In Mawaru Penguin Drum a terminally ill girl named Himari Takakura is miraculously saved from death by a strange spirit who resides in a penguin-shaped hat. However, in exchange for extending her life, the spirit tasks Himari's brothers, Kanba and Shouma, to seek out an item known as the Penguin Drum with assistance from a trio of strange penguins.
The Princess of the crystal is the entity that uses Himari's body as a host and she demands the Penguin Drum as payment for extending Himari's life. She is blunt and doesn't like to deal with defiance of any sort.
Packaging:
Princess 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. Princess's backdrop is pink with penguin pictures and other symbols printed on it. Princess 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. figmas also come with a neat little device for storing the extra hands in.
Packaging = 8/10
Stand:
Princess 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.
Princess 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.
Stand = 8/10
Sculpt:
Princess's overall design is striking and impressive just as the Princess of the Crystal aught to be.
Starting from the top, the magical penguin hat looks great and sits perfectly upon her head via a peg on the front hair piece. Her front hair pieces are soft PVC to allow for neck movement. Her scarf is nicely sculpted and is able to be removed if you wish, her top is nicely detailed and also made of soft PVC with a hard plastic detachable back piece which is swapped out when her large skirt is worn which is well sculpted and looks anime perfect. She has two upper arm pieces, plain black and ones with white ruffles which look great. She is lovely and leggy with killer high heeled boots, and as is a current trend in figmas her upper thigh has a nicely shaped cheeks. Nothing to find fault with.
Sculpt = 9/10
Paint:
Princess has a colour scheme of black, white, yellow, and red with her purple scarf thrown in for some added colour. All block colouring with little to no errors in the paint work. Lovely shine to the gem and pearls on the penguin hat
Princess's accessories are also well painted save a little extra white paint on number 2 penguin.
Paint = 8/10
Articulation:
Princess 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 her head is a figma joint this allows the figure to look side to side, down and up. To change the faces on figmas 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 above her hips. 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.
Princess has nine points of additional articulation, her penguin hat was figma joints on each tassle allowing a range of movement, and each of the pieces of her skirt have larger figma joins there are also two swivel joints on each end of skirt ruffle to help balance the figma when she is wearing her skirt, a very useful joint. Each section of her hair also has a figma joint allowing full range of head movement.
Also a mention for her penguin palls each of which have swivel joints for their wings allowing some expression and movement.
Pose:
Princess is therefore highly posable and can be posed in a variety of ways. With the use of the accessories supplied she can be displayed in a number of poses, in her well known scolding pose, riding her penguins, and ordering people about.
Articulation & Pose = 9/10
Enjoyment:
I will break down enjoyment into two categories: Accessories and Play Value.
Accessories:
Princess comes with three facial expressions; her yelling face, her scolding face, and her placid face. Princess also comes with an assortment of hands; a pair of fists, a pair of open hands, a pair for holding items, pointing hands, and relaxed hands.
Princess also comes with her penguin pals which are fantastic and adorable and some accessories where even included for them. The insect repellent which they use in series and the mirror one uses to look up girls skirts. They simply plug in via a little peg into the underside of the penguins wing.
Play Value:
I will break down play value into two categories: Compatibility, with other figures and accessories, and general play.
Compatibility:
Princess is very compatible with other figma accessories. Her holding hands can fit most other hand held figure accessories and she works well with some body swapping with other figmas of the same size.
Next up is a height comparison, as you can see she is on the shorter side of the figma height scale.
General Play:
In general Princess is a great figure, she has spunk and killer fashion not to mention the awesome penguin's she comes with. I recommend her to fans of the series or perhaps if you are just a penguin lover like me, though I do like the series as well :)
Overall Princess is a very welcome edition to my collection.
Enjoyment = 10/10
Over all Princess of the Crystal scores 8.6/10
