Max Factory Figma Tsuruya

Hello everyone, sorry for the long wait, but I’m back with a new review. Today we are taking a look at Tsuruya from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzimiya, part of the Figma line from Max Factory.

Starting off with the box; it’s an early Figma, so it is going to have the older style box, unlike the newer ones we have today.

She is number 18 in the line. Considering my last review was Figma number 218, we are pretty far back there.

Going on to the back of the box.

The back of the box shows the different poses that Tsuruya can do.

Now for the unboxing.

The first thing you are greeted with is Tsuruya herself.

The first thing you may notice is her massive hair; her hair is huge! It is definitely her most eye-catching feature.

This has to be the most hair I’ve seen on a Figma.
Moving on from the hair, her articulation is pretty standard for a Figma.

She does have an interesting bit of articulation: Her hair.

The hair has a hinge inside it that allows it to move up and down. Her one major flaw is her most prominent feature. The hair is so big that it limits the articulation. It makes her very back heavy and difficult to keep her standing. Lucky for us, Figmas come with stands.

Now, one of the interesting points on this figure is that her hair covers up the back slot where the stand would normally connect to. To get around this, Max Factory put a hidden slot in her hair.

By removing a strand of hair that is covering the slot on the back, you now have access to the hole for the stand for this figure.

The stand is a major lifesaver for this figure. If not for that, this figure would be extremely difficult to work with. Now I will say I have had issue putting the stand into the peg; in fact, it took a while to get it to fit correctly.

Now the stand isn’t the only thing that comes with her: She comes with pretty standard accessories, such as a variety of hands.

She also comes with two victory pose hands.

She also comes with a optional face.

One of the most surprising things that she comes with is an entirely new head. This head isn’t a thing she does in the show, or anything like that. It’s an entirely new character!

Emiri Kimidori! She appeared in one of the episodes of Haruhi Suzimiya. She was the girl who came to the S.O.S Brigade to help find the missing computer club president. If you choose to use Emiri Kimidori’s head, you will not have any of the issues that come with using Tsuruya’s head. The balance issues disappear and you have access to the stand slot.

For fun, you can scare Mikuru with this figure by doing some very creepy poses.

Now for my final thoughts. This figure can either be a hit or a miss; it may even depend on if you enjoyed the show or the character. As a fan of Haruhi Suzimiya, I do enjoy this figure, but I believe it may be because she is from the anime itself.  In terms of the figure itself, she does not have much playability in terms of accessories. She is a very basic figure and suffers balance issues due to her hair. The only way to get rid of the balance issues is to use the stand which was a tad bit difficult to get to work, or to swap out with the Emiri head (at which point you are not even using Tsuruya). Another issue I have with this figure is that you get another character with her, but you can only display one at a time. Another downside is that the hair is difficult to manage. It comes down on the front side and is not made of any special material; it’s the same hard plastic as the rest of the figure (minus the skirt). This means that the hair is in a static pose and makes posing her arms relatively difficult.  This leaving you to make a choice: either Tsuruya or Emiri.

Moving on, there are positives to this figure. She has a very nice and cheerful face that is full of energy. Although I may have shown where the part is a con, he other head is also a pro because you technically get two in one (like a Transformer where you get two figures in one). Lastly, she makes for great fun to pose; The playability in the removable head and the stand on the hair makes for a fun idea, and opens a range of possibilities for her. She is decently painted and is very sturdy.

As for purchasing this figure, in the end, it is honestly up to you and your tastes. I bought this with the intention of getting another character that I enjoyed over watching the anime and its spinoffs. This was a character driven purchase for me. That being said, if you want a relatively cheap figure, she is a good find. If you want a simple figure, this is a good buy because she does not come with many accessories or any crazy weapons to try to figure to out how to pose. Being the simple Tsuruya, I would recommend it if you are wanting it for the character, completing the cast of the anime, want something simple, or are a fan of Figmas in general. Outside of that, I would pass it if you are up for something better.

For a more in-depth review, click here for a video review.

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 - Zeroconvoy