Another year has come and gone. It always surprises me when it happens: 2014 seems like it was just a few months ago! But here we are, and it’s time to do our annual Best Of lists (including, of course, Golden Boobs & Butts). But we have to start with the most traditional Best Of list: our favorite figures! It’s impossible to do an objective “these were the best figures of the year” list, especially since it’s not like we can own every release of the year, so once again we’ve just gone with the ones that made us happiest! Hit the jump and let’s get started~
Runners-up
Nendoroid Umaru: Not every figure is all about the spectacle, the crisp sculpting and detailed paint. Some of them are just downright fun! Few Nendoroids have been as compelling and photogenic as Umaru, owing of course mainly to the source material. Nendo Umaru is just incredibly fun to play around with, and has inspired some truly amazing sets & photography. Once you have her, it’s no wonder why: usually I am so-so even about Nendos I like, but this one just has a little something extra.
Seven Deadly Sins (Asmodeus, Santa Satan, Beelzebub, Satan, Leviathan): 2015 was really the year of the Seven Deadly Sins for us here at Plastikitty. We got 5 (!) figures from the series: not every one that got released, but a heck of a lot of them. And all of them were truly awesome. After Amakuni’s kind of lackluster start with Leviathan they’ve really picked up the quality, especially with releases like Santa Satan. And of course we got the new & improved Leviathan from orchid Seed, along with my favorite girl in the line–Satan!
And now, on to the main event! As always these are in alphabetical order, because I find it impossible to rank figures I love this much.
Favorite Figures 2105
Amakuni Asuka: Surprise, it’s an Asuka figure! If a good one got released in a calendar year (which, let’s admit it, is every year) she’s going to show up on the list. Asuka was my first figure obsession and she remains my #1 favorite character, and while I’m certainly not a fan of 3.0 (what even happened in that movie) I love the eyepatch + cat ears version of her. Amakuni brought us a truly badass one, which has basically everything you could want in an Asuka figure: fierce face, badass pose, great butt.
Alter Chitoge: Chitoge is one of those characters who I didn’t care about at all until figures started coming out. I was suckered into two figures of her this year (Alter’s and Max Factory’s), but Alter’s stands head and shoulders above. First off, she has an outfit actual humans might wear on a daily basis. Do you know how rare that is in the figure world?! Add in Alter’s usual high level of detail, her dynamic pose, and a burst of color and she’s just… she’s perfect. I love every single thing about this figure, especially how 80’s-tastic her ensemble is.
Alter Kotori Minami: While I don’t think Alter had any big “wow” figures this year, they certainly put out some gems. Kotori is one of those characters who just looks kind of average in most company’s figures, but Alter made her amazing. I mean, she’s got a chicken scepter so that alone is enough to woo me. But her outfit and face are just so adorable! Their Love Live line has been super hit-or-miss for me but Kotori was a huge hit. I love her so much!
GSC Racing Miku 2014: While I like pretty much every variation of Miku, from cutesy to sexy, my favorites are always the more artistic takes like VN-02 and Tell Your World. I can safely say that this is my favorite artsy Miku: the hair is just… it blows me away every time I look at it. From the details to the amazing ombre, it’s breathtaking. But her super stylized face, strange tubes and ethereal pose really making Racing Miku 2014 so compelling. There’s just something captivating about her!
Phat! Company Ranko & Sachiko: I am such a sucker for IDOLM@STER figures, even though I have no particular attachment to the franchise. And for me, the winner of all the amazing IM@S figures has been Phat!’s Cinderella Girls line. Ranko and Sachiko are really the peak of that line: dynamic, really interesting outfits & poses, and just full of fun energy. Ranko in particular is my precious baby: I’m a sucker for the almost-Goth aesthetic she has going on, I mean… feathers, crosses, roses, black frills? Sachiko is so cute too, and her face is the real star of the figure: so coy and adorable.
MF Re-Class & GSC Wo-Class: There was certainly no shortage of Kantai Collection figures this year. We got a ton of great ones, but the “pair” that stands out is the bad gals duo from GSC and Max Factory. I love the kind of huke-ripoff aesthetic they bring to the table, so dark and way more ominous than what we usually see in the figure world. Especially Good Smile’s Wo-Class, which is a real wow piece. I’m really hoping we see Max Factory’s Wo-Class next year…
Max Factory Rikka Takanashi: Bunny suits have always been a weakness for me, so it’s no surprise that I fell head over heels for Max Factory/Hobby Stock’s Rikka Takanashi. It’s everything you want in a bunny figure (or, well, everything I want): the perfect mix of cute and sexy, a focus on hips rather than bust, super crisp sculpting, detailed ears, beautiful shading, an adorable face, and an interesting pose. As much as I love my Bunny Tamaki, I think Rikka is the #1 bun of my heart.
Orca Toys Tamaki: This is one of those figures I never thought I’d own. The garage kit came out in 2011, and I assumed it would never get picked up. I mourned. I made peace with the fact that I could never have such a perfect Tama-nee. And then Orca, light of my life, picked it up! I was over the damn moon, guys. You know how I feel about Tamaki. She’s my boo. And now I own what might be my favorite figure of her! Dreams really do come true.
Max Factory Utaha Kasumigaoka: This is one of those figures where I can’t really put my finger on what makes it special. I mean, let’s be honest, in theory it’s kind of average: girl with a pretty basic character design in a basic school uniform leaning over. Sounds dull. But some combination of the sculpt + paint create magic. It’s a gorgeous, compelling figure and while I think there was a bit of a dip in quality from prototype to release I still totally adore her.
AlphaMax Yuno Narukami: Is any “best of” list complete without some Tony Taka? I mean, we already got Tamaki and Asuka. You knew it was coming. AlphaMax’s Tony Taka line has been really fantastic and it was so hard for me to pick just one–are you surprised I didn’t go with Santa Cat? Me too! But something about Yuno is just perfect. Probably all the damn ruffles and ribbons: plus, I have an unabashed love for bride figures that is rarely filled because they are 1) super rare and 2) tend to be only so-so quality. But Yuno is amazing! The pose is great, but it’s really the flowing dress that makes this figure stand out.
So there you have it! Our favorite figures of 2015. This was a really hard list to make because we loved so many releases this year! A ton got cut at the last minute including one of my faves, Thai Racing Miku, but I’m very happy with our final selections. As you can see, GSC & Co pretty much dominated 2015 for us. All the good releases from Max Factory, GSC, and Phat!… ah, what a time to be alive.
What were your favorite figures of 2015? Let us know in the comments!
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