NAME: Saber (Holiday Version)
SERIES: Fate/Hollow Ataraxia
SCALE/CREATOR: 1/6, by GoodSmile Company
RELEASE DATE: October 2006
Back when I started collecting, the figure world was going through a Fate/Stay Night craze. It seems like everyone was pumping out figures of Saber, Rin, and the other Fate girls. I had no idea where to start! A visit to a little figure store in Orlando fixed that problem by introducing me to this lovely incarnation of Saber.
PACKAGING: 7/10
A box fit for a legendary king who’s actually a woman.
GoodSmile makes good boxes. There’s nothing really special about this particular one, but it’s got a nice design.
SCULPT: 8/10
SEEEIIIIBAAAAAA!!!!
Saber is, to put it bluntly, freaking huge. She’s the tallest figure in my collection, and even makes my 1/6 Rin Toshaka from Clayz look puny. This particular Saber is pretty simple overall. Instead of her elaborate armor, she instead sports a casual brown ensemble.
Her slender figure hides the fact that she’s a battle-hardened warrior.
It may be simple, but the sculpt is very good. Max Factory had a hand in Saber’s sculpt, and their quality shines. Seam lines are kept to a minimum, and there aren’t any other glaring flaws I can see. Another good thing is that Saber’s face actually looks like her face! For some reason, Saber figures tend to have really awkward faces.
PAINT: 8/10
She was the love of the anime world until Miss Suzumiya dethroned her.
This is a GoodSmile product, so there are absolutely no worries in the paint department. What you see in the prototype photo is what you get on the final production model. Her skin-tone is a little paler than I’d like, and there’s no shading on her hair ribbon, but otherwise she looks fabulous.
POSE: 8/10
Saber seems a bit camera shy.
I’ve only caught a few glimpses at the Fate franchise, so I’m not entirely sure if this pose is true to Saber’s character or not. From the episodes of the anime I saw, Saber’s an extremely serious person and highly unlikely to pose like she is here…however, the power of love tends to soften even the most battle-hardened warrior, so it wouldn’t surprise me if Saber gets softer later on.
The white panties return yet again.
Has anyone noticed that Saber’s lacking in the “junk in the trunk” department?
Nice shoes.
GoodSmile is really hard to predict when it comes to bases. While they do offer regular plastic slabs like the one Saber has, they also do a lot of diorama-ish bases as well.
OVERALL: 8/10
Saber was released before GoodSmile went crazy with figure price-jacking, so you get a LOT of bang for your buck. She’s taller than average 1/6, has a Max Factory sculpt, a quality GoodSmile paint job, and an extremely adorable pose. She’s still in stock at several figure vendors. I definitely recommend her for Fate fanatics.
- G.K. Sil Kamina
Nutz said,
January 26, 2008 at 6:11 am
It’s definitely bigger than most people expect. But very stable. Very cute expression on Saber’s face.
LazyShinigami said,
February 21, 2008 at 10:20 pm
If only it was 1/8..:P
KoE said,
June 23, 2008 at 9:49 am
WOW! Not going to lie, I’ve never seen this one before. Very very cute! Goodsmiles nendoroids are really making me want to go crazy and blow all my money…Goodsmile and Max Factory make such damn cute figures! x.x My latest purchase was the MF Makoto Sawatari (Kanon) figurine which cost me over $60 USD because we all love shipping/handling..
I really like what Saber is wearing there! <3.<3 Do you store her in her box during the summer? She definitely looks like she’d tilt if the heat got to her.
G.K. Sil Kamina said,
June 23, 2008 at 3:51 pm
The A/C is pretty much on non-stop, so I don’t have to worry about heat affecting Saber. If I didn’t have the A/C I’d probably have to put a good chunk of my collection back into their boxes. It’s just way too hot here.