Let it be known that I am a Tony Taka fan. His art is maybe a little old-fashioned compared to artists that are hot right now like Mataro, or Nidy-2d-, but the guy has a classic style that translates well into figures, of which many have been made. You only need to look at his MFC entry and see that he has nearly 300 items that he's credited as illustrator on. Impressive! He has a lot of characters that I like, but my favorite must be his elf character Elaine. She's shown up in figure form before as a faerie queen (see my previous review), and here she is again as a cute elf-maid struggling against a sudden gust of wind that has blown her skirt up.
From the front the main draws of this figure are Elaine's cheerfully embarrassed expression and her ample cleavage visible through the boob window in her maid outfit. Her arm is drawn close to her body and her hand balled into a fist in apparent surprise or frustration at her situation. The sculpting on the frills and details of her dress top is really nice, with a variety of different folds and textures making the fabric seem really dynamic and interesting in spite of the paint which has kind of a rough texture in spots and is a bit flat in other areas.
The slight translucence of her hair catches the light really nicely and makes it seem less flat, and little details like her butterfly barrette and feather give her a bit of personality and remind of the previous Elaine figure. Her elf ears are really cute too. One complaint is that her chest seems a bit one-dimensional when viewed from this angle. I think a little more curve would have been nice, but maybe it's just a consequence of the pose that her boobs look kind of just like globes.
The sculpt of her hand pulling her dress down is really nice, and I also like the little cuffs. The paint job on the dress and the little green bows is very plain, but it's fine. There is some detail along the edges of her corset that look good but are hard to see under normal conditions.
From here it's almost like her legs get a little skinny above the knee, but it's not that noticeable in person. The little black bowties on her garters holding up her mid-thigh stockings are nice, though I think the stockings look a bit too opaque.
Her shoes are plain (and dusty SORRY!) and I appreciate that the base is pretty small. There is a design on the base but it's a little unusual as it looks like a printed photograph texture. It's not bad, it's just a little jarring to look at.
Turning her to the side the appeal of this figure really comes through. From here her chest looks much more shapely, you can how dynamic and full of motion her pose is, and you are treated to just a faint glimpse of her backside as the wind pushes her dress up. This is the best angle for this figure, but it's a bit unnatural to display her so sideways on a shelf with other figures. If you can manage, I recommend placing her in a spot where you'll naturally be able to see from this angle without having to turn her to much. For me she is on a raised shelf to the side of my desk, so from directly in front of the shelf you see her head on but from the desk seat the view is better.
From the other side the pose is a bit awkward for display purposes, but like most figures you can appreciate these little details while cleaning or photographing for your blog or a hobby site. The sculpt of her legs and butt is immaculate, though the strap from her garter on this side is behaving in a very peculiar way, curving along her leg instead of going straight down to the connection. It doesn't look bad, but it's a little weird when you stop and wonder how exactly it would work in real life.
From here it's easy to imagine a scenario where this could have been a figure in multiple parts, separating from the waist with cast-off options. Unfortunately it's just a dream...
Overall I really love this figure. Part of the reason why I like it so much is that I got a very good deal on her from a seller on eBay. She was new in the box, but her hair which is made of a slightly brittle plastic came damaged with one strand snapped off about 1.5cm from the end. It was easy to fix, and very hard to notice unless you go looking for it, but initially I was upset. I didn't think much of her for a while, but after having her on my shelf for a while now she is one of my favorite figures. Her outfit and pose are classic, and any erotic elements are rooted first in her cuteness, so she doesn't seem tacky or lewd (in a bad way, not the good way, lol). In time I think she might become quite rare and hard to find. Also, a 1/1 scale (YES 1/1) version of her exists, but I think it's just for exhibitions and not to become an actual product. Though if it did, perhaps there might be an alternate version of this one released.
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