evenstar88REVIEW: HobbyMax Sesshomaru 1/7 Scale Figure
This review is the final one of my re-made reviews and features an older figure in my collection, which is the HobbyMax Sesshomaru 1/7 Scale Figure released at the end of 2021. I received this figure in March 2022.
This was my first HobbyMax figure so I had been pretty excited to see how it turned out. HobbyMax is a Chinese figure company and one of the more established ones, though I had previously never owned a figure manufactured by them. This Sesshomaru still remains my only figure by the company so far.
This figure features Sesshomaru, the pure-blooded dog daiyōkai (or great demon) from the manga/anime series Inuyasha. He is a secondary character, an anti-hero who gets into conflict with the hero of the series, Inuyasha, who is his younger half-brother. I was not a fan of the series, I actually don't read the manga and I only watched the anime - and even so, I tend to skip parts of it unless Sesshomaru's there (yep, totally biased). He was a fascinating character, easy on the eyes, and I really found the bond between him and Rin absolutely endearing (and Jaken too).
So when Hobbymax announced a Sesshomaru figure in 2019, I jumped on it instantly without thinking much (back then, I was still preordering on a whim and there were not many scale Sesshomaru figures and this one had a limited distribution in selected Asian regions which made him highly desirable). This figure was supposed to be released in June 2021 if my memory serves right, but it was eventually delayed to November/December 2021. The shop I preordered him from received him fairly late but they eventually got everything settled and sent the order to me.
THE BOX & PACKAGING: 8.5/10
The figure box is a standard cardboard one, and I like the contrasting colours with the dark background of the box. The box is rather large to accommodate the sizable figure and is squarish measuring a height of 33.5cm, length of 30cm and width of 27cm. The box front features a large image of the figure, with decorative cloud borders.
The back of the box. There are no images, only standard text.
The sides of the box. I like the contrast between the gold, blue and dark background.
The top flap of the box with text in gold.
The packaging for this figure is unique in that the foam really resembles the style used for resin garage kit figures - and I assume this is because of the heavy weight of this figure. It was a real struggle to get the black foam out of the box, even though there were two spaces meant for your hands, there was little to no wiggle room for the foam to slide out nicely.
The figure is nicely wrapped up in plastic sheets for protection, and there are tiny foam rods to prevent paint transfer.
The figure comes with an instruction manual to put the figure together - and two other smaller company cards.
Overall, the box is my style of box - windowless with a simple and straightforward design.
THE BASE: 8.5/10
The base design features a rocky landscape which the figure stands on. The sculpt and paint of the base is rather good - and gives off a nice realistic texture of the rocks. The base is not at all heavy but rather wide due to the power/wind swirl effects.
The pegs are metal (for sure, given the heavy figure). More close-ups of the rock base - I like the shading.
The power swirl effects remind me of the Bandai Tamashii effect parts, and I actually thought they gave a tacky look to the figure. Nevertheless, they are well sculpted and look good with very sharp tips (beware). The long back part makes the figure take up unnecessary space though. I personally would have liked just the realistic rock base on its own.
The bottom of the base.
THE POSE: 8.5/10
The pose is rather regal and befits the character. Sesshomaru is a cold person and shows none of the exaggerated/dramatic poses in battle, so I thought this pose suited him well. His hair flowing across at the back gives a nice impression of wind motion to the figure.
The biggest drawback of the pose is that it takes up WAY too much space than I'd like it to. The sword blade has considerable height to it, and the power swirl at the back takes up space across. You can see how I had to move back from the figure to get the entire pose in one shot.
Still a front pose, with the figure slightly rotated to the side.
Closer shots of the figure. I think the overall appearance of the figure is pretty good. I have seen some comments about his small head size but I personally feel it is proportionate to the anime - I always felt like his hakama and fur coat were overly large so I thought the interpretation in this figure is pretty good (image for comparison below).
Back view of the figure. I especially like the hair strands here that go in line with the power/wind effect.
The side views.
THE SCULPT: 8.5/10
THE PAINT: 9.0/10
I find the face sculpt and paint rather similar to the anime Sesshomaru - I love the colour of his eyes and the markings around them. The crescent moon over his forehead is painted nicely. The haughty expression is a little less than what I would expect, but still good. The hair strands of the front fringe are sculpted well and are slightly glossy, with darker shading over the tips.
