Vita is a returning character originally introduced as one of the Wolkenritter in A’s. She is a hot-tempered and stubborn person, often hostile and rude, however is extremely loyal and devoted to Hayate, in StrikerS Vita also becomes very protective of Nanoha. Vita’s intelligent device Graf Eisen is a hammer which can transform into a number of different attack modes. Vita usually combines her hammer modes with Schwalbe Fliegen, balls of red energy, and using her hammer shoots them at her enemies.
Packaging:
Vita comes in a standard Figma box.
On the front is a window for viewing the figure, on one side is the Figma logo, on the other is a picture of the figure, on the back there is relevant information, all in Japanese, and pictures of the figure in various poses with their various accessories. Instructions for swapping face pieces and other items are usually printed on either inside of the box tabs or on a piece of paper slipped inside the packaging. Also take note that all figures you purchase have the correct authentication printed or stickered on the box.
Inside the box the figure is held between two pieces of moulded plastic, with spaces for their accessories. The extra hands and the base of the Figma stand are stored in plastic bags underneath the figure in the plastic moulding. Figures are usually wrapped with plastic in certain areas to protect the paint. Boxes also come with inserts which act as backdrops in the box and can be taken out and used for backdrops while displaying figures. Vita's backdrop is of a pink sunset sky.
Figma’s also are supplied with a small zip-lock bag to store all the accessories in, the name of the figure can be written on this bag so that figure accessories can be stored neatly. Figma’s also come with a neat little device for storing the extra hands in.
Packaging = 6/10
Stand:
Vita comes with the standard Figma stand. Made of clear plastic it has three points of articulation which move forwards and back on hinge joints, one joint is at the bottom where it plugs into the base, one in the middle and one where it plugs into the Figma. The articulation of the stand allows the Figma to be posed in a variety of dynamic poses, and because it is clear it does not interfere with the aesthetic of taking dynamic and exciting photos.
Stand = 7/10
Sculpt:
This is Vita Knight Clothes version.
Vita's overall design is very cute and spunky.
Starting from the top, her hair and face are well done, and look great. Her jacket is soft PVC as all the Nanoha Figma’s however only the front pieces of the jacket and the sleeves are soft PVC and unlike Signum's Vita's jacket cannot be removed from the figure without breaking it. Her dress is good, but not great, meaning that it looks wonderful and is nicely detailed but it is made out of hard plastic and therefore her leg movement is very restricted. Also her gloves which look very nice tend to hurt your fingers when changing Vita's hands. Over all a nice sculpt they have made her cute and small, a very nice representation of the character. She is also wearing the standard Figma soft PVC panties.
Sculpt = 8/10
At fist Vita’s colour scheme is rather odd, and dirty looking with her deep reds and orange hair, with bits of yellow and black, but after a while I rather like it, it maybe a strange combination of colour but I think it adds to the quirkiness of her character, cute yet odd. All her detailing is done well with little running over. I especially like her metallic red boots and metallic chocker necklace.
Vita’s accessories are well painted, her extra face is nicely detailed and hat is well done, her weapons are nicely painted too, chrome silver and gold, with some metallic red and blue, with only a few places where the paint is messy.
Paint = 7/10
Articulation:
Vita use’s the standard Figma joint system. Figma joints are hinge joints with pegs on either end allowing both forward and back movement and rotation.
At the head a Figma joint is used at the top of the neck allowing the figure to look up and down and turn their head left and right, however looking up is restricted somewhat by the design of the back of the hair. To change the faces on Figma’s the front piece of hair is removed and then the faces can be taken of and swapped. To put Vita's hat on you place it between the face piece and the front fringe piece.
The shoulder consists of a double joint, a ball joint which sits inside the upper body, this is attached to a ball shaped Figma joint which acts as the shoulder, and this allows full range of motion to the shoulder. Further down a Figma joint is used as the elbow and bends in and then out straight and there is some slight rotation for the lower arm to turn in and out. At the wrist the various hands plug into a small hole at the end of the arm. Each hand also has a hinge joint, which not only allows the hand to rotate but also to move up and down which gives the figure realistic wrist movement. However the design of her gloves means that your fingers get stabbed a bit when changing her hands.
