1/7 Clalaclan Philias swimsuit ver (Max Factory)

Ah, there's our buxom princess, all vertical and on her feet. Clalaclan's an awkward name, isn't it? Sounds like a bad cough.

Why did I buy Clalaclan? So Xecty (another awkward name!) wouldn't be so alone. Now they stand apprehensively together, both as comfortable on the beach as flourine is stable.

Am I spectacularly happy with her? Eeeeeeeeeh—I can't say I am. Am I spectacularly disappointed? Eeeeeeeeh—not spectacularly. 

Clalaclan is an oddity. A mixed bag, if you will.

As per usual when I'm underwhelmed by a figure, I sit down an contemplate the movements of my inner universe. Is my disappointment objectively asserted, or am I just biased? Could I be unhappy with Clalaclan because of her incident earlier, or is she truly missing something?

I hoisted both Clalaclan and Xecty to eye level and gave them a thorough look-see. I stood like a weight-lifter, a figure in each hand. Could I really see who was better? Yes, actually. Xecty was better. But when I looked a little closer (just to be sure) and my judgements began to blur. Sure, Xecty gives off a better first impression, but Clalaclan's individual parts were aptly designed. As an amalgamation of her components, she might have just as many plaudits as Xecty, but taken as a whole—

Get to the review, Jenn.

Oh yes, the review.

Clalaclan's box is similar to Xecty's. It's blue where Xecty's is green and the foamy splatter is slightly different.

Clalaclan poses daintily on her sandy cookie base, looking curvaceously delicate in her pearly white sandels. She's either removing, replacing, or readjusting her crown. Who wears a crown to a beach? Clalaclan does. After all, she's a princess. She can have all the bling she wants.

Hmm, the dark background I'm using seems to give her a dark aura. Interesting. I certainly won't be using it again for bikini figures (Unless they're evil. Then it might be appropriate).

Let's start with the good: Clalaclan's body. Goodness, what proportions! She's significantly heavier than Xecty, all thanks to her ample hourglass attributes. I feel bad for her swimsuit though. It's got a tough job trying to hold back all that dough. She's gonna spill over any day now.

With such shapeliness, it's only appropriate that they give her body a spectacular sculpt. That little pouch belly? Adorable. I love girls with some meat on their bones! Don't you just want to poke her tummy?

Of course, to go with this generous homage to female anatomy, is Clalaclan's behind. Where Xecty boasts a decent backend, Clalaclan absolutely owns it. You could balance a drink on her bottom, probably.

Or two, probably.

Clalaclan's tentative expression is fitting, considering she's usually garbed in layers of frill and metal. She seems surprised, or hesitant, like she's unsure of what to do. My guess is she doesn't grace beaches very often.

Gotta love a blonde girl with sea green eyes.

 

While Xecty's face is stunning at any angle, Max Factory seemed to have some trouble with Clalaclan's eyes. At an angle, she seems fine, but straight on, her eyes look thin and widely spaced. They bugged me so much that I went ahead and performed some pseudo-surgery via Photoshop. Voila, Clalaclan with slightly larger eyes (just a wee bit larger, mind you).

Left is original. Right is photoshopped. The wider eyes are better. Right? Right?

Bikini figures aren't detailed by nature. They can't help it. They're just not that interesting. Fortunately, Clalaclan's details that save her from complete mundanity. The first is her cross. The wire is glued to her body, so it doesn't flop when she's jostled. Nestled between her girls, they add a speck of glamour to her otherwise bland top. The second is her bow, which adds a well-needed pop of colour to her pale colour scheme. The opaline sheen they've given to her bikini helps belies her royal stature.

Every princess needs her sparkle.

You're probably not staring at her cross though.

The way her cleavage is spills over her tight bikini is a nice touch. It makes them look soft and comfy. The bikini must be awfully uncomfortable though. Think of the stress lines!

Too bad there's some glue spilling over her left boob...

If you look closely, her earring is shiny too! If Max Factory paid the same attention to detail to all their figures as they do to Clalaclan's earrings, they could rival Alter in the figure-making business.

Her lips are also glossy, but I couldn't get a good shot. 

Now, onto the less appealing aspects of this figure.