A side view of his features. The ears are sculpted sharp.
The hair is sculpted well over the top too with subtle shading, but the lines are rather uneven at the back.
I love the hair strands blowing at the back, the sculpt gave a nice motion to the hair here, so it does not look flat at all. The shading extends to the hair tips here as well.
I love the sculpt and paint of Sesshomaru's outfit. There were a few uneven bits over the chest armor but the spikes were done nicely. There was no shading for the armor but it is of no issue to me. The red tassels on either side of the armor were sculpted roughly, but there were no obvious big paint bleeds.
The wrapped hilt of the sheathed sword on his left was nicely detailed - even the tassel has texture, which I thought was a great little aspect.
The white-and-red sleeves were sculpted nicely with subtle folds, and the paint was also good here. There was a small dirt speck on one of the white flower motifs for my figure.
His fingernails are painted a glossy peach colour... and sharp!
The yellow obi is definitely the most distinct aspect to contrast the rest of his outfit, and they did a good job on it. The paint is bright and the folds are sculpted nicely with a nice hint of a flowing appearance. There are a few tiny paint bleeds between the yellow and blue, but it is not noticeable unless you get close to scrutinize the figure.
The fur on Sesshomaru's right shoulder is done alright, I would have preferred a more detailed sculpt of the fur. With real shading, it would have looked really good and reduce the flatness of a monotone colour.
The sculpt of his hakama is fantastic - has great shape and folds. There is also subtle shading.
His shoes are a glossy grey with shading, but do not have too much detailing. The holes on the shoe bottoms fit perfectly on the metal pegs, I had no problems sliding the figure onto the base.
The sword blade and sheath at the back, both have shading. I like the sculpt of the blade.
The only accessory that came with this figure is a separate blade - the Tenseiga. They definitely put in more work into the details for this sword - I thought the sculpt and paint was great! The sword is really long and as I mentioned earlier, takes up a lot of vertical space when held in the figure's hand.
The accessory separates near the sword guard, and the hilt then needs to be inserted from the bottom of his fist and re-attached with the blade from the top.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I actually preordered this figure on a whim and midway through the waiting period, I was having second thoughts about him. But I went through with the final payment anyway (or risk losing the deposit and getting blacklisted by the distributor with whom I still had several other preorders then). I found him a great figure and probably the best scale for Sesshomaru currently in the market. The pose is majestic and his large size is perfect and befits the character - the other Sesshomaru figures just have him a tad scrawny for my personal liking. The paint is bright (I don't know if this is just me but I have come to see that the majority of Hobbymax figures have really striking paint shades, though there are selected ones which come off as too bright and tacky) and in this figure, it is done just right. I think this is a good first Hobbymax figure for me.
This figure is super heavy (I am afraid I did not objectively weigh him with a scale but shops have put him at 2.5kg) and cannot stand on its own without tipping over due to the weight. He feels almost like a prepainted garage kit instead of a PVC figure to me. The weight is mostly from the hakama and the fur, and I have been pondering for a bit on the necessity for such heaviness.
I cannot say I was absolutely 100% ecstatic with the figure for several reasons actually - one, I am not too passionate about the series so this was pretty much a buy-on-a-whim figure (I haven't had these whims for several years now) and I realized I wasn't too emotionally invested when I got the figure; two, his shipping prices were significant due to the weight (it wasn't much at all in comparison to standard shipping fees people pay these days, but the price was definitely higher than the cheap dirt I usually pay for); three, the figure is large and wide and takes up a lot of space and with his weight, it limits his display potential to the bottom if I were to use a Detolf for him.
That being said, I do not think there are glaring faults with the figure's design per se. If you are a great fan of Sesshomaru or the Inuyasha series, I think this would make a fantastic addition for the collection. I would rate this figure a 8.5 out of 10.
PROS
- Majestic battle pose
- Striking paintwork
- Similar to anime version (and personal opinion, best scale of Sesshomaru out there)
- Good large size for 1/7 scale
CONS
- VERY heavy - high shipping price and risky to put on a higher glass shelf
- Wide and tall figure - takes up a lot of display space
- May be expensive in aftermarket
This review is the final one of my re-made reviews and features an older figure in my collection, which is the HobbyMax Sesshomaru 1/7 Scale Figure released at the end of 2021. I received this figure in March 2022.
