I took these pictures ages ago but didn’t do anything with them except to dump them in my gallery.
Here’s a full review of the nice Haruhi recast I bought from e2046 for a even nicer price tag of 120 USD.
First of all, a lot of people probably get allergic reactions from hearing the word “recast”. Yeah, this figure wasn’t assembled using the original BUBBA Haruhi Bunny garage kit sold at WHF and through mail order, but it’s not like those Hong Kong bootleg PVC figures from Ebay either.
Resin recasts are generally pretty good and any defects can be overcome with enough touch-ups. Generally, the skill of the person building the kit makes a much greater impact on the final product. The problem is that mass-produced pre-painted resin figures had never been good and commissioning one from an experienced builder can cost hundreds of smackaroos.
Not long ago last year, e2046 launched a new line of products called “Gathering“. From what I gather (lol), Gathering is the name of a garage kit hobbyist circle in Hong Kong and e2046 partnered with them to produce good quality pre-painted resin for reasonable prices. BUBBA’s popular Haruhi Bunny figure was one of the first product introduced in the Gathering series.
On to the actual figure…
Generally speaking, the figure is AWESOME for viewing. The overall feel of the original is present and its details and finish stand out quite distinctively compared to PVC figures. It wouldn’t be too far-fetched to say that it gives off an unique aura of quality and class, or maybe that’s just the 120-dollar hole in my wallet speaking.
While I love every inch of Haruhi, I have to say that the face is the best part of this particular figure. It is not easy to recreate the same feel of a 2D character in a 3D figure, but this figure certainly does a brilliant job of showing off the grandeur of Haruhi, unlike a certain PVC attempt. The eyes are particularly well done. Eyes are probably the hardest part of painting a resin figure because they can make or break (usually break) the whole feel.
The bunny suit has a pretty nice gloss over it that looks soooo purdy, but can be a pain for photo-taking because it is really reflective and can pick up colours from the surrounding light.
The guitar looks pretty cool, but it is far from the BUBBA original. The surface is not glossy, the strings are not as fine, the part with the number 7 engraved is not reflective and the logo near the top is missing. The tuning pegs are also very, very fragile and I had one fall off after I accidentally knocked the guitar out of Haruhi’s hand. I glued it back with some clear household cement.
The way Haruhi holds the guitar also leaves much to be desired. Not only is it somewhat dangerous in that shaking the figure slightly may cause the guitar to fall out, the fact that the guitar is pivoted round her hand with most of the bulk at the bottom also means that a lot of stress is placed on the portion above. The same portion that contains the fragile tuning pegs. Ops. It is possible to position the guitar such that the turning pegs are not in contact with anything, though. Anyway, this is more of a fault with the original figure design than with e2046.
The greatest flaw is of course the two thick, thick lines running down Haruhi’s stockings. I’m not sure what the original used, but e2046’s version uses some fine net material that comes in rectangular pieces which have to be wrapped around the legs and the excess ends folded into that line you see. The lines in the original are really thin, so the creator probably used a different method or maybe he just has some l33t h4x0r skillz.
I guess the thick lines are a pretty huge turn-off but if it’s any comfort, it doesn’t look bad in reality. I blame my lousy photography. A lot of pre-painted Haruhi on Yahoo Auctions had the same problem and some of them even had lines that were all fluffy. At least e2046’s version achieves consistent thickness on the lines and has a pretty smooth surface.
I like the hair. Also, shiny bunny ears.
All in all a very awesome figure that is very well worth the money despite having its share of flaws. Haruhi-sama approves!
Sadly, e2046 has stopped making any more of this, although it is entirely possible that they may suddenly decide to start taking orders again someday. Meanwhile, you can try the special red version.
I swear this is the last post on Haruhi Bunny. Ever. Probably. Maybe.
P.S. Manabi Straight‘s main character is like a loli Haruhi. Getsumento Heiki Miina is pretty awesome fun.
P.P.S. All photos in this post are licensed under a Creative Commons License. Please do not remove the watermarks.
