Over that past years the saint seiya universe has been part of many collectors’ lives and there is always one figure that just has to be in your collection. Today we are going to review the saint seiya figure of Saori Kido also known as Athena from saint seiya. As you know this character is the main damsel in distress and without her the plot would not move. Some people do not like this character as well as she is very selfish with the saints in the beginning and well it’s understandable some people feel pity for the saints on the beginning parts of the series. Today we are going to look over the 2009 Bandai release of this figure and see if she is up to standard for your collection.
The first thing we notice is the box; it is a solid package with no openings. This figure is a Tamashii web shop limited item and that’s why she has a solid box. It has a great picture of the character in the front with a solid gray stone box and with some pink or purple trims on all sides. On the side of the box you see it says Saint Seiya Myth Cloth on the top and on the bottom it says Saori Kido. On the back they show you a preview of everything you are going to get in this package which we are going to review later on this review. Overall the back display is not bad at all. So that was a quick look at the box. Now let’s look at the contents inside.
When you open the box you see this figure has 3 plates. Keep in mind this figure does not have an object mode and no metal parts what so ever in this figure. In plate number one, you see the figure with all her accessories. She comes with two neck pieces, a hair piece, and two different kinds of hairs, her white dress, her staff, and the jar she trapped Poseidon in. She also comes with 2 mid pieces for her waist and an extra face with her eyes closed. On plate number 2, you have most of her throne parts which look fantastic. On plate number 3 you have the big jar for recreation of the hades chapter when she is trapped and bleeding. You have the extra hair for Athena to simulate the pose on the jar when she’s trapped. In the instruction manual it’s very small and with good reason. There is nothing hard in this figure you can’t build. It shows you how to replace her hair, make the thrown, make the jar and how to pose her, and that’s it. Now it’s time to review the figure and see if it’s worth your time. Now looking at this figure, the first thing you going to see that is wrong is her chest area. This area is super big and in no way or fashion on the series was she big breasted. You can see half of her breasts on the side of the dress and well for a perfectionist collector this will be a flaw on likeness. But other than that, when you see the figure she looks stunning. The dress is a nice soft fabric and very detailed in every area. The hair is very smooth and very nice to look at. The swapping of heads is very easy and the accessories this figure has are very nice to build. The staff is very nice to make and very solid. This figure also comes with her unique stand if you want to display her without her thrown. This is a good addition cause for some reason this figure does not stand on her own. As we look at the body, she has the same body type like Pandora or Hilda. The body is very smooth but the ankles are very weak and cannot support all the stuff the figure carries with her, even though it’s all plastic. The thrown or the stand is a good option, and as the stand goes under the dress, you won’t be able to notice it on your display. The thrown on this character is fantastic. The only thing I would wish they would do is that the gold parts of the thrown should have been chrome gold. As of right now the parts are a solid plain gold and its looks ok, but it would look better with the chrome parts. And last we go to the killing vase as some of you call it. The big jar that you can put Athena to recreate the Hades Chapter. The figure can fit on this jar but in the instructions they tell you to put her inside to recreate the seen. But if you just put her sleeping head on her vase hair, you can have her on the vase and on the thrown; it’s a very good option. The only thing it was very sad to see is that the vase when you put it together has a big seem line in the middle and it takes the aesthetic look away from the vase. The vase is great and looks the same as the anime but it would have been better if they had made it with not such a big seem line. It would also be beneficial if they vase would have come with a bit of red, to recreate her bleeding but I guess Bandai was aiming this figure for kids, even though there market is adults. But overall the vase is a solid win and looks great next to my hades.
So in the end should you buy it? And the answer is YES! It is a very great figure and it has great accessories and visuals that make any saint seiya collection stand out. As I stated before a major flaw is the big breast she has but if you can look pass that, this figure is one that will make your collection shine.
Overall I give this figure a 9 out of 10 and I totally recommend it.
Thank you to Ishop2go for letting me review this figure and remember…
