lot of injection scars. But since she’s only 1500 yen, she pwns. I would be far more interested if the Bubblegum crisis tribute girls were figurised though. Axela, Integra and the rest (all car names). Now those are hot.

For a first timer, GONZO did alright. Considering I’m a fan of most GONZO works despite the widespread criticism, let’s hope their delving into the figurine business would mean more GONZO characters are brought to life via the holy polymer – PVC. COME ON TATIANA! COME ON KONOE KAORU! COME ON KAGURA! COME ON EUGENIE!

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