[Figma Review] Figma 009 Fate Testarossa Harlaown Barrier Jacket Ver.

The Lightning strikes, she moves with the speed of light, her thunder zap your molecules, she cuts even the toughest steel, errr yes, you're going to die and her Zettai Ryouiki instantly kills most men on the world. Fate Testarossa Harlaown, at your service.

Alright now, today we're going to review another Figma, that is Figma Fate Testarossa Harlaown Barrier Jacket Version, from Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS series. This one tough-to-get Figma from Nanoha series forced me to fork my way out of the ordinary and spend quite some dough on her to be shipped directly from Japan. Alright, I'm being super lebay (t/n overreacting) here, it's from YAJ.

A Little Introductory

Alright, who is Fate Testarossa Harlaown? To put it short, She's one of the main characters from the series, Nanoha's husband, Vivio's mother (yes, I know), Hayate's best friend, Signum's best match, Vita's rival, Teana's Idol and many more. Oh and she shows a lot of hate towards Subaru in the 4 Koma series :3. She also shows a lot of affection to Nanoha, and somehow being the picture of the mother to Vivio, although really, she had a lot of potential to be the father, but I just can't see Fate to be the father. Let Nano be the father nano~

perfect

She's an S+ Mage wielding an Axe transformed Scythe and Greatsword Device named Bardiche. Although later on the series Bardiche also capable of transforming even further to dual blade mode on Fate's sexy Shin Sonic Form, sadly the Figma doesn't include the parts needed to change. But of course we have to make do with what we have and frankly speakin, this Figma exceed all my expectation about her.

Fate's name, of course you should probably know by now, is taken from Ferrarri Testarossa.

Now on to the Figma itself.

Introduction

Being the single digit Figma (009) officially made Fate my oldest regular Figma. That if you don't count Lelouch which is number 002 but on the SP series instead of the regulars. Released on July 2008 tingled my interest a bit, there's a voice in my head to complete all the July-released Figmas but I think that would be absurd lol. I expect a lot of differences between the first released and the newly released Figmas but hey, I'd say this one clearly much better than the newly released ones!

Packaging

Well, Fate was packaged nicely in probably the best Figma box ever. I'm not talking about the material, but the artwork. It's painted nicely with a contrast black to yellow color scheme, it probably is the BEST Max Factory Figma box ever, up to date.

Epic front cover isnt it?

So as the back cover of the box

Awesome art on the side

The Figma

Before we move on to the main dish, I want you to take a look at how beautiful the background provided by this figma :3 Yes, I'm still in awe of the background even now.

Yep, best background alright.

Now to the Figma, it has a lot of accessories, it's a complete opposite of Nanoha Figma whose somehow didnt give us two handles for her device :(. It's a letdown, a big turn-off from my point of view, but don't let that stop you collectors from getting her.

swooooorrdds

Here's what you get with your Figma purchase

• A Fate T Harlaown Figma Figure
• A stand
• A bendable stand pole
• A set of barrier jacket holder (to be explained later)
• A Barrier Jacket
• A manual
• An additional faceplate
• An additonal bang
• Bardiche Axe Form
• Bardiche Haken Form
• Bardiche Pole (for Axe and Haken Form)
• Bardiche Zanber Form
• Bardiche Tsuka (Sword hilt for Zanber Form)
• Five pairs of hands
• Figma Plastic Bag

Why hello thar~

Do you need some help?

This is probably even better than Teana's.

Paint and Details

Looking at the details, I'm amazed of how neat and clean Max Factory is at this Figma. An unusually clean lines on the barrier jacket, a good paint job on most nukes, eventhough there's small minor damage on the details like scratch on the thighs and some scar on the hair, it's all fine!

There's a minor damage near her right ribbon

No flaw on this part

A little scratch on her stocking red line :(

Articulations

In terms of articulation, this one is the same as my previous owned Figmas, it's all good. Sure the clothes might hinder some movement, but it's still good nonetheless. The barrier jacket though, make posing a little bit difficult since her left shoulder tend to fall off sometimes, and it's pretty tough to get her arms into position while her barrier jacket is on.

Fate and Bardiche

Articulation is nice yeah~

Yep, no problem at all~

Playability

Yep along with Signum, I could recreate a lot of battles. Since both of them loves to spar and all, it's a pretty good decision for me to buy her. The extra bangs shows her hair to be blown by the wind gives a good dynamic feeling. Tons of extra parts for Bardiche make it possible for fate to even dual wield, it's always a fun thing to see your figure dual wielding ANYTHING haha.

I'm going to talk a bit about this special stand for Fate. First thing first, the regular stand, but with a barrier jacket holder! What was this holder used for you say? Of course to held the barrier jacket since Max decide to make a crazy blown by wind barrier jacket so it needs a separate holder to keep it steady.

The stand and the holder

The holder

It will look like this...

...or this when you combine it with the stand

Looking good thar~

Zanber, ready to split you in half

An attempt to recreate the box art

I love this shot

Signum appears!

Laevatein Schwertform vs Bardiche Zanber Form

I love their colors

Being a lazy ass when changing the pose ;3

Price

Here comes the annoying part, the price. Fate was retailed back on July 2008 for 2800 Yen, and I got her pretty much at acceptable price of about 3800 Yen. It might be 1000 Yen cheaper TWO years ago but considering that the price was including shipping and handling fees, it wasnt that bad. In fact it was quite a steal! Thank you Yahoo Auction Japan.

Final Verdict

Packaging : 10/10 (I love her box art)

Paint and Details : 9/10

Articulations : 7.5/10

Playability : 9.5/10

Price : 9/10

Final Score : 45/50

This Figma is recommended for all of you Nanoha fans out there, not only because this is Fate we're talking about, but also the benefits of dual wielding Haken-Zanber which probably impossible on the TV-series.

My Nanoha series collection

Thanks for tuning in, see you on the next review :3.

For a complete gallery please click on the following link

Fate T Harlaown Complete Gallery