P.P.P.S. You may have noticed the e2046 logo on the main page. I’m trying out their banner exchange programme.
The stockings look super uber. Really.
I find the ribbons too fragile too, or maybe it’s just mine that doesn’t sit too nicely.
One of my guitar pegs fell off when I was taking it out of the plastic bag too! ULTIMATE FRAGILE.
Definitely my favorite figurine.
I glued all the ears and ribbons on using household cement.
BTW I forgot to mention that e2046 is now taking preorders for the BUBBA Yuki unpainted resin kit.
i fell in love with it the moment you will posting the pics online..
OOOH SO MUCH COMMERCIALISM!!
nice photos…
but regarding the license…
you used the Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license, and ask other potential “users” of the picture not to remove the watermarks…
if that’s the case, wouldn’t a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/) license be better?
i want to buy it but its very exp >_
I just noticed one of your phrases lead back to here… you must surely know the greatness of Haruhi though :o? By the way, i got to ask you how to get the COSPA merchandise that you looking for..
Hmm well I guess I meant that if you only going to display the picture itself, then the attribution method I want is the watermark. If you are going to edit it into part of another non-commercial work (like a site banner), then of course the attribution can be in other form.
But then again, who gives crap about CC and it’s not like anyone is really going to use my pictures. lol.
Do they have any license to produce them????? E2046 is known for bootleg
They need to make a BUBBA-quality Guitar Witch Yuki. Done right, I think that might actually out-WIN the Bunny Haruhi.
hidden, they do not have any licence. There’s no one to obtain the licence from anyway since even the original creator only has one-day licences for selling the resin kits at events…
It’s not as straightforward as bootleg vs original PVC figures since garage kits are mostly fan-created, like doujinshi.
Now, to wait for Urban Attic to deliver my own copy of this uber-resin figure. I can almost feel Haruhi-sama smiling upon me from Her Golden Throne!
I dare say,
Miina is crazy.
http://img386.imageshack.us/img386/3418/wtfmiinasr9.jpg
it must have hurt.. a lot
or her upgrade in that part made it resistant to damage D:
WOO!
You got linked on the e2046 newsletter, fatty.
Oh and I am getting their red version. I have it on preorder already.
I don’t think I have you in my blogroll. I need to rectify that.
And yeah, there’s certainly a world of difference on a recast of a limited edition figure and a bootleg. Unless you want to buy one of the Japanese recasts that pretend to be official and overcharge.
Wee!
Congrats. You have been linked on e2046’s newsletter. Prepare a sudden increase in visitors and e-penor :p
They spelt my nick as “Dark Mirage” even though I had previously informed them that it was one word.
GAH!!!!!
And I doubt I’ll see any noticeable increase in traffic since e2046’s Alexa ranking isn’t much higher than mine and not everyone reads the newsletters.
if your really annoyed about the guitar maybe you can do that they did tho this one and put a pin into it like to the sword http://www.paw.hi-ho.ne.jp/reshizou22/nowmake/nonnon/01/01.html
and i forgot where i saw it it was on another site i think it showed how they stuck the stockings on and i rember seeing they stuck a thin black line on the back of the stockings jsttt rambleing =3
its coming soon =D http://www.hobbyfan.com/product_info.php?products_id=4908
You know that you’re bad-ass if you rock out in a bunny girl outfit, oy. I hope this inspires a Haruhi lookalike character in the next Guitar Hero!
Dude, i just bought it for about 25USD… ._.
I’m sorry, I can’t understand what are you trying to say!!!!
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I hate this site E2046, they are scammers selling recasts. Tried to pre order a kit, they were going to take months to even place the order so I cancelled. Won’t give $ back only Cash Coupon store credit, BS I cancelled a day after for something they don’t even have…watch out for these guys, they are not ethical. I tried to use my “Cash Coupon” to order another kit and if its more than the coupon you cant use it…WTF? if it’s less, they still have your money and have no intention of ever refunding you….I am disputing the charges, but will never deal with them again..hopefully it helps someone else to not make the same mistake of buying from these unethical morons.