A waist joint is located under her chest. Waist joints are ball and socket joints, a ball joint will be attached to the upper body and which plug into a socket in the main torso, this gives the body twisting movement and bending forwards and back. At the hips a three jointed ball and socket joint is used. One ball plugs into a socket at the bottom of the torso acting as the hip joint; this allows the hips to turn side to side, lean forward or back, then on each of the other two ball joints the legs plug on. Each leg has an inner socket which the ball joint plugs into, this piece allows full range of motion from the ball joint and also allows the thigh to turn in and out as it pegs inside the main leg piece.
A Figma joint is then used as the knee allowing the knee to bend backwards and then out to straight, and there is some slight rotation for the lower leg to turn in and out. The ankle also is a Figma joint allowing the foot to point and flex turn in and out.
Vita also has added articulation, she has peg and ball joints in her braids, each braid using the ball joint to move side to side, up and down, and to turn in and out. Vita's bow also is articulated the same as her braids, with each side of the bow being on a ball joint allowing her bow and ribbon to move around.
Pose:
Vita is therefore highly posable and can be posed in a variety of ways. With the use of the accessories supplied, her intelligent device Graf Eisen, she can be displayed in a number of poses, at the ready with her Gigant form, ready to strike with her Schwalbe Fliegen balls and her Hammer form, in mid swing with her Rakenten form, and bringing the finishing blow with her Zerstörung form. However there are a few areas in which articulation is restricted, due to her dress being made of hard PVC her leg movement is somewhat restricted, she cannot really kneel and she can't sit down, another area is that the design of her boots stop her from pointing and flexing her feet so that she has very little movement there.
Articulation & Pose = 6/10
Enjoyment:
I will break down enjoyment into two categories: Accessories and Play Value.
Vita comes with two facial expressions; her plain content expression and an angry battle ready expression. Vita also comes with an assortment of hands; a pair of open hands, a pair of fists, a pair of jointed hands for holding items, and a pair of unjointed hands for holding items, one pointing hand, and one hand holding her Schwalbe Fliegen, which are four silver balls which turn into balls of red energy which she hits with her hammer in order to shoot at her enemies.
Vita also comes with her intelligent device Graf Eisen with attachments for all its forms, Hammer form, which is the small hammer head with flat ends, Rakenten form, which is like Hammer form but has one flat end and one end with a spike, Gigant form, which is a large hammer with flat ends, and Zerstörung form the large hammer with a screw on the end. She also comes with two staff types one straight and one curved, to give added realism when posing, this is a very nice touch on behalf of Max Factory.
And last but not least she has an extra hair piece, with fringe blowing in the opposite direction, and her hat, which is one of the main reasons I wanted to get Vita, her hat is so cute, with little creepy bunny heads on either side. The hat gets placed between her face piece and her fringe piece, however it is very hard to get it on properly and there is always a slight gap between her fringe and the rest of her hair when she is wearing the hat.
It was very good that Max Factory to have holding hands jointed and unjointed because using a combination of both Vita is able to hold her heavy weapon without her hand drooping, as some of the earlier Figma's have had, Signum in particular. Also unlike most of the previous Figma's, one of Vita's pairs of hands for holding are not completely closed which means that items can be easily be slipped into her hands, this also means that she can hold a number of accessories which belong to other Figma's, this is a very nice touch by Max Factory.
Play Value:
I will break down play value into two categories: Compatibility, with other figures and accessories, and general play.
Compatibility:
Because Vita's hands for holding items are not completely closed she is able to hold practically any other Figma item. She can use the weapons for Signum, Saber and Cute, she can also play around with Miku's leeks and try her hand at singing with Miku's microphone. She also cleans up after Reimu, sweeping and throwing out empty Sake bottles. This opens up the possibility of poses for Vita, and brings her enjoyment factor way up.
Next up is a height comparison, as you can see she is the shortest of the Figma height scale.
General Play:
In general Vita is an enjoyable figure. She is young and full of attitude, and even with a few movement restrictions she is a lot of fun to play around with. Vita is a great addition to any figure collection.
Enjoyment = 8/10
Over all Vita scores 7/10
