Super Sonico Magician Version Review

Let's Review: Super Sonico Magician Version

Here we go again! Time for another review and in true alternating fashion, we move from Sonico to Mami and now, back to Sonico again. This time though, we've a little magic involved in this one with Sonico lovingly dressed up in a magician's outfit. Although, you'd easily mistake her for being the magician's assistant. After all, isn't it the magician assistant who is supposed to look pretty and distract the viewer's attention. In Sonico's case, I'm sure many wouldn't be able to pay attention on the magic trick she's about to perform!

As usual, before we head into the review let's start with some basic information about this lovely Sonico figure. Standing roughly 200 mm (7.8 inches) tall and manufactured by Taito, this Sonico prize figure was released in July 2014. Being an prize figure usually meant you'd have to win it in an arcade machine or, alternatively, just cough up 1500-2000 Yen to be directly from the store; the latter of which is usually the cheaper option. Unfortunately, just a year after its release, availability of this Sonico figure has become rather sparse.

Front View

Straight onto the review then, starting of with the basic four views. Sonico is no stranger to skimpy outfits by now and this magician outfit is no different. Nevertheless, there is a distinct lack of cleavage. Although, the prohibitively short skirt still makes its appearance.

Rear View

From the back, besides Sonico's waist long pink hair, there's also a really cute "penguin tail". I'll go into more detail about this little touch of the outfit further down the review.

Left View

Sonico's left hand holds onto her magician's hat, an accessory which can be removed if you prefer the hat-less look.

Right View

While on the right, Sonico is holding on to her cane. Just like the hat, the cane too is a removable accessory.

Every sculptor does things a little differently from one another and one detail which usually varies between Sonico figures is her face. 

With this figure, Tatio has decided to go for more rounded facial features on Sonico. Makes Sonico look a little chubbier don't you think so?

Nonetheless, still very cute! The decals for her eyes are a matte finish and they are applied neatly. With a slight offset to the right, it gives the impression that Sonico is gazing towards the right. This makes for a really nice off-center pose. The gentle smile helps compliment Sonico's whole expression too! Almost as if she is addressing the crowd in her magic show.

One of the key points for this particular Sonico figure is no doubt her magician outfit. At first glance, it is immediately recognizable that Sonico is playing the role of a magician. On closer inspection, you begin to realize that the outfit is indeed really unique! I'll be going through it in a top to bottom fashion.

Starting from the very top, there's the magician's hat. Made of a flexible material black top hat is nicely accented with a black stripe running across the base of it. Sure helps to add color and contrast to the entirely black top hat. Sonico holds the hat in place in between her thumb and index fingers hence, the slight tilt of the hat. The grip is strong enough to keep the hat in place but even slight movements can knock the hat out of alignment so, watch out for that.

Moving down, there is Sonico's shirt and prohibitively short skirt. Aside from the buttons running along the middle and her bow tie, there's little else to decorate her very cropped shirt. The bow tie still looks really cute though!

A white belt with a silver buckle runs along her black skirt. Just like the top hat, this injection of color helps add contrast to her outfit and it matches the rest of her outfit quite nicely too. While it may be a little too short for my liking, the skirt is still very well detailed with each crease and fold nicely sculpted.

Towards the back of the outfit is the aforementioned "penguin tail". If you still haven't gotten the reference, this part emulates the long tail commonly seen on a tuxedo. Also made of a flexible material similar to the one of the top hat, this allows the tail some degree of movement. This little feature ensures the tail wouldn't break so easily either when in the package or when being moved about.

Jumping back up for a bit, I just wanted to showcase the cuffs Sonico has on too. Just like a bunny outfit, Sonico's magician outfit has those "floating" cuffs too. The cuff-link is neatly painted black without any spillage of paint around its borders. Speaking of spillage of paint, the lack of it is definitely one of the plus points of this figure. Even around the smaller area such as the shirt buttons, everything is neatly painted within the borders.

Because of its freely moving nature, the cane can actually be re-positioned as you see fit. Either place it in the middle as the above picture shows;

Or you can move it forward towards the curved end of the cane.

Although, if you try to move the cane too far back, it will fall down as the weight becomes to imbalanced. With moving it towards the curved end, the thumb is there to prevent it from tipping over.

A pair of black high heels and stocking complete the entire outfit. Of course, there's no better choice for the magician outfit then this lovely combination.

The stocking are finished in a toned finish, being darker over the joints and lighter over every other area.

While I do love Sonico's magician outfit, there is one more aspect of this figure which I think Taito did a really job on. That aspect is Sonic's long flowing pink hair.

Sonico's hair flows all the way down to her waist and the detailing on it is really pretty impressive! There may not be any dramatic motion to the hair but, the way her hair flows especially towards the end looks really realistic. There's also no problems with clumping and the tips of her hair aren't too thick either.

By far though, the best part has to be Sonico fringe. The way her hair flow and overlaps one another, really frames her face very nicely. It almost looks as if her hair is alive!

While I do like the overall sculpt and detailing of her hair, I must point out there are a few inconsistencies here and there. These mainly concern the finish, which is a little rough, and the pink color, which is a shade too light. Minor matters for the most part.

Doesn't Sonico's bust look larger than usual?

With that large bust comes the dreaded boob seam, which is apparent both on the right and the left. Fortunately, there aren't any noticeable glue marks and because it is positioned towards the side, you wouldn't notice it too often. It took me a while before I noticed it myself.

Other than that though, there are hardly any complaints to be had for this Sonico figure which let's not forget is a prize figure.

By now, have you noticed anything odd or off about Sonico's headphones?

That's right, they're lacking the suspension railing that usually sits atop the black headband and connects the two ear cups together. That's because, it would ordinarily obstruct the opening of the top hat. In order to allow the top hat to fit, that little bit was omitted. Embarrassingly, it did take me a while to notice.

Well, we've reached the point of the review where I've covered all, if not most, of the grounds and come to a verdict.

The two definite strong points of this figure is, without a doubt, Sonico's outfit and hair. Unlike everything we're used to, the magician's outfit is certainly very unique and the main selling point of the figure. For some this unique outfit is enough so to warrant the purchase. In my case, it certainly was.

There's no regrets though. Sure, the pose may be a little simple and Sonico's proportions are somewhat off (especially in the bust region). But, the general quality of the figure is good. Casting, detailing, sculpt and finish are really good especially when you take into consideration how much you'd pay for one.

All in all then, this Sonico figure comes of as highly recommended. The uniqueness factor of the magician outfit alone is enough to warrant getting one. If you do plan to get one though, do it soon as they're steadily getting less and less common.

With that, comes a close to this week's review. Thank you so much for reading and if you have any questions at all, feel free to ask them in the comments section. Until then, I hope you enjoyed this and have a great weekend ahead!

Sonic tips her hat off to you