Review date: 4/26/2003

Manufacturer: Bandai

Released: 2002

Availability: NORMAL

Type: Action Figure

 
 
Personal Story:
I wasn't even interested in this figure. It came free with the very expensive DVD boxed set.
 
Introduction:
This figure is based on the mech Escaflowne in the anime of the same name. This is the variant black version. This figure is only available exclusively with the North American Escaflowne TV series limited edition DVD boxed set. Limited to 10,000 sets worldwide.
 

Sculpt:
Pretty good. The sculpt is very close to its anime counterpart. It looks very true to the original one which is great. There are lots of details in the armor and the head. There's limited articulation with the arms and feet. You can turn the head from side to side too. But other than that, it's pretty stiff. The cape is very well done and looks great. I thought it was funny that the back of the cape looks so good since most people won't be displaying that part of the body that much. But the cape is made of plastic too so you won't be able to play around with it.

The cool thing you can do is put the sword in its back just like the anime. But the blade of the sword is visible between the legs which is bad. It's still good that they allowed this option. And as for the sword, it is surprisingly bad. The handle and hilt look good but the blade itself is way too wide compared to the anime. It's also made with a pretty soft plastic so it's all warped and such which is very disappointing. The same can be said for the whole figure. The plastic feels soft and a bit cheap. But it's still much more solid and harder than the blade of the sword.

The overall size is great and the overall look is as close as you can get to the original source. It's very well done and fans will be happy they didn't mess this one up. But the most interesting thing is...

 

Paint:
...the colors! This is the variant black version. Overall, the colors looks pretty good. I can remember that in the anime, there's one point where the Escaflowne turns black for a few minutes but I'm not sure if it's this exact color. The black is solid and dark and the color of the back of the cape is a very nice blue. I don't really like the pink underside of the cape that much. Ugh, pretty much all the red parts of the original is pink in this variant. :/ But for some reason, the gem on the chest stayed red. The green gems on the shoulders are silver which looks good. In fact, most of the colors have been turned gray to increase the muted look. I guess it would've been nice if the whole figure was just black, white and gray. The pink is really annoying. Overall, very cool colors (except the PINK). The black version makes it feel like you're owning the dark evil version of Escaflowne which is cool.

 
Overall: B-
This is an interesting variant that fans will enjoy. The overall figure looks great and the colors are good except for the pink. Bandai should've used better materials for it though. This is especially true for the wonky sword. The plastic is way too soft. Since you can find the original colored version being sold individually, this figure is only for die-hard collectors of the anime. It's good, not great.
 

Where can I find this?
Even though the DVD set was limited to 10,000 sets, it's still easily available everywhere so you won't have trouble finding it (and the figure with it).
 
Other Images:


The box. It shows the Escaflowne's original colors. It would've been nice if they had also changed the colors to the variant version to make it more special. This box is just as big as the DVD box set itself!

 


Escaflowne gets ready for battle.

 


Very cool cape.

 
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