1/12 Mahoro-san & Sportsbike Statue

Product Information/Specifications

Introduction

When I saw this Mahoro & sportsbike when it was released as a resin kit, I really liked it.  But having lack of skills of building a complex resin kit with no skills, it was mainly a dream for me.  Plus, the price was very high.  When it came out as a PVC, I still didn't get it as the price was very high still & I didn't have the income to buy any PVCs at the time. 

After I managed to get income & started my PVC collecting era, the Mahoro & sportsbike figure became very hard to find as it was old.  It was a year or so later that I managed to get one from J-Hobby.  It was the re-issue version & I got a better good deal out of it.  Since it was a damaged box, the owner gave me a price that was very close to the Japanese suggested retail price.  It's about a buck more.  The box isn't that bad.  The only problem was closing the side flips after I removed the tapes.

This review is based on the reissue version.  Also, this is only a brief review as I don't have Mahoro & her bike out of the box due to limited space.

Some of the pictures aren't clear & good.  If I have time, I'll redo the bad ones & repost them.

The Review

Mahoro-san & Sportsbike in box

The Mahoro-san & sportsbike box is slightly taller than most 1/8 PVC figure boxes.  It's packaged quite nicely as it uses the manga designs.  It features a cover flap where you can see some of the contents of the PVC.  What you see is mainly the bike frame & Mahoro's upper body from the box windows.  According to a friend of mine, he tells me that the sportsbike is an Agusta MV F4.  As for the pose, it's static.  But it has some sort of energy to it.  A maid with a gun on a sportsbike.  How often do you see that?

 
Bike frame of Agusta MV F4

Another thing that sold me was the bike frame.  It's beautifully done.  Although it's not highly detailed as an expensive die-cast toy, it's fairly good for a PVC.  You get to see the gears & engine as well.  Sad part about it is that it looks like it's made of PVC.  I have heard that the bike has some die-cast parts to it.  But when I looked at it in the box, I don't see anything that looks like die-cast.  That was until I actually open the box to take a look. 

Not only the screws were metal, but parts of the bike frame were metal.  Even the body was made of metal.  I looked like PVC when you look from outside the box, but it's cold when you touch it.  Because you get to see the frame, it means you need to put the finished bike together yourself.  Underneath the box's lid are visual instructions on how to assemble the covers of the bike together.  I haven't assemble the bike yet, but it looks straightforward.  It also shows you have to put Mahoro on it, but you should be able to do it without reading the instructions.

 
I think ecchi is inappropriate!

If I remember correctly, this PVC is called "I think ecchi is inappropriate!" version or something along those lines.  I'm not sure why Kotobukiya call it that.  Possibly that there is another bike version somewhere out there that was in a resin kit form.  Anyways because of the 1/12 scale, Mahoro is quite small.  Looking at the small window space, the detailing of Mahoro isn't too bad.  Looks pretty clean & the colours are quite bold that it makes it coming from the anime more than the manga.  The face is a bit different from what I seen from the ad pics from the web.  It's not that cute in my view.  It's kind of hard to describe it.  I want to say that she's spacing out, but she's not.  It's a so-so face to me.

Overall Conclusion

The Mahoro-san & sportsbike is an excellent PVC figurine.  When it was first released, I think this was the first PVC that had something this advance with a bike & a lot of assembly.  I was very happy to finally get this after many years of searching for it at the price that I like.

I can't really grade the Mahoro-san & sportsbike figurine since I never took it out of the box.  I don't know how well the parts assemble together & if the bike stands properly with Mahoro on it.  I can say a lot of good things about the appearance, but the stability is something that should be looked into more before scoring this.

If you are a Mahoro fan or a person who likes anime & sports bikes, I highly recommend getting the Mahoro-san & sportsbike.  However, the price may scare some people as it is indeed pricey.  It was expensive before & it's still expensive now.  My assumption for the high price is probably because there were two sculptors involved in making this figurine.

I don't know if there is any differences between the first release to the reissue release.  The first release version is very hard to find, so you would probably give up looking for that one as a new.  You can probably find it used on online auctions.  The price for the Mahoro-san & sportsbike is quite stable at the moment as the demand for it isn't strong.  Some are selling it a bit highly & some are selling it at the suggested Japanese retail price.

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

Last updated on March 25, 2008