Review: Busou Shinki Series 2: Dog Type: Howling
Product Name: Howling (ハウリン, HAURIN), Dog Type, Full Set
Manufacturer: Konami
Price: 3500¥ ($45.99 US / €34) – No longer produced – after-market prices vary greatly
Release Date: September 2006
Specifications: Fully painted ABS poseable figure 5.5″ in height (without armor)
Purchased from: eBay
Busou Shinki (武装神姫, literally Armament God Princess) is an Action Figure line released by Konami Digital Entertainment. Each figure, based on Konami’s MMS (Multi Moveable System) design, is highly poseable and features a wide variety of interchangeable parts. Many of the figures have been designed by noted Japanese artists.
While most figures in the line have been released only in Japan, several of them have seen a limited release in the US.
All Busou Shinki figures released so far have been female, and most feature armor in a Mecha Musume (basically armored cute girls in military settings) based style.
The action figures are sold in two different types of sets:
Full sets – These range in price from 3500 yen to 4500 yen. Each full set includes a core MMS figure as well as many accessories and weapons to change the character’s look. The full sets also include an articulated figure stand.
EX Weapon sets – These range in price from 1500 yen to 2500 yen. Each EX weapon set includes a head, weapons, armour and other accessories but crucially, does not include a core MMS figure. The idea here is to get a new character design without paying the price of a full set. This may seem odd, but Japanese toy companies have used this method since the ’70s.
Both types of sets include access codes which can be added to Busou Shinki software to gain access to CG versions of characters.
This review is of one of these great figure sets, Howling, based on designs by Japanese artist BLADE. Howling isn’t my first or only Shinki (far from it), but she happened to be the one closest to the computer when I was deleting spam from the Geekcentricity Akismet bin and I got inspired to review her.
The packaging is huge. Due to the sheer number of parts included with these figures a nice, big, covered window-box style is used, with plenty of illustrations of Howling.
Inside the box are two plastic trays, packed full of parts – and of course, the figure herself.
The base body is highly articulated: Ball and socket joint(above neck), neck swivel(below neck), hinged and swivel shoulders(x2), bicep swivels(x2), single hinge elbows(x2), forearm swivels(x2), wrist swivels(x2), wrist hinges(depending on which hands you use), double ball jointed chest, ball and hinge hips(x2), thigh swivels(x2), single hinged knees(x2), single hinge ankles(x2). It adds up to about 28 points of articulation, depending on how you count them up.
As you can see from the above picture, she is a lot less impressive-looking from behind, thanks to all of the screw holes. Not to worry, though – when she is armored up – they are not noticeable. And as a matter-of-fact, she is supposed to look this way.
All Busou Shinki have visible articulation lines because they’re supposed to be tiny 1:1 robot girls. Yup. Just like Microman is 1:1 scale, so are Shinkis.
Word to the wise: If you don’t read Japanese, you may be in some trouble when it comes to the directions – with a figure this detailed and well-equipped, a Gaijin may take hours trying to put their armor on. But apparently even Japanese folks have trouble with them, as Konami goes into more detail on their Japanese site. There’s a specific page for each set, and for the full sets to get the instructions (in Japanese, but with helpful pictures) look at the red-tinged buttons on the left side of the screen, the instruction button is the second from the top. The top button gives you a 360 view of the completed set. To view the other sets just try and identify the headsculpt of the one you’re after.
Howling is a fun figure for me. She’s cute as hell, and I really like the “animal”-themed Shinkis. I’m not certain that Busou Shinkis are a good match for casual collectors, because not only can the prices be restrictive, but the very limited availability in the Western world means that hunting them down can often be as much of a pain in the ass as figuring out the instructions.
