Figma Fanatic: Haruhi Suzumiya!

Now, here is a piece of Figma, action figure history! Haruhi Suzumiya from the Anime The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is literally the second regular Figma ever made. Officially, Haruhi is the forth, with the first being an inclusion with the Suzumiya Play Station game, followed by fellow SOS brigade member Yuki Nagato as the first Figma from the regular series and a second special figure Lelouch from Code Geass being the third. So, regardless of the 2 special edition figures that broke the manufacturing order, Haruhi is the second Figma ever made—2008 was truly a good year after all!

The differences when comparing the first line with the current line is first noticed in the package. The Figma box is flat, not glossy and its also pretty plain with just figure images and no artwork from either the theme or character that the figure represents. The window has the word “Figma” printed directly on it too. Inside the box, the inner tray is reflective chrome instead of a general graphic fitting with the theme of the character, this chrome makes for an awesome packaging extra and mint in box collectors will love how she displays.

The back of the box however, is the same as the current line where different poses are shown and info in Japanese is printed.

Although I would probably never open this figure because of its collectable value, I had picked her up very cheap under the description of “used” or “Like New” which she is—like new, that is. So, I opened the unsealed box and set her up for some poses. What I find very interesting is that parts such as the stands “boom” are packaged next to the figure instead of at the bottom out of sight like the current line. Haruhi doesn’t offer many accessories as most of the current Figma’s do, but I think that really gives the figure a “Vintage” look—yeah, five years isn’t really vintage, but the second regular series Figma ever made is a pretty cool collectable.

Haruhi is being obnoxious doing some kind of “L” in loser dance kicking her leg back and strutting through the school, after all, she is looking for Aliens, Time Travelers and ESPers and she is the goddess of the world, so she can do what she wants, even black mailing the computer club, forcing people to join her club the SOS Brigade or treating Kyon like a slave, Mikuru as a cosplay dummy, Koizumi as the 2nd in command and Yuki as the place holder as Haruhi takes over the Literature club for her SOS Brigade. (The last two don’t seem to have it that bad)…

Here, Haruhi is probably threatening someone by exposing them in photos as a pervert in a scenario that she, herself set up.

With megaphone in hand, she directs her cohorts in a poorly acted movie or even performing a search for her top three fantastical beings—all so she isn’t bored.
The yellow megaphone is actually attached to the hand and isn’t a separate accessory. She comes with alternate feet in the form of in-school slippers, or she can wear her brown loafers. Swapping the feet is actually a bit of a pain because the slots are tight and they have to be pressed in at an angle; still, it’s a great extra. I love this face! She has a smile like a Muppet and it’s sculpted in such a way that it resembles many images on the DVD artwork.
Internally, the head is a bit different from the current Figma action figures; the mount for the interchangeable faces is sculpted directly into the hair or back of the head in such a way that the fit seems softer. The current figures have almost a separate piece, so it’s interesting to see how the older figures are different than the current line.

The back of Haruhi is as nice as the rest and you can see the stand mounting hole which does nothing to change the ascetic of the figure itself. I had thought that the stand was a solid white, but that must have been in the promotional photos and was probably the test mold for it. The stand and boom are exactly the same as in the current line.

Focusing more on the left side of Haruhi, she has a pair of arm bands that denote she is the Ultra Director (which pretty much describes her character as a whole) and also that she is the leader of the SOS Brigade.

Haruhi also includes the usual tree of hands and that is just about it, not much with the original figures as mentioned before, however, she is quite an awesome total package.
Figma action figures have changed pretty rapidly in the short time they have been on the market, which may have some slight extras in the articulation department or have many accessories of different themes depending upon the character. All in all, Haruhi Suzumiya gets a…

GRADE: A+  (The collector’s value as being the second regular Figma ever made and still, it’s a Figma, I don’t see there being a poorly made one anytime soon).

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