For Beginner Figure Collectors #02: Cu-poche and Chara-Forme
To All,
It's still cold recently and I'm here huddled in my warm blanket as I bring to you the next addition to this series. The last post consisted of an introduction to Nendoroids and several spin-offs from the line, and for today we would be discussing about two other lines which are often mixed up with Nendoroids -- Cu-poche and Chara-Forme.
Cu-poche
For now, let's start off with Cu-poche. Unlike Nendoroids which are from Good Smile Company, Cu-poche is a completely separate figure line by a different company called Kotobukiya. Kotobukiya is also considered one of the all-time larger figure companies and their products range from small figures (One coin figures, which I would be covering at a later date) to large scale figures, but for today, we would only be touching on the Cu-poche line from them!
So what are Cu-poche and how are they different from Nendoroids?
Simply put, Cu-poche are a little larger and come with joints to help in posing, If you are following my posts on figures, you would know that I'm not a big fan of joints, hence I have not been investing much on Cu-poche. However, there are some characters who I do like and want to get a figure of, but unfortunately, they do not have Nendoroids, leaving me with the choice of either getting the Cu-poche or none.
But if there's something that I like for Cu-poche over Nendoroids, it would be the magnets at the end of their feet to help them stand on their bases. As some of you might know, most Nendoroids are unable to stand without their bases and modifications to hide their bases during photography could get quire tedious. However, the magnets on Cu-poche make the bases so much easier to hide! All you really have to do is to slide a magnet under your set and you Cu-poche will be able to stand just fine!
Take a look at what's offered in a Cu-poche!
Also, the magnets are strong enough that you can place your Cu-poche on other magnetic objects (I have one on my lamppost) and have them looking over you as you as you read a few pages of your favorite novel before bedtime!
Recently, I've even started to purchase magnets so I can place my Cu-poche figures around various locations in my house. Starting the day with Madoka's Cu-poche glancing at me from over the bed frame puts me in a good mood for the whole day!
Cu-poche Extra
And similar to Nendoroids where we have Nendoroid more as an additional parts and/or accessory line, Cu-poche does come with their own as well! Cu-poche Extra is the accessory line for Cu-poche and I'll like to highlight this set which features raincoats. In fact, I don't think there's any equivalent of this in the Nendoroid world... yet.
As seen, the raincoat part is made of (what I suppose is) fabric, which makes it look much more realistic. Irregardless of how different the hairstyles and poses on different figures are, the raincoat would wrap around the figure appropriately and make it look realistic!
And the best thing is, it works on Nendoroids too! I just want to get one and put it on my Kanbaru Suruga Nendoroid and recreate the Rainy Devil scene~
Chara-Forme
And now that the summary of Cu-poche is done, let us move on to Chara-Forme. There's not much known about them and their products are actually quite scarce. By that, I don't mean that Chara-Forme products are rare to come by, but that there have only been a few of them announced so far (compared to the 500 to 600 Nendoroids available on the market so far).
Now, back to the summary of Chara-Forme, Chara-Forme is also another line commonly mixed up with Nendoroids and Cu-poche but once again, the three are completely different. They are even from different companies! Chara-Forme is from the company "empty".
For Chara-Forme, or at least for the one that I own (Komaeda Nagito from Super Danganronpa 2 --SDR2), he only comes with a neckjoint, and thus only his head is movable. None of his other parts can be changed for posing which makes it a little regrettable.
However the details in the Chara-Forme line is amazing. The creases in Komaeda's shirt have all been carefully sculpted and the way his lower half of his jacket flaps out lifts this from a simple boring pose to something slightly more dynamic!
It feels like whatever Chara-Forme missed out on posing, they made it back up with details!
Chara-Forme are also generally cheaper than Nendoroids and most Chara-Forme are also easier to come by so I'll recommend them if you find Nendoroids too exprensive and you aren't a fan of Cu-poche!
From Your Fellow Collector,
Schedule:
- Where to get second hand figures?
- What to do if you have issues with your item or receive a damaged box?
- Storage of Figures
- Storage of Figure Boxes
- Maintenance of Figures
- Bootlegs- Sale of your figures
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