Having a seamless figure is a necessity when said character is nude. Such is the case with Golden Lover where there's nowhere to hide a seam or two. Well, except

for the serpent, which has a handful of visible seams.

 

Based on artwork by popular fantasy artist Julie Bell and sculpted by Shin Tanave, Golden Lover is suitably fantasy-based to fit into the Fantasy Figure Gallery. In terms of matching artists, this is a best case scenario.

 

The figure stands about 8 1/4" tall (maybe a

little bit taller when installed on the shiny gold disc base) but because of the color scheme, it really stands out. The woman is painted with a matte-finish skin color that practically glows and could fool people into thinking it was made from a ceramic material. The serpent is painted in a complimentary color, like this is a kind of fashion accessory that every naked redhead should tote around for a night out on the town. It's a mix of gold, the hue of the woman's skin, and the deep red of her hair that should help you make the argument that this could be considered art, which is suitable for display in the living room above the fireplace next to the picture of your family and not just a slightly creepy figure of a naked woman stuck in a dark corner of the closet.

 

        
 

I really do think this is a great representation of the female form. It strays from the comic book norm of massive boobs and the fashion world's rail thin stick figure. It's like a '60s Playmate with an updated hairstyle and just a touch of airbrushing. In short, she actually looks like a woman.

 

The details of the sculpt are also very good, especially with the serpent's spine and the woman's hair. I tend to look first at the facial sculpt of any figure. If there's effort there, with the most difficult parts of a sculpt, then the rest of the figure is generally on the same level. The woman's upturned face is very well sculpted and painted. There's no oversplash and the expression -- eyes closed, mouth slightly open -- really sells the "lover" part of the figure.

 

To see any of this properly, you'll have to remove the figure from the package. Though it is packed in a window box, it's practically impossible to actually see the figure thanks to the fact it's swaddled in plastic. This was done to prevent any dulling of the paint job by contact with the plastic shells holding the figure in the box, but it renders the window box useless.

 

Golden Lover is on the higher end of the collectible scale at $79.99US but the price is probably justified in this case because of the high level of detail, flawless sculpting, and low production run. I only wish Yamato had included an insert with a print of the original artwork, that would have rounded out this collectible.

 

- Aaron Simmer

(February 9, 2010)