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New releases are a rather tumultuous happening in the 1:6 Action Figure Community , and lately one of the hottest topics has been the imminent release of Triad Toys' First Full Figure Body , the Otaku Version 1.0 . In a market that has its share of body blanks , this uproar may seem querulous , at least if you are unaware of what Triad is attempting to achieve in the market of 1:6 Scale Action Figures . Not since the creation and release of Takara's Cool Girl line has the development of an articulated action figure been of such a unique and radical concept as to basically redefine the expectations of the marketplace , nor has the design envelope been pushed so far to the edge that it teeters on the very brink of what is possible with the current materials at a cost that is affordable . Like Takara , Triad rolled the dice and won . So what , big deal , you might think ; but in a market dominated by large manufacturers , for a relatively unknown and proportionately miniscule company to make this big a splash in the " playscale " community it really is a big deal . With the release of Otaku , Triad has made a bold statement that if the other manufacturers fail to listen , may soon find themselves scrambling to catch up to the little guy .  State of The Future
When considering what Triad Toys has achieved with the Otaku , I decided the optimim way of doing so was putting it side by side with what the majority of female action figure hobbyists consider the " state of the art " figure . . . Takara's Cool Girl Version 2.0 Body . Giving credit where it is due , there is not much in the way of faults that one might give the CG 2.0 in terms of poseability and aesthetics , it really IS state of the art . With the Otaku 1.0 . Triad Toys has given us a peek at what is undoubtebly the " state of the future " and the amount of research and development that the folks at Triad devoted to the Otaku is readily apparent when looking at these two " perfect bodies " side by side . Whereas Takara refined and perfected an established armature with their CG 2.0 , Triad has redefined a groundbreaking armature - and that is what makes the OTAKU something truly special . I did not have a spare Otaku to completely tear apart for study , but what I did see of the construction it is similar in concept to a bendy figure in that the jointing armature is cast within a resin skin . This no doubt contributes to the outrageously tight and sturdy joints . It also makes for a very SOLID figure . This technique also explains why the seams on the Otaku are basically nonexistent . Triad's visionary Founder and Creative Guru , Louie Tran stated that the Otaku was not going to be everyone's particular " cup of tea " , but was a response to a particular demand that while not specifically the goal of Triad Toys at the time , was one to the MARKET at the time which is indeed a rather unique and individualistic approach for a company to take . That point of view is a quite distinctive attitude at Triad Toys : Pay attention to the CUSTOMER ! It may be superfluous to say at this juncture , but Louie Tran is one of my heroes , his vision and passion carries through into his business and it shows in everything Triad makes .  There are not as many points of articulation on the Otaku as on the CG , but unless you are a manic articulation fanatic in all likelihood you'll be able to get a majority of dramatic poses from the Otaku that you might want . For those of you who are concerned with " interchangebility " between systems , the Otaku limits these as regards Takara to Triad , but Triad to Takara is less so , the CG 2.0 has Otaku feet and hands in these shots . Concerning the limits of the Otaku articulation compared to the Cool Girl articulation , the predominant range limits are all below the waist . Visual dynamics considered , both figures look good doing what they do .  In a kneeling position , the CG outperforms the Otaku , since the only way to get the Otaku to kneel is to spread her thighs ( some might consider this a GOOD thing ) . On a completely esoteric level , this limits the Otaku to poses of a defiant nature compared to the CG where more submissive postures are possible ( who'da thought Jungian philosophy would factor into action figures ? ) Above the waist though there is little that the CG has that can compete with the dynamics and aesthetics of the Otaku . The jointing is much more subtle on the Otaku and allows a greater degree of flex .  