I always recognized Clalaclan as one of the bigger girls of the Shining universe (perhaps the biggest), and I've long prided myself as an admirer of generous female assets—so it pains me to admit her boobs sort of creep me out.

Why? How can I possibly rag on boobage? I can't really, can I? I tried to appreciate her buxom nature. I really did. I stared and stared from every angle—

—but just look at them!

Look at 'em good.

Clalaclan is a tiny girl with a huge bosom—the type to knock things over when she bends moves. She probably hasn't seen her feet in ages. After much soul-searching, I realized it's not the largeness of her boobs that bothered me, but the way they're sculpted. They look more like bloated balloons than anything, and that scares me. Natural boobs don't hang that way. If anything, they look like implants—implanted soccer balls, that is.

One more from the side. What is she? A G-cup? A K-cup? Poor thing must have a terrible time trying to run, walk, or even stand (as her pose suggests, the force of gravity on her ample bosom is pulling her to the ground). Her royal chiropractor must have a hell of a time with her back.

Fortunately, my disapleasure in her rack is a subjective matter. Unfortunately, that's not the only objection I had with her. What's this shot below? Yes, it's yummy underboob, but there's also something else.

Look closely at where her bikini straps pass her breasts on the side. Do you see anything strange?

That's right. There's an opaque flap of skin that fuses her skin with her bikini strap. While I understand it's necessary to keep the strap of warping (or is it?), it's still disconcerting. It looks like her skin's melted and sticking to her swimsuit—yikes.

Further examination of Clalaclan reveals a hodgepodge of inconsistencies. Clalaclan is rougher than Xecty, both sculpt-wise, and paint-wise. Her finish is less polished. She has more careless errors. For one, there is noticeable glue-marks where Clalaclan's leg joins with her bikini. 

Ugh, really?

This isn't the only glue stain problem my Clalaclan has. Sure, maybe they made a mistake sticking her various parts together, but I'd like to hear them explain the glue stain on her face. 

That's right, my Clalaclan has a glue stain right splat on her cheek. I've turned up the contrast on this picture to highlight where it is.

Thank heavens it only shows under certain angles.

Worse, her hair is plagued with seam lines.

This is where I had a fight with my camera. The seam lines don't reflect well in photographs. They're placed where shadows usually lie, on what appears to be natural bends in her hair. These seam lines are more obvious in real life than they are in photos. I don't know whether to prop the sculptors, or verbally abuse them for their slyness.

Her bangs are incredibly rough for a 1/7 figure. Again, it doesn't photograph well, so you'll have to trust me. The iffy paint job on her bangs coupled with the rough nature of the sculpt is a let down. I have a couple of Kotobukiya figures with bangs of a similar nature, but given their reputation, I expected better from Max Factory.

Clalaclan's very pale. I'm not quite sure if she's supposed to be pale, so I can't really count her complextion as a strike against her. It's not that she's flat in colour, she just seems a bit jaundice.

Xecty has a pinker skin tone in comparison.

So how do I feel about Clalaclan?

I'm not sure. I'm more neutral than anything.

There are aspects of her that I absolutely love. The sculpt of her body is spectacular, especially around her tummy.  On the other hand, all her little problems really begin to add up. I get the impression she was rushed to the market. She's an amalgamation of brilliant work and pure clumsiness, depending on where you look.

I do feel like I wasted some money on Clalaclan. For her price, I feel like I could have got a better figure. I'm not supremely disappointed in how she turned out, but her quality is clearly not up to par with Xecty's. From a distance and from the back, she's lovely, but once you get close, the little mistakes begin to pile up. I'm disappointed, Max Factory, rather disappointed.

Would I recommend her to others? No, actually. At her price, there are better bikini figures out there.

The Run-Down
Box: 6.5/10 (Again, well themed, but not very exciting)
Base: 6.5/10 (Conventional sand base)
Pose: 5.5/10 (Sexy stance, but otherwise not very interesting)

Sculpt: 6.5/10 (Great body, but many small flaws—and her boobs are weird)
Paint: 7/10 (Nice pearly finish on bikini, but skin could use more depth)
Overall: 6.5/10 (I'm not thrilled, but she's decent)

Company: Max Factory
Price: 6476 yen
Purchased from: TokyoHunter

At your service,
Jenn