Pokemon Center Original 1/8 Huuro & Swanna by Kotobukiya

Another review, another figure that isn't mine. Well, I did say I had a lot of these on the backlog, and I'd rather get these done before taking more photos and cluttering up my to do list further. Honestly, these would have been a bit more spread out if I didn't decide I needed to retake a ton of photos with a diffuser to make them all look just generally better.

This one is kind of a special figure. It's a Pokemon Center exclusive & my friend's grail. Boy did we end up hunting for this one, and got her for a great price. I believe after conversion she came out to around 175. Originally we assumed she had no box, but were surprised when she indeed had one. Was pretty neat to get her for that cheap, because she usually goes for a lot more. Either way, her condition was really good for her price. Usually this figure goes for around 300 on most sites, if not more. Thank god for Mercari.

Also, because of the fact that I'm so used to US localized names for Pokemon, we're using English names. I'll be calling her Skyla due to this. Swanna's name is the same in English as well though, so obviously I'll be keeping that.

Honestly, this is such a gorgeous figure. And since the base is pretty big, it makes me completely forget that she's a 1/8 and not a 1/7th. I kinda wish the Pokemon figures were a bit bigger, but truth be told, considering I'm already lacking in terms of space at the moment, maybe it's a good thing they're 1/8s instead. Not that it matters, because these figures tend to be so pricy on the aftermarket.

The box is pretty plain. A lot fancier than the standard Koto Pokemon figures due to the fact she's exclusive. Just a window on the front, a shaped window at the top, and some decorations on the side. The back has the original illustration this figure is based on as well as her silhouette.

Blister is a standard blister. Pretty secure for the fact that she came preassembled, not even requiring you to put her onto the base or anything. There wasn't a lot of plastic waste with her, but I assume it has to do with the fact that the original owner discarded the plastic sheets. Either way, no big deal. Not a lot of damage happened during travel.

Here's her 360 view. So, I won't lie, Skyla looks pretty good from most angles, even if she is looking off to the side a bit in some. Swanna however, while the sculpt is good, is just a bit awkward to view from some points. It's very clear that this figure is meant to be displayed at a very specific angle, or you're just not going to see both of their faces. Makes me wish you could pull the Pokemon off the stand like with the regular Koto Pokemon Trainer series, but oh well. Not the end of the world.

Anyways, let's move on to the detail shots.

For the most part, the detail on this figure are really nice. The translucent gust of wind with the feathers all around is a pretty neat touch. Skyla's pose is really cute as mentioned before, and while her design is really simple, the figure doesn't feel like it skimped on any detail. Swanna is sculpted rather nicely as well. The only thing that's negative here is the giant gash looking thing on her shirt? I don't think that's supposed to be here. In fact, I'm almost certain it's not, but I didn't even notice it until writing this. And it definitely looks like damage more than anything. Maybe that's why she was so cheap. It didn't pick up on the cameras, and I don't remember seeing it or any note of it on the original listing. I wonder if I can go back and check.

Aside from the glaring gash, the paintwork is generally very nice. There's not a lot of visible errors, but there's about 2 random dots on her glove. Shading is kinda there, but not really. Most of the shading work on the Pokemon figures by Koto tends to be very subtle. It's a very "you barely notice it's there" type of situation.

Legitimately, this is such a cool base. Going with the top half of a Pokeball instead of just a plain disc like the others is legit so cool. All the regular ones tend to have Pokeballs on them in some form, but the idea of using an actual Pokeball is much cooler. Makes me wish that the regular figures were as detailed with their bases.

Overall, I'd say Skyla is a really neat figure. Kotobukiya generally does really well with their figures, especially their Pokemon ones. The Pokemon Center ones always tend to be so spectacular. I think my overall woes with this figure are limited to defects more than anything.

The Positives

• Dynamic pose
• Creative base
• The 1/8th size means she doesn't take too much shelf space
• Vibrant paintjob

The Negatives

• Awful aftermarket. You're literally paying the Pokemon tax ontop of the exclusive tax and then some. And I don't know if they tend to rerelease the Pokemon Center exclusives. But I do think both Lilies came out again recently, so maybe there's hope she'll get rereleased in the future.
• The 1/8 scale may put some people off due to how "small" people tend to see them as. Alternatively, people who collect smaller figures might be put off by the pose which makes her take a bit more room with the extended arm.
• Factory defects, and possible user damage as well were kinda disappointing.

Honestly, when I first saw her, I wanted one of my own. So I think if I had more space and a lot more spare money and a lot less priorities that were taking my attention, I'd aim for her and the matching Elesa figure as well. Their aftermarkets are unfortunately really high, so it's prevented me from really wanting to go for them specifically, but they're generally really cute either way.