Building a collection of anime and video game figures is an expensive hobby. The small collection I have (some of which have been covered on The Otaku’s Study) has easily cost me a few thousand dollars to acquire over the last couple of years. Therefore if you are someone whose favourite characters shift with every season or prefer mainstream characters, and don’t have some form of disposable income, then it might not be the hobby for you. While the most popular figures will sell out during their pre-order period, in situations where you do have the luxury to do so, knowing a figure is tailored to your preferences is essential to ensure you get value for money.
As I have had to pull back from purchasing any new figures for the past couple of months, rather than write reviews of new releases, I would like to share a look at my current figure collection through this new photographic series. I hope my sharing these may help you in deciding whether purchasing a particular figure is a wise decision or note.
It doesn’t come as much surprise given the art style of the original light novel by Yū Kamiya and the later anime adaptation by Madhouse, but there are dozens of figures based on the female characters in No Game No Life. In fact, you could easily maintain a sizable collection of figures by collecting only the ones featuring lead protagonist Shiro. While we haven’t seen an anime season in a few years now, Madhouse did present a film titled No Game No Life Zero back in 2017. Shifting focus to events six millennia prior, it followed a prologue tale during the “Great War” involving human Riku and Ex-Machina Schwi.
Despite only appearing in only the film, Schwi has received several figures over the years – the one depicted above manufactured by Phat Company. This depicts Schwi in her standard attire, in a similar style to Phat’s earlier figure of Shiro. Her tangled mess of hair may make her a bit more of a hassle to de-dust once every couple of months, but aside from this minor shortfall, she is absolutely adorable and a pleasure to both display and photograph.
The figure comes in at 22cm (220mm) in height, making this a 1/7 scale figure. She was not cheap though, coming in at approximately 18,100 yen. Unfortunately, she is not an easy figure to come across at her original price. I have not found a pre-owned version available for sale through the sites I regularly use like amiami.com or Good Smile Shop since purchasing it myself, and have seen online listings priced at 35,000 yen or higher. If this figure of Schwi is one you might want to add to your collection, best start saving up or keeping an eye out for the rare deal.