This was my first HobbyMax figure so I had been pretty excited to see how it turned out. HobbyMax is a Chinese figure company and one of the more established ones, though I had previously never owned a figure manufactured by them. This Sesshomaru still remains my only figure by the company so far.
This figure features Sesshomaru, the pure-blooded dog daiyōkai (or great demon) from the manga/anime series Inuyasha. He is a secondary character, an anti-hero who gets into conflict with the hero of the series, Inuyasha, who is his younger half-brother. I was not a fan of the series, I actually don't read the manga and I only watched the anime - and even so, I tend to skip parts of it unless Sesshomaru's there (yep, totally biased). He was a fascinating character, easy on the eyes, and I really found the bond between him and Rin absolutely endearing (and Jaken too).
So when Hobbymax announced a Sesshomaru figure in 2019, I jumped on it instantly without thinking much (back then, I was still preordering on a whim and there were not many scale Sesshomaru figures and this one had a limited distribution in selected Asian regions which made him highly desirable). This figure was supposed to be released in June 2021 if my memory serves right, but it was eventually delayed to November/December 2021. The shop I preordered him from received him fairly late but they eventually got everything settled and sent the order to me.
THE BOX & PACKAGING: 8.5/10
The figure box is a standard cardboard one, and I like the contrasting colours with the dark background of the box. The box is rather large to accommodate the sizable figure and is squarish measuring a height of 33.5cm, length of 30cm and width of 27cm. The box front features a large image of the figure, with decorative cloud borders.
The back of the box. There are no images, only standard text.
The sides of the box. I like the contrast between the gold, blue and dark background.
The top flap of the box with text in gold.
The packaging for this figure is unique in that the foam really resembles the style used for resin garage kit figures - and I assume this is because of the heavy weight of this figure. It was a real struggle to get the black foam out of the box, even though there were two spaces meant for your hands, there was little to no wiggle room for the foam to slide out nicely.
The figure is nicely wrapped up in plastic sheets for protection, and there are tiny foam rods to prevent paint transfer.
The figure comes with an instruction manual to put the figure together - and two other smaller company cards.
Overall, the box is my style of box - windowless with a simple and straightforward design.
THE BASE: 8.5/10
The base design features a rocky landscape which the figure stands on. The sculpt and paint of the base is rather good - and gives off a nice realistic texture of the rocks. The base is not at all heavy but rather wide due to the power/wind swirl effects.
The pegs are metal (for sure, given the heavy figure). More close-ups of the rock base - I like the shading.
The power swirl effects remind me of the Bandai Tamashii effect parts, and I actually thought they gave a tacky look to the figure. Nevertheless, they are well sculpted and look good with very sharp tips (beware). The long back part makes the figure take up unnecessary space though. I personally would have liked just the realistic rock base on its own.
The bottom of the base.
THE POSE: 8.5/10
The pose is rather regal and befits the character. Sesshomaru is a cold person and shows none of the exaggerated/dramatic poses in battle, so I thought this pose suited him well. His hair flowing across at the back gives a nice impression of wind motion to the figure.
The biggest drawback of the pose is that it takes up WAY too much space than I'd like it to. The sword blade has considerable height to it, and the power swirl at the back takes up space across. You can see how I had to move back from the figure to get the entire pose in one shot.
Still a front pose, with the figure slightly rotated to the side.
Closer shots of the figure. I think the overall appearance of the figure is pretty good. I have seen some comments about his small head size but I personally feel it is proportionate to the anime - I always felt like his hakama and fur coat were overly large so I thought the interpretation in this figure is pretty good (image for comparison below).
Back view of the figure. I especially like the hair strands here that go in line with the power/wind effect.
The side views.
THE SCULPT: 8.5/10
THE PAINT: 9.0/10
I find the face sculpt and paint rather similar to the anime Sesshomaru - I love the colour of his eyes and the markings around them. The crescent moon over his forehead is painted nicely. The haughty expression is a little less than what I would expect, but still good. The hair strands of the front fringe are sculpted well and are slightly glossy, with darker shading over the tips.
