Nel Zelpher

Product Information/Specifications

Introduction

Nel Zelpher, from Kotobukiya's Star Ocean 3: Till The End Of Time PVC figure series, caught my eye a bit when I saw it a few times.  Looking at the price, I decided to get it after thinking about it for a long time.  I haven't play the game before & decided to get this figurine just from its appearance.  Diamond has released this figurine in North America few months after the Japanese release.  The one I had was the Japanese version.

The Review

Nel Zelpher out of the box

Nothing to assemble here really, just place Nel on the display base which has a head of a monster on it.  Nothing difficult.

Nel from different sides

The pose that Nel is in pretty good.  A static pose with the wind blowing her scarf when placing her right foot on fallen monster's bloody head.  She can be posed in different positions.  Her arms, hands, & head are moveable.  So you can modify the pose a bit to your style. Let's look at some of the details of this figurine.

The workmanship on Nel isn't too bad considering the price & size of the figurine.  The yellow trimmings on her clothing isn't too good on some areas.  The molding of it is a bit poor & the paint bleeds on some areas of her clothes.  The etching on her scarf is good.  Clean & balanced.

The tattoo markings on Nel's legs are nicely done.  I think that is actually painted on, not etched.  Very even & sharp.  Her swords are painted with two tones & are done nicely with some minor bleeding.

Blood!

I should have dust Nel off before taking pics.  The monster's head could have been done better, but it's ok as it is.  It shows its teeth, but it would have been nicer to show more of it.  The eyes aren't bad.  The amount of blood coming out of it looks kind of unreal.  I don't think blood would flow out like that, but then again, I haven't seen blood coming out from the bottom of a head before.  The position of the head isn't bad as it looks quite natural as it's been stepped on.  The bloody head does add a nice touch to the figurine.

I'm quite surprised on the workmanship of Nel's face.  It's really good.  The eyes, eyebrows, & lips are excellently painted.  However, I find her facial expression to be out of place with the stance she is in.  She does have a little wicked smile, but I couldn't really fit it with the monster's head she is stepping on it.  If it was a rock instead, I could accept it.  The smile doesn't look like she just finished off her fight with the monster unless her character is different from what I imagine.

Overall Conclusion

Nel Zelpher is amazingly good in my opinion.  Although the workmanship isn't of high quality, I felt it was pretty good at the retail price it's set at.  I haven't put her back into the box since I got her until I finally sold her for a long time now.

One problem I have with Nel is that she comes off her base quite easily.  Pick her up & the base falls off.  Even the monster's head falls off now.  It didn't before, but it did after a long time.

On a scale of ten, Nel receives an 8.5.  She got this score based on her moveable body parts to adjust the pose to your liking & the detail workmanship exceeds what I expected.  The lost points are the base problems & some molding problems on the figure.  You can see where the figurine is molded quite well.

At its decent retail price & size, Nel isn't too bad to add to your collection.  However,  it has been released for a long time & this figurine is hard to find.  Nel was never reissued. 

I would suggest getting the Japanese version over the Diamond North American version.  The North America version's retail price is a bit cheaper than the Japanese one, ignoring the shipping & customs costs.  I think Diamond's version doesn't have sharp points in some parts.  The Japanese version has sharp points on the blade's tip & hair.  It's almost sharp enough to poke blood out of your finger.  Also, if the quality is worse than the Japanese one, I would hate to see how bad it is.  However, chances of getting the Diamond North American version is better though.

The market price for the Japanese version of Nel that I have last seen is around the same as the retail price.  I have seen some a little bit higher than the retail price & some a bit lower before.  But when I sold her, it was quite low.  Personally, I think the price is about the same.  But chances are that it's lower.

Photos were taken using Sony DSC-F828 digital still camera.

Last updated on June 11, 2008