Figure Unboxing and Review: Saber Alter 1/8 Scale (Ichiban Kuji Premium A Prize Fate/Stay Night Heaven's Feel)
I've had a love-hate relationship with the Ichiban Kuji lottery, snagging more rubber keychains and mini figurines than I dare to admit. The icing on the cake was an ill-fitting Love Live! Sunshine!! B Prize t-shirt that I still keep for sentimental value. On the bright side, I must have accumulated enough karma points during those bad draws, eventually managing to win an A Prize Saber Alter 1/8 scale from the Fate/Stay Night Heaven's Feel Ichiban Kuji at C3 AFA last year. It was with my first and only ticket of the day, to boot. Unfortunately, my luck quickly ran out after I discovered I had to carry the uncomfortably large box for the rest of the day. You win some, you lose some I suppose.
I finally got the opportunity to unbox and display this after a year, no thanks to a combination of procrastination and a lack of space. As you can see, the figure's large size is a result of Saber Alter's stance along with her billowing skirt. Making problems worse was the large box itself. It won't be anyone's idea of fun having to carry this around for more than a few hours. Within the blister pack, each piece was wrapped in an additional layer of plastic film, a nice touch and something I didn't expect from a prize figurine. On a side note, it's weird that Saber Alter armour and all, was included in the first Heaven's Feel installment's Ichiban Kuji where it would have been more appropriate for the second one come January next year.
Saber Alter was a no-brainer to assemble as you can see from the blister pack, featuring only three pieces consisting of the scale figure itself, the base and Excalibur Morgan. It's a pity that the Excalibur Morgan included wasn't the Vortigern version instead like in Good Smile Company's 1/7 scale figure but I'm just being nitpicky.
Oddly enough, Saber Alter's skirt stole the show for me, despite everything else going on in this figure. It matched her stance perfectly and was well-sculpted, appearing as if it were billowing in the wind I like mentioned earlier, with creases at the appropriate portions to boot. Unfortunately, the base seemed like it would fit her casual dress version better, bearing an elegant design that doesn't match the aggressiveness this particular figure has. Also, I'd take Artoria's usual blue and silver armour over her Alter version any day but the paint job here was good, with a menacing combination of purple and red streaks.
One thing that confuses me would be Banpresto's decision to create a figure that is posed similarly to Good Smile Company's own 1/7 scale Saber Alter, although the latter's one is more dynamic and detailed, needless to say. I wish that they would've taken a different approach or created a figure featuring Rider or Lancer instead, considering how much airtime they had in the first Heaven's Feel movie. For those of you wondering when the second installment airs, you're going to have to wait a little longer but if the latest trailer is anything to go by, it will be well worth your time.
Written by ET
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