A side view of his features. The ears are sculpted sharp.
The hair is sculpted well over the top too with subtle shading, but the lines are rather uneven at the back.
I love the hair strands blowing at the back, the sculpt gave a nice motion to the hair here, so it does not look flat at all. The shading extends to the hair tips here as well.
I love the sculpt and paint of Sesshomaru's outfit. There were a few uneven bits over the chest armor but the spikes were done nicely. There was no shading for the armor but it is of no issue to me. The red tassels on either side of the armor were sculpted roughly, but there were no obvious big paint bleeds.
The wrapped hilt of the sheathed sword on his left was nicely detailed - even the tassel has texture, which I thought was a great little aspect.
The white-and-red sleeves were sculpted nicely with subtle folds, and the paint was also good here. There was a small dirt speck on one of the white flower motifs for my figure.
His fingernails are painted a glossy peach colour... and sharp!
The yellow obi is definitely the most distinct aspect to contrast the rest of his outfit, and they did a good job on it. The paint is bright and the folds are sculpted nicely with a nice hint of a flowing appearance. There are a few tiny paint bleeds between the yellow and blue, but it is not noticeable unless you get close to scrutinize the figure.
The fur on Sesshomaru's right shoulder is done alright, I would have preferred a more detailed sculpt of the fur. With real shading, it would have looked really good and reduce the flatness of a monotone colour.
The sculpt of his hakama is fantastic - has great shape and folds. There is also subtle shading.
His shoes are a glossy grey with shading, but do not have too much detailing. The holes on the shoe bottoms fit perfectly on the metal pegs, I had no problems sliding the figure onto the base.
The sword blade and sheath at the back, both have shading. I like the sculpt of the blade.
The only accessory that came with this figure is a separate blade - the Tenseiga. They definitely put in more work into the details for this sword - I thought the sculpt and paint was great! The sword is really long and as I mentioned earlier, takes up a lot of vertical space when held in the figure's hand.
The accessory separates near the sword guard, and the hilt then needs to be inserted from the bottom of his fist and re-attached with the blade from the top.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I actually preordered this figure on a whim and midway through the waiting period, I was having second thoughts about him. But I went through with the final payment anyway (or risk losing the deposit and getting blacklisted by the distributor with whom I still had several other preorders then). I found him a great figure and probably the best scale for Sesshomaru currently in the market. The pose is majestic and his large size is perfect and befits the character - the other Sesshomaru figures just have him a tad scrawny for my personal liking. The paint is bright (I don't know if this is just me but I have come to see that the majority of Hobbymax figures have really striking paint shades, though there are selected ones which come off as too bright and tacky) and in this figure, it is done just right. I think this is a good first Hobbymax figure for me.
This figure is super heavy (I am afraid I did not objectively weigh him with a scale but shops have put him at 2.5kg) and cannot stand on its own without tipping over due to the weight. He feels almost like a prepainted garage kit instead of a PVC figure to me. The weight is mostly from the hakama and the fur, and I have been pondering for a bit on the necessity for such heaviness.
I cannot say I was absolutely 100% ecstatic with the figure for several reasons actually - one, I am not too passionate about the series so this was pretty much a buy-on-a-whim figure (I haven't had these whims for several years now) and I realized I wasn't too emotionally invested when I got the figure; two, his shipping prices were significant due to the weight (it wasn't much at all in comparison to standard shipping fees people pay these days, but the price was definitely higher than the cheap dirt I usually pay for); three, the figure is large and wide and takes up a lot of space and with his weight, it limits his display potential to the bottom if I were to use a Detolf for him.
That being said, I do not think there are glaring faults with the figure's design per se. If you are a great fan of Sesshomaru or the Inuyasha series, I think this would make a fantastic addition for the collection. I would rate this figure a 8.5 out of 10.
PROS
- Majestic battle pose
- Striking paintwork
- Similar to anime version (and personal opinion, best scale of Sesshomaru out there)
- Good large size for 1/7 scale
CONS
- VERY heavy - high shipping price and risky to put on a higher glass shelf
- Wide and tall figure - takes up a lot of display space
- May be expensive in aftermarket
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