The Rising of the Shield Hero made its debut in January of 2019 and was another welcomed edition to the Isekai ( 異世界) genre. After a frustration start for our protagonist, Naofumi, there was one saving grace that helped turn around the fortunes for our hero, it’s Naofumi’s beautiful companion, ‘Raphtalia’. In this blog, we are going to be covering Kotobukia’s 1/7 Scale figure of this franchise’s most popular character. Standing at around 9 inches tall, she may be the best bang for your buck in turns of quality, price and aesthetics.

Unboxing / Assembly / Review

Figure Review

Assembling

*I forgot to take pictures when I took it out of the box.. Sorry! Check out the unboxing video to see

Overall, the figure comes with the base, the figure, 2 swords and her tail. The figure comes already on the base and both wrapped separately. You will need to remove the figure off the base to remove the wrapping from both of them.

When you insert her sword into the holes of her hand, you need to remove the bottom end of the sword. You will probably need to adjust her right arm to get the hands to align into place to get it to go through both holes.

The only warning I have, would be to be careful when inserting her tail. The hair strands can be quite fragile and it hovers over the hole where you need to insert the tail part. Many figures seem to have one or a couple things to be cautious about, the hair seems to be one of them.

All together, putting the figure together is fairly easy.

Aesthetics

Design

Looking at the prototype pictures, this figure 100% represents what you’d expect. What stands out the most is the level of detail they put into the base. Raphtalia’s pose goes along perfectly with the environment, as she is out here farming for our guy, Naofumi!

If a company is going to do a statue figure, then they must do something that adds value to the overall presentation of the figure. The orange balloon, the 3D look of the grass and rocks definitely adds another dimension that couldn’t be done with a basic acrylic base. *Cough *cough eStream’s Ristarte..

I really wonder how much added cost from the labor and materials it takes to make a base that much better. I think most people would be okay with paying $20-80 more for a good looking base, if it completes the overall look. Sometimes, Kotobukiya scale figures can look a bit plain Jane. This figure, with the added detail of the base is absolutely worth it.

Sculpting

Matsumoto Kouei is listed as the sculpter. Check out his work here.

Paint

The painting is in the “very good” range. There’s a little paint chip on the base and some paint smudge on her skit, but nothing that will bother or anger you. From a general glance, especially in the display, there isn’t anything to worry about.

Check out the images at the bottom of the blog post for a more detailed look into the figure.

Box Presentation

When you go to nice sushi restaurant and order your favorite maki rolls, I want you to envision how deliciously displayed the presentation of the food is. This same line of thinking absolutely applies to figure boxes. Some companies go above and beyond and use their own company shipping boxes.

For Kotobukiya’s Raphtalia box, I would deem this box as your standard, run-of-the-mill scale figure box. I don’t want people to get confused that this box is basic, it is not. It’s just something that you should at the very least, expect from higher quality figures. A lot of these scale figures do come with a design from inside the box. It’s actually quite a surprise, when they don’t do anything with the inside of the box.  It certainly is a great way to feel like you are getting something special, which this box has. It even has a nice cutout of the shield that you can see through the box. Again, going with the theme that this figure is what consumers should at least expect out of their scale figures.

Display

Standing at about 9 inches tall, she should fit most popular display cases like Detolf and Billy Bookcases.

How do Kotobukiya’s Scale Figures Stack Up Against the Competition

When getting into anime figures, there is a perfect line of figures that helps us gauge what the standard for scale figures should be and that is Kotobukiya’s “ARTFX-J” line of figures. I didn’t see this figure officially being classified as an ARTFX-J figure, but it basically is when you compare it to that line. Since, I’m grouping them in together; their figures can range anywhere from a little bit under $100 to even as high as $200. Some can be even higher for their limited edition/ exclusive figures. But a majority of their figures are going to be in the $100-$180 range, whether you are buying in the US or overseas.

If you are looking for a better quality figure with more detail, look no further than Kotobukia’s ARTFX-J’s line of figures. I think that Kotobukiya’s scale figures are the barometer or the poster child for high quality PVC scale figures or statues. The reason way I say that is because after you get pass the $80 price point, these are the first figures you will run into. These line of figures fit that, “starter kit for a good scale figure” line of thinking.

For the casual fan of figure collecting, that don’t want to get into the hoopla of constantly going after limited quantity figures; luckily, you are most likely able to get your hands on these figures long after release date. At a cheaper price, but not lacking in quality—these figures are close in comparison to their competitive counterparts like Megahouse and Alter.   Most people, or at least I do, check these figures out first before proceeding onto other company’s scales of the same character.

The better quality Kotobukiya scale figures are, at a lower price point, the more they undercut their competition—as I think they are targeting that $80-$170 price range. At the very least, ARTFX-J would be a step up from “Figuarts Zero” for statues with cool effects or at bare minimum, an upgraded version of “Pop Up Parade” figures.

Upside or downside? Depends..

• Very affordable for very good quality
• Typically, available after release
• Majority of their figures are for general release, so it’s widely available; it’s overproduced, hence lower prices
• Sometimes figures can still be too basic

Pricing

AmiAmi: =¥13390 + ¥6472 (DHL Shipping) = ¥19,862, $177.13

The price for the quality is totally a steal! For ¥13,390, that comes out roughly $117! Depending on your shipping method, it’s possible to get her anywhere from $140-180. With a good choice of pose, level of detail, an appealing base, you have a recipe for a high demand figure. If you don’t want the FREEing’s ‘Bunny’ version or B’full’s ‘Childhood’ version, it makes sense that this Kotobukiya fits the must have version for its appeal for the general populace.

After a release on Oct. 6th, 2021, don’t expect good resell value on these, as supply is still readily available on various websites(USA Gundam, Gamestop) months after release. To resellers, that is a bummer, but to the general fan, huge plus. Again, this figure is really top notch and I highly recommend!

Raphtalia info

Bought her here

Otakusinh’s collection here

Pictures

Last Thoughts

Kotobukiya’s 1/7 scale of Raphtalia blows expectations out the water! With a classic pose and level of detail of the base, this is by far the best PVC statue you can get of Raphtalia. For $164.99 at US retail stores, this is a sweet spot price range for the level of quality you are getting. I deem this figure, as the barometer for any future purchases I make for scale figures. If it doesn’t stack up to this, then I don’t want it!

Let me know what you think about Kotobukiya figures, below in the comments!