The snake princess of Amazon Lily and the only female member of the Shichibukai, Boa Hancock. This is my eighth Figuarts ZERO and my sixth from One Piece of the same product line. On the One Piece world, she is considered the most beautiful woman and that makes Luffy the luckiest man.
This character is so famous not only because she is beautiful, but because she became an ally to Luffy after she falls in love with him. And being a famous character, Bandai has already made four Figuarts ZERO's of her. This is the first one, the other two are limited editions and the latest release is the one with Salome (Boa Hancock’s snake). I didn't own the other versions but I am satisfied with this. What I wanted to have is the POP version which I cannot find anywhere with an acceptable price. I hope the POP Boa Hancock will get a third re-release (stupid me for missing the first two releases).
Anyway, back to this figure. This was released late December 2010 for 2,625 yen, one of the oldest Figuarts ZERO and was released along with Figuarts ZERO - Edward Newgate (aka Whitebeard), I have no idea about her existence at that time yet so I missed that release. Last February 2012, I went online to look for this figure and they are all sold out, not so surprising since it has been more that a year since its release. Luckily, I found this figure at Figureshop2go, a Hong Kong based online hobby shop where I also got my Figuarts ZERO - Nami (New World ver.). last February 2012. And same as Nami, I also got her for more than the regular price. I wasn't too expensive but a bit higher than the SRP.
Regardless of the price, this figure looks nice. It stands about 150 mm tall. Below are the height comparison with Figuarts ZERO - Nami (New World ver.) and Figuarts ZERO - Nico Robin (New World ver.).
Boa Hancock is the tallest out of these three.
See the box shots below.
Box Art and Contents
The box art is simple, that’s probably because this is one of the oldest Figuarts ZERO. The front window is just rectangular with diagonally cut corners and there’s no photo on the front. No window on the left and right side of the box, only front and top.
The Toei sticker of authenticity (top left) is silver, that’s because I bought if from Hong Kong, hence it is an international version.
The back part of the box shows some photos and the features of the figure. Left side is another solo photo of the figure. Right side is a photo of this figure showing that it can be displayed along with an SH Figuarts Luffy (which in my opinion is a piece of crap, sorry).
For your info, SH Figuarts is also a Bandai product that is fully poseable, unlike the Figuarts ZERO which a non-poseable statue. I only collect Figuarts ZERO because I really don’t like those One Piece SH Figuarts, not only because of the ugly joints but the faces and the body sculpt looks odd.
Bottom part of the box has a Bandai-Asia (Hong Kong) hologram sticker which is another proof of authenticity.
The contents of the box as you can see, is the figure itself, a base stand and an optional head with a different facial expression.
Personal Impressions
Being one of the old releases for this product line, I did not expect too much for this figure. I only want to have this one because of this character's popularity and I felt that my One Piece Figuarts ZERO collection isn't complete without her (also because I missed the awesome POP version).
But it does not mean this figure isn't worth the money and hunting effort. This is still one of the better figures that Bandai made in terms of quality. It's nicely done but not without flaws.
This is the default head. The face managed to look close to Boa Hancock from the anime/manga. The hair isn't perfect but acceptable. The snake earrings is too large for this scale and lack details for realism. The neck seems a little too long.
The sculpt of the body is nice. The dress has a shiny red finish. All the pink parts lack in detail, doesn't look very nice. The floral pattern details for the skirt somewhat looks dull, looks like a small kid's painting. But it isn’t too annoying when you look at the overall figure, only when you look closely.
The paint finish they used for the shoes is the same as that of the dress, not a very nice material distinction here.
By the way, as you can see, the figure is already standing on the base, that is because it cannot stand alone without the help of the base.
The base has an elliptical shape like the one with Figuarts ZERO - Portgas D. Ace. It seems like all of the older One Piece - Figuarts ZERO’s come with base stand in this shape. Though she is a Shichibukai, it has the Kuja Pirates jolly roger instead of World Government symbol. Printed also is her name, a Japanese quote that I cannot read and a “Dead or Alive” quote which is common to all pirates.
Nice sculpt on the chest part, not gravity defying, but it just seems that there isn't much paint details on the skin like paint shading.
There is an obvious red paint smudge on the dress details.
The hair has a visible seam line here and the top part has almost no details. It's like a hat hair.
In this shot, the hair seam get more obvious and also is the seam on the shoulder. The earrings doesn't look good in this angle. You can see that the fingernails are painted here.
Again, I am not happy with the pattern design on the skirt when you look up close.
Back part with the cape, I love how it is shaded.
The cape is removable but the pose looks unnatural without it. You can see the other side of the cape here, nicely shaded.
The back part of the dress, and more of those floral pattern.
Back part of the skirt and shoes. Doesn't look bad actually.
To replace the head with a different facial expression, just pull the head upwards to decapitate her.... creepy...
Here is the alternate head in a shy and blushing expression. This is how she looks like around Luffy. Unlike the other head, this one has a painted lips and pinkish face.
The upper torso is also removable. That is to give way for....
...removal of the skirt and... Tadaaah! Pantsu! I wish Brook could see this :)
Well personally, I don't know what's the purpose of this. Does this really sells for perverts?
Does anyone really wants her to be displayed like this? Seriously?
Back part of the panty and the butt crack. Very bad paint job. Someone at Bandai is too lazy doing his/her job or just doesn't care about some details that won't be exposed.
Though this figure isn't so amazing, there are still good reasons to have it. It wasn’t too bad for Bandai’s early batch of Figuarts ZERO releases and the flaws wasn’t that much of an issue. It is a good deal and it’s nice to have her on my Figuarts ZERO collection. I’m also thinking of getting the one with Salome but I’m more into hunting the POP version which is too expensive due to rarity these days.
Enjoy the photo gallery below.
Photo Gallery
Check out other One Piece Figuarts ZERO here.
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