Vocaloid – Hatsune Miku 2.0 figma by Max Factory
Hatsune Miku (初音ミク) is a Japanese VOCALOID developed and distributed by Crypton Future Media, Inc., and was initially released in August 2007 for the VOCALOID2 engine. She is part of the Character Vocal Series and is a Character Voice Vocaloid. There has since been numerous installments such as additional voice banks dubbed ‘Append’, as well as an upgrade to the VOCALOID3 engine, which includes her long awaited English vocal release. She was the first release for Crypton’s VOCALOID Character Vocal Series, the third Japanese VOCALOID, and the seventh VOCALOID to have been created overall. She is considered the most popular and well known VOCALOID and the first to become a pop idol.
Sometime ago, my sister went to Hong Kong and I gave her some money and asked her to buy me some, as obvious as it seems, anime merchandise. She bought various items including an anime mouse (no, not the “boobspad”), a wall scroll and some figures. The Hatsune Miku 2.0 figma is one of them.
Being product #200, the figma box design has been revamped. Unlike before when the boxes feature full simple colors, now it seems there will be a patch of black color on the bottom, where all the details of the figure will mostly be imprinted. I’m not completely sure but it seems like from here onwards, this visual design will become an ongoing style for future figma. I think I personally prefer the previous designs, however.
The figure contains a mic, a mic stand, a guitar, a pair of angel wings, a figma stand, two additional face plates (a winking face, a blushing face, excluding the figure’s original standard face) and a number of hand parts.
True to it’s name, Hatsune Miku 2.0 is a “remake” of sorts. There had been quite a number of changes made ever since the first Miku figma. While I don’t have the latter (and most Miku figures, unfortunately), from what I can see, there had been some considerable improvements. The Miku 2.0 is now noticeably taller, and her face looks more lively compared to before, due to improved shading whereas the old one looks much more monotone. There are also more added details, which weren’t included in the previous 1.0 version. Additionally, the new body also has improved flexibility as compared to the older Miku 1.0 version, and other older figma figures while I’m at it. You can also clearly see the different in sculpting details. I also love the outfit, especially the metallic silver on the vest and the leathery black on the sleeves and stockings.
At close-up, I don’t quite detect any paintjob issues. The details, like the tampos on her sleeves, and the equalizer on her skirt (which is also something not seen in the 1.0 figma), and the 01 sign on her shoulder, are also integrated really well. The wrinkles on the silver vest is made realistically well, and the glittering effect is a plus. Also, the lower end of the neck tie is made from some soft material it seems, you can move it a bit and it will have a sort of swaying effect, although it kicks in back to it’s original position swiftly enough. Also, another difference between this and the 1.0 figma is the hair. It’s hard to see with my photos, but you can clearly see how the ends of Miku twintails are slightly transparent.
One thing I couldn’t quite get used to, is the new design of the hand sockets and pegs. Before, the older figmas I owned usually feature hand parts with pegs, and I can connect the pegs to the figure hand’s sockets at will. For this Miku 2.0 figma, it’s completely reversed. As you can see from the first picture above, the hand parts has sockets instead of pegs. You literally need to pull out the original peg/joint (the second picture above) from the figure, just in order to change hand parts. This means despite having a lot of hand parts, you literally only have two pegs/joints for you to play around with. It will be bad if even one of those two joints are damaged. Furthermore, I see there are a few hand parts on my side here that just will not fit into the peg.
The mic stand is good, although I would love to have it adjustable or something. It will make posing it with Miku a bit easier, since sometimes it’s difficult to adjust it accordingly to Miku’s height.
While I’m loving the details on the guitar, the guitar strap is prone to falling (in fact, now that I have a second look at these pictures I taken, the strap DID fell graciously off her shoulder). There’s nothing to sustain the strap on her shoulder, at least, I don’t think there is. Also, I’m not sure if it’s a manufacturing error on my side here, or if I missed something, but for some reason, the right arm of my Miku figma 2.0 just won’t bend for some reason, I tried to bend it as much as possible, but seeing how the pivotal ball is about to get torn off, I refrained myself from bending it anymore.
Miku 2.0, as aforementioned, comes with a pair of angel wings, an exclusive accessory only for the 2.0 version. They definitely look great, and is more of a welcome addition. Again, I’m not sure if this is another manufacturing error but when posing for the “Miku Angel” look, I noticed her twintails just won’t stay airborne. Looking at some of the official pictures, I don’t think that’s supposed to be it.
She can also be posed in a sitting position, with specified hand parts for the pose. There’s also a hidden joint hidden on the waist that makes the sitting position easier to pull off.
I honestly believe there are a few glaring issues here and there with the Hatsune Miku 2.0 figma. Although it should be mention that quite a number of opinions I had mentioned doesn’t come from the figure itself, but at figma’s new body design. I personally think it has both pros and cons – I do like the improved flexibility the new body has to offer, but on the other hand, I still don’t know yet how to feel about the new hands sockets and pegs design.
P.S: I messed up with my focus and exposure value on some of these photos. Please don’t mind those if you happen to notice them as well, lol.
deluscar 
Wings?
http://kotaku.com/hatsune-miku-has-her-own-store-in-japan-its-not-virtu-1503317596
The figure in the photos is just a “little” larger than yours, I think ;)
A *little* bigger indeed.. xD But, sure wish as well I could had visited it though.
I like the winking face very cute, the wings and guitar are pretty nice additions. Seeing the joints,yeah it seems figma really made huge improvement
I personally find the new hand parts design an unwelcome change, though the others are great though. Oh well, not like I buy a lot of figma :3