~Holo the Wise 「狼と香辛料」 賢狼ホロ~
First figure by Resinya (Cospa), and somewhat mixed feelings about it. Well, bemused is more like it I suppose. Originally liked this version of Holo the most even if she doesn’t resemble the anime version thanks to a rather chubby and round face. But aesthetically, this version was most pleasing to my eye so I decided to go for this one.
She didn’t look too bad from the actual shots that Hobby Search provided, in fact, I found it very close to the prototype pictures released and was rather happy about it and pretty exciting on receiving her.
So what’s wrong with the figure? Well when I first took her out, I thought it felt a bit strange. And after a bit of confused mental imaginating, I decided that Holo IS indeed a deity. No confusion there, she doesn’t even have to turn into a giant wolf to convince me. Why? Because my copy of Holo has two RIGHT hands! x_X” Lame ass jokes aside, owners of this figure don’t have to scramble and check out their copy of the figure since after looking thoroughly at HS’s pics, it seems I got sent a copy that sneaked past QC ^^;
Face structure-wise, I’d say she resemble the novel illustrations albeit with somewhat larger and rounder eyes. But as I said, I found this version the most pleasing to the eye, and I still stand by that decision despite a rather disastrous QC slip ^^;
The head section is pretty sweet despite the rather obvious indent at the back, which is not quite a big deal for me since it’s at the back where it wouldn’t be laid out in the open.
What attracted me to the figure as well was the blue used for her top. Some little nubs of excess paint though.
Not the best finishing however as evident on her left sleeve.
One of life’s few enjoyments left for me, her braided sash-like thingie appears to promise me a lifetime of infinite boings. I do like how they place they darken the indents within the sash though. I feel not a lot of figures do these linings, probably a Gundam influence ^^;
Scratches on the back which could have happened during transit, but as always, I’m seldom bothered by stuff that aren’t too visible.
Boots are pretty nice, the middle plate u see beneath her right heel are the pegs that attach to both the figure and the base. Her left leg (it’s not a right foot!! WOO!) rests nicely and acts as the support.
One nice aspect of this figure is that her skirt can be removed to reveal a more “boyish” look, and of course, the tail that everyone loves! I’m actually thinking if I can locate another Holo just so that I can display her in both forms. Of course, the additional Holo would be specially requested to have two left hands xD Holo is detached just under the chest area for those who are wondering.
Angles are a wee bit too sharp on the folds and since she stole the clothes from Lawrence, it’s understandably too large for her and hence the amount of folds. Looks realistic enough for me ^^
Better view since the skirt blocked out a fair bit of light earlier on. And sadly, my base got scratched somehow too 
Pretty sweet tail. From the above pic as well one is able to see a seam on the right thigh.
I wanted a field of wheat, I couldn’t find the right materials. So lets all settle for something else yeah? ^^; Hope you enjoy it =)
With a rather up and down ride for this figure, I’d say in the end I’m still fairly satisfied with this figure and would still choose this over the other two versions available at the moment. But of course, with the rising cost of figures and a rather hefty price tag attached to this Holo (7429 Yen), collectors have every right to expect the best in most aspects in order to justify the expense. I guess I just accept too wholeheartedly the whole “mass production inconsistency” line ^^;
Manufacturer: Cospa
Scale: 1/7 Scale
Released: April 2008
Price: 7429 Yen
Availability: Backordered @ HLJ
This figure of Holo/Horo doesn’t correspond to its price, she’s to expensive for the quality she has, I’ve seen much better figures with the same price.
For me the best Horo figure so far is the one made by Taki Corporation that was released in April. HLJ pictures of her are crap, so check these http://www.moeyo.com/2008/04/post_5071.html
@Belela-san: I’ve always felt that Taki stuff either just looks bad (see their Eruruu) or is oversexed which I feel is the case for Taki’s Holo, the whole marketing behind it feels to me like their promoting a tribe’s village bicycle ^^; But for sure, at that kind of price, one definitely should and can expect much better quality.
the best part of this figurine is actually how well they did her clothing, look at those folds :O
And also I agree with belela, her price is too expensive compared to the price
I’m waiting for Alter/max factory/gsc to make holo figurine, I hope they will make one, since the current holo figurines don’t interest me much
I love the last shots. I’ve always wonder. How do you do the backgrounds for the photo shoots. I would love to know. They look really cool. As for the figure. It’s really nice. I would get it if I had the chance.
@ron~: Yeah the clothes are very nice indeed, sort of a bonus since I didn’t get it for the clothes and didn’t pay attention to how it was done ^^; I totally agree though that at the price, it should have been done a lot better. With any luck, maybe your wishes will come true, and one of the big three would pick it up to produce =)
@Rin: Thanks, mostly I reuse the props that I’ve bought from a Japanese two dollar store over here for the last shots ^^; For this particular one, I just used some flowers that were on sale at a nearby florist and since they’re dried flowers, they last pretty much forever, though I had to cut it to adjust the height somewhat =/ That said, most of the backgrounds are impromptu, with seldom any pre-planning put into it, so I guess the greater the variety of props you have, the easier things become =)
Wah, I havn’t been here for a while @_@;
Lovely photos, quite a lot more close up photos than I remember :3
I’ve still to watch/read the series so there’s not much attachment to the character, however I generally like how this figure looks~
Two right hands O_O, thats really messed up. Probably no QC at the factory. But I would pick this one out of all the others b/c of her clothes alone which match the anime nicely, though I think I would leave the skirt on ;p.
@Aya Kyunik: Heh, no worries man, life takes precedence over everything else anyways. There’s actually more close ups now? I kind of thought there would be less since I’ve noticed that the number of pics I post up have decreased generally. So is the increase a good or bad thing actually? ^^; If you do find the time one day, you might wanna catch this series, pretty interesting stuff =)
@AS: Yeah, either no QC or very poorly paid workers (like me!) :p I’d leave the skirt on too as well, by all estimates my little brain can do, that’s probably 1k yen there in that skirt at least! And if I do remove the skirt, I’d never forgive myself that I passed over boinging the little ring there by her sash ^^;
The only Horo figure I would buy shall be full naked ^^;
But with a kind of pose where she is hidding intimate parts with that bushy tail, holding it tight between her hands and against her chest. Sweet dreams hehe, but would definitely loooooove this kind of figure.
Two right hands… man what a pitty T_T
I guess that symetrical pose is a big factor of error… but for such an expensive figure, this is unforgivable.
But I guess it is still better than weird products Taki Corp. makes ^^;
I really like pic 28 hehe. This childish face does not look as bad as I thought