The Otaku can't pose below the waist to the extent offered by the CG 2.0 due to the lack of waist articulation and the sculpting of the legs . The CG has undercuts at the knee joint on the back of the thighs that allows an excellent degree of flexibility and the ankle jointing on the Otaku prevents as wide a range of motion as the ankle jointing of the CG . The depth of the bend at the hips on both figures is close , with the CG outperforming the Otaku by just a margin .   What the Otaku 1.0 lacks in points of articulation in comparison to the CG 2.0 it more than makes up for in terms of design aesthetics . The lines and delineations of the articulation are remarkably subtle and unobtrusive on the Otaku , gaps being nonexistant for all intents and purposes which cannot be said about the CG 2.0 . The sculpting of the body on the Otaku is much more naturalistic - there are even tendon details at the wrist ! You still get a wider range of flex with the CG ball joint wrist , but it doesn't look as nice as the Otaku's . Seamlines on the Otaku are just NOT there ! It was always hard to beat the quality of Takara's handsculpts in terms of graceful and attractive female hands , but Triad has done that very thing with the hand options of the Otaku . They even took it one step beyond by adding gloss to the nails for an appealing manicured appearance .  The defining factors between CG 2.0 and Otaku 1.0 boils down to getting the most and showing the least , The deep neck wells of the Triad headsculpts provide a quite invisible neck joint and the design and execution of the points of articulation allows you to show the most flesh while not at the risk of exposing unsightly joints . The transluscent resin that makes up the Otaku's body makes for a very natural , believeable and completely non-doll-like figure .  All things considered , there really is not much difference concerning posing that the Otaku 1.0 can't achieve in comparison to the CG 2.0 , but the Otaku looks a great deal better doing them in contrast when you factor in revealing costumes , and that is pretty much the concept behind the Otaku at any rate . To reference a comic art ideal , you can draw comics or you can draw comics the MARVEL way ; which is to say you strive to exaggerate and use the extreme pose in favor of a more subtle pose to better convey dramatic action . In a manner of speaking this sums up the differences between the Otaku and the Cool Girl , the CG allows more subtlety wherein the Otaku is limited to just extreme dynamics and that is not necessarily a bad thing when dealing with ACTION figures .  I had been anticipating the release of the Otaku body for the chance to see how it would serve as the body type for my Dejah Thoris custom , who currently is personified on BBi's Hispanic Perfect Body 2.0 . The subtle jointing articulation was what had me excited , since the main aspect of my Dejah that I was not pleased with were the hideous appearing joints which were painfully evident due to the scanty adornment of my Barsoomian Princess . I have to wait for the tanned skin tone Otaku version and hope that it matches the Cher headsculpt that I used for Dejah , but my initial costume tryouts on the Otaku are quite promising . I can pose her and her joints aren't " in your face " ! It's this type of costuming that the Otaku was created for , skimpy and revealing ; where looking sexy is tantamount to being able to do somersaulting cartwheels . As of the writing of this article , sadly , the limited run of 1000 Otaku 1.0's has sold thru and is no longer available . Great news for Triad Toys but not so good if you were unable to secure one . The upside to this is that more alternate versions of the Otaku are on the horizon and there is still the Evo's and Eva's waiting in the wings . The Otaku 1.0 is merely a precursor of the future of action figure collecting and it looks to be a bright one . When dealing with revolutionary design concepts , there also tends to be be bugs with initial releases , and the Otaku had its share . you can find out more on THIS side of the Otaku by following THIS LINK !     | DX Alex | Triad New Releases | AmayaDX | Natalya_DX | genzoukaje | Otaku | | ReelArts Blue Bulleteer | Shocker Toys | Cool Girls | Triad Toys | KiniKomix | KiniKomix2 | Custom Action Figures | eBay Auctions | AppleseedTribute | Macross Valkyrie | Planet of the Apes | Horse Sense | WeaversUpholsteryToo | ToyBiz_Iron Man | Dirty Pair | On Display | The OTHER Gorby | Obitsu | | Return Home | Updates | The Archive | Gorby Site Map | Geeb-O-Rama's Model Workshop | Geeb's Toy Box | Geeb-O-Rama Goodies | Movie Madness | World Of The Bizarre | Cool Beans | |
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