Figma Review - Black Gold Saw

Black Rock Shooter is about two school girls who meet on the first day of junior high school, Mato Kuroi and Yomi Takanashi, a friendship soon blossoms however when Mato makes a new friend, Yuu, Yomi begins to get jealous. Running along side the real world is Black Rock Shooters world, where she silently battles Black Gold Saw and the scythe wielding Dead Master.

Black Gold Saw is seen silently battling Black Rock Shooter, she has red eyes and horns, and she sometimes is depicted with a red flame burning from her right eye, and its rumoured she can merge with Black Rock Shooter to become Insane Black Rock Shooter. 

Packaging:

Black Gold Saw 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. BGS's backdrop is red and white checkers. BGS also comes with a special cut-out to use with the Di: Stage.

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 = 8/10

Stand:

BGS 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.

BGS also comes with an extra L shaped piece which attaches to the end of her stand so that she can be attached to her stand in spite of her long hair. A very nice touch by Max Factory.

Stand = 8/10

Sculpt:

BGS's overall design is awesome she has even more demonic features than Dead Master. For me she was a must get figure purely for her aesthetic, plus my love of dark characters.

Starting from the top she has awesome demon horns which are made from semi-transparent plastic which are shaded wonderfully with them being lightest at the tips, and they just look great. Her hair is nicely sculpted with soft PVC used for her front hair pieces and back hair pieces which cover the two joints which are in her main two pieces of hair, so allowing movement without destroying her aesthetic. Recently Max Factory have really listened to their customers and have been more generous with the use of soft PVC in their figures which is just great. Next her jacket is also soft PVC allowing both the style and movement to be kept. Her chest and stomach is sculpted well and looks very nice and not as tiny as Black Rock Shooter who looks as if she eat more. Her shorts are a combo of soft PVC and hard they look great and she has full range of movement in her legs.

Then comes her boots which are very awesome and slightly dominatrix. They are savage with a big horn thing on the knee, which is a separate piece of which moves freely as you bend her knee joint. The feet of her boots are also horn like and although they look as if she shouldn't be able to stand with them she can. Oh and I forgot to mention her nice clawed or boned hands. Each hand is sculpted well made mostly of soft PVC and has a very skeletal look.

Although her sculpt doesn't have many intricate or small detailing to it, it is still very good, it captures her character and always a good range of movement.

Sculpt = 9/10

Paint:

BGS has a colour scheme of mostly black and browns with some white stripes and stars. As mentioned before she has nice shading on her horns, also she has some shading in her hair which is lovely, and which you rarely see with Figmas. Her face is very nicely done, and everything else is painted well. Unfortunately my figure had some paint chipping on her leg so when her left leg is moved right forward you can see a place on her pant where the paint is rubbed off, but it can easily be hidden from site so no real completes, one off paint problems will happen every now and then

BGS's accessory her Saw is painted just as great as Dead Master's Scythe was. The detailing is beautiful with nice scratch and scrape marks and the gold is just a lovely colour tone. So overall I am very happy with her paint work.

Paint = 8/10

Articulation:

BGS 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 her neck is a Figma joint and allows the figure to look side to side, down and up.  To change the faces on Figma’s the front piece of hair is removed and then the faces can be taken of and swapped.

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.

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.

BGS has two points of additional articulation one in each section of her hair pieces allowing you to pose her hair.

Pose: 

BGS is therefore highly posable and can be posed in a variety of ways. With the use of the accessories supplied, her King Saw, she can be displayed in a number of poses, wielding her King Saw, ready to claw you, and she also has hands for holding other Figma accessories. However there are a few areas in which articulation is restricted her large sleeves somewhat restrict her hand movements, also the design of her feet restricts their movement somewhat.

Articulation & Pose = 8/10

Enjoyment:

I will break down enjoyment into two categories: Accessories and Play Value.

Accessories:

BGS comes with three facial expressions; an angry expression, a neutral expression, and a slightly smiling face. BGS also comes with an assortment of hands; a pair of hands for holding her King Saw, a pair of open hands, a pair of clawed hands, and a pair of hands for holding other Figma accessories.

BGS also comes with her King Saw.

Play Value:

I will break down play value into two categories: Compatibility, with other figures and accessories, and general play.

Compatibility:

BGS is very compatible with other Figma accessories and most items can be either put in her holding hands or her hands for holding her King Saw.

Next up is a height comparison, as you can see she is on the middle of the Figma height scale. She is in the same scale as the other Black Rock Shooter Figmas but her boots and her horns make her close to Aegis' height.

General Play:

In general BGS is very fun to play with and I had a great time teaming her up with Dead Master and Black Rock Shooter. Together they make for an awesome display. So I recommend to anyone collecting the Black Rock Shooter figures or else just someone like me who likes dark and demonic characters.

Enjoyment = 9/10

Over all Black Gold Saw scores 8.3/10