Of course, the problem with acquiring AC Seph is that he is, of course, one of the more expensive of the Kai line, probably both because of being older and (presumably) out of print and because of the wing. I’ve been watching various listings for a while and nearly got one cheaper one, until a close examination of the pictures showed that he seemed to be damaged around his neck and chest. That is not acceptable in any case, and especially not if I’m putting down a lot of money!
There was another listing that seemed promising, although I initially ignored it thinking it was a bootleg because he was in a black plastic container and black plastic for Remake figures is a signal it’s a bootleg. When I learned, however, that the official AC line was in black plastic, I took another look. He looked perfectly fine. The seller deals in flawed and damaged merch, but the only damage there seemed to be to the plastic itself, and the fact that the box was missing. It also said I’d bought from the seller before, although I haven’t been able to get it to tell me what I bought from them before. But I decided to get him.
Shipping was very fast. He went out Monday morning and arrived on Thursday, which was my birthday. To my annoyance, I would need to sign for him—a logical precaution to take when he’s expensive, but frustrating since I was unaware of it and the door didn’t get answered. I had to chase him down at the post office. Luckily, items can be acquired there the same day if one goes in the afternoon after the delivery person has returned. I got him with no trouble and he traveled with us on the birthday excursion to get mini shelves and an Eevee family canvas picture.
At home I opened the box and took him out, then settled in to get him out of the plastic. He seemed fine and completely new, even still sporting the plastic strips that get put around the figures when they’re new. But I quickly discovered to my bewilderment that I had no idea how to attach the wing. There was no visible hole and no peg, like the other figures have one or the other of. I tried pulling and prying everywhere that looked like might be a panel, but nope. So then I panicked thinking maybe I had a defective figure and that was why the previous buyer returned him.
I immediately started looking up YouTube videos on unboxing the figure. Most of them did not really explain how to attach the wing. One mentioned a panel, but didn’t show step by step what to do. I searched and searched and found a photo review that finally showed details of the panel, both before and after removing it. I’d suspected that was the panel before, so I tried harder to pull it out. Finally it came! Oy, that was an experience. But at least the wing’s on and is very sturdy and secure. The wings on some of the figures have given me a lot of trouble and required superglue.
Here is the panel, if anyone else is having trouble. This is on the right side of his back and it may be very difficult to remove or mine may just be unique in that aspect. But keep trying if it’s hard! It will come out eventually.
I haven’t needed stands for the Remake figures, but I do for this one because of course the wing throws him off-balance. I gave him one of the Remake stands since I don’t need them for those figures and he doesn’t seem to come with a stand.
Now, the next challenge, which I have not seriously tackled yet: how to switch hands. Almost all of these figures bizarrely have fists as the default. The hands are really hard to change and I always worry I’ll break something. It looks like they are harder to get off on the AC figure than on my Remake ones, and those were hard enough! So for now, I haven’t had the courage to fight with it much and the Masamune is on one of the shelves next to him.
While I adore all of these Kai figures, I do think this one may be my favorite. He is definitely my favorite of the many wonderful things that showed up on my birthday. It is hard to fully express my excitement and happiness over him. The deboxing was magical, despite the worries over if he was defective. I was in awe when I saw how big the wing is. And the figure is very hefty and sturdy. I love that these figures are apparently solid plastic and not cheap hollow plastic, as many figures and dolls are these days.
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